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PHYS 112 Syllabus

Basic Physics II [4 credits]

Textbook:

College Physics (7^th ed)
R.A. Serway & J.S. Faughn
(Thomson- Brooks/Cole)

Topics Covered:

ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM: Electric Forces and Electric Fields (Properties of Electric Charges; Insulators and Conductors; Coulomb's Law; The Electric Field; Electric Field Lines; Conductors in Electrostatic Equilibrium; The Millikan Oil-Drop Experiment; The Van de Graaff Generator; Electric Flux and Gauss's Law) , Electrical Energy and Capacitance (Potential Difference and Electric Potential; Electric Potential and Potential Energy Due to Point Charges; Potentials and Charged Conductors; Equipotential Surfaces; Applications. Capacitance; The Parallel-Plate Capacitor; Combinations of Capacitors; Energy Stored in a Charged Capacitor; Capacitors with Dielectrics) , Current and Resistance (Electric Current; Current and Drift Speed; Current and Voltage Measurements in Circuits; Resistance and Ohm's Law; Resistivity; Temperature Variation of Resistance; Superconductors; Electrical Energy and Power; Electrical Activity in the Heart) , Direct Current Circuits (Sources of emf; Resistors in Series; Resistors in Parallel; Kirchhoff's Rules and Complex DC Circuits; RC Circuits; Household Circuits; Electrical Safety; Conduction of Electrical Signals by Neurons) , Magnetism (Magnets; Earth's Magnetic Field; Magnetic Fields; Magnetic Force on a Current-Carrying Conductor; Torque on a Current Loop and Electric Motors; Motion of a Charged Particle in a Magnetic Field; Magnetic Field of a Long, Straight Wire and Ampere's Law; Magnetic Force Between Two Parallel Conductors; Magnetic Fields of a Current Loop and Solenoids; Magnetic Domains) , Induced Voltages and Inductance (Induced emf and Magnetic Flux; Faraday's Law of Induction; Motional emf; Lenz's Law Revisited; Generators; Self-Inductance; RL Circuits; Energy Stored in a Magnetic Field) , Alternating Current Circuits and Electromagnetic Waves (Resistors in an AC Circuit; Capacitors in an AC Circuit; Inductors in an AC Circuit; The RLC Series Circuit; Power in an AC Circuit; Resonance in a Series RLC Circuit; The Transformer; Maxwell's Predictions; Hertz's Confirmation of Maxwell's Predictions; Production of Electromagnetic Waves by an Antenna; Properties of Electromagnetic Waves; The Spectrum of Electromagnetic Waves; The Doppler Effect for Electromagnetic Waves) ,
LIGHT AND OPTICS: Reflection and Refraction of Light (The Nature of Light; Reflection and Refraction; The Law of Refraction; Dispersion and Prisms; The Rainbow; Huygens's Principle; Total Internal Reflection) , Mirrors and Lenses (Flat Mirrors; Images Formed by Spherical Mirrors; Convex Mirrors and Sign Conventions; Images Formed by Refraction; Atmospheric Refraction; Thin Lenses; Lens and Mirror Aberrations) , Wave Optics (Conditions for Interference; Young's Double-Slit Interference; Change of Phase Due to Reflection; Interference in Thin Films; Using Interference to Read CD's and DVD's; Diffraction; Single-Slit Diffraction; The Diffraction Grating; Polarization of Light Waves) , Optical Instruments (The Camera; The Eye; The Simple Magnifier; The Compound Microscope; The Telescope; Resolution of Single-Slit and Circular Apertures; The Michelson Interferometer) ,
MODERN PHYSICS: Relativity (Introduction; The Principle of Galilean Relativity; The Speed of Light; The Michelson-Morley Experiment; Einstein's Principle of Relativity; Consequences of Special Relativity; Relativistic Momentum; Relativistic Addition of Velocities; Relativistic Energy and the Equivalence of Mass and Energy;; Pair Production and Annihilation; General Relativity) , Quantum Physics (Blackbody Radiation and Planck's Hypothesis; The Photoelectric Effect and the Particle Theory of Light; X-Rays. Diffraction of X-Rays by Crystals; The Compton Effect; The Dual Nature of Light and Matter; The Wave Function; The Uncertainty Principle; The Scanning Tunneling Microscope) , Atomic Physics (Early Models of the Atom; Atomic Spectra; The Bohr Theory of Hydrogen; Modification of the Bohr Theory; De Broglie Waves and the Hydrogen Atom; Quantum Mechanics and the Hydrogen Atom; The Spin Magnetic Quantum Number; Electron Clouds; The Exclusion Principle and the Periodic Table; Characteristic X-Rays; Atomic Transitions; Lasers and Holography; Energy Bands in Solids; Semiconductor Devices) , Nuclear Physics (Some Properties of Nuclei; Binding Energy; Radioactivity; The Decay Processes; Natural Radioactivity; Nuclear Reactions; Medical Applications of Radiation; Radiation Detectors) , Nuclear Energy and Elementary Particles (Nuclear Fission; Nuclear Reactors; Nuclear Fusion; Elementary Particles; The Fundamental Forces in Nature; Positrons and Other Antiparticles; Mesons and the Beginning of Particle Physics; Classification of Particles; Conservation Laws; Strange Particles and Strangeness; The Eightfold Way; Quarks; Colored Quarks; Electroweak Theory and the Standard Mode; The Cosmic Connection; Problems and Perspectives)

(Due to time-constraints, not all sections are covered in every run of the course)

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Department of Physics - 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250