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PHYSICS II AND PHYSICS LABORATORY

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Versione italiana
Academic year
2022/2023
Teacher
FEDERICO MONTONCELLO
Credits
8
Didactic period
Secondo Semestre
SSD
FIS/01

Training objectives

Ability to provide a phenomenological description, a scientific interpretation, and a mathematical explanation of all the electrical, magnetic, electromagnetic and optic phenomena, together with the corresponding technological applications.
Ability to design and build simple electric circuits, verify their working principles by the use of oscilloscopes, function generators, digital multimeters, and to get and explain the output signal/curve.
The course will give, thorugh didactic methodologies and technologies, introductory knowledge useful for didactics of Sciences for Secondary Schools.

Prerequisites

It is required the knowledge of the basic principles of geometry, including scalar and vector products, trigonometry, calculus of functions of one or more variables (derivation, integration, and corresponding geometrical interpretations), first and second order differential equations, line integrals, the use and geometrical interpretation of the differential vector operators gradient, divergence and rotor, and the function approximations (Taylor and Fourier series). It is required the knowledge of the principles of kinematics (including harmonic motion and oscillations in general), matter point particle mechanics, rigid body dynamics (angular momentum, moment of inertia, torque and corresponding equations). Finally, it is required the knowledge of the laws of thermodynamics and kinetic theory of gases.

Course programme

1. ELECTROSTATICS
Coulomb's law, Gauss' law and its applications. Electric potential. Gradient operator, divergence operator, curl operator, Laplacian operator. Capacitors. Dielectrics. Electric current and Ohm's law. Kirchhoff's law. Charge and discharge of the capacitors. Bohr's atomic model.
2. MAGNETISM
The magnetic field. The Lorentz's force. Mass spectrometer. The Hall effect. Biot-Savart's law, the two Laplace's laws, Ampère's law, Faraday's law. Maxwell's equations. The inductance. The magnetic properties of the matter: diamagnetism, paramagnetism, ferromagnetism.
3. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND OPTICS
Electromagnetic waves. Geometrical optics: reflection and refraction, dioptric surfaces, mirrors and lens. Microscope. Interference, diffraction and polarization of light. Basics of X-ray diffraction. Basics of De Broglie relation and electron diffraction.
4. BASICS OF ELECTRONICS (Physics laboratory):
Wheatstone bridge and applications. Alternating currents. Impedance. Oscillating RLC circuits. Forcing frequency, Resonance, Quality Factor. RC filters in AC current, cut-off frequency. Gain and decibel unit. Semiconductors. Introductory theory of bands. Doping of n, p type. Junctions, diodes, transistors. Applications. Operating principles and use of electronic devices: generators, digital multimeters, oscilloscope, RC filters, RLC circuits, diodes, rectificators, digital thermometer, LED and photodiodes. Practice of laboratory, with the assembling of simple circuits and corresponding experiments. Introduction to the use of the Fourier transform for signal analysis and optical diffraction, and corresponding practice of laboratory.

Didactic methods

Theoretical lectures with many references to applications (experimental devices and technology) by pictures, video and java applets.
Four lab sessions in May with practice of electronics.

Learning assessment procedures

Written+oral examination.
Written test can consist of either 2 partial tests during the didactical period, or a single final test, on a regular exam session.
The first partial test deals with:
1. Electrical circuit, solved with Kirchhoff laws;
2. Study of a capacitor, in which dielectric or metal plates are inserted;
3. Problem on Laplace and Faraday laws.
The second partial test deals with:
1. Transformers with ferromagnetic core;
2. Diopters and mirrors;
3. Compound microscope;
4. Exercise on Wave optics.
Oral session is single, but divided into 4 parts: in the first one, the student is allowed to choose a subject, and discuss it concisedly, with proper language and thoroughly. In the other three parts, questions will be relevant to 1. Electricity; 2. Magnetism; 3. Electromagnetic waves, or geometric or wave optics; 4. AC currents, semiconductors, or a theoretical but also practical description of one of the lab sessions had during the lectures.
We recall that to access the oral session, the student needs to have passed the exam of Physics I (Fisica I).

Reference texts

1. D. Halliday, R. Resnick, S. Krane "Physics 2" Ed. Ambrosiana (Fifth edition). NOTE: "Krane" not "Walker" among the authors, since the corresponding textbooks are different.
2. P. Mazzoldi, M. Nigro, C. Voci
Curatori: R. C. Iotti, G. Barbero
"Fisica. Elettromagnetismo e onde"
Edizione 3. Editore Edises (2021)
ISBN 883623030X.