AIMS AND CONTENT

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

General aims
The General Physics course has the following objectives:

• to provide basic knowledge on the topics of classical mechanics and electromagnetism in vacuum
• to provide useful tools for the modeling and analysis of real, complex physical situations
• to show, through examples, how it is possible to use simple models of complex real situations to make predictions on the evolution of physical systems
• to build a suitable language for the description of physical reality
• to stimulate communication between students around physics topics

Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• describe and use the scientific method for the analysis of physical phenomena
• understand the language / lexicon of physics in the description of physical phenomena
• identify the model that best describes a given physical phenomenon,
• use the language / lexicon of physics in the description of physical phenomena and in solving problems
• describe the theory of classical mechanics and electromagnetism in vacuum
• describe the physical reality in a quantitative way
• solve problems of mechanics and electromagnetism by combining the theoretical notions of physics with the appropriate mathematical formalism
• justify each step when solving an exercise, when providing a formal demonstration and when describing a model
• evaluate their own knowledge of the contents and their ability to describe physical situations by exploiting the proposed models

TEACHING METHODS

The topics are presented and exemplified in the lectures (60 hours for each module). The lectures consist of:

• explanations and demonstrations on the digital board
• use of power point presentations
• use of videos
• use of simulation tools (matlab, algodoo, java applet)

Alongside the presentation of the contents, the teacher presents and solves exercises on the digital board.

Students are also invited to actively participate in the lesson by means of:

• exercises led by the teacher and carried out in small groups
• guided exercises and on the digital board carried out by the teacher of the course
• apps that allow students to immediately verify that they have understood the teacher's explanation through short questionnaires and exercises. These tests are always carried out anonymously. The tests allow the teacher to monitor, during the course of the lesson, the level of understanding by the class
• exercises to be carried out at home, independently or in a group
• exercises based on the "think-pair-share" method

Each lesson combines at least three different teaching methods.

The B module of the course includes two tests, which allow the student to self-evaluate and the teacher to monitor the learning level of the class. The tests are carried out remotely through the aulaweb platform in the middle and at the end of the semester.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

• Forces between point charges (Coulomb's law). Electric field E. Superposition principle, Gauss's law. Electric potential, energy of a charge in an electric field. Energy of a system of charges. Analogies with the gravitational field.
• Properties of conductors. Capacitors. Energy density of the field E.
• Electricity. Ohm's law. Joule effect. Generators. Kirchhoff's laws. RC circuits.
• Definition of magnetic field B (Lorentz force). Forces on a current-carrying conductor. Mechanical moment acting on a current loop.
• Magnetic moment of a current loop. Methods for the determination of B generated by currents: Ampère's law, Biot-Savart's law.
• Flow of B through a closed surface and concatenated with a closed line. Faraday's law. Self-induction. RL circuits. Energy density of the magnetic B.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

GIULIA ROSSI (President)

NICOLA MAGGIORE

PAOLO SOLINAS

LUCA VATTUONE

ELENA ANGELI (President Substitute)

LESSONS

Class schedule

PHYSICS MOD. B

EXAMS

Exam schedule