Course finder
Semester 2
Soft Condensed Matter Physics (PHYS10097)
Subject
Physics and Astronomy
College
SCE
Credits
10
Normal Year Taken
4
Delivery Session Year
2023/2024
Pre-requisites
Course Summary
Soft Condensed Matter Physics studies complex fluids in which intermediate level structures with length scale between small molecules and the macroscopic world exist: colloidal particles, polymers, and aggregates spontaneously formed by soap-like (surfac- tant) molecules. This course emphasises the generic features of these systems (most im- portantly, Brownian motion), and develops simple models to account for their behaviour. It will also look at how the principle of soft matter physics can give insight into biological problems.
Course Description
* Material properties of gases, liquids and solids; atomic and molecular interactions* Phase transitions and phase diagrams* Viscous, elastic and viscoelastic behaviour of materials* Glasses and the glass transition* Liquid-liquid demixing and the regular solution model* Interfaces and the kinetics of phase transitions: nucleation and spinodal decomposition* Polymeric materials:rubber* Statistics of polymer chains* Self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules*Brownian motion* Colloidal particles and the forces between them
Assessment Information
Written Exam 50%, Coursework 50%, Practical Exam 0%
Additional Assessment Information
50% Coursework50% Examination
view the timetable and further details for this course
Disclaimer
All course information obtained from this visiting student course finder should be regarded as provisional. We cannot guarantee that places will be available for any particular course. For more information, please see the visiting student disclaimer: