Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 1
What You're Not to Read 2
Foolish Assumptions 2
How This Book Is Organized 2
Part 1: Putting Physics into Motion 2
Part 2: May the Forces of Physics Be with You 3
Part 3: Manifesting the Energy to Work 3
Part 4: Laying Down the Laws of Thermodynamics 3
Part 5: The Part of Tens 3
Icons Used in This Book 4
Beyond the Book 4
Where to Go from Here 4
Part 1: Putting Physics into Motion 5
Chapter 1: Using Physics to Understand Your World 7
What Physics Is All About 8
Observing the world 8
Making predictions 9
Reaping the rewards 9
Observing Objects in Motion 10
Measuring speed, direction, velocity, and acceleration 10
Round and round: Rotational motion 11
Springs and pendulums: Simple harmonic motion 11
When Push Comes to Shove: Forces 12
Absorbing the energy around you 13
That's heavy: Pressures in fluids 13
Feeling Hot but Not Bothered: Thermodynamics 14
Chapter 2: Reviewing Physics Measurement and Math Fundamentals 15
Measuring the World around You and Making Predictions 16
Using systems of measurement 16
From meters to inches and back again: Converting between units 17
Eliminating Some Zeros: Using Scientific Notation 20
Checking the Accuracy and Precision of Measurements 21
Knowing which digits are significant 21
Estimating accuracy 23
Arming Yourself with Basic Algebra 24
Tackling a Little Trig 25
Interpreting Equations as Real-World Ideas 26
Chapter 3: Exploring the Need for Speed 29
Going the Distance with Displacement 30
Understanding displacement and position 30
Examining axes 31
Speed Specifics: What Is Speed, Anyway? 34
Reading the speedometer: Instantaneous speed 34
Staying steady: Uniform speed 35
Shifting speeds: Nonuniform motion 35
Busting out the stopwatch: Average speed 35
Speeding Up (Or Down): Acceleration 38
Defining acceleration 38
Determining the units of acceleration 38
Looking at positive and negative acceleration 39
Examining average and instantaneous acceleration 42
Taking off: Putting the acceleration formula into practice 42
Understanding uniform and nonuniform acceleration 44
Relating Acceleration, Time, and Displacement 44
Not-so-distant relations: Deriving the formula 45
Calculating acceleration and distance 46
Linking Velocity, Acceleration, and Displacement 48
Finding acceleration 49
Solving for displacement 50
Finding final velocity 51
Chapter 4: Following Directions: Motion in Two Dimensions 53
Visualizing Vectors 54
Asking for directions: Vector basics 54
Looking at vector addition from start to finish 55
Going head-to-head with vector subtraction 56
Putting Vectors on the Grid 57
Adding vectors by adding coordinates 57
Changing the length: Multiplying a vector by a number 59
A Little Trig: Breaking Up Vectors into Components 59
Finding vector components 60
Reassembling a vector from its components 62
Featuring Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration in two dimensions 65
Displacement: Going the distance in two dimensions 66
Velocity: Speeding in a new direction 69
Acceleration: Getting a new angle on changes in velocity 70
Accelerating Downward: Motion under the Influence of Gravity 72
The golf-ball-off-the-cliff exercise 72
The how-far-can-you-kick-the-ball exercise 75
Part 2: May the Forces of Physics Be with You 79
Chapter 5: When Push Comes to Shove: Force 81
Newton's First Law: Resisting with Inertia 82
Resisting change: Inertia and mass 83
Measuring mass 84
Newton's Second Law: Relating Force, Mass, and Acceleration 84
Relating the formula to the real world 85
Naming units of force 86
Vector addition: Gathering net forces 86
Newton's Third Law: Looking at Equal and Opposite Forces 92
Seeing Newton's third law in action 92
Pulling hard enough to overcome friction 93
Pulleys: Supporting double the force 94
Analyzing angles and force in Newton's third law 95
Finding equilibrium 98
Chapter 6: Getting Down with Gravity, Inclined Planes, and Friction 101
Acceleration Due to Gravity: One of Life's Little Constants 102
Finding a New Angle on Gravity with Inclined Planes 102
Finding the force of gravity along a ramp 103
Figuring the speed along a ramp 105
Getting Sticky with Friction 105
Calculating friction and the normal force 106
Conquering the coefficient of friction 107
