You should know how to do the following:
1. Find how many extra electrons or protons an object has if its net charge is given.
2. Find the net electric force exerted on a point charge by one or more other point charges.
3. Find the net electric field at a point in space from one or more point charges.
4. Find the force on a charge if you know the charge and the electric field at the position of the charge.
5. Analyze the motion of charged particles in uniform electric fields between two parallel plates using either:
- the force model where you find the acceleration of the particle and then use the equations of motion for constant acceleration.
- the energy model where you set the gain in kinetic energy equal to the change in the potential energy (charge times voltage difference).
6. Find the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor with either air or other dielectric in between the plates. (I will give you the dielectric constant for a material other than air.) Find the energy stored by the capacitor. Find the charge stored on the plates for a given voltage difference.
7. Find the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor with either air or other dielectric in between the plates. (I will give you the dielectric constant for a material other than air.) Find the energy stored by the capacitor. Find the charge stored on the plates for a given voltage difference.
8. Find the cost of operating an appliance if you know its power consumption, how long it is operated, and the cost of electricity per kilowatt-hour.
9. Analyze a simple network of capacitors. Find the equivalent capacitance. Find the charge, voltage, and energy stored for an individual capacitor in the network.
10. Analyze a simple network of resistors. Find the equivalent resistance. Find the current, voltage, and power dissipated for an individual resistor in the network.
TEST 2
You should know how to do the following:
1. Be able to sketch the field lines for a bar magnet.
2. Find the direction of the magnetic field at points in space due to current flowing in a straight wire (Field RHR #1). Recall that the size of the field is directly proportional to the size of the current.
3. Find the direction of the magnetic field on the axis of a single current loop or a coil (solenoid) due to a current flowing in the loop or coil (Field RHR #2). Be able to label the sides of the loop or coil with the correct magnetic poles (N and S). Be able to sketch the field lines. Recall that the size of the field is directly proportional to the size of the current.
4. Find the size and direction of the magnetic force exerted upon a charge moving in a magnetic field (Force RHR #1).
5. Analyze the motion of charged particles moving in electric and/or magnetic fields. In particular, analyze the operation of a mass spectrometer.
6. Find the size and direction of the magnetic force exerted upon a straight wire carrying a current in a magnetic field (Force RHR #2).
7. Find the voltage induced in a coil using Faraday's Law of Induction. Find the size and direction (Lenz's Law) of the induced current. (Be sure you can do the Lenz's Law computer problem!)
8. Analyze the operation of an AC generator. Analyze a sinusoidally varying AC voltage signal. Find the amplitude, period, frequency, and rms voltage for a given signal.
9. Analyze the operation of a DC motor. Find the maximum power and average mechanical power delivered by the motor.
10. Analyze the operation of a transformer. Be able to find the voltage and current in the secondary coil given the power efficiency of the transformer, the number of turns in the primary and secondary coils, and the voltage and current in the primary.
11. Find the energy stored in the magnetic field of an inductor. Analyze the operation of an inductor in a circuit with a battery and a resistor.
TEST 3
You should know how to do the following:
1. Know the free-space wavelength range of the visible spectrum.
2. Use the Law of Reflection and Snell's Law at an interface between two media. Find the critical angle and understand what happens in TIR.
3. Tell if light speeds up or slows down as it leaves one medium and enters another medium. Tell what happens to the frequency and wavelength of the light as it enters the new medium.
4. Find the apparent depth of the image of an object that is immersed in water. Sketch the rays coming from the object to show how the image is formed.
5. Use the lens maker's equation to design a lens with a certain focal length. Know whether a lens is a positive (converging) lens or a negative (diverging) lens based on its shape.
6. Use the thin lens equation and equations for lateral and angular magnification to analyze the formation of an image using a single lens
7. Perform a ray trace for a single positive or negative lens
8. Be familiar with a simple camera, a simple projector, and a simple magnifier.
9. Find the focal length or lens power of a single lens necessary to correct near-sightedness or far-sightedness.
10. Be familiar with the operation of a microscope. Be able to sketch a ray trace for a microscope.
11. Analyze the interference pattern on a screen a far distance from two slits (Young's double slit set-up).
12. Analyze the operation of a diffraction grating.
13. Find the resolution angle for an optical system. Find the minimum separation distance that can be resolved on the object and the corresponding minimum distance on the image for an optical system (eye, camera, projector).
14. Know how a dichroic polarizer works to produce linearly polarized light. Know the Law of Malus.
15. Know how unpolarized light can become polarized upon reflection (Brewster's Law).
TEST 4
You should know how to do the following:
1. Find the total power emitted by an object using Stefan's Law or find the total power absorbed by an object from its surroundings. Find the peak wavelength in the thermal emission of an object using Wien's displacement law.
2. Sketch the intensity vs. wavelength curves for blackbody radiation obtained from classical wave theory and Planck's quantum theory. What was Planck's key assumption in his quantum model? (What did he quantize?)
3. Find the energy of a photon. Find the photon rate in a beam of light given the wavelength and power.
4. Describe what is meant by the "photoelectric effect". Describe what is meant by the "cut-off frequency or cut-off wavelength" and be able to find these quantities. Find the maximum kinetic energy of a photoelectron emitted from a metal or find the stopping potential.
5. Know how to use the results of the Bohr Model of the Hydrogen atom to find different quantities such as atomic energy levels, radii of the electron, emitted or absorbed photon energies and wavelengths.
6. What are the 3 necessary elements to construct a laser? What does the acronym "laser" stand for?
7. Explain how a 3 level laser works. Make sure you know what is meant by a metastable state, population inversion, spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission.
8. What comprises a nucleus of an atom? What is the approximate size of a nucleus? What determines the charge of a nucleus? What is an isotope?
9. What force binds the nucleons together? Describe the characteristics of this force.
10. Why do larger nuclei have more neutrons than protons?
11. Why are all nuclei with more than 83 protons unstable?
12. What is meant by the binding energy of a nucleus? Find the binding energy of a particular nucleus. (I will give you a copy of the necessary part of the isotope table so you can look up the atomic masses.)
13. Describe the three methods of nuclear decay (a, b, g). For each decay, state what happens to the following as the parent decays into the daughter: proton number, neutron number, mass number, charge.
14. Write down the decay equation for a particular decay given the parent nucleus and type of decay. (I will give you a copy of the necessary part of the isotope table..) Find the maximum kinetic energy of an emitted alpha or beta particle in a decay.
15. How is the decay constant related to the half-life? Does a long half-life mean a fast or slow decay lifetime?
16. Find the half-life of a radioactive isotope given the decay constant or vice versa.
17. Use the half-life or decay constant to find the activity or number of unstable nuclei left after some time. Be able to express the activity either in Becquerels (decays/second) or Curies. Find the time required for the activity to reduce to a certain level.
18. Distinguish the following units of radiation exposure: Roentgen, rad, rem. Which unit of radiation exposure best determines the potential health risk?
19. Which is potentially more dangerous: 100 mrad of gamma rays or 100 mrad of a-particles? Why?
20. What is a typical natural background radiation dose equivalent for one year in the U.S.?
21. What is meant by nuclear "fission" and nuclear "fusion"? Which is used in a nuclear power plant?
22. What is isotope is used as fuel in a nuclear power plant?
23. Describe the role of the moderator, control rods, and fuels rods in a nuclear reactor.