Nov 21, 2024  
2024-2025 Course Catalog 
    
2024-2025 Course Catalog
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PHY 161 - General Physics II

Credits: 5
Lecture Hours: 4
Lab Hours: 2
Practicum Hours: 0
Work Experience: 0
Course Type: Core
This course is the second semester of a two-semester sequence in non-calculus physics. Topics include electricity, magnetism, optics and modern physics.
Prerequisite: PHY 160  or instructor’s permission
Competencies
  1. Investigate the properties of static electric fields
    1. Develop the properties of electric charges
    2. Apply Coulomb’s Law for static electric charges
    3. Apply the Principle of Superposition
    4. Define electric field
    5. Calculate the electric field for various charge distributions
    6. Solve problems involving charges moving in electric fields
  2. Investigate the application of Gauss’ Law to electrostatics
    1. Define lines of electric flux
    2. Develop Gauss’ Law for electrostatics
    3. Apply Gauss’ Law for various charge distributions
    4. Calculate the electric field near the surface of a conductor
  3. Develop the concept of electric potential
    1. Define electric potential
    2. Apply the concept of electric potential to parallel conducting plates
    3. Analyze the relationship between work, energy and electric potential
    4. Calculate electric potential difference for point charges
    5. Define equipotential lines and surfaces
    6. Define absolute potential
    7. Define electric potential energy
    8. Calculate the electric potential energy for various charge distributions
  4. Develop the ideas of fundamental circuit elements
    1. Examine sources of EMF
    2. Define electric current
    3. Define resistance and resistivity
    4. Interpret the dependence of resistivity on temperature
    5. Define capacitance
    6. Calculate work and power in a simple dc circuit
    7. Calculate the current, potential, and resistance in series and parallel circuits.
    8. Calculate the capacitance, charge and potential in series and parallel circuits
    9. Determine the energy stored in a capacitor
  5. Investigate applications of the dc circuit
    1. Develop Kirchhoff’s laws
    2. Analyze a circuit using Kirchhoff’s laws
    3. Analyze the Wheatstone Bridge
    4. Analyze the simple potentiometer
    5. Analyze the circuit of a charging capacitor
    6. Analyze the circuit of a discharging capacitor
    7. Determine the time-dependent equations of a charging capacitor
    8. Determine the time-dependent equation of a discharging capacitor
  6. Investigate the properties of magnetic fields
    1. Define the magnetic field
    2. Examine the phenomena of current induced magnetic fields
    3. Calculate the magnetic force on an electric current
    4. Calculate the magnetic force on a moving point charge
    5. Calculate the torque on a current loop
  7. Investigate methods for calculating magnetic fields
    1. Analyze Ampere’s Circuital Law
    2. Calculate the magnetic field of an infinite solenoid
    3. Calculate the magnetic field off a torrid
    4. Analyze the Biot-Savart law
    5. Calculate the magnetic field on the axis of a loop
  8. Investigate electromagnetic induction
    1. Examine the phenomena of induced EMF’s
    2. Calculate problems using the Faraday’s Law
    3. Distinguish between generators, motors, and transformers
    4. Define mutual inductance
    5. Calculate the mutual inductance of various circuits
    6. Calculate the energy stored in an inductor.
    7. Analyze the LR circuit
  9. Develop the properties of alternating current circuits
    1. Analyze RMS quantities in a pure resistance
    2. Analyze RMS quantities in a pure inductance
    3. Analyze RMS quantities in a pure capacitance
    4. Define inductive and capacitive reactance
    5. Define impedance
    6. Analyze the series LCR circuit
    7. Analyze resonance in AC circuits
  10. Develop the properties of electromagnetic waves
    1. Identify Maxwell’s Equations
    2. Demonstrate the wave nature of EM fields
    3. Identify the speed of EM wave propagation
  11. Investigate geometrical optics
    1. Develop a wave/ray model of light
    2. Develop the laws of reflection and refraction
    3. Calculate the index of refraction
    4. Investigate plane mirrors
    5. Investigate spherical mirrors
    6. Trace the ray diagrams involved in plane mirror and spherical mirror problems
    7. Solve refraction problems using Snell’s laws
    8. Develop total internal reflection
    9. Calculate the critical angle
    10. Distinguish between converging and diverging lenses
    11. Locate images by ray tracing for thin lenses
    12. Calculate problems using the thin-lens equation
    13. Calculate the magnification of various thin-lens configurations
    14. Analyze the simple magnifier
    15. Analyze the simple telescope
    16. Analyze the compound microscope
  12. Investigate wave optics
    1. Develop Huygens’ principle
    2. Examine the interference effects of two in-phase light sources
    3. State the conditions for constructive interference.
    4. State the conditions for destructive interference
    5. Examine the interference effects in thin films
    6. Calculate maximas and minimas in thin film interference
    7. Examine diffraction by a single slit
    8. Examine multiple-slit diffraction and gratings
    9. Calculate problems involving diffraction
    10. Investigate dispersion
    11. Define polarization
    12. Calculate problems using Malus’ law
  13. Investigate topics in Modern Physics
    1. Examine the postulates of relativity
    2. Examine time dilation
    3. Examine length contraction
    4. Determine relativistic mass, energy and momentum



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