PHYS110

General Physics I
Academic Semester and Year: Fall 2025 (Term 471).
:Sections

Instructor: Nassar Nasser Asemi,

Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: Wed, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM, & Thu, 09:00 AM
-.10:00 AM

Course Description: The topics covered include kinematics and dynamics of particles; circular
motion; the statics and dynamics of fluids; simple harmonic motion; wave motion; temperature,
first and second law of thermodynamics; images.

Note: Algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus are absolutely essential for this course. The
skills you will need to pass it include problem-solving, an understanding of units and dimensions,
and graphing skills.

Credit Hours: 2 credits.

Textbook: David Halliday, Robert Resnick, and Jearl Walker, Principles of Physics, 10th Edi-
tion, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Course Objectives:
At the completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Solve kinematic problems involving motion of a point particle in one, two, and three dimen-
sions including vector operations.
2. Extend the rules of basic mechanics of translational motion to circular motion.
3. Formulate and apply Newton’s laws that govern the mechanics of a point particle.
4. Solve problems related to static equilibrium of extended bodies under the action of forces
and/or torques.
5. Analyze and solve basic static and dynamic fluid problems.
6. Explain the oscillatory motion in one and two dimensions and solve problems for simple
mechanical systems.
7. Understand wave concepts and differentiating between longitudinal and transverse waves.
8. Solve problems related to the nature of temperature, thermal energy, zero, first and second
law of thermodynamics.
9. Understand the fundamental principles of light, including reflection, refraction, and dipersion
of light.
10. Understand how optical images, both real and virtual, are formed, and solve problems related
to images formed by lenses and mirrors.

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Grade Distribution:

Attendance and Participation 5%

Research 5%
Homework 10%
Two Quizzes 10% 5% each
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 45%
Total 100%

Course Policies:
• General:

– Announcements will be posted on Blackboard. You have to check Blackboard periodically.

– All course materials and homework will be uploaded on Blackboard.
– If you have any questions, please contact me through Blackboard messages or via your
official college email ([email protected]). Kindly note that I will not respond to messages
sent from personal email accounts.
– Students must bring the necessary supplies, such as a pencil, a pen, and a calculator.
You will need a calculator for all exams, and borrowing one during the exam is not
allowed. Please also remember to bring a pen.
– In exams, all answers must be written in pen, not in pencil.
– Using mobile phones inside the class is not allowed.

• Attendance and Absences:

– Attendance is expected and will be taken each class.

– Students are responsible for all missed work, regardless of the reason for absence. It is
also the absentee’s responsibility to get all missing notes or materials.
– If the student is absent more than 25% of the classes, she will disqualified for the final
exam.

• Electronic Attendance Regulations:

– The student is obligated to participate in the virtual class with the course instructor
as if she was in the physical class, and if the student does not respond or refuses to
participate, she is considered absent.
– The student in the virtual class is obliged to attend the whole class throughout the
announced period, and if the student leaves the virtual class before the time without
obtaining the instructor’s permission, she can be considered absent.

• Grades:

– Grades will be maintained in the Blackboard course shell. Students are responsible for
tracking their progress by referring to the online gradebook.

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• Homework

– Students are expected to work independently. Offering and accepting solutions from
others is an act of plagiarism, which is a serious offense and all involved parties will be
penalized according to the Academic Honesty Policy. Discussion amongst students is
encouraged, but when in doubt, direct your questions to the instructor.
– Homework consists of problems related to the course. Students should solve the problems
and submit their homework within 7 weekdays. If you need up to 3 additional days, you
must request an extension before the deadline, not after.
– There will be at least six homework assignments each two weeks, posted on Sundays,
and they must be submitted on Blackboard by Saturday of the same week (11:59 PM).
Late submissions will not be accepted.
– The homework should be submitted in PDF format.
– The homework grade will be based on an average over all homework assignments, but
the lowest homework grade will be dropped before the average is calculated.
– No extra homework will be given.

• Research:

– Your research will be evaluated as follows:

Introduction and objective (1 point): clearly state your topic, provide background
information, and explain the purpose of your work.
Content and accuracy (2 points): present accurate and relevant information, show
good understanding of the topic, and support your research with examples, facts, or
data.
Analysis and conclusion (1 point): explain and discuss the results or conclusions,
and make connections or comparisons when appropriate.
References and formatting (1 point): list sources properly and follow the required
formatting rules.
– Choose one topic from the list below.
– The research must be submitted by 27 November 2025.

