Ateneo - UPO

Fundamental physics

Please see http://www3.med.unipmn.it/arneodo/corso/corso_fisica.html

The course covers the basic principles of Physics, with emphasis on subjects relevant for understanding biological phenomena and biomedical instrumentation. The course also aims at teaching students how to solve simple numerical problems.

Basic high-school mathematics. Knowledge of calculus is not required.

Classes and problem sessions.

Please see http://www3.med.unipmn.it/arneodo/corso/corso_fisica.html

The exam consists of a written and an oral test. The written test consists of problems to be solved numerically. The texts (and solutions) of some of the past written tests are available at http://www3.med.unipmn.it/arneodo/corso/corso_fisica.html .

The oral test focuses on all the subjects covered in the course. Students are admitted to the oral only if they have passed the written test.

Mathematical review
Cartesian coordinates, functions and their graphical representation. Linear and logarithmic scales. Significant digits. Scientific notation. Vectors and operations with them: sum, difference, scalar and vector product.

Physics quantities and their measurement
Units. Statistical and systematic uncertainties.

Mechanics

Velocity, acceleration. Uniform straight motion. Constant-acceleration motion. Falling objects. Motion in two and three dimensions. Circular motion: angular and tangential velocity, centripetal acceleration; uniform circular motion.

Force, mass, Newton’s laws; inertial and non-inertial reference frames. Gravitational forces. Friction.

Work, kinetic and potential energy. Total mechanical energy and its conservation. Conservative forces, dissipative forces. Power. Impulse and linear momentum. Momentum conservation; collisions.

Simple harmonic motion; pendulums and springs. Elastic forces, elastic potential energy. Damped and forced oscillations; resonance.

Torque; couples. Equilibrium of rigid bodies. Levers. Centre of gravity. Stability.

Motion of the centre of mass; Newton’s law for particle systems. Motion of rigid bodies: angular speed and acceleration. Moment of inertia. Angular momentum and its conservation.

Elasticity. Stress and strain. Young’s modulus; Poisson’s ratio; shear modulus; bending; bulk modulus. Elastic limit, ultimate strength.

Fluids
Archimedes’ principle. Flow rate. Equation of continuity. Conservation of energy and Bernoulli’s equation. Viscosity; Hagen-Poiseuille’s law; flow resistance; Stokes’ law; sedimentation velocity; turbulent flow; Reynolds number.

Ideal gases; equation of state; kinetic theory. Real gases. Vapours and gases. Saturated vapour.

Diffusion, diffusion coefficient, Fick’s law. Surface tension; laws of Laplace and Jurin.

Thermodynamics
The first principle of thermodynamics. Specific heat capacity, heat capacity. Heat capacity of an ideal gas at constant pressure or constant volume. Metabolic rate. Second principle of thermodynamics; reversible and irreversible processes; entropy; thermodynamic cycles, Carnot’s cycle, efficiency.

Electricity and Magnetism
Electric charge, Coulomb’s law, electric field, electrostatic potential energy, potential; electron volt. Relation between field and potential difference. Electric dipole: field lines and behaviour in an electric field.

Conductors and insulators. Polarisation of a dielectric. Electric capacity; capacitor; effect of a dielectric. Relative dielectric constant. Energy stored in a capacitor. Capacitors in series and parallel.

Electric current. Drift velocity of the charge carriers. Electric resistance; resistivity. Ohm’s law. Resistors in series and parallel. Electrical circuits. Kirchoff’s rules. Power in electrical circuits, Joule’s law. Ohmic and non-ohmic conductors. RC circuits.

Direct and alternating current circuits.

Effects of current through the human body. Grounding.

Magnetic field. Lorentz’s force; force on a current-carrying wire. Biot-Savart law. Field generated by a wire, field generated by a circular current loop. Solenoid. Magnetic dipoles; magnetic dipole moment; behaviour of a magnetic dipole in a magnetic field. Ferromagnetic materials, permanent magnets.

Magnetic field flux. Faraday’s law. Electric generators, transformers.

Cathode-ray tube. Linac, cyclotron, synchrotron.

Nuclear magnetic resonance.

Periodic waves. Wave velocity; period and wavelength. Longitudinal and transverse waves. Fourier analysis. Electromagnetic waves and their spectrum. Antennas. Quantisation of energy in electromagnetic waves: the photon.

Generation of X rays: Bremsstrahlung and characteristic lines.

Sound Waves
Nature of sound. Intensity of sound waves. Intensity level; decibels. Doppler effect. Ultrasounds. Reflection and absorption of ultrasounds. Principles of sonography and Doppler sonography.

Geometrical Optics
Refraction index. Reflection, refraction, Snell’s law. Total internal reflection. Lenses. Lensmaker equation; thin-lens formula. Accommodation; near and far points.

Modern Physics, Nuclear Physics
The main concepts of special relativity. The main concepts of quantum mechanics. Atomic structure; transitions between atomic orbitals.

Structure of the atomic nucleus. Stable and unstable nuclei. Alpha, beta and gamma decays. Activity; law of radioactive decay. The physics principles of PET.

Understanding of basic physics and capability to solve simple numerical problems.