PHYSICS
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
To understand the course topics and to do the foreseen activities, it is required to students to have the following capability acquired in the Math course of the first semester:
-basic notion of Math (algebra, trigonometry, basics of differential and integral calculus).
-basic notion of statistic and data analysis.
-capability to understand the graph of a function.
The learning assessment consists of a two-phase process:
- within the course
Two ongoing tests will be assigned, composed of exercises similar to those previously carried out by the instructor during the teaching time. Successfully passing the two ongoing tests will grant students direct access to the oral session of the exam.
- at the end of the course
Written exam: students who either did not pass or complete the ongoing tests will be required to take a written exam session, consisting of exercises similar to those previously performed by the instructor during the teaching time.
Oral exam:
* students who successfully passed the ongoing tests can access the oral exam by discussing a topic of their choice out of those covered during the course
* students who either did not pass or complete the ongoing tests, but successfully passed a written exam session can access the oral exam and will be required to discuss one of the course topics at the choice of the examiner.
The aim of the course is given to students the instruments to observe and understand natural phenomena. The students will be able to use physics laws, variables and to do a plot that describes the studied phenomena.
The course is part of the educational objectives of the degree course. The course helps students to improve and enhance their observation capability and to understand the physical phenomena through math and statistics. The students will use the learned knowledge applied to multi-disciplinal problems to solve them.
At the end of the course, the students will be able to:
- observe physical phenomena and explained them with physics laws.
- solve simple problems, using math and graph to explain the results and relationships between variables.
- present a physic topic using scientific language and math expressions.
INTRODUCTION
-introduction of the physic in biology
-the vectors and they compositions
-the concept of error in an experimental measure: accuracy and consistency
- Unit of measurements and Physical quantities
KINEMATICS AND DYNAMICS
-kinematics variables: space, time, velocity, and acceleration.
-plots of variables and analysis
-free fall motion
-parabolic motion
-circular motion
-pendulum motion
-the dynamics and its laws: force and mass concepts, the three Newton’s laws, force examples
-the friction forces and the drag resistance
-the inclined plane and the importance of referring system
ENERGY AND CONREVATION LAWS
-the different kind of energy and the transformations laws
-work and power physic concepts
-conservation of energy, momentum and angular momentum and their applications
THE FLUIDS
- pressure and density
- Hydrostatics: Stevino’s law; Pascal’s law; Archimede’s law
- Fluid dynamics: continuity equation; Bernoulli’s law
- Viscous fluids: mass flow rate; laminar and turbulent flow; relation between mass flow rate and viscosity and application to circulatory system
- surface tension and its applications.
- capillary action Jurin’s law.
- Laplace’s law and pulmonary alveolus behaviour.
THERMODYNAMICS
- the heat and temperature: the zeroth law of thermodynamics.
- Heat transfer.
- Heat capacity.
- Ideal gas, status variables, transformations’ law, the representation of the Clapeyron plane.
- the first law of thermodynamics.
- the second law of thermodynamics and entropy.
- thermal machines and engine efficiency.
OPTICS
- the electromagnetic spectrum
- geometrical optics:
* reflection and refraction;
* refraction index and dispersion;
* optical prism;
* total reflection and optical fibers;
* thin lens;
* the eye
- undulatory optics (optional):
* Young’s experiment and the wave interference
* the wave interference of thin laminae
* The single-slit diffraction
* Circular aperture diffraction resolving power of and optical instrument
* diffraction grating
* Polarization
ELECTROSTATICS
- the electrical charge
- the Coulomb’s force
- the electric field and the electric potential
- the electrical dipole
- the electric flux and Gauss’s theorem
- conductors and dielectrics
- the capacitors
- the electric current and the circuits
- charge and discharge of RC circuit
MAGNETISM
- comparison between electrostatics and magnetism
- the magnetic field
- Lorentz’s law and mass spectrometer
- relation between electric field and magnetic field
- current carrying wire: Biot-Savart’s law Ampere’s law
- (optional) Faraday’s law
- (optional) Maxwell’s equations
The detailed list of topics covered during the course is covered in the “course contents” section.
TEXTBOOKS
These are the suggested textbooks of the course:
- Halliday, Resnick, Walker: Fondamenti di fisica. Vol. 1 e 2, ISBN-10: 8808182983, ISBN-10: 8808183114
Students will be provided with slides and additional informative material whenever helpful (articles and notes).
The course is composed of two parts:
-lectures (32 hours): during the lectures, the teacher starts with questions to exploit the different fields of physics. The topics of the questions are related to the degree course. The teacher will use Slides and short movies to introduce the lecture topics. The students will have the material of the lectures. The students will do small experiments with simple materials, according to the pandemic evolution.
-exercises (24 hours): the teacher and the students will solve a lot of exercises to apply in a critical way what the teacher shows during the lectures. Furthermore, a graphical representation of the physic variables will be required. These exercises include also two tests to be used in the final valuation.
In case additional further information is needed, feel free to ask the instructor: agnese.giaz@uninsubria.it