BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, PILANI

K. K. Birla Goa Campus

INSTRUCTION DIVISION
SECOND SEMESTER 2018-2019
Course Handout (Part-II)

Date: 03/01/2019

In addition to part I (General handout for all courses appended to the timetable) this portion gives
further details regarding the course.

Course Number : PHY F111

Course Title : Mechanics Oscillations and Waves
Instructor-in-Charge : Toby Joseph
Instructors : Swastibrata Bhattacharyya, P. Nandakumar,
Teny Theresa John, P. N. Deepak

Course overview: This is a course on intermediate level mechanics that is built upon the
mechanics concepts you have learned in high school physics. The topics that will get covered
includes: damped oscillator under forcing, motion of coupled oscillators, wave phenomenon,
collisions, motion in non-inertial frames and rigid body dynamics. In the process we shall be
looking at various physical systems where these concepts are relevant. You will also be exposed
to new mathematical ideas like Fourier series and tensors that come along as we study these
topics.

Course outcomes: Some of the expected take away from the course are
 Learn how to apply laws of mechanics to understand various physical phenomena.
 Exposure to mathematical topics such as ordinary differential equations, partial
differential equations, Fourier series, polar coordinate systems, vector calculus and
tensors.
 An ability to formulate and solve physics problems using the theory learned.
 Build a sense for units and magnitudes of various physical quantities involved.
 Engage in collaborative learning and working.

Text Book:

1. Vibrations and Waves, A. P. French (TB1)

2. An Introduction to Mechanics, D. Kleppner and R. Kolenkow (TB2)

Reference Books:
1. Classical Dynamics, Thornton & Marion (R1)
2. Mechanics, Berkeley Physics Course (Vol. 1), C. Kittel et al. (R2)
 Lecture Plan:

No. of Topics* Contents Reference

Lectures
Review and relevance of SHM; damped TB1:Chap 3,4
Damped oscillator oscillator; forced damped oscillator; TB2:Sec 4.10
4 resonance Chap 10
2- coupled oscillators; normal modes; N-
2 Coupled oscillators coupled oscillators; 2-coupled oscillators TB1: Chap 5
with forcing
Normal modes of a clamped string;
Fourier series TB1:Chap 6
2 Fourier series
Wave equation and its solution; pulses;
4 group velocity and phase velocity; energy TB1:Chap 7,8
Waves
and momentum transfer; reflection and
transmission at boundaries
Velocity and acceleration in polar
4 coordinates; motion in rotating frames: TB2: Sec 1.9
Non-inertial frames
centrifugal and Coriolis forces; deflection Chap 8
of falling mass; Foucault pendulum
Energy and momentum conservation;
2 collisions studied from center of mass
Collisions TB2:Sec 4.14
frame; angular momentum conservation;
collisions involving extended bodies
Rigid body kinematics; angular
momentum of a rigid body; moment of
6 inertia tensor; principal axes; kinetic TB2: Chap 7
Rigid body dynamics
energy of a rigid body; Euler equation for
rigid body motion; torque free precession;
gyroscope motion (uniform precession)

*The actual coverage of topics may undergo slight changes during the delivery of the
course. Please consult the course page on LMS and the notices put up there to get a
clearer picture of the topics being covered.
Evaluation Scheme:

Nature of
No. Component Duration Percentage Date
component
15/03/19 (2:00
1 Mid-Semester 90 min 30% Closed book
– 3:30 pm)
2 Comprehensive 3 hours 45% 11/05/19 (FN) Closed book
During
3 Tutorial work# tutorial 5% Open book
hours
Tentative
schedule -
2 Online quizzes 20 mins
4 20% Q1: 07/02/19 Open book
each
Q2: 18/04/19

^ Open book means you can bring the text books or/and hand written notes to the exam.
# Tutorial attendance is mandatory for this evaluation component. In addition the student
may have to submit tutorial work sheets.

Homework: Homework assignments will be put up approximately at a frequency once a

week. Assignments will not be evaluated. Hints to the solutions will be provided after a
weeks’ time.

Reading Assignments: Reading assignment will be displayed on the course page as the
course progresses. The material in the reading assignment will be part of the syllabus.

Chamber Consultation Hour: Will be announced by the lecturers and tutors during the
class sessions.
Notices: Notices and announcement will be put up on LMS course page:
http://photon.bits-goa.ac.in

Make-up Policy: Make up will be considered only for genuine medical cases.

Toby Joseph
IC PHY F111