Your grade is based entirely on your numerical solutions to these problems, using a computer.
Format for homework:
(1) Clear description in English and mathematics of what the program does.
(2) Listing of program.
(3) Output from program: One or a few graphs, or some high-quality numbers.
(4) A brief set of important conclusions, again in clear English.
You may substitute your own project for two of these problems. If you wish to do so, you need to state by Wednesday, Sept. 5 which 2 problems you will replace.
Also, you will need to specify your problem by Wednesday, Oct. 3. Your big project will be due the day that the university schedules the final exam for this course (and we will not have a final exam of the usual kind).
Homework late by 48 hours or less gets 2/3 credit. Homework late by 120 hours or less (but more than 48 hours) gets 1/3 credit. Homework late by more than 120 hours gets no credit.
Please give a 10-minute presentation on one of the following problems. We will ask for volunteers on the day that the problem is turned in, but everyone is expected to give at least one presentation.
If you wish to substitute another problem of about the same difficulty from the same chapter, tell me at least 5 days in advance and we can make this substitution
All problems are from the Physics 401 textbook: Computational Physics, by N.J. Giordano
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Wednesday, Sept. 5 |
Chapter 1: Problem 4, p. 14 |
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Wednesday, Sept. 12 |
Chapter 2: Problem 1, p. 40 |
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Wednesday, Sept. 19 |
Chapter 3: Problem 4, p. 55 |
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Wednesday, Sept. 26 |
Chapter 4: Problem 2, p. 98 |
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Wednesday, Oct. 10 |
Chapter 5: Problem 2, p. 129 |
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Wednesday, Oct. 17 |
Chapter 6: Problem 1, p. 146 |
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Wednesday, Oct. 24 |
Chapter 7: Problem 2, p. 180 |
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Wednesday, Oct. 31 |
Chapter 8: Problem 1, p. 224 |
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Wednesday, Nov. 14 |
Chapter 9: Problem 4, p. 251 |
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Wednesday, Nov. 21 |
Chapter 10: Problem 4, p. 271 |
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Monday, Dec. 3 |
Chapter 11: Problem 7, p. 345 |
Some Extra Items
(1) I will have an extra office hour from 3-4 p.m. on the day before each homework problem is due (or make an appointment). Please come by then or earlier if you are having problems, so we can try to resolve them!
It is advisable to have a working program by the Friday before the assignment is due. You will then have a few days to do tests, try different values of the parameters, think about the physics, get optimized results and graphs, and finally write up the report of your calculations.
(2) Define
rather than, e.g., 3.14159. This will give you all the available precision and avoid possible confusion about imprecise answers.
(3) The recipe on p. 54 is wrong by a factor of 2. The times should be
The author of our textbook has listed other small corrections at
http://www.physics.purdue.edu/~ng/new_erratum/new_erratum.html .