Electricity & Magnetism I

Course Description

Coulomb's law, electric fields and electrostatic potential, Gauss's law, Poisson's equation, capacitance, dielectric media, current density, simple circuits, magnetic fields, Lorentz force, magnetic media, induction, Ampere's law, inductance, Maxwell's equations. Prereq.: PHYS-308. 3.0 Credits

Required Textbook

Electromagnetism by Pollack & Stump, Benjamin Cummings.

Other Useful Texts on Electromagnetism

• David J. Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics, (Prentice-Hall).
• P. Lorrain & D.R. Corson, Electromagnetic Fields & Waves, (W.H. Freeman).
• Reitz, Milford & Christy, Foundations of Electromagnetic Theory, (Benjamin Cummings).
• Feynman, Lectures on Physics - vol II, (Benjamin Cummings).
• E. Purcell, Electricity & Magnetism, (McGraw-Hill).

Other Useful References:

• H.M. Schey, Div, Grad, Curl and All That, (W.W. Norton).
• Daniel Zwillinger, CRC Standard Mathematical Tables and Formulae, (CRS Press).
• I.S. Gradshteyn & I.M. Ryzhik, Tables of Integrals, Series and Products, (Academic Press).

Lectures

SEC 31, MW at 7:05 PM - 8:20 PM, in SCI-233

Problem Sets

Weekly problem sets are assigned here. Problem Sets should be completed by the following week, but will not be collected. You are expected to be able to work the problems without the aid of the solutions. At times, solutions may be provided so that you can check your work after you have completed the problem sets. Problem set assignments and solutions (if available) can be found here.

Quizzes

Short quizzes are administered during class on Wednesday. Quizzes will be given every week, with the exception of the first week of class and weeks where there is a midterm. Quizzes are based on the previous week's problem set and material from the previous weeks lecture. Some weeks the quiz may consist of a take home assignment covering parts of the problems assigned. The two lowest quiz grades will be dropped. Missed quizzes are counted as zero. There will be no quiz make-ups.

Exams

This course has two one-hour midterm exams and a two-hour final. The exams are largely based on material from lectures and problems similar to those found in the weekly assignments.

Grading

The final grade will be based on:
Two midterms (1/5) + (1/5) + Quizzes (1/5) + Final (2/5)

Any student who achieves a percentile score of above 90%, 80%, 70%, 60% is guaranteed to receive an A, B, C, or D respectively. These percentile scores may be adjusted downwards based on a class curve and other considerations.

Office Hours

Posted here and by appointment, S-217D SCI.

Academic Integrity

The NEIU policy on academic integrity can be found here.