Website owner:  James Miller

Physics notes

Select from the following:

Inventions, discoveries, seminal works


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MECHANICS
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Matter, energy. Measurement of Matter.

Matter, Changes in matter, Structure of an Atom, Molecule

Geometric proof of the law of the lever

Beliefs prior to Galileo

Uniformly accelerated motion

Scalar and vector quantities. Force, velocity and acceleration. Law of Universal Gravitation. Newton's laws of motion. Kepler's laws. Coefficient of friction.

Parallelogram law for adding velocities, accelerations and forces

Centripetal force and centripetal acceleration of bodies moving in uniform circular motion

Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM). Reference circle. Simple and compound pendulums.

Impulse and momentum. Conservation of momentum. Elastic and inelastic collisions. Coefficient of Restitution.

Moment of a force, Couple

Statics. Translational and rotational equilibrium of a rigid body. Free-Body Diagram. Polygon method of vector addition.

Forces in mechanics. Resultant of general coplanar and spatial force systems.

Work. Kinetic and potential energy. Power.

Angular velocity and acceleration. Kinetic energy of a rotating body. Moment of inertia. Radius of Gyration. Work. Power. Angular momentum and impulse.

Mechanics of liquids and gases. The Atmosphere and Weather.

Six simple force-multiplying devices - the simple machines. Lever, pulley, wheel and axle, inclined plane, screw, wedge.

Elasticity. Hook's Law. Tensile, compressive and shear stresses. Strain. Elastic, shear and bulk modulus.

Streamline fluid flow and varying tube diameter. Continuity equation.

Streamline flow. Equation of continuity. Bernoulli's Theorem. Venturi tube. Torricelli's theorem. Viscosity. Reynolds number.

Surface tension

Cohesive and adhesive forces. Capillary action.

Density and pressure as scalar point functions


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HEAT
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Heat. Temperature. Fahrenheit and Centigrade temperature scales. Coefficient of linear expansion. Thermal stresses.

Standard Temperature and Pressure. Gram-molecular weight. Mole. Avogadro's Law. Boyle's law. Charles-Gay-Lussac's law. Kelvin, Rankine temperature scale. Perfect-gas law. Kinetic Theory of Gases. Vapor pressure. Partial pressure. Dalton's Law of partial pressures. Absolute and relative humidity. Dew point.

Heat. Calorie, British thermal unit. Heat capacity. Specific heat. Method of mixtures. Changes of phase. Heat of fusion, vaporization. Sublimation. Evaporation. Liquefaction of gases. Critical temperature and pressure. PVT surface.

Transfer of heat. Conduction, convection, radiation. The ideal radiator. Blackbody.

Mechanical equivalent of heat. Thermodynamics. Internal energy. PV diagram. Enthalpy. Molar heat capacity. Isobaric, isovolumic, isothermal, and adiabatic processes. Entropy, Free energy.

Heat engines. Carnot engine, Carnot cycle. Gasoline engine. Otto cycle. Second law of thermodynamics.


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SOUND
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Transverse and longitudinal wave propagation in an elastic medium. Sound. Intensity, loudness, pitch, frequency. Reflection, refraction, interference, beats. Infrasound, ultrasound. Doppler effect.

Natural frequency. Resonance. Harmonics. Overtones. Vibration of taut strings. Nodes and antinodes. Speed of a transverse wave. Wave reflection. Standing waves. Vibrating air columns. Quality of sound.

Music, Piano keyboard, Octave, Pitch class, Major diatonic scale, Major chord, Chromatic scale, Tempered scale.


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LIGHT
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Light. Reflection, absorption, and transmission of light. Shadows. Umbra, penumbra. Eclipse of the sun and moon.

Light. Law of reflection and refraction. Angle of incidence, reflection, refraction. Optical density. Index of refraction. Critical angle and total internal reflection. Phase changes on reflection.

Real and virtual images. Image formation by lenses, plane mirrors, concave and convex spherical mirrors. Graphical methods for locating images. Thin lens equation. Lensmaker's equation.

Optical instruments. Simple magnifier. Compound microscope. Refracting telescope. Reflecting telescope. Projector.

Photometry, Steradian, Intensity of a light source, Candlepower, Lumen, Illumination, Photometer

Color. The solar spectrum. Monochromatic and polychromatic light. Perception of color. Complementary colors. Mixing of pigments. Chromatic aberration.

