This course will provides the fundamentals of electrostatics, magnetostatics, electromagnetic induction, and electromagnetic waves.
The concepts of electromagnetism is essential to study earth and planetary sciences. The aim of this course is to understand various electromagnetic phenomena using Maxwell's Equations.
Upon completion, students will be able to
1) explain the physical meaning of the equations for electromagnetic fields written in differential forms
2) derive the distribution of electric and magnetic fields under given distributions of the charge and electric current.
3) explain the concepts of macroscopic electromagnetics and apply them to specific problems
4) calculate the propagation and of electromagnetic waves using Maxwell's equations
electric field, electrostatic potential, Gauss's law, Poisson's equation, electric dipole, dielectrics, magnetic field, vector potential, Ampere's law, magnetic dipole, magnetism, electromagnetic induction, displacement current, electromagnetic energy, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic wave
✔ Specialist skills | Intercultural skills | Communication skills | Critical thinking skills | ✔ Practical and/or problem-solving skills |
Each class will begin with a lecture, followed by exercises.
Course schedule | Required learning | |
---|---|---|
Class 1 | Mathematical methods for electromagnetism (vector calculus etc.) | Understand the divergence and rotation of a vector field, and conservation laws in differential forms |
Class 2 | Electrostatics (1): basic equations | Understand the concepts of electric field and electrostatic potential, and Gauss's law |
Class 3 | Electrostatics (2): electric dipole, electrostatic energy | Understand the electrostatic energy of a collection of charged particles. |
Class 4 | Electrostatics (3): dielectrics | Understand the concepts of polarization and dielectricity |
Class 5 | Electrostatics (4): electric fields inside dielectrics | Understand how to calculate electric fields inside dielectric materials |
Class 6 | Magnetostatics (1): basic equations | Understand the concepts of magnetic field, Ampere's law, and vector potential |
Class 7 | Magnetostatics (2): magnetic dipole, Lorentz force | Understand the correspondence between a magnetic dipole and a closed current |
Class 8 | Magnetostatics (3): magnetism | Understand the concepts of magnetization, permeability, and magnetic fields inside a magnet |
Class 9 | Time-varying electromagnetic fields (1): electromagnetic induction | Understand the concepts of electromagnetic induction and Faraday's law |
Class 10 | Time-varying electromagnetic fields (2): displacement current | Understand displacement current and Maxwell-Ampere's equation |
Class 11 | Time-varying electromagnetic fields (3): electromagnetic energy | Understand Poynting's vector and electromagnetic energy densities |
Class 12 | Electromagnetic waves (1): wave equations | Understand how electromagnetic waves are derived from Maxwell's equations |
Class 13 | Electromagnetic waves (2): propagation and radiation in vacuum | Understand plane waves, spherical waves, and electromagnetic potentials |
Class 14 | Electromagnetic waves (3): propagation in matter | Understand the propagation, reflection, and transmission of electromagnetic waves in matter |
Class 15 | Review | Review this course |
Will be introduced in the first class.
Richard Feynman, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. 2, ISBN 0-8053-9045-6
Students will be evaluated based on weekly quizzes and the final exam.
Students are assumed to have completed Fundamentals of Electromagnetism 1 and 2, and Mathematics for Physics A (EPS course).