Teaching code

4S02595

Teacher

Pasquina Marzola

Credits

4

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

FIS/07 - APPLIED PHYSICS

Period

Lezioni 1° semestre 1° anno dal Oct 10, 2016 al Jan 13, 2017.

Location

VERONA

Moodle Seminars

To show the organization of the course that includes this module, follow this link:  Course organization

Learning outcomes

The course is an introduction to understanding and appraising scientific methods used in quantitative biological and clinical research. Emphasis is on methods used to derive scientific laws or clinical relevant information from experimental or observational data and the applications of Physics in Medicine. The course aims to teach elementary statistical and mathematical methods used in the research, the principles of study design and experiments in bio-medicine. Another aim is to teach principles of mechanic, fluid dynamics, optics , thermodynamics and electrology.
Course aims and objectives
The course aims to teach the essential elements of research methodology, statistics and the main principle of physics in biology. The focus is mainly on interpretation and understanding of appropriate methodology.
Topics covered by the course are:
 Measurement and its properties
 The types of data generated in research studies
 Statistical methods and probability models used to describe biological data the data
 The most common inferential methods of analysis for categorical and continuous data, including regression methods
 Physical laws in biology and medicine

Program

1. Introduction
Units, standards and the SI system, dimensional analysis. Practical units. Scalar and Vector quantities. Operations on vectors (addition, subtraction, dot product, cross product). Graphic and Analytical Methods.

2. Elements of Mechanics
Position, displacement, velocity and acceleration. Average and instantaneous velocity. Uniform motion. Motion at constant acceleration. Uniform circular motion. Motion in two dimensions.
Dynamics: Newton’s Laws of motion. Weight: the force of gravity. The normal force. Linear Momentum and its conservation. Work and Energy. Theorem of kinetic energy. Conservative and dissipative forces. Potential energy, mechanical energy and its conservation. Gravitational and elastic potential energy . Power.
Angular quantities. Torque of a force. Couple of forces. Moment of inertia, Angular momentum and its conservation. Equilibrium of rigid bodies. Levers of I, II; III kind. Static equilibrium analysis in some real situations as muscles and joints. Mechanical and technological properties of materials: Young's modulus and Hooke's law.

3. Fluids
Density and specific gravity. Definition of pressure, flow rate, official and practical units. Measurement of pressure, manometers. Sphygmomanometer. Pascal's Law, Stevin's law, Archimedes' principle. Ideal fluid, Equation of continuity, Bernoulli's Equation. Applicatons of Bernoulli’s equation. Venturi effect. Viscous fluid, viscosity measurement and units. Poiseuille’s law, hydraulic resistance. Exercises and Applications in the circulatory system. Laminar or turbulent flow, the Reynolds number. Cardiac work. Kinetic factor. Surface tension. Laplace’s law. Applications of the Laplace’s. Capillarity.

4. Electric Phenomena
Electric charge, definitions and units. Coulomb's law. Electric field, Energy, Electric Potential. Definition and units. Electric dipole, dipole layer, potential of a quiescentcell and of a front of depolarization. Electric currents, Ohm's law, Joule's law, resistors in series and parallel, Capacity, capacitors in series and in parallel. Electric power. RC circuit.
Basics of Electromagnetism: Magnets and magnetic fields, magnetic fields produced by electric currents, force on an electric current in a magnetic field; definition and units. Lorentz force, Ampere's and Faraday-Neumann-Lenz Laws. Examples. Principle of operation of some medical devices.

5. Thermodynamics
Temperature, heat, specific heat. Definitions and units. Thermometer and temperature scales. Heat transfer by conduction, convection, radiation. Evaporation. Gas laws and absolute temperature. Thermodynamic transformations. First and second law of thermodynamics. Entropy .

6. Optics and Waves
Wave phenomena, mechanical and electromagnetic waves. Wavelength, frequency and speed of propagation, intensity. Sound. Light: geometric optics. Laws of reflection and refraction. Optical fiber and medical applications. Plane mirror. Concave mirror. Paraxial approximation of geometric optics. Thin lenses, lens diopters. Equation of conjugate points for the plane mirror, concave mirror and thin lenses. Construction of images. The simple microscope.

7. Atomic and Nuclear Physics, Radioactivity and Radiation Protection. Production of X-ray fluorescence and bremsstrahlung. Electron volts, definition and use. Interaction of X-rays - gamma with matter: photoelectric effect, Compton effect, pair production. Half value thickness. Fundamentals of diagnostic radiology. Radioactivity, law of radioactive decay.

Examination Methods

Written test consisting of simple exercises on the topics covered during the course and multiple choice questions. Possible oral exam (optional), which aims to acquire, if necessary, further elements for evaluation of students and eventually clarify aspects of the written test.