• Research Topics:

– Vector analysis in sea navigation.

– Is area vector or scalar quantity?
– Physics in video games.
– Projectile motion in sports: analyzing the physics of a soccer free kick or basketball shot.
– The physics of Ferris wheels and circular motion in amusement rides.
– Banked curves on roads.
– Physics of drones.
– The physics of walking and running.
– Force analysis in bridges and structures.
– Force exerted by muscles during exercise.
– Cargo loading in trucks and ships.

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 – Air resistance and drag force.
– Equilibrium of furniture and structures, such as chairs, tables, or buildings.
– Fluid mechanics in sports: aerodynamics of soccer balls or baseballs.
– Why does ice float? Density and phase changes in water.
– Why ships float: Archimedes’ principle in engineering.
– Physics of blood flow: fluid dynamics in the human circulatory system.
– The physics of siphons and hydraulic lifts.
– The physics of refrigerators and air conditioners.
– Pascal’s principle in brakes and lifts in cars and machines.
– Car radiators and heat exchange.
– The concept of entropy in thermodynamics.
– Thermodynamics of car engines: how heat converts to mechanical work.
– Heat transfer in cooking: conduction, convection, and radiation.
– The mechanics of a simple pendulum.
– Simple harmonic motion in playground swings.
– Engineering of bridges and buildings against vibrations.
– Waves in oceanography.

: Quizzes •

There will be three quizzes during the semester, each worth 5 marks. The last quiz is –
optional. If you take all three quizzes, the lowest quiz grade will be dropped, and your
. marks from the other two quizzes will be added

:Quizzes dates and time are as follows –

.First quiz: 4th week

.Second quiz: 8 -9 week

. Third quiz: 12 week

. Make-up quizzes will not be provided –

: Make-up Midterm Exam •

. The make-up midterm exam will be due 28 Oct 2025, from 09:00 AM to 10:00 AM –

. Note: The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this syllabus as necessary •

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Academic Honesty Policy:

Onaizah Private Colleges are responsible for creating an environment in which high levels of
academic integrity are available by promoting academic integrity as an essential part of the per-
sonal and intellectual growth of the learner, and increasing the awareness of the trainee, trainers
and employees of issues related to academic integrity, promoting a climate of trust, honesty and
high ethical standards in an effort to achieve Academic excellence and encourages commitment
to honesty and integrity among all members of society and the application of the provisions of
the academic integrity policy. There are many forms of behavior that violate the standards and
principles of academic integrity. Here are some of the fraud prevention policies:

Cheating:

The learner is prohibited from copying the work of others and the unauthorized use of any
notes, information, and materials in the tasks assigned to the learner.

Theft:

Quoting the phrases and works of others and the unauthorized use of intellectual and liter-
ary blogs or any information in any academic test without referring to it as a reference.

Using Electronic Assistance:

The learner exploits the work of a colleague, and academic assistance is excluded with good
intentions, such as transferring from a special report drawn up by this learner or from an old
test, without informing him of that.

Exploitation of Cooperation:

The learner depends on another learner within his group to accomplish an assignment or joint
work, or exploits another learner to accomplish individual assignments. Fabrication and forgery:
The learner changes the information available to him or fabricates a test or an academic assign-
ment, or presents a forged medical certificate in order to be absent from attendance.

Impersonate others:

The learner pretends to be someone else in class, or in a test or exam, or in any type of training
or academic assignment, and in this case the impersonated learner and the impersonated learner
are punished.

Other plagiarism:

Religious learners who sell lectures, notes, papers or research works during their enrollment
in colleges or who accept material consideration for the work they do for others, without ob-
taining prior written approval from the Center’s management, will be subject to disciplinary
procedures, as well as learners who submit forms or petitions with information forged, or forged
or misleading signatures, will be subject to disciplinary action, and will be required to withdraw
from the Program without any compensation or discretion.

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Course Outline:
The weekly coverage might change as it depends on the progress of the class.

Week Content
Week 1 Measurement

Week 2 Motion Along a Straight Line

Week 3 Vectors

Week 4 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Week 5 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Week 6 Force and Motion I

Week 7 Force and Motion II

Week 8 Midterm Exam

.
Week 9 Equilibrium

Week 10 Fluids

Week 11 Oscillations

Week 12 Waves

Week 13 Temperature, Heat, and the First Law of Thermodynamics

Week 14 Images