Physics 2101A
Intermediate Electromagnetism
Instructor: Prof. Richard A. Holt
Office: Physics
& Astronomy Building, Room 232
E-mail: rholt (at) uwo (dot) ca
Phone: 519-661-2187 (from
on campus, 82187)
Office
Hours: Feel free
to drop in anytime. Usually we can talk then, but if I’m busy
we’ll make an appointment. Alternatively, e-mail or phone ahead to set a time.
Calendar Description:
|
Physics 2101A/B - Intermediate Electromagnetism |
The
physics of electromagnetic fields, including Maxwell's equations and
electromagnetic waves, is studied with emphasis on practical calculations.
Modern physics is introduced via Special Relativity.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s):
Physics 1301A/B or 1401A/B or 1501A/B with a minimum mark of 60% or Physics 1028A/B with a minimum mark of 80%;
Physics 1302A/B or 1402A/B or 1502A/B with a minimum mark of 60% or Physics 1029A/B with a minimum mark of 80%, or a
minimum mark of 60% in the former Physics 1020 or 1024 or 1026; a minimum mark
of 60% in each of (Calculus 1000A/B or 1100A/B or 1500A/B) and (Calculus 1301A/B or 1501A/B), or in Applied Mathematics 1413.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra
Information: 3 lecture hours, 1 tutorial hour, 0.5 course.
Lectures: MWF 10:30 am – 11:20 am
Room: PAB 148
Tutorials: F 11:30 am – 12:20 pm
Room: PAB 148
TAs: Sebastian Bruzzone Rama
Cameron
Hopkins
Christopher
Racknor
Text: I have not
found a textbook that I feel is suitable for this course. For the more elementary parts of the
material, you will find it helpful to refer to the relevant sections of any
good first-year book (e.g. Young
& Freedman or Halliday, Resnick
& Walker). Since the course will be
at the second-year level, I will be adding a significant amount of more
advanced material in lectures. I will
post my lecture notes, which will be detailed and readable, on OWL (Sakai). I will also assemble helpful exercises and
problems to assist you in studying the material. These will also be posted.
Course homepage: http://quark.physics.uwo.ca/~holt/P2101aA/
We will be using OWL
for course administration. Lecture
notes, assignments, and other useful information will be posted on the OWL page
for this course. I will post the page
number of the notes at which each lecture ended in the Schedule. You will also be able to access your grades
from this page. Any errors or appeals to your scores must be reported to your
instructor within two weeks of their
initial posting. You can access OWL by
logging in at https://owl.uwo.ca/portal
Course Description:
This course is designed to build on what you have already learned in
first-year physics. We will study a
number of powerful methods for solving problems of practical importance. Along the way, you will learn some vector
calculus that will be useful in many advanced courses. As well, we will develop an appreciation of
the beauty and symmetry of the structure of electromagnetism, as embodied in
Maxwell’s four wonderful equations.
These are the equations that lead Einstein to the discovery of Special
Relativity. Not only do they describe
electricity and magnetism, but they also predict electromagnetic waves (light,
radio waves, infrared radiation, etc.).
And they are fully valid for the quantized photon field in Quantum
Electrodynamics (which we will not study in this course).
List of topics to be covered (tentative):
a)
Coulomb’s Law
b)
Gauss’ Law (Integral, Differential forms)
c)
Conductors
d)
Electrostatic Potential
e)
Poisson’s Equation, Laplace’s Equation, Computational Methods
a)
Biot-Savart
Law
b)
Gauss’ Law for the magnetic field
c)
Ampère’s Law
Evaluation Scheme
·
Assignments 20%
·
Midterm Exam 30%
·
Final Exam 50%
The Department of
Physics and Astronomy may, in exceptional cases, adjust the final course marks
in order to conform to Departmental policy.
Assignments will be sets of problems to be worked out and handed in. There will be approximately 5
assignments. You are encouraged to discuss the homework problems with
myself, the TAs, or fellow students in order to understand what is being asked
and how to go about solving them, but then you must individually work out your own solutions. Copying someone else’s solutions constitutes
cheating and will be dealt with seriously.
Late assignments will be docked 10% for each day late.
Midterm Exam: This exam will consist of
problems to be worked out. It will cover
the material up to approximately one week before the exam. It is tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 25, 10:30 am – 12:20 pm. A formula sheet will be provided. To receive full marks for your solutions, you
must explain your reasoning,
starting from basic physical principles and deriving the necessary formulas for
the particular problem (apart from the formulas provided with the exam, which
may simply be used without derivation).
Any type of calculator may be used.
Final Exam: During the December Exam
Period. Date, time,
and location to be announced by the Registrar. Students needing to make travel arrangements
are advised to book a travel date after the end of the examination period. No make-up exams will be given to accommodate
travel. The Final Exam will cover the
material of the entire course. A formula
sheet will be provided. To receive full
marks for your solutions, you must explain
your reasoning, starting from basic physical principles and deriving the
necessary formulas for the particular problem (apart from the formulas provided
with the exam, which may simply be used without derivation). Any type of calculator may be used.
