Physics 2B: Waves, Quantum Physics and Materials (U00546)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 8 ? Acronym : PHY-2-B

This course provides an introduction to the tools, concepts and phenomena associated with the physics of the microscopic world. The course incorporates an introductory module on experimental physics; it is supported by a programme of tutorial workshops.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Prior attendance at Physics 2A: Forces, Fields & Potentials (PHY-2-A).

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Undergraduate (School of Physics), (School of Physics, Schedule Q)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 2nd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 8 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
08/01/2007	09:00	09:50	Lecture Theatre A, JCMB	KB

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	09:00	09:50	KB
Lecture	Tuesday	09:00	09:50	KB
Lecture	Thursday	09:00	09:50	KB
Lecture	Friday	09:00	09:50	KB

1 of the following 4 classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Laboratory	Mo	14:00	17:00	KB
Laboratory	Tu	14:00	17:00	KB
Laboratory	Th	14:00	17:00	KB
Laboratory	Fr	14:00	17:00	KB

? Additional Class Information : Tutorial workshops two hours per week, as arranged. Laboratory sessions three hours per week, as arranged.

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the Experimental Physics unit you should:
1) have learned how to keep a lab notebook;
2) be confident in the use of the commonly-encountered lab instruments;
3) learned how to minimise the effects of random & systematic errors;
4) be able to combine errors in individual measurements;
5) be able to fit a straight line to experimental data using least-squares methods & hence obtain the gradient, y-axis intercept & their uncertainties;
6) have learned how to write up your experimental work as a scientific report.

At the end of this course of lectures you should:
7) be familiar with the gaseous, liquid & solid phases of matter;
8) understand how quantities such as latent heat, critical temperature, surface tension, compressibility, elasticity & thermal expansion can be related to the parameters of the inter atomic/molecular potential;
9) understand the zeroth & first laws of thermodynamics & the concepts of internal energy, heat & work;
10) appreciate the universality of the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution for systems in thermal equilibrium;
11) be able to apply and manipulate the mathematics of wave motion;
12) be familiar with the failures of classical physics & how they relate to the early motivation for quantum theory;
13) be able to state and appreciate the consequences of the key paradigm-shifting notions of early quantum theory such as the deBroglie Hypothesis & the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle;
14) be able to discuss the early models of atomic structure & their relation to optical spectra;
15) be able to write down the time-dependent & -independent Schrodinger wave eqn & state why the latter has the structure of an eigenvalue eqn;
16) be able to apply formal wave mechanics (through the Schrodinger eqn) to a range of fundamental problems concerning scattering & bound states.