Physics 114 - Newtonian Mechanics - Lecture Notes
Topics Today
Reading for Today
none
Class Business
- Take roll
- Course materials online
- students responsible for reading
- syllabus
- calendar
- learning objectives and suggested homework
- course divided into four sections
- each has lectures (daily quizzes, so do the reading)
- each has suggested homework (great for practice, not graded)
- each has a test (concepts and worked-out problems)
- grades
- quizzes (10%)
- section tests (4 x 15%)
- final (30%)
- Questions?
Math Status Check
- worth two quiz points
- take home to work it
- how to work problems in Physics 114
- Show your work
- process is key - show your understanding
- points usually given for process
- Process 3D BE SNUB
- Describe
- Draw diagram
- Details, details, details
- Basic Equation
- Solve (do algebra/use symbols first -- only plug in numbers at
the end)
- Numbers
- Units (check for the right units - dimensional analysis)
- Ballpark (check for plausibility)
- Dealing with numbers
- in experiments, significant figures are important and determined
by the experiment
- in lecture part of the course, follow these rules (unless otherwise
noted):
- report three significant digits -- assume three are given in
all exercises and problems
- significant = not just placeholders
- scientific notation with three sig.figs:
- one digit to left of decimal
- two digits to right of decimal
- x10 to some power
- rounding rules:
- adding/subtracting: round before
- multiply/divide: round after
- with 5: look to next digit
- round up if odd
- round down if even
- Coordinate system
- x,y,z represented by unit vectors:
- often in 2-d - easier to draw and fewer terms in the math!
- Recall some trigonometry
- given a vector in 2-d: magnitude and direction, find components
(or vice versa)
- Vector Notation (bold or arrows)