PHYS 142(S) Foundations of Modern Physics (Q)
The twentieth century was an extremely productive and exciting time for physics. Special relativity has extended physics into the realm of high speeds and high energies. Quantum mechanics has successfully described phenomena at small energies and small distance scales. Our understanding of atoms, molecules, and solids has developed from a few revolutionary ideas into a sophisticated framework which today supports technologies that were unimagined in 1900. This course will introduce many important developments in physics, including special relativity, the Bohr model of the atom, Schrodinger's wave mechanics in one dimension, the chemical bond, energy bands in solids, and nuclear physics.
Format: lecture, three hours per week; laboratory, three hours every other week/conference, one hour every other week. Evaluation will be based on weekly quizzes, labs, two hour tests, and a final exam, all of which have a substantial quantitative component.
Prerequisites: Physics 141 and Mathematics 103, or equivalent; students may not take both Physics 142 and Physics 151. Physics 131 may substitute for Physics 141 with the permission of instructor. No enrollment limit (expected:30).
Hour: WOOTTERS