Homework assignments are due Fridays on 5pm via Gradescope, unless announced otherwise. Work must be submitted in PDF form, either directly exported from a note-taking app or scanned from hand-written notes. Graded homework will be made available for viewing and download through Gradescope.
The homework sets consist of analytical and (occasionally) computational problems. The latter are intended to help familiarize you with numerical methods for solving and visualizing equations of motion that you will encounter during class.
On occasion, problems may be tagged for PHY820 students only (of course, PHY422 students are welcome to try and tackle these too).
Over the course of the semester, you will be asked to complete three or four computational projects). Code will be delveoped in Python, in the form of Jupyter notebooks, and the projects will be handed in via MSU’s GitLab server by their respective due dates (technical information can be found here).
There will be two midterms (see schedule page) and a comprehensive final. The PHY422 and PHY820 versions of the final will be two and three hours long, respectively. See this page) for more information.
Your final score and grade will be determined from the following components:
15% Midterm 1
15% Midterm 2
30% Final
30% Homework
15% Computational Projects
The maximum achieveable score is 105.
The tentative grading scale is
| Score | Grade |
|---|---|
| ≥ 92 | 4.0 |
| 84-91 | 3.5 |
| 76-83 | 3.0 |
| 68-75 | 2.5 |
| 60-67 | 2.0 |
| 52-59 | 1.5 |
| 44-51 | 1.0 |
| < 44 | 0.0 |
Comprehensive access to homework, computational project, and exam scores will be provided through D2L. Scores should be available within a week of completion of each assessment. Scores for graded homework are also directly accessible on Gradescope. Students can also directly contact me via email to get an update on their scores.