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Course Syllabus
(Based
on previous PHYS 224 course by Prof
Ian George)
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· PHYS 224
(from Catalog)
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Introductory Physics III [3 credits]
[Phy-Maj] [Phy-Min]
This course emphasizes vibrations, wave motion and optics. Topics include
mathematical characterization of vibrations and waves, sound, superposition
of standing waves, geometrical and physical optics, diffraction,
interference and polarization of light.
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Prerequisite: PHYS 122
The course requires that students have the background in Physics provided by
PHYS121 and PHYS122. Concepts from these courses will be used on a daily
basis.
Corequisite: MATH 251
The course requires students to have a good working knowledge of
single-variable Calculus. This includes differentiation & integration,
formulae for algebraic & trigonometric functions, computation &
manipulation of power series, Taylor
series, and polar coordinates.
Course Objectives
This course is the third part of the Introductory Physics program for Physics
Majors at UMBC, and the stepping stone to almost all the upper-level Physics
courses. However, despite its name, it is not really a continuation of the
first two courses. Instead it sets the (mainly mathematical) foundation for
the upper-level courses. Many of the concepts introduced in this course will
be encountered again (& expanded upon) in later courses in Quantum
Mechanics, Electricity & Magnetism, Classical Mechanics, Optics etc.
Thus the main objective of this course is to provide students an introduction
to these fundamental concepts, and a thorough grounding in the mathematical
techniques, required in future courses.
By the
end of the course, successful students will be able to:
- describe
several forms of simple harmonic motion, including
- amplitude,
velocity, acceleration & energy exchange as a function of time
- write,
manipulate & solve the differential equations that describe the
behaviour of free, damped & forced oscillators, using both
- trigonomical
functions
- the
complex exponential formalism
and easily be able to switch between the two.
- describe coupled oscillators and normal
modes of a system
- describe
wave motion, including
- discrimination
of transverse vs longitudinal waves
- discrimination
of standing vs progressive waves
- deriving/solving
the equation for a propagating wave
- deriving/solving
the equation for a standing wave
- description
of energy transported by a wave
- description
of resonance
- have
an understanding of boundary effects & Huygen's Principle
- describe
the propagation of both sound and electromagnetic waves (light),
including use of
- the
Poynting Vector
- Doppler
shifts
- understand
the concept of superposition, including
- interference
& diffraction
- understand
the propagation of light encountering mirrors and lenses, including
- the
difference between geometric and physical optics
- refraction
& reflection
- focal
points & magnification
- introduction
to Fourier methods, including
- Fourier
spectral analysis
- Understand
applications of oscillations and waves in nature and in daily problems
in Physics
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