Excursions in Physics

Course Outline

Physics might be divided or grouped something like the following:

Mechanics

Waves

Electricity and Magnetism

Light

Heat and Thermodynamics

Relativity

Quantum Physics

But that is (far) more than we can cover in a single semester. So we must pick and choose what we want to cover in the amount of time we have. For this course, we will cover only

Mechanics

Waves

Light

We can further break down these topics:

Mechanics Kinematics (description) Dynamics (explanation) Energy Momentum Rotation Gravitation
Oscillation and Waves Simple Harmonic Oscillations Wave Motion and Characteristics
Optics Reflection and Refraction Image Formation Wave Nature of Light

Resources:

Mechanics -- Conceptual Physics, 9th ed, TRS
Waves & Optics -- Adventures in Physics, available Online

Course Calendar (and Homework Assignments)

THE MECHANICAL UNIVERSE (TMU)

video tapes

=> Self-Study Materials Center (SSMC)

or a community college near you for Excursions - OnLine

=> These are excellent tapes made a few years ago at CalTech and include short historical sketches, wonderful computer animation, and scenes that may be difficult or impossible to duplicate in the classroom.

=> PBS audience

=> extensive references to calculus

Watch for the ideas and the demonstrations.

Don't worry about the calculus!

I have always made extensive use of The Mechanical Universe in my on-campus sections of ExcursionsLive! While I have strongly encouraged my cyber students in ExcursionsOnLine to track down The Mechanical Universe tapes at a high school or community college nearby, the reality has been that it was/is enough hassle that very few students did that. Now, however, there is good news! The Mechanical Universe videos are available online at http://www.learner.org/resources/series42.html. The calendar page shows the particular tapes that I would show to my ExcursionLive! students. Go to the web site and WATCH those videos! They are outstanding! But let me warn you once more that they do make extensive reference to calculus. Just tune out that part. Hit the fast fwd button for those portions. This is great news! Now go use this very valuable resource!

These videos are available online at

http://www.learner.org/resources/series42.html

Physics Is . . .			Homework

| Back to 3050's Home Page | Back to Dr D's Home Page |

 (C) 2005, Doug Davis; all rights reserved