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This is an open-access textbook for calculus-based introductory physics courses. The textbook is specifically intended for a flipped-classroom approach, wherein students complete readings at home and the material is then discussed in class. The textbook thus contains questions and activities to engage readers. This text also includes a curriculum in experimental physics, detailing the scientific method and process, suggesting experiments to perform at home and in the lab.

• ## 1: The Scientific Method and Physics

This textbook will introduce the theories from Classical Physics, which were mostly established and tested between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. We will take it as given that readers of this textbook are not likely to perform experiments that challenge those well-established theories. The main challenge will be, given a theory, to define a model that describes a particular situation, and then to test that model.
• ## 2: Comparing Model and Experiment

In this chapter, we will learn about the process of doing science and lay the foundations for developing skills that will be of use throughout your scientific careers. In particular, we will start to learn how to test a model with an experiment, as well as learn to estimate whether a given result or model makes sense.
• ## 3: Describing Motion in One Dimension

In this chapter, we will introduce the tools required to describe motion in one dimension. In later chapters, we will use the theories of physics to model the motion of objects, but first, we need to make sure that we have the tools to describe the motion. We generally use the word “kinematics” to label the tools for describing motion (e.g. speed, acceleration, position, etc), whereas we refer to “dynamics” when we use the laws of physics to predict that motion.
• ## 4: Describing Motion in Multiple Dimensions

In this chapter, we will learn how to extend our description of an object’s motion to two and three dimensions by using vectors. We will also consider the specific case of an object moving along the circumference of a circle.
• ## 5: Newton’s Laws

In this chapter, we introduce Newton’s Laws, which is a succinct theory of physics that describes an incredibly large number of phenomena in the natural world. Newton’s Laws are one possible formulation of what we call “Classical Physics” (as opposed to “Modern Physics” which include Quantum Mechanics and Special Relativity). Newton’s Laws make the connection between dynamics (the causes of motion) and the kinematics of motion (the description of that motion).
• ## 6: Applying Newton’s Laws

In this chapter, we take a closer look at how to use Newton’s Laws to build models to describe motion. Whereas the previous chapter was focused on identifying the forces that are acting on an object, this chapter focuses on using those forces to describe the motion of the object.

• ## 9: Gravity

In previous chapters, we have so far learned about Newton’s Theory of Classical Mechanics, which allowed us to model the motion of an object based on the forces acting on the object. In this chapter, we present the theories that describe the force of gravity itself. We will see several theories of gravity and focus primarily on Newton’s Universal Theory of Gravity.
• ## 10: Linear Momentum and the Center of Mass

In this chapter, we introduce the concepts of linear momentum and of center of mass. Momentum is a quantity that, like energy, can be defined from Newton’s Second Law, to facilitate building models. Since momentum is often a conserved quantity within a system, it can make calculations much easier than using forces.
• ## 11: Rotational dynamics

In this Chapter, we use Newton’s Second Law to develop a formalism to describe how objects rotate. In particular, we will introduce the concept of torque which plays a similar role to that of force in non-rotational dynamics. We will also introduce the concept of moment of inertia to describe how objects resist rotational motion.
• ## 12: Rotational Energy and Momentum

In this chapter, we extend our description of rotational dynamics to include the rotational equivalents of kinetic energy and momentum. We also develop the framework for describing the motion of rolling objects. We will see that many of the relations that hold for linear quantities also hold for angular quantities.
• ## 13: Simple Harmonic Motion

In this chapter, we look at oscillating systems that undergo “simple harmonic motion”, such as the motion of a mass attached to a spring. Many systems in the physical world, such as an oscillating pendulum, can be described by the same mathematical formalism that describes the motion of a mass attached to a spring.
• ## 14: Waves

In this chapter we introduce the tools to describe waves. Waves arise in many different physical systems (the ocean, a string, electromagnetism, etc.), and can be described by a common mathematical framework.
• ## 15: Fluid Mechanics

In this chapter, we introduce the tools required to model the dynamics of fluids. This will allow us to model how objects can float, how water flows through a pipe, and how airplane wings create lift. We will start by introducing the concept of pressure and modeling static fluids (hydrostatics) before developing models for fluids that flow (hydrodynamics). Fluids are generally defined as the phase of matter in which atoms (or molecules) are only loosely bound to each other, such as in gases or l
• ## 16: Electric Charges and Fields

In this and subsequent chapters, we start to look at the theories that describe electric and magnetic phenomena. Within the framework for dynamics that was developed by Newton, we will introduce the theories of electromagnetism which describe the electric force, the magnetic force, and how these two interact. This first chapter introduces the description of the electric force, analogously to how we introduced Newton’s Universal Theory of Gravity to describe the gravitational force.
• ## 17: Gauss’ Law

In this chapter, we take a detailed look at Gauss’ Law applied in the context of the electric field. We have already encountered Gauss’ Law briefly when we examined the gravitational field. Since the electric force is mathematically identical to the gravitational force, we can apply the same tools, including Gauss’ Law, to model the electric field as we do the gravitational field. Many of the results from this chapter are thus equally applicable to the gravitational force.
• ## 18: Electric potential

In this chapter, we develop the concept of electric potential energy and electric potential. This will allow us to describe the motion of charges using energy instead of forces. We will also introduce the capacitor, a common circuit component that is used to store charge.
• ## 19: Electric Current

In this chapter, we introduce tools to model electric current, namely, the motion of charges inside a conductor. We will show how we can connect the microscopic motion of electrons to macroscopic quantities, such as current and voltage, that can be measured in the laboratory. We will also introduce the notion of resistance, as well as the resistor, a common component in electric circuits.
• ## 20: Electric Circuits

In this chapter, we develop the tools to model electric circuits. This will allow us to determine the current and voltages across different components, such as resistors and capacitors, within a circuit. We will also discuss how a battery can provide a current at a fixed potential difference, and how one can construct devices to measure current and voltages.
• ## 21: The Magnetic Force

This chapter introduces the tools to model the magnetic force, which is something that we have all experienced with magnets. As we will see, the magnetic force acts on moving (electric) charges, and is thus fundamentally different from the electric force which acts on stationary and moving charges. In later chapters, we will develop the tools that allow us to make connections between the electric and magnetic fields.
• ## 22: Source of Magnetic Field

In this chapter, we develop the tools to model the magnetic field that is produced by an electric current. We will introduce the Biot-Savart Law, which is analoguous to Coulomb’s Law in that it can be used to calculate the magnetic field produced by any current. We will also introduce Amp&grave;ere’s Law, which can be thought of as the analogue to Gauss’ Law, allowing us to easily determine the magnetic field when there is a high degree of symmetry.
• ## 23: Electromagnetic Induction

In this chapter, we introduce the tools to model the connection between the magnetic and the electric field. In particular, we will see how a changing magnetic field can be used to induce an electric current, which is the basic principle behind the electric generators that power our life. We will also briefly discuss how electromagnetic waves are formed.

• ## 28: The Python Programming Language

This appendix gives a very brief introduction to programming in python and is primarily aimed at introducing tools that are useful for the experimental side of physics.