Learning objectives
At the end of the course, the student will know and understand the main electric, magnetic and optical phenomena. He will know the fundamental laws of electromagnetism and optics, with particular regard to the aspects related to the chemistry.
The student will also have acquired the ability to apply his knowledge to simple problems in this context. He will be able to interpret the basic physical knowledge in a formal way, that is through mathematical models.
The student will have developed critical skills in identifying the essential points of a physical problem, the validity of a known relationship, their applicability.
He will also be able to communicate the procedures with which he has critically applied his knowledge to simple cases and will be able to effectively describe the results obtained.
Finally, the student will be able to undertake higher level academic studies with a sufficient degree of autonomy or to continue his professional training.
Prerequisites
Physics 1
Course unit content
Theory and applications in Electromagnetism and Optics.
Full programme
The electric charge, Coulomb's law and the description of electrostatic phenomena using the electric field and the electrostatic potential. Gauss' law. The potential generated by charge distributions. Dipoles.
Electrical properties of matter, conductors and dielectrics. Currents and resistance, current density and Ohm's laws. DC Circuits.
Electric phenomena associated to moving charge and the magnetic field. Magnetic fields generated by moving charges and the phenomena of Faraday's induced electrical potential.
Magnetic properties of matter. Electric circuit with continuum and alternate current and their study.
The unification of electric and magnetic phenomena and Maxwell's equations for the Electro-Magnetism.
Geometric optics: reflection, refraction, dispersion, lenses, mirrors. Wave optics: interference, diffraction, polarization, diffraction lattices.
Bibliography
Options:
D. Halliday, R. Resnick, K.S. Krane, Fisica 2, Casa Editrice Ambrosiana.
Gettys, Fisica 2, McGraw Hill - IV edition (with optics)
The detailed list of chapters and paragraphs of the textbooks required, and the optional parts will be available on the Elly platform. On the platform, the student will also find the sections of exercises of the textbooks whose difficulty is commensurate with the course and the he can face to practice to prepare for the written test. Also on the Elly platform, detailed texts and extended solutions will be available all the exercises carried out during the classroom exercises.
Teaching methods
The course is divided into two thirds of frontal lessons and one third of the classroom exercises.
During the frontal lessons, the main theoretical aspects and the most relevant applications will be presented, with reference to specific experimental situations of chemical interest.
During classroom exercises, theoretical arguments will be applied to specific cases and exercises will be explained and resolved very similar to those that students will face during the written test.
Assessment methods and criteria
The examination consists of a written test and an oral exam.
To have access to the oral exam, the student must pass the written test with a grade greater than or equal to 17.
The written test is divided into 5 exercises relating to: electrostatics, electric circuits, motion of charged particles in electromagnetic fields, currents and magnetic fields, optics. The written exam can be completed by completing the first three exercises during the partial trial (November) and the subsequent 2 exercises in the February trial, or by performing the 5 exercises in a single trial from February onwards. In case of written exam in two parts, the total vote is the weighted average of the two partial trials. During the written exam, the student is allowed to use one of the recommended course texts and a calculator.
Written exams give access to the oral exam of the same session and to the next two. The oral exam is a discussion of any errors in the script and an additional question on the rest of the program.
The final vote is the average of written and oral votes.
Other information
Support activities: Tutoring in the class, addressing the resolution of simple problems related to applications discussed in previous theorethical aspects.
On-call tutoring, out of lesson hours, to check solutions and procedures on the written exercices, suggested by the teacher and run independently by the student. Web resources for displaying simple electromagnetism experiments.
