Overall Expectations

By the end of this course, students will:
demonstrate an understanding of the concepts, principles, and laws related to electric, gravitational, and magnetic forces and fields, and explain them in qualitative and quantitative terms;
conduct investigations and analyse and solve problems related to electric, gravitational, and magnetic fields;
explain the roles of evidence and theories in the development of scientific knowledge related to electric, gravitational, and magnetic fields, and evaluate and describe the social and economic impact of technological developments related to the concept of fields.

Specific Expectations:   : Understanding Basic Concepts

By the end of this course, students will:
define and describe the concepts and units related to electric, gravitational, and magnetic fields (e.g., electric and gravitational potential energy, electric field, gravitational field strength, magnetic field, electromagnetic induction);
state Coulomb’s law and Newton’s law of universal gravitation, and analyse and compare them in qualitative terms;
apply Coulomb’s law and Newton’s law of universal gravitation quantitatively in specific contexts;
compare the properties of electric, gravitational, and magnetic fields by describing and illustrating the source and direction of the field in each case; apply quantitatively the concept of electric potential energy in a variety of contexts, and compare the characteristics of electric potential energy with those of gravitational potential energy;
analyse in quantitative terms, and illustrate using field and vector diagrams, the electric field and the electric forces produced by a single point charge, two point charges, and two oppositely charged parallel plates (e.g., analyse, using vector diagrams, the electric force required to balance the gravitational force on an oil drop or on latex spheres between parallel plates);
describe and explain, in qualitative terms, the electric field that exists inside and on the surface of a charged conductor (e.g., inside and around a coaxial cable); predict the forces acting on a moving charge and on a current-carrying conductor in a uniform magnetic field.