Applied Natural Sciences

As a technical engineer you have to be able to provide a substantiated explanation for phenomena of a general physical nature. Examples are questions which could also be asked during the National Science Quiz, such as:

• Why do I not fall out of my seat in a roller coaster?
• Why are the leaves on trees green?
• Why does the sun turn red when it sets and why is the sky blue?
• Why do sea levels not rise when an iceberg melts?

The basic course in applied natural sciences provides you, as a future engineer, with a basis to explain these daily phenomena in both a conceptual and more fundamental manner. In addition you learn how to use the acquired knowledge in product design or in the analysis of the world around us.

We decided to offer the subject of applied natural sciences in three variants to cater for the difference in level of abstraction of the issues facing students in the various departments. The first variant (3NCB0) focuses on concepts from wave theory and hydrodynamics. These are crucially important to some departments.

The concepts dealt with in the other two variants are the same for both variants; their differences will become apparent in the elaboration. For example, in the conceptual variant (3NAB0) the importance of the various concepts is clarified in more detail using practical examples (‘broadening’). In the case of the fundamental variant (3NBB0) the concepts are elaborated in more detail in a formal manner (‘deepening’). The intention is to achieve a greater degree of abstraction.