Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources

BUNDA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE

AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

SYLLABUS

1. PROGRAMME : Degree in Agriculture

2. COURSE : Physics I

3. COURSE NO. : PHY 111

4. YEAR : One

5. SEMESTER : Two

6. PRESENTED TO : Faculty of Agriculture

7. PRESENTED BY : Agricultural Engineering

Dept.

8. NO. OF LECTURES/WEEK : 2 x 1 hr. (Sem. 1)

9. NO. OF TUTORIALS/PRACTICALS/WK: 1 x 2 hr. (Sem. 1)

10. METHOD OF ASSESSMENT : Course Work 40%

End of Course Examination
60%

11. PREREQUISITES : O Level Mathematics and

Physics

12. AIMS OF THE STUDY :

To enable students develop a foundation of the basic principles of physics relative to

Agriculture and Agricultural Engineering courses held in later years.

13. COURSE OBJECTIVES :

By the end of the course students should be able to:

[a] understand basic principles and laws of physics.

 [b] effectively use the principles of physics in the practice of Agriculture and
Agricultural Engineering.

14. TOPICS OF STUDY :

LECTURES

a) Fundamental Quantities and Units

i. Physics qualities
ii. Dimensions
iii. Types of units
iv. Systems of units
v. Unity brackets
vi. Measurement
vii. Accuracy
viii. Error

b) Basic Mechanical Principles

i. Concepts of force and pressure
ii. Moment of a force, torque
iii. Centre of gravity
iv. Couple and beam loadings
v. Condition of equilibrium
vi. Newton's laws
vii. Stress - strain (relationship)
viii. Hooke's Law, Young's Modulus of Elasticity
ix. Factor of safety

c) Vectors

i. Parallel forces
ii. Scalar and vector quantities
iii. Vector relationships & representation
iv. Types of vectors
v. Vector addition and subtraction
vi. Resolving a vector

d) Velocity and Acceleration

i. Motion in a straight line

ii. Motion in a vertical plane
iii. Circular motion
iv. Relationship between angular and linear velocity

e) Work, Energy and Power

 i. Work done by a force, torque
ii. Potential, kinetic and strain energy
iii. Conservation of energy
iv. Units of power
v. Power and torque transmission

f) Simple Machines
i. Machines
ii. Mechanical advantage
iii. Velocity ratio
iv. Gear and belt drives
v. Efficiency
vi. Friction

g) Simple Harmonic Motion

i. Restoring force
ii. Oscillations of a mass on a spring
iii. Period of frequency
iv. SHM of pendulum and other systems
v. Energy in SHM

PRACTICALS

Based on lecture topics above.

13. PRESCRIBED TEXTS:

BOLTON, W. 2012. Engineering Science, Taylor & Francis.

14. RECOMMENDED TEXTS:

Bueche, F. & Hecht, E. 2010. Schaum's outline of theory and problems of college
physics, McGraw-Hill.
NELKON, M. & PARKER, P. 1995. Advanced Level Physics, Pearson Education.

LOEB, L. B. 2007. Fundamentals of Electricity & Magnetism, Dyson Press.

Titcomb G.R.A. and Jackson M (1970).Fundamentals of Engineering Science. Hutchinson.