Introduction to Continuum Physics

Instructor

Roman Grigoriev
Office: Howey W304 (office hours: Tuesday 2-3pm)
Phone: (404) 385-1130
E-mail:

Tuesday & Thursday, 12:05pm-1:25pm
Room L5, Howey Physics Building

Continuum physics describes the macroscopic physical world around us. The enormous progress of quantum (read microscopic) physics in the 20th century has almost eliminated macroscopic phenomena from the core physics curriculum. Nonetheless, research in engineering, geophysics, and biology demands increased mastery of its methodology. The course aims to redress the balance by offering a modern, unified introduction to the basic concepts and phenomenology of continuous macroscopic systems.

The course is intended for physics, biology, math, engineering and geophysics advanced undergraduates and starting graduate students. The mathematical prerequisites are modest and are developed further as the need arises.

Benny Lautrup, "Physics of Continuous Matter: Exotic and Everyday Phenomena in the Macroscopic World," (IoP Publishing, 2005).

There will be a mid-term and a final exam; the grades will be based solely on the results of these exams (40%/60%). Homework assignments will be posted on the web every Thursday. They will not be graded (the textbook contains solutions), but we will have an in-class discussion of any difficulties you may have encountered. Homeworks are your way to prepare for the exams, as such you are required to worked them through. In general, you are expected to comply with the academic honor code.

August 19
Introduction
Reading: lecture notes, Chapter 1
Check out these cool numerical simulations of continuum matter.

August 21
Pressure
Reading: lecture notes, Chapter 4
Problems: 1.1, 2.16, 2.17, 2.18, 2.23 (rotation is around z axis).

August 26
Atmosphere
Reading: lecture notes, Chapter 4

August 28
Planets
Reading: lecture notes, Chapter 6
Additional information about the planets of our solar system.
Problems: Problems: 4.2, 4.3, 4.5, 4.7, 6.3, 6.4

September 2
Hydrostatic shapes
Reading: lecture notes, Chapter 7

September 4
Surface tension
Reading: lecture notes, Chapter 8
Fun stuff: water-walking, dancing Bellagio fountain and a laminar fountain, droplet impacts, fluid chains and fishbones
Problems: 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 7.3, 7.5, 7.8

September 9
Jet break-up and capillary effect
Reading: lecture notes, Chapter 8
For your viewing pleasure: jet breakup of a newtonian, slightly non-newtonian, and viscoelastic fluid shot using strobe light.
More jet breakup for a non-newtonian fluid under continuous illumination.

September 11
Big droplets and bubbles
Reading: lecture notes, Chapter 8
For your viewing pleasure: a droplet impacting liquid and solid impacting sand, a dripping faucet movie and numerical model.
Problems: 8.1, 8.3, 8.4, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4

September 16
Stress
Reading: lecture notes, Chapter 9

September 18
Strain
Reading: lecture notes, Chapter 10
Problems: 9.6, 9.8, 9.9, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.8

September 23
Linear elasticity
Reading: lecture notes, Chapter 10

September 25
Linear elasticity
Reading: lecture notes
Problems: 11.3, 11.4, 11.5, 11.6

September 30
Buckling under load
Reading: lecture notes

October 2
Elastic equilibrium
Reading: lecture notes
Problems: 12.2, 12.4, 12.5, 12.6

October 7
Midterm

October 9
Midterm review

October 14
Recess

October 16
Elastic vibrations
Reading: lecture notes
Problems: 14.1, 14.4

October 21
Stress in fluids (review)
Reading: lecture notes

October 23
Stress in fluids (review)
Reading: lecture notes

October 28
Stress in solids (review)
Reading: lecture notes

October 30
Stress in solids (review)
Reading: lecture notes

November 4
Contact Angle and Capillary Phenomena (review)
Reading: lecture notes

November 6
Fluids in motion
Reading: lecture notes

November 11
Euler equation
Reading: lecture notes

November 13
Potential flow
Reading: lecture notes
Problems: 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.6, 16.1, 16.2

November 18
Viscosity
Reading: lecture notes

November 20
Boundary layers
Reading: lecture notes
Problems: 16.3, 16.4, 16.13, 17.1, 17.2, 17.4

November 25
Creeping flow
Reading: lecture notes

November 27
Holiday

December 2
Surface waves
Reading: lecture notes
For your viewing pleasure: movies of a tsunami wave, a breaking wave, a capillary waves, and picture of a boat wake.

December 5
Magnetohydrodynamics
Reading: lecture notes
Additional reading: The Physics of Plasmas by R. Fitzpatrick (especially Magnetohydrodynamic Fluids chapter)

Final (due 12/11/08 at 3pm)
Click here to download the assignment

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