ECTS credits ECTS credits: 6
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Student's work ECTS: 99 Hours of tutorials: 3 Expository Class: 24 Interactive Classroom: 24 Total: 150
Use languages Spanish, Galician
Type: Ordinary Degree Subject RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: Applied Physics, Particle Physics
Areas: Electromagnetism, Theoretical Physics
Center Faculty of Physics
Call: Second Semester
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable | 1st year (Yes)
To present a comprehensive and unified view of physics in order to provide the student with the necessary knowledge, perspective, and motivation to study different fields of physics, divided in specific subjects in the following courses.
Within this context, General Physics II, will address the study of wave phenomena, electromagnetism, optics, relativity and an introduction to the atom and the atomic nucleus. General objectives of this course:
- To manage the basic concepts of physics: particle, wave, field, reference system, energy, momentum, conservation laws, etc.
- To know and understand basic physical phenomena, mainly related to electromagnetism and wave phenomena, optics, and the most basic concepts of modern physics.
- To formulate and solve simple physical systems, identifying the relevant physical principles and to use order of magnitude estimations.
- To standardize the different levels of the students attending to the course.
Learning Results:
Once the General Physics II course has been completed, the student is expected to:
- Conceptually relate physical phenomena to fundamental laws and acquire intuition about limitations.
- Apply mathematical tools to the understanding and interpretation of physical phenomena.
- Solve simple problems and get in touch with simplification as a tool to understand complex systems.
- Control units and dimensional analysis as a way to check results.
- Approximate and estimate orders of magnitude.
WAVE BASICS: simple harmonic oscillator. Periodic waves and harmonics. Wave equation. Energy transported in a wave. Standing Waves. Planar waves. Doppler effect. Shock waves. Reflection: Snell's law. Refractive index. Total
reflection. Diffraction. Double slit diffraction.
GEOMETRICAL OPTICS: spherical diopters. Thin lenses. Lensmaker's equation. Ray tracing in thin lenses. Lens systems.
ELECTROMAGNETISM: electrostatic field. Electric potential. Electric dipole. Gauss theorem. Conductors. Capacitors. Electric current. Static magnetic field. Lorentz force. Biot-Savart law. Ampere's law. Faraday's Law. Inductance. Generators and transformers. Maxwell’s laws. Electromagnetic waves. Speed of light in vacuum. Electrical circuits and alternating current.
SPECIAL RELATIVITY. Motivation of special relativity. Principles of relativity. Lorentz transformations. Consequences of the Lorentz transformations. Inverse transformations. Velocity transformations. Relativistic energy and momentum. Mass-energy relation.
INTRODUCTION TO THE ATOM AND THE ATOMIC NUCLEUS. Motivation of Quantum Mechanics. Atomic number and atomic mass. Stability: binding energy. Fusion and fission. Radioactivity. Decay rate and mean life. The Bohr
atom. Energy levels.
1 .- Basic Textbook
- SEARS, F.W., Zemansky, M.W., YOUNG, H.D. and FREEDMAN, R.A. University Physics (1 and 2). 13rd Edition, Ed Pearson Addison-Wesley (2013).
2 .- Complementary theory books
- FRENCH, A.P. Vibrations and Waves: MIT physics course. Reverté Ed (2008).
- FRENCH, A.P. Special relativity: physics course at MIT. Reverté Ed (2008).
- Tipler, p.a. and MOSCA, G. Physics for Science and Technology (1 and 2). Ed Reverté (2005).
- Serway, R.A. and JEWETT, J.W. Physics (1 and 2). Ed Thomson-Auditorium (2005).
- ALONSO, M. and Finn, E. Physics. Ed Addison-Wesley Iberoamericana, SA (1995).
- Burbano de Ercilla, S.; BURBANO GARCÍA, E. and GRACE MUÑOZ, C. Physics. 32 th ed. Ed Tebar (2003).
- DEUS DIAS, J., Pimenta, M. et al. Introductory Physics. Ed McGraw-Hill Spain (2001).
- Eisberg, R. and LERNER, L. Physics. Fundamentals and Applications. Ed McGraw-Hill Spain (1990).
- Feynman, R.P., LEIGHTON, R.B. and SANDS, M. Physics. Ed Addison Wesley Iberoamericana (1987).
- Gettys, W.E., KELLER, F.J. and Skov, M.J. Science and Engineering Physics (I and II). McGraw-Hill Spain (2005).
- HEWITT, P.G. Conceptual Physics (I and II). Prentice Hall (2004).
- JUANA, J.M. General Physics (I and II). Ed Pearson-Prentice Hall (2003).
- LEA, S.M. and BURKE, J.R. Physics. The nature of things (1 and 2). Ed Auditorium (2001).
- RUBIO ROYO, F. Physics. Basic concepts (I and II). Ed. Inter Canaria (1988).
- GLASGOW, SL From Alchemy to Quarks: the study of physics as a liberal arts. Ed Pacific Grove (1994).
3. Problem Books
- ALCARAZ i SENDRA, O., LÓPEZ LÓPEZ, J. and Lopez Solano, V. Physics. Solved problems and exercises. Pearson Prentice Hall (2006).
- Bueche, F.J. and HECHT, E. General Physics. Problems and Exercises. Ed McGraw-Hill, Schaum Series (2001)
- Burbano de Ercilla, S.; BURBANO GARCÍA, E. and GRACE MUÑOZ, C. Problems Física.27 ed. See Ed (2000).
- GONZÁLEZ HERNÁNDEZ, F. A., The Physics of trouble. Ed Tebar (1997).
- HSU, H.P. Vector Analysis. Ed Addison Wesley (1987).
