Course Description & Grading Policy | Lecture Schedule | Lab Policy | Lab Schedule | Office Hours | Old Exams
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Phys 101 Course Description & Grading Policy (Term 252)
Course Description:
The topics covered include particle kinematics and dynamics; conservation of energy and linear momentum; rotational kinematics; rigid body dynamics; conservation of angular momentum; Gravitation; simple harmonic motion; the statics and dynamics of fluids.
Textbook:
"Principles of Physics", by Halliday, Resnick and Walker, 10th Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2014).
Teaching Method:
The course material will be presented in lectures (3 hrs. per week). Problem solving techniques will be shown in recitations (1 hr. per week). The understanding of concepts learned in the lectures will be strengthened by laboratory work (3 hrs. per week). All classes (lectures and recitation) will start from the first week. Labs will start from week #2.
Course Learning Outcomes: On successfully completing the course the students can:
- Solve kinematic problems involving motion of a point particle in one, two, and three dimensions including vector operations.
- Formulate and apply Newton’s laws that govern the mechanics of a point particle.
- Understand the concepts of mechanical energy and linear momentum and apply their conservation laws to analyze simple mechanical systems.
- Solve kinematic and dynamic problems involving rotation of a rigid body about a fixed axis and smooth rolling motion.
- Extend the rules of basic mechanics of translational motion to circular and orbital motions.
- Solve problems related to static equilibrium of extended bodies under the action of forces and/or torques.
- Analyze and solve basic static and dynamic fluid problems.
- Explain the oscillatory motion in one and two dimensions and solve problems for simple mechanical systems.
- Operate basic Laboratory equipment, collect and plot data, write results and draw conclusions in a concise report.
Attendance Policy:
- A DN grade shall be given to the student who has 3 or more unexcused absences in the LAB.
- A DN grade shall be given to the student who has more than 12 unexcused absences in lecture + recitations.
- A W grade will be given to the student whose total absences (excused and unexcused) is more than 20 absences. To get this grade, the number of unexcused absences should be less than 13. Otherwise, the student will get a DN.
- A W grade will be given to the student whose total absences (excused and unexcused) is 4 or more in labs. To get this grade, the unexcused absences should be 2 or less. Otherwise, the student will get a DN grade.
- One extra point is given to the student who has 5 or less unexcused absences in the lecture + recitation.
- A Student who has a valid excuse (from KFUPM clinic or Students Affairs) for his/her absence must present it to the instructor no later than one week after resuming classes.
Assessment:
| Grading Policy | % |
|---|---|
| Class Work | 15 |
| Lab Work | 15 |
| First Major Exam (Chapters 1-6): exam time: 120 minutes, consists of 20 MCQ | 20 |
| Second Major Exam (Chapters 7-11): exam time: 120 minutes, consists of 20 MCQ | 20 |
| Final Exam (Comprehensive covering Chapters 1 – 15): exam time: 180 minutes, consists of 30 MCQ | 30 |
| Total | 100 |
a) Classwork (with an average score of 12.0/15):
The class work score shall be derived from the student’s performance in the quizzes. At least 9 quizzes shall be given over the semester period.
b) Lab work (with an average score of 12.0/15): The lab score shall be derived from lab reports.
c) Exams: All exams will be of multiple-choice type (MCQ). A sheet of important formulae (not definitions) will be provided in all exams. Specific dates and locations of the exams will be announced 1-2 weeks earlier. Students are not allowed to bring mobile phones and smart watches inside the exam hall.
d) Final Letter grade: based on a curve model.
e) It's the student’s responsibility to check the classwork and/or lab work grades with his/her instructor before they are submitted to the coordinator. Once submitted, they will not be changed.
Make-up Exam Policy:
A student who misses an exam with a valid excuse (issued by KFUPM’s Student Affairs) must present the excuse to the course coordinator within 3 days after the date of the exam in order to take a make-up exam. However, if he/she misses the Final Exam with a valid excuse, he/she will get an “IC” grade in the course and will take a make-up exam in the following semester. If he/she does not have a valid excuse, the score for that exam will be zero. Personal excuses are not accepted.
