Readings, assignments, and class summaries

Week

Topics: Electrostatics, Electric fields and superposition. More Curly R notation.
Intro to continuous charges (rho, sigma, lambda)

Read Ch. 2.1.3-4, (my notes to ~p. 9)

Due: 2 items.
(Password is 3310, for this and ALL online surveys!)
1)Diagnostic(due at noon!) Do this one on your own, WITHOUT using any book, internet, or other help. (Really!) Not graded for correctness.

(Password is 3310)
2) Preflight #1 (due at noon!) Please DO use your book for this one! (But, also not graded for correctness)

This was the class activity for today.

Topics: Continuous charge examples.

Read: We'll continue with 2.1.4 today.
Read my notes to p.13)
You might Start Ch 2.2.

Due: HW 1 due (start of class) This is math review, new content starts next week.

This was the class activity for today.

MLK Holiday!
(No office hours today, but we'll have regular hours Tuesday 4-6)

Topics: Intro to Gauss Law and the Divergence theorem. (We'll go from Coulomb's law to Gauss' law in integral form, and then to Gauss' law in differential form) In between, we define flux, and make sense of the Divergence theorem and Gauss law in terms of field lines and sources)

Read (for today) : Ch 2.21-2, and review 1.3.4 (div). Also 1.2.4 if you need it)
Also read my notes to ~p. 17

Due: HW 2 due (start of class) The HINT for problem 1 is here (if you need it)

Topics: More on Gauss Law, and what "r_hat" means, and thus how to deal with divergence in spherical coords. Then, delta functions - first 1D, then 3D, and then connect to the physics (charge density of a point charge is propotional to a delta function!). At end, see how to apply Gauss' law to figure out E fields, but ONLY in cases of high symmetry

Read (for today) : Continuing with Ch 2.2.3 and 4, also 1.5 (on Delta functions)
also read my notes to ~p. 26

DUE) Preflight #2 (Password is always 3310) (due at noon!) Please use your book or notes for preflights! (But, we do not grade these for correctness)

Topics: Use Gauss' law to solve for E in situations with high symmetry.

Read (for today): Ch 2.2.3 and 4, but maybe. Review 1.2.5 and 1.3.5 (on curl) if you need that.

This is the class activity for today.

Office hours are Mon and Tu, 4-6, every week. Join us!

Topics: Wrap up Gauss' law story

Read (for today): Ch 2.3.1-3. (We didn't get here, so it's good for Friday!)

Due: HW 3 due (start of class)

This was the followup class activity for today.

Topics: curl(E) story, and Voltage
Read for today: 2.3.1-.4

Due: Preflight #3 (Password is always 3310, due at noon!)

Due: There is an optional (extra credit) early-term survey available here. It's about how everything is going! Please take a few minutes for this. Thanks

Topics: Calculating voltage, the "arbitrary constant" aspect, working out V and E for a sphere (the Tutorial) and seeing how they relate, E=-grad(V).
V is always continuous.

Read (for today): Ch. 2.3.4

This is the class activity for today.

Topics:Voltage contains information about energy! Energy of systems, the "double sum". Finding total energy by integrating rho V, or E^2, over space. Griffiths "triangle" (relating E, V, and rho) End with an intro to Poisson and Laplace's equations.

Read for today: 2.3.5, 2.4.1-4

Due: HW 4 due (start of class)

Topics: Boundary conditions (E_perp "jumps by sigma/e0 at sheets, E_parallel does not, voltage is continuous) and intro to Conductors. (E=0 inside, charges sit on boundaries, E is normal at edges) Consequences of Gauss' law (figuring out how charges "redistribute" and what resulting fields look like, when you have conductors (charged or neutral) and other charges around.

Read for today: 2.5.1-2. (You don't have to read 2.5.3, though it's quite interesting)

Due: Preflight #4 (Password is always 3310, due at noon)

This is the class activity for today.

Topics: More on conductors and how charge distributes. Capacitors, and energy of capacitors.

Read for today: Finish Ch 2, start Ch 3.1

Bring that Tutorial on conductors from last Friday, we'll finish it up.

(SJP is out of town Tues-Thurs, but class continues of course! Office hours may have restricted hours, we'll let you know)

Topics: Laplace's equation! Boundary conditions.

Read for today:Finish 3.1, start 3.2 (method of images)

Due: HW 5 due (start of class)

Topics: Method of images, a simple trick to find voltage in certain special situations involving conductors. (It takes advantage of "uniqueness theorem": if you have a hard problem involving conductors, but can find a simpler problem with only a couple of point charges that creates the SAME "boundary conditions" (voltage) around a region of space you're interested in, then uniqueness tells you you've found THE solution.

Read for today: Finish 3.2,

A short reprieve! Preflight #5 will not be due till next Monday!

Topics: Intro to "separation of variables" (It's another trick to find voltage, more generally applicable than method of images, but still limited to a certain class of problems involvings conductors)

Read for today: 3.3.1 (separation of variables)

Topics: More separation of variables.

Read for today:3.3.1

HOMEWORK 6 due date is extended to Friday - you may turn it in today if you want, but it's not required. (HOWEVER, this means you won't get them back till 1 day before the exam. I will post solutions Friday afternoon, though)

NOTE: Homework 7 will be back on schedule!

This is the class activity for today.

