Module Identifier PH21010  
Module Title RELATIVITY & MECHANICS  
Academic Year 2000/2001  
Co-ordinator Dr Eleri Pryse  
Semester Semester 1  
Other staff Dr Keith Birkinshaw, Professor Leonard Kersley  
Pre-Requisite Core Physics Modules at Level 1  
Course delivery Lecture   20 lectures  
  Seminars / Tutorials   2 seminars/workshops/exercise classes; 2 tutorials  
Assessment Exam   End of Semester Examinations   70%  
  Course work   Example Sheets Coursework Deadlines (by Week of Semester): Example Sheets 1, 2 and 5 Weeks 2, 3 & 6 Example Sheets 6,7 and 10 Weeks 7,8 & 11   30%  

Module description
Classical mechanics is a very old subject with many of its principles being established by Sir Isaac Newton in the seventeenth century, yet it forms a strong foundation to modern physics. It aims to predict the behaviour of systems on the basis of certain postulates that are tested by experimental evidence. Classical mechancis has proved very successful for bodies moving at low speeds but is unable to describe phenomena involving speeds approaching that of light and in this respect it has been superseded by relativity. The module aims to describe some of the fundamental concepts of classical mechanics, and basic principles of relativity.

Learning outcomes
After taking this module students should be able to:

Additional learning activities
Video on Optical Interference

Outline syllabus
RELATIVITY

Special theory
Lorentz transformation; relativistic interval; Minkowski diagram; causality.
Transformation of velocities.
Relativistic optics: aberration of light; Doppler effect.
Relativistic dynamics: E=mc2; energy-momentum transformations and four-vector.
Compton scattering.

General theory
Inertial and gravitational mass; Principle of Equivalence.
Gravitational redshift; Clocks in a gravitational field.
Einstein's theory of gravity; geodesics; non-Euclidean space-time.
The Schwarzschild solution; black holes.

MECHANICS

Harmonic motion: revision of simple harmonic motion, damped and forced harmonic motion.
Coupled osciallators.
Rotational motion: angular momentum and torque, moment of inertia; conservation of angular momentum, gyroscopic motion.
Introduction to Lagrangian mechanics.

Reading Lists
Books
** Recommended Text
G.R. Fowles and G.L. Cassidy. Analytical Mechanics. Saunders College Publishing ISBN 0-03-098974-4
** Supplementary Text
A.P. French. Special Relativity. Van Nostrand Reinhold
G.F.R. Ellis and R.M. Williams. Flat and Curved Space-Times. Clarendon Press