Phenomena that repeat over regular intervals of time and space play a fundamental role in many areas of physics and its applications. This course begins with a review of periodic oscillations of a simple harmonic oscillator, and proceeds to a discussion of a damped, driven, linear oscillator. Both mechanical and electrical oscillators will be discussed within a single mathematical framework. The course then turns to waves, including mechanical waves in solid, liquid, or gas media as well as electromagnetic waves.

The idea that the same simple physical laws apply equally well in the terrestrial and celestial realms, called the Newtonian Synthesis, is a major intellectual development of the seventeenth century. It continues to be of vital importance in contemporary physics. In this course, we will explore the implications of this synthesis by combining Newton’s dynamical laws with his Law of Universal Gravitation. We will solve a wide range of problems of motion by introducing a small number of additional forces.

Most of the physical phenomena we encounter in everyday life are due to the electromagnetic force. This course will begin with Coulomb’s law for the force between two charges at rest and introduce the electric field in this context. We will then discuss moving charges and the magnetic interaction between electric currents. The mathematical formulation of the basic laws in terms of the electric and magnetic fields will allow us to work towards the unified formulation originally given by Maxwell.