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Miscellaneous Classical Mechanics Topics

  • Page ID
    3344
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    • Ballistocardiogram
      A small application of Newton's Laws to the measurment of the acceleration of the blood.
    • Basal Metabolism
      This document discusses the metabolic rate of different animals, and how it scales with the mass of the creature. It was originally written as a Supplementary Topic for a first year course at the University of Toronto: Physics for the Life Sciences I.  A small introduction to the basal metabolism and allometry.
    • Birth of Physics in the Rennaisance
      A brief summary of the birth of physics from Bacon through Young, from a first year physics course that uses minimal mathematics.
    • Diffraction
      A small little document discussing some qualitative aspects of diffraction.
    • Electricity and Magnetism
      A brief overview of electricity, magnetism and electromagnetic waves, from a first year physics course that uses minimal mathematics.
    • Electricity and Magnetism: History
      A brief summary of the history of electricity and magnetism from the Greeks through Maxwell, from a first year physics course using minimal mathematics.
    • Energy
      A brief introduction to the concept of energy. It includes a small discussion of whether the energy is real.
    • Entropy
      Course notes from a one-hour class on entropy for upper-year liberal arts students.
    • Flash Animations for Physics
      An index to various Flash animations for physics.
    • Hip Forces
      Analysing the forces acting on the hip.
    • Horsepower of an Engine
      The relationship between the horsepower and torque of an engine, focusing on car and motorcycle engines.
    • Inertial Frames of Reference
      A brief summary of the concept of Inertial Frames of Reference in Newtonian and Einsteinian Physics.
    • Life, Emerging Structures, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics
      A discussion of issues of life and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Includes a section on cellular automata, and a section on sustainable energy sources.
    • Magic Through Two Millenia
      The Dept. of Physics offers a first year course with minimal mathematics, titled The Magic of Physics.
    • Mirror Symmetry
      Discusses the fact the mirrors apparently reverse front and back, not left and right. The rest discusses mirror symmetry in physics and biology.
    • Newtonian Mechanics
      A brief summary of Newtonian mechanics, from a first year physics course that uses minimal mathematics.
    • Polarization
      A very brief and simple introduction to the polarisation of light.
    • Spectra
      A very brief introduction, originally designed for upper-year liberal arts students.
    • Standing Waves
      Vibrations on strings and drum heads, plus a brief discussion of Fourier analysis.
    • The axis of rotation for rolling motion
      Analysing and teaching about the actual axis of rotation for a rolling object.
    • The Extended Mind
      Shows that the origins of speech and the human mind have emerged simultaneously as the bifurcation from percepts to concepts.
    • The Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
      A detailed description of the phase shifts of the Mach-Zehnder interfereometer.
    • Waves and Wave Motion
      A brief summary of waves.


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