PHYSICS

The course is part of the track "Science" of the Foundation Year, a year-long propaedeutic programme that aims to provide students with the necessary requirements for enrolment at an Italian University. It bridges the gap for those students who do not have the number of years of schooling, or those students who do not have the exams or levels required for the enrolment.

Students at the end of the course will be able to
-to know and understand the basic theories developed in the study of classical mechanics, waves, electromagnetism and thermodynamics;
-to solve exercises on the previous topics, without the help of calculus.

All the topics studied in the course Mathematics during the first semester.

Introduction: measures and uncertainty. The International System of units.
Mechanics: One dimensional kinematics. Position, velocity, acceleration. Uniform linear motion. Motion at constant acceleration. Two dimensional kinematics. Vectors. Projectile motion. Pendulum motion. Uniform circular motion. Newton's laws of motion. Mass and weight. Elastic force. Friction. Work and energy. Kinetic energy. Conservatice forces and potential energy. Conservation of energy. Dissipative forces. Linear momentum and collisions. Elastic and inelastic collisions in one dimension. Center of amss.
Waves and oscillations: Simple harmonic motion. Energy in SHM. Waves. Transverse and longitudinal waves. Energy transported by waves. Sound. Propagation. Intensity. Echo. Resonance. Interference. Standing waves. Light. Propagation. Reflection. Refraction. Dispersion. Speed of light. Frequency and wavelength.
Electromagnetism: Static electricity. Electric charges. Insulators and conductors. Coulomb's law. The electric field. Gauss' law. Electric potential energy. Electric potential. Capacitors and capacity. Electric current. Ohm's law. Resistance and resistivity. Magnetism. Magnets. Magnetic dipoles. The magnetic field. The Earth's magnetic field. Force on a moving charge and on a current carrying wire. Magnetic field produced by a current carrying wire and a solenoid. Force between two current carrying wires. Electromagnetic induction.

On line text available at the link: https://openstax.org/details/books/college-physics .

The final grade will be based on mid-term evaluations, and a final exam. The student’s final grade will consider participation, mid-term evaluations and the final exam, distributed as follows.
a) Participation and attendance: 10%
b) Mid-term evaluations: 70%
c) Final exam: 20%
Both mid-term evaluations and the final exam have a written part with the resolution of exercises and on oral part.

The teaching methods are greatly influenced by the need to take the course online and not face-to-face. Great importance will be given to the guided solution of exercises in order to encourage participation by the students.

English

written and oral