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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 2014

  Instructors: Warburton, Andreas; Engelberg, Edith M (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 2014

  Instructors: Pereg-Barnea, Tamar (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 2014

  Instructors: Brandenberger, Robert (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 2015

  Instructors: Guo, Hong (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 2014

  Instructors: Reisner, Walter (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 2015

  Instructors: Dobbs, Matthew Adam (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 2015

  Instructors: Warburton, Andreas; Engelberg, Edith M (Winter)

  • Winter

  • 6 hours of laboratory and classroom work

  • Prerequisite: PHYS 257

One of:

• PHYS 214 Introductory Astrophysics (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Physics : An introduction to astrophysics with emphasis placed on methods of observation and current models. Stellar radiation and detectors, quasars, black holes. Galaxies, large scale structure of the universe, cosmology.

  Terms: Fall 2014

  Instructors: Kaspi, Victoria (Fall)

  • Fall

  • Prerequisite: CEGEP Physics or PHYS 102 or PHYS 142.

• 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 2014

  Instructors: Gale, Charles (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 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 2014

  Instructors: Childress, Lilian (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 3 hours lectures

  • Prerequisite: CEGEP physics or PHYS 142.

  • Corequisite: MATH 222

• PHYS 271 Introduction to Quantum Physics (3 credits)

  Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Engineering)

  Overview

  Physics : The observed properties of atoms and radiation from atoms. Electron waves. The Schroedinger Equation in one dimension. Quantum mechanics of the hydrogen atom. Angular momentum and spin. Quantum mechanics of many electron systems. Basic ideas of electrons in solids and solid state physics.

  Terms: Winter 2015

  Instructors: Francois, Paul (Winter)

  • Winter

  • (3-0-6)

  • Prerequisite: PHYS 251 or CIVE 281

  • Restriction: This course is not available to any student enrolled in any Majors or Honours program involving Physics.

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 2014

  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 2014

  Instructors: Reisner, Walter (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