Electricity and Magnetism

Semester 2

This is a calculus-based course covering the basic laws and phenomena in Electricity and Magnetism.

Syllabus:

Electricity and Magnetism (18 Lectures):

Electric field and potential:
- The electric field E due to extended charge distributions;
- Integral and differential expressions relating the electric potential V to the E field;
- Potential due to a dipole and other extended charge distributions.
Gauss’ Law:
- Application to problems with spherical, cylindrical and rectangular symmetry.
Capacitance:
- Calculation of the capacitance of various capacitors;
- Energy stored in a capacitor; RC circuits;
- Time constant
Magnetism:
- Magnetic force on current-carrying wire and its application to cases needing calculus treatment;
- Magnetic torque on a current loop;
- Magnetic moment of a current loop;
- The Hall-Effect;
- Biot-Savart Law and Ampere’s Law, and their application to long current-carrying wire, loop, and solenoid.
Electromagnetic Induction:
- Faraday’s Law and Lenz’s Law; Electro-magnetic induction and its applications;
- Self Induction;
- Inductance;
- RL circuits
Electromagnetic Oscillations and Alternating Currents:
- LC Oscillation;
- Damped oscillation in an RLC circuit;
- Alternating current;
- Forced oscillation;
- RLC circuits;
- Power in AC circuits;
- The Transformer;
- Introduction to the Electromagnetic wave.

Evaluation:

One 3-hour theory examination paper 60%

Two 1-hour in-course tests - (15% each) 30%

Laboratory Report (Averaged of 6 labs at 10% each) 10%

Learning Objectives:

After completing this course, students should be able to:

Perform quantitative analyses of basic problems in Electrostatics and Electrodynamics.
Apply Gauss’s Law, Ampere’s Law, and Biot-Savart Law to solving practical problems in electricity and magnetism.
Calculate energy storage in capacitors
Derive the time constants of Resistor-Capacitor circuits
Explain and analyze the behavior of alternating currents in RLC circuits.
Perform and interpret the results of simple experiments and demonstrations of physical principles.

CAPE/A-Level Physics or PHYS0411 and PHYS0412 and PHYS 0421 and PHYS 0422 or CSEC Physics with CAPE/A-Level Math

Required Textbook:

Halliday, Resnick, and Walker; “Fundamentals of Physics Extended”; 8^th Edition, 2007. ISBN 978-0-471-75801-3

Alternative text
Paul A. Tipler and Gene Mosca,Physics for Scientists and Engineers. 6^th Edition, 2007. ISBN-10: 0716789647.

Internet Sources:

Course Code:

PHYS1421

Credits:

3 Credits

Level:

Level 1

The University of the West Indies, Mona