Physics 321: Intermediate Mechanics

Instructor: Dr. L. Larrabee Strow

Office: CP 528

Phone: 455-2528

Email: strow@umbc.edu

Experienced users - take shortcuts to:

This is the World Wide Web Home Page for Physics 321, Intermediate Mechanics, at UMBC. Hyperlinks to topics of interest for this class will be placed on this page. For example, you can access the Physics 321 Class Syllabus from here. This is a living document, and will change from week to week. I suggest that you take a look at this page at least once a week. I don't plan to use extensive graphics so you can read most of these on-line class notes from a terminal using the lynx viewer on the UNIX machines at UMBC.

Umbc's WWW Server has extensive information about the World Wide Web as well as UMBC-specific documents.

Check New Postings for up-to-date information about Physics 321. You may also want to go directly to the Homework Home Page, or the Classnotes Home Page.

How Can This Physics 321 On-Line Document Help You?

The World Wide Web (WWW) is an alternative way to give you information about the class that is available 24 hours a day. I will probably also be giving you handouts via the WWW, which you can print using UCS laser printers. You can also access these documents from home if you have a PC and a modem. This document may contain the following materials:

I expect that most new information will be placed in the homework documents that can be accessed from the Homework Home Page. Some of your homework assignments will require the use of a computer. I suggest that you use either Matlab or Maple for the computer problems in this course. Matlab is supported on all the UNIX machines at UMBC, is very easy to use, and has on-line documentation. At times you might be required to use Maple, rather than Matlab, if the assignment involves symbolic manipulations.

Right now, I doubt you will really have to learn much about Maple, since I expect to use it mainly as demos for your use outside of class. This means you will only have to learn a few basics and will just examine Maple documents that I create. However, this is subject to change!

You can view (on an X11 terminal) or print out a Matlab Primer that reviews the more important commands. You can also purchase a copy of this primer from CRC Press. For general help on UNIX at UMBC, you might want to attend one of UCS's short courses on UNIX, although at this moment I am not positive they are being offered again this Fall.

I will be available for consultation during published office hours, except in unusual circumstances. You are encouraged to send me questions via Email, which I generally read several times a day, and often at night at home. I don't guarantee when I will respond to your question. However, you are likely to get a response more quickly via Email than if you waited for office hours. ACS recommends that you use the package pine for email on UNIX machines.