Physics Course Modules

Year of Study 1
PHYS 11512 - Mechanics and Properties of Matter

Course Code:

PHYS 11512

Title:

Mechanics and Properties of Matter

Pre-Requisites:

A/L Physics

Co-Requisites:

PHYS 11521

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the course, the students will be able to demonstrate (i) basic understanding on fundamental concepts of physics in mechanics and properties of matter and (ii) skills in relevant applications and solving problems.

Course Content:

Units and Measurements. Coordinate Systems, Scalars and Vectors. The Force and Linear Motion. Work and Energy, Power. Conservation of Energy and Momentum. Gravitation. Circular Motion and Rotational dynamics; Torques and Moments of Inertia, Angular Momentum, Periodic Motion, Precession, Gyroscope, Rotating Frames of Reference, Inertial forces. Mechanics of Fluids: Buoyancy and Archimedes’ Principle, Bernoulli's Equation and Applications. Elasticity; Elastic Constants, Poisson's Ratio, Bending of a Beam, Surface Tension, Viscosity.

Method of Teaching and Learning:

Lectures, assignments, seminars and student-centered discussions.

Assessment:

End-of-course written examination and other assessments announced at the beginning of the course unit.

Recommended Reading:

Giancoli, D. C. (2013). Physics: Principles with Applications (7th Edition), Prentice Hall.

* Halliday D., Resnick, R. and Walker. J. (2010). Fundamentals of Physics (9th Edition), John Wiley.

* Young, H. D & Freedman, R. A, (2014). University Physics with Modern Physics (13th Edition), Addison Wesley.

* Sears, F. W. (1951). Mechanics, Heat, and Sound, Addison Wesley Co.

* Feynman, R. P. (1964). Feynman Lectures on Physics.

Year of Study 2
PHYS 21513 - Waves and Optics
Course Code:

PHYS 21513

Title:

Waves and Optics

Pre-Requisites:

PHYS 11512

Co-Requisites:

PHYS 21521

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the course, the student will be able show (i) basic understanding on the fundamental concepts of vibrations and waves, optical physics and their applications and (ii) skills in applications and solving problems.

Course Content:

Waves: Free Vibrations: Simple harmonic oscillations (SHO), Superposition of two SHO in 1-D and 2-D, Lissajues, Figures, Coupled Oscillators: Normal Modes. Damped Vibrations: Light, Heavy and Critical Damping, Amplitude decay. Forced Vibrations: Transient and steady state behavior, Resonance, Q value, bandwidth. Vibration insulation. Waves: Transverse and Longitudinal Waves: Wave equations, Characteristic impedance. Wave Phenomena: Particle, Phase and Group velocities, Beats, Dispersion, Energy Propagation, Intensity and pressure amplitudes. Reflection and transmission, Impedance matching, Amplitude and Frequency modulations. Waves in transmission lines, Coaxial cables. Fourier analysis.

 

Optics : Reflection and refraction at spherical surfaces, Prisms, Dispersion, Thin lenses, Lens makers’ formula, Compound lenses, Thick lenses, Aberration, Optical instruments. Displacement, Intensity, wave front, Hygen’s Principle, Superposition Theorem. Interference of Light: Concept of Optical Path, Young’s Double Slit Experiment. Fresnel’s Biprism. Lloyd’s Mirror. Interference Involving Multiple Reflections. Formation of Newton’s Rings. Non-reflecting Films. Interferometers. Fraunhofer Diffraction; Single Slit, Double Slit, Diffraction Grating, Circular Aperture. Chromatic Resolving Power. Fresnel Diffraction; Fresnel’s Half-Period Zones, Vibration Curve, Circular Aperture, Circular Obstacle. Zone Plate. Cornu’s Spiral. Fresnel’s Integrals. Polarization of Light; Polarization by Dichroic Crystals, Double Refraction, Interference and Analysis of Polarized Light. Lasers; Resonance Radiation. Production of Laser Light. Holography. Applications of Lasers.

 

Method of Teaching and Learning: Lectures, assignments, seminars and student-centered discussions.

 

Assessment: End-of-course written examination and other assessments announced at the beginning of the course unit.

 

Recommended Reading:

* Young H. D., Freedmann R.A. & Ford A. L. (13th edition). (2014). University Physics with Modern Physics, Pearson Publishing.

