The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning outcomes

Aim of the course General Physics for the degree in Biotechnology is to provide students with the fundamental notions of general physics.

Program

Fundamental and derived physical quantities. Units . MKS. Order of magnitude. Coordinate systems: Cartesian and polar coordinates. Scalar and vector. Vector Properties, Sum and difference among vectors. Vector multiplication by scalar. Components of a vector. Unit vectors.

Kinematics of a particle. Displacement, average velocity, average acceleration. Instantaneous velocity and instantaneous acceleration. Linear motion. Uniformly accelerated linear motion. Bodies in free fall. Motion in two dimensions. Motion in two dimensions with constant acceleration. Projectile motion. Uniform circular motion, centripetal acceleration and period. Radial and tangential acceleration for a particle moving along a curved path (mention). Relative velocity.
Newton’s laws of motion. Force, inertial mass. First, Second and Third Law. Weight and mass. Constraint reactions, free body diagram, string tension. The inclined plane. Static and kinetic friction. Centripetal force. The conical pendulum. Motion in the presence of velocity-dependent friction forces.

Energy. Scalar product of two vectors. Work. Work done by a constant force. Work done by a variable force. Work done by a spring. Work-energy theorem. The law of conservation of energy. Work-energy theorem in the presence of friction forces. Power. Gravitational potential energy. Conservation of mechanical energy. Applying the theorem of conservation of mechanical energy to the falling bodies. Conservative and non-conservative forces. Conservative forces and potential energy. The potential energy for the gravitational and electrostatic forces. Law of universal gravitation and weight. Diagrams of energy and equilibrium.

Systems of many particles. Momentum. Conservation of linear momentum. Formulation of the second law of dynamics in terms of momentum and impulse. Collisions in one dimension. Center of mass. Motion of the center of mass of a system of many particles.

Rigid bodies and rotational motions. Angular position, velocity and acceleration. The rigid body subjected to constant angular acceleration. Relation between rotational and translational quantities. Vector product. The moment of a force. Rigid body in equilibrium. The angular momentum for a particle and its conservation.

Oscillations. Motion of a particle attached to a linear pring. Simple harmonic oscillator. Energy in simple harmonic oscillator. The pendulum. Damped oscillations. Forced oscillations.

Fluids. Pressure. Pressure variation with depth (hydrostatic pressure). Measurement of atmospheric pressure (Torricelli’s experiment). Archimedes' principle. Fluid dynamics. Continuity equation. Bernoulli's theorem. Torricelli's law.

Electrical phenomena. Electric charge. Insulators and conductors. Coulomb's law. The electric field. Motion of charged particles in a uniform electric field. Flux of the electric field. Gauss's law for the electric field. Electric potential. Potential energy of electric charges. Electric field and electric potential. Capacity. Capacitors. Connected capacitors. Energy of the capacitor. The dielectrics. The electrical current. Resistance and Ohm's Law. Microscopic model for the electrical resistance. Electrical power. Electromotive force. Connected resistors. Kirchhoff's laws. Resistor-capacitor circuits.
Forces and magnetic fields. The magnetic field. Motion of a charge in a uniform magnetic field. Applications.

Examination Methods

Written test in the form of multiple choice test, followed by a spoken exam (the last one reserved to students who have obtained in the written test a mark not less than 26/30).