Handbook Entry: PHYC10006 Physics 2: Life Sciences & EnvironmentKey subject information:Subject Overview:
This subject aims to develop students’ understanding of the physics principles underpinning biological and environmental systems. It is designed for students with a sound background in physics, whose interests lie mainly in the biological sciences. Topics include:
Fluids: blood pressure and the circulatory system, breathing and respiration (pressure in fluids, fluid flow, viscosity).
Thermal physics: heating and cooling, energy balance of living organisms, ion movement across membranes (temperature and thermal energy, phase changes, heat transfer mechanisms, first law of thermodynamics, diffusion).
Electricity and magnetism: bioelectricity, nerve conduction, electrical safety, power transmission, synchrotron, biological effects of electromagnetic fields (electric charge and field, electric potential, capacitance, electric circuits, resistance, magnetic fields and forces, Faraday’s law of induction).
Atomic physics and lasers: fluorescence imaging and spectroscopy, laser surgery (structure of the atom, photons, spectroscopy, interaction of light with matter);
Radiation: radiation safety, therapeutic uses of radiation (the atomic nucleus, isotopes, nuclear decay and radiation, physical and biological half-life, ionising radiation); and
Imaging: modern biomedical imaging (X-rays, CT-scans and angiography, ultrasound imaging, positron emission tomography).
highly interested in
not so keen on, but could potentially help with med later on
Objectives:
To enable students to understand the importance of physical principles to biological and environmental sciences, and develop their capacity to:
understand and explain the physics principles of fluids, thermal physics, electricity and magnetism, atomic, radiation and imaging physics;
apply these principles using logical reasoning, together with appropriate mathematical reasoning, to a variety of familiar and novel situations and problems in the biological and environmental sciences; and
acquire experimental data using a range of measurement instruments and interpret these data.
Assessment:
Ongoing assessment of practical work during the semester (25%); ten weekly assignments (10 x 1.5% = 15%); a 3-hour written examination in the examination period (60%).
Satisfactory completion of practical work is necessary to pass the subject (i.e. attendance and submission of work for at least 80% of workshop sessions together with a result for assessed work of at least 50%).
Has anyone done this subject? An dirt/insight that you can bestow?
I am considering picking this subject because I hated Calculus 1 (English is far more up my alley than maths, I've discovered...). I basically want to get into a Pharmacology major and satisfy all the pre-requisites for Medicine, which can be done with only first year Chemistry and Biology. That means I have a leftover subject, and I was thinking something along the lines of Calculus 1 and 2 for Semester 1 and 2 respectively, but that's not happening after that Calculus 1 exam. Bless all of you who do enjoy maths, but it's not for me.
Filling it up with another breadth is out of the question, as I am using all my breadth to learn a language, and they don't run repeats 1st/2nd semester. You need to progress from Language 1 to Language 2, and basically if I used another breadth on some random subject, then it would stop me from completing 2 breadths in second or third year which I would need to continue the language. It's complicated, but just know that I can't take another breadth subject, so it has to be a science discipline subject.
Basically any science that is interesting and has a distinct absence of anything purporting to differential equations, I'll take. I just don't know what to pick. Something that compliments Chemistry knowledge, or by expansion, anything relating to Medicine/understanding stuff that could be relevant to Pharmacology and Medicine, I'll take.
What can you advise?
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