Week 1 (Jan 14 - 16)
Read: Scaling in Art and Nature (ASGv2 Chap. 1).
Key topics: Dimensional analysis, units, scaling, review of algebra (working with algebraic equations, fractional powers in numerator and denominator, etc.)
PHY 201 lecture: Dimension analysis of the trinity nuclear test....see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: Dimensional analysis, units, scaling, review of algebra (working with algebraic equations, fractional powers in numerator and denominator, etc.)
PHY 201 lecture: Dimension analysis of the trinity nuclear test....see course materials for this unit.
Week 2 (Jan. 19 - 23)
Read: The Coherence of Substances (ASGv2 Chap. 2), Archimedes' Principle and Falling Bodies (ASGv2 Chap. 3)
Key topics: Early modern ideas about the cohesion (internal binding forces) of substances; Archimedes' principle, the effect of buoyancy and drag on bodies falling in fluids.
PHY 201 lecture: Aristotle's wheel: an ancient geometrical problem related to atomism and infinitesimal calculus....see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: Early modern ideas about the cohesion (internal binding forces) of substances; Archimedes' principle, the effect of buoyancy and drag on bodies falling in fluids.
PHY 201 lecture: Aristotle's wheel: an ancient geometrical problem related to atomism and infinitesimal calculus....see course materials for this unit.
Week 3 (Jan. 26 - 30)
Homework:
Lab: Harmony (Ex. 5.6). In lab this week, we will be exploring sound using tuning forks, microphones, and logger-pro data analysis software. You will use a microphone to measure and record the sound pressure as a function of time, P(t), for the following sources: (i) a single tuning fork, (ii) two tuning forks separated by one octave, (iii) two tuning forks that are not separated by one octave, (iv) three tuning forks that form a major chord.
For each of your measurements, you will need to find a mathematical function that nicely fits your data. Here are a few pointers for achieving success. (i) don't do the more complicated experiments until you have excellent data for a single tuning fork. Be patient. If something does not work, then change your technique and try again. (ii) use a medium-length tuning fork to start—not too short and not too long. (iii) use the highest sampling rate that logger pro will allow. (iv) For the single tuning fork, change the collection time so that no more than about 5 oscillations occur during the time of data collection. This will give you a better view of what is going on. (v). For the major chord, you might wish to see 10 or so oscillations to see a so-called "beat" pattern.
Weird but true: Galileo's skeletal finger is located in the Museo di Storia del Scienza in Florence, Italy (Hat tip to former student Rachel Dziekan, who kindly notified me of this link.)
Chapter 4: These 4 videos deal with the effect of drag on falling bodies.
Chapter 5: These four videos deal with Galileo's theory of sound and harmony.
Here are a couple of interesting (optional) videos: The first is about music (specifically Led Zeppelin); the second is a mesmerizing video depicting pendulum motion.
- Ivory Balls (Ex. 4.1)
- Comparing pendulums (Ex. 4.2)
- Dissonance (Ex. 5.1),
- Suspended weight (Ex. 5.2),
- violin strings (Ex. 5.3). Hint: you will need to look up the frequency of a G and an E note.
- harmony essay (Ex. 5.5)
- PHY 201 problem on drag and terminal velocity: Drag reduces the acceleration of a falling body because it exerts a force opposite the direction of motion of the falling body. As a ball falls through a fluid, the drag force exerted by the liquid increases until the sum of the drag and buoyancy balance the ball's weight. At this time, the ball achieves so-called "terminal velocity." (a) What is the terminal velocity of a 2mm diameter indium ball falling through liquid gallium? Hint: at terminal velocity, the acceleration is zero. Let us assume that the flow around the ball is turbulent (-not- laminar), so that the drag force is given by D = 1/2 * (fluid density) * (cross sectional area of sphere) * (drag coefficient of sphere) * v^2. The drag coefficient of a sphere is approximately 1. (b) Now: repeat this problem for an indium ball if it is submerged in liquid mercury (instead of liquid gallium). In particular: what is its terminal velocity? Does the indium ball ascend or descend?
Lab: Harmony (Ex. 5.6). In lab this week, we will be exploring sound using tuning forks, microphones, and logger-pro data analysis software. You will use a microphone to measure and record the sound pressure as a function of time, P(t), for the following sources: (i) a single tuning fork, (ii) two tuning forks separated by one octave, (iii) two tuning forks that are not separated by one octave, (iv) three tuning forks that form a major chord.
