Essential University Physics: Volume 1, Global Edition

Richard Wolfson is the Benjamin F. Wissler Professor of Physics at Middlebury College, where he has taught since 1976. He did undergraduate work at MIT and Swarthmore College, and he holds an M.S. from the University of Michigan and Ph.D. from Dartmouth. His ongoing research on the Sun's corona and climate change has taken him to sabbaticals at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado; St. Andrews University in Scotland; and Stanford University. Rich is a committed and passionate teacher. This is reflected in his many publications for students and the general public, including the video series Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Nonscientists, Physics in Your Life, Physics and Our Universe: How It All Works, and Understanding Modern Electronics; books Nuclear Choices: A Citizen's Guide to Nuclear Technology, Simply Einstein: Relativity Demystified, and Energy, Environment, and Climate; and articles for Scientific American and the World Book Encyclopedia.

Volume 1 contains Chapters 1—19

Volume 2 contains Chapters 20—39

 

1 Doing Physics  

1.1    Realms of Physics  

1.2    Measurements and Units  

1.3    Working with Numbers  

1.4    Strategies for Learning Physics  

Part One

Mechanics  

2 Motion in a Straight Line  

2.1    Average Motion  

2.2    Instantaneous Velocity  

2.3    Acceleration  

2.4    Constant Acceleration  

2.5    The Acceleration of Gravity  

2.6    When Acceleration Isn’t Constant  

Chapter 3 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions  

3.1    Vectors  

3.2    Velocity and Acceleration Vectors  

3.3    Relative Motion  

3.4    Constant Acceleration  

3.5    Projectile Motion  

3.6    Uniform Circular Motion  

4 Force and Motion  

4.1    The Wrong Question  

4.2    Newton’s First and Second Laws  

4.3    Forces  

4.4    The Force of Gravity  

4.5    Using Newton’s Second Law  

4.6    Newton’s Third Law  

5 Using Newton’s Laws  

5.1    Using Newton’s Second Law  

5.2    Multiple Objects  

5.3    Circular Motion  

5.4    Friction  

5.5    Drag Forces  

6 Energy, Work, and Power  

6.1    Energy  

6.2    Work  

6.3    Forces That Vary  

6.4    Kinetic Energy  

6.5    Power  

7 Conservation of Energy  

7.1    Conservative and Nonconservative Forces  

7.2    Potential Energy  

7.3    Conservation of Mechanical Energy  

7.4    Nonconservative Forces  

7.5    Conservation of Energy  

7.6    Potential-Energy Curves  

8 Gravity  

8.1    Toward a Law of Gravity  

8.2    Universal Gravitation  

8.3    Orbital Motion  

8.4    Gravitational Energy  

8.5    The Gravitational Field  

9 Systems of Particles  

9.1    Center of Mass  

9.2    Momentum  

9.3    Kinetic Energy of a System  

9.4    Collisions  

9.5    Totally Inelastic Collisions  

9.6    Elastic Collisions  

10 Rotational Motion  

10.1 Angular Velocity and Acceleration  

10.2 Torque  

10.3 Rotational Inertia and the Analog of Newton’s Law  

10.4 Rotational Energy  

10.5 Rolling Motion  

11 Rotational Vectors and Angular Momentum  

11.1 Angular Velocity and Acceleration Vectors  

11.2 Torque and the Vector Cross Product  

11.3 Angular Momentum  

11.4 Conservation of Angular Mom