WINTHROP UNIVERSITY
Department of Chemistry, Physics, & Geology

Spring 2008    Course: PHYS 256 - Musical Acoustics

Lecture: MW 6:30-7:45PM, Sims 209    Course Schedule       

Professor: Dr. Ponn Maheswaranathan (Mahes), Professor of Physics.
Office: 213-B, Sims, Office Hours: By appointment.
Phone: 323 4940, E-mail: mahesp@winthrop.edu

Textbook: The Physics of Sound By Berg and Stork, Prentice Hall, 3rd ed., 2005.  

Course Objectives:

• Develop an understanding of physics' role as the most basic of the sciences.
• Learn the introductory physics concepts associated with wave motion, vibration, & sound.
• Gain an understanding of physics' role in musical acoustics.  
• Understand the physics behind musical instruments, auditorium acoustics, and sound recording & reproduction.  

Writing Component: The General Education Writing Component will be incorporated into this course by requiring the following graded writing assignments.

1. Homework/ lab activities: Homework and lab activities will be assigned at appropriate times. They will be collected and graded. 
2. Project: You will be given a topic to research and prepare a 15-minute power point presentation. You will do a power point presentation to the class and turn in a digital copy of the presentation.   

Course Description:
PHYS 256 is a semester-long musical acoustics course primarily intended for students majoring in music. It is also an appropriate science course for non-science majors. Basic knowledge of high-school level physics/physical science and algebra is assumed. Course will be delivered conceptually without using too-much mathematics.  

Attendance and Participation:
Students are encouraged to attend all the lectures and to actively take part in classroom activities. Regular attendance and good participation efforts will help in the final letter grade assignment for borderline cases.

Students with Disabilities:
Winthrop University is dedicated to providing access to education. If you have a disability and need classroom accommodations, please contact Gena Smith, Coordinator, Services for Students with Disabilities, at 323-3290, as soon as possible. Once you have your professor notification, please tell me so that I am aware of your accommodations well before the first {test/paper/assignment}.

Tests & Final:

Points & Grade:
The above total of 600 points will be used to assign a letter grade, which will be very close to the following:
90% or above = A, 80% or above = B, 70% or above = C, 60% or above = D, and below 60% = F.