Course Outline

The theory of electromagnetism was one of the great accomplishments of 19th century physics and, built on the general framework of Newton's Laws of mechanics, unified and explained a large range of phenomena associated with charged objects, currents and magnets. By the end of the century the theory had evolved to a compact and aesthetically pleasing form, which is still widely used.

Electromagnetism is arguably the most important way of probing and learning about the physical world. Almost all modern scientific laboratories and the experiments conducted in them would be impossible to imagine without extensive use of electronic equipment. Much of what is learned in these circumstances hinges on understanding the electromagnetic interaction between the equipment and the physical system that is being observed. Electromagnetism has made possible much of the technology that is characteristic of the industrialized world: electric appliances, electronics, electric motors, power generation, computers, wireless communication, etc,...

One of the predictions of the theory of electromagnetism is the existence of electromagnetic waves, which offer a complete description of the classical properties of light. Optics is the study of the properties of light. Some, such as reflection, refraction and image production using lenses are readily apparent. However, optics has consistently yielded surprising phenomena, which often provide fundamental insights into the nature of the physical world.

Phys 132 aims to introduce you to the phenomena of electricity and magnetism and optics and the theories which describe them as well as some of their practical applications.

The course will cover the following topics subject to minor modifications.

  1. Electric charge, fields, potentials and currents.
  2. Electric circuits.
  3. Magnetic fields, interaction with currents.
  4. Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic waves.
  5. Wave optics.
  6. Geometric optics.

Course Structure

The Monday, Wednesday and Friday class meetings will usually be in lecture format. You will be expected to study the relevant sections of the text before class meetings.

Most Tuesday meetings will consist of a discussion/problem session during which you will work in small groups (with the instructor's help) on pre-assigned problems. You will be expected to attempt these before the Tuesday class meeting. There will be a short quiz covering the material at the end of the discussion session.

Homework Assignments

Apart from the Phys 132 Exercises, problem numbers all refer to Knight, Physics, 5th ed. The most current Phys 132 Exercises can be found by clicking this link.

Homework Due date Problems
Homework 1 23 Jan 2026 Phys 132 Exercises: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Homework 2 30 Jan 2026 Phys 132 Exercises: 18, 19, 23, 24, 26, 27, 32, 34
Homework 3 6 Feb 2026 Phys 132 Exercises: TBA
Homework 4 13 Feb 2026 Phys 132 Exercises: TBA
Homework 5 27 Feb 2026 Phys 132 Exercises: TBA
Homework 6 6 Mar 2026 Phys 132 Exercises: TBA
Homework 7 27 Mar 2026 Phys 132 Exercises: TBA
Homework 8 3 April 2026 Phys 132 Exercises: TBA
Homework 9 13 April 2026 Phys 132 Exercises: TBA
Homework 10 24 April 2026 Phys 132 Exercises: TBA
Homework 11 1 May 2026 Phys 132 Exercises: TBA

Homework Solutions

Homework solutions will be posted in the course Desire 2 Learn (D2L) shell.


Quizzes

There will be a short quiz at the end of each of each Wednesday discussion session. Quiz solutions will be posted in the course D2L shell.

Warm Up Exercises

There will be warm up exercise, approximately once per week, due by 10:00am. Exact dates will be announced by the instructor closer to the time. Warm up exercises are hosted on D2L.

Exams

There will be three 50 minute exams during class on the following dates: February 20, 2026; March 10, 2026 and April 15, 2026. There will be a comprehensive final exam on May 13, 2026. Solutions to the exams for this semester will be posted below after the exams have been graded.

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Exams and solutions from previous semesters.

Fall 2018 Class exam 1
Fall 2018 Class exam 1: Solutions
Fall 2018 Class exam 2
Fall 2018 Class exam 2: Solutions
Fall 2018 Class exam 3
Fall 2018 Class exam 3: Solutions
Fall 2018 Final exam
Fall 2018 Final exam: Solutions
Fall 2022 Class exam 1
Fall 2022 Class exam 1: Solutions
Fall 2022 Class exam 2
Fall 2022 Class exam 2: Solutions
Fall 2022 Class exam 3
Fall 2022 Class exam 3: Solutions
Fall 2022 Final exam
Fall 2022 Final exam: Solutions

Exams and solutions from this semester.

Solutions will be posted after each exam has been graded.

