PHYSICS 025 COURSE OUTLINE & STUDY GUIDE

This study guide is intended to highlight the key ideas in each topic that we will be covering during the year, and suggest the means for getting a good understanding of the material. There may be some changes during the year that I will mention in lectures; also check for updates on the Website from time to time.

     

The textbook ends each chapter with a series of Review Questions, followed by Exercises (arranged by Section) and Problems.  Make sure you can answer the Review Questions; answers to them are provided at the end of the Problems.  The Exercises generally deal with one concept, whereas the Problems may involve putting together concepts and so are a little more difficult.

 

To help you get started, I have selected some Exercises from each section and some Problems, but I encourage you to try others. Refer to worked examples in lecture notes and/or the text for guidance. If you can’t get anywhere with a problem after 10-15 min, make a note to ask for help on the topic rather than spending more time on it. If you acquire packaged solutions to the problems, be very careful how you use them. It is very easy to read someone else’s solution to a problem and imagine that you now know how to do it. There is no substitute for doing it yourself!

 

And a final note:

Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions!

 

Ia. UNITS AND DIMENSIONS

Objectives:

1.   Be familiar with S.I. units, which are now standard in science.

2    Check that an equation expressing a physical relationship is dimensionally correct.

3.   Know how to convert a physical quantity from one unit to another (e.g. an area from m2 to cm2).

4.   Understand the difference between random and systematic errors in measurement, and why only a limited number of digits in a numerical result are significant.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 1, section 1.1.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some exercises and problems.

      Chapter 1: Exercises 5,6,10,12

 

Ib. MOTION IN A STRAIGHT LINE

Objectives:

1.   Know the formal definitions of displacement, average and instantaneous velocity, average and instantaneous acceleration.

2.   Relate a verbal or algebraic description of motion to a graphical description of the same motion.

3.   Use the equations for motion with constant acceleration to solve problems, e.g. freely falling bodies with no air resistance, and vertical jumping.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 1, sections 1.2-1.8.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some exercises and problems.

Chapter 1: 15,17,21,28,29,37,39,43,48,50,51,53,59,67,73,75,87,93,106

 

II. MOTION IN TWO DIMENSIONS

     

1.   Add (and subtract) vectors both graphically, and, using unit vectors, algebraically.

2.   Convert a two-dimensional vector from its Cartesian form to its polar form and vice versa.

3.   Express position, displacement, velocity, and acceleration as two-dimensional vectors.

4.   Solve problems in 2 dimensions involving constant acceleration, especially projectile motion.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 2, sections 2.1-2.6.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some exercises and problems.

Chapter 2: 1,4,7,9,11,15,19,22,24,27,28,36,37,42,45,49,53,63,69,72,77

 

III. NEWTON'S LAWS OF MOTION

Objectives:

1.   Know the definitions of weight, gravitational mass, and density.

2.   Understand the connection between Newton's 1st Law and the concept of inertial reference frames.

3.   Understand the concept of equilibrium, and what stability of that equilibrium means.

4.   Understand the statement of Newton's 3rd Law; note especially that the 'action' and 'reaction' forces never act on the same object.

5.   Understand the experimental basis of Newton's 2nd Law and how it is used to define inertial mass.

6.   Use the important concept of the free body diagram to solve problems requiring the application of Newton's Laws.

7.   Know Newton's law of universal gravitation.

8.   Understand the laws of kinetic and static friction and use them in problems.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 3, all sections except 3.11.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some questions and problems.

Chapter 3:  3,5,11,18,26,29,31,33,35,36,39,42,49,52,55,57,58,61,63,65,73,79,82,87,91,99,100,101,102

 

IV. STATICS

Objectives:

1.   Understand why it is necessary to introduce the concept of torque in studying the equilibrium of a rigid body, and know the two conditions for such equilibrium.

2.   Know the definition of the centre of gravity of an object (e.g. a person) and how to find it.

3.   Understand the condition for an object (e.g. a person) to be in a state of stable balance.

4.   Understand the concept of a lever and what its mechanical advantage is.  Be able to give examples of levers in the body (including jaws).

5.   Explain the mechanical advantage of a pulley system.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 4, all sections.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some questions and problems.

      Chapter 4: 1,3,9,10,13,1417,19,21,29,31,33,37,41,49,53,54,61,67

 

V. CIRCULAR MOTION

Objectives:

1.   Understand why an object moving at constant speed in a circular path is accelerated.  Know the magnitude and direction of the acceleration and use them in problems.

