PHYS 322 A: Electromagnetism

Welcome to Physics 322 — the second Electromagnetism course in the series. You will learn more on about magnetostatics, Maxwell's equations and propagation of waves. While challenging and demanding, hope this will be an exciting, entertaining and illuminating experience for you!

Focus of Physics 322

This course provides a deeper look into the theory of electricity and magnetism. We shall study:

• magnetostatics
• magnetic fields in matter
• Maxwell's equations
• electromagnetic waves

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course you will be able to:

• Understand the implications of Ampère's and Biot-Savart's laws
• Understand the nature of the vector potential
• Understand the behaviour of magnetic fields in medium
• Be perfectly familiar with Maxwell's equations
• Know the nature of momentum and angular moment in Electrodynamics
• Understand the details of propagation of electromagnetic waves

Required Course Materials

Textbook

D.Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics, 3rd Ed., Prentice Hall — this is the main course textbook.

J.D.Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, 3rd Ed., Wiley — this book is considered a standard textbook on electrodynamics, and highly recommended to be consulted for additional clarity

L.D.Landau, E.M.Lifshitz, Classical Theory of Fields, 4th Ed., Butterworth-Heinemann — still modern and encyclopaedic resource which includes thorough treatment on electrodynamics. It is an upper-level book, but challenging yourself with it will only work in your favour

J.C.Maxwell, A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, volumes 1 and 2, 4th Ed., Dover — this work marks the official beginning of the theory of electromagnetism, and is very enchanting in both educational and historical perspectives

Administrative Information

Help: if you have a physics question and cannot attend office hours, email me or drop by to set an appointment. If you have a personal question, feel free to email me

Lectures

Students are responsible for all material covered in lectures. Please ask questions in class (highly encouraged), or drop by for office hours, or email your question (that might be more difficult to do, so use that as the last resort in special circumstances). Do every attempt to ask a question in person

Read the necessary chapter contents before the corresponding lecture. This will make attending a lecture a more complete experience and make it easier to follow the class material

Lecture notes:

• All lecture notes

Homework

• Homework will be assigned each week
• Assignments will be collected on paper
• Lowest homework score will be dropped
• If you earn 90% of the total possible points at the end of the quarter, you will get a full credit
• Experience shows that students who spend time on homework problems get better scores on exams

Examinations

There will be one mid-term test and a final examination. Formula sheets will be supplied with the test. You will want some spare paper. Smartphones have to be left at the front of the class.

The final examination grade will replace the mid-term grade if it turns out to be higher.

The final examination is on the final day of the class.

Mid-term sample problems and their solutions and the formula sheet

Final test sample problems and the formula sheet

Tutorial Sessions

Tutorial Sessions are mandatory and are carried out by the TAs. They involve a lot of practice work mostly dedicated to the conceptual understanding of the material. Please familiarize yourself with the description of tutorials. 

Grading Policy

• Homework is 25%
• the mid-term is 25%
• the final exam is 25%
• Attendance is 5%
• Tutorials are 20%

In addition, an adjustment of up to ±5% may be applied to the final grade based on my subjective evaluation of such intangibles as attitude, preparedness, effort, class participation etc

Study Center

• Students are encouraged to gather and work cooperatively in small groups in the Physics Study Center
• The Physics Study Center is located in room AM018 of Physics and Astronomy Auditorium. To reach it, go down the stairs that circle behind the Foucault pendulum and proceed toward the end of the hall
• Teaching assistants will be available for consultation during many portions of the day if your study group needs assistance, but staffing levels will not support much individual attention. The Study Center is staffed from approximately 9:30am to 4:30pm on weekdays. A schedule of who is staffing the physics study center can be found here: Study Center Hours

Access and Accomodations

If you have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations, you can have special access and accommodations. Your experience in this class is important to me. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.  Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS.  It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is essential in this course. You are encouraged to work together and discuss homework problems but the assignments you submit should be your own work. You may not give or receive help on quizzes or exams. Consider and take note that the following is considered cheating of one or the other form:

• looking at or copying published or online solutions for homework problems
• looking at or copying solutions that have previously been turned in for credit
• copying another student's solutions to homework or examination problems
• failing to acknowledge significant resources, other than the course textbook, that you used
• failing to acknowledge significant collaboration with your classmates

In this course, you are considered to have been informed about the types of cheating and academic dishonesty, and warned that such dishonesty will not be tolerated

Time Table

Time table shows the important dates and an approximate distribution of the course material. The table is subject to changes when necessary

The schedule below shows the guidelines for reading prior to each lecture. This may shift as necessary to accommodate our rate