1st Edition
No-Frills Physics A Concise Study Guide for Algebra-Based Physics
This textbook provides everything you need to get through a basic physics course. It guides students through all the essentials with a concise review of the concept, simple illustrations to demonstrate it, worked problems to showcase how to apply it, and a short quiz for self-testing. Whereas other standard books can be overwhelming to students, the author shares what has worked with his own students, trimming back unnecessary detail and focusing on the core basic physical concepts required to gain solid footing. The full range of topics are addressed in a manner that facilitates understanding and will encourage students to continue forward with their learning.
Contents
Preface ....................................................................................................................................................................xv
Author .................................................................................................................................................................. xvii
Chapter 1 Motion .......................................................................................................................................1
Position and Velocity ........................................................................................................1
Acceleration ...........................................................................................................................2
Quiz 1.1 ...............................................................................................................................3
Velocity as a Function of Time ...................................................................................3
Position as a Function of Time ...................................................................................4
Quiz 1.2 ...............................................................................................................................4
Two Objects ...........................................................................................................................5
Gravity .......................................................................................................................................6
Quiz 1.3 ...............................................................................................................................7
Chapter Summary ..............................................................................................................7
End-of-Chapter Questions ............................................................................................8
Additional Problems .........................................................................................................8
Chapter 2 Vectors .......................................................................................................................................9
Cartesian Coordinates ......................................................................................................9
Vector Components ....................................................................................................... 10
Quiz 2.1 .............................................................................................................................11
Adding Vectors...................................................................................................................11
Equations of Motion .......................................................................................................12
Quiz 2.2 ............................................................................................................................13
Launching a Projectile ...................................................................................................14
Hitting a Target ..................................................................................................................15
Quiz 2.3 ............................................................................................................................16
Chapter Summary ............................................................................................................16
End-of-Chapter Questions ..........................................................................................16
Additional Problems .......................................................................................................17
Chapter 3 Forces .......................................................................................................................................19
Force Causes Acceleration ..........................................................................................19
Gravity .................................................................................................................................... 20
Quiz 3.1 ............................................................................................................................ 21
Force between Two Objects .................................................................................... 21
Tension ...................................................................................................................................22
Quiz 3.2 ...........................................................................................................................23
Normal Force ......................................................................................................................23
Friction ...................................................................................................................................25
Quiz 3.3 ........................................................................................................................... 26
Chapter Summary ........................................................................................................... 26
End-of-Chapter Questions ......................................................................................... 26
Additional Problems ...................................................................................................... 27
Chapter 4 Applying Newton’s Laws ............................................................................................ 29
Tension ................................................................................................................................... 29
Normal Force ......................................................................................................................30
Quiz 4.1 .............................................................................................................................31
Inclined Plane without Friction ................................................................................31
Inclined Plane with Friction ....................................................................................... 32
Quiz 4.2 ........................................................................................................................... 33
Simple Pulley ......................................................................................................................34
Atwood’s Machine .......................................................................................................... 35
Quiz 4.3 ...........................................................................................................................36
Chapter Summary ...........................................................................................................36
End-of-Chapter Questions .........................................................................................36
Additional Problems ...................................................................................................... 37
Chapter 5 Circular Motion and Gravity ...................................................................................... 39
Centripetal Acceleration .............................................................................................. 39
Motion in a Horizontal Circle ....................................................................................40
Quiz 5.1 .............................................................................................................................41
Centripetal Friction Force ............................................................................................41
Motion in a Vertical Circle ........................................................................................... 42
Quiz 5.2 ........................................................................................................................... 43
Newton’s Law of Gravity ............................................................................................. 43
Circular Orbits ....................................................................................................................44
Quiz 5.3 ........................................................................................................................... 45
Chapter Summary ........................................................................................................... 45
End-of-Chapter Questions .........................................................................................46
Additional Problems ......................................................................................................46
Chapter 6 Work and Energy .............................................................................................................. 47
Work ......................................................................................................................................... 47
Work and an Inclined Plane .......................................................................................48
Quiz 6.1 ............................................................................................................................ 49
Kinetic Energy .................................................................................................................... 49
Potential Energy ................................................................................................................ 50
Quiz 6.2 ............................................................................................................................51
Potential Energy of a Spring .......................................................................................51
Friction and Thermal Energy .................................................................................... 52
Quiz 6.3 ........................................................................................................................... 53
Chapter Summary ........................................................................................................... 53
End-of-Chapter Questions ......................................................................................... 53
Additional Problems ......................................................................................................54
Chapter 7 Rotational Motion ............................................................................................................ 55
Angular Velocity ............................................................................................................... 55
Rotational Kinetic Energy ............................................................................................56
Quiz 7.1 ............................................................................................................................ 57
Moment of Inertia ........................................................................................................... 57
