Understanding waves and quantum mechanics opens doors to a huge spectrum of physics problems through ideas such as diffraction and quantum tunnelling. In this course we will perform experiments to understand how the properties of the electromagnetic spectrum enabled us to discover the structure of DNA alongside mathematical and conceptual explanations of quantum mechanics.
The course will build upon the concepts from famous physicists such as Young, Bragg, and Heisenberg, through the applications of mathematics challenge you to solve a variety of problems in waves and quantum mechanics. The focus and aim is not learning but understanding and thinking, analysis and logic.
The problems that we will be solving increase in difficulty and are supported by an online learning platform called isaacphysics.org (the course will be supported and conducted using a variety of online tools). Isaac Physics is host to over 400 physics problems as well as challenges and extraordinary problems that we will work on and discuss during the course. To support and facilitate the physics, Isaac also contains practice mathematics questions which students will also be encouraged to engage with before and during the course.
Each session will open with a short introduction to the ideas of the session but the most of the time will be spent working in groups and with the lecturer to solve problems – this course is about learning by doing NOT learning by listening. The ultimate outcome is that you will boost your confidence and problem solving skills in physics and mathematics through a series of curious puzzles.
Please note, this course requires a knowledge of differential calculus and some integral calculus as well as fluency in high school level algebra and goniometry.