PH12002: Foundations of physics 1
[Page last updated: 23 October 2023]
| Academic Year: | 2023/24 |
| Owning Department/School: | Department of Physics |
| Credits: | 20 [equivalent to 40 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 400 |
| Level: | Certificate (FHEQ level 4) |
| Period: |
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| Assessment Summary: | EXCB 40%, EXOB 60% |
| Assessment Detail: |
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| Supplementary Assessment: |
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| Requisites: | While taking this module you must take PH12003 |
| Learning Outcomes: |
After taking this unit the student should be able to:
describe the energy changes in adiabatic and isothermal processes;
derive thermodynamic relationships and analyse cycles;
derive and use simple transport expressions in problems concerning viscosity, heat and electrical conduction;
apply the wavefunction for a one-dimensional travelling wave to problems involving mechanical, acoustic, water and electromagnetic waves;
show how quantisation arises from boundary conditions and calculate energy levels in simple model systems;
state the basic laws of electricity and magnetism;
construct ray diagrams for use in solving simple geometrical optics problems;
outline the mathematical analysis of multiple-beam interference. |
| Synopsis: | You will advance your knowledge and understanding of fundamental areas of Physics, including quantum mechanics, states of matter, thermodynamics, vibrations & waves, optics and the laws of electromagnetism, developing a platform for your studies throughout your undergraduate course. |
| Content: | States of matter (12 lecture hours): Gases: The ideal gas; kinetic theory; Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, equipartition. The real gas; van der Waals model. The ideal solid: Model potentials and equilibrium separations of molecules and Madelung crystals. Simple crystal structures. Translational symmetry; lattices and basis, Miller indices. Mechanical and transport properties: Derivation of mechanical (viscosity, elasticity, strength) and transport properties (heat and electrical conduction) of gases and solids from considerations of atomic behaviour. Qualitative understanding of viscosity (Newtonian and non-Newtonian) in liquids based on cage models.
Thermodynamics (12 lecture hours): Classical thermodynamics: Basic thermodynamic concepts. The second law of thermodynamics. Entropy. Analytical thermodynamics; application to phase changes.
Vibrations and waves (11 lecture hours): Simple harmonic motion: Oscillations, including damped and forced oscillations. Resonance, Q-factors. Coupled oscillations and introduction to normal modes. Wave motion as the limit of coupled oscillations. The wave equation (1D). Introduction to waves: Transverse and longitudinal waves. Plane, circular and spherical waves. Waves on strings; sound, water, particle and light waves. Mathematical representation of 1D plane waves; wavefunction, amplitude, frequency, wavelength, wavenumber, speed, energy, intensity and impedance. The Doppler effect. Superposition; standing waves, beats, interference. Phase and group velocity; dispersive and non-dispersive media. Complex exponential notation. Mechanical impedance. Reflection and transmission at boundaries.
Quantum mechanics in 1D (15 lecture hours): Motivation: evidence for QM, Planck's quantum hypothesis, wave-particle duality, de Broglie & Planck-Einstein relations, uncertainty principle. Wave mechanics: Wave functions, probability density and normalisation. Observables; position, momentum and energy. Schrödinger's equation; time dependence of the wavefunction, stationary states, superposition and measurement, time-independent Schrödinger equation. Motion in one dimension: Eigenfunctions of the infinite square well, parity of solutions, superposition states. Dirac notation. Bound states of the finite square well. Motion of free particles. Reflection and transmission at a step. Tunnelling through a barrier. The harmonic oscillator.
The laws of electromagnetism (20 lecture hours): Electrostatics: Electric charge, Coulomb's Law, superposition of forces, electric charge distribution, the electric field, electric flux, Gauss's Law, examples of field distributions, electric dipoles. Line integral of the electric field, potential difference, calculation of fields from potentials, examples of potential distributions, energy associated with electric field. Electric field around conductors, capacitors and their capacitance, energy stored. Magnetism: Lorentz force law, force on a current-carrying wire, force between current-carrying wires, torque on a current loop, magnetic dipoles. Biot-Savart Law, Ampere's Law, magnetic flux, Gauss's Law in magnetism, examples of field distributions. Electromagnetic induction: Induced e.m.f. and examples, Faraday's Law, Lenz's Law, energy stored in a magnetic field, self and mutual inductance, energy stored in an inductor, displacement current and Maxwell's equations.
Optics (10 lecture hours): The propagation of light: Optical path length. Huygen's and Fermat's principles, Snell's Law. Reflection and refraction. Lenses; the focal plane. Geometric optics for thin lenses. Aberrations. Principles of the telescope and microscope. Interference and diffraction: Coherence. Young's slits experiment. The Michelson interferometer. The Fabry-Perot etalon. Interference between N equally spaced sources. Fraunhofer diffraction as far-field case. Derivation of Fraunhofer pattern for single slit. Discussion of circular aperture, diffraction limits on optical systems, definitioon of resolution, Rayleigh criterion. The diffraction grating. Resolving power of the telescope and grating. |
| Course availability: |
PH12002 is a Must Pass Unit on the following courses:Department of Physics
PH12002 is Compulsory on the following courses:Department of Chemistry
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