Physics 311 - Electromagnetic Theory I
Until the middle of the 19th century, electricity and magnetism were incorrectly thought of as two distinct and separate
physical phenomena. In 1820, Hans Christian Oersted noticed that an electric current could deflect a nearby compass needle,
implying a relationship between moving electric charges and magnetic fields. Later, in 1831, Michael Faraday discovered that
a moving magnet generates an electric current in a wire, thus strengthening the connection between electricity and magnetism.
Finally, in the early 1860s, James Clerk Maxwell supplied the missing piece to Ampere’s Law, thus intimately connecting
electricity and magnetism into one unified electromagnetic theory.
These four equations, referred to as Maxwell’s equations, plus the Lorentz force law completely describe classical electromagnetic theory. In addition to yielding a unified description of electricity and magnetism, Maxwell’s equations make the remarkable prediction that light is an electromagnetic wave that moves at a finite speed, with a value precisely determined by two physical constants of the theory! Not only is electromagnetic theory regarded as a crowning achievement of 19th century physics, it also helped point Albert Einstein towards his discovery of the special theory of relativity. The significance of electromagnetic theory cannot be overstated!
| Set | Chapter | Problems | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Problems | Fri, Aug 26 |
| 2 | 1 | Problems | Wed, Aug 31 |
| 3 | 1 | Problems | Mon, Sep 5 |
| 4 | 1 | Problems | Fri, Sep 9 |
| 5 | 2 | Problems | Mon, Sep 19 |
| 6 | 2 | Problems | Mon, Sep 26 |
| 7 | 2 | Problems | Mon, Oct 3 |
| 8 | 2 | Problems | Mon, Oct 17 |
| 9 | 3 | Problems | Mon, Oct 24 |
| 10 | 5 | Problems | Wed, Nov 2 |
| 11 | 5 | Problems | Wed, Nov 9 |
| 12 | 5 | Problems | Wed, Nov 16 |
| 13 | 7 | Problems | Fri, Dec 2 |
| 14 | 7 | Problems | Fri, Dec 9 |