Course

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you examine the fundamental properties of electric charge and the nature of electrostatic forces between charged bodies

you examine the processes involved in charging a conductor by contact and by induction

you use Coulomb's law to determine the net electrostatic force on a point electric charge due to a known distribution of a finite number of point charges

you calculate the electric field at a specified location in the vicinity of a group of point charges

you calculate the electric field due to a continuous charge distribution, uniformly and non-uniformly, over a surface or throughout a volume

you explore, qualitatively, the electric field in terms of electric field lines

you examine the motion of a charged particle in a uniform electric field

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you examine electric potential

you calculate the electric potential difference between any two points in a uniform electric field

you calculate the electric potential difference between any two points in the vicinity of a group of point charges

you calculate the electric potential energy associated with a group of point charges

you calculate the electric potential due to continuous charge distributions of reasonable symmetry

you obtain an expression for the electric field over a region of space, if the scalar electric potential for the region is known

you calculate the work done by an external force in moving a charge between any two points in an electric field when an expression giving the field as a function of position is known, or when the charge distribution, giving rise to the field is known

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you calculate the electric flux through a surface

you calculate the electric flux through a closed surface

you use Gauss' law to evaluate the electric field at points in a vicinity of charge distributions

you examine the properties that characterize an electrical conductor in electrostatic equilibrium

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you calculate the capacitance of a capacitor for cases of relatively simple geometry, using the definition of capacitance and the equation for finding the potential difference between two points in an electric field

you determine the equivalent capacitance of a network of capacitors in series-parallel combination

you calculate the final charge on each capacitor and the potential difference across each, when a known potential is applied across the combination

you make calculations involving the relationships among potential, charge, capacitance, stored energy, and energy density for capacitors, and apply these results to the particular case of a parallel plate capacitor

you calculate the capacitance, potential difference, and stored energy of a capacitor which is partially or completely filled with a dielectric

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you calculate the current density, electron drift velocity and quantity of charge passing a point in a given time interval in a specified current-carrying conductor

you determine the resistance of a conductor using Ohm's law

you calculate the resistance based on the physical characteristics of a conductor

you calculate the variation of resistance with temperature, which involves the concept of the temperature coefficient of resistivity

you use Joule's law to calculate the power dissipated in a resistor

you examine the classical model of electrical conduction in metals

you relate resistivity in metals to the mean time between collisions

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you determine the terminal potential difference of a known source of emf when it is part of an open, closed or short circuit

you calculate the current in a single-loop circuit and the potential difference between any two points in the circuit

you calculate the equivalent resistance of a group of resistors in parallel, series or series-parallel combination

you use Ohm's law to calculate the current in a circuit and the potential difference between any two points in a circuit

you use Joule's law to calculate the power dissipated by any resistor or group of resistors in a circuit

you apply Kirchoff's rules to solve multiloop circuits

you calculate the charging current and the accumulated charge during charging of a capacitor in an R-C circuit

you calculate the energy expended by a source of emf while charging a capacitor

you calculate the unknown resistance, using the ammeter-voltmeter and the Wheatstone bridge methods

you determine the value of an unknown emf using a potentiometer circuit

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you calculate the maximum and instantaneous voltage drop across each component

you calculate the maximum and instantaneous current in the circuit

you calculate the phase angle by which the current leads or lags the voltage

you calculate the power expended in the circuit

you calculate the resonance frequency and quality factor of the circuit

you examine the use of phasor diagrams

you sketch circuit diagrams for high and low-pass filter circuits, calculating the ratio of output to input voltage

you examine the manner in which step-up and step-down transformers are used

you calculate primary to secondary voltage and current ratios for an ideal transformer

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you determine the magnitude and direction of the magnetic force exerted on an electric charge moving in a region where there is a magnetic field

you calculate the magnitude and direction of the magnetic force on a current carrying conductor (straight or arbitrary shape) when placed in an external magnetic field

you determine the magnitude and direction of the torque exerted on a closed current loop in an external magnetic field

you calculate the radius of the circular orbit of a charged particle moving in a uniform magnetic field, and determining the period of the circulating charge

you examine the essential features of the mass spectrometer and the cyclotron, making quantitative calculations regarding the operation of these instruments

you examine the principle of the Hall effect

you use appropriate rearrangements of the Hall voltage equation to make calculations of magnetic field strengths and Hall coefficient values for various conductors

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you examine the Biot-Savart law

you calculate the magnetic induction at a specified point in the vicinity of a current element using the Biot-Savart law

you examine the ampere and the coulomb in terms of the magnetic force between parallel current-carrying conductors

you calculate the magnetic field, using Ampere's law, due to steady current configurations, which have a sufficiently high degree of symmetry

you calculate the magnetic field at interior points and at exterior axial points of a solenoid

you calculate the magnetic flux through a surface area placed in either a uniform or nonuniform magnetic field

you relate conduction currents and changing electric fields to magnetic fields

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you calculate the emf induced in a circuit when the magnetic flux through the circuit is changing in time

you calculate the emf induced between the ends of a conducting bar as it moves through a region where there is a constant magnetic field

you apply Lenz's law to determine the direction of an induced emf or current

you calculate the maximum and instantaneous values of the sinusoidal emf generated in a conducting loop rotating in a constant magnetic field

you calculate the electric field in a charge-free region when the time variation of the magnetic field over the region is specified

