Physics

What you’ll study

Waves and Oscillations: simple harmonic motion — differential equation of an oscillator, total and average energy, combination of oscillations, Lissajous figures, spring-mass system, torsional pendulum, damped and forced oscillation, resonance; waves — progressive and stationary waves, group and phase velocity, architectural acoustics, reverberation and Sabine's formula. Physical Optics: theories of light, interference, Young's double-slit experiment, Fresnel bi-prism, Newton's rings, interferometers, diffraction (Fresnel and Fraunhofer), polarized light, Brewster's and Malus's law, Nicol prism, optical activity. Electricity and Magnetism: electrostatics, capacitors and dielectrics, steady-state current, RC circuits, magnetic fields, electromagnetic induction, Maxwell's equations, the wave equation. Modern Physics: the special theory of relativity — length contraction, time dilation, mass-energy relation, twin paradox; atomic structure, the Bohr atom, energy levels and spectra.