MEETING TIMES

MWF 9:35 am – 10:25 am (period 3), in NPB 1101

CONTACT

Bernard Whiting NPB 2079; Tel: 392-8746; Email: bernard@phys.ufl.edu
Qiaoli Yang NPB 2038; Tel: 904-263-3385; Email: qiaoliyang@ufl.edu

OFFICE HOURS

TR  5:10 pm – 6:00 pm (period 10) in NPB 2079, or by appointment.
TF  2:00 pm – 3:00 pm (period 7) in NPB 2038, for grader, Qiaoli Yang.

ASSIGNED TEXT

Classical Mechanics, H. Goldstein, C. Poole and J. Safko
(Addison Wesley, San Francisco, 2002) 3rd edition ISBN 978-0-201-65702-9.

SUPPLEMENTAL TEXT

Mechanics, L.D. Landau and E.M. Lifshitz
Volume 1 in Course of Theoretical Physics
(Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1976) 3rd edition ISBN 978-0-750-62896-9.

PREREQUISITES

PHY 3221 and PHY 4222 - Undergraduate Classical Mechanics
PHY 3323 - Undergraduate Electromagnetism

OVERVIEW

Introduction, principle of least action, constraints, Noether's theorem, Galilean invariance, the Kepler problem, scattering, the virial theorem, free, forced and damped oscillations, small oscillations of a molecule, parametric resonance, the rotation group in 3 dimensions, equations of motion of rigid bodies, Hamilton's equations, Poisson brackets, canonical transformations, Liouville's theorem, the Hamilton-Jacobi equation, adiabatic invariants, the mechanics of continuous media.

HOMEWORK

Homework is work you do at home (or, at least, outside the class) whether assigned by me or assigned by yourself. Either way, for the course to be effective, it has to be done, but the long-term benefits are significantly better if you are self-motivated in the work you do.

HOW TO DO WELL?

  • Attend and participate fully in class
  • Solve relevant, interesting and hard problems
  • Hand homework in on time, every time

GRADING POLICY

The final grade will be based on homework (30%), a mid-term test (30%) on October 17, and the final exam (40%) on December 16.