Course: Electromagnetism I

Code: PHYS 4068 

Number of Credits: 3 

Prerequisites: MATH 3152, PHYS 3171-3172 

Instructor: J. Ponce de León

Office: Natural Sciences II, C-321

E-mail: jpdel1@hotmail.com

Class period:Tuesday and Thursday, 11:30-12:50, room C-312

Office hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 14:30-16:30 or by appointment 

 Description 

This is the first part of theone year course in Electromagnetism for Physics majors, which covers electrostatics and magnetostatics: Electrostatic potential, divergence and curl of electric fields, electric potential; Conductors,boundary value problems and techniques for calculating potentials; Dipole and multipole expansion of the electric potential, the electrostatics of dielectric materials; Electric current, Ohm's law, continuity equation; Magnetic fields, the Lorentz force law, theBiot-Savart and Ampere's laws; The differential equations of magnetostatics, the vector potential,boundary value problems; Magnetized media, the susceptibility and permeability, nonlinear media and hysteresis. 

 Objectives 

After completing this course the student will understand the basic concepts and fundamental principles of electrostatics, magnetostatics, and the interaction of currents and fields and will be able to apply these to actual physical situations and setup the corresponding mathematical problem. The student will also have practiced and mastered the application of mathematical techniques to solve such problems. 

 Course Content 

 

Topic	Assigned time (hours)
1. A review of concepts in vector algebra and vector calculus.	3
2. The Divergence theorem, the Green's theorem, and the Stokes's theorem.	3
3. The Coulomb's Law and the concept of electric field.	3
4. Calculation of electric fields for simple charge distributions.	3
5. Divergence and curl of the electric field, the electrostatic potential.	3
6. Conductors, insulators and Gauss's Law. The electric Dipole and multipole expansion of the electric potential.	3
7. The Laplace and Poisson's equations.	3
8. Boundary value problems and the techniques for calculating potentials. Simple ideas about electrostatic images.	3
9. Capacitance, electrostatics in dielectric materials. Electrostatic energy.	3
10. Electric current and the current density. Continuity equation, Ohm's Law and electric power.	3
11. Concept of the magnetic induction field, Lorentz force, theBiot-Savart and Ampere's Laws.	3
12. The magnetic scalar potential (magnetostatics) and the magnetic vector potential.	3
13. Magnetic properties of materials.	3
14. Magnetized matter, magnetic susceptibility, permeability, and hysteresis.	3
15. Electromagnetic induction. The Faraday and Lenz's laws. Self and mutualinductances, magnetic energy.	3
Total hours	45 contact hours

 

 

Instructional Strategy 

The main instructional tool in this class is lecturing. The students are trained to apply the concepts of electrostatics and magnetostatics to simple physical situations and setting up the problem mathematically, which is then solved using standard and elementary mathematical methods. A fair part of the lecturing effort is thus dedicated to the demonstration of solution of problems in electricity and magnetism. Homework assignments allow the students to use the relevant physics concepts as also practice problem solving techniques discussed in class. Solutions of homework problems are subsequently discussed in class, where the students are encouraged to present their work. 

 Grading

• The grading is based on four exams, each of which has a weight of 25% of the final grade. They will be based on examples done in class, suggested problems, and exercises given through the course.
• The first three exams will be during the time of class on September 12, October 22, and November 19. The date of the final exam is suggested by the registrar.
• The overall score is determined by calculating the percentage of points obtained by the student. Grades are then assigned according to the standard curve: 100-90% = A, 89-80% = B, 79-70%  = C, 69-60% = D, 59-0% = F. 

 Bibliography 

Introduction to Electrodynamics (4th Edition),by David J. Griffiths,Publisher: Addison-Wesley; 4 edition (October 6, 2012).  

Rights of Students with Disabilities 

The University of Puerto Rico complies with all federal and state laws and regulations regarding discrimination, including “The American Disabilities Act” (ADA law) and Law 51 of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.  Students that receive services from the Vocational Rehabilitation Office should communicate with the professor at the beginning of the semester to discuss any academic accommodation and equipment he (she) needs in accordance to the recommendations from the Office ofDisablepersons affairs (OAPI) from the Student Dean Office.  Other students that need assistance or accommodations should communicate with the professor.