Oscillations and Waves

PHY255F -- 2007

What's new?

What is Oscillations and Waves?

Background:
A core physics course for the Major and Specialist Programmes.

Prerequisites:
PHY 138Y/140Y

Recommended:
MAT 244H recommended

Co-requisites:
MAT 235Y/237Y/257Y (MAT244H recommended)

Topics:
Oscillations and Waves; complex notation; free, damped and forced harmonic oscillations; resonance; AC circuits; coupled oscillators; normal modes; travelling waves; simple harmonic wave; wave equation; wave impedance; transverse and longitudinal waves; flow of energy in waves; reflection and transmission at interfaces; group and phase velocity; Fourier series and Fourier transforms.

This is one of the really universal and important courses in your undergraduate education. Quantum mechanics, thermal physics, condensed-matter physics, optics, geophysics, biophysics -- all of these depend on principles and methods you'll learn in this course!

Lecturer

• Prof. Robin Marjoribanks
• marj att physics.utoronto.ca
• Office: MP1104C
• office hours: Wednesdays 4-5 pm; usually in MPP1115 (please plan to use these hours as much as you can, rather than emailing during the week)

Basic information -- see also course handout

• Textbook (strongly recommended):

The Physics of Vibrations and Waves by H.J. Pain (Wiley), 6th Edition.

(This is a book to keep; it will teach all the material of our course, but stay a good reference for future courses)

• Other reference material is described in the course handout

A.P. French, vibrations and Waves (Norton).

(This is a book to learn from; it introduces the subject at a simple and clear level, carefully leaving out all the details (and physics) that may only confuse a beginner. The moment you find the course difficult or confusing, I recommend you find a second-hand copy of French and start with it and compare to Pain).

• Lectures

W, F 10am, MP202 (McLennan Physical Laboratories)

 

• Tutorials

T0101: M 10am, MP134

T0201: T 10 am, MP137

• Tutor

Jean-Sébastien Bernier

jeansebastien.bernier "at" utoronto.ca

The course text and several other useful texts are on reserve in the Physics Library, and at Gerstein.

Physics Department Drop-In Centre schedule

http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/undergraduate/index.html

Some Past Years' Tests

2003 Midterm and solutions: 2003 Midterm Solutions

PASU link

2001 Final Exam

2003 Final Exam

Remember: for the final exam you are permitted a two-sided aid sheet, terms as discussed in lecture. Up to 8.5" x 11". Must be hand-prepared, without artifical reduction or aids in reading it.

Problem Sets (put into your TA's box at basement level, under stairs by elevators, before 5pm) & Midterm Dates

(These dated links may not function until material has been posted)

PS#1 - due Wednesday 3 October; Solutions for PS#1

PS#2 - due Wednesday 17 October; Solutions for PS#2

PS#3 - due Friday 9 November; Solutions for PS#3

Midterm Test: Friday 26 October 2007, 5pm­7pm (special hours for a few registered people having lecture conflicts) (One-sided 8.5" x 11" hand-prepared aid-sheet allowed, without artifical reduction or aids in reading it.); MT marking

PS#4 - due Friday 23 November; Solutions for PS#4

PS#5 - due Friday 7 December Solutions for PS#5

(Faculty rules require ALL term-work handed in by last day of term.)

Final Exam: Two-sided 8.5" x 11" hand-prepared aid-sheet allowed, without artifical reductio(Faculty rules require ALL term-work handed in by last day of term.)

New Postings:

For the final exam you are permitted a two-sided aid sheet, terms as discussed in lecture. Up to 8.5" x 11". Must be hand-prepared, without artifical reduction or aids in reading it.

Lecture Notes

 

Lecture 0

Lecture 1

Lecture 2

Lecture 3 (recap from Lecture 2, plus oscilloscope demo)

Lecture 4

Lecture 5

Lecture 6

Lecture 7

Lecture 8

Lecture 9

Lecture 10

Lecture 11

Lecture 12

Lecture 13

Lecture 14

Lecture 15

Lecture 16

Lecture 17 (same notes as Lect. 16)

Lecture 18 (lecture cancelled)

Lecture 19 (Prof. Thywissen's notes)

Lecture 20 (blackboard lecture: travelling waves, characteristic impedance)

Lecture 21 (blackboard lecture, reflection and transmisison at a boundary, impedance matching)

Lecture 22 (blackboard lecture, longitudinal waves (e.g., air); Reuben's Tube demo; evals)

Lecture 23 (blackboard lecture, Reuben's Tube demo; impedance matching; Fourier analysis)

Lecture 24 (blackboard lecture: energy in a normal mode of string, plus phase and group velocity)

Lecture 25 (blackboard lecture: Doppler Effect; Fourier analysis; course covers up to "Fourier Integral" in the middle of p. 283)

Extra material: links, illustrations and comments

now pretty much folded into the lecture note material above

Course covers up to "Fourier Integral" in the middle of p. 283

Typos and errors in the Pain textbook (from Fred Nastos's page)

• Problem 1.4 Besides "hydrogen" being mispelled, there are more serious errors. Although the text says force per unit length, the dimensions of the formula are obviously those of force. The frequency they are asking you to find should be on the order of 1016 not 10-16 rad/s (note that 1016 s = a very very long time).
• Problem 1.17 The index notation "j not equal to i" should be on the second sum, not on the first where it is nonsensical. The same formula also occurs in the text on page 24.
• Problem 1.9 10-2 m, not 10-2

If you find others, please tell me.

Collection of some student questions, and answers

Q: Do you have any questions from students, by email, to post here yet?

A: No... would you like to be the first?

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Last revised: 6 December 2007 -- rsm