Students are expected to study the web-based material, review the corresponding material in textbooks, and complete the homework assignment from the previous module during the time interval indicated in the schedule below.
Link: A collection of solved Physics Problems
| class | main topic | study these problems before class |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Aug | Kinematics, Newton's laws (single particle), Interacting objects | Module 1 |
| 26-Aug | Electrostatics, Dielectrics, DC circuits | Module 2 |
| 9-Sep | Magnetostatics, Quasi-static situations, Inductance | Module 3 |
| 16-Sep | Solids, Liquids, Gases, Thermodynamics | Module 4 |
| 23-Sep | Simple oscillations and waves, Optics, Modern physics | Module 5 |
| 30 Sep | Review | |
| Test 1 | ||
| 14-Oct | Rigid body motion, Non-inertial frames | Module 6 |
| 21-Oct | Relativistic kinematics and dynamics | Module 7 |
| 28-Oct | Mathematical foundations of QM, Postulates of QM | Module 8 |
| 4-Nov | Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, Coupled oscillations | Module 9 |
| 11-Nov | Square potentials (QM), Angular momentum in QM | Module 10 |
| 18-Nov | Motion in a central potential, The Kepler problem | Module 11 |
| 25-Nov | Review |
The Web-based material is divided into 11 modules. Each modules has a physics theme. It reviews concepts and formulas associated with this theme and presents many solved problems. Each solution addresses the following points:
Students should review at least 10 of the solved problems each week.
They should make sure they understand the solutions and maybe suggest different
ways to arrive at the same solutions.
Student unfamiliar with the the concepts and formulas
needed to solve a problem should refer to their junior/senior-level
undergraduate textbook for a review.
Link:
Formula sheet for the qualifying exam
Link: Front cover of a qualifying
exam with physical constants
Link: Physics
problems