Fall term 2006
PHYS 350 Electromagnetism
Time and location
TTh 8.35-9.55am, Room 118 Rutherford Physics Building (first class Tues Sep 5th)
Lecturer
Prof. Andrew Cumming- Office: room 219 Rutherford
Physics Building, Tel: 514-398-6494, email: [email protected]
Textbook
The course text will be "Introduction to Electrodynamics" by David
J. Griffiths (Prentice Hall, 3rd Edition, 1998), available in the
bookstore. We will cover the material in Chapters 1-7 in this course (although in a different order: see the outline below), the
remaining chapters are useful for PHYS 352 Electromagnetic
waves.
There are many other books on electromagnetism to look at. "Electromagnetism" by
Gerald Pollock and Daniel Stump (Addison Wesley, 1st Edition, 2001) is
a newer book, slightly more formal than Griffiths, and with more
discussion of practical applications. Also, I recommend dipping into
"Feynman Lectures Volume 2" (Addison Wesley Longman 1970),
particularly for its physical insight.
The lecture notes will be made available on WebCT shortly after each lecture.
Outline
Electrostatics in vacuum (Griffiths chapter 2). Coulombs law and the principle of
superposition. Gauss's law and applications. Electric potential and
the curl-free nature of the electric field. Energy in the
electrostatic field. Boundary conditions. The electric dipole.
Magnetostatics in vacuum (chapter 5). The Lorentz force and Biot-Savart law. Ampere's law
and magnetic fields of current configurations. Magnetic
energy.
Electric fields in conductors (chapter 3). Techniques for
solving electrostatic problems: the uniqueness theorem, method of
images, separation of variables.
Electric fields in matter (chapter 4). Dielectrics. Polarization and bound
charge. Boundary conditions for the displacement
field. Capacitors.
Magnetic fields in matter (chapter 6). Magnetization, dia- and
paramagnetism. Boundary conditions for magnetic fields.
Electromagnetic induction and its applications/manifestations (chapter 7). Electromotive force. Faraday's and Lenz's
laws. The displacement current and Maxwell's equations.
Evaluation:
Problem sets 20%, term paper 20%, and either (1) midterm 20%, final exam 40%, or (2) final exam 60%, whichever gives you the best grade. More information on the term paper can be found here. The midterm will be held in class on October 26th.
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McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (more information).