General Physics

Birla Institute Of Technology And Science–Pilani (BITS–Pilani) via Coursera

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Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Effort

2 days 3 minutes
Sessions

Self-Paced
Level

Beginner
Subtitles

English

Found in

Overview

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Build a comprehensive foundation in fundamental physics principles that govern the natural world. This course provides essential expertise in classical mechanics, thermodynamics, and optics, offering practical frameworks to analyze and explain diverse physical phenomena through quantitative approaches. Learn to apply Newton's laws to complex scenarios, understand energy and momentum principles, and explore wave mechanics through simple harmonic motion. Master the first and second laws of thermodynamics with real-world applications, from microscopic atomic systems to massive engines. Discover optical phenomena including interference, diffraction, and polarization of electromagnetic waves. Whether you're pursuing engineering, physical sciences, or technical careers requiring analytical problem-solving, this course equips you with the fundamental physics knowledge used by scientists and engineers to understand, predict, and optimize physical systems across all scales of nature.

Syllabus

Newton’s Laws of Motion and their Applications

In this module, you will learn the concept of force in physics and why forces are vectors. From Newton’s laws of motion, you will understand the concept of an inertial frame of reference and the relation between the acceleration of a system and the net force applied to it.

Conservation Principles: Energy and Momentum

In this module, you will learn the principle of work done by a force and how it affects the energy contained in a body. You will also learn the implications of the conservation of momentum in real and simple real-life scenarios.

Simple and Damped Harmonic Motion

Physical systems describing periodic motion are possibly the simplest and most precise way to start exploring more complex phenomena in nature. In this module, you will learn the basic dynamics of a single degree of freedom performing a periodic motion. You will also learn how a simple damping effect can make the system more realistic.

First Law of Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is about how everyday systems such as engines and refrigerators to microscopic systems of atoms work through energy transfer. In this module, you will gain a thorough understanding of how to quantify the transfer of heat and work into or out of such systems. This module will further help you develop a fundamental understanding of the basics of thermodynamics.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

The second law of thermodynamics is a universal law that could be observed in the tiniest particles to massive black holes. In this module, you will state and understand the second law of thermodynamics. The module will also discuss the concept of entropy change and its relevance to the second law of thermodynamics.

Fundamentals of Wave Propagation

In this module, the fundamentals of wave propagation will be discussed. The module will highlight different kinds of waves, their properties, and the effect of the medium on wave propagation. The exchange of energy when two waves superimpose with each other and the nature of the resulting waveform will be dealt qualitatively and quantitatively. You will also learn how to reconstruct any waveform by superposition of normal modes (Fourier theorem).

Wave Optics: Electromagnetic Waves

This module deals with a detailed overview of light as an electromagnetic wave. The module will briefly discuss the interesting conundrum of wave–particle duality and the experiments that illustrate this phenomenon. The module will also give you a brief overview of how the transverse nature of the wave leads to interesting physical phenomena and the manner in which the energy of the electromagnetic wave gets redistributed as it propagates in different media.

Wave Optics: Interference

In this module, you will be introduced to the superposition of waves. The module will also describe how the interference pattern caused by the superposition of coherent waves gives rise to different optical patterns. The conditions for bright and dark fringes due to the interference effect will be discussed in detail. Experiments such as Newton’s ring will be used to illustrate the significance of path difference and phase difference in giving rise to interference patterns.

Wave Optics: Diffraction

In this module, you will be introduced to the bending of light around the edges of an obstacle. The module will discuss the superposition of waves undergoing diffraction in detail. The module will further show experiments that produce diffraction patterns and highlight the expression for bright and dark fringes. It also illustrates how the diffraction effects are extensively used to study the structure of materials, which helps in predicting the properties.

Wave Optics: Polarization

In this module, you will study the transverse nature of light using the concept of electric field polarization. The module will dive deep into the changes that an electric field component of electromagnetic waves undergoes after reflection and refraction. The module will further discuss the investigation of polarization effects using polarizers and analyzers.