THEORETICAL QUESTIONS FOR FINAL

PHYSICS 2 SENIOR-
LECTURER TOMPAKOVA NAZGUL 30/04/2014
1. Transverse waves. Longitudinal waves.
Transverse Waves
For transverse waves the displacement of the medium is perpendicular to the direction of propagation of
the wave. A ripple on a pond and a wave on a string are easily visualized transverse waves.

Transverse waves cannot propagate in a gas or a liquid because there is no mechanism for driving motion
perpendicular to the propagation of the wave.

Longitudinal Waves
In longitudinal waves the displacement of the medium is parallel to the propagation of the wave. A wave in
a "slinky" is a good visualization. Sound waves in air are longitudinal waves.



2. Rayleigh-Jeans Formula. "Ultraviolet catastrophe".
For frequency , the expression is instead
Rayleigh-Jeans Formula -
where c is the speed of light, k is the Boltzmann constant and T is the temperature in kelvins.

The ultraviolet catastrophe, was a prediction of classical physics that an ideal black body at thermal
equilibrium will emit radiation with infinite power.


3. The Huygen's Principle. Fermat's Principle
Every point of a wave front may be considered the source of secondary wavelets that spread out
in all directions with a speed equal to the speed of propagation of the waves.
Fermat's Principle
In optics, Fermat's principle or the principle of least time is the principle that the path taken
between two points by a ray of light is the path that can be traversed in the least time. This principle is
sometimes taken as the definition of a ray of light.
4. The Pauli exclusion principle.
No two electrons in an atom can have identical quantum numbers. This is an example of a
general principle which applies not only to electrons but also to other particles of half-
integer spin (fermions). It does not apply to particles of integer spin (bosons).


5. Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
The position and momentum of a particle cannot be simultaneously measured with
arbitrarily high precision. There is a minimum for the product of the uncertainties of these
two measurements. There is likewise a minimum for the product of the uncertainties of
the energy and time.

6. Schrodinger equation.
In quantum mechanics, the Schrdinger equation is a partial differential equation that describes how
the quantum state of some physical system changes with time.
Time-dependent Schrdinger equation (general)

where i is the imaginary unit, is Planck's constant divided by 2, the symbol "/t" indicates a partial
derivative with respect to time t, is the wave function of the quantum system, and is the
Hamiltonian operator

Time-independent Schrdinger equation (general)


7. Series RLC Circuit.
An RLC circuit (or LCR circuit or CRL circuit or RCL circuit) is an electrical circuit consisting of
a resistor, an inductor, and a capacitor, connected in series or in parallel.
In the series circuit, the three components are all in series with the voltage source. The governing
differential equation can be found by substituting into Kirchhoff's voltage law (KVL) the constitutive
equation for each of the three elements. From KVL,

Because the elements are in series, the current everywhere in the circuit must be the same
at any instant. That is, the current at all points in a series AC circuit has the same
amplitude and phase.


8. Interference. Total Internal Reflection.
In physics, interference is a phenomenon in which two waves superpose to form a resultant wave of
greater or lower amplitude.


Total Internal Reflection
When light is incident upon a medium of lesser index of refraction, the ray is bent away from
the normal, so the exit angle is greater than the incident angle. Such reflection is commonly
called "internal reflection". The exit angle will then approach 90 for some critical incident
angle
c
, and for incident angles greater than the critical angle there will be total internal
reflection.



9. Stern-Gerlach Experiment.

This experiment confirmed the quantization of electron spin into two orientations. This made a
major contribution to the development of the quantum theory of the atom.




10. Blackbody radiation. Stefan-Boltzmann's law.
Black-body radiation is the type of electromagnetic radiation within or surrounding a body
in thermodynamic equilibrium with its environment, or emitted by a black body (an opaque and non-
reflective body) held at constant, uniform temperature. The radiation has a specific spectrum and
intensity that depends only on the temperature of the body.
The StefanBoltzmann law, also known as Stefan's law, describes the power radiated from a black
body in terms of its temperature. Specifically, the StefanBoltzmann law states that the
total energy radiated per unit surface area of a black body across all wavelengths per unit time (also
known as the black-body radiant exitance or emissive power), , is directly proportional to the fourth
power of the black body's thermodynamic temperature T:

The constant of proportionality , called the StefanBoltzmann constant or Stefan's constant, derives
from other known constants of nature. The value of the constant is






11. Electromagnetic waves. Maxwell's equations.
Electromagnetic waves are formed when an electric field (shown as blue
arrows) couples with a magnetic field (shown as red arrows). The magnetic
and electric fields of an electromagnetic wave are perpendicular to each
other and to the direction of the wave.
Maxwell's Equations are a set of 4 complicated equations that describe the world of electromagnetics.
These equations describe how electric and magnetic fields propagate, interact, and how they are
influenced by objects.

