Summer Honors Physics Preview Class

This is a survey course for mechanics, which is the first part of the Honors Physics class offered in fall. Emphasis is on the most important topics which from a foundation for understanding the entire Honors Physics course, with the concentration on the most challenging aspects of Mechanics for students new to Physics. Particular topics includes, but are not limited to what follows. Language of description of linear motion. Vector vs scalar quantities. Displacement, velocity & acceleration vectors along with their relationships to the scalar quantities distance, path length & speed. Newton’s 3 laws of motion and their applications. How acceleration is possible in the context of Newton’s 3rd law-the “horse and buggy”problem. Static vs kinetic friction Question of action of forces over displacements in space (work) & time (impulse). Kinetic & potential energy. Momentum.  Working-energy theorem. Conservation laws of momentum, mechanical energy, and total energy Rotationa