SUNY-Geneseo/Physics & Astronomy

Fall 2026

General Physics I

Phys 113

TR 9:30 am - 10:45 pm

Newton 204

What if I’m confused? Your textbook, Physics (OpenStax "College Physics", second edition; ISBN-13: 978-1-711470-83-2), by Urone & Hinrichs, provides many examples and hints for solving problems. The Physics Learning Center (ISC 233) may also be available for help when you are stuck.  In addition, I will be happy to answer your questions (but not to do your homework for you) during the office hours listed above, or at any other mutually convenient time.

I want an ‘A’!  I want you to get an ‘A’, too! Your grade in this course will be based on your homework grades, quizzes, and exams (including a comprehensive final).

Homework: You will submit your weekly homework using the CAPA system on the internet. CAPA homework is due before 8:00 am on the day indicated (see back). You may discuss the assignments with other students, but you are responsible for doing your own work.

 

Quizzes: Quizzes will be given at 9:30:00 am on every class day when an assignment is due. These quizzes are open notebook, and will require you to symbolically copy a homework solution for a problem from your paper homework journal. I may drop your lowest quiz score when computing your final grade, depending on your circumstances and your choices. Note that Assignment 12 (and therefore quiz 12) is due on a Tuesday, not a Thursday.

 

Exams: You will take in-class exams using the CAPA system. You are required to bring a laptop to exams with a battery sufficiently charged to last the full 75 minutes. Exams will require you to answer conceptual questions and to solve problems which I will design. There are 4 exams, including the final. The exams are scheduled as follows.

   

	Exam #1	Tuesday, September 22, 2026	Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4
	Exam #2	Tuesday, October 20, 2026	Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8
	Exam #3	Tuesday, November 17, 2026	Chapters 9 and 10
	Exam #4	Friday, December 11, 2026 (8:00 – 10:30 pm)	Chapters 1 – 16 Emphasis: 11, 12, 13, 15, 16

 

If, for some non-trivial reason, you are unable to take an exam at the scheduled time, I may allow you to take a make-up exam; however, you must contact me at least 1 week prior to the exam date. Rescheduling is your responsibility, not mine!

 

Grades: Final grades will be computed as follows:

 

What is my responsibility?  You must attend and participate in class (and arrive on time), study the relevant sections of your textbook, and complete all of your own homework assignments on time. Students must not turn in homework problems that someone else has solved or solutions they find online. At best you will not receive credit for the homework; at worst you will be charged with academic dishonesty.

 

This course moves along quickly and covers a lot of material; it is important that you keep up to date! In office hours, you should be prepared to use your computer’s snipping tool, and copy-and-paste in Discord (CTRL-C and CTRL-V) to quickly post images that are appropriately sized (i.e., not gazillion pixel images taken with your phone).

When will it all happen?  Here is the schedule of events for this semester.  Please note the due dates for homework and the dates for exams. The schedule is subject to revision as the course progresses, and any major changes will be announced in class.

 

