PHYS0040
Basic Physics [ Course Website ] [ Lab Website ]
This year-long course (PHYS 0030 &PHYS 0040) is designed primarily for concentrators in science other than Physics who do not expect to take additional courses in the physics concentration curriculum. It is intended to provide an understanding of the principles underlying physical phenomena that are encountered in the study of other scientific disciplines. The majority of students in the course are pursuing a premedical curriculum.
To make the study of physics meaningful for general education and relevant as professional preparation emphasis will be centered on the development of physical intuition, modeling skills and problem solving ability. The course employs quantitative methods. Algebra and trigonometry are used extensively as are the basic concepts of calculus. More calculus is used in Physics PHYS 0040 than in PHYS 0030, but the level is limited to simple derivatives and integrals. (Note that Mathematics 0090, 0100 are co-requisites for this course.) Course notes detailing procedures and policies are available. The text is University Physics (extended version) by Hugh D. Young and Roger Freedman, 12th edition.
PHYSICS 0040 concentrates on electric and magnetic phenomena including radiation, the propagation of light and the properties of matter at the atomic level, the following material (Chapters 21-30, 32-35, and 38-40 of Young and Freedman) is covered:
Electrostatics (charges, electric fields and potentials, capacitors) Steady Electric Currents (simple circuits) Magnetism (generation of magnetic fields, current loops, solenoids) Electromagnetic Induction (induced EMF, mutual inductance, self inductance) Electromagnetic Waves and the Nature of Light (displacement current, electromagnetic waves, light, reflection and refraction of light) Geometrical Optics and Optical Instruments (mirrors, lenses) Physical Optics (coherence, interference, diffraction) Origins of Quantum Theory (the photoelectric effect, x-rays, matter waves, uncertainty principle) Atomic Structure and Spectra (Bohr's model of the hydrogen atom, emission and absorption or radiation, de Broglie waves and the Bohr model, atomic wave function).
