Undergraduate Course: Foundations of Electromagnetism (PHYS09050)
Course Outline
| School | School of Physics and Astronomy | 
College | College of Science and Engineering | 
 
| Course type | Standard | 
Availability | Available to all students | 
 
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) | 
Credits | 10 | 
 
| Home subject area | Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy) | 
Other subject area | None | 
   
| Course website | 
None | 
Taught in Gaelic? | No | 
 
| Course description | This is a one-semester course, covering time-independent and time-dependent properties  of electric and magnetic fields leading to the vector calculus formulation of Maxwell's Equations and the derivation of electro-magnetic waves in vacuo and in media.  
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Information for Visiting Students 
| Pre-requisites | None | 
 
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No | 
 
 
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2013/14  Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1) 
  
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Learn enabled:  No | 
Quota:  None | 
 
Web Timetable  | 
	
Web Timetable | 
 
| Course Start Date | 
16/09/2013 | 
 
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) | 
 
 Total Hours:
100
(
 Lecture Hours 22,
 Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
 Revision Session Hours 1,
 Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
53 )
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| Additional Notes | 
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) | 
 
  Written Exam
80 %,
Coursework
20 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
 | 
 
| Exam Information | 
 
    | Exam Diet | 
    Paper Name | 
    Hours:Minutes | 
    
     | 
     |  
  
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | Foundations of Electromagnetism (PHYS09050) | 2:00 |  |  |  
 
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| Delivery period: 2013/14  Semester 1, Part-year visiting students only (VV1) 
  
 | 
Learn enabled:  No | 
Quota:  None | 
 
Web Timetable  | 
	
Web Timetable | 
 
| Course Start Date | 
16/09/2013 | 
 
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) | 
 
 Total Hours:
100
(
 Lecture Hours 22,
 Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
 Revision Session Hours 1,
 Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
53 )
 | 
 
| Additional Notes | 
 | 
 
| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) | 
 
  Written Exam
80 %,
Coursework
20 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
 | 
 
| Exam Information | 
 
    | Exam Diet | 
    Paper Name | 
    Hours:Minutes | 
    
     | 
     |  
  
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) |  | 2:00 |  |  |  
 
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes 
Upon successful completion of this course it is intended that a student will be able to: 
 
1)State the integral laws of electromagnetism and state and derive Maxwell's equations for charges and currents in a vacuum 
2)Define and explain charge and current densities (in bulk and on surfaces and lines), and conductivity 
3)Define, and use the concepts of electric and magnetic dipoles; calculate the fields from dipoles and forces and torques on them 
4)Define and explain: polarisation and magnetisation; the fields D, H, E and B; the relation between E, B and the force on a particle; polarisation charges and magnetisation currents; boundary conditions on fields at interfaces between media; Maxwell's equations in media 
5)Define and explain in atomic terms: the response of linear media; relative permittivity and permeability; their relation to the electromagnetic energy density; nonlinear media such as ferromagnets 
6)Formulate and solve boundary-value problems using: superposition methods; uniqueness principles; the method of images; qualitative reasoning based on field lines; the equations of Biot-Savart, Faraday, Ampere, Gauss, Laplace and Poisson 
7)Formulate and solve with vector calculus problems of static and time-varying electrical and magnetic fields 
8)Derive and apply the concepts of: Maxwell's displacement current; the continuity equation; self- and mutual inductance; Poynting's vector; energy flux; radiation pressure 
9)Derive and explain electromagnetic radiation using plane-wave solutions of Maxwell's equations; apply these to problems of intrinsic impedance, attenuation, dispersion, reflection, transmission, evanescence, and the skin effect in conductors; derive and explain total internal reflection, polarisation by reflection. 
10)Explain and utilise the properties of the electric scalar potential  and  the magnetic vector potential. | 
 
 
Assessment Information 
| Coursework 20%, examination 80%. |  
 
Special Arrangements 
| None |   
 
Additional Information 
| Academic description | 
Not entered | 
 
| Syllabus | 
- Integral and differential forms of Gauss's Law. Examples of 1D, 2D, 3D charge distributions.  
-  Potential. Poisson's Equation. Calculation of electric fields.  
- Uniqueness theorem. Solution of electrostatic problems. Method of images.  
- Dipole field. Quadrupole field.  Multipole expansion.  
-  Electrostatic boundaries. Polarisation in dielectrics. Surface charges.  
-  Biot-Savart Law. Magnetic vector potential. Calculation of magnetic fields.  
-  Integral and differential forms of Ampere's Law. Examples of 1D, 2D current distributions.  
- Magnetostatic boundaries. Magnetisation. Surface currents.  
- Time-varying fields. Faraday's Law. Induction.  
-  Calculation of self and mutual inductance.  
-  Displacement current. Maxwell's equations and their solution in vacuo. 
- Introduction to Electromagnetic waves. 
- Solution of Maxwell's equations in dielectrics.  
- Continuity theorem. Conservation laws 
- Poynting vector.  Energy storage & transport by waves. 
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| Transferable skills | 
Not entered | 
 
| Reading list | 
Not entered | 
 
| Study Abroad | 
Not entered | 
 
| Study Pattern | 
Not entered | 
 
| Keywords | FEMag | 
 
 
Contacts 
| Course organiser | Prof Martin Evans 
Tel: (0131 6)50 5294 
Email: M.Evans@ed.ac.uk | 
Course secretary | Miss Jillian Bainbridge 
Tel: (0131 6)50 7218 
Email: J.Bainbridge@ed.ac.uk | 
   
 
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© Copyright 2013 The University of Edinburgh -  10 October 2013 5:13 am 
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