Physics 1422, General Physics I-A

Dr. Yost

Announcements:

The makeup exam for the final will be held Friday, Sept. 22, from 6-8 PM in BSB D114. This will be the opportunity to replace your reported grade, so it is important to attend if you wish to do so. You can see the original version of the final here. The makeup final will be similar, but not identical.

Welcome to Physics 1422, General Physics I-A for science and engineering students! This course is an introduction to the physical concepts of mechanics and thermodynamics. By the end of the course, you should be familiar with Newton's Laws, forces, work and energy, momentum and inertia, rotational motion, oscillation and waves, and some aspects of thermodynamics. The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the ways in which a physicist models nature using mathematics, and uses these models to understand our world. In the process, you will also gain facility with problem solving in mechanics and thermodynamics.

This course differs from PHY 1425 in that it requires only concurrent enrollment in Calculus 1 (MTH 1321), not previous completion of a calculus course. Thus, physics and calculus are learned together, as is appropriate, since Newton invented calculus for the purpose of formulating his laws of mechanics. The relaxed prerequisite does not mean that this course is any less rigorous than PHY 1425. On the contrary, the use of a second textbook, A. P. French's Newtonian Mechanics (M.I.T. Physics Series) will help us explore the conceptual foundations of mechanics more deeply than may otherwise be possible, and will help you to see physics as more than just a series of equations to be memorized, but rather as a set of ideas that can be used to model our world mathematically. This course will be very useful for any students who wish to begin their physics studies immediately, without waiting to complete MTH 1321.

Physics is a hands-on subject! You cannot do well by watching your professor work problems on the board, or by asking your friends to show you how they did them. The problems are designed to help you discover the ways in which the concepts of physics apply to a variety of situations. There is absolutely no substitute to struggling through the problems yourself. Do not leave the problems to the last minute. Most of them are intended to require too much thought to be done as simple exercises. Those who do this normally do not learn the material well, and have disappointing performance on the exams. The due dates will be kept close to the completion date for each chapter to encourage starting the problems early.

Your grade in the course should largely reflect the amount of effort you put into the homework. However, it is a mistake to make completing the homework your only goal. The real goal is to understand the material, and to do this well, you must first read the chapter, and not blindly try to start on the problems, hoping you can skim the material for the right equations to use. That approach may get you through the homework more quickly, but without the understanding you will need to apply your knowledge in new contexts, including the exams. If you have trouble with one of the problems, go back and read the chapter some more, or try some different problems and come back to it.

The mathematical tools we will use include algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and vector algebra. Everyone should have a comfortable working knowledge of algebra, geometry and trigonometry, since these used extensively on a daily basis. In physics, mathematics is not just a means of solving problems, but the language in which the fundamental ideas are expressed. Any weakness in these areas will have a strong impact on your understanding of physics. You should consider a tutor if you feel you need one. Vector algebra is needed any time we want to describe quantities that have a direction. If you are not already familiar with vectors, you will be soon.

Calculus was invented to describe the kind of physical problems we will be considering, and is essential for the most general treatment, as Newton first realized. This course should be taken concurrently with a calculus course, and you should find that the two forces help to reinforce each other. Seeing calculus a physical context will help you understand the concepts of differentiation and integration more fully and intuitively.

All students taking PHY 1422 must also sign up for a laboratory session. The laboratory must be passed independently, with an average of not less than 60% to pass this course.