Torque ..................................................................................................................................... 58
Quiz 7.2 ............................................................................................................................ 59
Turning a Wrench ............................................................................................................60
Angular Acceleration ......................................................................................................61
Quiz 7.3 ............................................................................................................................ 62
Chapter Summary ........................................................................................................... 63
End-of-Chapter Questions ......................................................................................... 63
Additional Problems ......................................................................................................64
Chapter 8 Momentum ......................................................................................................................... 67
Momentum and Impulse ............................................................................................ 67
Inelastic Collisions ............................................................................................................68
Quiz 8.1 ............................................................................................................................ 69
Elastic Collisions ................................................................................................................ 69
Angular Momentum ...................................................................................................... 70
Quiz 8.2 ........................................................................................................................... 70
Conservation of Angular Momentum ................................................................ 71
Spinning Disks ...................................................................................................................72
Quiz 8.3 ...........................................................................................................................73
Chapter Summary ...........................................................................................................73
End-of-Chapter Questions .........................................................................................73
Additional Problems .......................................................................................................74
Chapter 9 Oscillations and Waves ................................................................................................. 75
Hooke’s Law ........................................................................................................................ 75
Oscillations ........................................................................................................................... 76
Quiz 9.1 ............................................................................................................................77
Mathematical Description .......................................................................................... 78
Traveling Waves ................................................................................................................ 79
Quiz 9.2 ...........................................................................................................................80
Standing Waves ................................................................................................................ 81
Interference ......................................................................................................................... 82
Quiz 9.3 ..................................................................................................................... 83
Chapter Summary ...........................................................................................................84
End-of-Chapter Questions .........................................................................................84
Additional Problems ......................................................................................................84
Chapter 10 Fluids ....................................................................................................................................... 87
Pressure .................................................................................................................................. 87
Static Fluids ..........................................................................................................................88
Quiz 10.1 .........................................................................................................................89
Buoyancy ..............................................................................................................................90
Moving Fluids ..................................................................................................................... 91
Quiz 10.2 ......................................................................................................................... 92
Bernoulli’s Equation ........................................................................................................ 92
Streamlines .......................................................................................................................... 93
Quiz 10.3 .........................................................................................................................94
Chapter Summary ...........................................................................................................95
End-of-Chapter Questions .........................................................................................95
Additional Problems ......................................................................................................96
Chapter 11 Thermo dynamics ............................................................................................................ 97
Ideal Gas Law...................................................................................................................... 97
Thermal Energy .................................................................................................................98
Quiz 11.1 ..........................................................................................................................99
Work and Heat ...................................................................................................................99
Energy Conservation ...................................................................................................100
Quiz 11.2 .......................................................................................................................101
Heat Engines .....................................................................................................................101
Entropy .................................................................................................................................103
Quiz 11.3 .......................................................................................................................104
Chapter Summary .........................................................................................................104
End-of-Chapter Questions .......................................................................................104
Additional Problems ....................................................................................................105
Chapter 12 Electric Fields and Forces ..........................................................................................107
The Coulomb Force......................................................................................................107
Forces and Angles .........................................................................................................108
Quiz 12.1 .......................................................................................................................109
Electric Field ......................................................................................................................109
Electric Fields and Angles ......................................................................................... 110
Quiz 12.2 ....................................................................................................................... 112
Adding Electric Field Vectors.................................................................................. 112
Deflecting a Charged Particle ................................................................................ 114
Quiz 12.3 ....................................................................................................................... 115
Chapter Summary ......................................................................................................... 115
End-of-Chapter Questions ....................................................................................... 115
Additional Problems .................................................................................................... 116
Chapter 13 Electric Potential ............................................................................................................. 119
Relation to Potential Energy .................................................................................... 119
Uniform Electric Field ..................................................................................................120
Quiz 13.1 .......................................................................................................................121
Potential Due to a Point Charge ...........................................................................121
Potential Due to Several Point Charges............................................................122
Quiz 13.2 .......................................................................................................................123
Conductors ........................................................................................................................124
Insulators and Capacitors ..........................................................................................125
Quiz 13.3 .......................................................................................................................126
Chapter Summary .........................................................................................................126
End-of-Chapter Questions .......................................................................................127
Additional Problems ....................................................................................................127
Chapter 14 Electrical Circuits ............................................................................................................129
Current and Ohm’s Law .............................................................................................129
Power ....................................................................................................................................130
Quiz 14.1 .......................................................................................................................130
Resistors in Series ........................................................................................................... 131
Resistors in Parallel ........................................................................................................132
Quiz 14.2 .......................................................................................................................133
