Physics – Computer Science

Drawing examples from astronomy, physics, and engineering, this course will introduce students to fundamental conservation laws and the principles of statics and dynamics. In-class activities will help reinforce those concepts while improving students’ understanding of experimental design, measurement uncertainty, estimation, and data analysis. This course also will connect basic mathematics concepts to the physical sciences, while also introducing students to more advanced topics such as complex numbers and linear algebra.

This course is an introduction to circuit design and computer interfacing. Specific topics include resistive, capacitive, and inductive circuits; DC and AC circuits and their analysis; RLC circuits and resonance; filters; Kirchoff’s laws; operational amplifiers; theory and applications of logical gates; integrated circuits and their applications; digital counters and timers; and principles of computer interfacing. The laboratory component of the course will focus on designing and constructing analog and digital circuits, employing diagnostic  equipment, and using computer interfaces.

This course covers classical Newtonian and Lagrangian mechanics as applied to the motion of particles and systems. Specific topics include solutions to Newton’s laws in the presence of retarding forces; conservation theorems; harmonic, damped, and forced oscillations, and resonance phenomena; phase-space diagrams; gravity and gravitational potential; Hamilton’s principle, Lagrange’s and Hamilton’s equations of motion, and generalized coordinates; central force motion and orbits in a central field; linear and angular momentum of a system of particles; and the dynamics of rigid bodies and the moments of inertia.