2.   Know the definition of a radian as a measure of angle, and the related quantities of angular velocity and angular acceleration.

3.   Understand how applying Newton's second law to a rotating body produces a relationship between torque and angular acceleration, and how a new quantity, the moment of inertia, arises.

4.   Be able to calculate moments of inertia for simple mass distributions and make qualitative comparisons of moments of inertia of different objects of the same mass.  Know how to use the parallel axis theorem in calculating moments of inertia.

5.   Understand the motion of satellites and know the relation between their periods and orbit radii.

6.   Understand the implication of large accelerations on the human body.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 5, Sections 5.1-5.4, 5.7(satellites),5.8

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some questions and problems.

      Chapter 5:1,7,9,13,17,21,29,33,35,39,42,43,47,49,51,69,70,73,77,83,90,93,95

 

VI. WORK, ENERGY AND POWER

Objectives:

1.   Know the definition of mechanical work in words, and in symbols using the scalar product.

2.   State and be able to use the work-energy theorem.

3.   Understand the concept of potential energy and its relationship to conservative forces.

4.   Understand mechanical energy conservation and use it to solve problems, mainly involving gravitational PE and spring PE.

5.   Know how to use energy methods when dissipative (non-conservative) forces are present.

6.   Know the definition of power in mechanics.

7.   Use the concepts of work and energy when rotation is present.

     

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 6, Sections 6.1-6.7, 6.9-6.11.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some questions and problems.

      Chapter 6: 3,5,13,17,19,20,23,28,33,35,39,45,49,51,53,57,60,71,77,81,89,91,99,105,108,109.

 

 

VII. LINEAR AND ANGULAR MOMENTUM

Objectives:

1.   Know the definitions of momentum and impulse, and the connection between them; relate to collisions.

2.   Know the condition under which the total momentum of several particles is conserved, and use the principle of momentum conservation in problems.

3.   Know the definition of the centre of mass (CM) of a system of particles and why it is important.

4.   Understand a collision as an encounter where large forces between objects exist for short times; solve collision problems using appropriate conservation laws. Know the distinction between elastic and inelastic collisions.

5.   Know the definitions of angular momentum and angular impulse, and the connection between them.

6.   Know and apply the principle of angular momentum conservation.

7.   Know how calculate the angular momentum of a rigid body and of a particle.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 7, sections 7.1-7.6.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some questions and problems.

      Chapter 7: 3,5,11,17,21,23,24,25,30,31,33,35,39,41,44,45,53,58,65,69,73,81,82.

 

 

VIII. ELASTIC PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

Objectives:

1.   Know the definitions of stress and strain and be able to graph the relationship between them.  Know how the linear region of that graph gives rise to Young's modulus and Hooke's Law.

2.   Understand the forces and torques involved in bending.

3.   Know the meaning of buckling and the critical height.

4.   Know the definition of shear stress and strain and the shear modulus.  Understand the relationship between shearing and twisting.

5.   Be able to compare quantities like the bending strength of two objects using ratios.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 8, sections 8.1-8.5.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some questions and problems.

      Chapter 8: 1,5,9,11,15,20,25,27,31,32,37,41,45,49,51,55.

 

IX. VIBRATIONAL MOTION

Objectives:

1.   Know the definition of simple harmonic motion (SHM), how to find x(t) for SHM from Newton’s 2nd Law, and the definitions of frequency, angular frequency, amplitude.  Be familiar with graphs of x(t), v(t), a(t) for SHM.

2.   Understand the most basic examples of SHM: cart attached to a spring on a horizontal air track, weight on a spring.

3.   Know the potential and kinetic energy expressions for SHM and use energy conservation in problems.

4.   Apply concepts of SHM to the simple pendulum, the physical pendulum, and the torsional oscillator.

5.   Understand qualitatively the behaviour of damped and forced oscillators, and the concept of resonance.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 9, Sections 1-6.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some questions and problems.

      Chapter 9: 1,3,5,7,9,13,17,22,23,26,27,31,35,38,41,45,46,48,49,53,54,55,62,67,69,70,74

 

X. TEMPERATURE AND THE BEHAVIOUR OF GASES

Objectives:

1.   Review gram-mole (molar mass), the concept and units of pressure, the ideal gas law.

2.   Understand the relationship between temperature and molecular energies as revealed by a derivation of the ideal gas law on a microscopic scale.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 10, sections 10.2-10.6.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some questions and problems.

