Unit PHYSICS

Course
Informatics
Study-unit Code
55043006
Curriculum
In all curricula
Teacher
Piero Chessa
Teachers
  • Piero Chessa
Hours
  • 42 ore - Piero Chessa
CFU
6
Course Regulation
Coorte 2024
Offered
2025/26
Learning activities
Base
Area
Formazione matematico-fisica
Sector
FIS/01
Type of study-unit
Obbligatorio (Required)
Type of learning activities
Attività formativa monodisciplinare
Language of instruction
Italian
Contents
The course offers basic teaching of physical phenomena, that is, a selection of formative topics in classical physics, including mechanics, conservations, electrostatics, electric currents and circuits, magnetism and electromagnetism.
Reference texts
Halliday, Resnick, Walker, "Fondamenti di Fisica", Casa Editrice Ambrosiana.
Educational objectives
Basic knowledge of classical mechanics and electromagnetism and solve simple classical physics problems.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of algebra, analytic geometry, plane trigonometry, differential and integral calculus.
Teaching methods
Frontal lecture and exercises.
Learning verification modality
The exam consists of a two-hour written test with an optional oral examination. In the written test, students are required to solve simple problems and questions, justifying their choices. The oral examination completes the assessment of knowledge and connections.
Extended program
Physical quantities, units, orders of magnitude. Scalars and vectors. Position, velocity, acceleration, and the law of motion. Uniform and uniformly accelerated motion; uniform circular motion. Reference frames in uniform relative motion. Force and mass. Newton's three laws. Frictional forces. Work and energy: kinetic energy and the kinetic energy theorem, conservative and non-conservative forces, potential energy, conservation of energy; power. Center of mass, momentum, conservation of momentum. Impulse of a force, collisions (elastic and inelastic). Rotations of a rigid body about a fixed axis (angular velocity and acceleration); Relationships between linear and angular quantities. Moment of inertia. Moment of a force about an axis, angular momentum, conservation of angular momentum.
Electric charges. Insulators and conductors. Coulomb's law. Electric field and its operational definition. Electric field of point charges. Gauss's theorem. Charges in a conductor under static conditions, Coulomb's theorem, electric fields generated by charge distributions with plane, cylindrical, and spherical symmetry. Electrostatic potential: operational definition. Potential for point and continuous charge distributions. Capacitors: capacitance, calculation for flat capacitors. Capacitors in series and parallel. Energy stored in a charged capacitor. Energy and energy density of the electric field. Electric current. Electric current density and intensity. Drift velocity. Resistance and resistivity. Ohm's law (in macroscopic and microscopic form). Power in electric circuits and Joule's law. Generators: electromotive force and internal resistance. Circuits with resistors. Resistors in series and parallel. Kirchhoff's laws. Magnetic induction field B. Lorentz force acting on a charged particle. Motion of a charge in a uniform magnetic field. Magnetic force acting on a current-carrying wire. Torque acting on a current-carrying loop. Magnetic field generated by a current: the Biot-Savart law. Using the Biot-Savart law to calculate B in some simple systems. Ampère's circuit theorem. Applications. The solenoid. Forces acting between current-carrying circuits. The Faraday-Neumann-Lenz law. Induction and energy transfer.