PHYSICS 504
Advanced Mechanics
Instructor: Alfred Shapere
Office: CP383
Office Hours: TBA
e-mail: shapere at pa.uky.edu
Phone:
Textbook:
Classical Mechanics (3rd ed.), by H. Goldstein, C. Poole, and J. Safko (Addison-Wesley 2002).
About the course:
This graduate-level course in classical mechanics will cover Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics, rigid bodies, oscillations, special relativity, poisson brakets, and continuum mechanics. The course will cover most of Chapters 1-9, 11, and 13 at a rate of roughly one chapter per week.
Homework:
Homework assignments will be given once a week and will be due at the beginning of class on Fridays. Late homework will be accepted with a minimum 10% deduction, plus an additional 10% deduction for each full day late. For example, if an assignment is turned in at 9am on Monday, the student's grade for that assignment will be reduced by 30%. Students turning in an assignment on a Saturday or Sunday must notify the instructor by email.
Exams and Grades:
Final grades will be based on homework scores (23%), exam scores (75%), and completion of the online course evaluation (2%). There will be two midterm exams (20% each) and one final exam (30%). A passing grade on the final is required to pass the course. Students will not be excused from taking an exam at the scheduled time unless they contact the instructor by phone or email at least 24 hours in advance.
Prerequisites:
A one-semester undergraduate classical mechanics course with a grade of 'B' or higher. If you have not completed such a course you should take PHY 404G instead.