TRENT UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY
PHYSICS 3140H: ADVANCED CLASSICAL MECHANICS
COURSE INFORMATION
2015 WINTER TERM, PETERBOROUGH CAMPUS
1.
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. P.C. Dawson, SC 321, 748-1011x7628; pdawson@trentu.ca
2.
TEXT: Analytical Mechanics, 7th ed., by Grant R. Fowles and George L. Cassiday, Thomson
Brooks/Cole (required).
3.
OFFICE HOURS: Friday, 10:00 - 11:50, or by appointment.
4.
LECTURES: Monday, 14:00 - 14:50, SC 317; Thursday, 10:00 - 11:50, SC 317.
5.
SEMINAR: Tuesday, 16:00 - 16:50, SC 317.
6.
GRADING SCHEME: Assessment will be on the basis of problems sets, a mid-term test, and
a final examination, weighted as follows:
Problem Sets
Mid-term Test
Final Examination
30%
25%
45%
The mid-term test will be held on Thursday, February 27, 2015 at 10:00. Note that the final
date for withdrawal without academic penalty from winter-term half-courses is Thursday, March
5, 2015.
NOTE: Regardless of the final grade calculated using the scheme just given, an average of at least
40% on all tests and on the final examination, weighted as above, must be obtained in order to
pass this course. Otherwise, a final grade not exceeding 45% (F) will be assigned.
7.
LATE POLICY: For every day (on which the Physics Building is open) that an assignment is
late, 10% will be deducted from the grade. In no case will an assignment be accepted after one
week beyond the due date.
8.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: This includes plagiarism and cheating, and it is an extremely
serious academic offense, carrying penalties that range from a grade of zero for an assignment
or examination to expulsion from the University. Definitions of, penalties, and procedures for
dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set out in Trent University’s Academic Dishonesty Policy.
Students are responsible for educating themselves about this matter - unfamiliarity with the Policy
is not an excuse. You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent’s Academic Integrity website at
www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity for more information.
9.
ACCESS TO INSTRUCTION: It is Trent University’s intent to create an inclusive learning
environment. If a student has a disability and/or health consideration, and feels that s/he may need
accommodations to succeed in this course, the student should contact the Accessibility Services
Office (BH 132, 748-1281, accessibilityservices@trentu.ca) as soon as possible. Complete
text can be found under Access to Instruction in the University Calendar.
10.
TOPICS TO BE COVERED: We shall begin by completing the study of Chapter 6, after which
the material of Chapters 5, 7, 8, and part of Chapter 9 will be covered before the Reading Break.
Chapter 8 should be familiar to you, at least in part, but we’ll review it briefly, incorporating into
that review some of the material of Chapter 9. After the Break, and for the balance of the term, we
shall develop the calculus of variations, and study Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics. Some
supplementary notes will be provided.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
PHYS 3140H: ADVANCED CLASSICAL MECHANICS
Upon successful completion of this course, the student should
• have a good understanding of the dynamics of systems of particles, centre of mass, and reduced
mass
• be familiar with the 3-body problem, including the restricted 3-body problem, effective potential,
and the Lagrangian points
• be able to describe collisions in laboratory and centre of mass systems
• understand the principles governing rocket motion
• be familiar with the mechanics of planar rigid body motion, moments of inertia, parallel- and
perpendicular-axis theorems
• understand the motion of the physical pendulum and be familiar with elliptic integrals
• have a comprehensive knowledge of rigid body rotation in 3-dimensions, the inertia tensor,
products of inertia, and principal axes
• be able to find maxima and minima with constraints and to make use of Lagrange multipliers
• be familiar with the concepts of Hamilton’s variational principle and generalized coordinates
• be able to write down the Lagrangian for a wide range of physical systems and obtain their
equations of motion
• be able to write down the Hamiltonian for a wide range of physical systems and obtain their
equations of motion
• be able to solve problems by numerical means when necessary