Interference and diffraction of light waves. Young's experiment. Newton's rings. Diffraction by a single slit. Diffraction gratings.

Polarization of light by crystal absorption, double refraction, reflection and scattering. Circular and elliptic polarization. Polaroid filters. Optical rotation.


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ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM
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Magnetism. Magnetic domains. Magnetic fields, lines of force. Magnetic flux, flux lines. Magnetic transparency and magnetic permeability. Coulomb's law. CGS unit pole. Magnetic field intensity. Dipole. Dipole moment. Torque on a dipole in a magnetic field. Terrestrial magnetism. Angle of declination. Magnetic inclination.

Electrostatics. Static electricity. Structure of matter. Pith ball and leaf electroscopes. Proof plane. Insulators and conductors. Charging by induction. Discharging effect of points.

Electrostatics. Coulomb's law. Coulomb. Electric field. Electric field intensity. Lines of force. Electric flux. Gauss' law. Dielectric strength.

Electrostatics. Electrical potential energy. Potential. Potential difference. Volt. Equipotential surfaces. Potential gradient. Ice pail experiment.

Electrostatics. Capacitor. Capacitance. Leyden jar. Dielectric coefficient. Permittivity. Molecular theory of induced charges on a dielectric. Effect of an electric field on polar and nonpolar molecules. Dielectric strength. Energy of a charged capacitor. Capacitors in series and in parallel.

Voltaic cells. Flow of electric current. Electromotive force. Electrical resistance. Ohm's law. Resistivity. Temperature and resistivity. Current density. Drift velocity.

Circuits. Power. Equivalent resistance in series and parallel circuits. Wheatstone bridge. Terminal voltage of a battery. Kirchhoff's rules. The potentiometer.

Electrochemistry. Ion. Electrolyte. Electrolysis. Electrolytic cell. Anode. Cathode. Ionic compound. Electroplating. Faraday's laws of electrolysis. Electrode potential. Voltaic cell. Dry cell. Daniell cell. Gravity cell. Lead storage battery. Thermoelectricity. Seebeck effect. Peltier effect. Thomson effect.

Magnetic field of a moving charge. Electromagnets. Magnetic field intensity H and magnetic induction B. Magnetic field of a long straight wire, circular coil, solenoid, toroid, and moving charge. Permeability.

Force on a moving charge in a magnetic field. Path of a charged particle in a magnetic field. Force on a long straight conductor. Torque on a coil. Force between two parallel conductors. Galvanoscope, galvanometer, ammeter, voltmeter. Ampere's law.

Electromagnetic induction. Emf induced in a moving conductor. Faraday's law. Lenz's law. Self-induction. Self-induced emf. Self-inductance of a coil of n turns. Energy stored in an inductor. Electrical oscillations. Electric generator, motor.

Ballistic galvanometer. Galvanometer damping. Search coil method of measuring magnetic flux. Permeability. Magnetization curve. Rowland ring. Hysteresis. Curie temperature. Ampere's theory of magnetism. Magnetic circuit.

Alternating current. Impedance. Inductive and capacitive reactance. Vector impedance diagram. Phase angles for circuits with pure resistance, pure inductance, and pure capacitance. Resonance. Power in ac circuits. The transformer.

Electronics. Vacuum tube. Thermionic emission. Diode. Triode. Rectifiers. Cathode heaters. Triode oscillator. Semiconductor diodes. Transistors. Cathode-ray tube. X-ray tube. Electron microscope. Photocell. Dielectric, induction heating. Neon and fluorescent lamps.

Electrical oscillations in an L-C circuit. Rectifiers. Reservoir capacitors. Electromagnetic radiation. Antennas. Radio broadcasting. Piezoelectric effect. Microphones. Speakers. Amplitude modulation. Frequency modulation. Crystal receiver.


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ATOMIC PHYSICS
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Prism spectroscope. Emission and absorption spectra. Continuous, line, and band spectra. Fraunhofer lines. Bohr theory of the hydrogen atom.

Radioactivity. Alpha and beta particles. Gamma rays. Wilson cloud chamber. Geiger counter. Decay chain of radium and uranium. Transmutation of an element. Particle accelerators. Van de Graaff generator. Cyclotron. Synchrotron. Nuclear fission. Chain reaction. Discovery of the electron, proton, and neutron.

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