For each of your measurements, you will need to find a mathematical function that nicely fits your data. Here are a few pointers for achieving success. (i) don't do the more complicated experiments until you have excellent data for a single tuning fork. Be patient. If something does not work, then change your technique and try again. (ii) use a medium-length tuning fork to start—not too short and not too long. (iii) use the highest sampling rate that logger pro will allow. (iv) For the single tuning fork, change the collection time so that no more than about 5 oscillations occur during the time of data collection. This will give you a better view of what is going on. (v). For the major chord, you might wish to see 10 or so oscillations to see a so-called "beat" pattern.
Weird but true: Galileo's skeletal finger is located in the Museo di Storia del Scienza in Florence, Italy (Hat tip to former student Rachel Dziekan, who kindly notified me of this link.)
Chapter 4: These 4 videos deal with the effect of drag on falling bodies.
Chapter 5: These four videos deal with Galileo's theory of sound and harmony.
Here are a couple of interesting (optional) videos: The first is about music (specifically Led Zeppelin); the second is a mesmerizing video depicting pendulum motion.
Week 4(Feb. 2 - 6)
Read: The law of the lever (ASGv2 Chap. 6). Chapter 6 is a bit dense. Do not worry if you don't quite follow some of Galileo's geometrical proofs; we'll talk about it in class. Also read: Beams, bones and giants (ASGv2 Chap. 7)
Key topics: torque, equilibrium, the law of the lever, strength of materials, beam breaking
PHY 201 lecture: Torque and static equilibrium....see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: torque, equilibrium, the law of the lever, strength of materials, beam breaking
PHY 201 lecture: Torque and static equilibrium....see course materials for this unit.
Week 5 (Feb. 9 - 13)
Read: Naturally accelerated motion (ASGv2 Chap. 8) and The Mean Speed Theorem (ASGv2 Ch. 9)
Key topics: uniform acceleration; position, velocity and acceleration, mean speed theorem
PHY 201 lecture: The calculus of kinematics and falling bodies: time derivatives, displacement, velocity and acceleration....see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: uniform acceleration; position, velocity and acceleration, mean speed theorem
PHY 201 lecture: The calculus of kinematics and falling bodies: time derivatives, displacement, velocity and acceleration....see course materials for this unit.
Week 6 (Feb. 16 - 20)
Read: Equilibrium, Force and Acceleration (ASGv2 Ch. 10). From Conic Sections to Projectile Motion (ASGv2 Chap. 11) and The Speed and Force of a Projectile (ASGv2 Chap. 12). We will focus on Chap. 10 and 11.
Key topics: two-dimensional kinematics, projectile motion
PHY 201 lecture: More 2 d kinematics problems, such as the archery problem on a slope (Ex. 11.2b)....see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: two-dimensional kinematics, projectile motion
PHY 201 lecture: More 2 d kinematics problems, such as the archery problem on a slope (Ex. 11.2b)....see course materials for this unit.
Week 7 (Feb. 23 - 27)
Read: Reason, Authority and Science (ASGv2 Chap. 13); Pascal's Principle (ASGv2 Chap. 14).
Key topics: deductive and inductive reasoning, causality, final cause, hydrostatic paradox, continuity equation, pascal's principle, hydrostatic pressure.
PHY 201 Lecture: Fluid flow, torricelli's law; deriving a rate equation for draining a fluid-filled vessel; barometric equation....see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: deductive and inductive reasoning, causality, final cause, hydrostatic paradox, continuity equation, pascal's principle, hydrostatic pressure.
PHY 201 Lecture: Fluid flow, torricelli's law; deriving a rate equation for draining a fluid-filled vessel; barometric equation....see course materials for this unit.
Week 8 (Mar. 2 - 6)
Read: Submerged Bodies (ASGv2 Chap. 15); Syringes, Siphons and Suckling Infants (ASGv2 Chap. 16); and Life Under a Sea of Air (ASGv2 Chap. 17).
Key topics: hydrostatic pressure, barometers, siphons, weighing earth's atmosphere,
PHY 201 Lecture: Barometric equation; Bernoulli equation...see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: hydrostatic pressure, barometers, siphons, weighing earth's atmosphere,
PHY 201 Lecture: Barometric equation; Bernoulli equation...see course materials for this unit.
Week 10 (Mar. 16 - 20)
Read: Mass, Momentum and Force (Chap. 19); and Absolute and Relative Motion (ASGv2 Chap. 20).
Key topics: Mass, momentum, inertia, force, centripetal force, absolute and relative motion.