Phys 101 Lecture Schedule (Term 252)
| Week | Day | Date | Topics | Chapter | Sec | Useful Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun Tue Thu | 11 Jan 2026 13 15 | Measuring things, including lengths Time and Mass Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration | 01 01 02 | 1 2,3 1-3 | Significant fig, Motion in 1D |
| 2 | Sun Tue Thu | 18 20 22 | Constant acceleration, Free fall, Graphical Integration Vectors and unit vectors, adding vectors by their components. Multiplying Vectors | 02 03 03 | 4-6 1-2 3 | Calculus, More Vectors River & boat |
| Thursday Jan.22, 2026– Last day for dropping courses without a permanent record | ||||||
| 3 | Sun Tue Thu | 25 27 29 | Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration. Projectile motion, Uniform Circular Motion Relative Motion in 1D and 2D | 04 04 04 | 1-3 4,5 6,7 | Motion in 2D Projectiles |
| 4 | Sun Tue Thu | 01 Feb 03 05 | Newton's first and second laws Some particular forces Applying Newton’s Laws | 05 05 05 | 1 2 3 | Forces Gravity Force Atwood Machine |
| 5 | Sun Tue Thu | 08 10 12 | Friction, Uniform Circular Motion Review | 06 06 -- | 1 3 | Friction1, 2 Circular 1 |
| 6 | Sun Tue Thu | 15 17 19 | Kinetic Energy and Work Work done by Weight, Spring, Power Potential energy, Conservation of Mechanical Energy | 07 07 08 | 1,2 3,4,7 --- | Spring 1 Hook's Law1, 2 |
| First Major Exam (Chapters 1 – 6): (24 Feb. 2026) | ||||||
| 7 | Sun Tue Thu | 22 24 26 | Saudi Founding Day Work by an External Force, Conservation of energy Center of mass, Newton’s second law for a system of particles | -- 08 09 | 1,2 4,5 1,2 | Energy Conservation COM |
| 8 | Sun Tue Thu | 01 Mar 03 05 | Linear momentum, collision, and impulse Conservation of linear momentum, kinetic energy in a collision Collisions in 1-D and 2-D | 09 09 09 | 3,4 5,6 7,8 | Impulse Collision 1D,2D |
| 9 | Sun Tue Thu | 08 10 12 | Rotational Variables, Const. angul. acceleration, Linear to rotation Kinetic Energy and Rotational Inertia Torque, Newton’s 2nd Law and Work in Rotational Motion | 10 10 10 | 1-3 4-5 6-8 | Inertia Torque |
| Eid Al-Fitr Holidays Mar.15, March 27, 2026 | ||||||
| 10 | Sun Tue Thu | 29 31 02 Apr | Rolling, Forces and Kinetic Energy of Rolling, Yo-Yo Torque and Angular moment., Newton’s 2nd Law in Angul. Form Conservation of Angular Momentum | 11 11 11 | 1-1 4-6 7-8 | Rolling 1, 2 |
| 11 | Sun Tue Thu | 05 07 09 | Review Review Review | -- -- -- | -- -- -- | Ang. Momentum Cons. Ang. Mom. |
| Second Major Exam (Chapters 7 – 11): (12 April 2026) | ||||||
| 12 | Sun Tue Thu | 12 14 16 | Review Equilibrium, Examples of Static Elasticity | -- 12 12 | -- 1,2 3 | Young, Shear Modulus |
| 13 | Sun Tue Thu | 19 21 22 | Newton’s law, Principle of superposition, Gravitation near Earth Gravitation Inside Earth, Gravitational potential energy Kepler's laws, Satellites | 13 13 13 | 1-3 4,5 6,7 | Gravity Orbital Kepler 1 |
| 14 | Sun Tue Thu | 26 28 30 | Fluids, Density, and Pressure. Fluids at Rest, Measuring Pressure Pascal’s Principles, Archimedes Principle. The Continuity Equation, Bernoulli's equation | 14 14 14 | 1-3 4,5 6,7 | Buoyancy Bernoulli |
| 15 | Sun Tue Thu | 03 May 05 07 | Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM), Energy in SHM Pendulums, Circular Motion Review | 15 15 --- | 1,2 4 --- | Pendulum 1 |
| 16 | Sun | 10 | Review | --- | --- | |
| Final Exam (Chapters 1 – 15): TBA | ||||||
I wish you a successful semester. PHYS101 Coordinator: Prof. Khalil Harrabi
Phys 101 Lab Policy (252)
Grading Policy
The lab grade constitutes 15% of the Phys101 course. The grade is distributed as follows:
Reports (points) | Quizzes | Total (Points) | Lab Average |
| 15 | No Quizzes | 15 | 12/15 |
- The lab grade will be based only on the evaluation of submitted lab reports; No other components (such as quizzes or attendance) will contribute to the final score.
