Physics 1 Electrodynamics

ELECTRIC FIELDS: Electric charges. Coulomb's law. Coulomb's constant and the dielectric constant. Electric field. Electric field of a point charge, a dipole, a group of charges, continuous charge distributions. Electric field lines.

GAUSS' LAW: Electric flux. Gauss' law. Applications for charge distributions having a large degree of symmetry. Conductors in electrostatic equilibrium.

ELECTRIC POTENTIAL: Potential energy associated with the electrostatic force. Electric potential difference (voltage) and electric potential. Equipotential surfaces. The electric potential of a point charge, a group of charges, a continuous charge distribution. Mathematical relationship between the electric field vector and the electric potential. Charged conductors in electrostatic equilibrium.

CAPACITANCE AND DIELECTRICS: Capacitance. Parallel plate capacitor, cylindrical capacitor, spherical capacitor. Parallel and series combination of capacitors. Energy stored in a charged capacitor. The electric dipole in an external electric field: torque, potential energy. Dielectrics. Atomic dipole moments and the polarization vector. Electric susceptibility, relative dielectric constant. The electric displacement vector. Boundary conditions for the electric field vector and the displacement vector. Energy density of the electric field.

CURRENT AND RESISTANCE, DIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS: Electric current. Current density. Ohm's law. Resistivity, conductivity, resistance. Power supplied by a battery. Power dissipated in a resistor. Parallel and series combination of resistors. Kirchhoff's rules. RC circuits: charging and discharging a capacitor.

MAGNETIC FIELDS. SOURCES OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD: Magnetism. Magnetic field. Magnetic force on a moving charge. Applications: cyclotron, velocity selector. Magnetic force on a current-carrying conductor. Torque on a current loop. The magnetic dipole. The magnetic field strength. The permeability of free space. Analogy between electricity and magnetism (electricity: acts on charges, is created by charges; magnetism: acts on moving charges, is created by moving charges). The Biot-Savart law and some of its applications. Magnetic force between two parallel conductors. The paradoxical nature of the force acting on a moving charge (resolution of the paradox using special relativity). Ampere's law. Applications for a long straight wire and a solenoid. The magnetic flux. Gauss' law in magnetism. The displacement current and the general form of Ampere's law. Magnetism in matter. The magnetization vector. Ferromagnetism, paramagnetism, diamagnetism. Boundary conditions for the magnetic field and the magnetic field strength.

FARADAY'S LAW: Faraday's law of induction. Motional electromotive force: a straight conductor moving through a perpendicular magnetic field; electromotive force induced in a rotating bar. Lenz's law. Induced electromotive force and the associated nonconservative electric field. Eddy currents. Maxwell's four equations in integral and differential form. Electromagnetic waves.

INDUCTANCE: Self-induction. Self-inductance. RL circuits. Energy stored in an inductor. The energy density of the magnetic field. Mutual inductance. Oscillations in an LC circuit. The RLC series circuit.