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MATH 104: General Physics
Course Code MATH 104
Course Name General Physics
Department Mathematics
Semester Offered Odd (Term 1)
Tuition Hours 40 hours
Course Level Foundational
Pre-requisite MATH 103: Multivariate Calculus for Machine Learning
Co-requisite -
Course Objective AI does not live in a browser forever. It eventually touches the real world through sensors, hardware, energy, and physical constraints. If students do not understand the physical world, they will build systems that break the moment they leave the screen.

This course builds physical intuition, not just formulas. Students will understand motion, forces, energy, electricity, and basic atomic behavior in a way that prepares them to work with real-world systems.

Whether it is optimizing delivery routes, working with IoT devices, or eventually building hardware in later terms, this course ensures students can reason about how the world actually behaves, not just simulate it.
Course Philosophy This course emphasizes
  • Intuition before equations
  • Real-world reasoning before problem solving drills
  • Understanding systems, not memorizing laws
Physics is taught as a way to predict and reason about real systems, not as a collection of formulas. Every concept must connect to something students can observe, build, or measure.
Course Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
  • Understand motion and forces, and apply them to real-world systems.
  • Analyze systems using energy and work, especially in constrained environments.
  • Understand basic principles of electricity and magnetism, relevant to sensors and circuits.
  • Reason about how signals and energy flow in physical systems.
  • Understand foundational ideas from modern physics, including atomic models and wave-particle duality.
  • Connect physical principles to real AI applications, especially hardware and sensing systems.
Course Author Sagar Udasi
MSc Statistics and Data Science with Computational Finance from The University of Edinburgh.
Contact: sagar.l.udasi@gmail.com
Course Organiser TBD
No. Lecture Title Concepts Covered Lecture Objective
01 Why AI Eventually Meets Physics Role of physics in real systems Students understand why physical intuition matters beyond software.
02 Describing Motion Without Confusion Position, velocity, acceleration Builds the foundation for reasoning about movement in real systems.
03 The Hidden Simplicity in Motion Equations of motion, kinematics Enables students to model motion in applications like logistics or robotics.
04 Why Things Move (Or Don’t) Forces, Newton’s laws Introduces cause behind motion, essential for real-world systems.
05 Friction, Drag, and Real-World Messiness Non-ideal forces Helps students understand why real systems behave differently than ideal models.
06 Energy: The Only Currency That Matters Work, kinetic and potential energy Teaches students to analyze systems through energy flow.
07 When Systems Settle Down Conservation of energy Helps reason about stable systems and efficiency.
08 Collisions and Interactions Momentum, impulse Useful for understanding interactions in dynamic systems.
09 From Motion to Systems Thinking Combining mechanics concepts Students begin to think in terms of full systems, not isolated variables.
10 What Is Electricity, Really? Charge, electric fields Introduces the foundation of electrical systems.
11 Making Electricity Do Work Current, voltage, resistance Connects physics to circuits and real devices.
12 Powering the Real World Electrical power, energy consumption Important for understanding system efficiency and constraints.
13 Magnetism: The Invisible Force Magnetic fields, forces Builds intuition for sensors and electromagnetic systems.
14 When Electricity and Magnetism Combine Electromagnetic induction Critical concept behind generators, sensors, and modern devices.
15 Signals in the Real World Waves, basic signal behavior Helps students understand how information travels physically.
16 Why Classical Physics Was Not Enough Limitations of classical models Prepares students for modern physics ideas.
17 Light as Both Wave and Particle Photoelectric effect Introduces quantum behavior with real-world implications.
18 The Experiment That Broke Reality Young’s double slit experiment Builds intuition about wave-particle duality.
19 Matter as Waves de Broglie hypothesis Expands understanding of atomic-scale behavior.
20 The Atom Is Not What You Think Atomic models Helps students understand structure of matter.
21 Energy at the Atomic Level Energy levels, transitions Connects physics to sensing and detection technologies.
22 From Atoms to Devices Application of atomic physics Links modern physics to real-world technologies.
23 Case Study: Sensors and Measurement Real-world sensing systems Students connect physics concepts to AI inputs.
24 Case Study: Energy Constraints in Systems Power limitations Helps students design efficient systems.
25 Lab: Observing Motion and Energy Practical experiments Reinforces mechanics through observation.
26 Lab: Basic Electrical Systems Circuits and measurements Hands-on understanding of electricity.
27 Final Synthesis: Physics for Builders Integration of concepts Students connect all physics ideas to future hardware and AI systems.
Component Weightage
Written Examination (2 hours) 50%
Practical Labs (2 total) 30%
Case Study / Application Assignment 20%
Type Resource Provider
Lecture Physics I, II, III MIT OpenCourseWare
Lecture The Mechanical Universe Caltech
Reading Fundamentals of Physics Halliday, Resnick, Walker
Practical Physics Simulations PhET Interactive Simulations