AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Understanding of the basic concepts of electromagnetism in vacuum and in materials. Increased learning and synthesis skills.

PREREQUISITES

Knowledge of the main physics concepts of the first year (dimensional analysis, vectors, laws of dynamics, energy conservation)

TEACHING METHODS

Traditional lectures; exercises solved by the lecturer with the student participation; laboratory experiments performed by the students in the presence of the teacher, with experiment tracks provided in advance. Laboratory activities will comprise two credits.

Expected hours of individual study: 220
Classroom hours: 136
Hours employed in laboratory experiments or other activities: 10

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course is divided into two modules (8 + 6 CFUs)

3rd MODULE

Lectures:

Electric charge and electric field                                                                                                  

Electric charge. Conductors and insulators. Coulomb’s law. The electric field. Gauss’ law. Electric potential. Capacitance and capacitors. Energy stored in a charged capacitor.

Electric current                                                                                                                                                    Current density. Resistance and resistivity. Ohm’s law. Electric circuits. Kirchhoff's laws. Power in electric circuits.

Magnetic field                                                                                                                                                     Lorentz force. Magnetic force on a current-carrying wire. Biot-Savart law. Force between two parallel currents. Ampère’s law. Magnetic flux. Faraday-Neumann-Lenz’s law. Induced electric field. Inductance. Self-induction. RL circuits. Energy stored in a magnetic field.

Maxwell equations and electromagnetic waves                                                                                                   Ampère-Maxwell’s law. Displacement current. Maxwell’s equations in integral and differential form. Electromagnetic wave equation. Electromagnetic plane waves.

Laboratory experiments:

DC circuits (Series and parallel connection of resistors; measurement of ohmic and non-ohmic I-V characteristics)                                                                                                                                                           RC circuits, measurement of the time constant.

4th MODULE

Electric oscillations. Alternating current
AC current. RLC series circuit. Transformer

Electrical field in insulators
Dielectric materials and constant dielectric. Potential and field generated by an electric dipole. Electric dipole approximation and field generated by a system of charges. Dielectric properties of insulators; Polarizability for orientation and deformation. Vector polarization and dielectric constant. Electrostatic equations in the presence of dielectrics: electric shift vector. Boundary conditions in the presence of dielectrics. The Clausius–Mossotti relation. Brief remarks on ferroelectric compounds.

Magnetism in materials
Magnetic moment and microscopic currents. Diamagnetism and paramagnetism. Magnetization, Curie Law. Magnetic material: magnetization current and magnetic field in matter. General equations of magnetostatics in the presence of magnetized materials. Boundary conditions in the presence of magnetic materials. Ferromagnetic materials; Magnetic circuits and Hopkinson's law. Hysteresis loop of a iron. Soft and hard magnetic materials: main applications.

Electromagnetic waves
EM wave energy, wave intensity and Pointing vector. Electromagnetic radiation generated by an oscillating dipole and spherical wave. EM wave polarization. Maxwell equations in transparent media and refractive index. dSnell's Law: Reflection and Refraction of the Light. The intensity of reflexed and refracted waves (Fresnel's laws). Absorbing materials: absorption coefficient and complex refractive index.

Laboratory Experiment:
Measurement of the magnetic field inside a coil and in the presence of an iron core

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

D. Halliday, R. Resnick, J. Walker - Fundamentals of Physics, 10th edition, vol.2 - Wiley

Slides of lessons uploaded in Aulaweb

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ANNALISA RELINI (President)

LUCA VATTUONE

MARINA PUTTI (President Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

http://www.fisica.unige.it/scienzadeimateriali/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=35

Class schedule

GENERAL PHYSICS

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Written and oral exam

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Written test at the end of each module (or cumulative written test on the overall program), consisting in exercises and simple problems.

Partial tests consist of three exercises that must be solved in three hours, cumulative tests consist of four exercises (two exercises for each module) that must be solved in four hours.

Students who have received a grade of at least 15/30 in each of the partial tests or in the final written exam are admitted to the oral exam.

The oral exam consists in the discussion of the written test(s) and in two questions on the course topics, one for each module. The number of questions may be increased, either to achieve an excellent mark, or to reach the level required to pass the exam.

Exam schedule