      Chapter 10: 9,16,17,21,27,37,39,40,51,53

 

XI. THERMAL PROPERTIES OF MATTER

Objectives:

1.   Understand thermal expansion in 1,2, and 3 dimensions.

2.   Know the definitions of molar and specific heat capacity and how to relate them to temperature changes.

3.   Understand and use the concepts of latent heat of fusion and latent heat of vaporization.

4.   Understand the transfer of heat by conduction, convection, and radiation and the associated laws.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 12, sections 12.1-12.6.  Omit phase diagrams from section 12.3.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some questions and problems.

      Chapter 12: 3,5,7,17,21,25,26,31,35,37,41,43,45,47,52,57,61,63,69,79 

 

XII. FLUIDS

Objectives:

1.   Understand how and why pressure varies with depth in a liquid and in a gas.  Know how a manometer works.

2.   Understand Archimedes' Principle and use buoyant force in problems.

3.   Understand the equation of continuity; know the difference between streamline and turbulent flow.

4.   Understand and apply Bernoulli’s Equation to flow problem, including flow meters and flight.

5.   Understand what a velocity profile in a viscous flowing fluid is, and how to use Poiseuille’s equation for the flow rate.

6.   Know how to use the Reynolds number for viscous drag forces on objects moving at low and high speeds in fluids.

7.   Understand the concept of surface tension and how it is related to capillarity.

8.   Understand the forces contributing to equilibrium in a spherical membrane filled with fluid, and a soap bubble.  Understand the role of surfactant in the lungs.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 13, sections 13.1-13.4, 13.7-13.9; Chapter 14, sections 14.1-14.3,14.5,14.6; Chapter 15, sections 15.1-15.4.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying some questions and problems.

      Chapter 13: 1,3,9,12,13,15,19,23,33,35,38,39,41,43,47,50,58

      Chapter 14: 1,3,6,19,26,43,47,49,60,61,63

      Chapter 15: 1,3,6,10,13,17

 

XIII. ELECTRIC FORCES, FIELDS, AND POTENTIALS

Objectives:

1.   Know Coulomb's Law and the idea of superposition.

2.   Understand the concept of a field (e.g. electric field or gravitational field), and the rules for mapping an electric field using field lines.

3.   Be able to calculate the electric field for simple point-charge distributions.

4.   Understand the electric potential as alternate way of describing the effect of an electric field on a test charge.  Know its definition in terms of electric potential energy and use it in problems for which energy conservation is valid.

5.   Understand how equipotential surfaces are used to map or visualize the electric potential in space.

6.   Know the definition of an electric dipole and how it behaves in a uniform electric field.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 5, Section 5.6, Chapter 6, Section 6.8, Chapter 16, sections 16.1-16.3, 16.5-16.7.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying the following questions and problems:

      Chapter 16: 3,7,13,17,25,27,28,31,37,39,41,43,45,65,69,73,76,83

 

XIV. DIRECT CURRENTS

Objectives:

1.   Know the definition of electric current and its relation to carrier density and drift velocity.

2.   Know the difference between resistance and resistivity (also conductivity), and the relation between them.  Know Ohm’s Law.

3.   Understand the role of emf as an energy source in a circuit, and be able to calculate power transfers to and from batteries and resistors.

4.   Understand the concepts of series and parallel connections, and calculate equivalent resistances.

5.   Apply Kirchhoff’s 1st Law to a single loop circuit.

6.   Understand the function of voltmeters and ammeters.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 17, sections 17.1-17.6.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying the following questions and problems:

      Chapter 17: 6,8,11,17,23,27,33,35,41,45,46,47,64,66,71

 

 

XV. MAGNETISM

Objectives:

1.   Know that magnetic fields are produced by electric currents, and be familiar with the magnitudes of common magnetic fields in Tesla.

2.   Calculate the force on a charge moving in a magnetic field.  Use this idea to explain how an electromagnetic flowmeter works.

3.   Calculate the force on a current-carrying wire and use it to explain how an electric motor works.

4.   Know the definition of a magnetic dipole in terms of a current-carrying loop.  Know how a magnetic dipole behaves in a uniform magnetic field.  Understand why atoms can have magnetic dipoles.

5.   Know how a long, straight, current-carrying wire produces a magnetic field and why there is a force between two parallel current-carrying wires.

 

Procedure:

1.   Read Chapter 19, Sections 19.1-19.8.

2.   Come to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions.

3.   Test your understanding of the concepts by trying the following questions and problems:

      Chapter 19: 1,5,9,13,15,21,29,33,37,41