"Modern Physics" refers to a number of paradigm-changing discoveries (and the theories developed to explain them) that occurred in the early part of the 20th century. A series of groundbreaking experiments by Michelson, Balmer, Röntgen, Thomson and others led to a rethinking of classical physical theory around the turn of the 20th century. The surprising experimental results gave rise to radical new physical theories, developed by Einstein, Lorentz, Bohr, Schrödinger, Heisenberg, Dirac, and others, which eventually coalesced into two major new areas: relativity and quantum mechanics (QM).
Relativity and QM are some of the most exciting topics in physics. The theories are strange and counter-intuitive, perhaps even a bit mind-boggling, at first sight. We will take a very direct, problem-solving approach to studying relativity and QM, with plenty of examples and some lab experiments, a number of which are modeled on Nobel Prize-winning work. By the end of the course, you should have a pretty good grasp of how relativity and QM work, you will be able to understand a wide variety of phenomena in the relativistic and quantum realms in a quantitative way, and, even more exciting, be able to intelligently discuss Schrödinger's Cat and the Twin Paradox with your friends. But it would not be unusual for the theories to still seem somewhat strange and counter-intuitive even at the end of the course--developing a physicist's intuition in the relativist and quantum realms takes time.
The official prerequisite for the course is a year of physics and some knowledge of calculus (including derivatives and integrals). However, we will review results from first-year physics as they arise, so a course in high school physics should be adequate preparation, and a brave soul with no knowledge of physics (but with some calculus background) should be able to take the course.
MTuThF 5th period (occasional short W meeting) SMC D108
Nathalie Haurberg, D115 SMC, tel: x7629. Email: nhaurber@knox.edu
You are encouraged to see me for help or hints with the problems or labs at any time. If you have trouble catching me in my office don't hesitate to email me for an appointment. I’ll also respond in the evenings if I can.
Modern Physics 5th Ed., Tipler and Llewellyn (Freeman: New York, 2003). ISBN: 0-7167-4345-0.
Reading the text will be vital to success in the course. Reading assignments must be completed before the relevant class. Reading the textbook before class introduces you to new concepts and terminology, making it easier to follow along and participate in the lecture. This preparation allows you to engage more actively in class and enhance your understanding and retention of the subject.
Problem sets will be assigned regularly.
The interaction between lecture discussion, reading,
and problem sets is critical for learning physics. You are
advised to take the problem sets seriously, start them early, and complete them on time.
Please feel free to ask me for help or hints on the problems.
You are encouraged to work together on problems sets
(or to consult other texts), but whatever the final
product of your work is, it must be your own unique
product. Consulting any solution manual, seeking
solutions by using AI, or similar is
considered a violation of the honor code. Additionally, please list those classmates, tutors, or any students with whom you collaborated and properly document external resources.
Online
Problem Sets
A series of exciting labs is scheduled during the course to complement the physics theory you'll be learning in class.
Labs will be introduced and demostrated during
additional scheduled Wednesday mini-classes. If you can't
make these mini-classes you will have to make arrangments
to meet-up with me at another time.
Once demonstrated, you (and your lab partner) must sign up for a time to come in and do the lab experiments as for these more sophisticated experiments, we will generally have only a single lab setup. Planning and coordination will be critical and procrastination will often be problematic.
Most labs can only remain set-up for a short period of time so they must be completed while they are set up.
You are highly encouraged to use LaTeX to typeset your labs, this is a skill that will be rewarded later in life even if it recently was not.
There will be in-class mini-exams every two weeks. These mini-exams will generally cover the material that has been discussed in class over the last two weeks but will also include some comprehensive content that will build up over the course of the term.
Mini-Exam Dates:There will a comprehensive final exam during the regulaurly scheduled final exam peroid. This exam will not be offered early so please do not make travel plans that conflict.
In this class, we will be following a practice known as "ungrading". This approach to assessment focuses on transparancy, feedback, improvement, and student learning instead of penalizing mistakes. You will not receive numerical scores on you work, but you will recieve plenty of feedback. Unlike a traditional course you will be able and expected to rework and revise work that you feel did not meet expectations. This approach may seem unfamiliar but is designed to support your learning and growth. There is much more information that can be found concerning how assessment will take place at the link below.
| Weeks | Topic | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1-4 | Relativity | Chapters 1 & 2 |
| Week 4-5 | Quantization | Chapter 3 |
| Week 5-6 | Nuclear Atom | Chapter 4 |
| Week 7-8 | Wavelike Particles | Chapter 5 |
| Week 8-9 | Schrodinger Equation | Chapter 6 |