Elementary Physics 1 – PH 107 Gonzalo Ordonez and Jennifer Poor
How does this Course Support the Goals of a Liberal Arts Education? All liberally educated persons should…
…be good citizens of both their own communities and of the world. In this technologically advanced age, students must be able to understand basic mathematics, summaries of data such as graphs, and statements made by the scientific community in order to formulate opinions regarding topics such as medical research, genetic engineering, space exploration, global warming, and many other issues. This course will help you learn through making direct measurements, doing calculations, interpreting data, and estimating uncertainties.
… possess strong problem-solving skills. In this class, you will be asked to use logical reasoning to analyze various physical behaviors. Although the subject is physics, the methods used to solve problems like identifying known quantities, making assumptions, deciding which information and influences are important, and reviewing your conclusions to see if they make sense are relevant to solving many non-physics related problems as well.
… be able to communicate clearly. In the area of physics, communicating precisely is imperative. In this class, you will analyze physical situations through both group discussions and assigned problems. This will give you practice expressing yourself in both oral and written communications.
… understand his or her environment. We live in both social and physical environments, and this course will allow you to understand events taking place in the physical world that you encounter every day. For example, have you ever really thought about why it is so easy to balance your bike when it is moving, but so difficult to do so when it is still? In addition, this course will help you develop an appreciation of the beauty of the simple underlying relationships that govern seemingly unrelated behavior like the motion of the Milky Way, the revolution of the earth around the sun, and the movement of a shot put flying through the air.