ACP Physics Home Page


Course Description and Syllabus


Material to be covered (ordered as in the recommended text):

  1. Measurement
    1. Measuring things
    2. Units
    3. Length
    4. Time
    5. Mass
  2. Motion in One Dimension
    1. Motion
    2. Position and displacement
    3. Average velocity and speed
    4. Instantaneous velocity and speed
    5. Acceleration
    6. Constant acceleration
    7. Free-fall
  3. Vectors
    1. Vectors and Scalars
    2. Adding vectors graphically
    3. Adding vectors by components
  4. Motion in Two and Three Dimensions
    1. Moving in 2 or 3 dimensions
    2. Position and displacement
    3. Velocity
    4. Acceleration
    5. Projectile motion
    6. Uniformly circular motion
    7. Relative motion in 1 and 2 dimensions
  5. Force and Motion
    1. Newton's first law
    2. Force
    3. Mass
    4. Newton's second law
    5. Some particular forces
    6. Newton's third law
    7. Applying Newton's Laws
    8. Friction
    9. Properties of friction
    10. Drag force and terminal speed
    11. Uniform circular motion
    12. Forces of nature
  6. Kinetic Energy and Work
    1. Kinetic energy
    2. Word
    3. Work done by weight
    4. Work done by a variable force
    5. Work done by a spring force
    6. Power
  7. Potential Energy and Conservation of Energy
    1. Potential energy
    2. Path independence of conservative forces
    3. Determining potential energy
    4. Conservation of mechanical energy
    5. Reading a potential energy curve
    6. Mass and energy
  8. Systems of Particles
    1. Center of mass
    2. Newton's second law for a system of particles
    3. Linear momentum
    4. Linear momentum for a system
    5. Conservation of linear momentum
    6. Rocket equation
  9. Collisions
    1. Impulse and linear momentum
    2. Elastic collisions in one dimension
    3. Inelastic collisions in one dimension
    4. Collisions in two dimensions
  10. Rotation
    1. Translation and rotation
    2. Rotational variables
    3. Rotation with constant angular acceleration
    4. Relating linear and angular variables
    5. Kinetic energy of rotation
    6. Calculating the rotational moment of intertia
    7. Torque
    8. Newton's second law for rotation
    9. Work and energy
  11. Rolling, Torque and Angular Momentum
    1. Rolling
    2. The yo-yo
    3. Angular momentum
    4. Angular momentum for a system
    5. Angular momentum of a rigid body
    6. Conservation of angular momentum
  12. Equilibrium and Elasticity
    1. Equilibrium
    2. Requirements of equilibrium
    3. Center of gravity
    4. Examples of static equilibrium
    5. Elasticity
  13. Gravitation
    1. Newton's law of gravitation
    2. Gravitation and superposition
    3. Gravity near the Earth's surface
    4. Gravity inside the Earth
    5. Gravitational potential energy
    6. Planets and Satellites
    7. Kepler's laws
    8. Satellites: orbits and energy
  14. Fluids
    1. What is a fluid?
    2. Density and pressure
    3. Fluids at rest
    4. Measuring pressure
    5. Pascal's principle
    6. Archimedes' principle
    7. Ideal fluids in motion
    8. Equation of continuity
    9. Bernoulli's equation
  15. Oscillations
    1. Simple harmonic motion (SHM)
    2. Force law for SHM
    3. Energy in SHM
    4. Angular SHM
    5. SHM and circular motion
    6. Damped SHM
    7. Forced Oscillator
  16. Waves
    1. Types of waves
    2. Transverse and longitudinal waves
    3. Wavelength and frequency
    4. The speed of a traveling wave
    5. Wave speed and the stretched string
    6. Energy and power in a traveling waves
    7. Superposition of waves
    8. Interference
    9. Phasors
    10. Standing waves
    11. Standing waves and resonance
  17. Sound
    1. Sound waves
    2. Speed of sound
    3. Traveling sound waves
    4. Interference
    5. Intensity and sound level
    6. Sources of musical sound
    7. Beats
    8. Doppler effect
  18. Temperature and Heat
    1. Thermodynamics
    2. Zeroth law
    3. Measuring temperature
    4. Celcius and Fahrenheit scales
    5. Thermal expansion
    6. Temperature and heat
    7. Absorption of heat
    8. First law
    9. Heat transfer
  19. Kinetic Theory of Gases
    1. Avogadro's number
    2. Ideal gas
    3. Pressure, temperature and rms speed
    4. Translational kinetic energy
    5. Mean free path
    6. Distribution of molecular speeds
    7. Molar specific heat
    8. Degrees of freedom
    9. Adiabatic expansion of an ideal gas
  20. Entropy
    1. One-way processes
    2. Change in entropy
    3. Second law
    4. Entropy in the real world: engines
    5. Entropy in the real world: refrigerators
    6. Statistical view of entropy