Addis Ababa University

AA Institute of Technology
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Applied Modern Physics-ECEG 2101

Course Outline
Instructor : Dr Murad Ridwan.
murad.ridwan@aait.edu.et

Chapter 1: The Special Theory of Relativity

The Ether Hypothesis; The Michelson-Morley Experiment; The Special Theory of Relativity; The Galilean
Transformation; The Lorentz Transformation; Contraction of Length; Time Dilation; Relativity and
Simultaneity; Addition of Velocities; Mass Increase with Velocity; Relativistic Mass-Energy Equivalence.

Chapter 2: The Particle Properties of Waves

The Photoelectric Effect; The Compton Effect; X-Rays.

Chapter 3: The Wave Properties of Particles

De Broglie Matter Waves; Wave Motion, Phase and Group Velocity; Wave Function and Probability;
The Uncertainty Principle.

Chapter 4: Structure of the Atom

The Atomic Models of Thomson and Rutherford; Rutherford Scattering, Estimation of Nuclear Radius.

Chapter 5: The Bohr Model of the Atom

Line Spectra; Bohr Model of the Atom; The Correspondence Principle; Nuclear Motion and Reduced
Mass; Hydrogenic Atoms.

Chapter 6: Quantum Mechanics

Schrödinger’s Wave Equation; Normalization and Probability; Operators; Expectation Values; Particle
in Infinite Rectangular Potential Well; Finite Rectangular Potential Well; The Harmonic Oscillator.

Chapter 7: The Quantum Theory of the Hydrogen Atom

Schrödinger’s Wave Equation for the Hydrogen Atom; Quantum Numbers; The Normal Zeeman Effect;
Intrinsic Spin; Selection Rules; Probability Distribution Functions.

Text: Arthur Beiser, Concepts of Modern Physics, 6th ed., McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 2002.
Reference: Raymond A. Serway, J. Moses, A. Moyer, Modern Physics, 3rd ed., Thomson Brooks/Cole,
2005.