On the move: Understanding static and kinetic friction 108
A not-so-slippery slope: Handling uphill and downhill friction 110
Let's Get Fired Up! Sending Objects Airborne 115
Shooting an object straight up 115
Projectile motion: Firing an object at an angle 117
Chapter 7: Circling Around Rotational Motion and Orbits 119
Centripetal Acceleration: Changing Direction to Move in a Circle 120
Keeping a constant speed with uniform circular motion 120
Finding the magnitude of the centripetal acceleration 122
Seeking the Center: Centripetal Force 123
Looking at the force you need 123
Seeing how the mass, velocity, and radius affect centripetal force 124
Negotiating flat curves and banked turns 125
Getting Angular with Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration 128
Measuring angles in radians 128
Relating linear and angular motion 129
Letting Gravity Supply Centripetal Force 131
Using Newton's law of universal gravitation 131
Deriving the force of gravity on the Earth's surface 132
Using the law of gravitation to examine circular orbits 133
Looping the Loop: Vertical Circular Motion 137
Chapter 8: Go with the Flow: Looking at Pressure in Fluids 141
Mass Density: Getting Some Inside Information 142
Calculating density 142
Comparing densities with specific gravity 143
Applying Pressure 144
Looking at units of pressure 144
Connecting pressure to changes in depth 145
Hydraulic machines: Passing on pressure with Pascal's principle 149
Buoyancy: Float Your Boat with Archimedes's Principle 151
Fluid Dynamics: Going with Fluids in Motion 153
Characterizing the type of flow 154
Picturing flow with streamlines 156
Getting Up to Speed on Flow and Pressure 156
The equation of continuity: Relating pipe size and flow rates 157
Bernoulli's equation: Relating speed and pressure 160
Pipes and pressure: Putting it all together 160
Part 3: Manifesting the Energy to Work 165
Chapter 9: Getting Some Work Out of Physics 167
Looking for Work 167
Working on measurement systems 168
Pushing your weight: Applying force in the direction of movement 168
Using a tow rope: Applying force at an angle 170
Negative work: Applying force opposite the direction of motion 172
Making a Move: Kinetic Energy 173
The work-energy theorem: Turning work into kinetic energy 173
Using the kinetic energy equation 174
Calculating changes in kinetic energy by using net force 175
Energy in the Bank: Potential Energy 177
To new heights: Gaining potential energy by working against gravity 178
Achieving your potential: Converting potential energy into kinetic energy 179
Choose Your Path: Conservative versus Nonconservative Forces 180
Keeping the Energy Up: The Conservation of Mechanical Energy 181
Shifting between kinetic and potential energy 181
The mechanical-energy balance: Finding velocity and height 184
Powering Up: The Rate of Doing Work 185
Using common units of power 186
Doing alternate calculations of power 187
Chapter 10: Putting Objects in Motion: Momentum and Impulse 191
Looking at the Impact of Impulse 191
Gathering Momentum 193
The Impulse-Momentum Theorem: Relating Impulse and Momentum 193
Shooting pool: Finding force from impulse and momentum 195
Singing in the rain: An impulsive activity 196
When Objects Go Bonk: Conserving Momentum 197
Deriving the conservation formula 198
Finding velocity with the conservation of momentum 199
Finding firing velocity with the conservation of momentum 200
When Worlds (Or Cars) Collide: Elastic and Inelastic Collisions 202
Determining whether a collision is elastic 203
Colliding elastically along a line 204
Colliding elastically in two dimensions 206
Chapter 11: Winding Up with Angular Kinetics 211
Going from Linear to Rotational Motion 212
Understanding Tangential Motion 213
Finding tangential velocity 213
Finding tangential acceleration 215
Finding centripetal acceleration 216
Applying Vectors to Rotation 218
Calculating angular velocity 218
Figuring angular acceleration 219
Doing the Twist: Torque 221
Mapping out the torque equation 223
Understanding lever arms 224
Figuring out the torque generated 225
Recognizing that torque is a vector 226
Spinning at Constant Velocity: Rotational Equilibrium .227
Determining how much weight Hercules can lift 228
Hanging a flag: A rotational equilibrium problem 230
