OVERVIEW

The Physics 1 course deals with the fundamental laws of mechanics and hydromechanics, essential for understanding any scientific and technological application the student will deal with during his training.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Understand basic physical fundamentals and the key vocabulary to describe them: kinematics, dynamics, work and energy, rotations, fluids. Develop skills in observation, interpretation, reasoning, synthesis, generalizing, predicting, and questioning as a way to learn new knowledge. Develop scientific problem solving skills, including organization of given information, identification and application of pertinent principles, quantitative solutions, interpreting results, and evaluating the validity of results. Apply conceptual understanding of the physics to general real-world situations, and recognize how and when physics methods and principles can help address problems in their future courses and then apply those methods and principles to solve new problems.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Attendance and active participation in the proposed educational activities (lectures and exercises) and individual study will allow the student to:

- acquire the ability to describe and analyze the basic concepts concerning measurement of physical quantities

- understand and apply the fundamental laws of Kinematics

- understand and apply the fundamental laws of Dynamics to a variety of common situations

- understand, describe and apply the basic concepts of Kinetic and Potential Energy, Work and Power

- extend the fundamental laws of Kinetics and Dynamics to Rotation

- understand and apply the concepts of Equilibrium and Elasticity

- acquire the ability to describe and analyze the basic concepts regarding Fluid Satics and Dynamics

- understand Harmonic Motion and its applications

The student will be encouraged to understand the advantages and limitations connected to the use of schematics and models, employ scientific language and formalism correctly, recognize the applicability of schematizations and models in real-life situations, set and solve exercises and problems within the proposed contents and critically evaluate the results.

Teaching methods

Teaching is divided into lectures conducted by the teacher in which the theory will be exposed, which will be applied to different examples and through the resolution of exercises. In his personal work the student will have to acquire the knowledge and concepts underlying mechanics and hydromechanics and be able to solve exercises.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Measurement

Physical quantities, Standards, and Units, Precision and Significant Figures, Dimensional Analysis

Motion in one Dimension

Position, Displacement and Average Velocity, Instantaneous Velocity and Speed, Acceleration, Constant Acceleration, Free-fall Acceleration

Vectors

Vectors and their Components, Unit Vectors, Adding Vectors by Components, Multiplying Vectors

Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Position and Displacement, Average Velocity and Instantaneous Velocity, Average Acceleration and Instantaneous Velocity, Projectile Motion, Uniform Circular Motion, Relative Motion in One Dimension, Relative Motion in Two Dimensions

Force and Motion

Newton’s First and Second Laws, Some Particular Forces, Applying Newton’s Laws, Frictional Forces, The Drag Force and Terminal Speed, The Dynamics of Uniform Circular Motion

Kinetic Energy and Work

Kinetic Energy, Work and Kinetic Energy: Energy Theorem, Work Done by a Constant Force, Work Done by a Variable Force, Power

Potential Energy and Conservation of Energy

Potential Energy, Conservation of Mechanical Energy, Work Done on a System by an External Force, Conservation of Energy

Center of Mass and Linear Momentum

Center of Mass, Newton’s Second Law for a System of Particles, Linear Momentum, Collision and Impulse, Conservation of Linear Momentum, Momentum and Kinetic Energy in Collisions, Elastic Collisions in One Dimension, Collisions in Two Dimensions, Systems with Varying Mass

Rotation

Rotational Variables, Rotation with Constant Angular Acceleration, Relating the Linear and Angular Variables, Kinetic Energy of Rotation, Calculating the Rotational Inertia, Torque, Newton’s Second Law for Rotation, Work and Rotational Kinetic Energy

Rolling, Torque, and Angular Momentum

Rolling as Translation and Rotation Combined, The Kinetic Energy of Rolling, The Forces of Rolling, Angular Momentum, Newton’s Second Law in Angular Form, The Angular Momentum of a System of Particles, The Angular Momentum of a Rigid Body Rotating About a Fixed Axis, Conservation of Angular Momentum, Precession of a Gyroscope

Equilibrium and Elasticity

Equilibrium, The Center of Gravity, Some Examples of Static Equilibrium, Elasticity

Fluid Statics

Fluids and Solids, Density and Pressure, Measurement of Pressure, Variations of Pressure in a Fluid at Rest, Pascal’s Principle and Archimedes’ Principle

Fluid Dynamics

General Concepts of Fluid Flow, Streamlines and the Equation of Continuity, Bernoulli’s Equation, Fields of Flow, Viscosity, Turbulence, and Chaotic Flow

Oscillations

Simple Harmonic Motion, The Force Law for Simple Harmonic Motion, Energy in Simple Harmonic Motion, An Angular Simple Harmonic Oscillator, Pendulums, Simple Harmonic Motion and Uniform Circular Motion, Damped Simple Harmonic Motion, Forced Oscillations and Resonance

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Various texts cover the course material, some are listed below:

D. Halliday, R. Resnick, J. Walker, Fondamenti di Fisica, John Wiley & Sons

D. Halliday, R. Resnick, K. S. Krane, Fisica 1, John Wiley & Sons

Exam Board

DAVIDE FRANCESCO RICCI (President)

LORENZO PAPA

EUGENIA TORELLO (President Substitute)

Teaching methods

Teaching is divided into lectures conducted by the teacher in which the theory will be exposed, which will be applied to different examples and through the resolution of exercises. In his personal work the student will have to acquire the knowledge and concepts underlying mechanics and hydromechanics and be able to solve exercises.

Exam description

Written and oral exams. 

Assessment methods

Written exam

Admission to the oral part of the exam only if the mark of the written exam is  ≥ 16/30

Available only on official dates.

The student is allowed to repeat the complete test but the previous result will then be cancelled

As an alternative to the written examination at the end of the semester, two partial tests will be carried out in the middle and at the end of the semester: the grade for the first test must be ≥ 12/30 to allow access to the second partial test, otherwise the student will pass directly to take the full written examination at the end of the semester. To take the oral exam, the average score for the two tests must be ≥ 16/30

Oral examination

Those who take the oral examination having passed the two intermediate written tests will be able to propose to the committee the topic of the first oral question

Exam schedule