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Science One Physics

Course Content: Term 1

Here is a list of topics that we'll likely cover in the course. Term 2 content can be found here. As the term progresses, more details will be added, and these will be correlated with lecture dates, notes, and suggested reading. To help you figure out what I'm expecting you will learn, have a look at the explicit set of Learning Goals. These will be updated to include more detailed goals as the class proceeds.

Date	Topic	Notes, etc...	Reading
	MECHANICS
Sept 9	Representing motion, motion diagrams, velocity and acceleration, coordinates, position, velocity and acceleration graphs	notes worksheet worksheet solutions	Knight, Chapter 1.1-1.6
Sept 11	dimensions of space, orientation of solid bodies, instantaneous velocity, instantaneous acceleration, orientation of solid bodies, predicting the future, physics in outer space, symmetries and conseration laws, conservation of momentum	notes clicker questions	Knight, Chapter 2.1,2.2
Sept 16	more on momentum conservation, collisions, definition of mass (inertial), predicting the future with momentum conservation	notes clicker questions worksheet sample worksheet solution worksheet solutions
Sept 18	definition of force, Newton's Laws from conservation of momentum.	notes clicker questions worksheet worksheet solutions	Knight, Chapters 5,9
Sept 25	Predicting the future with Newton's 2nd Law. Air drag. Examples of using Newton's second law: projectile motion with air drag. Brute force method (Euler method) for finding future positions and velocities from inital positions and velocities.	notes clicker questions	Notes on using Newton's 2nd Law to predict the future -includes methods for solving problems
Sept 30	Examples of using Newton's second law: projectile motion with air drag. Brute force method (Euler method) for finding future positions and velocities from inital positions and velocities. Using computers to do these calculations Example with force independent of position and velocity Solving equations of motion by integration, the fundamental theorem of calculus. Ways to solve equations of motion: solving ODEs (guess and check), direct integration for forces that are known functions of time	notes cliker questions worksheet worksheet solutions	Knight, chapters 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 6.1
Oct 2	Ways to solve equations of motion: solving ODEs (guess and check), direct integration for forces that are known functions of time Conservation of energy. Kinetic and potential energy.	notes cliker questions Skate Park PhET	Mechanics summary sheet
Oct 7	Equilibrium as a minimum of potential energy. Hooke's Law as a general result for small oscillations about equilibrium. Every local smooth local minimum looks like a spring potential. So everything wiggles. Solving problems with conservaiton of energy and/or momentum	notes cliker questions worksheet worksheet solutions Spring PhET	Knight chapter 10
Oct 9	Midterm Midterm solutions
Oct 14	Transfer of energy. Work.	notes clicker questions
	SPECIAL RELATIVITY
Oct 14	Frames of reference, The Principle of Relativity (Galileo and Einstein)	notes worksheet worksheet solutions	Knight chapter 36.1-36.4
Oct 16	Time dilation	notes clicker questions	Knight chapter 36.6
Oct 21	Length contraction, relativity of simultaneity	notes clicker questions Relativity movie	Knight chapter 36.5,36.7,36.8 Optional worksheet: Lorentz transformations Optional worksheet solutions
Oct 23	Momentum and Energy in Relativity	notes clicker questions worksheet worksheet solutions	Knight chapter 36.9,36.10
Oct 28	Momentum, Energy and Mass	notes clicker questions cosmic ray cloud chamber oustanding fact	Derivation of relativistic energy
	ROTATIONAL MOTION
Oct 30	Angular position, velocity and acceleration. Conservation of angular momentum.	notes clicker questions	Knight chapter 4.5-4.7, chapter 12.1-12.4
Nov 4	Torque, rotational analogues of Newton's Laws	notes clicker questions	Knight chapter 12.5-12.6
Nov 6	Rotational dynamics practice	notes clicker questions worksheet worksheet solutions Rotational motion summary
	Second midterm Second midterm solutions
Nov 18	Rotational kinetic energy. Angular momentum of free bodies, gravity, and orbits.	notes clicker questions worksheet worksheet solutions
	THERMODYNAMICS
Nov 20	How to answer questions about 10²³ things. Example of deriving a macroscopic property from averaged microscopic properties. Pressure, temperature and their microscopic origins. The ideal gas law.	notes clicker questions	Knight chapter 16.1-16.5
Nov 25	Energy in gases: translational energy, intermolecular potential energy, rotational/vibrational energy. Work, heat, 1st law of thermodynamics.	notes clicker questions	parts of chapter 18
Nov 27	Examples of thermodynamic processes. Adiabatic processes.	notes clicker questions worksheet worksheet solutions	Knight, chapter 16.6,17.1-17.5,17.7