| Week of | Tuesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 0 Sept. 19 | Review of classical physics (Ch. 1 textbook) |
Classical relativity, Michelson-Morley experiment
(sects. 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 in textbook) | |
| Week 1 Sept. 26 | Special relativity postulates; time dilation, length contraction (sect. 2.4) | Simultaneity, Lorentz transformations, velocity addition, examples (2.5, 2.6) | Relativistic momentum, kinetic energy, total and rest energy (2.7, 2.8) |
| Week 2 Oct. 3 |
Momentum and energy conservation fission, fusion (2.8, 2.9, 13.4, 13.5) |
Review of relativity | Quiz 1 |
| Week 3 Oct. 10 | Interference and diffraction; photoelectric effect (3.1, 3.2) | Thermal radiation, classical and quantum (3.3) | Compton effect; other photon processes (3.4, 3.5, 3.6) |
| Week 4 Oct. 17 | Particles or waves; de Broglie waves (4.1, 4.2) | Uncertainty relations, Heisenberg (4.3, 4.4) | Quiz 2 |
| Week 5 Oct. 24 | Wave packets (4.5, 4.6) | Probability interpretation of quantum waves (4.7, 5.3) | Schrodinger equation; free particle solution; infinite well (5.3, 5.4) |
| Week 6 Oct. 31 | Finite well; 2D well; harmonic oscillator (5.4, 5.5) | Steps and barriers; tunneling (5.6) | Quiz 3 |
| Week 7 Nov. 7 | Atoms, Thomson model, Rutherford experiment, atomic spectra (6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4) | Bohr model of the atom ( 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8) | Veterans Day Holiday |
| Week 8 Nov. 14 | Hydrogen atom (7.1, 7.2) | Hydrogen atom (7.3, 7.4, 7.5) | Quiz 4 |
| Week 9 Nov. 21 | Electron spin, Zeeman effect (7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.9) | Thanksgiving holiday | Thanksgiving holiday |
| Week 10 Nov. 28 | Many-electron atoms; periodic table (8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5) | Molecules, covalent bond (9.1, 9.2); Course review | Quiz 5 |