PHY-2040 General Physics III

Credits 4
Third semester of a three-semester sequence (PHY PHY-1030 , PHY-2030 , 2040) for science/engineering transfer students. Calculus-based survey of oscillations, wave phenomena and modern physics. Topics to be covered include simple harmonic motion, AC circuits, mechanics of transverse and longitudinal waves, wave refraction, reflection, and superposition, sound, geometric and physical optics, special relativity, atomic structure and models, nuclear reactions and radioactivity, the photoelectric effect, wave-particle duality, and quantum mechanics.
Prerequisite(s): PHY-2030, MAT-2460 completed or concurrent
3 class/1 rec/3 lab hours.
Course Outcomes

Apply the laws of wave mechanics to solve problems related to standing and traveling waves, sound waves, Doppler effect, and musical instruments.
Solve problems in optics using the dual nature of light, the laws of reflection, refraction, interference, and diffraction of light.
Use Maxwell’s equations to describe light as an electromagnetic wave.
Explain the atomic and molecular structure and physical interpretation of quantum numbers using Pauli’s exclusion principle.
Explain the nuclear structure, nuclear forces, radioactive decay, and sole problems related to basic nuclear reactions.
Distinguish between relativistic and nonrelativistic motion and solve problems using special theory of relativity.
Use Schrödinger equations to solve problems related to potential well, potential barrier, and quantum mechanical tunneling.
Develop mathematical equations for the physical systems.
Investigate the behavior of physical systems in the lab and explain the causes of any discrepancy between the experimental behavior/results and the expected behavior/results.