Undergraduate Course: Physics 2A: Forces, Fields & Potentials (PHYS08022)
Course Outline
| School |
School of Physics and Astronomy |
College |
College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type |
Standard |
Availability |
Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) |
SCQF Level 08 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Credits |
20 |
| Home subject area |
Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy) |
Other subject area |
None |
| Course website |
None |
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| Course description |
This course provides an introduction to classical dynamics, special relativity, electromagnetism and geometric optics, at a somewhat more advanced level than the companion foundation course Physics 1A. It serves both as a preparation for further study in physics-based degree programmes, and as a stand-alone course for students of other disciplines, including mathematics, chemistry, computer science and engineering. The course is supported by a programme of tutorial workshops and includes an introductory module on Java programming and data analysis. |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
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WebCT enabled: Yes |
Quota: 220 |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| King's Buildings | Laboratory | | 2-11 | 14:00 - 17:00 | | or 14:00 - 17:00 | or 14:00 - 17:00 | | | King's Buildings | Lecture | | 1-11 | 09:00 - 09:50 | | | | | | King's Buildings | Lecture | | 1-11 | | 09:00 - 09:50 | | | | | King's Buildings | Lecture | | 1-11 | | | | 09:00 - 09:50 | | | King's Buildings | Lecture | | 1-11 | | | | | 09:00 - 09:50 | | King's Buildings | Tutorial | | 2-11 | 10:00 - 12:00 | or 11:10 - 13:00 | | or 11:10 - 13:00 | or 10:00 - 12:00 |
| First Class |
Week 1, Monday, 09:00 - 09:50, Zone: King's Buildings. Lecture Theatre A, JCMB |
| Additional information |
Tutorial workshops two hours per week, as arranged. Laboratory sessions three hours per week, as arranged. |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, it is intended that a student will understand
- Maxwell's Laws of classical electromagnetism in integral form;
- the role of the field; that static charges give rise to an electric field, and that moving charges give rise to magnetic fields;
- that electric fields can be described as a derivative of electric potential, and that electric potential as a scalar quantity provides a useful tool for attacking problems;
- the role of symmetry in simplifying a problem;
- the notions of a volume, surface and linear charge density, and know how to apply the principle of superposition of fields to calculate fields due to continuous charge distributions;
- that changing magnetic fields produce electric fields (Faraday's Law) and that changing electric fields produce a magnetic field (Ampere-Maxwell Law);
- that magnetic fields can be viewed as a relativistic phenomenon, based on a unified electromagnetic field;
- the two basic postulates of Special Relativity;
- the phenomena of time dilation and Lorentz contraction;
- that the notion of simultaneity depends on the reference frame;
- relativistic velocities transformation, linear momentum, and total and kinetic energy;
- that in the low speed limit relativistic results correspond to classical Newtonian physics;
- what is meant a rest mass energy.
- geometric optics using Gaussian lens formula and matrix ray methods
- basic optical systems, including the human eye, magnifier, telescope, microscope; concepts of optical aberrations and their control.
Other course elements: the Data Analysis course will give the ability to manipulate, plot and fit, in a linear form, with error bars, data using spreadsheet software. The Java component will explain the practical utility of computation for solving physical problems and construct Java programs using variables, control structures and supplied routines to model simple physical systems. |
Assessment Information
Weekly assignments, 10%
Computing and data analysis, 20%
Degree Examination, 70% |
| Please see Visiting Student Prospectus website for Visiting Student Assessment information |
Special Arrangements
| Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser |
Dr Alex Murphy
Tel: (0131 6)50 5285
Email: a.s.murphy@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary |
Mrs Linda Grieve
Tel: (0131 6)50 5254
Email: linda.grieve@ed.ac.uk |
|
copyright 2010 The University of Edinburgh -
1 September 2010 6:34 am
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