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Waves, Optics and Modern Physics

University physics III: waves with calculus, wave optics and instruments, special relativity, the quantum world, atoms, nuclei and particles.

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51 topics in 6 units. Builds on Electricity and Magnetism, plus Calculus 2 from the Math Ladder. Leads to Astrophysics. Not sure this is the right course? Find your rung.

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Unit 1 Waves with Calculus

8 topics

The wave function, the wave equation, wave energy, phase and interference, and sound.

  1. The Wave Function y(x, t)
  2. The Wave Equation
  3. Energy and Power of a Wave
  4. Phase Difference and Interference
  5. Standing Waves as Two Traveling Waves
  6. Sound as a Pressure Wave
  7. Beats
  8. Shock Waves

Unit 2 Wave Optics

8 topics

Huygens' principle, polarization by reflection, intensity patterns, resolution and interferometers.

  1. Huygens' Principle
  2. Polarization by Reflection
  3. Intensity in Interference Patterns
  4. Single-Slit Envelopes and Missing Orders
  5. Resolution and the Rayleigh Criterion
  6. The Michelson Interferometer
  7. Antireflection Coatings and Air Wedges
  8. X-Ray Diffraction and Bragg's Law

Unit 3 Images and Optical Instruments

5 topics

Lens design, two-lens systems, the eye, microscopes and telescopes.

  1. The Lensmaker's Equation
  2. Two-Lens Systems
  3. The Eye and Corrective Lenses
  4. Magnifiers and Microscopes
  5. Telescope Optics

Unit 4 Special Relativity

9 topics

Light's constant speed, time dilation, length contraction, the Lorentz transformation, and relativistic energy and momentum.

  1. The Postulates of Relativity
  2. The Relativity of Simultaneity
  3. Time Dilation
  4. Length Contraction
  5. The Lorentz Transformation
  6. Spacetime Diagrams and the Interval
  7. Relativistic Velocity Addition
  8. The Relativistic Doppler Effect
  9. Relativistic Momentum and Energy

Unit 5 The Quantum World

13 topics

Blackbodies, Compton scattering, the hydrogen atom, uncertainty, wave functions and the Schrödinger equation.

  1. Planck and Blackbody Radiation
  2. The Compton Formula
  3. The Bohr Model of Hydrogen
  4. Hydrogen's Spectral Series
  5. The Uncertainty Principle
  6. Wave Functions and Probability
  7. The Schrödinger Equation
  8. A Particle in a Box
  9. Finite Wells and Tunneling
  10. The Quantum Harmonic Oscillator
  11. Quantum Numbers in Hydrogen
  12. Electron Spin and the Exclusion Principle
  13. Conductors, Insulators and Semiconductors

Unit 6 Nuclei and Particles

8 topics

Nuclear size and binding, the decay law, reaction energies, dating, and the particles and forces of the Standard Model.

  1. Nuclear Size and Binding Energy per Nucleon
  2. The Exponential Decay Law
  3. Energy in Nuclear Reactions
  4. Radioactive Dating
  5. Leptons, Hadrons and Quarks
  6. Antiparticles, Pair Production and Annihilation
  7. Conservation Laws in Particle Reactions
  8. The Four Forces and Their Carriers
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