* French, A. P. (9th edition). (1971). Vibrations and Waves, WW Norton & Company.

* Pain, H. J. (3rd edition). (1985). The Physics of Vibrations and Waves, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

* Subrahmanyyam, N. & Lal, B. (2nd edition). (2001). Waves and Oscillations, Vikas Publishing.

Year of Study 3
PHYS 31512 - Electromagnetic Theory

Course Code:

PHYS 31512

Title:

Electromagnetic Theory

Pre-Requisites:

PHYS 22533

Co-Requisites:

PHYS 31521

Learning Outcomes: At the end of the course, the student will be able to demonstrate (i) knowledge and understanding on the fundamental concepts of electromagnetism (ii) ability of solving problems in relevant applications.

 

Course Content:

Electrostatics: Vector analysis, Divergence theorem, Stokes’s theorem, Coulomb’s law, Electric field, Gauss’s law and its applications, Electric potential, Poisson’s equation, Laplace’s equation, Electrostatic energy, Conductors, Electrostatic boundary conditions, Separation of variable, Laplace’s equation in Cartesian coordinate  system and spherical coordinate system,  Boundary value problems, Electric dipole, Method of imagers, Electric fields in dielectric media, Polarization, Gauss’s law in dielectric media,  Boundary conditions on D and E.

Magnetostatics: Current densities. Conservation of charge, the Biot-Savart law, Lorenz force, The divergence of B, Ampere’s law, Magnetic dipole, Magnetic vector potential and scalar potential. Magnetic materials, The magnetization, Current densities of magnetized body, Magnetic field intensity and Ampere’s circuital law, Magnetic susceptibility and permeability, Boundary conditions of B and H,  Methods of solving boundary value problems in magnetostatics.

Electromagnetic Theory: Faraday’s law of induction, Energy in the magnetic field, Maxwell equations, Poynting’s theorem and conservation of energy and momentum, Plane electromagnetic waves in non-conducting medium, Properties of the electromagnetic waves, Energy and momentum of electromagnetic waves.

 

Method of Teaching and Learning: Lectures, assignments, seminars and student-centered discussions.

 

Assessment: End-of-course written examination and other assessments announced at the beginning of the course unit.

 

Recommended Reading:

* Griffiths, D. J. (2012) 6th edition, Introduction to  Electrodynamics, Addison-Wesley.

* Sears, F. W. (1951). Electricity and Magnetism, Addison-Wesley.

* Purcell, E. M. (1965). Electricity and Magnetism Berkeley Physics Course, McGraw-Hill.

* Jackson, J. D. (1998) 3rd edition. Classical Electrodynamics, John Wiley.

Year of Study 4
PHYS 44764 - Classical Mechanics

Course Code:

PHYS 44764

Title:

Classical Mechanics

Pre-Requisites:

All Level – 1 and Level – 2 PHYS compulsory course units

   

Learning Outcomes: The students, at the end of the course, will be able to demonstrate conceptual understanding on fundamentals of Physics and develop skills in problem solving related to Classical Mechanics.

 

Course Content: Review of Newtonian and Relativistic Mechanics. D'Alembert's Principle. Generalized Coordinates. Hamilton’s Principle. Lagrange’s Equations of Motion. Central-force Motion. Rigid-body Kinematics. Small Oscillations and Normal Modes. Coupled Oscillators. Canonical Transformations. Hamilton-Jacobi Theory.

 

Method of Teaching and Learning: Lectures, assignments, seminars and student-centered discussions.

 

Assessment: End-of-course written examination and other assessments announced at the beginning of the course unit.

 

Recommended Reading:

* Goldstein H., Poole C., Safko J. CLASSICAL MECHANICS (Third Edition), Addison Wesley.

* Landau L. D., Lifshitz E. M., Mechanics, Pergamon.

* Gupta S. L., Kumar V., Sharma H. V. Classical Mechanics (Paperback), Pragati Prakashan.

* Stephen T. Thornton  and Jerry B. Marion (2003), Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems (5th Ed.),

Cengage Learning.

*Level 4 courses will only be offered for the students who follow the BSc Honours Degree Programmes in Physics and Mathematical Physics.

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