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(Submission #68)
This class deals with fundamental principles underlying our understanding of the physical world around us. More specifically it is concerned with several areas of “classical physics,” which were developed between 16th and 20th centuries and which deal with objects that are not too small, and that are not moving too fast. In this class students will learn the basic concepts (motion, gravity, energy, temperature, etc.) and methods used by physicists in explaining properties of the natural world. They will also learn how discoveries in physics affected, technologically and culturally, western societies in 18 – 21 centuries. Interaction between students and teaching staff is organized in the form of three components: lectures, recitations and labs. Students learn material, however, not only during scheduled class times, but also during their preparation for classes. The preparation includes: reading a textbook and additional reading materials, solving homework problems, and performing other assignments deemed necessary by an instructor. Main goal of lectures is to deliver main conceptual content of the studied material. Organization of lectures depends on individual styles of professors teaching the course, but active involvement of students in discussion of the subject matter will always be one of the main means of achieving this goal. Recitations play a more technical role: during recitations students sharpen their practical skill in applying new concepts to typical situations occurring in real life or during scientific inquiry. During labs, students are introduced to and obtain hands-on experience of empirical methods of scientific inquiry. They learn to design meaningful scientific experiments, use basic measuring devices and instruments, collect and analyze experimental data to make reasonable scientific inferences. Topics in this class include: Mechanics: Kinematics (description of motion); projectile motion in everyday phenomena and in the history of physics, Newton’s laws as the foundation of a mechanical world view; models of the solar system from ancient Greeks to Copernicus and Kepler; Newton’s law of universal gravity and its implications for astronomy, cosmology and space exploration; momentum and its conservation, kinematics of collisions; mechanical energy and its conservation, general concept of energy and its application in physics and beyond; kinematics of rotation, absolutely rigid body as a new idealization in physics; dynamics of rotation, torque, energy of rotation; hydrostatics and hydrodynamics, Bernoulli’s equation and its role for aviation; oscillatory motion, simple harmonic oscillator as a universal model of linear oscillations. Elements of kinetics and thermodynamics: Statistical approach to systems of many particles; ideal gas as the simplest model of a thermodynamic system; thermodynamic processes (isothermal, isobaric, isochoric, adiabatic); internal energy and the 1st law of thermodynamics; 2nd law of thermodynamics and heat engines; thermodynamics and industrial revolution; entropy.
Area of Knowledge and Inquiry: Natural Science Lab (NS-L) Context of Experience: Not Applicable Extended Requirement: Abstract or Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
Credits: 4 Prerequisites: Math 151 or Math 141, 142 Existing Course: Existing Existing Course Number: Phys 145 Course Anticipated to be offered: Every Semester Other (if specified): Number of Sections: 2 Number of Seats: 24
[Justification, Materials, Assessment, Administration (RTF)] [Syllabus/Syllabi (DOC)]
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