X

Classical Motion of a Single Particle

By Prof. Supratik Banerjee   |   IIT Kanpur
Learners enrolled: 406   |  Exam registration: 26
ABOUT THE COURSE:
This undergraduate level course is designed to offer a systematic development of the basic concepts of classical mechanics of a single particle. A special emphasis will be given on the vector formulation of the problems of dynamics which are appropriate for understanding and analyzing the motion of a particle in more than one dimensions. The notion of symmetry and conservation and their importance in classical dynamics will be discussed to pave the way for the motivated students to advance theories of physics. A separate section will be dedicated introducing the generalized coordinates, generalized velocities and the method of Lagrangian to solve constrained motions of a single particle. Finally, the phase space dynamics along with some introductory elements of nonlinear dynamics related to the motion of a single particle will be discussed.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: 1st and 2nd year UG students and anyone interested in understanding the basics of classical mechanics

PREREQUISITES: Basics knowledge of calculus, partial differentiation and vector algebra is preferred
Summary
Course Status : Completed
Course Type : Core
Language for course content : English
Duration : 12 weeks
Category :
  • Physics
Credit Points : 3
Level : Undergraduate
Start Date : 22 Jul 2024
End Date : 11 Oct 2024
Enrollment Ends : 05 Aug 2024
Exam Registration Ends : 16 Aug 2024
Exam Date : 02 Nov 2024 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.


Page Visits



Course layout

Week 1:
Objective of classical mechanics, classical mechanics as a dynamical
theory,  Newton’s laws of motion, conservation of linear momentum, angular
momentum and energy, work done,  work-energy principle

Week 2:
Conservative and non-conservative force fields, concept of potential,
Stable and unstable equilibria, analysis of motion using energy  diagram

Week 3:
Velocity and acceleration in polar coordinates; Motion under central
forces,  effective potential energy, finding trajectory for a given force
law and vice-versa

Week 4:
Kepler’s problem, Laplace Runge-Lenz vector, Rutherford scattering

Week 5:
Linear harmonic oscillator with and without forcing, resonance, damped
harmonic oscillator without forcing

Week 6:
Damped harmonic oscillator with forcing, condition of resonance; Motion of
a particle in the presence of electric and magnetic fields

Week 7:
Galilean transformation, inertial and non-inertial frames of references,
relation between the time  derivatives of an inertial and a non-inertial
frame, pseudo forces

Week 8:
Motion of a particle under constraints, classification of constraints;
principle of virtual work

Week 9:
Generalized coordinates and generalized velocities;
Euler-Lagrange’s equations from D’alembert’s principle, cyclic coordinates

Week 10:
Properties of Lagrangian, application to constrained motions of a single
particle

Week 11:
Concept of phase space, fixed points and linear stability analysis

Week 12:
Conservative vs. nonconservative systems, attractors, chaos in
conservative  and nonconservative systems

Books and references

(i) An introduction to mechanics, Kleppner and Kolenkow
(ii) Introduction to classical mechanics, David Morin
(iii) Nonlinear dynamics and chaos, S. Strogatz

Instructor bio

Prof. Supratik Banerjee

IIT Kanpur
Prof. Supratik Banerjee is Assistant Professor (grade I) at the department of Physics of IIT Kanpur since February 2018. After completing B. Sc. (Hons. In Physics) from Presidency College, Kolkata and securing 1st class 3rd rank in the University of Calcutta, he joined the prestigious Diplome d’Ingenieur program of Ecole Polytechnique, France. He completed his two Masters (in theoretical physics and in plasma physics) in 2011. In 2014, he completed his thesis from Universite Paris-Sud, France on compressible turbulence in space and astrophysical plasmas and bagged the Best thesis award of his school. Since 2011, he has been engaged in teaching which is already widely accepted and appreciated by the students in France, Germany and India. He has also received DST Inspire faculty research grant for research.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.
The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).
Date and Time of Exams: 
02 November 2024 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.
Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.
Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kanpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team


MHRD logo Swayam logo

DOWNLOAD APP

Goto google play store

FOLLOW US