PHYS 1211 Mechanics, Waves,

1
PHYS 1211 Mechanics, Waves, Thermodynamics

• Corequisite MATH 2250 (calculus) also
  familiarity with college Algebra, Geometry,
  Trigonometry, and Basic Chemistry (Useful to
  have MATH 2260 as coreq.)
• Not available for students with credit in PHYS
  1111
• Introduction to Newtonian mechanics, wave
  motion, and thermodynamics using calculus
• Aims of course
• - teach you the fundamental principles/laws of
  physics
• - teach you how to apply these principles to
  practical problem solving (useful in other
  fields)

2
Physics is Science
The Scientific Method was and is applied in the
formulation of physics
What is the Scientific Method? (http//teacher.pas
.rochester.edu/phy_labs/appendixe/appendixe.html)

• Observation/description of natural phenomenon
• Formulate hypothesis to explain phenomenon
• Use hypothesis to predict other (related)
  phenomena
• Perform experiment/observation to test hypothesis
• Repeat (3) and (4) many times
• If step (5) is all correct, then the hypothesis
  (2) may be regarded as a law or theory of nature
• If (5) is incorrect, start over at (2)

3
A Building-Up of Principles
What is Physics?
Definition the science that deals with matter
and energy in terms of motion and
force Operational definition given some
experimental observa- tion, a theory is developed
to describe it. The theory is then used to make
predictions, which are then tested with further
experiments or observations.
Algebra -gt geometry -gt trigonometry-gt kinematics
-gt forces -gt work/energy -gt waves -gt
thermodynamics -gt -gt electricity/magnetism -gt
optics -gt
4
Some examples synchronized diving (Beijing 2008
Olympics)
5
Butterfly stroke (Beijing 2008 Olympics)
6
The Classification of Physics
Classical Physics - everyday speeds and sizes
(Newton, )
Relativistic Physics - Very fast (Einstein, )
Quantum Physics - very small (Dirac, )
Relativistic Quantum Physics very small and
very fast (Feynman, )
7
Chapter 1 The Basics

• Things you should already know or will need to
  learn about
• Units SI will be used (mostly), British units
  will be used occasionally (foot, pound)
• Significant figures (covered in lab)
• Dimensional analysis
• Order-of-magnitude estimates

8
Vectors and Scalars (more in Chap. 3)

• Physical Quantities
• Scalar a quantity that can be completely
  specified by a single number or magnitude (and
  units) e.g., temperature, mass, speed (70 mph),
  energy,
• Vector a quantity which has both a magnitude
  and a direction (and units) e.g., force,
  velocity, displacement,

N
v70 mph
Physical quantities have explicit definitions
?5?
E
v70 mph, 5? N of E