Tuesday, August 25, 2026	Thursday, August 27, 2026
Suggested Reading: chapter 1 Suggested Reading: Appendix C	Suggested Reading: chapter 2.1, 2.3, 2.4
Tuesday, September 1, 2026	Thursday, September 3, 2026
Suggested Reading: chapter 2	Suggested Reading: chapter 3 Assignment #1 Due (8:00 am)
Tuesday, September 8, 2026	Thursday, September 10, 2026
Suggested Reading: chapter 4.1 - 4.4	Suggested Reading: chapter 4.5 - 4.5 Assignment #2 Due (8:00 am)
Tuesday, September 15, 2026	Thursday, September 17, 2026
Suggested Reading: chapter 4.6 - 4.8	Suggested Reading: chapter 5.1 Assignment #3 Due (8:00 am)
Tuesday, September 22, 2026	Thursday, September 24, 2026
Exam #1 (Chapters 1 – 4a) Exam covers Assignments 1 through 3	Suggested Reading: chapter 6.1 - 6.2 Assignment #4 Due (8:00 am)
Tuesday, September 29, 2026	Thursday, October 1, 2026
Suggested Reading: chapter 6.3, 6.5, 6.6	Suggested Reading: chapter 7.1 - 7.3 Assignment #5 Due (8:00 am)
Tuesday, October 6, 2026	Thursday, October 8, 2026
Suggested Reading: chapter 7.5 - 7.8	Suggested Reading: chapter 8.1 – 8.3 Assignment #6 Due (8:00 am)
Thursday, October 13, 2026	Thursday, October 15, 2026
No scheduled class	Suggested Reading: chapter 8.4 - 8.5 Assignment #7 Due (8:00 am)
Tuesday, October 20, 2026	Thursday, October 22, 2026
Exam #2 (Chapters 4b – 7) Exam covers Assignments 4 through 7	Suggested Reading: chapter 10.1 – 10.2 Assignment #8 Due (8:00 am)
Tuesday, October 27, 2026	Thursday, October 29, 2026
Suggested Reading: chapter 10.3	Suggested Reading: chapter 9.1 - 9.3 Assignment #9 Due (8:00 am)
Tuesday, November 3, 2026	Thursday, November 5,  2026
Suggested Reading: chapter 9.4 - 9.6	Suggested Reading: chapter 10.3 - 10.5 Assignment #10 Due (8:00 am)
Tuesday, November 10, 2026	Thursday, November 12, 2026
Suggested Reading: chapter 16.1 - 16.3	Suggested Reading: chapter 16.4 - 16.6 Assignment #11 Due (8:00 am)
Tuesday, November 17, 2026	Thursday, November 19, 2026
Exam #3 (Chapters 7b – 9) Exam covers Assignments 8 through 11	Suggested Reading: chapter 11
Tuesday, November 24, 2026	Thursday, November 26, 2026
Suggested Reading: chapter 12 Assignment #12 Due (8:00 am) + quiz	No scheduled class
Tuesday, December 1, 2026	Thursday, December 3, 2026
Suggested Reading: chapter 13.1 - 13.2	Suggested Reading: chapter 14 Assignment #13 Due (8:00 am)
Wednesday, December 9, 2026	Friday, December 11, 2026 (8:00 am)
Assignment #14 Due (8:00 am) (obviously no quiz #14!)	Exam #4 (Chapters 1 – 13) Exam covers Assignments 1 through 14 Noon – 2:30 pm

Learning Outcomes 

This course satisfies SUNY General Education Requirements (GER) in Natural Science. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the methods scientists use to explore natural phenomena, including observation, hypothesis development, measurement and data collection, experimentation, evaluation of evidence, and employment of mathematical analysis; and students will demonstrate application of scientific data, concepts, and models in one of the natural (or physical) sciences.

Each individual class day has multiple learning outcomes; the following are only broad summaries of the most important of them.

At the end of this course, students will:

• Be able to extract meaningful quantitative data from text (prose) and from images.
• Be able to use basic 1D and 2D kinematics (including the effects of gravity) to describe and predict the behavior of ideal objects.
• Be able to draw free-body diagrams (force analysis) to describe and predict the behavior of ideal objects.
• Be able to use the principles of energy conservation to describe and predict the behavior of ideal objects.
• Be able to use the principles of momentum conservation to describe and predict the behavior of ideal objects.

Legal Definition of Minimum Work Required for College Courses

Link to New York State Law, related SUNY rules, related Accreditation Rules, and Geneseo policy.

While all these sources give identical requirements, here is a summary of the first link, 8 CRR-NY 50.1 (o):

At any college in New York, public or private, a 3-credit course must offer 45 "hours" of instruction,

where an "hour" means 50 minutes.

Additionally, each 3-credit course must require at least 90 hours of homework during the semester.

For a 15-week course, this means that you should expect a minimum of 6 hours of homework each week.

Also, the college provides information at the following URL relating to a variety of course topics: