Experimental Physics for Engineering

Mechanics

• Forces
• Gravitation
• Fictitious forces
• Rotational systems
• Work, Energy, Power
• Momentum, angular momentum and energy conservation
• Oscillations and waves

Electricity and magnetism

• Electrostatics
• Electrodynamics
• Magnetism
• Electromagnetic waves

Optics

• Light as an electromagnetic wave
• Geometrical optics
• Optical imaging
• Wave optics
• Polarization

Quantum mechanical phenomena

• Wave-particle dualismus
• Quantization
• Photons
• Bohr atomic model
• Quantum mechanical phenomena in solid state physics
• Quantum mechanical phenomena in nuclear physics

After successful completion of the module the students are able to:

• develop an overview of classical physics and gain first insights into modenr physics
• understand the working methods of physicists, the definitions of the essential physical quantities (forces, potentials, currents, etc.), as well as the fundamental physical laws and their importance in nature and technology
• describe physical processes qualitatively and mathematically quantitatively and apply laws of physics to physical problems
• develop physical foundations for various areas of modern engineering

• Fundamentals of differential and integral calculus
• Fundamentals of vector algebra

This module consists of a lecture and an exercise class. In the lecture the definitions of the necessary physical quantities as well as the theoretical foundations of the relevant processes are presented. Through experimental demonstrations and videos the students receive a direct impression and a graphic representation of these processes. Important quantitative relations are derived. The application of physical laws on physical problems are shown in the exercise class through calculations and discussions of specific tasks.

• Lecture with a tablet-PC and a beamer
• Videos and presentation films
• Live demonstration of experiments
• PDF-copies of the lecture accessible on the webpage

• E. Hering & R. Martin: Physik für Ingenieure, Springer, (2004) (available as .pdf in the TUM library)
• J. Wagner und P.A. Tipler: Physik für Wissenschaftler und Ingenieure, Springer, (2014) (available as e-Book in the TUM library)
• C. Thomsen: Physik für Ingenieure für Dummies, Wiley-VCH, (2018)
• P. Müller-Buschbaum: Physik 1 für Maschinenwesen (Skriptum - available as pdf on the Moodle-Portal)
• J. Walker, R. Resnick & D. Halliday: Fundamentals of Physics, John Wiley & Sons, (2013)
• W. Demtröder: Physik 1-4, Springer, (2016-2018)

There will be a written exam of 90 minutes duration. Therein the achievement of the competencies given in section learning outcome is tested exemplarily at least to the given cognition level using calculation problems and comprehension questions (multiple choice).

For example an assignment in the exam might be: 

• Which statement is correct in the case of a damped oscillation? a) In the case of a damped oscillation the frequency decreases with time; b) At the resonance frequency a catastrophy occurs, if the damping is small enough; c) A weakly damped free oscillation has a defined frequency, which is smaller than that of an undamped oscillation; d) In the aperiodic limiting case the system oscillates with the frequency of the undamped oscillation and with an exponentially decreasing amplitude.
• A freight wagon with the mass of m1 = 10 t and the speed of 28,8 km/h collides with a second wagon at rest. Afterwards both of them roll with a speed of v = 7,2 km/h. What is the mass m2 of the second wagon? a) 20 t b) 30 t c) 40 t d) 50 t

In the exam the following learning aids are permitted: hand-written sheet with formulas, double-sided (A4 format)

Participation in the exercise classes is strongly recommended since the exercises prepare for the problems of the exam and rehearse the specific competencies.

There will be a bonus (one intermediate stepping of "0,3" to the better grade) on passed module exams (4,3 is not upgraded to 4,0). The bonus is applicable to the exam period directly following the lecture period (not to the exam repetition) and subject to the condition that the student passes the mid-term of passing the voluntary test exams during the semester.