Preparing for Modern Physics: Mechanics & EM Review

[diligence]

I'm taking Modern Physics in the Spring semester (starts Jan 10). It's been over 5 years since I took Mechanics and EM. Which topics from these courses should I review in preparation for Modern Physics? I plan to review everything, however this will take me longer than the time available before next semester starts. So which topics should be my priority?

 

[PhanthomJay]

In mechanics, i would say that understanding Energy concepts is important. Otherwise, the review should focus on electromagnetism, optics, waves, high level calculus, and differential equations. Not easy stuff. I assume by Modern Physics you mean Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, etc. What is your goal?

 

[Liquidxlax]

In mechanics, i would say that understanding Energy concepts is important. Otherwise, the review should focus on electromagnetism, optics, waves, high level calculus, and differential equations. Not easy stuff. I assume by Modern Physics you mean Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, etc. What is your goal?

crud i thought i would be done with optics...

 

[diligence]

In mechanics, i would say that understanding Energy concepts is important. Otherwise, the review should focus on electromagnetism, optics, waves, high level calculus, and differential equations. Not easy stuff. I assume by Modern Physics you mean Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, etc. What is your goal?

yeah, it's the 100 level class where they introduce special relativity and quantum physics, you're supposed to take it after intro-EM (UNC-Chapel Hill). My goal is eventually physics grad school, so I'm planning to thoroughly review (or rather relearn) all the first year stuff, but was wondering what my priorities should be before spring semester begins.

thanks! I'm going to mainly focus on energy concepts, EM and waves, then maybe some optics. I assume its completely safe to save fluid mechanics and thermo for later (?). What about mechanical waves, like sound waves and such? I can't remember whether understanding those is vital to understanding EM waves or not. Also, can I wait to focus on rotational kinematics? I know that angular momentum is studied in quantum mechanics, but I really doubt whether they will even touch on that at this level.


Thanks a lot, I appreciate it! It's a lot of stuff to go over and it's a big help to know exactly what I can save for later. I'm honestly not that worried about it, but I'm motivated to properly relearn this stuff and I might as well prioritize it if I can :)

 

[vela]

It sounds like this course is the tail end of lower-division/introductory physics. The course description from the website is:

128 (028) Modern Physics (3). Prerequisite, Physics 117 (027) (or Physics 105 (025) by permission of instructor). Corequisite, Physics 128L (028L). Special relativity theory, black body radiation, photons and electrons; wave particle duality. Elements of atomic theory, nuclei and fundamental particles.​

I'd say you should know basic Newtonian mechanics: kinematics, F=ma, conservation of energy and momentum, etc. You can skip geometric optics, but you should be comfortable with wave phenomena, like interference. You can skip thermo and fluid mechanics. Being familiar with elementary differential equations will help.

For this course, you'll need to know only bits and pieces of E&M you've had so far, but given your long-term goal of attending physics grad school, it wouldn't hurt to review all of E&M to get the basics down.

 

[diligence]

For this course, you'll need to know only bits and pieces of E&M you've had so far, but given your long-term goal of attending physics grad school, it wouldn't hurt to review all of E&M to get the basics down.

yes, for sure. I'm reading Serway: Physics for Sci/Eng and doing literally every problem. But 3 weeks is surely not enough time to get everything in, so I wanted to know the priority topics required for Modern Phys.