Harmonic Oscillator with Modified Damping

Due: At the start of class on Friday, March 7.

Group project: This is a group project with each group having either three or four members. Once a group begins work on the project, its membership cannot change. Consequently establishing your group must be your first step in this project. Each group will submit one report, and all members of the group will receive the same grade for this project.

For this project you will determine your groups. However, if you would like my help organizing a group, please send me email immediately. I plan to send out lists of suggested partners over the weekend of February 23-24.

Project description: See Lab 2.3 on pages 227-228 of our text. Pay close attention to the phrase "especially different." We want initial conditions that are especially different in terms of their physical interpretation.

Your report: Your report should be no longer than four typewritten pages, and it should address all of the questions in the project description. You may provide as many illustrations from the computer as you wish, but the relevance of each illustration to your report must be evident. Illustrations are part of the four-page limit. Please insert your illustrations at appropriate places in your report rather than attaching them to the end of the report. Examples of good reports done here at BU in previous semesters are available for inspection during my office hours, during Liz's office hours, and during discussion section.

Parameter values: Use Table 2.3 to determine your parameter values as follows:

  1. Average the last digits of your BU ID numbers.
  2. Round this number to the nearest integer (round up for .5).
  3. Use the result to pick your parameter values from Table 2.3. If your result is zero, then use the parameter values correponding to Choice #10.

Asking questions: Questions related to the project will be answered at the start of each lecture. Questions sent by email will also be answered at the start of each lecture. Questions sent by email after lecture on Wednesday, March 5 will not be answered. Consequently, you should not wait until the last minute to ask questions.

Academic Conduct: Your work and conduct in this course are governed by the CAS Academic Conduct Code. This code is designed to promote high standards of academic honesty and integrity as well as fairness. A copy of the code is available in CAS Room 105 if you cannot access it on the web, and it is your responsibility to know and follow the provisions of the code. In particular, all work that you submit in this course must be your original work. For example, you can only discuss your project with other members of your group, with Blanchard, or with Russell. Moreover, the computations that you do for your report as well as the text of your report must be original to your group. All group members are responsible for all aspects of the report. Any cases of suspected academic misconduct will be referred to the CAS Student Academic Conduct Committee.