Other Physics Commons^™

Newton's Laws

Calculus-Based General Physics

When a body is at rest, we know from experience that it will remain at rest unless something is done to change that state. A heavy box on the floor will stay in place unless it is pushed or pulled. We walk without fear beside a massive rock on level ground because we know it won't suddenly move and crush us.

Undoubtedly you have leaned against a chair only to have it move and send you scurrying for your balance. Did you then question the relationship of the interaction between you and the chair to the ensuing motion of the …

01 Content And Prerequisite Description: Module Sequence/Roadmap With Links

Calculus-Based General Physics

What is the proper order to address the topics in the STUDY MODULES FOR CALCULUS-BASED GENERAL PHYSICS ? Do you need to master "A" before moving on to "B"?

These are prerequisite charts and suggested sequences for study modules of the Calculus-Based Physics Personalized System of Instruction:

I. Mechanics, Sound, Heat

II. Electricity, Magnetism, Light

Each "road map" is linked to the texts of the modules in this repository.

Trigonometry

Calculus-Based General Physics

Many of the applications of physics will require you to have a thorough knowledge of the basic properties of right triangles, i.e., triangles that have one angle equal to 90°.

The trigonometric functions are defined with respect to a right triangle as follows:

sin θ = y/r

cos θ = x/r

tan θ = y/x

The values of the trigonometric sine, cosine, and tangent functions for a given θ can be determined from a table such as in the appendix to your text or the last page of this module. You can also get the values by use of most …

Work And Energy

Calculus-Based General Physics

Energy is much in the news lately. The term "energy" usually refers to the inherent ability of a material system, such as a person, a flashlight battery, or rocket fuel, to bring about changes in its environment or in itself. Some common sources of energy are the fuel used to heat hot water, the gasoline that propels a car, the dammed water that drives the turbine in a hydroelectric plant, and the spinning yo-yo that can climb up its own string. Inanimate energy sources are of central importance in raising the standard of living of mankind above the subsistence level. …

Sound

Calculus-Based General Physics

We, much more than our ancestors, are constantly being bombarded by sound. We hear, and are more or less aware of, music, air hammers, television sets, jet planes, conversation, engines, sirens, etc., throughout the day. A sophisticated audio industry tries to improve the quality of musical sound. At the other end of the quality scale, noise pollution is a serious concern, which probably affects our lives more than we realize.

In order to deal with sound, we should have some idea of what it is. What factors determine whether a sound is pleasing or grating? How is sound transmitted? How …

Diffraction

Calculus-Based General Physics

Have you ever wondered why you can hear around corners, but cannot see around them? You know that light and sound are waves, and should therefore share the same basic properties. Why then do they seem so different in the property of their "shadows"?

In this module you will learn that light does exhibit all the bending properties of sound and water waves. The effect, however, depends on the size of the obstacle compared to the wavelength. It is only the largeness of everyday obstacles compared to the very small wavelength of light that deemphasizes the bending, or diffraction, of …

Ampère's Law

Calculus-Based General Physics

Everyone has seen a bar magnet in the form of a compass or a door catch. Anyone who has ever casually played with magnets or magnetic toys knows that magnets interact with other magnets; i.e., a magnet experiences a force caused by thp presence of an external magnetic field produced by the other magnet. A wire carrying a current experiences a force caused by the presence of a nearby magnet (as you saw in the module Magnetic Forces). We then expect the converse to also hold true, i.e., that the bar magnet will also experience a force from the presence …

Capacitors

Calculus-Based General Physics

Capacitors are important components of electronic circuits and of electrical machinery and power grids. You can find large oil-insulated capacitors on powerline poles or small ceramic-insulated capacitors in a radio. In each application the capacitor is used to store electrical charge and electrical energy - for example, sometimes for a short time in an alternating-current cycle, sometimes for a long time until the energy is needed, as in a strobe light for a camera. Your body can be a capacitor, storing up enough charge and energy to cause a painful spark when the capacitor discharqes.

