PHY211 (Fall 2019) Mastering Physics Page
Syracuse University - Department of Physics

Physics 211 (Fall 2019)

Mastering Physics Homework Assignments

Access MasteringPhysics homework assignments at http://www.masteringphysics.com (course id is SUPHY211FALL2019 ). Enter your login name and password created during registration to their web page - see below (these are not the same as for your SU account, unless you make them so). In addition to the assigned problems, the system lets you access the textbook in the electronic form (click on "eText" tab).

Registration

First time you enter you will need to register (click on "Student" tab). You will need to supply e-mail address (please use SU email address), course id SUPHY211FALL2019 (make sure you do not add a space before or after the Course Id - copy & paste often do that!), and purchased access code. Only one student can register using the same access code. When registering you will also be prompted for student Id. Please enter your valid SUID (first 9 digits, no dashes) for student Id. After you register, and upon subsequent logins to the system you will see a list of active assignments to complete with the due date and time.

Working on assignments

If you don't complete the assignment right away you can login later and complete it later. If you select "show answer" or "give-up" you will lose credit for given part, and there is no way to undo this. All parts of each assignments must be completed (or given-up) before you receive any credit for the assignment. Assignments are not timed, except that you must submit them before the deadline (usually 8pm on Wed). Partial credit is given for assignments completed until midnight; percentage of the credit decreases linearly from 100% to 0% between 8 and 12pm. There are 3 types of assignments: SB (Skill Builders), STP (Self-Tutoring Problems) and EOC (End-of-Chapter) - press "help" button when logged on to the MP system for more information. If you enter a wrong answer you will be told so and you will be able to try again. You can also use hints for SB and STP problems to help yourself arrive to the correct answer. EOC problems offer no hints and just tell you if the answer is right or wrong.

Make sure you don't hit "give-up" or "show answer" button accidentally. The latter will display the correct answer, but you will earn no credit and there is no way to reset it.

Important! Only the simplest problems can be answered right away. For most of the problems you will need to do work on a sheet of paper. A calculator may come handy too. It is a good idea to read the problem carefully, solve it on a piece of paper and think thoroughly about what you did before submitting any answers. Since you don't need to submit any answers right away, you may logout and come back to provide the answers later.

Resist the temptation of doing multiple choice problems without studying first. You will lose a lot of points this way (see below).

Scoring system

Penalty for a wrong answer is 1% unless the problem is multiple choice. If the question is multiple choice, students lose 1/(n-1) points, when n is the number of options to choose from, for each unique wrong answer they submit. Therefore, it is easy to lose a lot of points on multiple choice questions if you try guessing without learning the material first. There are no penalties for using hints. You will be awarded bonus points (2%) by arriving to the right answer without using hints.