Theoretical Physics  Phys 441 5 credits. Professor:  Dr. Tovar Contact Information

Course Description:
An advanced integrated course in mechanics and electromagnetic fields:  relativistic and nonrelativistic kinematics, dynamics and electrodynamics of particles and rigid bodies; Lagrange's equations; Maxwell's equations and electromagnetic waves.

Syllabus
Misc. Applications
Dr. Tovar's Reference Materials
Report Writing on Physics Machines
Example Theo Report (Frisco Rose) - frisco_report.ps

Quizzes are Open Book, 1 page of Notes
Exams are Open Book, 2 pages of Notes

Preliminaries
   Vectors (Ch 1, Hw 1)
   Conservative Forces (Ch 4, Hw 2)

Projectile Motion
   Effects of Air Resistance, 1D (Ch 2, Hw 3)
   Effects of Air Resistance, 2D ( - , Hw 4)
   Effects of Variable Gravity (Ch 6, Hw 5)

Oscillation
   Simple Harmonic and Other Oscillators (Ch 3, Hw 6)

More on Projectile Motion
   Effects of Earth Rotation (Ch 5, Hw 7)
   Effects of Finite Earth Mass (Ch 7, Hw 8)
 

		Class Lecture	Exams
Week 1	Monday:	Go over Syllabus
	Tuesday:	"Physics:  The Big Picture" "The Big Picture" Handout
	Wednesday:	"Physics:  The Big Picture":  Intro. to Mechanics Handout, F&C: 2.1 - 2.2
	Thursday:	Vector Algebra Review F&C: 1.1 - 1.12
	Friday:	Work-Energy Potential Energy Vector Integral Calculus Conservative Fields F&C: 2.3	Quiz #1: Vectors Suggested Homework (solution)
Week 2	Monday:	Work-Energy, Conservative Fields "Work and Energy" Handout, F&C: 4.1 - 4.2
	Tuesday:	Gravity:  Projectile Motion 1-D Gravity:  Projectile Motion 2-D "Projectile Motion: Elementary Analysis" Handout
	Wednesday:	Projectile Motion - Air Resistance Models "1D Projectile Motion: Effects of Air Resistance"Handout, F&C 2.4 Web Info: Aerodynamic Drag Forces Web Info: Velocity dependence of Drag (postscript) Web Info: Altitude dependence of air resistance
	Thursday:	Projectile Motion 1-D (air resistance, linear model) Quasi-Energy
	Friday:	Solving single-variable transcendental equations	Quiz #2: Conservative Forces  Suggested Homework (solution)
Week 3	Monday:	"
	Tuesday:	Projectile Motion 1-D (air resistance, quadratic model) Handout, F&C: 2.4 - 2.5
	Wednesday:	"
	Thursday:	Projectile Motion 1-D (air resistance, quadratic model)
	Friday:	"Projectile Motion 1-D (air resistance, combined model) Quasi-Energy
Week 4	Monday:	Projectile Motion 2-D (air resistance, linear model)
	Tuesday:		Quiz #3: Air Resistance 1-D  Suggested Homework (solution)
	Wednesday:	"
	Thursday:	Projectile Motion 2-D (air resistance, quadratic model) Handout, F&C: 4.3 Runge-Kutta
	Friday:
Week 5	Monday:	"
	Tuesday:	Projectile Motion 1-D (round earth, variable gravity) F&C: 6.1-6.14	Quiz #4:  FOOAir Resistance 1-D Suggested Homework
	Wednesday:	"
	Thursday:	"
	Friday:	Projectile Motion 2-D (non-ballistic and exploding projectiles) F&C: 7.1-7.7	Midterm Exam #1: Suggested Preparation
Week 6	Monday:	Project Assigned "
	Tuesday:	"
	Wednesday:
	Thursday:
	Friday:		Quiz #5:  Variable Gravity  Suggested Homework
Week 7	Monday:
	Tuesday:	*Projectile Motion 3-D (spinning earth) *F&C: 5.1 - 5.6 Oscillations: F&C: 3.1 - 3.9
	Wednesday:
	Thursday:
	Friday:		Quiz #6:  Oscillations  Suggested Homework
Week 8	Monday:
	Tuesday:
	Wednesday:	Forced, Damped Oscillator
	Thursday:
	Friday:		Midterm Exam #2: Suggested Preparation
Week 9	Monday:
	Tuesday:	Projectile Motion - exploding projectiles: F&C: 7.1-7.7
	Wednesday:	Thanksgiving Break - No Class
	Thursday:	Thanksgiving Break - No Class
	Friday:	Thanksgiving Break - No Class
Week 10	Monday:
	Tuesday:
	Wednesday:	Projectile Motion - spinning earth: F&C: 5.1-5.6	Quiz #8:  Suggested Homework
	Thursday:
	Friday:		Project Due
Finals Week			Suggested Preparation

I.  Introduction
    A. Physics Overview
    B. Mechanics Overview
    C. Work-Energy

II. Projectile Motion
    A. 1-D
    B. 2-D
    C. 1-D (air resistance, linear model)
    D. 1-D (air resistance, quadratic model)
    E. 1-D (air resistance, combined model)
    F. 2-D (air resistance, linear model)
    G. 2-D (air resistance, quadratic model)
    H. 1-D (variable gravity, round earth)
    I. 2-D (variable gravity, round earth)
    J. 2-D (exploding projectile) (spinning projectiles?)
    K. 1-D (non-ballistic projectile)
    L. 2-D (non-ballistic projectile)
    M. 3-D (spherical, spinning earth)*

III. Oscillatory Motion
    A. Simple Harmonic Motion
    B. Damped Oscillatory Motion
    C. Forced, Damped Oscillator
    D. Nonlinear Oscillation*

IV.  Lagrangian Mechanics*

*time permitting

Ch. 1 - Math Review: Vectors, Complex Numbers, Series Expansions
Ch. 2, 4 - Newton's Laws and Projectile Motion
Water Slide Problem
Research Paper
Solving ODEs using Maple and C
 

How to solve physics problems
Email help
Last Year's Schedule
Homework Grading Rubric

Some good physics problems online

 

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