PHY 201 Lecture: force as a vector; intro to vector algebra...see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: Mass, momentum, inertia, force, centripetal force, absolute and relative motion.
PHY 201 Lecture: force as a vector; intro to vector algebra...see course materials for this unit.
Week 11 (Mar. 23 - 27)
Read: Newton's Laws of Motion (ASGv2 Chap. 21).
Key topics: force diagrams, newton's laws of motion, force addition, action-reaction pairs,
PHY 201 Lecture: We will learn to use Newton's laws of motion to solve problems such as (i) the average force on a wall when struck by a compressible ball, and (ii) the simple harmonic motion of a mass-spring system ...see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: force diagrams, newton's laws of motion, force addition, action-reaction pairs,
PHY 201 Lecture: We will learn to use Newton's laws of motion to solve problems such as (i) the average force on a wall when struck by a compressible ball, and (ii) the simple harmonic motion of a mass-spring system ...see course materials for this unit.
Week 12 (Mar 30 - Apr. 3). No class Apr. 2 - 3.
Read: Conservation of Momentum (ASGv2 Chap. 22) and The Third Law and the Power of Machines (ASGv2 Chap. 23).
Key topics: applications of newton's laws; conservation of momentum; center of mass position and velocity; elastic and inelastic collisions,
PHY 201 Lecture: Continue discussion of mass-spring systems and simple harmonic motion with various initial conditions...see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: applications of newton's laws; conservation of momentum; center of mass position and velocity; elastic and inelastic collisions,
PHY 201 Lecture: Continue discussion of mass-spring systems and simple harmonic motion with various initial conditions...see course materials for this unit.
Week 13 (Apr. 6 - 10). No class Apr. 6.
Read: Centripetal Force and Acceleration (ASGv2 Chap. 24) and Newton's Rules of Reasoning (ASGv2 Chap. 25).
Key topics: rotational motion, centripetal force, centripetal acceleration, principle of parsimony, principle of induction
PHY 201 Lecture: torque, rotational inertia, and angular motion....see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: rotational motion, centripetal force, centripetal acceleration, principle of parsimony, principle of induction
PHY 201 Lecture: torque, rotational inertia, and angular motion....see course materials for this unit.
Week 14 (Apr. 13 - 17)
Read: Planetary motion (ASGv2 Chap. 26), Universal Gravitation (ASGv2 Chap. 27)
Key topics: Kepler's laws of motion, Newton's universal law of gravitation
PHY 201 lecture: Kepler's second law from conservation of angular momentum...see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: Kepler's laws of motion, Newton's universal law of gravitation
PHY 201 lecture: Kepler's second law from conservation of angular momentum...see course materials for this unit.
Week 15 (Apr. 20 - 24)
Universal Gravitation (ASGv2 Chap. 27), Hypothesis and Natural Theology (ASGv2 Chap. 28), The principle of relativity (ASGv2 Chap. 29)
Key topics: Kepler's laws of motion, Newton's universal law of gravitation, natural theology, scientific apologetics, and Newton's argument from design.
PHY 201 lecture: gravitation of extended bodies; integral calculus approach to computing the gravitational attraction of a mass toward a curved bar...see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: Kepler's laws of motion, Newton's universal law of gravitation, natural theology, scientific apologetics, and Newton's argument from design.
PHY 201 lecture: gravitation of extended bodies; integral calculus approach to computing the gravitational attraction of a mass toward a curved bar...see course materials for this unit.
Week 16 (Apr. 27 - May 1)
Read: The principle of relativity (ASGv2 Chap. 29) and The absolute speed of light (ASGv2 Chap. 30).
Key topics: principle of relativity, speed of light postulate, relativistic time dilation and length contraction, ...see course materials for this unit.
Key topics: principle of relativity, speed of light postulate, relativistic time dilation and length contraction, ...see course materials for this unit.
Week 17 (May 4 - 8). Final exams
There will be a comprehensive final examination on week 17.
Here is the final exam from Spring, 2024.
Also: here are some wonderfully detailed study notes prepared by Rachel Dziekan and Christal Phelps a couple of years ago. Actually, I am not sure which of them produced them (there is no name), but let me know if you find out. They are quite comprehensive....see course materials for this unit.
Here is the final exam from Spring, 2024.
Also: here are some wonderfully detailed study notes prepared by Rachel Dziekan and Christal Phelps a couple of years ago. Actually, I am not sure which of them produced them (there is no name), but let me know if you find out. They are quite comprehensive....see course materials for this unit.