12. Polarization by Reflection.
Since the reflection coefficient for light which has electric field parallel to the plane of
incidence goes to zero at some angle between 0 and 90, the reflected light at that angle
is linearly polarized with its electric field vectors perpendicular to the plane of incidence
and parallel to the plane of the surface from which it is reflecting. The angle at which this
occurs is called the polarizing angle or the Brewster angle. At other angles the reflected
light is partially polarized.
From Fresnel's equations it can be determined that the parallel reflection coefficient is zero
when the incident and transmitted angles sum to 90. The use ofSnell's law gives an
expression for the Brewster angle.
13.




14. Bose-Einstein distribution. Bosons.
The Bose-Einstein distribution describes the statistical behavior of integer spinparticles
(bosons). At low temperatures, bosons can behave very differently than fermions because an
unlimited number of them can collect into the same energy state, a phenomenon called
"condensation".


In quantum mechanics, bosons comprise one of two classes of particles, the other being fermions. An
important characteristic of bosons is that their statistics do not restrict the number that can occupy the
same quantum state. This property is exemplified in helium-4 when it is cooled to become
a superfluid.
[9]
In contrast, two fermions cannot occupy the same quantum space.
[10]
Whereas the
elementary particles that make up matter (i.e. leptons and quarks) are fermions, the elementary bosons
are force carriers that function as the 'glue' holding matter together. This property holds for all particles
with integer spin (s = 0, 1, 2 etc.) as an immediate consequence of the spinstatistics theorem.
By definition, bosons are particles which obey BoseEinstein statistics: when one swaps two bosons (of
the same species), the wavefunction of the system is unchanged.
Bosons are those particles which have an integer spin (0, 1, 2...).
All the force carrier particles are bosons, as are those composite particles with an even number of fermion
particles (like mesons).

15. Fermi-Dirac distribution. Fermions.
The Fermi-Dirac Distribution
The Fermi-Dirac distribution applies to fermions, particles with half-integer spinwhich must
obey the Pauli exclusion principle. Each type of distribution functionhas a normalization term
multiplying the exponential in the denominator which may be temperature dependent. For the
Fermi-Dirac case, that term is usually written:

The significance of the Fermi energy is most clearly seem by setting T=0. At absolute zero, the
probability is =1 for energies less than the Fermi energy and zero for energies greater than the
Fermi energy. We picture all the levels up to the Fermi energy as filled, but no particle has a
greater energy. This is entirely consistent with the Pauli exclusion principle where each
quantum state can have one but only one particle.


A fermion is any particle that has an odd half-integer (like 1/2, 3/2, and so forth) spin. Quarks and leptons, as well
as most composite particles, like protons and neutrons, are fermions.
For reasons we do not fully understand, a consequence of the odd half-integer spin is that fermions obey the Pauli
Exclusion Principle and therefore cannot co-exist in the same state at same location at the same time.

16. Polarization of Light.
Polarization (also polarisation) is a property of waves that can oscillate with more than one
orientation. Electromagnetic waves, such as light, andgravitational waves exhibit polarization whereas
this is not a concern with sound waves in a gas or liquid which have only one possible polarization,
namely the direction in which the wave is travelling.
A condition in which transverse waves vibrate consistently in a single plane, or along a circle or ellipse.
Electromagnetic radiation such as light is composed of transverse waves and can be polarized. Certain kinds of
light filters, including sunglasses that reduce glare, work by filtering out light that is polarized in one direction.
17. p-n junction.
P-n junctions are formed by joining n-type and p-type semiconductor materials, as shown below. Since
the n-type region has a high electron concentration and the p-type a high hole concentration, electrons
diffuse from the n-type side to the p-type side. Similarly, holes flow by diffusion from the p-type side to
the n-type side. If the electrons and holes were not charged, this diffusion process would continue until
the concentration of electrons and holes on the two sides were the same, as happens if two gasses come
into contact with each other. However, in a p-n junction, when the electrons and holes move to the
other side of the junction, they leave behind exposed charges on dopant atom sites, which are fixed in
the crystal lattice and are unable to move. On the n-type side, positive ion cores are exposed. On the p-
type side, negative ion cores are exposed. An electric field forms between the positive ion cores in
the n-type material and negative ion cores in thep-type material. This region is called the "depletion
region" since the electric field quickly sweeps free carriers out, hence the region is depleted of free
carriers. A "built in" potential Vbi due to is formed at the junction. The animation below shows the
formation of the at the junction between n and p-type material.



