Open Yale Courses

PHYS 200: Fundamentals of Physics I

Mirrored from oyc.yale.edu · CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0 · Ramamurti Shankar John Randolph Huffman Professor of Physics

Mirrored from: oyc.yale.edu · Yale University · Physics

Instructor: Ramamurti Shankar John Randolph Huffman Professor of Physics · License: CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0

About this course

This course provides a thorough introduction to the principles and methods of physics for students who have good preparation in physics and mathematics. Emphasis is placed on problem solving and quantitative reasoning. This course covers Newtonian mechanics, special relativity, gravitation, thermodynamics, and waves.

Course details

Course Structure

This Yale College course, taught on campus twice per week for 75 minutes, was recorded for Open Yale Courses in Fall 2006. The Open Yale Courses Book Series. For more information about Professor Shankar's book based on the lectures from this course, Fundamentals of Physics: Mechanics, Relativity, and Thermodynamics http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300192209 click here.

Texts

Wolfson, Richard and Jay Pasachoff. 1998. Physics with Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers , 3d ed. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley Publishing Company. Recommended: Shankar, Ramamurti. 2003. Basic Training in Mathematics: A Fitness Program for Science Students . New York: Springer Publishing Company.

Requirements

Homework will be given every Wednesday and is due the following Wednesday before class. Solutions will be posted on Wednesdays, so problem sets must be turned in on time. There will be one in-class midterm halfway through the semester.

Grading

Homework: 20% Midterm examination: 30% Final examination: 50% Letter grades will be assigned by taking the highest score of either the total final average or the final exam.

Syllabus

1 section · 24 lectures · links open at oyc.yale.edu.

Course sessions

Course Introduction and Newtonian MechanicsLecture 1
Vectors in Multiple DimensionsLecture 2
Newton's Laws of MotionLecture 3
Newton's Laws (cont.) and Inclined PlanesLecture 4
Work-Energy Theorem and Law of Conservation of EnergyLecture 5
Law of Conservation of Energy in Higher DimensionsLecture 6
Dynamics of a Multiple-Body System and Law of Conservation of MomentumLecture 8
Rotations, Part I: Dynamics of Rigid BodiesLecture 9
Rotations, Part II: Parallel Axis TheoremLecture 10
TorqueLecture 11
Midterm ExamExam 1
Introduction to RelativityLecture 12
Lorentz TransformationLecture 13
Introduction to the Four-VectorLecture 14
Four-Vector in RelativityLecture 15
The Taylor Series and Other Mathematical ConceptsLecture 16
Simple Harmonic MotionLecture 17
Simple Harmonic Motion (cont.) and Introduction to WavesLecture 18
Fluid Dynamics and Statics and Bernoulli's EquationLecture 20
ThermodynamicsLecture 21
The Boltzmann Constant and First Law of ThermodynamicsLecture 22
The Second Law of Thermodynamics and Carnot's EngineLecture 23
The Second Law of Thermodynamics (cont.) and EntropyLecture 24
Final ExamExam 2

This is a mirror of PHYS 200: Fundamentals of Physics I from Yale University Open Yale Courses, distributed under CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0. Attribution: Ramamurti Shankar John Randolph Huffman Professor of Physics.

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