The course starts with an introduction to the basic concepts of electric charge and electric field. Just as the gravitational field makes it easy to calculate the force on a mass placed in the field (F = mg), knowing value of the electric field, caused by electric charges, makes it easy to calculate the force on a charge placed in an electric field (F = qE).

The concept of force between electric charges, positive and negative, is studied. Calculations involve the addition and subtraction of vector quantities. Vector addition, subtraction, and multiplication (dot product and cross product) will be used EXTENSIVELY during the rest of the semester. Students have learned these topics in Mechanics (Physics 50/70) but should review / learn them now before we start to use them. Forces between charges give rise to the movement of the charges and hence electric currents.

Calculating the electric field caused by one or two electric charges is fairly simple, but calculation of the field caused by a distribution of many electric charges is more complicated and will require the use of integral calculus (Math 31 is a prerequisite for this course). Using Gauss' Law makes the integrals really simple and the calculation easy. Also, one can calculate the field by first calculating the electrical potential, a scalar quantity related to the potential energy - a concept learned in Mechanics (Physics 50/70). As an application of electric fields, soot particles are removed from industrial smoke stacks by having electric fields in the stacks that exert horizontal forces on the electrically charged soot particles. And electrons moving inside a TV or computer monitor toward the screen are deflected horizontally and vertically to form images in the phosphor coating on the screen interior.

Then basic electrical circuits are covered where students gain a working knowledge of the concepts of electric charge, electric current, and voltage - topics covered in the early lab exercises. Simple calculations regarding the relationship among voltage, current, and electrical resistance in circuits are learned. Elementary circuit analysis techniques are studied to determine power dissipated in electrical resistors in more complex circuits.

The magnetic field, another vector quantity, is caused by electric charges that are moving with a velocity, either in an electric current or in space, like the charged cosmic particles that arrive on Earth from the Sun. Calculation of the magnetic field in this course generally involves integral calculus, but the integrals in Ampere's Law are simple and tabulated. Magnetic fields are essential for the operation of electric motors and computer memory.

Voltages can be induced, or generated, in a wire loop by varying the magnetic fields near them. These generated voltages produce electromotive forces and induced, or generated, electrical currents. Faraday's Law governs the generators used by power plants to produce electricity so important in our modern technological lifestyle.

With a knowledge of electric and magnetic fields and the energy associated with them we can understand and analyze how alternating current (AC) circuits work. These circuits provide the high frequencies necessary to operate our cell phones, TV stations, and other communications systems.

The course ends with a discussion of Maxwell's equations, most of which we will already have used in the course. These equations provide the basis for all of electromagnetic theory and predict the propagation of the electromagnetic waves (radio, TV, microwave, x-rays, light) used in our communications systems and optical devices and systems.