Physics 240 Optics
Fall 2005
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:30-12:20

Course Description
Physic 240 is an intermediate level course surveying parts of the very large and in my opinion very exciting field of optics.

From the SBC Course Catalog:
PHYS 240 - Optics
Credits: 3.00
This course will focus on topics of physical optics with some review of geometrical optics. Topics covered will include optical instrumentation, interference of light, optical interferometry, diffraction, fiber optics, lasers and nonlinear optics.
Lecture: 3.00
Pre-requisites: PHYS 172

Course Goals:
Students will increase their fundamental knowledge of optics. Students will understand the relevance of optics to other fields of physics and science and it's role in many technologies.

Course Objectives:
These are somewhat generic (but extremely important) skills that students should constantly be improving upon as they move through the physics curriculum. The student will be able to: 

• Apply the techniques and results of optics to solve problems
• Effectively communicate problems and their solutions relevant to optics
• Apply physics principles to novel situations
• Improve their mathematical abilities relevant to physical science and engineering

Text:
Introduction to Optics, Second Edition, Pedrotti and Pedrotti, Prentice Hall
This is one of two texts which have become the standards for a course like this. The other (also an excellent text) is Optics by Hecht. This class is essentially broken into three pieces: geometrical optics, physical or wave optics, and modern optics. Like most physics texts, our book has more information than could ever be covered in one semester. However, we will cover a bit from each of these three areas.

I post assignments and other class information as we progress in the term at: http://hyochum.physics.sbc.edu/physics240_fall2005/physics240syllabus_fall2005.htm

Though not required for this course, as a physicist or engineer you should have a good mathematical handbook of some sort. I will assume you have access to type of mathematical information in one of these.  The following are very good examples:
CRC Standard Mathematical Tables, William H. Beyer (CRC Press).
Tables of Integrals, Series, and Products, I.S. Gradshteyn and I.M. Ryzhik (Academic Press)
Schaum's Outlines Mathematical Handbook, M.R. Spiegel (McGraw Hill), probably the most appropriate book for this level course and also the most reasonably priced

Prerequisite Knowledge:
You should have taken the General Physics I and II and feel very comfortable with the content in the first two semesters of calculus.

Preparation:
I expect you to come to class prepared and ready to work.  Assume that I may give you a short quiz at any time to help motivate you to be prepared for class.  The most common, and perhaps the deadliest habit is to postpone your assault of the material. You are expected to diligently apply yourself, since it is your for your future that you are working.  The best advice I can give you is come to every class, take good notes, talk with your classmates, and keep up. I know these sound trivial, but they are all too often ignored.  

Attendance:
Attendance, timeliness, and participation are critical to the learning process and an integral part of this course.  Being late to class is disrespectful to your classmates and to your professor.    Missing class will make learning the material difficult, as some of what you get out of this course will come from discussion in class with your peers.  I reserve the right to take points off your grade for lateness or lack of in class activity.

Labs:
This course has no official affiliated lab section. However, there will likely be some labs done in Phys 223 (Intermediate Physics Lab) that are optics related.

Grades:  

Homework Sets:
Homework assignments will generally be made once a week. HW will generally consist of problems from the text, problems from other places, and when appropriate experimental activities. Just as one would practice a sport to get good at it, one must practice math and physics, the HW is your chance to do this. HW is due at the BEGINNING of class. In general, late HW will not be graded.

I encourage you to work with your peers on the HW and lab activities. Conversations with your classmates are an excellent way to learn. However, this does not mean you should copy homework.  One rule to go by when working with classmates: if you don't understand what you are writing down, don't turn it in.  

The ability to communicate your technical work to others is vital to your success as a scientist.   In this course, in addition to getting homework problems correct it is your job as a physicist to communicate effectively how you solved the problem.  This may mean using words to describe what you are doing instead of simply writing down equations. This also means being organized. It is best to do a problem and then transcribe your solution in a neat form to another piece of paper. I do take off for unorganized but correct work.  I will also take points off your HW (even when fully correct!) for messy solutions.  

Quizzes
From time to time I will give the class a short quiz to make sure you are keeping up with the material. I anticipate there will be at least 4 quizzes.

Tests and Final:
There will be two tests plus a cumulative final. 

Paper/Project
This project may take several forms but most likely should be based on some optical technology or device. You will then write a paper explaining how this technology works, specifically discussing optics. Another idea is to obtain an article (from Optics Letters, American Journal of Physics, or other) on a topic of interest in optics, read it, rederive the results of it, and then present and explain the paper. I will be happy to direct you toward articles that will be at a level appropriate for this class. You could do an experiment in optics. You would then present your paper to the class (about a ten minute talk). You could also present a topic from our text which we will not cover. Whatever your project, you must write a brief proposal outlining what you plan to accomplish with your project. The due date for this proposal will be posted on the assignments page, but will likely be in early October.

Communication:
Please consult the web page for class announcements, exam hints, homework assignments, and other useful information.  You are responsible for checking the web page for updates.  Not all announcements will be made in class.

Feel free to call or stop by my office regardless of office hours.    I tend to check my voicemail and email frequently, so if I am not around, I will get in touch with you as soon as possible. One of the benefits of going to a small college like Sweet Briar is the opportunity to get personalized attention from your professors, take advantage of this in all your courses.

A Brief Outline of the Course
As I mentioned previously, the pace of this course may change as we progress in the term.

back to Optics Fall 2005
___________________________________________________________________________
last updated 8/25/2005