Practical capacitors are basically two …

Equilibrium Of Rigid Bodies

Calculus-Based General Physics

Most of the objects that one sees are in a state of equilibrium, that is, at rest or in a state of uniform motion. Many man-made structures are designed to achieve and sustain a state of equilibrium, and this, in turn, sets requirements to the materials (their sizes and shapes) that can be used. This module will give you some practice in analyzing the forces that result in equilibrium. From this analysis, if you are given the values of an appropriate set of forces you can find the remaining ones. On the other hand, in designing a stable system you …

Inductance

Calculus-Based General Physics

Anyone who has ever grabbed an automobile spark-pluq wire at the wrong place, with the engine running, has an appreciation of the ability of a changinq current in (part of) a coil of wire to induce an emf in the coil. What happens is that the breaker contacts open, suddenly interrupting the current, and causing a sudden large change in the magnetic field through the coil; according to Faraday's law, this results in a (large) induced emf. In general, the production of an emf in a coil by a changing magnetic field due to a current in that same coil …

Introduction To Quantum Physics

Calculus-Based General Physics

You have probably encountered a system known as an "electric eye," which senses light from an artificial source or the sun. This information is used to open doors, count pedestrian or auto traffic, turn on lights at sunset, read holes in punched card, and for a host of other applications. Most of these devices are based on the photoelectric effect, which is the light-induced emission of electrons from atoms.

The photoelectric effect completely baffled physicists at the time of its discovery. Einstein's explanation of this process, which won the Nobel Prize in 1921, was a major part of the twentieth-century …

Maxwell's Predictions

Calculus-Based General Physics

With this module, you will reach a milestone in your study of electromagnetic phenomena. From past modules, you now have (at your fingertips, hopefully!) the same basic laws of electromagnetism that Maxwell collected together in the nineteenth century. However, as powerful as these laws were, Maxwell found that there was a basic flaw -- a logical inconsistency -- in the one known as Ampere's law. He was able to deduce (in advance of any direct experimental test) precisely the correction that was needed. With this correction, the addition of what is called the "displacement-current" term to Ampere's law, it follows …

Reflection And Refraction

Calculus-Based General Physics

Sight is certainly one of our most important senses and depends on the interaction of electromagnetic waves in the visible portion of the spectrum with the eye. The use of materials that reflect light and that refract or "bend" light extends throughout our industrialized society. In this module we deal with light traveling in two dimensions and encounterinq the boundaries between media under those conditions in which the wavelength is small compared with the size of the obstacles or apertures. Under such conditions, since diffraction and interference effects are negligible, the principal phenomena occurring at the interfaces, reflection and refraction, …

Calculus

Calculus-Based General Physics

Differentiation of a function, say f(x), is a mathematical operation which yields a second function called the derivative of f [symbolized by f '(x) or dy/dx]. This procedure is represented in the diagram, which shows

Input                  Differentiation Operation               Output

f(x)                                   →                               f ' (x) = df/dx

the function f(x) being input to an "analytical machine" that manufactures as output the derivative of f. A detailed mathematical prescription for the differentiation operation is nontrivial. It usually involves a quarter or semester course, which requires time, attention, and effort on the student's part.

Partial Derivatives

Calculus-Based General Physics

If we have a function of more than one independent variable, then we can define a partial derivative with respect to one of the variables, which is simply the derivative of the function with all the other variables fixed, The notation using ∂, which we will use below, tells you it is a partial derivative, For example, suppose we have the function y that depends on the independent variables x and t:

y = A sin(kx – ωt),

where A, k, and ω are constants, Then, "the partial derivative of y with respect to x" …

Wave Properties Of Light

Calculus-Based General Physics

How do Polaroid sunglasses reduce glare? What evidence is there for an expanding universe? You will learn the answer to these two questions by considering some properties of light. Gamma rays, x rays, light (ultraviolet, visible, and infrared) and radio waves are all forms of electromagnetic radiation and therefore share the same basic properties as mentioned in this module and the module Maxwell's Predictions. The basic difference among these types of electromaonetic radiation is their wavelengths or frequencies.