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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Physics and Astronomy : Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy)

Undergraduate Course: Introduction to Condensed Matter Physics (PHYS10099)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Physics and Astronomy CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThe course covers the structure of solids and other phases of condensed matter. The first part will give an introduction to materials which are not solid, or crystalline, and neither liquids, but are still condensed matter, such as colloidal fluids or glasses, gels and liquid crystals. The remainder of the course will be focused on providing a basic understanding of the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of solids, and in particular metals and semiconductors. The aim is to give a firm grounding in the core concepts.
Course description Soft condensed matter
-Colloids and Brownian motion
-Forces in colloidal suspensions
-Phases and energetics of liquid crystals
Hard condensed matter
-Phonons in real materials
-Introduction to crystallography
-Electrons in solids, band structure
-Metals, semiconductors and insulators; different types of chemical bonding
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: ( Physics of Fields and Matter (PHYS08046) OR Physics of Matter (PHYS08054)) AND Thermal Physics (PHYS09061)
It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed Quantum Mechanics (PHYS09053) OR Principles of Quantum Mechanics (PHYS10094)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 22, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 20, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Revision Session Hours 4, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 50 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 80 %, Coursework 20 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 80% exam 20% coursework
Feedback Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)Introduction to Condensed Matter Physics2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Appreciate the different types of bonding in solids and of interactions in soft matter.
  2. Be able to solve problems involving order parameters (nematic order).
  3. Be able to solve problems in reciprocal space (phonons and electron band structure).
  4. Be able to estimate magnitudes of thermodynamic properties of hard and soft matter such as heat capacity and thermal expansion.
  5. Be able to estimate transport and non equilibrium properties of hard and soft matter, such as electrical conductivity of a metal and viscosity of a fluid.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsIntroCMP
Contacts
Course organiserDr Ingo Loa
Tel: (0131 6)51 7212
Email: I.Loa@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Yolanda Zapata-Perez
Tel: (0131 6)51 7067
Email: yolanda.zapata@ed.ac.uk
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