PHYS140, together with PHYS143, is designed to give an overview of physics, a broad area of study whose main aim is to discover, and to understand, the fundamental laws of nature, and to use them to explain and possibly exploit the vast array of phenomena that occur in the universe in which we live.
In this unit students will be introduced to the central topics of classical physics, the sort of physics that is usually sufficient to describe what we observe in day-to-day life, namely the mechanical, electrical and magnetic behaviour of matter. The subjects covered include measurement and vectors, Newton's laws of motion, momentum and energy, gravitation, electric charge, electric field and potential, capacitance, simple direct-current circuits, the origin of magnetic fields, and electromagnetic induction. The language of physics is mathematics, but much of what physics has to say, including the topics covered in this unit and in PHYS143, can be, and are, described using straightforward algebra and a little calculus from the HSC Mathematics course. This approach gives a distinct advantage: a quantitative and usefully different perspective to topics that may be encountered in units of study in biology, chemistry or earth sciences.
Regular and guided laboratory work enables students to investigate the phenomena discussed in the lectures, using modern techniques in a well-equipped laboratory.
