The course and, consequently, the tests emphasize problem solving. In order to solve problems one needs to master the underlying concepts and principles. This guide points out some of the basic terms and concepts. In addition, please review sample problems in you notes and the book. Doing the home work on WileyPlus.
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• Define what physics is
and list its major branches |
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• Explain why the shift
was made from units based in anatomy to earth based and finally to atomic based units and
standards. |
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•State how the standards
for the meter, kilogram, and second are defined at the moment. |
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• Convert back and forth between the following: CGS, MKS, and FPS |
(e.g your height and weight from FPS to MKS. Miles/hr to Km/hr and to m/s)
Here is a good source for conversion factors. You just fill in the blank and it will do it for you.
It will help check your answers. Try it. Give it 60 mph it will tell you that it is 26.8
m/s
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•Explain how Eratosthenes estimated the Earth's Circumference. |
You should be able to repeat his calculation.
Given the radius, you should able to calculate the circumference of a circle.
Given the radius, you should be able to calculate the volume of a sphere
Given the mass and radius of a sphere, you should be able to calculate its density.
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•A physicist who is 1.7 m
tall sees a sunset while lying down and then he sees a second one after 10 seconds
standing up. Using this information he is able to estimate that the earth has about a 6400
km radius. Show how this is possible ( Review you notes and redo the calculation)
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•Give the original
definitions of a foot, yard, inch, cubit, etc. |
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•You should be familiar with scientific notation and significant figures | ||||
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•List the fundamental quantities of physics and give their appropriate units in SI (MKS and CGS as well British systems). Review example 1-8. | ||||
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•Be familiar with the scientific method . Be able to define: hypothesis, models, law, theory etc. | ||||
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Vectors: Be able to:
The parallelogram method and the Pythagorean theorem or the cosine law The component method with the help of Pythagorean theorem and some trigonometry. The component method of adding vectors is the standard and most general way and easy to master with some practice. The vector addition part of this presentation may be helpful. Review the examples in Ch.4
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•Distinguish between kinematics and dynamics |
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•State what the major
accomplishments of Galileo and Newton relevant to mechanics are. |
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•Define in words and mathematically the terms: |
average and instantaneous velocity; average and instantaneous speed.
average and instantaneous acceleration .
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•Use the equations of uniformly accelerated motion to solve 1-D kinematic problems. Review the of worked out examples in ch 2 and your notes. |
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•Free fall is a good example of uniformly motion with a = -g = -9.8 m/s2 |
See the video on Galileo's famous experiment.
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•Distinguish between vectors and
scalars. e.g. speed vs velocity; distance vs displacement |
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•Be able to add and/or subtract vectors using: |
The component method with the help of Pythagorean theorem and some trigonometry.
The component method of adding vectors is the standard and most general way and easy to master with some practice. The vector addition part of this presentation may be helpful.
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•express displacement, velocity and acceleration in two dimensions using unit vectors. See the equation in table 3-1 |
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•Solve problems related
to projectile
motion in vacuum. Here is a java
applet that lets you input initial velocity with an angle and launch a
projectile. You can then check you calculation of the range, maximum height,
and flight time. Formulas for projectile motion are should be in your
lecture notes. Visit
this
website as well as
this one. |
