Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives The student should have an understanding of wave phenomena and be able to relate these to the oscillations of the particles within the medium.
Synopsis Simple harmonic motion (SHM), energetics of SHM, damped and forced oscillators, wave characteristics, superposition principle, reflection and transmission, travelling harmonic waves, standing waves, velocity of waves on a string, nature of a sound wave, resonant standing sound waves, Doppler effect, beats, sound intensity, ray optics, reflection and refraction, total internal reflection, dispersion, plane and spherical mirrors, interference, Young's experiment, thin film interference, single slit diffraction, Rayleigh criterion, gratings, polarisation.
Assessment Examination (2 hours): 75% + Laboratory work: 25%