This is an undergraduate module in engineering physics with the emphasis on heat, fluids, solid mechanics, sound, light electromagnetism and atomic physics.
Fundamentals and Units
Introduction to fundamental quantities of mass, length, time and their units.
Introduction to density, temperature, current, speed, velocity and acceleration and their units.
Scalar and Vector Quantities.
Energy 1: Mechanics
Force, moments, resultants and components of forces, parallelogram of forces, mass and weight, energy, power and efficiency.
Stress, strain, Hooke’s Law, friction.
Energy 2: Fluid Mechanics
Density of fluids, Archimedes principle, pressure, hydrostatics, viscosity, diffusion, surface tension and capillarity.
Types of energy in a fluid. Conservation of mass. Conservation of energy.
Energy 3: Heat and Temperature
Temperature scales, Celsius, Fahrenheit and Kelvin.
Thermometers, mercury in glass, alcohol in glass, platinum resistance, thermocouple, thermistor
Thermal expansion, linear and volumetric
Calorific values, specific heat capacity, latent heats
Conservation of thermal energy.
Heat transfer, conduction, convection and radiation
Vapour and Gases
Vapours and Gases, the gas laws, composition of the atmosphere, humidity
Waves, Sound and Light
Fundamentals of waves. Velocity, frequency, wavelength, amplitude, transverse and longitudinal waves. Diffraction, interference, reflection, refraction.
Nature of sound, velocity, wavelength, intensity, pitch, loudness.
Reverberation time, decibel scale.
Light, reflection, refraction, mirrors and lenses. Light spectrum, electromagnetic spectrum
Energy 4: Electricity and Magnetism
Current, potential difference, resistance, Ohm’s law.
Analysis of electrical circuits, Kirchoff’s rules.
Cells, batteries, fuses, simple domestic circuits, electrical energy
Magnetic fields, electromagnets, moving coil meter, electric motors, generators, Faradays and Lenzs Laws of electromagnetic induction. Transformers. DC and AC.
Atomic Physics
Types of matter, substances, mixtures, elements, compounds.
Atoms and Molecules, ions, isotopes, radioactivity.
Acids and Bases, the pH scale.
Chemical reactions and equations.
Laboratory Experiments: Specific Heat Capacity, Searle’s Bar, Relative Humidity, Boyle’s Law, Latent Heat, Free Fall (measure g), Pendulum (measure g), Ohm’s law, Refraction, Insulator, Speed of sound, Viscosity (of water), Parallelogram and triangle of forces, Young’s modulus, Standing waves on a string , Reflection, Hooke’s law
