Main Objectives for Electric Currents and Magnetism
Be able to use Ohm's law and the capacitor relation to solve circuit problems
Know circuit elements (resistor, capacitor, battery, ground, wire) and constructing
circuit diagrams
Understand how to interpret circuit diagrams and several diagrams for the same
circuit
Understand Kirchhoff's Junction Law and how to apply it to a circuit and the sign
conventions
Understand Kirchhoff's loop Law and how to apply it to a circuit and the sign
conventions
Be able to recognize paralle and serries circuit elements and finding equivalents
Know how current and voltage is measured for circuit elements and how to connect
(series, parallel)
Know how to simplifiy circuits, apply appropriate laws and work backwards to solve
for unknowns
Be able to describe how Kirchoff's Rules are related to charge and energy
conservation
Understand household electricity concepts of hot, neutral, ground circuit breakers,
circuits and kW-hr
Be able to calculate the time constant for an RC circuit and know what it tells you
about the circuit
Know how to solve for the current, voltage and charge in RC circuits after a
given amount of time has passed
Understand magnetism, magnetic field lines, dipoles, N-S interaction and the Earth
as a magnet
Be able to calculate the force a magnetic field exerts on either a charged particle
or a wire carrying a current
Be able to predict the trajectory of a charged particle in a magnetic field
Be able to explain how a mass spectrometer works
Be able to find the torque on a current loop in a constant magnetic field
Be able to discuss magnetic forces and fields qualitatively.
(This includes effects of magnetic poles on one another and on non-magnetized
objects)
Be able to discuss ferromagnetic materials and magnetic domains
Be able to calculate the magnetic field produced by currents in straight wires,
loops and solenoids.
Be able to apply superpostion of multiple magnetic fields to find the total magnetic
field
Know how to determine the magnitude and direction of forces between multiple wires
carrying currents.
Be able to use Lenz's and Faraday's Laws to find the magnitude and direction of the
induced current
Be able to define magnetic flux
Understand the emf generated in a wire moving in a magnetic field and the relation
to Faraday's law (loop)
Be able to discuss eddy currents
Be able to explain how an AC generator works
Understand Maxwell's Theory about propagating electromagnetic waves
Be able to apply the principles of waves, intensity of E&M waves, speed of
light, point sources
Know about the polarization of E&M waves and the intensity dependence
Understand the photon model of E&M waves, the E&M spectrum
Know about antennas for transmitting and receiving E&M waves
Understand the spectral dependence of thermal emission
Know about color vision in the human eye