Physics: The Nature of Things

by Lea, Susan M.; Burke, John Robert

• ISBN13: 9780314052735
• ISBN10: 0314052739
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-10-11
• Publisher: Cengage Learning

Summary

To study physics successfully, students need to learn to think like physicists - to move beyond being hunters and gatherers of formulae and learn physical reasoning to become problem solvers. Physics: The Nature of Things gives students the analytical tools they need to grab hold of the subject and make it their own - to understand "the nature of things."

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Prologue	xxv
PART ONE: NEWTONIAN MECHANICS
The Roots of Science	2	(16)
Introducing the Language of Physics	18	(33)
Kinematics	51	(32)
Advanced Kinematic Models	83	(42)
Solving Physics Problems	116	(9)
Force and Newton's Laws	125	(39)
Newton's Discoveries and Their Impact	162	(2)
Using Newton's Laws	164	(34)
PART TWO: CONSERVATION LAWS
Linear Momentum	198	(26)
Work and Kinetic Energy	224	(33)
Using Integration in Physics Problems	248	(9)
Conservation of Energy	257	(37)
The Gravitational Field	290	(4)
Angular Momentum	294	(38)
Orbits	329	(3)
Collisions	332	(30)
PART THREE: CONTINUOUS SYSTEMS
Rigid Bodies in Equilibrium	362	(28)
Dynamics of Rigid Bodies	390	(41)
The Bicycle	426	(5)
Fluids	431	(39)
PART FOUR: OSCILLATORY AND WAVE MOTION
Oscillatory Motion	470	(25)
Introduction to Wave Motion	495	(28)
Sound and Light Waves	523	(39)
Interference and Diffraction	562	(35)
Geometrical Optics	597	(46)
Ray Tracing with a Computer	634	(9)
PART FIVE: THERMODYNAMICS
Temperature and Thermal Energy	643	(33)
Thermodynamics of Real Substances	676	(24)
Low Temperatures and their Measurement	698	(2)
Heat Transfer	700	(18)
Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics	718	(46)
Entropy, Evolution, and the Arrow of Time	751	(13)
PART SIX: ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
Overview of Electromagnetism	755	(9)
Charge and the Electric Field	764	(26)
Static Electric Fields	790	(23)
Electric Potential Energy	813	(30)
Introduction to Electric Circuits	843	(32)
Capacitance and Electrostatic Energy	875	(23)
Static Magnetic Fields	898	(25)
Static Magnetic Fields: Applications	923	(32)
PART SEVEN: ELECTRODYNAMICS
Dynamic Fields	955	(32)
Introduction to Time-Dependent Circuits	987	(29)
Introduction to Alternating Current Circuits	1016	(23)
Electromagnetic Waves	1039	(30)
PART EIGHT: TWENTIETH-CENTURY PHYSICS
Relativity and Space-Time	1069	(41)
General Relativity: A Geometric Theory of Gravity	1103	(7)
Light and Atoms	1110	(35)
The Scanning Tunneling Microscope	1142	(3)
Atomic Nuclei	1145	(32)
Particle Physics	1177	(22)
Epilogue	1199
Index	I-1