Daniel D. Sega, PhD.

Daniel D. Sega, PhD.

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

PHY2049C (Summer 2025)

Undergraduate course, Florida State University, 2025

Physics Studio B

  • Instructor: Prof. Daniel D. Sega (email)
  • Instructor’s Office: 1st Floor, Faculty Wing
  • Course Times: Summer 2025, Mon./Tue. 3:30-6:00pm Wed./Thu. 3:30-5:30pm,
  • Location: Room 309
  • Office Hours: Faculty Wing or Room 309: Mon./Tue./Wed./Thu./Fri. 12:20pm-1:00pm
  • Syllabus: See the most up-to-date PDF 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.

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., May 12: Electrostatics (Chp. 5)

    Handout: syllabusHomework 1 (Chp. 5) assigned, due Wed., May 21.
  • Tue., May 13: Electrostatics (Chp. 5)
  • Wed., May 14: Electrostatics (Chp. 5)
  • Thu., May 15: Problem-solving session | The Electric Field (Chp. 5)
  • Mon., May 19: Quiz Chp. 5 (Practice) | The Electric Field (Chp. 5)
  • Tue., May 20: Problem-solving session | The Electric Field (Chp. 5)

  • Wed., May 21: Gauss’s Law (Chp. 6)

    Homework 1 due.Homework 2 (Chp. 6) assigned, due Tue., Jun 3
  • Thu., May 22: Conductors and Gauss’s Law (Chp. 6)
  • Mon., May 26 Quiz Chp. 5 (Practice) | Gauss’s Law (Chp. 6)
  • Tue., May 28: Problem-solving session | Conductors and Gauss’ Law (Chp. 7)
  • Wed., May 28: Quiz Chp. 6 (Practice) | Conservation of Energy in 2D (Chp. 7)
  • Thu., May 29 Conservation of Energy in 2D (Chp. 7)

  • Mon., June 2: The Electric Potential (Chp. 7)

    Lab 1: Electrostatic Generator

  • Tues., June 3: The Electric Potential (Chp. 7)

    Homework 3 (Ch 9) assigned, due Fri., June 18.
  • Wed., June 4: Problem-solving session | The Electric Potential (Chp. 8)
  • Thu., June 5: Capacitance (Chp. 7)

  • Mon., June 9: Problem-solving session | The Electric Potential and Capacitance (Chp. 7 & Chp. 8).

    Homework 2 due.Extra credit reading: The Principle of Sufficient Reason: Origin of Symmetry Arguments, due Mon. 23
  • Tue., June 10: Problem-solving session | Currents and Resistance (Chp. 9)
  • Wed., June 11: Quiz Chp. 7, 8 (Practice) | Currents and Resistance (Chp. 9)
  • Thu., June 12: Circuits I (Chp. 10)

  • Mon., June 16: Circuits I (Chp. 10)

    Lab 2: Introduction to the Multimeter
  • Tue., June 17: Problem-solving session | Currents and Resistance (Chp. 9)
  • Wed., June 18: Quiz Chp. 9 (Practice) | Currents and Resistance (Chp. 9)

  • Thu., June 19: Circuits I (Chp. 10)

    Extra credit reading: Action at a Distance OR What is real? Field or potential due July 7

  • Mon., June 23: Circuits I (Chp. 10)

    Lab 3: Introduction to osciloscopesHomework 3 dueHomework 4 (Ch 9) assigned, due Fri., July 8.
  • Tue., June 24: Problem-solving session | Circuits I (Ch. 10)
  • Wed., June 25: Magnetism I (Ch. 11)
  • Thu., June 26: Quiz Chp. 10 (Practice –> Solved) | Magnetism I (Ch. 11)
  • Mon., June 30: Magnetism I (Ch. 11)

  • Tue., July 1: Magnetism I (Magnetic force) (Ch. 11)

    Lab 4: Circuits I
  • Wed., July 2: Magnetism II (Magnetic field) (Ch. 11, Ch. 12)
  • Thu., July 3: Magnetism II (Magnetic field) (Ch. 12)
  • Mon., July 7: Faraday and Lenz (Ch. 13 & 14)

  • Tue., July 8: Faraday and Lenz (Ch. 13 & 14)

    Lab 6: CRTs (Cathode Ray Tube)Homework 4 due.Homework 5 (Chp. 12 & 14) assigned, due Tues., July 16.

  • Wed., July 9: Problem-Solving Session | Magnetism and Faraday and Lenz (Ch. 11, Ch. 12, Ch. 13 & 14)

    Extra credit reading: The Coordination Problem, due July Thu. 17Handout: Complex numbers
  • Thu., July 10: Quiz Chp. 11 & 12 (Practice –> Solved) | More Faraday and Lenz (Ch. 13 & 14)

  • Mon., July 14: Faraday and Lenz (Ch. 13 & 14)

    Lab 7: Solenoids and Inductors

  • Tue., July 15: Faraday and Lenz (Ch. 13 & 14)

    Lab 7, day 2: Solenoids and Inductors

  • Wed., July 16: Circuits II (Ch. 15)

    Homework 5 dueHomework 6 (Ch 11-14) assigned. due July 23
  • Thu., July 17: Problem-Solving Session | Circuits II (Ch. 15)

  • Mon, July 21: Circuits II (Ch. 15)

    Lab 8: Circuits II (LRC Circuits)

  • Tue., July 22: Circuits II (Ch. 15)

    Lab 8, day 2: Circuits II (LRC Circuits)

  • Wed., July 23: Wed., Problem-Solving Session | Circuits II (Ch. 15)

    Homework 6 due.
  • Thu., July 24: Quiz Chp. 13, 14 & 15 (Practice –> Solved) | Maxwell Equations (Ch. 16)

[Final Exam Week: July 28–August 1st. (Practice)]