The Probem of Motion and the Methods to Solve
It to be a Great Amateur Theoretical Physicist
This course develops the Newtonian theory
of mechanics, it also develops relevant ideas
from calculus, linear algebra, multivariable
calculus, and ordinary differential equations.
Along the way I will also introduce Mathematica
and how to use it to solve problems in mechanics
(such sections are optional for those who
have Mathematica).
For what follows these are good resources:
If you wish to buy a book, I recommend these:
- Frank Blume, Calvin Piston, (2014), Applied Calculus for Scientists and Engineers,
Volumes 1 and 2. Available at Amazon.com.
- Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew
Sands, (2011), The Feynman Lectures on Physics, vol. 1. Basic Books
- R. Shankar, (2014), Fundamentals of Physics Mechanics, Relativity,
and Thermodynmaics. Yale University Press.
- Leonard Susskind, George E. Hrabovsky, (2013),
The Theoretical Minimum. Basic Books.
This requires either Mathematica 8 or later,
or the free Mathematica CDF Viewer, though
the viewer cannot run the programs, (you
can find that here). You will also need to download the MAST
Writing Style into the folder SystemFiles/Front
End/Stylesheets. You can download that here. Once you load this file into the folder
rename it MAST Writing Style 3. Reload Mathematica
and it will be there.
I am assuming that you have completed studying
all of Basic Mathematics and Physics and possibly Basic Ideas of Mathematica.
- The Problem of Motion
- Review of Dynamical Systems
- Review of Motion in One Dimension
- Review of Vectors
- Characterizing the State Space of Classical
Mechanics
- Calculus of Vector Functions of a Scalar
Variable
- Kinematics in More Than One Dimension
- General Orthogonal Curvilinear Coordinates
- The Kinematical Equations of Motion
- Galilean Relativity
- Forces and Mass
- Forces in Equilibrium
- The Program of Newtonian Classical Mechanics
- Setting Up Newton's Equation of Motion in
More Than One Dimension
- Solving Newton's Equations of Motion
- Curves in Space
- Scalar-Valued Functions of Many Variables
and Partial Derivatives
- Line Integrals
- Work and Power
- Kinetic Energy
- Potential Energy and Force
- Equilibrium
- The Harmonic Oscillator
- Damping and Forcing of Oscillations
- The Conservation of Energy
- Virtual Displacement and Virtual Work
- Systems of More Than One Particle
- The Calculus of Variations
- The Principle of Stationary Action
- The Euler-Lagrange Equation
- Translation Invariance and Momentum Conservation
- Accretion and Decay
- Collisions and Scattering
- Rotation Invariance and Conservation of Angular
Momentum
- Motion in Accelerated Frames
- Rotating Systems
- Rigid Bodies
- Tensor Algebra
- Moment of Inertia
- Gyrodynamics
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