PHYSICS 121: THEORETICAL MECHANICS

 

Offered each FALL semester.

 

Teacher: Athanasios Petridis

                Harvey Ingham 31C

                Phone: (515) 271-3723

                E-Mail: Athan.Petridis@drake.edu

 

Office Hours: MWF, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

 

Class Schedule: MWF, 11:00 am – 12:10 pm.

Textbook: “Classical Dynamics” by J. Marion and S. Thornton (Saunders College Publishing, 5th or 6th edition).

Homework: 1 assignment per week (25 points total).

Exams: 2 exams during the semester (15 points each),

              1 non-comprehensive final (30 points),

              One 5-minute written question at the beginning of each class (15 points total).

Grading:    100 <=  points  <= 85  is  A

                     85 <    points  <= 75  is  B

                     75 <    points  <= 65  is  C

                     65 <    points  <= 50  is  D

                     50 <    points  <=   0  is  F

No extra-credit assignments are offered during or at the end of the semester.

 

The following topics are covered in the course (the list is neither inclusive or exclusive and may change from year to year or during the semester according to instructor’s view or to match student interests):

 

  1. Matrices, vector and tensor calculus, linear operators and transformations, linear groups.
  2. Newtonian mechanics for a single particle, conservation theorems, systems of variable mass.
  3. Simple harmonic oscillations, Fourier series, electrical oscillations, Green’s functions.
  4. Non-linear oscillations, maps, chaos, Poincare sections, Lyapunov exponents, attractors.
  5. Classical gravitation, the gravitational field of the Earth, ocean tides.
  6. Calculus of variations and its applications, Euler’s equations, Lagrange multipliers, delta notation.
  7. Hamilton’s principle, Lagrangian dynamics, holonomic and non-holonomic systems.
  8. Hamiltonian dynamics, phase space, Liouvilles’ theorem, Poisson’s brackets, canonical transformations.
  9. Central force motion, reduced mass, Kepler’s problem, orbital dynamics.
  10. Systems of particles, center of momentum, elastic and inelastic collisions, Rutherford scattering, cross-sections.

 

NOTE: The second part of this course, including a study of non-inertial frames of reference, coupled oscillations, and rigid body motion is given within the “Advanced Classical Physics” course.