- SPIEGEL, M.R. Vector Analysis and an introduction to tensor analysis. Ed McGraw-Hill (1991).
4. Online Resources
Teacher's notes uploaded to the VirtualRoom
It also includes some online resources, which contain applets where the student can simulate experiments, find solved exercises, ..
- Http://www.usc.es/campusvirtual/index.php
- Http://www.sc.ehu.es/sbweb/fisica/default.htm
- Http://axxon.com.ar/rev/139/c-139Divulgacion.htm
- Http://www. cec.uchile.cl / ~ Cutrera / notes /
BASIC AND GENERAL
CB1-The students are able to possess and understand knowledge in a study area that is part of the basis of general secondary education, and is often found at a level that, while supported by advanced textbooks, also includes some aspects that involve knowledge from the forefront of their field of study.
CB2-The students know how to apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and possess the competencies that are often demonstrated through the elaboration and defense of arguments and the resolution of problems within their area of study.
CB3-The students have the ability to collect and interpret relevant data (usually within their area of study) to make judgments that include reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues.
CG1-Possess and understand the most important concepts, methods and results of the different branches of physics, with historical perspective of their development.
CG2-Have the capacity to gather and interpret relevant data, information and results, to obtain conclusions and to issue reasoned reports in scientific, technological or other areas that require the use of knowledge of physics.
CG3-Apply both the theoretical and practical knowledge acquired as the capacity of analysis and abstraction in the definition and approach of problems and in the search of their solutions in both academic and professional contexts.
CROSS
CT1-Acquire analysis and synthesis capacity.
CT2-Have organizational capacity and planning.
CT5-Develop critical reasoning.
SPECIFIC
CE1-Have a good understanding of the most important physical theories, locating in their logical and mathematical structure, their experimental support and the physical phenomenon that can be described through them.
CE5-Be able to realize the essentials of a process or situation and establish a model of work of the same as well as to carry out the required approximations in order to reduce the problem to a manageable level. Possess critical thinking to build physical models.
CE6-Understand and master the use of mathematical and numerical methods most commonly used in physics.
CE8-Be able to manage, search and use bibliography, as well as any source of relevant information and apply it to research and technical development projects.
A course will be activated on the Moodle platform of the Virtual Campus, where all the information of interest to the student will be uploaded, as well as diverse teaching material.
The course is structured in 4 hours of classes per week during the second quarter. It will consist on two master classes where the contents of the program will be presented and also two interactive classes. These interactive classes will be used to solve problems, to discuss examples and to perform additional activities related with the contents of the subject, always with the active participation of the students.
Tutorships may be on site or online, if they are online they will require an appointment, which is also recommended for on site ones.
The evaluation system consists of two complementary parts:
a) continuous assessment, which will account for 30% of the final grade and it will consist of completing tasks uploaded to the virtual course, delivery of problem reports, controls and/or oral presentations of problems in interactive classes.
b) evaluation through a final on site exam to be held on the official dates set by the center
The student's grade at the first opportunity will be the highest between the final exam grade and that resulting from the weighted average of the grades obtained in the continuous assessment (30%) and in the final exam (70%).
The student's grade in the second opportunity will correspond to the grade obtained in the corresponding official exam.
The course has a total of 6 ECTS credits distributed throughout the semester. The total workload is 150 hours, distributed as follows:
Teaching:
Lectures: 32 h
Interactive classes: 24 h
Tutorials: 4 h
Individual work:
Individual self-study or group study: 75h
Writing exercises, conclusions and other work: 15h
The student should have successfully completed the course of General Physics I. The student is assumed to have previous knowledge of:
• Elementary vector calculus. Scalar and vector product.
• Differentiation and integration.
• Trigonometry and elementary trigonometric relations.
• Notions of complex calculus. Module and product of complex numbers.
• Elementary concepts on field theory. Gradient. Theorems of Gauss and Stokes.
• Newton's laws and related concepts of particle dynamics.
• Concepts of work, energy and power.
• Harmonic motion and Hooke's law.
• Coulomb's law for point charges.
• Ohm's law.
• Elementary notions of optical systems. Thin lenses.
Juan Antonio Rodriguez Gonzalez
Coordinador/a- Department
- Applied Physics
- Area
- Electromagnetism
- Phone
- 881814030
- ja.rodriguez [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
Enrique Zas Arregui
- Department
- Particle Physics
- Area
- Theoretical Physics
- Phone
- 881813970
- enrique.zas [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
Sergio Cabana Freire
- Department
- Particle Physics
- Area
- Theoretical Physics
- sergio.cabana.freire [at] usc.es
- Category
- Xunta Pre-doctoral Contract
Yago Lema Capeans
- Department
- Particle Physics
- Area
- Theoretical Physics
- yago.lema.capeans [at] usc.es
- Category
- Xunta Pre-doctoral Contract
| Tuesday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00-10:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Spanish | Classroom 130 |
| 12:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_02 | Spanish | Classroom 6 |
| Wednesday | |||
| 09:00-10:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Spanish | Classroom 130 |
| 12:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_02 | Spanish | Classroom 6 |
| Thursday | |||
| 09:00-10:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Spanish | Classroom 130 |
| 12:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_02 | Spanish | Classroom 6 |
| Friday | |||
| 09:00-10:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Spanish | Classroom 130 |
| 12:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_02 | Spanish | Classroom 6 |
| 05.16.2025 09:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Classroom 0 |
| 05.16.2025 09:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Classroom 130 |
| 05.16.2025 09:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Classroom 6 |
| 05.16.2025 09:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Classroom 830 |
| 06.23.2025 09:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Classroom 0 |
| 06.23.2025 09:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Classroom 6 |
| 06.23.2025 09:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Classroom 830 |