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MEDICAL PHYSICS

Academic year and teacher
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Versione italiana
Academic year
2022/2023
Teacher
ANGELO TAIBI
Credits
7
Didactic period
Primo Semestre
SSD
FIS/07

Training objectives

The course aims to give the student the knowledge of the basic notions of general physics and then to highlight their applications in the biological and medical fields.

In the discussion of some topics of the program, the principles of the scientific method.

Knowledge and understanding:
the course aims to introduce the concepts and physical magnitudes useful to the understanding of events physiopathological phenomena's own the human body.
Applying knowledge and understanding:
the course aims to provide the basis for applying the scientific method in the description and interpretation of simple, natural phenomena.

Prerequisites

Knowledge of mathematics includes basic arithmetic, algebra, Euclidean geometry, trigonometry and calculating differential and integral elements.

Course programme

Units, scalars and vectors. Position and reference systems: one, two and three dimensions. Concept of speed, average speed and instantaneous speed. The rectilinear and uniformly accelerated motion. Uniform circular motion.
Point dynamics, mass, active force and friction. Newton's laws. The gravitational law. Theorem of kinetic energy. Work of a force. Kinetic energy. Conservative forces and potential energy. Conservation of mechanical energy. Material point systems. Harmonic oscillator, simple pendulum.
Liquids properties and density. Hydrostatic pressure and Stevino's law. Pascal principle. The atmospheric pressure. Archimede's law. Ideal fluids, continuity equation and flow, Bernoulli's theorem. Viscosity and Poiseuille's law. The surface tension.
Heat, calorimetry, temperature scales, heat capacity and specific heat capacity. Heat propagation. Expansion of solids, liquids and gases. Absolute temperature scale. Equation of ideal gases. Kinetic theory of gases. Internal energy. First and second law of thermodynamics.
Electricity and Coulomb's force. Electric field and electric potential of simple charge distributions. The electrical conductivity. The first and second Ohm's law. Electric resistor. The electric power and the Joule's law. Parallel and series electrical resistors, Kirchhoff ‘s circuit laws. Alternating current. Magnetic field and electric current. The solenoid and its applications. Lorentz force. The mass spectrometer. Electromagnetic induction law and production of alternating current.
Propagation of mechanical wave. Power transfer. Wave pressure in a rigid pipe. Acoustic waves. Electromagnetic waves. Introduction to optics wave. Speed of electromagnetic waves, frequency and wavelength. Waves attenuation. The light quanta and photons. Spectrum of electromagnetic radiation and visible light. Propagation of light in media. Refractive index. Reflection and refraction of light. Snell's law. Geometrical optics. Thin lenses equation. Spherical dioptre. Radioactive decays, activity of a source, law of radioactive decay, half-life and decay constant. Absorbed dose.

Didactic methods

The course provides frontal lectures and online assisted teaching. The on-line teaching hours of moodle platform certification service consist in the deepening of some topics presented during the frontal lessons.

The teaching activity will be supplemented by hours of classroom exercises with in-depth exercises.

The face-to-face teaching will be accompanied by online teaching support tools (video lessons) to improve the settling down of freshmen off-site or for progressive and late enrolments.

Learning assessment procedures

The learning verification will be carried out by a written exam consisting in 30 questions for a total duration of 60 minutes, without the use of notes or books, in the presence of the teacher. The questions will be formulated with multiple choice questions (5 options) relating to all the educational objectives of the course defined above.
The questions will be prepared in order to verify the knowledge acquired in relation to all the educational parts of the program with reference to their application for the interpretation of pathophysiological events typical of the human organism, also through the interpretation of data and the resolution of simple problems; the questions will also allow to verify the student's ability to apply the scientific method to natural phenomena (also with the resolution of problems).
The questions could have a different weight based on the complexity of the question that is verified. No penalty for wrong or not given answers. The minimum mark of 18 is achieved by those who, by answering the questions correctly, reach 60% of the maximum mark. The maximum mark of 30 cum laude is achieved by those who, by answering the questions correctly, reach 95% of the maximum mark.

Reference texts

E. Casnati, “Elementi di fisica generale per scienze mediche”
Jewett and Serway, “Principi di Fisica”
Teacher notes