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you calculate the inductance of a device of suitable geometry

you calculate the magnitude and direction of the self-induced emf in a circuit containing one or more inductive elements when the current changes with time

you determine instantaneous values of the current in an LR circuit while the current is either increasing or decreasing with time

you calculate the total magnetic energy stored in a magnetic field

calculating the emf induced by mutual inductance in one winding due to a time-varying current in a nearby inductor

you determine the expected angular frequency of oscillation of an LC circuit

you write expressions which show how the current in the inductor and the charge on the capacitor vary in time

you examine the essential features of the damped harmonic behavior of an LRC circuit

you determine the time constant of a circuit which contains two or more inductors in series parallel combination

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you examine a traveling wave

you examine the wave parameters: wavelength, period, phase velocity, wave number, angular frequency and harmonic frequency

you express a given harmonic wave function in several alternative forms involving different combinations of the wave parameters

you obtain values for the characteristic wave parameters, given a specific wave function

you calculate the rate at which energy is transported by harmonic waves in a string

you calculate relationships between wave speed and the inertial and elastic characteristics of a string through which the disturbance is propagating

you plot a curve showing the shape of a wave form due to a specific wave function or the shape of a string due to interfering traveling waves at any stated instant of time

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you calculate the speed of sound in various media in terms of appropriate elastic properties of the medium and the corresponding inertial properties

you examine the harmonic displacement and pressure variation as functions of time and position for a harmonic sound wave

you relate displacement amplitude to the pressure variation as functions of time and position for a harmonic sound wave

you calculate the wave intensity for given parameters

you examine logarithmic intensity scale

you determine the intensity ratio for two sound sources whose decibel levels are known

you calculate the decibel level for some combination of sources whose individual decibel levels are known

you examine the wave function for spherical and planar harmonic waves

you examine how Doppler shifted frequency is produced

successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you examine the wave function which represents the superposition of the two sinusoidal waves of equal amplitude and frequency traveling in opposite directions in the same medium

you identify the angular frequency, maximum amplitude and determine the values of x, which correspond to nodal and antinodal points of a standing wave

you plot the resultant waveform due to the interference of two harmonic waves at specified times

you calculate the normal mode frequencies for a string under tension and for open and closed air columns

you examine the time dependent amplitude, determining the effective frequency of vibration when two waves of slightly different frequency interfere, and calculating the expected beat frequency

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you examine the essential features of the apparatus and procedure used by Hertz

you show by direct substitution that a sinusoidal plane wave solution satisfies the linear differential wave equations for electromagnetic waves

you calculate the values for the Poynting vector, wave intensity and instantaneous and average energy densities

you calculate the ratiation pressure on a surface and the linear momentum delivered to a surface by an electromagnetic wave

you examine the relative directions and the space and time dependences of the radiated electric and magnetic fields

you examine the production of electromagnetic waves and radiation of energy by an oscillating dipole

you diagram the relative directions for E, B and S, and accounting for the intensity of the radiated wave at points near the dipole and at distant points

you examine each of the regions of the electromagnetic spectrum

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you examine Huygens' principle

you examine methods used by Roemer and Fizeau

you make calculations using sets of typical values for the quantities involved for the measurement of c

you determine the directions of the reflected and refracted rays when a light ray is incident obliquely on the interface between two optical media

you relate Fermat's principle of least time to the laws of reflection and refraction

you calculate the fraction of the energy reflected and the fraction transmitted when a light ray is directed at near-normal incidence onto the interface of two media

you calculate the intensity of a light beam as a function of length of travel in a homogeneous dielectric material

you examine the conditions under which total internal relection can occur in a medium

you determine the critical angle for a given pair of adjacent media

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you calculate the location of the image of a specified object as formed by a plane mirror, spherical mirror, plane refracting surface, spherical refracting surface, thin lens, or a combination of two or more of these devices

you examine the relationship of the algebraic signs associated with calculated quantities to the nature of the image and object; real or virtual, erect or inverted

you construct ray diagrams to determine the location and nature of the image of a given object when the geometrical characteristics of the optical device are known

you examine the origin of each of the most frequently encountered lens aberrations

you examine the geometry of the lens combination for each of several simple optical instruments: camera, compound microscope and astronomical telescope

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you examine Young's double-slit experiment to demonstrate the wave nature of light

you explain the conditions for constructive and destructive interference for path difference, phase difference, distance from center of screen and angle subtended by the observation point at the source mid-point

you summarize the superposition principle leads to the correct expression for the intensity distribution on a distance screen due to two coherent sources of equal intensity

you examine the use of the phasor diagram method to determine the amplitude and phase of the wave, which is the resultant of two or three coherent sources

you calculate the intensity distribution due to N equally space coherent sources

you sketch the essential features of the intensity distribution due to N sources

you examine the conditions of constructive and destructive interference in thin films

you examine the technique employed in the Michelson Interferometer

by successfully completing labs, quizzes, problems, and exams

you determine the positions of the maxima and minima in a single slit diffraction pattern

you calculate the intensities of the secondary maxima relative to the intensity of the central maximum

you determine whether or not two sources under a given set of conditions are resolvable as defined by Rayleigh's criterion

you determine the positions of the principal maxima in the interference pattern of a diffraction grating

you examine the resolving power and the dispersion of a grating

you calculate the resolving power of a grating under specified conditions

you examine the technique of x-ray diffraction

you calculate lattice spacing using Bragg's law

you examine how the state of polarization of a light beam can be determined by use of a polarizer-analyzer combination

you examine the polarization of light by selective absorption, reflection, scattering and double refraction

you use Malus's and Brewster's laws