18. Compton's Effect.


Compton Scattering
Arthur H. Compton observed the scattering of x-rays from electrons in a
carbon target and found scattered x-rays with a longer wavelength than
those incident upon the target. The shift of the wavelength increased with
scattering angle according to the Compton formula:

Compton explained and modeled the data by assuming a particle (photon)
nature for light and applying conservation of energy and conservation of
momentum to the collision between the photon and the electron. The
scattered photon has lower energy and therefore a longer wavelength
according to the Planck relationship.

19. Fraunhofer Diffraction Pattern.
In optics, the Fraunhofer diffraction equation is used to model the diffraction of waves when the
diffraction pattern is viewed at a long distance from the diffracting object, and also when it is viewed at
the focal plane of an imaging lens.
Fraunhofer diffraction occurs when:






20. Nuclear forces.
A force, which can hold a nucleus together against the enormous forces of repulsion of the protons is
strong indeed. It has a very short range. It is the strongest of four fundamental forces.
Nuclear models.
Shell model
Nucleons in the nucleus move in orbits and shells like atomic electrons in electron orbits or
shells. Though nuclear forces are quite different from Coulomb forces, individual nucleons
in the nucleus also appear to have well-defined energy levels.
21. Simple Harmonic motion.
Simple Harmonic Motion
Simple harmonic motion is typified by the motion of a mass on a spring when it is
subject to the linear elastic restoring force given by Hooke's Law. The motion is
sinusoidal in time and demonstrates a single resonant frequency.

aperture or slit size,
wavelength, distance from the apertur
22.

22. The Doppler Effect.
If the source of sound moves relative to the observer, then the frequency of the heard
sound differs to the frequency of the source:

f is the frequency of the source
V is the speed of sound in the media
V
S
is the speed of the source relative to the media, positive direction is toward the
source
V
O
is the speed of the observer, relative to the media, positive direction is toward the
source
f` is the frequency heard by the observer
The Doppler Effect is common for all types of waves: mechanical, sound,
electromagnetic waves.

23. Bohr postulates. The spin of the electron.







23. Nuclear Fusion.




24. Lasers. Types and Principle of working.







26. Alpha-Decay, Beta-Decay, Gamma-Decay.









27. Rutherford's experiment.









28. Nuclear Fission.





29. Power of Energy transfer.

30. Alternating Current.
In alternating current (AC, also ac), the flow of electric charge periodically reverses direction. An
AC waveform can be sinusoidal, square, or sawtooth-shaped. Some AC waveforms are irregular or
complicated. The voltage supplied by an AC source is harmonic (sinusoidal) with a period T.


31.Reflection and Refraction.
When a light ray traveling in one medium encounters a boundary with another
medium, in general, part of the incident light is reflected.
The law of reflection:
the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence: Q
1
= Q`
1
.
The incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal all lie in the same plane.

When a ray traveling in one medium encounters a boundary with another medium, in
general, the ray partly reflected and partly refracted.
The law of refraction says:
Where v
1
is the speed of light in the rst medium and v
2
is the speed of light in
the second medium.

32.Dispersion.
Dispersion is dependence of refraction on the wavelength of light.
Variation of index of refraction with vacuum wavelength for three
materials.
Because n is a function of wavelength, Snells law of refraction indicates that light of
different wavelengths is bent at different angles when incident on a refracting material.
As we see from this figure, the index of refraction generally decreases with increasing
wavelength. This means that violet light bends more than red light does when passing into a
refracting material.
A prism refracts a single-wavelength light ray through the angle of deviation d.
When a beam of white light (a combination of all visible wavelengths) is incident on a
prism, the rays that emerge spread out in a series of colors known as the visible spectrum

33.Young's experiment. Diffraction Grating.



34. Photoelectric Effect.






35. The true spectrum of Hydrogen.



36. Tunneling Effect.


37. Atomic Structure.








38. Diodes and Transistors.



39. Radioactivity.



40. Polarization by Selective Absorption. Malus's Law.