Welcome to General Physics II, Honors Section

Professor:  Dr. Steven Blusk, my home page
Office:      327 Physics Building
Phone:     (315) 443-3158
E-mail:     click here or use "sblusk" + "@phy.syr.edu" (only use part in quotes)

By taking this course you will have the opportunity to learn about three beautiful subjects: electricity, magnetism, and light. When you scuff your shoes across a carpet and then reach for a metal doorknob, you may get zapped with a spark. How  this happens is something you will learn during the first few weeks of the course. By the end of course you will be able to answer such questions as: "what causes magnetism? How does an electric motor work? Why is the sky blue? What are the forces that bind atoms and molecules together in a material?''

A beautiful aspect of the course is that its three subjects (electricity, magnetism and light) that look at first quite distinct are really different aspects of a single phenomenon: electromagnetism. The discovery of the intimate relations among phenomena that appear different is what physicists call unification. In this new century we hope we will be able to establish that gravity, as well the forces that hold the nucleus together, can also be unified with the electromagnetic force.

The practical significance of the subject-matter is apparent to everyone. Just think about the last time you experienced an electric power outage in your room or apartment! Inventions like the motor, the generator, and the transformer came about after the discovery of the connection between electricity and magnetism. Later, the understanding of the connection between electricity, magnetism and light led to the development of radio, television, and all other means of modern communication. 

This page was last updated on 04/07/06.