Physics 132 - Physics for Biologists II (Spring 2020)

You can find the homepage for the text readings for this class (plus readings I am not assigning) at: NEXUS/Physics.

Notes:

This schedule is tentative and subject to change. Reading Assignments are online with responses in Canvas due by midnight the evening before the lecture. Paper HW assignments are due at the beginning of Thursday's lecture, and the XTA part of the assignment is due at Friday at 9 PM.
Recitations and labs begin on February 3rd.

Date	Class	Reading	Recitation	Lab
Week 1
1/28	1		Structure of the class WAWA: Dimensional analysis
1/30	2	Overview: Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics The 1st law of thermodynamics Organizing the idea of energy Enthalpy Thermodynamic equilibrium and equipartition Example: Degrees of freedom
Week 2			Recitation: How a kinesin walks	No lab
2/4	3	The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics -- A Probabilistic Law Entropy -- implications of the 2nd law of thermodynamics Why entropy is logarithmic (RQ)	Quiz 1
2/6	4	Biological consequences of the 2nd law of thermodynamics Sharing -- a way to think about entropy Calculating entropy (RQ) and the three follow-on examples to this page		HW 1
Week 3			Recitation: Entropy and diffusion	Lab 6.1: Modeling fluid flow I
2/11	5	Motivating Free Energy (RQ) Example: Free energy of an expanding gas Gibbs free energy	Quiz 2
2/13	6	Powers and exponentials Fluctuations -- How energy is distributed Workout: How energy is distributed The Boltzmann distribution Example: The Boltzmann distribution (RQ)		HW 2
Week 4			Recitation: What's "free" about free energy?	Lab 6.2: Modeling fluid flow II
2/18	7	Overview: Electricity The Electric field (RQ) Electric potential energy Motivating simple electric models	Quiz 3
2/20	8	The electric potential (RQ) A simple electric model: A line of charge A simple electric model: A sheet of charge A simple electric model: A spherical shell of charge		HW 3
Week 5			Recitation: Insane in the membrane, 1: Lipid bilayers	Lab 7.1: Electric forces in a fluid I
2/25	9	Motivating Capacitance Two parallel sheets of charge The capacitor (RQ) The dielectric constant The energy stored in a capacitor	Quiz 4
2/27	10	Electric fields in matter Electrical interactions in ionic solutions Debye length The Nernst potential (RQ)	WAWA: The electric potential	HW 4
Week 6			Recitation: Insane in the membrane, 2: Lipid bilayers	Lab 7.2: Electric forces in a fluid II
3/3	11	No new readings
3/5	12		MIDTERM 1
Week 7			Recitation: Introduction to circuits	Lab 8.1: Signal transmission along nerve axons I
3/10	13	Go over midterm 1 Electric currents Quantifying electric current Resistive electric flow -- Ohm's law (RQ)	Quiz 5
3/12	14	Ways to think about current -- a toolbox of models Kirchhoff's principles (RQ) Electrical energy and power		HW 5
Week 8 and 9			SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS
Week 10			Recitation: Salting out and denaturing DNA	Lab 8.2: Signal transmission along nerve axons II
3/31	15	Example: Resistors in series Example: Resistors in parallel Example: Batteries in series and parallel Example: A complex network	Quiz 6
4/2	16	Motivating the harmonic oscillator Mass on a spring Hanging mass on a spring (RQ) Example: Oscillator graphs Example: Oscillator calculations Quantum oscillators -- discrete states		HW 6
Week 11			Recitation: Introduction to light	Lab 9.1: Introducing geometrical optics I
4/7	17		Quiz 7
4/9	18	Overview: Waves in 1D Waves on an elastic string Wave pulses (RQ) Propagating a wave pulse -- the math		HW 7
Week 12			Recitation: Diatomic vibrations	Lab 9.2: Introducing geometrical optics II
4/14	19	Example: Velocity patterns in a pulse Wave speed (RQ) Superposition of waves in 1D Example: Cancelling pulses	Quiz 8
4/16	20	Sinusoidal waves Reading the content in a sinusoidal wave Beats Standing waves Spectral analysis -- summing different wavelengths
Week 13			Recitation:Spectroscopy - How does light interact with matter?	Lab 10.1: Analyzing light spectra: Implications for living systems I
4/21	21		MIDTERM 2
4/23	22	Overview: Three models of light The photon model of light Basic principles of the photon model Black-body radiation Fluorescence	Go over exam Quiz 9	HW 8
Week 14			Recitation: Seeing inside the body	Lab 10.2: Analyzing light spectra: Implications for living systems II
4/28	23	The ray model of light Flat mirrors Example: Flat mirrors Curved mirrors Curved mirror equations Lenses Lens equations
4/30	24	The wave model of light Electromagnetic radiation -- Maxwell's rainbow Huygens' principle Huygens' principle -- the math	Quiz 10	HW 9
Week 15			Recitation: Photosynthesis	Lab 11: Exploring complex absorption and emission in molecules
5/5	25	Two-slit interference
5/7	26	Diffraction Interference from two wide slits	Quiz 11	HW 10
Week 16				Makeup labs
5/12	27	Reconciling the wave and photon models - sort of	Quiz 12
Exam Week
5/16		6:30-8:30 PM	FINAL EXAM	Location: TBD

Physics 132 Physics for Biologists II

Schedule - Redish

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8 and 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Exam Week

Contact: Joe (E. F.) Redish (redish@umd.edu)