Undergraduate Calendar 2011-2012
Physics
Courses 200-299
PHE203 Introduction to Astronomy
PHE205 Mechanics
PHE217 Electromagnetism
PHE225 Modern Physics
PHE226 Modern Physics
PHE228 Electromagnetism
PHE252 Marine Remote Sensing
PHE270 Introduction to Oceanography
PHE203 Introduction to Astronomy
Only offered through the Division of Continuing Studies.
This course provides a broad overview of modern astronomy, from the Earth and the Solar System to the limits of the Universe. The course consists of four study units: 1) Fundamentals of Astronomy; 2) Galaxies and Cosmology; 3) The Stars; and 4) The Solar System. The course is presented in online delivery mode with multimedia elements. It has both a descriptive and quantitative component. The descriptive component is visually based, with extensive use of the recent astronomical imagery. The quantitative component involves a series of problem-solving modules. These modules permit the student to carry out elementary calculations relevant to our interpretation of astronomical phenomena.
PHE205 Mechanics
Oscillatory motion is studied including: undamped and damped harmonic motion, forced harmonic motion and resonance, damped forced oscillations, standing and progressive waves, conditions for static equilibrium in two and three dimensions, and introduction to fluid statics and fluid dynamics.
There is a lab associated with this course. Students choose from a wide variety of experiments that have been selected to teach in the principles of experimental measurement and to illustrate some fundamental physical concepts.
PHE217 Electromagnetism
Course in intermediate electricity and magnetism beginning with concepts of electric and magnetic field and leading to Maxwell's equations in differential and integral form. The following topics are discussed: Alternating current circuits, complex impedance, RLC circuits, electric field, electric flux density, Gauss's law, electric potential, electric polarization, dielectrics and electric boundary conditions, magnetic field, magnetic flux density, magnetic vector potential, Biot-Savart law, Ampere's law, magnetic dipole, magnetization and magnetic boundary conditions, Faraday's law, displacement current, and Maxwell's equations in their final integral and differential forms. There is a lab associated with this course. Students choose from a wide variety of experiments that have been selected to teach the principles of experimental measurement and to illustrate some fundamental physical concepts.
PHE225 Modern Physics
Concepts in physics developed from 1900 are discussed including: relativistic kinematics and dynamics, space and time, Doppler effect, momentum and energy, particle aspects of electromagnetic radiation, wave aspects of particles, Rutherford and Bohr models of the atom, development of the Schrodinger equation, application of the Schrodinger equation to a particle in a box and finite potential wells, and tunnelling. Models of the single and many electron atoms, molecules, nuclear structure and energetics of reactions. Radioactivity: alpha and beta decay, gamma emission.
There is a lab associated with this course. Students choose from a wide variety of experiments that have been selected to teach in the principles of experimental measurement and to illustrate some fundamental physical concepts.
PHE226 Modern Physics
This course is identical to PHE225 except students do not take the experimental physics lab.
PHE228 Electromagnetism
High level introduction to electromagnetism formulating the fundamental laws (Maxwell's Equations) in both integral and differential form, in vacuum and in material media. Major topics include: Gauss's law, electric potential, electric dipole, polarization, electric boundary conditions, Poisson's and Laplace's equations, electrostatic boundary-value problems, Biot-Savart law, Ampère's law, Maxwell's equations for static EM fields, magnetic vector potential, magnetic forces, the Hall effect, magnetization, magnetic materials, magnetic boundary conditions, magnetic circuits and magnetic energy.
PHE252 Marine Remote Sensing
A survey of the satellite remote sensing of the ocean in the visible, thermal infrared and microwave regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The source will focus on the underlying physics of the imaging process, the sensors and satellites used to exploit these processes, the derivation of basic geo- and biophysical properties from the satellite data and imagery, and the integration of these properties into products useful for both strategic and tactical operations in oceanic regions of interest to the Canadian Forces. The course contains computer laboratory exercises in basic satellite image processing using both commercial scientific software, and software packages specific to maritime operations in the CF.
PHE270 Introduction to Oceanography
Only offered through the Division of Continuing Studies.
Broad overview of ocean climate at a level suitable for the non-physics student. Course begins with an introduction to plate tectonics and ocean topography, followed by an examination of how the unique properties of seawater and their controlling budgets lead to the formation of distinct water masses, drive the global surface and deep-water circulation, and control the characteristics of sea ice, and ice climatology. Discussions focus on periodic phenomena (waves and tides) and coastal waters, including a regional description of the tides and currents, water masses and, where applicable, ice climatology specific to the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic Coasts of Canada.
