Electricity and Magnetism

Semester 2

This is a calculus-based course covering the basic laws and phenomena in Electricity and
Magnetism.

Syllabus:

Electricity and Magnetism (18 Lectures):

 Electric field and potential:

o The electric field E due to extended charge distributions;
o Integral and differential expressions relating the electric potential V to the E field;
o Potential due to a dipole and other extended charge distributions.
 Gauss’ Law:
o Application to problems with spherical, cylindrical and rectangular symmetry.
 Capacitance:
o Calculation of the capacitance of various capacitors;
o Energy stored in a capacitor; RC circuits;
o Time constant
 Magnetism:
o Magnetic force on current-carrying wire and its application to cases needing
calculus treatment;
o Magnetic torque on a current loop;
o Magnetic moment of a current loop;
o The Hall-Effect;
o Biot-Savart Law and Ampere’s Law, and their application to long current-
carrying wire, loop, and solenoid.
 Electromagnetic Induction:
o Faraday’s Law and Lenz’s Law; Electro-magnetic induction and its applications;
o Self Induction;
o Inductance;
o RL circuits
 Electromagnetic Oscillations and Alternating Currents:
o LC Oscillation;
o Damped oscillation in an RLC circuit;
o Alternating current;
o Forced oscillation;
o RLC circuits;
o Power in AC circuits;
o The Transformer;
o Introduction to the Electromagnetic wave.

Learning Objectives:
After completing this course, students should be able to:

 Perform quantitative analyses of basic problems in Electrostatics and

Electrodynamics.
 Apply Gauss’s Law, Ampere’s Law, and Biot-Savart Law to solving practical
problems in electricity and magnetism.
 Calculate energy storage in capacitors
 Derive the time constants of Resistor-Capacitor circuits
 Explain and analyze the behavior of alternating currents in RLC circuits.
 Perform and interpret the results of simple experiments and demonstrations of
physical principles.

Evaluation:

One 3-hour theory examination paper 60%

Two 1-hour in-course tests - (15% each) 30%

Laboratory Report (Averaged of 6 labs at 10% each) 10%

Course Title: Modern Physics

Course Code: PHYS1422

Semester: II

No. of Credits: 3

Prerequisites: CAPE/A-Level Physics or PHYS0411 and PHYS0412 and PHYS 0421 and
PHYS 0422 or CSEC Physics with CAPE/A-Level Math

Course Rationale:

This course is one part of four that constitute the Introductory Physics program for Physics
Majors. It is a stepping stone to all the upper-level Physics courses providing fundamental
knowledge, mathematical techniques and laboratory practices. Many of the concepts in Modern
Physics introduced in this course will be encountered again & expanded upon in later courses.
Thus the main objective of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the
fundamental concepts of Modern Physics, and a thorough grounding in the mathematical and
laboratory techniques, required in future courses.

Course Description:

This is a calculus-based physics course covering the basic laws and phenomena in Modern
Physics.

Learning Objectives:

After completing this course, students should be able to:

· Apply Lorentz transform to physically and quantitatively interpret concepts of time-

dilation and length-contraction in Relativity Theory.

· Explain the wave-particle duality of the photon.

· Apply concepts of 20th Century Modern Physics to deduce the structure of atoms.

· Analyze the structure of matter at its most fundamental.

· Describe the evolution of the Universe and explain the ideas of the Big Bang theory.

· Perform and interpret the results of simple experiments and demonstrations of physical
principles.

Course Structure:
Modern Physics (18 Lectures):

 Bohr Atom: Spectral series for hydrogen, Bohr’s postulates, derivation of energy levels,
blackbody radiation and quantized energy levels (qualitative)
 Waves & Corpuscles: Wave-particle duality; photo-electric effect; Compton-effect;
energy, momentum and wavelength of a photon, deBroglie’s equation, wave function,
particle in a box.
 Special Relativity: Galilean relativity; Einstein postulates; Lorentz transformation;
simultaneity; time dilation; length contraction; derivation of velocity transformations, the
equation E2 = p2c2 + mo2c4 and its applications.
 Particle Physics and the Big Bang: Elementary particles; Three groups; Conservation
Laws; Eightfold way; Quarks; Fundamental interactions and their unification; The
standard model; The history of the universe.

Delivery Methods / Approaches:

The teaching of this course will be carried out using the following strategies:

Method/Approach Contact Hours

Formal Lectures 18
Tutorials 10
Practical work (6 x 4 hrs) 12
Total 40

Assessment Procedures/Methods:

One 2-hour theory examination paper 60%

Two 1-hour in-course tests - (15% each) 30%

Laboratory Report (Averaged of 6 labs at 10% each) 10%