PHY132H1: fields, light, and relativity.
The second half: electricity and magnetism, which turn out to be one thing; light, which turns out to be a consequence of them; and special relativity, which follows from taking the speed of light seriously.
Where the fundamental forces appear.
PHY132H1 "Introduction to Physics II" covers electricity, magnetism, light, optics and special relativity. Like PHY131H1 it runs 36 lecture hours and 20 practical hours with a lab kit fee of about 53 dollars. The prerequisite is PHY131H1, and calculus is a recommended co-requisite — MAT159H1 qualifies.
What changes from PHY131H1. Mechanics dealt with contact and gravity, both intuitive. Here the central object is a field: an influence filling space, which acts on anything placed in it. Nothing touches anything, and getting comfortable with that is most of the difficulty.
Chapters
In course order. Each page has the concept, worked examples, the diagram habits that make problems tractable, pitfalls, and practice.
- Open →
Electric charge & force
Coulomb's law and the superposition of forces.
- Open →
The electric field
Fields, field lines, and Gauss's law.
- Open →
Electric potential
Potential energy, voltage, and capacitance.
- Open →
Current & circuits
Ohm's law, resistance, and Kirchhoff's rules.
- Open →
Magnetic fields
Forces on charges and currents; sources of the field.
- Open →
Induction
Faraday's law, Lenz's law, and where electricity comes from.
- Open →
Electromagnetic waves & light
Maxwell's synthesis and the nature of light.
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Geometric optics
Reflection, refraction, mirrors and lenses.
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Wave optics
Interference, diffraction, and why light is a wave.
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Special relativity
Time dilation, length contraction, and $E = mc^2$.
Textbook Spine
The calendar lists the topics in the order used here. This guide follows the standard introductory sequence — electrostatics, circuits, magnetism, then light — which every major first-year text shares. Check the syllabus on Quercus for the assigned text, edition and problem numbers.
Units 1-3 cover the calendar's "electricity": charge, force, field and potential. The pattern to notice is that force relates to field exactly as potential energy relates to potential.
Unit 4 covers circuits, where the abstractions of Units 1-3 become measurable quantities. This is the most immediately practical material in the course.
Units 5-6 cover "magnetism". The theme is that magnetism is what electricity looks like when charges move, and that changing one field creates the other.
Units 7-10 cover "light, optics, special relativity". Light emerges from the field equations, behaves as a ray in Unit 8 and a wave in Unit 9, and its constant speed forces relativity in Unit 10.
Sketch the field
Field lines before equations. Direction errors dominate this course, and a sketch settles direction faster than any right-hand rule.
Track the charge
Positive and negative charges feel opposite forces in the same field. Decide the sign convention at the start and keep it.
Add contributions
Fields and potentials from several sources add — fields as vectors, potentials as scalars. That difference makes potential the easier quantity whenever you have a choice.
Test the limits
Let a distance go to infinity, a charge to zero, a speed to zero. The formula should reduce to something familiar, and relativity in particular must reduce to Newton.
Practice Plan
The mathematics here is no harder than PHY131H1 but the objects are less visible. Practice is what makes fields feel concrete.
Field before force
Find the field first, then multiply by the charge placed in it. Doing it in one step hides sign errors.
Prefer potential
Potentials are scalars and add without components. Reach for energy methods whenever the question allows.
Right-hand rule, deliberately
Practise it physically until it is automatic. Magnetism questions are lost on direction far more often than on arithmetic.
Take the lab seriously
A fifth of the hours are practical, and circuit measurement with uncertainty is examinable.
Course-wide challenge bank
These mix the ideas the way the final exam does.
Two equal positive charges sit a distance $d$ apart. At the midpoint, what are the field and the potential?
Solution sketch
A magnet falls through a copper tube far more slowly than through air. Why?
Solution sketch
When can light be treated as rays, and when must it be treated as waves?
Solution sketch
A muon created high in the atmosphere reaches the ground despite a lifetime too short to allow it. Explain from both frames.
Solution sketch
Resources
PHY132H1 — official calendar listing
Department of Physics
The calendar confirms the PHY132H1 topic list, the 36L/20P hours and the lab kit fee, but does not publish a current instructor textbook. Verify the assigned text, edition and problem numbers against the active syllabus each year.