Ladder safety: Introducing friction into rotational equilibrium 232
Chapter 12: Round and Round with Rotational Dynamics 237
Rolling Up Newton's Second Law into Angular Motion 237
Switching force to torque 238
Converting tangential acceleration to angular acceleration 239
Factoring in the moment of inertia 239
Moments of Inertia: Looking into Mass Distribution 240
Merry-go-rounds and torque: A spinning-disk inertia example 242
Angular acceleration and torque: A pulley inertia example 244
Wrapping Your Head around Rotational Work and Kinetic Energy 246
Putting a new spin on work 246
Moving along with rotational kinetic energy 248
Let's roll! Finding rotational kinetic energy on a ramp 249
Can't Stop This: Angular Momentum 251
Conserving angular momentum 251
Satellite orbits: A conservation-of-angular-momentum example 252
Chapter 13: Springs 'n' Things: Simple Harmonic Motion 255
Bouncing Back with Hooke's Law 255
Stretching and compressing springs 256
Pushing or pulling back: The spring's restoring force 256
Getting Around to Simple Harmonic Motion 258
Around equilibrium: Examining horizontal and vertical springs 258
Catching the wave: A sine of simple harmonic motion 260
Finding the angular frequency of a mass on a spring 266
Factoring Energy into Simple Harmonic Motion 269
Swinging with Pendulums 270
Part 4: Laying Down the Laws of Thermodynamics 273
Chapter 14: Turning Up the Heat with Thermodynamics 275
Measuring Temperature 276
Fahrenheit and Celsius: Working in degrees 276
Zeroing in on the Kelvin scale 277
The Heat Is On: Thermal Expansion 278
Linear expansion: Getting longer 278
Volume expansion: Taking up more space 280
Heat: Going with the Flow (Of Thermal Energy) 283
Getting specific with temperature changes 284
Just a new phase: Adding heat without changing temperature 286
Chapter 15: Here, Take My Coat: How Heat Is Transferred 291
Convection: Letting the Heat Flow 291
Hot fluid rises: Putting fluid in motion with natural convection 292
Controlling the flow with forced convection 293
Too Hot to Handle: Getting in Touch with Conduction 294
Finding the conduction equation 295
Considering conductors and insulators 299
Radiation: Riding the (Electromagnetic) Wave 300
Mutual radiation: Giving and receiving heat 301
Blackbodies: Absorbing and reflecting radiation 302
Chapter 16: In the Best of All Possible Worlds: The Ideal Gas Law 307
Digging into Molecules and Moles with Avogadro's Number 308
Relating Pressure, Volume, and Temperature with the Ideal Gas Law 309
Forging the ideal gas law 310
Working with standard temperature and pressure 312
A breathing problem: Checking your oxygen 312
Boyle's and Charles's laws: Alternative expressions of the ideal gas law 313
Tracking Ideal Gas Molecules with the Kinetic Energy Formula 315
Predicting air molecule speed 316
Calculating kinetic energy in an ideal gas 317
Chapter 17: Heat and Work: The Laws of Thermodynamics 319
Getting Temperature with Thermal Equilibrium: the Zeroth Law 320
Conserving Energy: The First Law of Thermodynamics 320
Calculating with conservation of energy 321
Staying constant: Isobaric, isochoric, isothermal, and adiabatic processes 324
Flowing from Hot to Cold: The Second Law of Thermodynamics 338
Heat engines: Putting heat to work 338
Limiting efficiency: Carnot says you can't have it all 341
Going against the flow with heat pumps 343
Going Cold: The Third (And Absolute Last) Law of
Thermodynamics 346
Part 5: The Part of Tens 349
Chapter 18: Ten Physics Heroes 351
Galileo Galilei 351
Sir Isaac Newton 352
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb 353
William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) 353
Marie Salomea Sklodowska Curie 353
Albert Einstein 354
Emmy Noether 355
Maria Goeppert Mayer 355
Chen-Shiung Wu 355
Jocelyn Bell Burnell 356
Chapter 19: Ten Wild Physics Theories 357
Time Slows Down 357
Moving Objects Contract 358
Heisenberg Says You Can't Be Certain 358
Black Holes Don't Let Light Out 359
Gravity Curves Space 359
Matter and Antimatter Destroy Each Other 360
Supernovas Are the Most Powerful Explosions 361
The Universe Starts with the Big Bang and Ends with the Gnab Gib 361
Microwave Ovens Are Hot Physics 362
Most Matter is Invisible 363
Glossary 365
Index 369
