Learning objectives
Knowledge of the physical bases for understanding biological phenomena
Course unit content
<br />MENTION OF VECTOR CALCULUS. UNITS OF MEASURE AND DIMENSIONS OF PHYSICAL QUANTITIES. SIGNIFICANT FIGURES. MECHANICS OF DISPLACEMENT, VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION VECTORS. TIME DIAGRAMS, CIRCULAR MOTION. NEWTON'S LAWS. FORCE AND MASS. FORCE OF GRAVITY. NORMAL FORCE. FORCE OF A SPRING. TENSION IN A CORD. FRICTION FORCES. NEWTON'S LAW OF GRAVITATION. CENTRIPETAL FORCE AND CIRCULAR MOTION. DEFINITION OF MOMENT OF A FORCE. CONDITIONS FOR THE EQUILIBRIUM OF A RIGID BODY. LEVERS. WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY: WORK DONE BY A VARIABLE FORCE (FORCE OF A SPRING). POTENTIAL ENERGY. CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND ENERGY CONSERVATION. POWER. IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM. CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM. CENTRE OF MASS. COLLISIONS. TEMPERATURE AND HEAT. GASES. HEAT AS A FORM OF ENERGY. FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS. KINETIC THEORY OF GASES. EQUIPARTITION OF ENERGY. THERMODYNAMIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN IDEAL GASES. SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS. CARNOT'S CYCLE. ENTROPY. REVERSIBLE AND IRREVERSIBLE TRANSFORMATIONS. HEAT ENGINES. STATISTICAL INTERPRETATION OF ENTROPY. ELECTRIC CHARGE. COULOMB’S LAW. ELECTRIC FIELD. LINES OF FORCE (OR FIELD LINES). GAUSS' THEOREM. ELECTRIC DIPOLES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS. ELECTRIC POTENTIAL AND POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE. ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS. CONDENSERS. CONDENSER CONNECTION. ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORED IN A CONDENSER. ELECTRIC CURRENT AND CHARGE MOTION. OHM’S LAW AND RESISTANCE. ENERGY IN ELECTRIC CIRCUITS. RESISTOR COMBINATION. KIRCHHOFF’S LAWS. THE MAGNETIC FIELD AND ITS OPERATIONAL DEFINITION. FORCES GENERATED BY A MAGNETIC FIELD. MOMENTS OF FORCES ACTING ON MAGNETS AND COILS THROUGH WHICH CURRENT IS PASSING. MOTION OF A POINT CHARGE IN A MAGNETIC FIELD. THE CYCLOTRONE. MAGNETIC FIELD SOURCES. LAW OF BIOT AND SAVART. AMPERE'S THEOREM. COILS, SOLENOIDS AND MAGNETS. MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF MATTER (NOTES). PRESSURE IN FLUIDS, ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE. STEVINO'S LAW, PASCAL'S LAW, ARCHIMEDEAN PRINCIPLE. FLUID DYNAMICS: CONTINUITY EQUATION, THEOREM OF BERNOUILLI, NOTES ON VISCOSITY.
Bibliography
N.Molho: Fondamenti di Fisica per Scienze medico-biologiche
Teaching methods
Classroom lectures and blackboard exercises. Assessment on the basis of in-course tests, a written test and, if necessary, an oral test.
