OUTLINE AND SYLLABUS FOR

PHYSICS FOR THE LIFE SCIENCES 2: PHY U147

SPRING SEMESTER 2005 

INSTRUCTOR: Professor Robert P. Lowndes

Section 2

(Revised 6 January 2005)

 

 

           

1.      Educational Goals

 

To learn some new basic concepts in physics and to apply this to a wide range of examples and applications especially in the life sciences.

 

2.      Lectures

 

All lectures in 101 Churchill. Sequence 5: 4.35-5.40pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

 

3.  Communications

 

Office:              102 Dana

Office Phone:    617-373-2914

e-mail:              r.lowndes@neu.edu

Office Hours:    3:00-4:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays.

 

4.  Required Text

 

Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas C. Giancoli. Fifth Edition (1998). Prentice Hall.

ISBN 0-13-611971-9

 

5.  Homework, Examinations, Quizzes, and Grading Procedures

 

·                     Homework

The assigned reading and problems for homework are to be completed by the first lecture of the following week.

 

·Quizzes (20% of final grade)

There will be about nine 20-minute quizzes. The quizzes will be based on the homework problem assignments. The two lowest grades in the quizzes will not count toward your final grade. The times of the quizzes will not be announced in advance. There will generally be no make-ups for missed quizzes.

 

·                     One one-hour Midterm Exam (20% of the final grade)

 

·                     One two-hour Final Exam (40% of the final grade)

 

·                     PHY U148 labs: 6 experiments (20% of the final grade).

All labs must be completed. A failure to complete one or more labs will result in an “I” grade for PHY U147 and PHY U148.

 

·                     The syllabus on the following page gives an approximate schedule for the course content. The majority of your time each week should be devoted to working your homework and other problems that involve applications of the principles discussed in the lectures.

 

 

PHY U147 and U148:   APPROXIMATE SCHEDULE

DATE

 

PHY U147
PHY U148

Week 1 (5-7 Jan)

Electric Charge and Electric Field  Chapter 16, sections 1-6

Electric Charge, Coulombs Law

 

 

Week 2  (10-14 Jan)

Electric Field (continued)   Chapter 16, sections 7,8

Electric Field

Electric Potential   Chapter 17, sections 1-10

Electric potential, capacitance, dielectrics, energy, storage, CRT

 

Exp. 31: Electrical Measurements 1

Week 3  (18-21 Jan)

Electric Currents   Chapter 18, sections 1,2,3,4,6,7,10

Batteries, electric current, Ohm’s Law, resistors, resistivity, electric power, nervous system

DC Circuits  Chapter 19, sections 1,2

Resistors in series and parallel

 

Exp. 31: Electrical Measurements 1

Week 4  (24–28 Jan)

DC Circuits (continued)   Chapter 19, sections 3-8.

Kirchoff's Rules, capacitors in series and in parallel, RC circuits, pacemakers

 

Exp. 33: RC Circuits

Week 5  (31 Jan-4 Feb)

Vibrations and Waves   Chapter 11, sections 1-8

Simple harmonic motion, simple pendulum, wave motion and types

 

Exp. 33: RC Circuits

Week 6  (7-11 Feb)

Vibrations and Waves (continued)   Chapter 11, sections 10-12

Wave reflection and interference, standing waves

Sound   Chapter 12, sections 1,2,3,4,5,7

Characteristics, the ear, sources, beats

 

Exp. 17: Simple Pendulum

Week 7  (14-18 Feb)

MID TERM EXAM

Sound (continued)   Chapter 12, sections 8,9,10

Doppler effect, shock waves, ultrasound

 

Exp. 17: Simple Pendulum

Week 8  (22-25 Feb)

Optics   Chapter 23, sections 1-5

Reflection, mirrors, refraction

 

Exp. 37: Standing Waves

Week 9   (28 Feb-4 Mar)

SPRING BREAK

 

 

Week 10  (7-11 Mar)

Optics (continued)   Chapter 23, sections 6-11

Total internal reflection, fiber optics, lenses

 

Exp. 37: Standing Waves

Week 11  (14-18 Mar)

Optical Instruments   Chapter 25, sections 1-5

Camera, eye, magnifying glass, telescope, microscope

 

Exp. 23: Geometric Optics

Week 12  (21-25 Mar)

Nuclear Physics and Radioactivity  Chapter 30, sections 1-9

Atomic nucleus, radioactivity, conservation of nucleons, half-life

 

Exp. 23: Geometric Optics

Week 13 (28 Mar-1 Apr)

Nuclear Physics and Radioactivity (cont.)  Chapter 30, sections 10,11,13

Decay series, radioactive dating, detectors

Effects and Uses of Radiation   Chapter 31, sections 1-4

Nuclear reaction, fission, fusion, radiation damage

 

Exp. 40: Radioactive Decay

Week 14  (4-8 Apr)

Effects and Uses of Radiation (continued) Chapter 31, sections 5-9

Dosimetry, radiation therapy, tracers, PET, MRI

 

Exp. 40: Radioactive Decay

Week 15  (11-13 Apr)

Review

Makeup labs: M,T, W only

 

Week 16  (21 Apr 3:30)

FINAL EXAM