Daniel D. Sega, PhD.

Daniel D. Sega, PhD.

Warped disks and planetary rings / Philosophy of physics / Latin American philosophy

PHY2049C (Fall 2025)

Undergraduate course, Florida State University, 2025

Physics Studio B

  • Instructor: Prof. Daniel D. Sega (email)
  • Instructor’s Office: 2nd Floor, Faculty Wing
  • Course Times: Spring 2025, Mon./Wed. 9:30-12:00m /Fri. 1 - 3:30pm,
  • Location: Room 309
  • Office Hours: Faculty Wing or Room 309: Mon./Tue./Wed./Thu./Fri. 12:20pm-12:50pm
  • Syllabus: See the most up-to-date version.

Summary

In this course, engineering and science majors will learn about the electromagnetic phenomena and the motion under electromagnetic fields. They will learn the basics of electronics (circuits) and of how day-to-day electromechanic technology works. They will also learn about the nature of a classical fields and the mathematics behind working with fields.

There’s a lot more information about this course – including details about the textbook, who should/shouldn’t take this class, and how your grade is calculated – in the syllabus.

Course Material

The primary “required readings” are in the OpenStax book University Physics 2. To set-up an extra credit tutorial studemnts must fill this excel sheet

Here are some additional resources:

  • An excellent, more abridged e-book for this course is available through the FSU Library Fundamental of Physics II. Give it a try if the OpenStax book treatment of a topic does not click with you. Ramamurti Shankar writes in a very particular voice that can help some students.
  • This book is based on R. Shankar’s Open Course (Yale University), which is available online. These lectures were, and still are, a helpful resource for me.
  • The phone app phyphox will be required in some of the labs, download here.

Schedule

Below is a detailed schedule that will list the material covered in each class session, links to electronic copies of any handouts and problem sets, and various course deadlines.

  • Mon., August 25: Electrostatics (Chp. 5)

    Handout: syllabus Homework 1 (Chp. 5-Electrostatics) assigned, due Mon., September 8.
  • Wed., August 27: Electrostatics (Chp. 5)
  • Fri., August 29: Problem-solving session | Electrostatics (Chp. 5)
  • Mon., Septemper 1: The Electric Field (Chp. 5)
  • Wed., September 3: Quiz Chp. 5 (Coulomb Force) (Practice)
  • Fri., September 5: Gauss’s Law (Chp. 6) | Problem-solving session | The Electric Field (Chp. 5)

  • Mon., September 8: Gauss’s Law (Chp. 6) | Problem-solving session | The Electric Field (Chp. 5)

    Homework 1 due. Homework 2 (Chp. 6 ) assigned, due Mon., September 22.
  • Wed., September 10: Quiz Chp. 5 (Electric field) (Practice)

  • Fri., September 12: Gauss’s Law (Chp. 6)

    Lab 1: Electrostatic Generator
  • Mon., September 15: Gauss’s Law (Chp. 6)
  • Wed., September 17: Problem-solving session | Gauss’s Law (Chp. 6)
  • Fri., September 19: The Electric Potential (Chp. 7)

  • Mon., September 22: Quiz Chp. 6 (Practice)

    Homework 2 due. Extra credit reading: The Principle of Sufficient Reason: Origin of Symmetry Arguments

  • Wed., September 24: Problem-solving session | The Electric Potential (Chp. 7).

    Homework 3 (Chp. 7) assigned, due Mon., October 13.

  • Fri., September 26: The Electric Potential (Chp. 7)

    Lab 2: Introduction to the Multimeter
  • Mon., September 29: Quiz Chp. 7 (Practice)
  • Wed., October 1: Capacitance (Chp. 8)
  • Fri., October 3: Currents and Resistance (Chp. 9)
  • Mon., October 6: Problem-solving session | Currents and Resistance and Capacitance (Chp. 8)

  • Wed., October 8: Currents and Resistance (Chp. 9)

    Lab 3: Introduction to osciloscopes
  • Fri., October 10: Quiz Chp. 8 & 9 (Practice)

  • Mon., October 13: Circuits I (Chp. 10)

    Homework 3 due Homework 4 (Ch 9) assigned, due Fri., October 27.
  • Wed., October 15: Problem-solving session | Circuits I (Chp. 10)

  • Fri., October 17: Problem-solving session | Circuits I (Ch. 10)

    Extra credit reading: Action at a Distance due Fri. October 31.
  • Mon., October 20: Quiz Chp. 10 (Practice –> Solved)
  • Wed., October 22: Magnetism I (Ch. 11)

  • Fri., October 24: Magnetism I (Ch. 11)

    Lab 4: Circuits I

  • Mon., October 27: Magnetism I (Ch. 11)

    Homework 4 due.
  • Wed., October 29: Magnetism I (Ch. 12)

  • Fri., October 31: Problem-Solving Session | Magnetism I & II (Ch. 11 & Ch. 12)

    Homework 5 (Chp. 10, 11) assigned, due Fri., November 17.
  • Mon., November 3: No Classes
  • Wed., November 5: No Classes
  • Fri., November 7: Faraday and Lenz (Ch. 13 & 14)
  • Mon., November 10: No Classes
  • Wed., November 12: Quiz Chp. 11 & 12 (Practice –> Solved)

  • Fri., November 14: Faraday and Lenz (Ch. 13 & 14)

    Lab 5, day 1: CRTs

  • Mon., November 17: Inductance (Ch. 14)

    Homework 5 due Homework 6 (Ch 11-14) assigned, due Fri., November 25.
  • Wed., November 19: Circuits II (Ch. 15)

  • Fri., November 21: Circuits II (Ch. 15)

    Lab 6, day 1: Solenoids and Inductors

  • Mon., November 24: Circuits II (Ch. 15)

    Lab 6, day 2: Solenoids and Inductors Extra credit reading: The Coordination Problem
  • Wed., November 26: Problem-Solving Session | Circuits II (Ch. 15) (Ch. 15)
  • Fri., November 28: No Clases

  • Mon., December 1: Circuits II (Ch. 15)

    Lab 7, day 1: Circuits III

  • Wed., December 3: Circuits II (Ch. 15)

    Lab 7, day 2: Circuits III

  • Fri., December 5: Quiz Chp. 13, 14 & 15 (Practice –> Solved)

    Homework 6 due.

[Final Exam Week: Wednesday December 10. (Practice)]