Kirchoff’s Loop Rule ......................................................................................................133
Kirchoff’s Current Rule.................................................................................................135
Quiz 14.3 .......................................................................................................................136
Chapter Summary .........................................................................................................137
End-of-Chapter Questions .......................................................................................138
Additional Problems ....................................................................................................139
Chapter 15 Magnetic Fields and Forces .....................................................................................141
Magnets...............................................................................................................................141
Ferromagnetism .............................................................................................................142
Quiz 15.1 .......................................................................................................................144
Ampere’s Law ...................................................................................................................145
Current Loops ..................................................................................................................147
Quiz 15.2 .......................................................................................................................148
Forces Due to B Fields .................................................................................................148
Force on a Wire ...............................................................................................................150
Quiz 15.3 ....................................................................................................................... 151
Chapter Summary .........................................................................................................152
End-of-Chapter Questions .......................................................................................152
Additional Problems ....................................................................................................153
Chapter 16 Electro magnetic Induction ......................................................................................155
Magnetic Flux ..................................................................................................................155
Lenz’s Law ..........................................................................................................................156
Quiz 16.1 .......................................................................................................................157
Faraday’s Law ...................................................................................................................158
Examples of Induction ...............................................................................................159
Quiz 16.2 .......................................................................................................................160
Generators .........................................................................................................................161
Transformers .....................................................................................................................162
Quiz 16.3 .......................................................................................................................163
Chapter Summary .........................................................................................................163
End-of-Chapter Questions .......................................................................................163
Additional Problems ....................................................................................................164
Chapter 17 Electro magnetic Waves .............................................................................................167
Wave Properties ..............................................................................................................167
Polarization ........................................................................................................................168
Quiz 17.1 ........................................................................................................................170
Two-Slit Interference ....................................................................................................170
Single Slit and Circular Aperture ...........................................................................171
Quiz 17.2 ........................................................................................................................173
Reflection and Refraction .........................................................................................173
Thin Films............................................................................................................................175
Quiz 17.3 ........................................................................................................................176
Chapter Summary .........................................................................................................177
End-of-Chapter Questions .......................................................................................177
Additional Problems ....................................................................................................178
Chapter 18 Optics ....................................................................................................................................181
Lenses ...................................................................................................................................181
The Lens Equation .........................................................................................................182
Quiz 18.1 .......................................................................................................................183
Magnifiers ...........................................................................................................................184
Microscopes ......................................................................................................................185
Quiz 18.2 .......................................................................................................................186
Telescopes ..........................................................................................................................186
Resolution ..........................................................................................................................187
Quiz 18.3 .......................................................................................................................188
Chapter Summary .........................................................................................................189
End-of-Chapter Questions .......................................................................................189
Additional Problems ....................................................................................................190
Chapter 19 Relativity ..............................................................................................................................191
Relative Frames ...............................................................................................................191
Special Relativity ............................................................................................................192
Quiz 19.1........................................................................................................................192
Length Contraction ......................................................................................................193
Time Dilation ....................................................................................................................194
Quiz 19.2 .......................................................................................................................195
Energy ...................................................................................................................................195
Momentum .......................................................................................................................196
Quiz 19.3 .......................................................................................................................197
Chapter Summary .........................................................................................................197
End-of-Chapter Questions .......................................................................................197
Additional Problems ....................................................................................................198
Chapter 20 Atoms and Nuclei ..........................................................................................................201
The Electron Volt ............................................................................................................201
The Bohr Model ..............................................................................................................202
Quiz 20.1 .......................................................................................................................203
Photons ................................................................................................................................203
Nuclei ....................................................................................................................................205
Quiz 20.2 ...................................................................................................................... 206
Atomic Mass ..................................................................................................................... 206
Radioactivity .....................................................................................................................207
Quiz 20.3 ...................................................................................................................... 208
Chapter Summary ........................................................................................................ 209
End-of-Chapter Questions .......................................................................................210
Additional Problems ....................................................................................................210
Answers ............................................................................................................................................................213
Physical Constants ..................................................................................................................................237
Index ...................................................................................................................................................................239
Biography
Matthew D. McCluskey is a professor in the Department of Physics and
Astronomy and Materials Science Program at Washington State University
(WSU), Pullman. He received a Physics PhD from the University of California,
Berkeley, in 1997, and was a postdoctoral researcher at the Xerox Palo Alto
Research Center (PARC) in California from 1997 to 1998. Dr. McCluskey
joined WSU as an assistant professor in 1998. His research interests include
semiconductors, high-pressure physics, and optics. Professor McCluskey has
taught WSU’s introductory algebra-based physics courses numerous times.
