Physics 214: Introduction to Laboratory Electronics

Fall 2015

Course meets:
Mondays and Thursdays at 10:00 - 10:50 am in Elliott 061
Labs led by Doug McKenzie

Fearless leader: Justin Albert
Office: Elliott 213
Office Phone: (250) 721-7742
Cell Phone: (250) 661-7066
E-mail: jalbert AT uvic DOT ca

Office hours: Come by my office (Ell 213) anytime! I will stay in my office for an hour after each class, but please send e-mail or call if you want to be absolutely sure I will be in my office/available at any given time. If I'm in my office but busy I'll let you know a time to come back. Feel free to always try my office though, or phone, or e-mail. Cell phone is (250) 661-7066, feel free to call! My lab space is in Elliott 022, and you can sometimes find me there too.

Course homepage: https://particle.phys.uvic.ca/~jalbert/214/index.html

Text (required): D.V. Bugg, Electronics: Circuits, Amplifiers, and Gates, second edition, CRC Press, 2006. (Note that the first edition is also fine too, in fact the first edition is the only one I have! Use either one.)
Please read the sections assigned on the syllabus before the indicated lecture!

Some other sources that I occasionally consult:
Neil Storey, Electronics, A Systems Approach, fourth edition, Pearson, 2009.
Horowitz & Hill, The Art of Electronics, second edition, Cambridge U Press, 1989.

Prerequisites: At least one of Phys 102, 110, 112, 120, or 122; and Math 100, 102, or equivalent.

Schedule
This syllabus is incomplete and tentative, and will be superseded by later versions as the course evolves.

Midterm Date: Thursday Oct. 15 (in class). The midterm and its solutions are here. Here are some practice problems (.pdf), and their solutions (.pdf). We'll have a review session (optional but useful) on the evening of Wed. Oct. 14 from 4:30 - 6:30 pm in Ell 061 (the usual classroom).
Final date: Tuesday Dec. 8 from 2 - 5 pm in ECS 112 -- we'll have a review session on Monday Dec. 7 from 7 pm - 8:30 pm in Ell 061 (the regular classroom). Here are some practice problems (.pdf) and their solutions (.pdf).

Lecture	Topic (FYI: lecture slides and notes thanks to Joost Massolt and Alex Wlasenko)	Sections	Homework
1	Ohm's Law and Simple DC Circuits slides and lect notes covered Thurs. Sept. 10, and lect notes covered Mon. Sept. 14	1.1-1.3, 3.1-3.5	----
2	Kirchhoff's Laws, and Capacitors lecture notes on Kirchhoff's Laws and lecture notes on capacitors	1.5-1.9	(due date extended to Mon., Sep. 28) Bugg problems 1.10.2, 1.10.5, 1.10.8, 1.10.10 - 1.10.13, 3.12.4, 3.12.5 Solutions
3	Thevenin's and Norton's Theorems lecture notes on Thevenin's Theorem	2.1-2.9	----
4	RC / RL / RCL Circuits lecture notes part 1 lecture notes part 2 lecture notes part 3	3.6-3.11, 4.1-4.4, 5.1-5.8	(due date extended to Thurs., Oct. 8) Bugg problems 2.10.1 - 2.10.6, 2.10.9 - 2.10.10, and 3.12.7 - 3.12.10 Solutions
5	Filters lecture notes	4.5-4.10, 6.1-6.8	----
6	Diodes lecture notes	1.5, 9.1-9.5	(due date extended to Mon., Oct. 26) Bugg problems 3.12.11, 3.12.12, 4.11.2, 4.11.5, 4.11.8 - 4.11.10, 5.9.2, 5.9.3 Solutions
7	Transistors lecture notes part 1 lecture notes part 2	9.6-9.9, 10.1-10.6	----
8	Feedback lecture notes	7.1-7.5	(due date extended to Thurs., Nov. 12) Bugg problems 7.15.1 - 7.15.5, and 7.15.9 Solutions
9	Op-amp Circuits lecture notes	7.6-7.16	----
10	Differentiators and Integrators lecture notes	8.1-8.5	----
11	Digital Electronics: Gates, Logic Circuits, and Number Codes lecture notes	11.1-11.6, 12.1-12.15	(due Mon., Nov. 23) Bugg problems 8.6.1 - 8.6.3, 9.9.5, 9.9.6 Solutions
12	Flip-flops and Memory lecture notes	13.1-13.11	----
13	DA and AD Converters lecture notes	21.8	(due Thurs., Dec. 3) Bugg problems 12.13.2, 12.13.4, 12.13.5, 13.9.2, 13.9.6 Solutions

Grade will be based 30% on your laboratory work, 20% on the biweekly problem sets above, 15% on a 1-hour midterm exam, and 35% on the final exam. In all cases, the laboratory work needs a passing grade in order to pass the course. Your lowest problem set score will be dropped.
Please note I keep my average grades equal to those of other 200 level courses in phys + astro at UVic, i.e. the average grade in the course will likely be a B or so, similar to the other 200 level courses from other faculty in the department. If the class is especially good, I will move this upward -- and down a bit if you're horrible beasts! -- but the class average will likely be approximately a B. Some of my assignments or tests can be hard (but good!), in which case the average may be a 50 or even below. DON'T WORRY if that's the case and you get a 50. That's the same as getting a 90 on an easy test in which the class average is a 90. I renormalize numerical grades (upward, if at all) to the UVic grading scale at the end of the course. You might pay more attention (if you're super-concerned about grades) to the average score in the class and the standard deviation (which I will mention after each assignment), and how yours compares with the average.

Problem sets: Problem sets are due at the beginning of class on Monday (first one is unusually due on Thurs., Sep. 24). Answers will be posted the following Monday (or Thursday, in the case of the first one).

You are allowed one late homework without penalty, up to a week late (along with the one lowest problem set score that is dropped). All other late homeworks count 50% if completed before the answer key is handed out the following week. Afterwards, it counts 10% (there is still a little bit of value in copying over the answers to better understand them). No exceptions (other than death in the immediate family, signed doctor's note). Note that the lowest homework score is dropped, and another homework can be a week late, so that covers cold/flu issues.

Collaboration on the homework is at your discretion. Each person is responsible for doing his/her share of the work, writing up her/his own solutions and for listing his/her collaborators on each set.

Exams are closed book, closed notebook. You will be allowed to bring an 8.5" x 11" formula sheet of your own making (double-sided) to each exam.

Calculator: The only acceptable calculator for student use on exams (as per the department policy) is the Sharp EL-510RB. It is available at the UVic Bookstore for $8.95.

The midterm exam will be held in class. No makeups will be given (other than the above death in the immediate family, signed doctor's note).

Please let me know anytime if you have any questions!!!