PHYSICS
430 - ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM - SPRING 2006
COURSE
INFORMATION
Instructor:
Victor DeCarlo
Office:
235 SC
ext. 4652
Office
Hours: 2:30-4:00 PM, MWF
1:00-3:00 PM, T
email:
vdecarlo@depauw.edu
Required
Text: D. Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics, 3rd
Ed.
Recommended
Reading (in order of
increasing mathematical sophistication):
Feynman, Leighton, Sands, The
Feynman Lectures in Physics, Vol 2; E. Purcell, Electricity and Magnetism; G. Pollack and D. Stump, Electromagnetism; J.D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, 2nd
Ed.
The
books by Feynman and Purcell, while not shying away from the mathematics, are
more conceptually oriented and contain a wealth of interesting examples. Pollack and Stump’s textbook is one of the
more recent entries into the undergraduate market and is very similar in tone
and structure to Griffiths’ book.
Finally, utter the word “Jackson” in a gathering of physics graduate
students and you are sure to elicit a shudder: it is the standard textbook for
the year-long graduate course in electrodynamics and is infamous for the
difficulty of a good number of its end-of-chapter problems.
ABOUT
THE COURSE: Physics 430 is the upper
level course in classical electrodynamics.
The main goal of the course is to have you become familiar with the
fundamental principles of electricity and magnetism as they apply in vacuum and
within matter. Main topics include
Coulomb’s Law, Gauss’ Law, Ampere’s Law, boundary-value problems, and Maxwell’s
Equations. Course material will draw heavily on various mathematical techniques
involving the use of vector calculus, power series expansions, and differential
equations; you will need to apply these techniques yourself when solving
problems. It is expected that most of
your time outside of class will be devoted to reading the text and working on exercises.
GRADING: Course grades will be determined according
to the evaluation scheme below.
Exam 1: 18% Final Exam: 24%
Exam 2: 18% Homework: 40%
The
following grading scale will be used to determine your final letter grade in
the course:
93-100 =
A 90-92 = A- 87-89 = B+
81-85 = B 78-80 = B- 75-77 = C+
70-74 = C 67-69 = C- 64-66 = D+
59-63 = D 56-58 = D-
00-55 = F
EXAMS: Exams will be closed book/closed notes, but
you will be allowed to bring a formula sheet to all exams. Exams will consist mainly of word problems
but there may be a few conceptual questions for you to consider. The final exam will be comprehensive and is
scheduled for Saturday, May 13, 8:30-11:30 AM; the dates of the other two exams
are listed on the class schedule on the following page.
HOMEWORK: Griffiths’ text contains a wonderful
assortment of problems. Many problems
are relatively straightforward while a few are quite challenging. During the semester I will have you do a large
number of the textbook problems since this is really the best way to learn the
material (and it gives you good preparation for the exams). I will ask you to turn in formal solutions to
several problems each week and will grade each problem using a 0-10 scale.
In
writing up solutions, you should follow the basic outline of the problem-solving
framework introduced in Physics 120, with an emphasis on proper use of
notation, careful attention to mathematical precision, and (as always) a brief
discussion of the physical principles being brought to bear on the
solution. I encourage you to work
collaboratively on the problems but you should understand that when you write
up solutions the work is to be your own (i.e., don’t just copy someone’s
solution). Don’t be shy about coming to
me for help with the homework.
CLASS
PARTICIPATION: I expect you to come to
class regularly and on time. You should
be prepared to discuss the textbook material and to have worked on the assigned
homework problems. I reserve the right
to adjust your final course score up or down by a few percentage points based
on the quality and extent of your contributions in class.
CLASS SCHEDULE
|
|
Monday |
Wednesday |
Friday |
|
Jan 30 - Feb 3 |
Intro to the course |
Secs. 1.2.1-1.3.1 Probs
1.,11, 1.12*, 1.13, 1.15(a),
1.18(b), 1.21 (a, b), 1.25(a,d), 1.28 (a) |
Secs. 1.3.2-1.3.6 Probs
1.29*, 1.31, 1.32, 1.33* |
|
Feb 6 -10 |
Secs. 1.4, 1.5 Probs
1.38, 1.42, 1.43(a,c), 1.46, 1.48*,
1.53* |
Secs. 2.1.1-2.2.1 Probs
2.1(a,b), 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, 2.9 |
Secs. 2.2.2-2.2.3 Probs
2.12, 2.13, 2.15* |
|
Feb 13 – 17 |
Secs. 2.3.1-2.3.4 Probs 2.20, 2.21, 2.22, 2.25(a,b) |
Secs. 2.3.5-2.4.4 Probs 2.26*,
2.30, 2.31,2.32* |
Secs. 2.5.1-2.5.3 Probs
2.35*, 2.36, 2.37 |
|
Feb 20 – 24 |
Secs. 2.5.4-3.1.4 Probs
2.39, 2.43*, 2.46*, 3.2 |
Sec. 3.3.1 Probs.
3.12*, 3.13 |
Sec. 3.3.2 Probs
3.16, 3.17, 3.18* |
|
Feb 27- Mar 3 |
Sec. 3.4 Probs
3.26, 3.28*, 3.31, 3.32*, 3.33 |
Catch-Up Day |
Sec. 4.1 Probs
4.1, 4.2*, 4.5 |
|
Mar 6 – 10 |
EXAM 1 |
Sec. 4.2 Probs
4.10, 4.11, 4.14 |
Sec 4.3 Probs
4.15, 4.17 |
|
Mar 13 - 17 |
Sec. 4.4.1 Probs
4.18*, 4.19, 4.20 |
Sec. 4.4.3-4.4.4 Probs
4.26, 4.29*, 4.31,4.32* |
Catch-Up Day |
|
Mar 20 – 24 |
Sec 5.1 Probs 5.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.6* |
Sec 5.2 Probs 5.8, 5.9, 5.10(a), 5.12* |
Sec 5.3.1-5.3.3 Probs
5.13, 5.15 |
|
Mar 27 – 31 |
Spring Break |
Spring Break |
Spring Break |
|
Apr 3 – 7 |
Sec 5.3.4-5.4.1 Probs 5.19, 5.22, 5.24 |
Sec
5.4.2-5.4.3 Probs
5.34, 5.35, 5.36* |
Catch-Up Day Probs 5.57a, 5.58* |
|
Apr 10 – 14 |
Sec 6.1 Probs 6.1, 6.3, 6.6 |
Sec 6.2 Probs 6.7, 6.8* |
Sec 6.3 Probs. 6.12, 6.13 |
|
Apr 17 – 21 |
EXAM 2 |
Sec 6.4 Probs 6.16, 6.17* |
Sec 7.1.1 Probs 7.1, 7.2 |
|
Apr 24 - 28 |
Sec 7.1.2 Probs 7.7, 7.8*, 7.10 |
Sec 7.2.1-7.2.2 Probs 7.12, 7.13*, 7.16, 7.18 |
Sec 7.2.3-7.2.4 Probs 7.20, 7.22, 7.26, 7.29 |
|
May 1 – 5 |
Sec 7.3.1-7.3.4 Probs 7.31, 7.32*, 7.33, 7.34 |
Sec 8.1.1 Prob 8.2 |
Sec 9.1 Prob 9.1, 9.3, 9.8 |
|
May 8 - 10 |
Sec 9.2 Probs 9.9, 9.10 |
Catch-Up and Review |
|
|
Comprehensive Final Exam: Saturday, May 13, 8:30-11:30 AM |
|||
Solutions to
problems followed by an asterisk are to be turned in for grading within a week
of the day they are assigned. All other
problems should be worked on by the date indicated.