FAQs
#1. How can I be a physicist too?
That’s simple. Come and talk to one of the friendly members of the Physics department and we will be glad to help you fulfill your life dreams.
#2. Is it normal to be a closet Physicist?
This is perfectly normal. During the course of studying physics, people develop an uncontrollable urge to perform physics experiments late at night while their friends are out drinking. Most people try to keep it a secret because they do not want to share the pure joy and pleasure associated with doing physics.
#3. Am I allowed a cheat sheet for the exams?
Yes, you can bring an 8.5” X 11” sheet of paper into the exam. You can put anything from happy faces to formulas on the sheet of paper. (The formulas are probably more helpful.) In addition I will also provide a sheet of formulas at the time of the exam.
#4. On the assignments and examinations, how many
significant digits should my answers have?
Your answers for the final examination and the mid-term examinations should have three significant digits. Your answers for the assignments should have two or three significant digits as indicated in the question.
#5. Are there any practice questions for the
midterm?
Yes, I have placed some questions here. Good luck.
#10. How safe are the files on the
University computers?
They are as safe as we can make them. However, there is always the possibility of a virus being on a computer. The safest thing is not to download your school files onto your home computer. Keep the files, disks, and zips separate. Also, do not open strange attachments in email messages.
#11. How can I view some of the
strange files that people send me over the internet?
Here are a couple of the more common ones.
GhostView:
The freely available PostScript interpreter is GhostScript. Coupled with the viewer GhostView, it allows one to view ps, eps, and pdf files on Unix/X-windows, PC/Windows, and Macintosh.
The home page for Ghostscript and Ghostview is at http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost. The ftp site is ftp://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/. I like this viewer; it allows you to view .ps, .eps, .pdf and other file types. I find this handy to have on the computer.
Adobe Acrobat Reader:
Fully functional PDF readers are freely available from Adobe at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html or starting at http://www.adobe.com/. Many platforms are supported, including many Unix variants, PC's running Windows, and Macintosh.
AUDIO and MOVIES:
For audio and visual files: real player basic (http://www.real.com), Shockwave (http://www.shockwave.com), Quicktime (http://www.apple.com), and Microsoft Multimedia Player (http://www.microsoft.com).
FILE TYPES:
Here are the conventions you should use for your files: