Physics II
Syllabus
ABCD Voting Card
Equation Sheet
How does influence travel from one thing to another? In Newton’s mechanics of particles and forces, influences travel instantaneously across arbitrarily far distances. Newton himself felt this to be incorrect, but he did not suggest a solution to this problem of “action at a distance.” To solve this problem, we need a richer ontology: The world is made not only of particles, but also of fields. As examples of the field concept, we study the theory and applications of the electric field and the magnetic field. Students will learn how fields are generated, how fields interact with matter and with each other, and how these interactions inform our understanding the world.
We will meet as a class every Monday and Thursday from 10:00am to 11:50am. We will meet for lab every Wednesday morning from 9am to 12:10pm.
The schedule for the course is below. Note that links to problem sets, materials, and projects will become active as the term goes on.
Week of | Topic | Reading | Problem Sets | Labs |
Feb 19 | Overview/Vibrations and Waves | Ch. 13 | Problem Set 1 | Class meets during lab time |
Feb 26 | Sound | Ch. 14 | Problem Set 2 | SHOs |
March 4 | Sound (cont.) | Ch. 14 | Problem Set 3 | Sound |
March 11 | Electric Fields | Ch. 15.1 – 15.4 | Basics of Charge | |
March 18 | Electric Fields (cont.) | Ch. 15.5 – 15.7 | Problem Set 4 | |
March 25 | Electrical Energy Equipotential Simulator | Ch. 16 | Problem Set 5 | Electric Fields and Potential |
April 1 | Midterm Review (Wednesday) and Exam (Thursday) | |||
April 8 | Current (No Monday Class) | Ch. 17 | Problem Set 6 | No Lab |
April 15 | Current + Circuits | Ch. 17 – 18 | Problem Set 7 | Circuits, Part I |
April 22 | Circuits (cont.) + Magnetism | Ch. 18 | Circuits, Part II | |
April 29 | Magnetism | Ch. 19 | Problem Set 8 | No Lab |
May 6 | Induction | Ch. 20 | Motors | |
May 13 | Induction (cont.) | Ch. 20 | Problem Set 9 | Lab Project |
May 20 | TBA | Lab Project | ||
May 27 | Review: Monday, May 27 Final Exam: Wednesday, May 29 |
Voting Card Questions (with answers): Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20