Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Rimini
  • Corso: Single cycle degree programme (LMCU) in Pharmacy (cod. 9078)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student acquires elements and concepts of physics which are required for the study of biological, chemical and physiological phenomena, and to understand the principles of operation of diagnostical and analysis instrumentation.

Course contents

Scientific method: measurement, units, conversions between different units. Orders of magnitudes. Dimensions. Errors: casual and systematic errors. Point-like bodies. Reference systems and description of motion. Scalar and vector quantities, operations among vectors. Velocity, acceleration. Equation of motion: constant acceleration. Free fall. Circular motion: angular velocity and angular acceleration. Centripetal acceleration. Frequency, period Newton laws. Contact forces, weight, constraints and reaction forces. Momentum. Pseudoforces. dynamic and static friction. Viscous forces in fluids. Elasticity: Hooke's law, Young modulus. Harmonic oscillation. Springs.
Work, kinetic energy, mechanical energy, potential energy. Force fields. Power.
Rigid bodies, center of mass, equilibrium. Torque, momentum of inertia, angular momentum.
States of matter: fluids. Density, pression. Pascal principle, Stevino's law; Archimede's principle: flotation. Flow rate, continuity equation. Ideal fluids and Bernoulli law. Real fluids, viscosity. Flow in pipes. Poiseuille law. Laminar and turbulent flow. Reynolds number. Motion in viscous media. Wall tension, surface tension. Laplace law. Capillarity.
Thermal equilibruim. Temperature. Thermal expansion. Temperature scales. Ideal gas law. Kinetic theory of gas: pressure and temperature. Thermodynamic processes. Real gas.
Internal energy and heath. Joule experiment, work. First principle of thermodynamic. Phase changes: fusion, vaporizaton. Fusion and vaporization heath. Vapor pressure, humidity.
Second principle of thermodinamics. Brownian motion and diffusion. Fick law.
Electric charge. Coulomb law. Electric field. Gauss theorem. Electric potential. Electronvolt. Capacitance. Capacitor. Dielectrics. Capacitor energy. Electrical current. Resistance. Ohm's laws. Joule effect. Circuits: direct current and alternate current. Parallel and series of resistances and capacitors.
Magnetism: magnetic field. Lorentz law, spectrometer. Ampere law, magnetic moment. Magnetic properties of material. Inductance. Faraday's law. Lenz's law. Mutual and self-inductance. Inductors.
Waves and pulses. Mechanical waves. Harmonic oscillator model. Amplitude, wavelenght, frequency, velocity. Transvers and longitudinal waves. Energy and intensity. Superposition principle. Fourier theorem. Constructive and destructive interference. Stationary waves. Sound waves. Frequency spectrum, harmonics. Decibel
Wave diffraction, rays. Reflection, refraction and absorption of light in materials. Snell's law. Total internal reflection and optic fibers.
Optical systems and image formation. Mirrors, lenses. Thin lenses. Imaging properties, focal lenght, lensmaker's equation. Aberrations. Optical resolution. Magnifying glass, microscope
Polarization. Malus' law. Young experiment, slit interference. Diffraction grating. Spectrometer.
Elements of modern physics: black-body spectrum. Photons, photoelectric effect. Wave-particle dualism, indetermination principle, de Boglie wavelength. Bohr atom. X-rays. Radioactive decay. Elements of dosimetry

Readings/Bibliography

transparencies used in class
- D.C. Giancoli, Physics: Principles with Applications, Global Edition (Pearson)

- D. Scannicchio, Fisica Biomedica, EdiSES - D.C. Giancoli, Fisica, Casa Ed. Ambrosiana - F. Borsa, A. Lascialfari, Principi di Fisica, EdiSES - E. Ragozzino, Principi di Fisica, Ed. EdiSES, 2007

Teaching methods

Lectures and exercises. Tests and simulations in Virtuale

Assessment methods

The exam for the IC consists of three parts: a Mathematics test (see details in the module program) and two Physics tests

-) A problem-solving written test

-) A conceptual/theory test: either in written form (multiple choice and open questions) or oral form

Details on the exam are found in the Course Info slides in Virtuale.

Simulations for the written exams and lists of sample oral exam questions are also available in Virtuale

Teaching tools

Material in Virtuale

Office hours

See the website of Claudia Patrignani