Fall 2026 Class exam 1
Fall 2026 Class exam 1: Solutions
Fall 2026 Class exam 2
Fall 2026 Class exam 2: Solutions
Fall 2026 Class exam 3
Fall 2026 Class exam 3: Solutions

Links and Animations

  1. Reference Sources
    1. Physlink Reference information and data, including decimal system notation, physical constants, math constants, astro-physical constants, etc,....
    2. Eric Weinstein's World of Physics Encyclopedia of Physics maintained by Wolfram Research. Entries at a variety of technical levels.
    3. Periodic Table of Elements WebElements site.
    4. NIST Standard Reference Data Administered by the National Institute for Standards and Technology. The final word in physical data. Intended for professionals.
  2. Animations
    1. PhET. From the University of Colorado.
    2. oPhysics Physics simulations provided by Tom Walsh.
    3. LTU Applets. Collection of simulations provided by Scott Schneider, Lawrence Technological University.
    4. Animations for Physics and Astronomy. Collection of simulations from Dr. Michael R. Gallis, Penn State University, Schuylkill. Youtube channel
    5. Physclips. Collection of simulations from the University of New South Wales, Australia.
  3. Demonstrations
    1. University of Maryland Demonstrations. Lecture demonstrations provided by the University of Maryland.
    2. Wake Forest University Demonstrations. Main website for demonstrations provided by Wake Forest University, North Carolina.
    3. Wake Forest University Demonstrations. Videos of demonstrations provided by Wake Forest University, North Carolina.
    4. University of Iowa Demonstrations. Demonstrations provided by the University of Iowa.
    5. UCSB Lecture Demonstrations. Demonstrations provided by the University of California Santa Barbara.
    6. University of Pennsylvania Lecture Demonstrations. Demonstrations provided by the University of Pennsylvania.
    7. University of Washington Lecture Demonstrations. Demonstrations provided by the University of Washington.
    8. University of Minnesota Lecture Demonstrations. Demonstrations provided by the University of Minnesota.
    9. Physics Berkeley Lecture Demonstrations. Demonstrations provided by the University of California Berkeley.
  4. Videos
    1. Minute Physics
    2. Physics Girl
    3. Steve Mould
    4. Veritasium
  5. Electrostatics
    1. Balloons and Static Electricity From PhET, University of Colorado.
    2. Electric Fields Paul Falstad's 2 dim simulator.
    3. Charges and Fields From PhET, University of Colorado.
    4. Electric Field Hockey From PhET, University of Colorado.
    5. Electric Potential From Eugene Khutoryansky.
    6. Equipotentials and Electric Field of Two Charges From oPhysics.
    7. Capacitor Lab: Basics From PhET, University of Colorado.
    8. Capacitor Lab From PhET, University of Colorado.
  6. Circuits
    1. Circuit Construction Kit: DC From PhET, University of Colorado.
    2. Circuit Construction Kit: AC From PhET, University of Colorado.
  7. Magnetic Fields
    1. Magnet and Compass From PhET, University of Colorado.
    2. Faraday's Electromagnetic Lab From PhET, University of Colorado.
    3. B Field Due to a Single Loop Penn State Schuylkill. A local link is here.
    4. Bubble Chamber tracks From Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Alternative link here.
    5. Charges in Planetary Magnetic Field Create Radiation Belt From Penn State Schuylkill.
    6. Magnetic Bottle 1 From Penn State Schuylkill.
    7. Magnetic Bottle 2 From Penn State Schuylkill.
    8. NMR and MRI From PhET, University of Colorado.
    9. DC Motor From Penn State Schuylkill.
  8. Electrons
    1. Discovery of the Electron from the AIP.
  9. Electromagnetic Induction
    1. Generator From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    2. Induction jump rope. from the University of Iowa.
  10. Electromagnetic Waves
    1. Radio Waves From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    2. Electromagnetic waves. from PSU Schuylkill.
    3. Electromagnetic Spectrum. from NASA.
    4. Electromagnetic Spectrum From NASA.
  11. Waves and Optics
    1. Geometric Optics From PhET, The University of Colorado.
    2. Waves on a String From PhET, The University of Colorado.
    3. Wave Interference From PhET, The University of Colorado. Alternative older Java link here.
    4. Water Wave Interference. From Loyola University, Chicago.
    5. Two dimensional waves; ripple tank From Paul Falstad.
    6. Microwave Interference From The University of Iowa.
    7. Interference Fringes From Dietrich Zawischa, The University of Hannover.
    8. Water Wave Diffraction From Harvey Mudd College.
    9. Circular aperture diffraction From Hyperphysics.
    10. Poisson Spot. From Physics World.
    11. Poisson Spot. From Harvard University.
    12. Newton's Rings From The University of Iowa.
    13. Air wedge interference From The University of Iowa.
    14. Soap Film Interference Fringes From HyperPhysics, Georgia State University.
    15. Michelson Interferometer From The University of Iowa.
    16. Bending Light From PhET, The University of Colorado.
    17. Infinity Mirror Rooms Exhibition of infinity mirror rooms by Yayoi Kusama, Hirshhorn Museum.
  12. Vision
    1. Eye anatomy From the University of Utah.
  13. Waves
    1. Waves Intro. From PhET, the University of Colorado.
    2. Wave on a String. From PhET, the University of Colorado.
    3. Aircraft Landing. Doppler effect: aircraft landing at Princess Juliana Airport
    4. Aircraft Landing. Yet another landing at Princess Juliana Airport
    5. Extrasolar Planets. From California and Carnegie Planet Search.
    6. Standing Waves. From Paul Falstad.
    7. LIGO. Official LIGO site