Prerequisite checking – your responsibility: Unless you have either the
requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to
enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from
your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment
to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to
have the necessary prerequisites.
Accessibility: Please contact the course instructor if you
require material in an alternate format or if you require any other
arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to
contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 661-2111 x 82147 for
any specific question regarding an accommodation.
Help: Students who are in emotional/mental distress
should refer to Mental Health@Western (http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/)
for a complete list of options about how to obtain help. Other useful web sites are Registrarial Services (http://www.registrar.uwo.ca
), Student Services (https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/index.cfm
), and USC Student Support Services (http://westernusc.ca/services/
).
Religious holidays: When
scheduling unavoidably conflicts with religious holidays which (a) require an
absence from the University or (b) prohibit or require certain activities (i.e., activities that would make it
impossible for the student to satisfy the academic requirements scheduled on
the day(s) involved), no student will be penalized for absence because of
religious reasons, and alternative means will be sought for satisfying the
academic requirements involved. If a
suitable arrangement cannot be worked out between the student and instructor
involved, they should consult the appropriate Department Chair and, if
necessary, the student's Dean.
It is the responsibility of such students to inform themselves
concerning the work done in classes from which they are absent and to take
appropriate action.
A student who, for either of the situations outlined in paragraph one
above, (a) or (b), is unable to write examinations and term tests on a Sabbath
or Holy Day in a particular term shall give notice of this fact in writing to
his or her Dean as early as possible, but not later than November 15 for
mid-year examinations and March 1 for final examinations, i.e., approximately two weeks after the posting of the mid-year and
final examination schedule respectively.
In the case of mid-term tests, such notification is to be given in
writing to the instructor within 48 hours of the announcement of the date of
the mid-term test. If a Special
Examination is offered as an alternative means to satisfy the academic
requirements, the instructor(s) in the case of mid-term tests and the Dean in
the case of mid-year and Spring final examinations will arrange for special
examination(s) to be written at another time.
In the case of mid-year and Spring final
examinations, the accommodation must occur no later than one month after the
end of the examination period involved.
It is mandatory that students seeking accommodations under this policy
give notification before the deadlines and that the Faculty accommodate these
requests.
For purposes of this policy the University has
approved a list of dates which are recognized religious holidays which require
members of those religions to be absent from the University; this list is
updated annually and is available at Departmental, Deans' and Faculty advising
offices.
Make-up Policy: If you are unable to meet a course requirement due to illness or other
serious circumstances, you must provide valid medical or other supporting
documentation to the Dean's office as soon as possible and contact your
instructor immediately. It is the
student's responsibility to make alternative arrangements with their instructor
once the accommodation has been approved and the instructor has been
informed. In the event of a missed final
exam, a "Recommendation of Special Examination" form must be obtained
from the Academic Counselling office of their home
faculty.
For UWO
Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness, see: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/accommodation_medical.pdf.
A student
requiring academic accommodation due to illness should use the Student Medical
Certificate [see: https://studentservices.uwo.ca/
under the Medical Documentation
heading for a downloadable SMC] when visiting an off-campus medical facility,
or request a Records Release Form (available in the Academic Counselling office) for visits to Student Health Services.
Students
seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missed tests, exams,
participation components and/or assignments worth 10% or more of their final
grade must apply to the Academic Counselling office
of their home Faculty and provide documentation. Academic accommodation cannot be granted by
the instructor or department.
For any
component worth less than 10%, you must apply to the Instructor for
accommodation, and provide documentation.
Final Examination: In accordance with Senate Policy, a Special Examination will be held
within thirty days of the regular final examination for students who are unable
to write the regular examination for medical or other documented reasons. Requests for such a Special Examination must
be made to the Associate Dean, Faculty of Science.
Note that
if you fail to write a scheduled Special Examination, permission to write another
Special Examination will be granted only with the permission of the Academic Counselling Office in exceptional circumstances and with
appropriate supporting documents. In
such a case, the date of this Special Examination normally will be the
scheduled date for the final exam the next time the course is offered.
Academic misconduct:
Cheating: Scholastic offenses are taken seriously and students are
directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what
constitutes a Scholastic Offense, at the following Web site:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
Plagiarism: Students must write their essays and assignments in their own
words. Whenever students take an idea, or a passage from another author, they
must acknowledge their debt both by using quotation marks where appropriate and
by proper referencing such as footnotes or citations. Plagiarism is a major academic offence (see
Scholastic Offence Policy in the Western Academic Calendar).
Complaints and Suggestions: If you have a concern about something, please
let us know. We rely on your
feedback. Please contact initially the
person most directly concerned; this will usually be your instructor. If that is not satisfactory, or if there is
something more general bothering you, talk it over with the Physics &
Astronomy Department Chair or the Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies (for
contact information see http://www.physics.uwo.ca
).