Foundations of Physics III Honors

Catalog description

Continuation of Foundation of Physics II. Topics include thermodynamics, kinetic theory, statistical physics, wave motion, sound, reflection, refraction, interference, diffraction, polarization of light. This is the third semester of a four-semester calculus-based introduction to Physics, and is intended for physics majors and other interested students. The lectures serve as an introduction, and the real work of learning starts when you do the homework and recitation. The lectures will be most useful to you if you ask questions when there is something you do not understand. Do not imagine that you are the only person in the room who does not understand something. The most important part of the class is the homework you do. You learn more physics by doing the homework and recitation than from the lecture. I encourage you to work together with one or more friends on the homework assignments. It is more enjoyable that way, and you learn by explaining things to each other. Textbook: Young and Freedman, Sears and Zemansky's University Physics with Modern Physics, 14th Edition. Additional (optional) reading: R. P. Feynman, R. B. Leighton, & M. Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Howard Georgi, The Physics of Waves David Morin, (untitled) Waves, http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~djmorin/book.html Prerequisite: ( MATH-SHU 121 or MATH-SHU 201 or place out of Calculus) and PHYS-SHU 93 Fulfillment: Physics Foundational Courses.