Newcastle University

Aims

To provide a grounding in basic physics and to prepare for the following stages.

Outline Of Syllabus

Semester 1

Dynamics I (Prof N Cowern)
Vectors: addition, multiplication by scalar, unit vectors and components, scalar product.
Kinematics in 1 and 3 dimensions: displacement, velocity and speed, acceleration, motion with constant acceleration, uniform circular motion, Newton's laws of motion.
Work, energy and power: potential energy, conservative forces, conservation of energy, energy diagrams, gravitational potential energy.
Momentum: conservation of momentum, collisions in one and three dimensions.
Systems of particles: centre of mass and its motion, two body systems and reduced mass.
Rotational motion of a rigid body. Angular momentum.

States of Matter (Dr J P Hagon)
Bonds between atoms: ionic bonds, metallic bonds, covalent bonds, molecular bonds, comparative strength of the bonds.
Ideal Gases: kinetic theory, specific heat of gases, mean free path.
Gas-liquid phase transitions: modifications to the ideal gas equation, continuous and discontinuous transitions between liquids and gases.
Liquids: the role of intermolecular forces in understanding surface tension and viscosity.
Order-disorder transitions: amorphous solids, liquid crystals.
Solids: the unit cell, crystal planes, methods of determining crystal structures.

Semester 2

Electric Circuits (Dr DG McCartan)
Introduction: basic concepts of potential and its applications to the operation of simple circuits.
Power in DC circuits: internal resistance, maximum power transfer theorem.
Mesh Analysis: Kirchhoff's rules, equivalent representation of simple DC circuits.
Capacitors: series and parallel connections, time constants in CR circuits, RC integrating and differentiating circuits
Inductors: time constants in LR circuits.
Alternating Current: peak, average and root mean square values of sinusoidal waveforms.
Diodes: diode action and rectification, smoothing by a capacitor.


Introductory Quantum Concepts (Dr J P Hagon)
Breakdown of classical physics: black body radiation, the photoelectric effect, the Compton effect. Wave-particle duality. de Broglie waves, electron diffraction. Spectra of hydrogen and other one-electron atoms. The Bohr model of the atom. Birth of quantum mechanics: Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. The Schrödinger equation.
Atomic structure: quantum numbers of hydrogen including spin.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Most of the content of the module relates to the acquisition of knowledge and an understanding of principles. The knowledge is taught through lectures and the understanding of the underlying principles is taught in lectures and learnt effectively through the experience of problem solving. Illustrative problems are set by the lecturers to enhance the understanding of the material and nurture the progressive acquisition of skills in problems solving.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Much of the material taught in the module is factual and the student is asked to demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the content through being able to present the basic aspects of their knowledge of the material in unseen written examination papers and to demonstrate their problem solving skills by answering numerical problems on the topics.
Problems are set and assessed during the module to enhance the understanding of the material and nurture the progressive acquisition of skills in solving illustrative problems. The format of the resit exam is the same as the above.