Six Ideas That Shaped Physics: Unit N

"Six Ideas That Shaped Physics" is consistent with the three basic principles of the IUPP (Introductory University Physics Project, Pomona College, USA): The pace of the introductory course should be reduced so that a broader range of students can achieve an acceptable level of competence and satisfaction; there should be more contemporary physics in the course; and the course should use one or more "story lines" to help organize ideas and help motivate student interest. The author adds three principles of his own to help "round-out" this exceptional new outlook: The course should seek to embrace the best of what educational research has taught us about conceptual and structural problems with the standard course; the course should stake out a middle ground between the standard introductory course and exciting but radical courses that require a substantial investment in infrastructure and/or training; and the course should be useful in fairly standard environments and should be easy for teachers to understand and adopt. This organized system of learning proves effective because students gain confidence as they proceed to more difficult concepts.

Table of Contents:
Models of Motion. Vectors. Interactions Transfer Momentum. Conservation of Momentum. The Centre of Mass. Introduction to Energy. Potential Energy Functions. Interactions Transform Energy. Thermal Energy. Energy in Bonds. Collisions (and other applications). Rotation Energy. Angular Momentum.Introduction. Acceleration. Newton's Laws. Using Newton's Laws. Simple Projectile Motion. Torque and Static's. Linearly Constrained Motion. Coupled Objects. Circularly Constrained Motion. Noninertial Reference Frames. Oscillatory Motion. Introduction to Orbits. Planetary Motion.Introduction. Synchronizing Clocks. The Nature of Time. The Metric Equation. Proper Time. Co-ordinate Transformations. Lorentz Contraction. The Cosmic Speed Limit. Four-momentum. Conservation of Four-Momentum.Basic Electrostatics. Electric Fields. Magnetic Fields. Current. Voltage. Simple Circuits. Analyzing Circuits. Currents Respond to Magnetic Fields. Currents Create Magnetic Fields. Field Equations and Gauss' Law. Curl and Ampere's Law. Applying Ampere's Law. Applying Gauss' Law. Maxwell's Equations. Introduction. Electromagnetic Waves. EM Waves Carry Energy.Standing Waves. Interference and Diffraction. The Wave Nature of Light. The Particle Nature of Light. The Wave Nature of Matter. The Quantum Facts of Life. The Wavefunction. Bound Systems. Spectra of Quantum Systems. Atoms. Introduction to Nuclei. Stable and Unstable Nuclei. Radioactivity. Nuclear Technology. The Schrodinger Equation. Sketching Wavefunctions.Introduction. Ideal Gases. Gas Processes. Macrostates and Microstates. Conservation of Momentum. The Second Law. Calculating Entropy Changes. Heat Engines. Practical Engines and Refrigerators.