Physics 1B/Higher Physics 1B – Syllabus First Year Teaching Unit, School of Physics
PHYSICS 1B/HIGHER PHYSICS 1B (PHYS1221/1231)
Textbook: “Fundamentals of Physics”, 11th ANZ Edition, by Halliday, Resnick and Walker


TOPIC 1: Electricity and Magnetism


• COULOMB’S LAW (§21.1-21.3)
Coulomb’s law; charge is quantised; charge is conserved.


• ELECTRIC FIELDS (§22.1-22.7)
The electric field; the electric field due to a charged particle; the electric field due to a
dipole; the electric field due to a line of charge; the electric field due to a charged disk; a
point charge in an electric field; a dipole in an electric field.


• GAUSS'S LAW (§23.1-23.6)
Electric flux; Gauss’s law; a charged, isolated conductor; applications of Gauss’s law to
various charge distributions, especially with 1, 2 and 3 dimensional symmetry.


• ELECTRIC POTENTIAL (§24.1-24.8)
Electric potential; equipotential surfaces and the electric field; potential due to a charged
particle; potential due to an electric dipole; potential due to a continuous charge
distribution; calculating the field from the potential; electric potential energy of a system of
charged particles; potential of a charged isolated conductor.


• CAPACITANCE (§25.1-25.5)
Capacitance; calculating the capacitance; capacitors in parallel and in series; energy stored
in an electric field; capacitors with a dielectric; dielectrics and Gauss’ law.


• MAGNETIC FIELDS (§28.1-28.4,28.6, 28.7, 32.1, 32.2)
Magnetic fields and the definition of B; crossed E and B fields: discovery of the electron;
crossed fields: the Hall effect; a circulating charged particle; magnetic force on a current-
carrying wire; torque on a current loop; the magnetic dipole moment; Gauss’s law for
magnetism; induced magnetic fields.


• MAGNETIC FIELDS DUE TO CURRENTS (§29.1-29.5)
Magnetic field due to a current; force between two parallel currents; Ampere’s law;
solenoids and toroids; a current-carrying coil as a magnetic dipole.


• INDUCTION AND INDUCTANCE (§30.1-30.3)
Faraday's law and Lenz’s law; induction and energy transfers; induced electric fields.

Physics 1B/Higher Physics 1B – Syllabus First Year Teaching Unit, School of Physics


TOPIC 2: Physical Optics


• ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES (§33.1-33.7)
Electromagnetic waves; energy transport and the poynting vector; radiation pressure;
polarization; reflection and refraction; total internal reflection; polarization by reflection.


• INTERFERENCE (§35.1-35.5)
Light as a wave; Young’s interference experiment; interference and double slit intensity;
interference from thin films; Michelson’s interferometer.


• DIFFRACTION (§36.1-36.7)
Single-slit diffraction; intensity in single-slit diffraction; diffraction by a circular aperture;
diffraction by a double slit; diffraction gratings; gratings: dispersion and resolving power;
x-ray diffraction.





TOPIC 3: Introductory Quantum Physics and Solid State Physics


• PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES (§38.1-38.6)
The photon, the quantum of light; the photoelectric effect; photons, momentum,
Compton scattering, light, interference; the birth of quantum physics; electrons and
matter waves.


• CONDUCTION AND ELECTRICITY IN SOLIDS (§41.1-41.3)
The electrical properties of metals; semiconductors and doping; the p-n junction and the
transistor.



First 16 lectures: Electricity and Magnetism
Last 16 lectures: Physical optics; Introductory Quantum Physics & Solid State Physics.