Important Remark
This course assumes students have taken my course of General Physics 1 (and passed the exams, preferably). If you are a student who wishes to enroll but has not taken my General Physics 1, please contact me before selecting the course. (Otherwise it will be difficult to pass the exams.)
Outline
An introductory course to electromagnetism. The goal is Maxwell’s equations in vacuum (in integral form), which encapsulate the basic laws of electromagnetism.
You are required to have firm understanding on basic calculus and vector arithmetic as well as foundational understanding of mechanics, oscillatory motions, and waves. You first learn the concept of fields, which is the most crucial in electromagnetism (and even in modern physics). You then learn various laws of electromagnetism and reach Maxwell’s equations, the monumental achievement in 19th-century physics. You notice that the equations contain not only the electromagnetic laws you have learned but also the electromagnetic waves, known as lights.
Several important topics are not covered in this lecture, which include electromagnetic fields in matter, vector calculus in cylindrical/spherical coordinates, and the differential formulation of Maxwell’s equations.
Guidance document
- gp2_supplemental_2024.pdf for Academic Year 2024
- Guidelines for Using Generative AI
- Note on Sho’s Grading Convention
Textbook
Serway & Jewett, Physics for Scientists and Engineers (with Modern Physics), 10th ed. Cengage Learning.
- Attendants are assumed to have learned Chapters 1‒9 and 15‒17 in Volume 1.
- This course corresponds to Chapters 22‒33 (Volume 2).
- Sho strognly recommends you to bring the book (printed version) to the lecture every week.
- Other references are as follows, but you do not need them. Instead, stick to the textbook at this stage.
- Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics. 4th ed. Cambridge U. Press.
- Young & Freedman, University Physics, 15th ed. Pearson.
- Ling et al., University Physics Vol. 2.
Students’ Goals
- I am familiar with line integrals and surface integrals of vectors.
- I can describe/calculate electromagnetic forces between charged objects or electric currents.
- I am used to dealing with fields (electric field and magnetic flux density ).
- I can use various laws of electromagnetism to calculate them in simple situations.
- I can analyze electric potential and relate it to work and potential energy.
- I can explain Maxwell’s equations and their relations to electromagnetic laws.
- I can calculate currents or voltages in basic circuits.
Schedule (2024‒2)
- 1 (Feb. 19)
- Coulomb's law. Electric field.
- 2 (Feb. 26)
- Continuous charge distribution.
- 3 (Mar. 5)
- Gauss's law. Electrostatic potential.
- 4 (Mar. 12)
- No class: NSYSU Sports Day
- 5 (Mar. 19)
- Electrostatic potential.
- 6 (Mar. 26)
- Capacitor.
- 7 (Apr. 2)
- Electric current. Resistor.
- 8 (Apr. 9)
- Direct-current circuits.
- 9 (Apr. 16)
- Midterm Exam
- 10 (Apr. 23)
- Magnetic field. Lorentz force.
- 11 (Apr. 30)
- Biot-Savart law and Ampère's law. Magnetism.
- 12 (May 7)
- Faraday's law.
- 13 (May 14)
- Inductor.
- 14 (May 21)
- Alternating-current circuits.
- 15 (May 28)
- Lorentz equations. Electromagnetic waves.
- 16 (Jun. 4)
- Term Exam
- 17 (Jun. 11)
- More on Lorentz equations and vector calculus.
- 18 (Jun. 18)
- No class: Alternative learning period compensating for weekly essays
Past Exam Problems
Other Information
- See another page for previous years’ lectures.