| Unit name | Soft Condensed Matter Physics 311 |
|---|---|
| Unit code | PHYS31112 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2C (weeks 13 - 18) |
| Unit director | Professor. Nick Brook |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
The award of 120 credit points of units at level I comprising programme in Physics, Physics with Astrophysics, a joint honours programme in Mathematics and Physics or Physics and Philosophy, or a Chemical Physics programme |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Physics |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science and Engineering |
The course will start with a review of the different types of intermolecular interaction and the types of behaviours associated with them before discussing colloids, polymers and liquid crystals in more detail. Colloids: Stoke's law and Brownian motion; colloid stability, electrostatic and steric interactions, depletion interactions; phase behaviour. Liquid crystals: mesophases; orientational order; Frank elasticity; optical properties; disclinations; influence of external fields; theory of nematic-isotropic transition; polymeric liquid crystals. Polymers: chain architecture and dimensions; polymer chains in solution: Flory-Huggins theory; theta temperature; rubber elasticity; glass formation; viscoelasticity; crystallisation and chain folding. Examples of soft matter in nanotechnology and nature will be discussed.
