Copyright © Michael Richmond.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
The table below shows the sequence of topics we will cover in this course. The dates are slightly tentative -- we may occasionally move ahead or fall behind. As you can see, we are not always following the textbook's arrangement of material. We may skip some sections within chapters.
The sections marked "UP" are optional reading in the book understanding Physics, Vol III by Isaac Asimov, on reserve in the library.
| Nov 28 | Introduction and review of classical physics | Chapter 1 | |
| Nov 29 | Michelson-Morley experiment | 2.1 - 2.2 | |
| Dec 1 | Einstein's hypotheses | 2.3 - 2.4 | |
| Dec 2 | Time dilation | 2.4 | HW 0 |
| Dec 5 | Length contraction, velocity addition | 2.4 | |
| Dec 6 | Lorentz transformations and simultaneity | 2.5 | |
| Dec 8 | Relativistic Doppler shift | 2.4, 2.6 | |
| Dec 9 | Causality, review | HW 1 | |
| Dec 12 | Relativistic dynamics I | 2.7 | |
| Dec 13 | Relativistic dynamics II | 2.7 - 2.8 | |
| Dec 15 | Review and homework session | ||
| Dec 16 | Test 1 | HW 2 | |
| Jan 9 | Blackbody radiation and the "ultraviolet catastrophe" | 3.1, 3.3 | |
| Jan 10 | Planck's solution to the "ultraviolet catastrophe" | 3.3 | |
| Jan 12 | The photoelectric effect | 3.2 (UP 4.1) | |
| Jan 13 | The Compton effect | 3.4 | |
| Jan 16 | Wave-particle duality I | 3.5 - 3.6 | |
| Jan 17 | Wave-particle duality II | duality article | |
| Jan 19 | Review of classical diffraction | HW 3 | |
| Jan 20 | Diffraction of electrons | 4.1 (UP 6.4) | |
| Jan 23 | Matter waves | 4.2 - 4.3 | |
| Jan 24 | Uncertainty | 4.4 - 4.6 | |
| Jan 26 | Atoms: dramatis personae and early models | 6.1 - 6.2 | |
| Jan 27 | Test 2 | HW 4 | |
| Jan 30 | Rutherford and the discovery of the nucleus | 6.3 (UP 4.2) | |
| Jan 31 | catching up ... | ||
| Feb 2 | Spectral lines | 6.4 (UP 5.1) | |
| Feb 3 | Bohr's model of the atom | 6.5 (UP 5.2) | |
| Feb 6 | Problems for Bohr, review of diff eqns | 6.8, 5.1 - 5.2 | |
| Feb 7 | Schroedinger's eqn | 5.1 - 5.2 | HW 5 |
| Feb 9 | Schroedinger's equation: 1-D particle in a box | 5.3 - 5.4 | |
| Feb 10 | Schroedinger's equation: non-zero potential, tunnelling | 5.7 | |
| Feb 13 | The (quantum) Simple Harmonic Oscillator | 5.5 | |
| Feb 14 | The hydrogen atom a la Schroedinger | 7.1-7.3 | |
| Feb 16 | The hydrogen atom, continued | 7.1-7.3 | |
| Feb 17 | Test 3 | HW 6 | |
| Feb 20 | Angular momentum, the Zeeman effect | 7.4, 7.7 (UP 5.3) | |
| Feb 21 | Subatomic Spin and Fine Structure | 7.5, 7.6, 7.8 (UP 5.3) | |
| Feb 23 | Shells of electrons | 8.1 - 8.3 (UP 5.3-5.4) | |
| Feb 24 | The Periodic Table | 8.4 - 8.5 (UP 4.3-4.5) | |
| Sunday, Feb 26 | HW 7 (2 PM) | ||
| Feb 28 | Final Exam | 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM in 08-A300 |
This page maintained by Michael Richmond. Last modified Jan 31, 2006.
Copyright © Michael Richmond.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.