Experimental Physics III
Electromagnetic Waves, Optics and Modern Physics

Sections 0101  


Instructor: Robert W. Gammon
                        Room 1100, IPST Building
                        5-4791
                        rgammon at umd.edu

                        Office Hours: Tues. 3-4 PM

Teaching Assistants:     Jared Evans
Teaching Labs Coordinators: Mr. Allen R. Monroe
Mr. Tom Baldwin

    Required and recommended books:

    The required text is Hecht, OPTICS, 4th Edition and recommended is Taylor, INTRO. TO ERROR ANALYSIS and/or Bevington, DATA REDUCTION + ERROR ANAL. FOR PHYS. SCI.   Both Taylor and Bevington can be any edition.  In addition you will need (ultimately) two lab notebooks, so that you have one to work in while the other is graded. Purchase the quad-ruled coop-style notebooks (brown covers) but avoid those with carbon paper. The Book Exchange and campus bookstore usually stocks these (though you may have to ask for help to find them) but Staples has them cheaper.

    Syllabus 

    List of Experiments 

    Schedule Wed. Section (0101)  

    Guidelines for Written Lab Reports  

    Notes on Error Analysis 

    Helpful Notes on Mathematica

    University of St. Andrews (Scotland), PSST program that does ray diagrams


Homework Assignments
 Homework #1   Due 2/7 - Hecht 2.18, 2.40, 2.44, 3.4, 3.13, 3.23
 Homework #2   Due 2/14 - Hecht 4.9, 4.11, 4.35, 4.46, 4.48, 4.57
 Homework #3   Due 2/28 - Hecht 5.10, 5.14, 5.33, 5.40, 5.62, 5.84
 Homework #4   Due 3/14 - Hecht 8.12, 8.16, 8.29, 8.43, 8.72
 Homework #5   Due 4/4 - Hecht 7.35, 7.44 (see soln. to 7.39), 9.3, 9.17, 9.36, 9.43
 Homework #6   Due 4/18  - Hecht 10.7, 10.8, 10.11, 10.13, 10.28, 10.33

Homework Solutions:
HW1
HW2
HW3

HW4
HW5
HW6

Reading Guidance:

by 31-Jan    Hecht 13.1.3, pp. 589-597
by 7-Feb    For Homework problems,  read/review Hecht Chap 2 Wave Motion and read Hecht
                 3.2-3.3.3.   For Lab 1, read Hecht 4.3 Reflection (note picture in upper right of p. 100),
                 4.4, 4.4.1 Refraction.
by 14-Feb  For homework and lecture, read Hecht 4.6 Electromagnetic Approach (i.e.
                 Electromagnetic waves): 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.6.3, 4.7 Total Internal Reflection, 4.7.1, and 4.10
                 on the Stokes treatment of reflection/transmission.
by 21-Feb For lecture and lab, read Hecht 5.1, 5.2, 5.2.2.2 (focus position derived by Fermat's
                 Principle.  Prob. 5.5  describes the conventional ray tracing derivation of Eq. (5.8)),
                 5.2.3 Thin Lens Equation, 5.4, 5.4.1, 5.4.3,  5.7 Optical System Introduction, 5.7.3,
                 5.7.4, 5.7.5, 5.7.7.
by 28-Feb For lecture and lab, read Hecht 5.7.1 The Eye through accomodation, 5.7.6 The
                 Camera.
by 7-Mar  For homework, lecture and lab, read Hecht 8.1, 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 8.1.3,8.1.4, 8.2, 8.2.1,
                 8.3.3, 8.5.1, 8.6, 8.6.1, {8.13.2, 8.13.3, and Table 8.5 on p. 375, on Jones vectors and
                 Jones matrices}.
by 28-Mar For homework, lecture and lab, read/review: Hecht 7, 7.1, 7.1.1-7.1.4, read Hecht: 7.3
                 all, 7.4 all, 9.4,  9.4.1.  Particularly for Lab4: read Hecht: 9 intro., 9.1, 9.4.2.
by 11-April For homework, lecture and lab, read/review Hecht {10.1, 10.1.1, 10.1.2, 10.1.3} is
                 background, {10.2, 10.2.1, 10.2.2, 10.2.3, 10.2.4 are the things you will measure in the
                 lab,  {10.2.5, 10.2.6} gives background on resolution of microscope/telescope limited by
                 diffraction.
by 18-April For homework, lecture and lab, read/review Hecht 11 on Fourier Optics - a powerful
                way to look at diffraction problems, 11.1, 11.2, 11.2.2, 11.3.3 through 3 slits.
by 25-April For lecture and lab, read/review Hecht 10.2.8 on diffraction gratings and 3.4.4 on
                atomic emissions of light.


Questions, comments or suggestions can be sent to rgammon at umd.edu

CMPS  Department of Physics  University of Maryland

Last update 02/22/08 02:42 PM