Physics 320: Intermediate Physics for the Biosciences

Spring Semester, 2006

 

Course Syllabus

 

Instructor:      Prof. Daniel Reich                               

Office:           Bloomberg 347                                    

Tel:                516-7899                                             

email:             reich@jhu.edu

Lab:               Bloomberg 010

Lab Tel:         516-6030

Office Hours: Tuesday, 1-3 PM

 

TA:                Vivek Thampy              

Office:           Bloomberg 363                        

Tel:                516-8933                                             

email              vivek@pha.jhu.edu                               

Office Hours: Tuesday 3-5                                        

 

Overview:

This is the second semester of a two-semester course designed for students in the biosciences who desire or require a second course in physics beyond the standard  ³Physics 1² curriculum.  This semester will focus on wave phenomena and biological probes that depend on the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter.  Topics will include:

            Waves and Fourier Analysis

            X-ray diffraction and crystallography

Optics ­ the physics of modern light microscopy

            Quantum mechanics

            NMR and MRI

 

Class Schedule:

                      Lectures:          Mon., Tues., Wed.,  9-10AM             Bloomberg 361.

                      Section:            Thursday 12-1                                    Bloomberg 176

                      Labs:                TBD

 

Prerequisites:  Physics 171:101-102, 171:103-104 or 171.105-106; Calculus II 110. 109.

                                    Physics 319, or permission of the instructor.

 

Course Website:

The course website is in the JHU WebCT system. You can access it at

http://webct.jhu.edu . 

You can find a link to it on the Dept of Physics and Astronomyıs home page at:

http://physics.jhu.edu/

 

This will the syllabus, schedule, late-breaking news, and copies of the homework assignments and solution sets.  Lecture notes and links to other on-line supplementary material will be available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Materials:

There is no single textbook that covers the course material at the appropriate level.  Therefore, we will be working with a variety of sources. 

 

1. Required Textbooks: (available in campus bookstore)

 

1.   R. K. Hobbie, Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology, 3rd Ed., AIP Press.

                     

  1. D. B. Murphy, Fundamentals of Light Microscopy and Electronic Imaging,  Wiley.

 

  1.  A. P. French, Vibrations and Waves, Norton

 

2. Recommended Textbook: (available in campus bookstore)

 

1.     C. E. Swartz, Used Math

 

      3. Other Useful Books

                       

               Waves

                      F. S. Crawford, Waves, McGraw Hill

H. J. Pain, The Physics of Vibrations and Waves, Wiley

               Diffraction and Crystallography

C.    Kittel, Introduction to Solid State Physics, 6th or 7th ed. Wiley

G. Rhodes, Crystallography Made Crystal Clear, 2nd ed. Academic Press

               Quantum Mechanics

                      R. Harris, Nonclassical Physics, Addison Wesley

 

           Others will made available as needed.

 

  1. Lecture Notes and Handouts

                Fairly extensive lecture notes will be available on the P320 website.

                Various supplementary reading will be handed out in class

 

 

Requirements and Grading:

                                                                        When                                      %of grade

                      Homework                                Weekly                                    25

                      Labs                                          TBD                                          5

                      Midterm exam 1                        Wed. March 1                         15*

                      Midterm exam 2                        Wed. April 12                         15*

                      Final Exam                                Tues May 16                           40*

                     

* If a student's grade on the Final exam is higher than his or her average on the midterm exams, the final exam will be counted for 55% of the grade, and the studentıs worst midterm exam score will be dropped. It is expected that students will attend all lectures, labs, and sections, and complete all assignments, and exams.

 

Senior Option:

In recent years, seniors in this class have managed to convince (snooker, hoodwink, cajole, sweet-talk) me into honoring the somewhat dubious JHU tradition of the ³Senior Option,² wherein graduating seniors are sometimes excused from taking the final exam in Spring Term courses.  This year I am attempting to make the ground rules for this clear from the outset.  Graduating seniors who have done all homeworks, attended all labs, and taken both midterms will be eligible to elect the Senior Option.  Such individualsı grades will be determined by a revised scoring scheme wherein each Midterm exam is counted for 35% of the grade.  Students who wish to consider Senior Option can find out what their grade would be before deciding what to do.  Those who elect it will need to inform the Professor by email.  Those who decline Senior Option and take the final exam may not revert to Senior Option in the event of mishap on the final. 

 

Homework:

Homework will be due on Wednesdays in class with the first problem set due on Feb 8.  Solution sets will be available in Section, and on the Course website.

 

 

 

Computer Exercises:

As part of the homework, there will be exercises that require use of a computer. While some of these will just require a good plotting program, some will require more sophistication.  To this end, we will be using the program Mathematica.  This will be made available to you for free (with a temporary license), or you may buy it through HITS. Alternatively, Mathematica is available on the machines in the Physics Undergraduate Computer (PUC) lab in Bloomberg.  As a student in Physics 320, you are entitled to access to the PUC lab.  Please see Brian Schriver in Bloomberg 366G  (Dept office) for an application form for PUC lab privileges.

 

Labs:

There will be periodic laboratory exercises.  These will be scheduled at mutually agreed upon times.  These will be of an informal nature, but they are instructive and perhaps even fun.  Attendence and participation is mandatory, but extensive lab write-ups etc will not be required.  A tentative schedule of the labs is given below.  We may have to shift the dates of one or more lab.

 

Physics 320 Policy on Collaboration:  Doing the homework is crucial to learning the material in this class.  Working together can be useful and productive, and hence is not discouraged, provided that all parties put in equal efforts.   It is strongly recommended that you not collaborate until you have each thought about and tried the homework.   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.

 

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 ³Academic Ethics for Undergraduates,² and the Ethics Board Web site (http://ethics.jhu.edu) for more information.


 

Physics 171.320

Intermediate Physics for the Biosciences

Spring 2006

Approximate Schedule

 

Week             Dates                 Topics                                                 Notes

1                    1/30-2/1            Basic wave props

                                                Start Fourier analysis

 

2                    2/6-8                 Fourier Analysis                                  Section Wed  in class,

                                                                                                            Lecture during section

 

3                    2/13-15             Digital signal processing                     Lab 1: Sound and

                                                Physics of Hearing                              Fourier Synthesis

                                                           

 

4                    2/20-22             Intro to Electromagnetic waves            Lab 2: Beats, Digital

                                                Interference and Diffraction in 1D      Signal Measurement ­

                                                                                                            Aliasing

 

5                    2/27-3/1            Diffraction in 2D and 3D                    Midterm 1: 3/1

                                               

 

6                    3/6-8                 X-ray Crystallography                         Lab 3: Interference

                                                Structure of DNA                                and Diffraction

 

7                    3/13-15             Geometrical Optics ­                           Lab 4: Optical

                                                vision, basic microscopy                      simulation of DNA

                                                                                                            diffraction

 

                      3/20                   JHU SPRING BREAK

 

8                    3/27-29             Physical Optics

                                                Numerical Aperture and all thatŠ

 

9                    4/3-5                 Fancy microscopy ­ phase contrast,    Lab 5: Inside an

                                                DIC, image processing.                       optical microscope

                                               

 

10                  4/10-12             Quantum mechanics                            Midterm 2: 4/12

 

11                  4/17-19             Quantum mechanics applications

                                                Basic NMR                                        

 

12                  4/24-26             Pulsed and FT NMR                           Lab 6: Pulsed NMR

                                                MRI

 

13                  5/1-3                 MRI

 

14                  5/8-10               Reading period ­ Review  Session TBA                     

 

15                  5/16                   FINAL EXAM: Tuesday 5/16  9-Noon