Physics 2220

PHYSICS FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS

Course Syllabus - Spring 2009

Click here for a .pdf version of the syllabus

Last modified:  Thursday, March 11, 2010 12:59 PM

OUTLINE

1. Electrostatics: Electric charge, Coulomb's law, electric fields, electric dipole, Gauss' law, electric potential, capacitance. (Ch. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)

2. Electric Current and Circuits: Current, resistance, Ohm's law, circuits, the loop rule and the junction rule. (Ch. 26, 27)

3. Magnetic Fields and Induction: Forces on a moving charges and currents, torque on a current loop, sources of magnetic fields, the Biot-Savart law, Ampere's law, magnetic dipoles, Faraday's law of induction, Lenz's law, RL circuits, magnetism of matter, displacement current, Maxwell's equations. (Ch. 28, 29, 30)

4. Alternating Current: Reactance, impedance, RLC circuits, resonance. (Ch. 31)

5. Electromagnetic Waves, Light, and Optics: Electromagnetic waves, radiation pressure, Polarization, reflection, refraction, Snell's law, dispersion, mirrors, thin lenses, interference, Young's double-slit experiment, thin films, single-slit diffraction, resolution and Rayleigh's criterion, diffraction gratings. (Ch. 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)

6. Special Theory of Relativity: Einstein's postulates, simultaneity, time dilation, length contraction, Lorentz transformations, velocity addition, the Doppler effect for light, relativistic momentum and energy, mass and energy. (Ch. 37)

7. Quantum Physics: Photons, the photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, probability waves, de Broglie's matter waves, the wave-particle duality, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, barrier tunneling, particle in a box, quantized energy, the hydrogen atom, the periodic table, the Pauli exclusion principle. (Ch. 38, 39, 40)

8. Nuclear Physics: atomic nuclei, radioactivity, alpha and beta decay, nuclear fission and fusion. (Ch. 42, 43).

OFFICE HOURS

MWF: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
TTh:  1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

and any other time I am in my office

COURSE POLICY

You are responsible for all material presented in the lectures, reading, and homework assignments. Although attendance is not required, it is strongly recommended. The review sessions before each quiz are devoted to clearing up questions about the course material. The homework is due before the quiz on the days listed in the lecture schedule. Late assignments will be accepted, for half-credit only, during the week after the due date. Homework more than one week late will not be accepted. The homework grades will range from 0 - 2 points per assignment, simply verifying that the problems have been worked.

Before each homework assignment is due, the solutions will be posted on the web. You should carefully review these solutions and use them to make corrections to your work. Above all, be sure you understand how each problem was solved. Questions about the assignments will be answered during the review session before each quiz.

A quiz covering one or two of the homework problems will be given after each review session. Although no make-up quizzes will be given under any circumstances, your three lowest quiz scores will be dropped when determining your grade.

Four hour-long exams will be given in the lecture room. WARNING: No make-up exams will be given without the ADVANCE PERMISSION of the instructor. Alas, Nature is not kind, and does not pose simple one-step problems with all of the variables labeled. For this reason, the exams will avoid purely plug-in problems. A "cheat sheet" containing only the basic equations will be supplied with each exam. Academic dishonesty on an hour exam or on the final exam will result in a grade of zero being given for that examination. A second violation during the Phys 2210/2220 sequence will constitute failure of the course.

Any student requiring accommodations or services due to a disability must contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) in Room 181 of the Student Service Center. SSD can also arrange to provide course materials (including this syllabus) in alternative formats if necessary.

Go to Dr. Carroll's PHYS 2220 home page