This is a pre-calculus course covering fundamental topics in Nuclear Physics and Optics.
Optics
1. Light as Electromagnetic Wave: The electromagnetic spectrum; The speed of light; Wavefronts and rays; Laws of reflection; Image formation by concave and convex mirrors; Refraction of light; Index of refraction; Snell’s law; Total internal reflection and the critical angle; Examples of application of TIR.
2. Lenses: Thin converging and diverging lenses; Image formation by lenses using ray diagrams; Linear magnification; Derivation of the lens equation and sign convention; Lenses in combination.
3. Human Eye: Anatomy of the human eye; Image formation by the eye of objects at varying distances; Defects of vision (near-sightedness and farsightedness) and their correction by lenses.
4. Telescopes and Microscopes: Angular magnification; Simple and compound microscopes and their angular magnification; Astronomical and Galilean telescopes and angular magnification.
Nuclear Physics
5. Nuclear Model of the Atom: Geiger-Marsden experiment; Nuclear structure; The fundamental forces; Binding energy and mass defect; Atomic mass unit; Nuclear stability and natural radioactivity; Fission and fusion.
6. Radioactivity: Radioactive decay and its equation; Activity; Radioactive dating; Medical and other applications of radioactivity; X-ray production and spectrum; Simple radioactive detectors.
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Required Textbook:
Cutnell, and Johnson; “Physics ”; 8th Edition, 2009. ISBN 978-0-470-22355-0
Internet Sources:
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