Physics 110A Electricity,
Magnetism, and Optics Winter 2007
MWF,
Instructor: Robert Johnson
Office: 323 Natural Sciences
II; Office phone 459-2125
E-mail: rjohnson@scipp.ucsc.edu
Office hours: MWF
Course Web site: http://scipp.ucsc.edu/~johnson/phys110a/phys110a.htm
TA: Heath
Office: ISB 314; Phone
459-4138
E-mail: holguin@scipp.ucsc.edu
Discussion Section: Thursdays,
6:30—8:00 pm, ISB 235
Office hours: 10:00 am to
Textbook: Introduction
to Electrodynamics, D.
|
Week |
Dates |
Topics |
|
Quiz/HW |
|
1 |
Jan 5 |
Vector analysis (review) |
1.1–1.3 |
|
|
2 |
Jan 8 Jan 10 Jan 12 |
Curvilinear coordinates,
Delta ftn., Vector fields Electrostatic Field Electrostatics, Coulomb’s
Law, Electric Field |
1.4–1.6 2.1 2.2 |
#1 |
|
3 |
Jan 17 Jan 19 |
Charges, Poisson’s and LaPlace’s Equations Work, Energy, Conductors,
Capacitors |
2.3 2.4, 2.5 |
#2 |
|
4 |
Jan 22 Jan 24 Jan 26 |
Solutions to Images and Separation of
Variables Separation of variables |
3.1 3.2,3.3 3.3 |
#3 |
|
5 |
Jan 29 Jan 31 Feb 2 |
Multipole Expansions Dielectrics, Polarization,
Dipole Moment Field inside a dielectric |
3.4 4.1 4.2 |
#4 |
|
6 |
Feb 5 Feb 7 Feb 9 |
Electric displacement and
linear dielectrics Boundary value problems
with linear dielectrics Energy and Forces on
Dielectrics |
4.3–4.4.1 4.4.2 4.4.4 |
#5 |
|
7 |
Feb 12 Feb 16 |
Lorentz Force Law Biot and Savart Law Divergence and Curl of B |
5.1 5.2 5.3 |
#6 |
|
8 |
Feb 21 Feb 23 |
Magnetic Vector Potential, Multipole Expansion Magnetization; Field of a
magnetized object |
5.4 6.1, 6.2 |
#7 |
|
9 |
Feb 26 Feb 28 Mar 2 |
H Field Linear and Nonlinear Media Electromotive Force |
6.3 6.4 7.1 |
#8 |
|
10 |
Mar 5 Mar 7 Mar 9 |
Faraday’s law and the
induced electric field Inductance Energy in magnetic fields |
7.2.1, 7.2.2 7.2.3 7.2.4 |
#9 |
|
11 |
Mar 12 Mar 14 Mar 16 |
Maxwell’s equations and
displacement current Maxwell’s equations and
boundary conditions No class |
7.3.1–7.3.3 7.3.4–7.3.6 |
|
|
12 |
Mar 21 |
Final Exam from |
|
|
You
will be expected to have learned most of the mathematical techniques necessary
for this course in Calculus (especially vector calculus) or Mathematical
Methods, but we will review the pertinent techniques while working through
examples. The homework in this course
should give you ample opportunity to hone your mathematical skills. You should have learned most of the physics
concepts that we will be dealing with when you took Physics 5C or
equivalent. Our main objective here is
to learn to deal with those concepts in a more mathematically sophisticated
way, both to be able to apply them to more complex problems but also to gain
deeper insights into the physics.
Please
at least read the relevant sections of the textbook before coming to
lecture. Even better, work through on
paper the non-obvious derivations in the text, as that will be more valuable to
you than watching me do it. I think that
this textbook is very readable, with good explanations. If I don’t have to recite to you everything
in the text, then that leaves more time for me to work through examples, go
over conceptual questions, and perhaps do some demonstrations. There already is a lot of material in the
syllabus, however, so I do not intend to go significantly above and beyond what
is in the text.
A
set of homework problems will be given out each week, for a total of ten
assignments. The problems will mostly be
taken from the textbook but will also include some derivations and maybe some
short-answer conceptual questions. You
are welcome to collaborate on the homework, but be sure that in the end you
know how to work out each assigned problem by yourself. You
are also encouraged to seek help on the homework, whenever necessary, from
myself and the teaching assistant. While
my office hours are the most convenient time for me to meet with you, if you
have an urgent question that cannot wait, you are welcome to look for me at
other times or else send me e-mail.
Only
some of the homework solutions will be collected and graded, as will be noted
on the assignment. But, in addition, we
will have a 30-minute quiz each Friday that will be based on the week’s
homework assignment. My intention will
be to make quizzes that are easy in case that you’ve done all of the homework,
but could be difficult otherwise.
Therefore, the quiz will normally be one problem or pieces of multiple
problems, taken verbatim or with only small modifications from the homework,
plus in some cases one or two conceptual multiple choice questions taken from
the lectures. There will not be a
midterm exam, and the quizzes will count for half of the course grade. However, your two lowest quiz scores will be
dropped from your average.
Homework
and quiz solutions will be posted online following each quiz. You are expected to check your own homework solutions
to be sure that you learned the material correctly.
Grades
and evaluations will be determined from the homework and quizzes, the midterm
exam, and the final exam, with the following weights:
·
Quizzes: 50%
·
Graded homework:
10%
·
Final exam: 40%
The
final exam will include short-answer conceptual questions as well as problem
solving. The problems generally will not
be identical to any of your homework problems, so do not expect the final exam
to be like the quizzes. For practice I
will post the exams from last year along with solutions.
In
addition to the textbook, I recommend the following texts on reserve for your
reference:
·
E. M. Purcell, Electricity and Magnetism, Berkeley Physics Course, Volume 2. This text is mathematically at a somewhat
lower level than Griffiths, but you will notice that Griffiths often references
the author. Purcell’s book is well known
for its excellent explanations of the physics and mathematics. One thing to watch out for, however, is that
Purcell uses Gaussian units (the same as in the second half of the widely used
graduate textbook by
·
M. L. Boas, Mathematical Methods in the Physical
Sciences.
·
D.A. McQuarrie, Mathematical
Methods for Scientists and Engineers.
This is a textbook sometimes used in our mathematical methods course, so
it is a good alternative to Boas.
·
The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume 2. This
treatment is generally at a lower level of mathematical sophistication than