3 ECTS credits
84 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1019069BNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Enrollment Requirements
Students must have followed  ‘Vibrations and waves’, before they can enroll for ‘Modern Physics’
Taught in
Dutch
Faculty
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen
Department
Industriële ingenieurswetenschappen
Educational team
Greeshma Boohalli Shivamallegowda
Mark Runacres (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
24 contact hours Lecture
6 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
Course Content

Lectures: 

The lectures give an overview of the most important discoveries in physics during the 20th and 21st centuries. Technological applications of these discoveries are also discussed. The following topics are reviewed:

  • special relativity
  • quantum mechanics
  • atomic physics
  • solid state physics
  • nuclear physics
  • nuclea energy
  • superconductivity.

Laboratory practicals: 

The laboratory practicals should be prepared beforehand and are carried out independently by the student. All measurements are to be processed using appropriate error analysis. 
Course material
Handbook (Required) : Natuurkunde: deel 2 + masteringphysics, Elektriciteit, magnetisme, optica en moderne fysica, D. C. Giancoli, 4de, Pearson Education Benelux, 9789043038720, 2023
Digital course material (Required) : Moderne fysica: nota's bij het practicum, M. Raadschelders, 2010
Handbook (Recommended) : Schaum's Outline of Modern Physics, R. Gautreau, 2de, McGraw-Hill, 9780070248304, 1999
Digital course material (Required) : Slides hoorcollege, M. Runacres, 2015
Additional info

Description tutoring: after class, by appointment or via e-mail.

Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes

  • BaLO_1 To possess in-depth, application-oriented knowledge, understanding and practical skills related to mathematics and science, directed towards engineering applications.
  • BaLO_2 To possess application-oriented knowledge, understanding and skills about engineering sciences and engineering techniques.
  • BaLO_3 To solve practical engineering problems from an understanding of the basic theory and from an understanding of basic methods for the schematisation and modelling of processes or systems.
  • BaLO_4 Implementation-oriented and analytical problem-solving, design, development and creative innovation with a focus on the operational implications of the specific case.
  • BaLO_6 Based on acquired insight, to select the appropriate methods of research, design and solution and appropriately apply the results in a scientific and effective manner.
  • BaLO_9 To demonstrate an engineering attitude: attention to planning, to technical, economic and societal factors as well as managerial implications, assessment of the risks and feasibility of the proposed approach or solution, being result-driven and achieving effective solutions, innovative thinking.
  • BaLO_10 To correctly handle the scientific and discipline-specific terminology in language relevant to the programme.
  • BaLO_11 To present and communicate the results of technical and scientific work, in writing, orally and visually.
  • BaLO_12 To be able to work in a team in different roles, to have insight in one's performance; to take shared responsibility for determining and achieving the goals of the team.
  • BaLO_13 To act in an ethical and socially responsible manner with attention to technical, economic, human and sustainability aspects.
     

 

Objectives

D1: knows the units of all relevant quantities and applies them consistently (BaLO 1)
D2: knows the basic principles of special relativity, including the Lorentz transformations and the expressions for relativistic momentum and energy, and their applications (BaLO 1, 3, 6)
D3: knows how the experimental study of the interaction between light and matter forms the basis of early quantummechanical theories and is able to explain the experiments using these theories (BaLO 1, 3, 6)
D4: can quantummechanically explain radiative processes such as absorption, emission, scattering, fluorescence and phosphorescence (BaLO 1, 3, 6)
D5: can construct and solve the time-independent Schrödinger equation for an idealised system and can realte such a system to real systems (BaLO 1, 3)
D6: knows the different types of superconductors and their practical applications, including their different advantages and drawbacks (BaLO 1, 3)
D7: knows the working principles of doped and non-doped superconductors and their main applications  (BaLO 1, 2, 3)
D8: knows the different kinds of radio-active radiation and their effect on the human body  (BaLO 1, 3, 9, 13)
D9: knows the working principles of a nuclear reactor (BaLO 1, 2, 4, 9, 13)
D10: can explain the formation of an X-ray spectrum, both for spectral lines and the continuum (BaLO 1, 3, 6)
D11: can independently conduct experiments that illustrate the principles acquired during lectures and process the measurements with standard methods (BaLO 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11)
D12: can work in a team (BaLO 12, 13)
 
AD1: reasons and acts in a structured and systematic manner (BaLO 9)
AD2: communicates in understandable and well-structured Dutch (BaLO 10, 11)
AD3: develops a professional attitude (BaLO 9, 10, 13)

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Other Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Other Exam with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

    Note: Exam time 1st session:
    Lecture: written exam: 75% (not transferred to 2nd session)
    Laboratory practicals: report per group: 25% (immediately transferred to 2nd session)
    Exam time 2nd session:
    Lecture: written exam: 75%
    Laboratory practicals: report per group: 25% (immediately transferred from 1st session)

    Not observing the laboratory regulations during the preparation, execution and/or reporting of the laboratory practicals, may result in a zero for the considered practicum.

Additional info regarding evaluation
The exam for this course starts with a threshold question, that consists of several short questions about content that is deemed necessary to comprehend the course. The relevant content for this threshold question is clearly communicated via Canvas. If the score for this threshold question is less than 8 out of 10, the exam will be stopped.
An illegitimate absence of more than 25 % at the laboratory practicals leads to an absent quotation for the laboratory practicals. The sanctions taken in the first exam session are transferred to the second exam session.
Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Engineering Technology: Startplan (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Engineering Technology: Electromechanical Engineering (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Engineering Technology: Electronics-ICT Engineering (only offered in Dutch)