Class Schedule: M W 12:30pm-1:50pm (Pell 209) | Professor: Steve Liebling |
Classroom: Pell Hall 209 | Office: Pell Hall 210 |
Text: Serway/Moses/Moyer's Modern Physics 3rd Edition (Textbook site: http://www.brookscole.com) Equation Sheet (PDF) |
Office Hours: M W 4:50-5:50pm and by appt. |
Web: http://relativity.liu.edu/steve | Phone: 299-3439 |
Pre-requisites: PHY 3 & 4; MATH 9 (or co-requisite) | Email: |
Course credit: 3 credit-hours |
Course Objective: Students will study various topics of modern physics including relativity, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and cosmology. Students should be able to demonstrate the ability to reason through physical arguments as well as solve quantitatively problems within these areas.
Grading Policy:
Homework | 25% |
Test 1 | 25% |
Test 2 | 25% |
Final Exam | 25% |
Homework: Homework assignments will be presented in class and will generally consist of problems from the required text. Homework problems must be done in order to gain mastery of the material and skills necessary for the tests.
Tests: The class will have two tests as indicated on the syllabus. Each test will cover the material presented since the previous test (to be precise, much of what we will learn applies throughout all the chapters, however, the questions will be geared towards specifically covering material presented between the tests). The tests will be given during classtime.
Final: The final will be held during the time dictated by the Registrar during Exam Week.
Cheating: You are encouraged to work on homework problems with others, but what you turn in must be your own work in your own words. However, you must work alone on tests. On exams you may use only a calculator and writing utensils; I will give you a copy of the equation sheet linked above.
Other Resources: Tutors, library books, office hours, and supplemental texts. I'd also recommend the books from my course for nonscientists, especially the quantum mechanics and relativity books.
Syllabus:
Below is the anticipated schedule of what we'll cover.
Near the end of the semester, I generally have
flexibility in what we cover.
If you have a preference for what we might cover, please feel free
to provide feedback.
Week 1 | Jan. 18 | Course Overview | |
Week 2 | Jan. 23 | Relativity I | Ch. 1 (Q: 1, 4; P: 2, 5, 7, 10, 16, 20, 23) |
Jan. 25 | Ch. 1 | ||
Week 3 | Jan. 30 | Relativity II | Ch. 2 (P: 1, 7, 8, 13, 15, 20, 23) |
Feb. 1 | Ch. 2 | ||
Week 4 | Feb. 6 | ||
Feb. 8 | TEST 1 | ||
Week 5 | Feb. 13 | Particle Fever movie | |
Feb. 15 | |||
Week 6 | Feb. 20 | No class | President's Day |
Feb. 21 (Tue) | The Quantum Theory of Light | Ch. 3 (Q: 7, 8, 9, 11; P: 2, 3, 8, 12, 14, 21, 23, 25) | |
Feb. 22 | Ch. 3 | ||
Week 7 | Feb. 27 | The Particle Nature of Matter | Ch. 4 (Q: 3, 11; P: 4, 11, 13, 19, 24) |
Mar. 1 | Ch. 4 | ||
Week 8 | Mar. 6 | Matter Waves | Ch. 5 (Q: 3, 5, 11; P: 1, 3, 5ab, 8, 18, 23, 31, 32) |
Mar. 8 | Ch. 5 | ||
Week 9 | March 13 | No class | Spring Break |
March 15 | No class | Spring Break | |
Week 10 | Mar. 20 | Quantum Mechanics in 1D | Ch. 6 (P: 2, 3, 6, 8, 13, 23, 24, 28) |
Mar. 22 | Ch. 6 | ||
Week 11 | Mar. 27 | TEST 2 | TEST 2 |
Mar. 29 | Tunneling Phenomena | Ch. 7 (Q: 2; P: 1, 11, 14) | |
Week 12 | April 3 | Quantum Mechanics in 3D | Ch. 8 (HW P: 2, 6, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17) |
April 5 | Ch. 8 | ||
Week 13 | April 10 | Atomic Structure | Ch. 9 |
April 12 | Ch. 9 | ||
Week 14 | April 17 | Elementary Particles | Ch. 15 |
April 19 | Cosmology | Ch. 16 (found online) | |
Week 15 | April 24 | Ch. 16 | |
Week 16 | April 28- May 4 | Wed April 26 12:30pm--3pm | Scheduled Final Exam |