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2019w_day_by_day
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Archive from Winter 2019
The Physics of Contemporary Challenges ====
- Instructor: (Winter 2019) Prof. Ethan Minot, Office: Weniger 417
- TA: (Winter 2019) Daniel McCulley
- Textbooks: Six Ideas That Shaped Physics, Unit T and Unit Q, by Thomas Moore.
- Class Meetings: MWF 12.00 - 12.50pm, Weniger 212
- Office hours and homework help session:
- Wednesdays 11.00 - 12.00noon in Weniger 334 “the wormhole”
- Thursdays 10.00 - 12.00noon in Weniger 334 “the wormhole”
Week 1
| Date | Topic | What was covered | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 1/7 | Fermi estimate & renewable energy | Day 1 class notes, ph315_advertisement.pdf, Real world connections Part 1, Real world connections Part 2 | hw1, how to write up homework |
| Wed 1/9 | Conservation of energy and simple models | Day 2 class notes | |
| Fri 1/11 | Wind energy, Thermodynamics | Day 3 class notes, see class notes for suggested reading | hw1 soln |
Week 2
| Date | Topic | What was covered | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 1/14 | Thermal energy, equipartition theorem | Day 4 class notes, gas properties simulation, suggested reading T5.4 | hw2, Q2 hint, Q4 background |
| Wed 1/16 | Work done by force and pressure | Day 5 class notes, Advice on note taking | |
| Fri 1/18 | Efficiency of gas cycle | Day 6 class notes | hw2 soln |
Week 3
| Date | Topic | What was covered | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 1/21 | MLK holiday | , | HW3, appendix, Carnot background |
| Wed 1/23 | Carnot Efficiency | Day 7 Class notes | |
| Fri 1/25 | Heat pumps, Partial diff. eqns | Day 8 Class Notes, Jack Johnson Breaks the 2nd Law, PDE for guitar string calculus derivation, | hw3 soln |
Week 4
| Date | Topic | What was covered | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 1/28 | Partial differential equations | Day 9 Class Notes, Mathematica code | hw4, appendix, Video tutorial for Q4 |
| Wed 1/30 | Waves and interference | Day 10 Class Notes, sound wave animation, Animation of light wave, wave interference | |
| Fri 2/1 | Experiment introduction | Day 11 Class Notes, Measurement uncertainty guide, example lab report | hw4 soln |
Week 5
| Date | Topic | What was covered | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 2/4 | Experiment | Day 12, Lab instructions | term paper topic proposal |
| Wed 2/6 | Experiment | Day 13, Hint of determining wavelength, Rubric for grading lab reports | |
| Fri 2/8 | Review | Day 14, Practice midterm | term paper proposal due |
Week 6
| Date | Topic | What was covered | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 2/11 | Review + dimensional analysis | Day 15 Class Notes dimensional analysis of blood flow | |
| Wed 2/13 | MIDTERM | ||
| Fri 2/15 | Wave-particle duality | Day 16 Class Notes, electron wave demo | Lab write up due |
Week 7
| Date | Topic | What was covered | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 2/18 | Wave-particle duality, size of atom | Day 17 Class Notes, single photon detection of an interference pattern | hw5, appendix |
| Wed 2/20 | Size of atom, Schrodinger equation, harmonic oscillator | Day 18 Class Notes, qmho_worksheet.pdf | |
| Fri 2/22 | Quantum harmonic oscillator | Day 19 Class notes | hw5 solns |
Week 8
| Date | Topic | What was covered | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 2/25 | Light-matter interactions | Day 20 Class notes, suggested reading Q11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4 and 11.5 | HW6 appendix |
| Wed 2/27 | Term paper guidance, Spectral distributions | Day 21 Class Notes, Suggested reading about greenhouse gases | |
| Fri 3/1 | Blackbody spectrum | Day 22 Class Notes, atmosphere model, | hw6soln, N2 oscillator |
Week 9
| Date | Topic | What was covered | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 3/4 | Blackbody spectrum | day23_2019.pdf, worksheet | HW7 |
| Wed 3/6 | Earth's temperature | Day 24 Class Notes thermal_radiation_flip_book.pdf | |
| Fri 3/8 | Earth's temperature | Day 25 Class Notes | hw7 solns |
Week 10
| Date | Topic | What was covered | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 3/11 | Nuclear physics | Day 26 Class Notes, watermellon, Rutherford scattering | term paper due, HW8, appendix |
| Wed 3/13 | Nuclear physics | nuclear_waste.pdf | |
| Fri 3/15 | Review | Practice questions for final | hw8 solns |
Finals week
| Help session: time to be determined |
| Final exam (2 hours): |
2019w_day_by_day.txt · Last modified: 2019/09/09 14:51 by ethanminot
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