- Students' Lab reports should be graded and returned to students within one week of submission.
- The final lab grade will be normalized to 12/15.
Lab Attendance Policy
- A DN grade shall be given to the student who has 3 or more unexcused absences in the LAB. In case of 5 excused and/or unexcused absences, a DN grade shall be also given.
- The instructor may allow students who were absent with an official excuse to have a make-up lab with another section. A student is not allowed to attend with another section for make-up without a written permission from his lab instructor. Personal excuses are not accepted. only excuses from student affairs (the blue letter with QR Code)
General Lab Policy
- It's the student’s responsibility to check the lab grades with his instructor before it submitted to the coordinator. Once submitted, it will not be changed.
- Using mobile phone is not allowed in the labs. Student should keep their mobiles in their pockets or their bags, any student showing his mobile should consider as cheating case.
- Students must bring the supplies they need such as, Lab notebook (graph notebook), pencil, ruler, calculator, eraser … etc.
- Students will download the write-up of each experiment from Phys101&102 website (Lab Schedule).
- Students will read the write-up, do the experiment then write the report in their notebooks.
- Students are expected to work in groups during the collection of data. Then, each student has to write his own report and answer the questions individually and not shared with others. Any cheating, copying, and sharing attempts of the lab reports will be dealt with severe consequences according to the university policy.
- Students should finish their lab work during the lab session and the instructor must collect all the reports before leaving the lab.
- The role of the lab instructor is not to give a lecture. The instructor will spend the lab period interacting with students, monitoring their performance and answering their questions.
- According to the Labs safety guidelines foods and beverages are not allowed in the labs.
- Student must leave the lab space in a clean and tidy manner, return the tolls to their boxes, and disconnect any electrical wires.
Phys 101 Lab Schedule (Term 252)
| Week | Date | Write-Up | Data Studio File |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 Jan. – 15 Jan. 2026 | NO LAB | |
| 2 | 18 Jan. – 22 Jan. | Significant Figures Significant F Report | |
| Thursday Jan.22, 2026– Last day for dropping courses without a permanent record | |||
| 3 | 25 Jan. - 29 Jan. | Graphing | |
| 4 | 01 Feb. - 05 Feb. | Vectors | |
| 5 | 08 Feb. - 12 Feb. | Constant Acceleration | |
| 6 | 15 Feb. - 19 Feb. | Newton's Laws | NewtonEx1 NewtonEx2 NewtonEx3 |
| 7 | 22 Feb. - 26 Feb. | No labs - Saudi Founding Day & First Major Exams | |
| 8 | 01 Mar. – 05 Mar. | Spring | Spring |
| 9 | 08 Mar. – 12 Mar. | Inelastic Collision | Ballistic.ds |
| Eid Al-Fitr Holidays Mar.15, March 27, 2026 | |||
| 10 | 29 Mar. – 02 Apr. | Rotational Inertia | Rotation1.ds Rotation2.ds Rotation3.ds |
| 11 | 05 Apr. – 09 Apr. | Maxwell's Wheel | Maxwell Wheel.ds |
| 12 | 12 Apr. – 16 Apr. | NO LAB - Second Major Exam | |
| 13 | 19 Apr. – 22 Apr. | Density | |
| 14 | 26 Apr. – 30 Apr. | Simple Pendulum | |
| 15 | 03 May – 07 May | NO LAB | |
| 16 | |||
| Final Exam | |||
Office Hours - Term 252
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