FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICS AND MACHINES

Module FISICA

The student is required to achieve the following educational objectives:

- know how to apply dimensional analysis;

- know how to apply vector math to real-world problems;

- be able to solve problems relating to kinematics and dynamics of rigid bodies;

- know the fundamentals of electromagnetism and physics of fluids;

The course (3 CFU) includes 7 hours of lectures and 28 hours of other activities, primarily guided exercises.

Lectures and exercises are mainly conducted using PowerPoint presentations, which will be provided to the students after the lesson.

1 – Introduction
State of a physical system and physically meaningful quantities; Elements of statistics and error theory.

2 – Vector calculus
Reference frames and coordinate systems; Vectors as geometric entities; Vectors in physics and their use in two- and three-dimensional space; Component decomposition; Unit vectors; Vector addition; Dot product and cross product; Multiplication of a vector by a scalar; Applications.

3 – Mechanics
Description of the motion of a body; Reference frames; Principle of inertia; Newton’s second law; Newton’s third law; Conservation of momentum; Force fields; Work done by a force; Work–energy theorem; Conservative fields; Potential; Conservation of mechanical energy.

4 – Fluid mechanics and electromagnetic phenomena
Properties of fluids; Fluid statics; Ideal fluids and Bernoulli’s theorem; Electric charges and Coulomb’s law; Electric fields and their sources; Gauss’s law.

All lecture notes and other materials will be provided in class.

An in-term exam is scheduled, which is not mandatory, to be held after the completion of the teaching portion of the course (the date will be announced in advance during the course). The score obtained, if higher than 18/30, will be proposed as the final grade. If the student does not accept the grade or does not reach a score of 18/30, they may take a written exam at the first available exam session.

- A cannon fires a projectile with an initial speed of v0=50 m/s. Calculate the firing angle of the cannon that gives the maximum range and determine the value of the range.

- Calculate the pressure exerted by the weight of a body made of aluminum in the shape of a cube, whose edge measures 10 cm, resting on one face on a horizontal surface.

- Two parallel wires, each of length l = 1.0m and placed at a distance d = 0.5m apart in a vacuum, are subject to a force F = 5,0·10-6 N.  Calculate the current intensity, assumed to be identical in both wires.