ASTR 350, Fall 2012

Final Exam Information

Time The Final Exam will be held as scheduled on Friday Dec. 14, 8:00-11:00 am, in the usual classroom
Topics The exam is cumulative. All lecture and homework material through the course is fair game, however the exam will focus on new material since the last Hour Exam. Since the concepts we develop are cumulative, of course some of the ideas/defintions/results from the earlier material come into play.
What to Bring

Bring yourself, well-rested, a pencil--or better, two pencils. The exam is closed book and closed notes. You will be given all relevant equations (and some irrelvant ones) and numerical data you might need. You may bring a calculator, but equations should not be programmed in (in fact, all calculations will be possible to do without a calculator).

Question Format The format will be exactly the same as the first hour exam. Namely, questions will be in the form of mulitple choice, short answer (a phrase, a sentence, or at most two sentences), or short calculation. The homework questions serve as a guide for the kind of topics and questions the instructor considers to be important. Of course, given the time constriants of the exam, the problems will not generally be as involved as homework problems, but rather the questions will emphasize an understanding of how to apply and interpret the tools we have developed.
Study Tips The best way to prepare for the exam is to be sure you are clear on the concepts and to be able to understand and apply the concepts and equations you have been given. In both cases, your lecture notes will be helpful, as will the text. Reviewing the homework is also an excellent way to practice quantitative problems. Note that all of the homework solutions (in fairly lengthy, pedagogical form) are posted.
Study Sheet You may also bring 1 piece of regular, 8.5inch x 11inch paper with notes written on it. You may write or type whatever notes or diagrams you like on one or both sides the paper. This page is for your convenience only and is not necessary if you have studied well. If you bring a sheet, it is a very good idea to write it yourself, as the exercise of deciding what is important, organizing it, and writing it down, is a good way to study. You will be asked to hand it in the sheet with your exam, but you will be graded only on your exam responses, not on the contents of your sheet of notes.
Front Page and Sample Questions The front page and sample quesions available here: FinalSample.pdf

Brian D. Fields
Last modified: Sun Dec 9 17:42:06 CST 2012