Syllabus: (PDF)
List of Modern Texts (PDF)
Email Dr. Larsen
Dr. Larsen's Main Page
Dr. Larsen's LaTeX Page
Dr. Wragg's PHYS 230 Page (Great Resource)
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- WELCOME! -
This is the web-page for Physics 230, Introduction to Modern Physics (Spring 2017). Materials on this webpage are meant to supplement information given to you in class itself. I'm not a big fan of OAKS, therefore any on-line supplementary material for the course you need can be found here. To the left, you'll find important links/syllabi/etc.If you'd like to find out more about me or the research we do in my lab, check out my main webpage.
- About This Course -
This course is an introduction to the basic Physics established after about 1900. Much of this content you have seen (briefly) before (in PHYS 111/112) and a decent fraction of it you may see again (in Classical Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, Quantum Mechanics, Nuclear Physics, Solid State Physics, and/or Experimental Physics). This course is between intro and advanced levels; it is still kind of like PHYS 111/112 in that it gives a survey/introduction to ideas from a lot of different parts of Physics, but it is sort of like an upper-level course in that the level of rigor is increased. This increase in rigor also changes the nature of many of your homework and test questions (you'll start to have more assignments similar to "show x is true" rather than the PHYS 111/112-like "calculate x"). Also, this is the first course in the curriculum that is taken mostly by Physics and Astrophysics majors, which means we expect a new level of dedication out of you.We also will be using this course to introduce you to some basic computational Physics skills. These skills will be following you throughout the rest of your undergraduate Physics/Astrophysics education (and quite possibly for the rest of your career), so hopefully we'll get you started on the right track.
This class is very exciting and very important. The content is a lot of fun -- you start to really play with Physics ideas that aren't necessarily familiar from everyday experience , yet are just as real as masses on inclined planes. There's a stretch of classes in the middle of the semester where we get to talk about Nobel Prize winning work pretty much every day. Much of the content in this course appears on the Physics subject GRE, so those of you who are planning to go to graduate school -- you really have to start thoroughly absorbing the material. There are things in this course that every Physics student is expected to know, and that you won't see again until you are grad-school bound.
The expectations for this course are certainly a notch above what you may have been exposed to before. You may struggle with the content for the first time as a student -- don't let that discourage you! I'm here to help. If you get stuck, find me! This stuff is possible -- and you have the ability to do it.
- Step by Step Guide in How to Succeed in PHYS 230 -
Like all classes, what you get out of this course is directly related to what you put into this course. I'm here as a resource to help you learn. Please use this resource!- Attend every lecture.
- Be an active participant in class. Ask questions! (I love questions). If you can't read something on the board -- ask for clarification. If an argument doesn't make sense, say so. If you need me to stop talking so fast, say so! (I have a habit of talking fast when I get excited, and this is sort of the stuff that excites me the most since I chose it for my career and all. I don't mind slowing down/repeating stuff -- but you gotta ask!) If you don't follow a mathematical step, speak up! Please! (It is even ok to say -- "Dr. Larsen, can you just be quiet for a second while I try to absorb that." I won't mind).
- READ THE BOOK. It is a decent book. It may be lacking a bit in plot and characterization, but the cool thing is -- all the Physics is in there.
- START HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS RIGHT AWAY. You are past the point where you can just do homework the night before it is due. I know I give you a week for homework assignments -- that's because you'll need this time! Many of the problems I'm giving to you are problems I had while I was a student. At the time, I'd consider it a good day if I could finish a problem a day. It is just the nature of the beast -- these problems take lots and lots of work and often you'll have to go down a wrong path many times before you realize how to successfully solve the problem. That's Physics. If you don't heed my advice and start the homework on the night before it is due, you won't have time to go through this process and -- ultimately -- you're doomed. START EARLY! SERIOUSLY! (Ask other students who have had me in the past; they'll echo my advice here.)
- READ THE BOOK! I'M NOT KIDDING! IT DESERVES TWO ENTRIES. Students who read the book live longer, healthier, happier lives and make 37% more money per year. (At least that's my guess). More importantly, however, is that you will be exposed to the information again in a way that is more complete and self-contained than my lectures will ever be. In an ideal world, you'd read the section -- then come to lecture -- then read it again. I didn't learn this until graduate school and I wish I had listened to people who told me earlier to do this. It really helps.
- If you're stuck on the homework, get help! It is ok to get help from classmates (so long as the work you show me is your own). It is also ok to get help from me. (That's why they pay me). I have office hours. I'm also here a lot during times that are not my office hours. Make use of that time -- but don't come to me 3 hours before an assignment is due for help. If you haven't started in advance, then you've dug your own grave and you have to deal with the consequences.
- Homework Assignments -
Assignment 1(PDF) (due date: 1/18/17)Assignment 2(PDF) (due date: 1/25/17)
Assignment 3(PDF) (due date: 2/1/17)
Assignment 4(PDF) (due date: 2/8/17)
Assignment 5(PDF) (due date: 2/22/17)
Assignment 6(PDF) (due date: 3/1/17)
Assignment 7(PDF) (due date: 3/15/17)
Assignment 8(PDF) (due date: 3/29/17)
Assignment 9(PDF) (due date: 4/5/17)
Assignment 10(PDF) (due date: 4/14/17)
- Test Information -
We plan to have 3 in-class midterms as well as a final exam. The tentative dates for the in-class midterms are:Wednesday, February 15th
Wednesday, March 22nd
Wednesday, April 21st
The final exam is scheduled for Friday, April 28th, from 8-11 AM
- Mathematica Demos/Materials -
Hands-On Start to Mathematica workbookMathematica Notebook with In-Class Demonstration Materials
Mathematica practice (for during class)
Mathematica help resources
- Links for Lecture -
Text description of the Michelson-Morley experiment and the corresponding constancy of the speed of light.Plot of gamma as a function of v/c, along with the first two power-law approximations.
Applet showing the Thomson experiment
Movie showing the Millikan Oildrop experiment
Applet showing the Millikan Oildrop experiment
Mathematica Notebook demo of the Franck-Hertz Experiment
- Links for Wave Packets / Fourier Demonstrations -
Mathematica Notebook for Fourier Transform PairsMathematica Notebook showing the difference between Group and Phase Velocities
Mathematica Notebook showing wave packet evolution for a free particle
MATLAB script adding a bunch of harmonic waves together
MATLAB script adding waves of equal amplitude together
- Links for Tunneling / Frustrated Total Internal Reflection -
Mathematica Simulation of a Gaussian Wavepacket incident on a barrier potentialSimilar to previous, except showing real and imaginary portions of wavefunction instead of probability
Another representation of the same.
Similar to the others.
Frustrated Total Internal Reflection I
Frustrated Total Internal Reflection II