Topics: Still more separation of variables - now in spherical coordinates

Read for today: Start 3.3.2

Due: HW 6 due (start of class)

For preflight: another short reprieve! Preflight #6 will not be due till Monday! (It's a conceptual exam review)

Topics: Continue Separation of variables in spherical coordinates.

Read for today:Finish 3.3.2

Topics: Separation of variables in spherical coordinates, possibly leading in to the "multipole expansion"

Read for today: 3.4.1-2

Due: HW7 due (start of class). This homework will be much shorter than usual due to the exam - stay tuned.

1st midterm exam is tomorrow evening! 7:30-9:15

Topics: Introduction to multipoles.
(We'll derive the "multipole expansion" which gives an approximate formula for Voltage far away from localized charges)

Read for today: (nothing new needed, exam last night)

Due: For preflight: another short reprieve! Preflight #7 will not be due till Monday!

Topics: Continue multipoles, largely wrap them up. Calculating dipole moments (well-defined if Q_tot=0, otherwise defined but dependent on your choice of origin) Sketching the Dipole field, using the multipole expansion to approximate V(r) far away from localized charges.

Read for today:Finish 3.4

Topics: Finish Dipoles with an in-class activity. Then, intro to Dielectrics and E-field in matter. Polarization of matter.

Read for today:4.1

Due: HW8 due (start of class).

This is the class activity for today.

Topics: More on polarization and dielectrics. Bound and volume charges from polarization, and resulting E field. Just barely: Intro to the "D-field" (the topic for Monday!)

Read for today: 4.2

Due: "preflight #8 (polarization)" is due today before class.

This is the class activity for today

Topics: E field from a uniformly polarized sphere. Then, introduction to The D-field: define it, motivate it. Intro to "linear dielectrics" and some notation/lingo.

Read for today: 4.3

Topics:Calculating D and E (when you have good symmetry, and linear dieletrics!)

Read for today: Start 4.4

Topics: More with D and E, and boundary conditions.

Read for today: Continue 4.4
NOTE: I will not cover 4.4.3, the last section.

Due: preflight #9 (dielectrics) is due today before class.
Here is the first activity from class today. (Finding BC's for E and D)

Topics:Applying Boundary conditions to get E (and D)

Read for today: Wrapping up Ch. 4 (Not covering 4.4.3),

Here is the activity from class today (Using BC's for E and D)

Topics: Wrap up Ch 4 (boundary conditions with dielectrics) and Intro to magnetism

Read for today: 5.1

Due: HW10 due (automatic free extension till start of class on Friday if you want!) .

Here are HINTS to HW 10 Q6
Here is a Tutorial that guides you through the Extra Credit problem

Topics: More on motion in magnetic fields, and currents/current density

Read for today: 5.2

Due: HW10 due (automatic free extension till start of class on Friday if you want!) .

Also due: Preflight 10 (review) is due today by 5 PM

Topics:Current density, current conservation, and intro to Biot-Savart (like Coulomb's law, but for B-fields from currents instead of E fields from charges)

Read for today: 5.3

Topics: Biot-Savart

Read for today: Still 5.3
Due: HW11 due (start of class).

Topics: Ampere's law

Read for today:(Nothing new, exam was last night)
Here is the activity from class today
Due: For preflight: a short reprieve! Next Preflight will not be due till Monday.

Topics:More Ampere's law

Due: Preflight 11

Here is the activity from class today
Read for today: 5.4.1 (won't get to this till Wed though)

Topics: Yet more Ampere's law (Solenoid, torus) and intro to Vector potential

Read for today: 5.4.2
Due: HW12 due (start of class).

Topics:Vector potential

Read for today: Catch up. (5.4.3 for Monday)
Here is the activity from class today
(Note: I didn't pass out the 3rd page, I encourage you to try it on your own, though!)

Topics:More Vector potential, boundary conditions
Here is the activity from class today

Read for today: 5.4.3

Topics: Boundary conditions and magnetic dipole

Read for today: finishing Ch 5.
Starting Ch 6 (maybe), so read 6.1 for today.

Due: HW13 due (start of class).

Topics:Magnetic multipole expansion, magnetic moments, torques, and forces, magnetic fields in matter.

Read for today: 6.1 for sure, we might get started on 6.2

Topics:Magnetization, bound currents, and the H field

Read for today:6.2 and 6.3

Due: Preflight 13

Topics:More H field, and magnetic materials

Read for today 6.3, could start 6.4

Due: HW14 due (start of class).
Also due: If you have not done the online FCQ yet, please take care of that! (Instruction on our main page if you didn't get the CU email)

Topics: Linear magnetic materials

Read for today: 6.4

Topics: Wrapping up CH 6: Linear magnetic materials, boundary conditions for H (and B), and just a little about ferromagnets

Read for today: Finish Ch 6, that's it!

FCQ's (done online) are due today. (Instruction on our main page if you didn't get the CU email)

Topics: Exam review/practice today.

Due: HW15 due.
Also due: The first 2 questions are surveys:
Here is the Question #1 survey
Here is the Question #2 survey
Thanks for doing those, it's helpful!
Each one counts as a FULL homework problem (results will be anonymized: I'll see a list of who gets credit, but only a summary of average responses)

Topics: Wrapup/review, and then "previews of coming attractions": Let's see a little of what's coming up in E&M II: what happens when you add in time dependence to Maxwell's equations?

Due: Last preflight- yet more exam review, this is on more recent material!