Introductory Physics: Berea College
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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, and has chapters that cover: writing and reviewing proposals, writing and reviewing reports, analyzing data, as well as an introduction to python. Finally, this textbook was written with many contributions from students! We hope that you may find it useful, and we are interested to know if you are using it!
Front Matter
1: The Scientific Method and Physics
2: Comparing Model and Experiment
3: Describing Motion in One Dimension
4: Describing Motion in Multiple Dimensions
5: Newton’s Laws
6: Applying Newton’s Laws
7: Work and energy
8: Potential Energy and Conservation of Energy
9: Gravity
10: Linear Momentum and the Center of Mass
11: Rotational dynamics
12: Rotational Energy and Momentum
13: Simple Harmonic Motion
14: Waves
15: Fluid Mechanics
16: Electric Charges and Fields
17: Gauss’ Law
18: Electric potential
19: Electric Current
20: Electric Circuits
21: The Magnetic Force
22: Source of Magnetic Field
23: Electromagnetic Induction
24: The Theory of Special Relativity
25: Vectors
26: Calculus
27: Guidelines for lab related activities
28: The Python Programming Language
Back Matter
Thumbnail: Animation of Newton's cradle. (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported; Dominique Toussaint via Wikipedia).