Physics 108: Principles and Applications of Electricity, Magnetism, and Optics with Laboratory

Course Description
Download the Syllabus (.doc)

Animations

• Linear Polarizer
• Double Slit Interface
• Reflection of a Pulse on an Interface
• Reflection of a Sinusoidal Wave on an Interface
• Thin-Film Interference

Syllabus

I.   Electric Charge
               electric charges
               conservation of charge
               Coulomb's law
               superposition 

II.   Electric Field
               E-field and field lines,
               E-field of a point charge, a dipole, and a continuous charge distribution
               motion of charges in E-field
               torque on a dipole 

III.   Gauss' Law
               electric flux
               application of Gauss' law
               conductors in E-fields

IV.   Electric Potential
               electric potential energy
               potential difference
               equipotentials 

V.   Capacitors and Dielectrics
               capacitance
               capacitors in parallel and in series
               energy in capacitors 

VI.   Currents in Materials
               currents
               Ohm's law
               resistance and resistivity
               Drude model of conductivity 

VII.   DC Circuits
               batteries
               resistors in parallel and in series
               Kirchhoff's law
               RC circuit 

VIII.   Effects of Magnetic Fields
               magnetic forces on an electric charge and on a current
               Hall effect
               magnetic dipole
               torque on a current loop 

IX.   Production of Magnetic Fields
               Biot-Savart Law
               Ampere's Law
               solenoids
               the Maxwell displacement current 

X.   Faraday's Law
               Lenz's Law
               Faraday's Law
               eddy currents 

XI.   Inductance
               inductance
               energy in inductors
               RL circuits 

XII.   Maxwell's Equations and E&M Waves
               Maxwell's equations
               E&M waves
               dipole radiation
               polarization 

XIII.   Light
               speed of light
               reflection and refraction
               Fermat's Principle
               dispersion 

XIV.   Mirrors and Lenses
               lenses
               mirrors
               optical instruments
               aberrations 

XV.   Interference
               double-slit interference
               thin-film interference 

XVI.   Diffraction
               single-slit diffraction
               diffraction gratings