Introduction to Physics

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Physics is the study of all aspects of Nature, covering the behaviour of objects under the action of given forces and the nature and origin of gravitational, electromagnetic, and nuclear force fields. This is an introductory course in physics intended for a broad audience with a scientific interest, that comprehensively trains students to the basic, classical, and essential fundamentals of physics. The course aims at an understanding of the fundamental principles of Nature and how to apply them in concrete practical situations. The emphasis is on intuition rather than mathematical rigour; this is addressed in the follow-up physics courses. In this course we address the principal corner stones of physics. Each of these subjects is taught on a theoretical level as lectures, and trained on a practical level with exercises and by using knowledge in applied situations in PBL tasks. Next to the scientific part of this course, there will also be a social and historical angle: a great scientist linked to each corner stone of physics will be central in every lecture. This course is a good preparation for the physics lab skills involving experimental and practical physics PRA1003, PRA2007, PRA3002.