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Program Requirements

The 18-credit Minor permits no overlap with any other programs. It contains no Mathematics courses, although many of the courses in it have Math pre- or corequisites. It will, therefore, be particularly appropriate to students in Mathematics, but it is also available to any Science student with the appropriate mathematical background.

Students in certain programs (e.g., the Major Chemistry) will find that there are courses in the Minor that are already part of their program, or that they may not take for credit because of a substantial overlap of material with a course or courses in their program. After consultation with an adviser, such students may complete the Minor by substituting any other physics course(s) from the Major or Honours Physics programs.

Required Course (3 credits)

• PHYS 257 Experimental Methods 1 (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : Introductory laboratory work and data analysis as related to mechanics, optics and thermodynamics. Introduction to computers as they are employed for laboratory work, for data analysis and for numerical computation. Previous experience with computers is an asset, but is not required.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Vachon, Brigitte (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 6 hours of laboratory and classroom work

  • Corequisite: PHYS 230 or PHYS 251

Complementary Courses (15 credits)

15 credits to be selected as follows:

One of:

• PHYS 230 Dynamics of Simple Systems (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : Translational motion under Newton's laws; forces, momentum, work/energy theorem. Special relativity; Lorentz transforms, relativistic mechanics, mass/energy equivalence. Topics in rotational dynamics. Noninertial frames.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Guo, Hong (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 3 hours lectures

  • Prerequisite: CEGEP Physics or PHYS 131.

  • Corequisite: MATH 222

  • Restriction: Not open to students taking or having passed PHYS 251

• PHYS 251 Honours Classical Mechanics 1 (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : Newton's laws, work energy, angular momentum. Harmonic oscillator, forced oscillations. Inertial forces, rotating frames. Central forces, centre of mass, planetary orbits, Kepler's laws.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Gale, Charles (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 3 hours lectures

  • Prerequisite: CEGEP physics or PHYS 131.

  • Corequisite: MATH 222

  • Restriction: Not open to students taking or having taken PHYS 230.

One of:

• PHYS 232 Heat and Waves (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : The laws of thermodynamics and their consequences. Thermodynamics of P-V-T systems and simple heat engines. Free, driven, and damped harmonic oscillators. Coupled systems and normal modes. Fourier methods. Wave motion and dispersion. The wave equation.

  Terms: Winter 2024

  Instructors: Hilke, Michael (Winter)

  • Winter

  • 3 hours lectures

  • Prerequisites: CEGEP Physics or PHYS 142, and CEGEP chemistry or CHEM 120, and PHYS 230.

  • Restriction: Not open to students taking or having passed PHYS 253

• PHYS 253 Thermal Physics (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : Energy, work, heat; first law. Temperature, entropy; second law. Absolute zero; third law. Equilibrium, equations of state, gases, liquids, solids, magnets; phase transitions.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Grutter, Peter H (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 3 hours lectures

  • Prerequisites: CEGEP physics or PHYS 131, and CEGEP chemistry or CHEM 120.

  • Corequisite: MATH 222

  • Restriction: Not open to students taking or having taken PHYS 232.

One of:

• PHYS 241 Signal Processing (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : Linear circuit elements, resonance, network theorems, diodes, transistors, amplifiers, feedback, integrated circuits.

  Terms: Winter 2024

  Instructors: Reisner, Walter (Winter)

  • Winter

  • 2 hours lectures; 3 hours laboratory alternate weeks

  • Prerequisite: CEGEP physics or PHYS 142.

• PHYS 258 Experimental Methods 2 (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : Advanced laboratory work and data analysis as related to mechanics, optics and thermodynamics. Computers will be employed routinely for data analysis and for numerical computation, and, particularly, to facilitate the use of Fourier methods.

  Terms: Winter 2024

  Instructors: Cooke, David (Winter)

  • Winter

  • 6 hours of laboratory and classroom work

  • Prerequisite: PHYS 257

One of:

• PHYS 224 Physics of Music (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : An introduction to the physics of music. Properties of sound and their perception as pitch, loudness, and timbre. Dissonance, consonance, and musical intervals and tuning. Physics of sound propagation and reflection. Resonance. Acoustic properties of pipes, strings, bars, and membranes, and sound production in wind, string, and percussion instruments. The human voice. Room reverberation and acoustics. Directional characteristics of sound sources.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Sankey (Childress), Jack (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 3 hours lectures

  • Designed for students in the Faculty of Music but suitable for students with an interest in music and its physical basis.

  • Restriction: Not open to students who have taken PHYS 225

• PHYS 228 Energy and the Environment (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : Energy fundamentals, generation of electricity, heat engines, fossil fuel production and consumption, local and global effects, economic impact, transportation, and pollution and environmental impact of energy use. Non-renewable energy sources (fossil fuels, nuclear) and renewable sources (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal).

  Terms: Winter 2024

  Instructors: Lovejoy, Shaun MacDonald (Winter)

  • Winter

  • Prerequisites: CEGEP Physics or PHYS 102 or PHYS 142 or permission of the instructor

  • Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken PHYS 184.

• PHYS 260 Modern Physics and Relativity (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : History of special relativity; Lorentz transformations: kinematics and dynamics; transformation of electric and magnetic forces; introduction to topics in modern physics.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Haggard, Daryl (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 3 hours lectures

  • Prerequisite: CEGEP physics or PHYS 142.

  • Corequisite: MATH 222

• PHYS 320 Introductory Astrophysics (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : A survey of astrophysics ranging from stars and planets, to compact objects, galaxies, and the large-scale evolution of the Universe. A calculusbased course, with a focus on simple mathematical derivations that capture the essential physics.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Schutz, Katelin (Fall)

  • Prerequisites: MATH 222; PHYS 230 or PHYS 260 or permission of the instructor.

  • Not open to students who have taken PHYS 214.

  • Fall

• PHYS 346 Majors Quantum Physics (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : De Broglie waves, Bohr atom. Schroedinger equation, wave functions, observables. One dimensional potentials. Schroedinger equation in three dimensions. Angular momentum, hydrogen atom. Spin, experimental consequences.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Vachon, Brigitte (Fall)

  • Fall

  • Prerequisite: PHYS 230 and PHYS 232, or PHYS 251

  • Restriction: Not open to students who have taken PHYS 357, PHYS 446, or PHYS 457.

  • 3 hours lectures

One of:

• PHYS 340 Majors Electricity and Magnetism (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : The electrostatic field and scalar potential. Dielectric properties of matter. Energy in the electrostatic field. Methods for solving problems in electrostatics. The magnetic field. Induction and inductance. Energy in the magnetic field. Magnetic properties of matter. Maxwell's equations. The dipole approximation.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Lovejoy, Shaun MacDonald (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 3 hours lectures

  • Prerequisites: CEGEP physics or PHYS 142, MATH 222

  • Corequisite: MATH 314

  • Restriction: Not open to students who have passed PHYS 242 or PHYS 350

• PHYS 350 Honours Electricity and Magnetism (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : Fundamental laws of electric and magnetic fields in both integral and differential form.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Lee, Eve (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 3 hours lectures

  • Prerequisites: MATH 248, MATH 325.

  • Restriction: Honours students or permission of the instructor

  • Restriction: Not open to students having taken PHYS 340