Learning objectives
The course has been designed to provide an introductory basis for other major
degree fields including Chemistry, Biology, Physiology, Biochemistry, etc., as well
as the physical phenomenology on which they are based or which they make
frequent use of. The course will also provide the conceptual basis for understanding
a number of major technologies that with increasing frequency are used by doctors
and dentists, such as: centrifuges, endoscopes, microscopes, transducers for
ultrasound equipment, laser systems, radiology equipment and NMR, radiation
detectors, etc. As its final, but perhaps most important, goal, the course has been
designed to stimulate students to become more familiar with certain common
concepts, but which are not always sufficiently explained in previous study, such as:
mechanical action between bodies in contact, exertion and energy in action,
dynamic aspects resulting from elastic force and impact, friction and thermal and
thermodynamic aspects, static and dynamic properties of gaseous and liquid fluids,
light and its manifestations, including in relation to the structure of the eye and its
physical defects; fundamentals of electrical, magnetic and nuclear phenomena, the
laws that govern potential and current; electromagnetic and nuclear radiation,
perturbations induced in means passed through and aspects of detection and
control.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
Optics: Reflection and refraction - Total reflection and optical fiber - Optical system,
focus and dioptric power - Spherical diopter - Thin lenses, mirrors and image
construction - Wave
theory of light - Laser light.
Electricity, magnetism and electrical current: Electrical charges and Coulomb’s law
- Electrical field - Work of the electrical field and electrostatic potential - Dipolar field
- Overview of muscle fiber and electrocardiogram - Electrical capacity and capacitor - Current intensity -
Overview of the electronic structure of insulators, metallic conductors and semiconductors
- Ohm’s law - Series and parallel resistors – Electromotive force -
Thermal effect of currentPassing of current in the
human body -Thermoionic and photoelectric effects - Magnetic field and its action
on current and magnets - Electromagnetic induction - Self-induction – Alternating voltage and
current - Impedance -Electromagnetic waves.
Radiation: Structure of the atom and nucleus - Quantum numbers, electronic
orbitals and transitions - Unstable isotopes and alpha, beta, gamma radiation - Law
of radioactive decay and half-life - Radiation detection - Biomedical applications of
radioisotopes - X-rays (production, properties and absorption mechanisms in the
matter) - Radiological image - Overview of computerised axial tomography (CAT)
and radiofrequency (NMR) imaging techniques- Overview of radiation safety.
Full programme
Optics: Reflection and refraction - Total reflection and optical fiber -
Optical system, focus and dioptric power - Spherical diopter - Thin lenses,
mirrors and image construction - Compound microscope - Resolution
strength - The eye as a dioptric system - Principal ametropies of the eye
and their correction using lenses - Wave theory of light - Laser light.
Electricity, magnetism and electrical current: Electrical charges and
Coulomb’s law - Electrical field - Work of the electrical field and
electrostatic potential - Dipolar field - Overview of muscle fiber and
electrocardiogram - Gauss’s theorem and its applications - Faraday cage -
Electrical capacity and capacitor - Current intensity - Overview of the
electronic structure of insulators, metallic conductors and
semiconductors - Ohm’s law - Series and parallel resistors – Electromotive
force - Thermal effect of current - Electrical conduction in liquids - Passing
of current in the human body -Thermoionic and photoelectric effects -
Magnetic field and its action on current and magnets - Biot-Savart law -
Ampere’s theorem of circulation - Solenoid - Electromagnetic induction -
Self-induction – Alternating voltage and current - Impedance -
Electromagnetic waves.
Radiation: Structure of the atom and nucleus - Quantum numbers,
electronic orbitals and transitions - Unstable isotopes and alpha, beta,
gamma radiation - Law of radioactive decay and half-life - Radiation
detection - Biomedical applications of radioisotopes - X-rays (production,
properties and absorption mechanisms in the matter) - Radiological
image - Overview of computerised axial tomography (CAT) and
radiofrequency (NMR) imaging techniques- Overview of radiation safety.
Bibliography
Classroom notes.
Bersani, Bettati, Biagi, Capozzi, Feroci, Lepore, Mita, Ortalli, Roberti, Viglino, Vitturi:
Elementi di Fisica,
Ed. Piccin Nuova Libraria (Padova).
Scannicchio: Fisica Biomedica,
Ed. EdiSES (Napoli).
Giambattista, McCarthy Richardson, Richardson:
Fisica Generale, Ed. McGraw-Hill (Milano).
Teaching methods
Oral classes
Assessment methods and criteria
Written exam
Other information
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