Detailed Course Information

Kinematics

• Reference frames
• Speed
• Velocity
• Acceleration & motion at constant acceleration
• Falling bodies
• Graphical analysis of velocity & acceleration
• Vectors and scalars
• Vector: subtraction and multiplication by a scalar
• Adding vectors by components
• Projectile motion
• Relative velocity
• Force
• Newton’s first law
• Newton’s second law (mass and weight)
• Newton’s third law
• Weight
• Friction
• Static friction
• Uniform circular motion
• Newton’s law of universal gravitation
• Satellites and weightlessness
• Kepler’s law

Work & Energy

• The force of nature
• Work (by constant and varying forces)
• Kinetic energy
• Potential energy (gravitational & elastic)
• Conservative and non-conservative forces
• Conservation of mechanical energy
• Power
• Momentum
• Conservation on momentum
• Impulse
• Elastic collisions
• Inelastic collisions
• Collisions in two dimensions
• Center of mass
• Elasticity
• Stress and strain

Rotational Dynamics

• Rotational kinematics
• Relating angular and linear quantities
• Uniformly accelerated rotational motion
• Rolling motion
• Torque
• Rotational dynamics
• Rotational kinetic energy
• Conservation of angular momentum
• Vectors and rotational dynamics
• Conditions of equilibrium
• Stability

Fluids

• Density and pressure in fluids
• Pascal’s principal
• Archimedes principal and buoyancy
• Fluids in motion
• Bernoulli’s equation
• Viscosity

Waves & Sounds

• Simple harmonic motion
• Energy in simple harmonic oscillator
• Sinosoidal nature of SHM
• The simple pendulum
• Wave motion
• Energy transport via wave motion
• Reflection of waves
• Interference
• Refraction and diffraction
• Sound
• Production of sound via strings and pipes
• Beats
• Doppler effect
• Travelling faster than the speed of light

Temperature and Kinetic Theory

• Atomic Theory of Matter
• The Ideal Gas Law
• Kinetic Theory of Temperature
• Changes of Phase

Heat

• Specific Heat
• Heat Transfer – Conduction, Convection, and Radiation

The Laws of Thermodynamics

• The First Law of Thermodynamics
• The Second Law of Thermodynamics
• Heat Engines
• Entropy

Electric Charge and the Electric Field

• Conservation of charge
• Coulomb’s Law
• The Electric Field
• Gauss’ Law
• Conductors

Electric Potential and Capacitance

• Potential Difference
• Relationship between Electric Potential and Electric Field
• Electric Dipoles
• Capacitance
• Dielectrics
• Storage of Electric Energy

Electric Currents

• The Electric Battery
• Electric Current and Ohm’s Law
• Resistivity
• Electric Power

DC Currents

• Resistors in Series and Parallel
• EMF and Terminal Voltage
• Kirchhoff’s Rules
• Circuits containing capacitors in series and parallel
• Circuits containing a resistor and capacitor

Magnetism

• Magnets and Magnetic Fields
• Electric Currents and Magnetism
• Forces on an Electric Current in a Magnetic Field, Electric Charges moving in amagnetic field, & between two parallel current-carrying wires
• Magnetic Fields due to straight wires
• Ampere’s Law
• Torque on a Current Loop
• The Hall Effect and Mass Spectrometer
• Ferromagnetism, Electromagnets and Solenoids

Electromagnetic Induction and Faraday’s Law; AC Circuits

• Induced EMF
• Faraday’s Law of Induction and Lenz’s Law
• EMF Induced in a Moving Conductor
• Electric Generators
• Counter EMF and Eddy Currents

Electromagnetic Waves

• Changing Electric Fields produce Magnetic Fields
• Maxwell’s Equations
• Energy in EM Waves

Optics

• Ray Model of Light
• Reflection by a plane mirror
• Reflection by Spherical Mirrors
• Ray Diagrams
• Snell's Law and Index of Refraction
• Thin Lenses, Ray Diagrams
• The Lens Equation
• Multiple Lenses
• Huygen's Principle, Diffraction and the Law of Refraction
• Interference- Double Slit Experiment
• Dispersion
• Diffraction by a Single Slit
• Diffraction Gratings
• Interference by Thin Films
• Polarization
• Optical Instruments
• Aberrations
• Resolution

Special and General Relativity

• Galilean-Newtonian Relativity
• What is Wrong with Galilean Relativity
• What is Wrong with Galilean Relativity II
• Gedankenexperiment 1 & The Postulates of Special Relativity
• Time Is Not Absolute
• Geometric Properties of Space
• Spacetime
• The Structure of Spacetime
• Measuring in Spacetime
• Invariance of the Interval
• Relativity of Simultaneity
• Time Dilation
• Lorentz Contraction of Length
• The Twin Paradox
• Discussion
• The Lorentz Transformations I
• Addition of Velocities
• Why No Thing Travels Faster Than Light
• Interstellar Football
• Spacetime Maps
• Transforming Frames for Spacelike Events
• Velocity through Spacetime
• 4-Momentum
• Relativistic Energy
• Conservation of Momentum-Energy
• Conservation of Momentum-Energy:Examples
• Review of Special Relativity
• General Relativity
• Equivalence Principle
• Curvature Yields Acceleration
• Aside: Mathematical Statement
• Curved Spaces
• Energy Curves Spacetime
• General Relativisitic Effects
• The Schwarzschild Solution
• Black Holes

Early Quantum Theory and Nuclear Physics

• Introduction to Quantum Theory
• The Electron
• Planck's Quantum Hypothesis
• Photoelectric Effect
• Compton Effect
• Wave-Particle Duality
• Early Models of the Atom
• The Bohr Model
• Properties of Nuclei
• Radioactivity: Alpha Decay
• Radioactivity: Beta Decay
• Radioactivity: Gamma Decay
• Rate of Decay, Half Life
• Carbon 14 Dating
• Nuclear Reactions

Quantum Mechanics

• Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
• Double Slit I
• Double Slit II
• Experimental Devices
• Quantum Weirdness
• The EPR Paradox
• Contextuality, Complementarity
• Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
• Schrodingers Cat
• Decoherence
• Summary & Other Details
• Quantum Mechanics of Atoms
• Complex Atoms, Pauli Exclusion Principle

Elementary Particles, Cosmology

• Elementary Particles, Intro
• Relativistic Quantum Theory
• Quantumelectrodynamics
• Quarks, QCD
• Weak Interactions
• Standard Model
• Beyond the Standard Model
• Beyond the Standard Model II
• Basic Cosmology
• Basic Cosmology II