Physics 106: Electricity and Magnetism I

Spring Semester, 2010

Course Syllabus

Instructor: Prof. Petar Maksimovic

Office: Bloomberg 417

Tel: (410) 516-3819

email: petar@jhu.edu

Office Hours: Monday, 2-4 PM, and by appointment.

            Section 1          Section 2

TAs: Kate Oldak    Ian Anderson

Office: Bloomberg 248B   Bloomberg 248B

Tel: (410) 516-0117      (410) 516-0117

email kaoldak@gmail.com       ianderso@pha.jhu.edu

Office Hrs:  TBA      TBA

Course Description:

This course is a one-semester introduction to electricity and magnetism. It is the second course in a four semester introductory sequence that includes Physics 105 and Physics 201-202 or 209-310. As such, it is primarily intended for students who are planning to take at least two years of physics courses. Students planning to take a single year of physics should consider the introductory 101-102 or 103-104 sequences.

The goal of this course is to give a solid grounding in the core topics of classical electricity and magnetism, and to prepare students for further study in physics. It will not contain a survey of "Modern Physics" such as found in Physics 102 or 104. Calculus will be used in keeping with the students' level of math preparation, and additional mathematical techniques will be introduced as needed.

Class Schedule:

Lectures: MWF,       11-11:50AM  Bloomberg 278.

Updated Schedule

Section: Th 1:30-2:20PM     Bloomberg 274 (S1)

Prerequisites:  Physics 171:105 (C- or better) or either Physics 171.101 or 103 and permission of the instructor.

Co-requisites: Introductory Physics Laboratory 173.116 and Calculus 110.109 or a higher-level math course.

Course Website:

The course website is under development. It will be available through the department web page. Course material, homework assignments, homework solutions, review problems, and announcements will be posted there.

Course Materials:

Required Textbook:

    1. E. M. Purcell, Electricity and Magnetism, 2nd Edition (McGraw Hill, New York). ISBN: 0-07-004908-4. This book is available at Amazon.com but not in the book store.

Recommended Textbooks

    1. D. Halliday, R. Resnick, and K. S. Krane, Physics, Volume 2, 5th Edition (Wiley) ISBN: 978-0-471-40194-0

    2. Clifford Swartz Used Math

Periodic Handouts

There will be occasional Xeroxed handouts of additional material.

The book by Purcell is a classic book that treats the material with more mathematical sophistication than most introductory texts. Supplementary material will be used for a treatment of ray optics and special relativity. This material will be taken from the Halliday and Resnick text, which is the second volume of the text used in 105. The book by Swartz, which veterans of 105 may already have, is a useful primer/reminder for the math used in the course.

Requirements and Grading:

The grade is computed using this approximative formula:  (homework score)*0.2 + (higher-score midterm)*0.25 + (lower-score midterm)*0.15 + (final exam)*0.4.

Practice Exams:

Old exams will be posted on the course web page and you are encouraged to practice for exams by solving them. Old exams


Homework:

Homework will be due on Fridays in class. Solution sets will be available on the course's website.


Week #1: Purcell, Ch.1: Coulomb's Force
Problem set 1  (Solutions)  Due on Friday, Feb. 11

Week #2: Purcell, Ch.1: Gauss's Law, Energy of the field
Problem set 2  (Solutions)  Due on Monday, Feb. 18

Week #3: Purcell, Ch.2: Electrostatic Potential, Poisson and Laplace Equation
Problem set 3  (Solutions)  Due on Friday, Feb. 25

Week #4:  Purcell, Ch.3: Electric fields around conductors
Problem set 4  (Solutions)  Due on Friday, March 4

Week #5:  Purcell, Ch.4: Currents
Problem set 5   (Solutions) Due on Monday, March 14  (due to 1st midterm on previous Thursday)

Week #6: Purcell, Ch.5: Fields of moving charges (intro to Magnetism)
Problem set 6   (Solutions) Due on Friday, March 18

Week #7: Purcell, Ch.6: Magnetic Field
Problem set 7: 4.31, 5.16, 5.21, 6.2, 6.4, 6.9, 6.11    (Solutions)
Due on Friday, April 1 (after Spring Break)

[Spring Break: March 21-25 -- no classes]

Week #8: Purcell, Ch.7: Electromagnetic induction.
Problem set 8:  6.13, 6.16, 7.3, 7.4, 7.15, 7.19, 7.22    (Solutions)
Due on Friday, April 8.
[Note on 6.13: this setup is called "Helmholtz coil". Google it for more hints.]

Week #9: Purcell, Ch.8: Alternating currents   (Solutions)
Problem set 9: 7.13, 7.14, 7.21, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.6 (note that the problems in Ch.8 are the same in both 1st and 2nd edition of Purcell!)
Due on Friday, April 15

Week #10: Purcell, Ch.9: Maxwell's Equations; Waves
Problem set 10  (Solutions)  Due on Monday, April 25

Week #11: Purcell, Ch. 10: Electric fields in matter
Problem set 11  (Solutions)  Due on Friday, April 29

Week #12: Purcell, Ch. 11: Magnetic fields in matter
Problem set 12  (Solutions)  Due on Monday, May 6


As part of the homework, there will be periodic computer exercises. These may require use of mathematics and plotting software such as Mathematica, Maple or MatLab. The Department of Physics and Astronomy has a license for Mathematica that enables us to give you copies of the software that are good for the current academic year. CDs for will be handed out in class. Alternatively, you may use the:

Physics Undergraduate Computer Lab:

Mathematica is available on the machines in the Physics Undergraduate Computer (PUC) lab in Bloomberg. As a student in Physics 106, you are entitled to access to the PUC lab. Please see Brian Schriver in Bloomberg 366G (Dept office) for an application form.

Mathematica Sampler

Mathematica Example Homework 3

Physics 106 Policy on Collaboration: Doing the homework is crucial to learning the material in this class. Working together can be useful and productive and is encouraged provided all parties put in equal effort. It is strongly recommended, however, that you meet to collaborate only after you have each thought through and tried the problems individually. If you do not put this effort in on your own, you will not learn the material, and it will be readily apparent on the exams.

The same goes for Office Hours and Conference Sections. They are most useful if you come prepared!

Homewood-wide statement on Disabilities: If you are a student with a disability or believe you might have a disability that requires accommodations, please contact Dr. Richard Sanders, Homewood Undergraduate Disability Services Coordinator, in the Office of Academic Advising, Garland Suite 3A, (410) 516-8216, sanders@jhu.edu, to discuss reasonable and appropriate accommodations.

Official University Statement on Academic Ethics: The strength of the university depends on academic and personal integrity. In this course, you must be honest and truthful. Ethical violations include cheating on exams, plagiarism, reuse of assignments, improper use of the Internet and electronic devices, unauthorized collaboration, alterations of graded assignments, forgery and falsification, lying, facilitating academic dishonesty, and unfair competition.

Report any violations you witness to the instructor. You may consult the associate dean of students and/or the chairman of the Ethics Board beforehand. See the guide on Academic Ethics for Undergraduates, and the Ethics Board Web site (http://ethics.jhu.edu) for more information.