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PHY102 Electricity and Waves (8)

Abstract

This calculus-based subject gives students a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of static and dynamic electricity, electromagnetism, wave motion and geometric and physical optics.

+ Subject Availability Modes and Location

Session 2
InternalWagga Wagga Campus
Distance*Wagga Wagga Campus
*This subject offering contains a residential school. Please view following information for further details.
Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details: PHY102
Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.

Subject information

Duration Grading System School:
One sessionHD/FLSchool of Biomedical Sciences

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
have a basic understanding of the manner in which charged bodies behave in an electric field;
understand the nature of the direct electric current and how it is affected by various circuit components;
understand the concept of capacitance and the manner in which it is utilised for the storage of energy;
understand the physical phenomena of wave motion;
understand the concepts of geometrical optics and apply them to simple optical instruments;
be able to conduct experiments which demonstrate some of the concepts developed during the study;
be able to present experimental results in an acceptable manner, indicating the likely sources and magnitudes of any errors involved.

Syllabus

The subject will cover the following topics:
Charge, Coulombs law, lines of force, electric field, E, flux, Gauss law, electric potential; Potential energy; Capacitors and capacitance, energy storage in electric field, parallel plate capacitor, dielectrics; Electromotive force, resistance, resistivity, Ohms law, multiloop circuits, Kirchoffs laws, RC circuits; Magnetic force on electric current, torque on current loop, Hall effect, Amperes laws, lines of magnetic field B, long solenoid, Biot-Savart law; Faradays law of Induction, Lenzs law; Mechanical waves, sound waves, wave equation, energy transmission, Doppler effect, resonance; Huygens principle, laws of reflection and refraction, total internal reflection, spherical mirrors, thin lenses, simple optical instruments; Polarising sheets, polarising by reflection, polarisation by scattering double refraction, Law of Malus; Youngs experiment, phase change on reflection, Michelson interferometer, interference in thin films, single and double slit Fraunhofer diffraction, diffraction grating, crystal diffraction.

Residential School

This subject contains a compulsory 4 day residential school.

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The information contained in the 2015 CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: 01 October 2015. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.