8.02 | Spring 2019 | Undergraduate

Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism

Course Description

Electricity and magnetism dominate much of the world around us – from the most fundamental processes in nature to cutting-edge electronic devices. Electric and magnetic fields arise from charged particles. Charged particles also feel forces in electric and magnetic fields. Maxwell’s equations, in addition to describing …

Electricity and magnetism dominate much of the world around us – from the most fundamental processes in nature to cutting-edge electronic devices. Electric and magnetic fields arise from charged particles. Charged particles also feel forces in electric and magnetic fields. Maxwell’s equations, in addition to describing this behavior, also describe electromagnetic radiation. 

The three-course series comprises:

8.02.1x: Electrostatics
8.02.2x: Magnetic Fields and Forces
8.02.3x: Maxwell’s Equations

This course was organized as a three-part series on MITx by MIT’s Department of Physics and is now archived on the Open Learning Library, which is free to use. You have the option to sign up and enroll in each module if you want to track your progress, or you can view and use all the materials without enrolling.

Learning Resource Types
Lecture Videos
Online Textbook
Two figures under title "Electric field". Left: A little circle labeled "+" surrounded by lines with arrows pointing outside. Right: A little circle labeled "-" surrounded by lines with arrows pointing center.
Electric field for positive (left) and negative (right) charges. (Image by Peter Dourmashkin.)