- Course Code
- PX 1511
- Credit Points
- 20
- Course Coordinator
- Dr J S Reid
Pre-requisites
SCE H in Maths and Physics, or equivalent.
Overview
This course enables students to learn more about the physical universe and the physical laws that explain its behaviour. The three topics covered are astronomy, the fundamentals of electricity and magnetism and generic computing skills. The astronomy section of the course, shared with PX1512, begins by showing how long held beliefs about the nature of the universe came to be changed in response to improved observation of the heavens. The revolution in our appreciation of the solar system through observations sent back by space probes over the past 30 years forms a substantial part of the lectures. The power of science in action can be seen to the full in the far reaching deductions that can be made about stars from modest observational evidence. The course discusses topics current in astronomy, such as planned space missions, the formation of planets around other stars and the origin of the Moon. The lectures on electricity and magnetism aim to clarify the tricky concepts and laws that are at the foundations of this subject. They illustrate how these ideas are made use of in applications of electricity that we now take for granted, such as the capacitative storage of electrical energy and the radiation generated by mobile phones.
Structure
12 week course - 7 one-hour lectures and 1 tutorial per fortnight and 4 two-hour practical computing sessions.
Assessment
1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and in-course assessment (25%). A pass in this course requires a score of CAS 9 or higher in the in-course assessment. Resit: Same.