Table of Contents

Part I. Newton's Laws
1. Concepts of Motion
2. Kinematics in One Dimension
3. Vectors and Coordinate Systems
4. Kinematics in Two Dimensions
5. Force and Motion
6. Dynamics I: Motion Along a Line
7. Newton's Third Law
8. Dynamics II: Motion in a Plane

Part II. Conservation Laws
9. Impulse and Momentum
10. Energy
11. Work

Part III. Applications of Newtonian Mechanics
12. Rotation of a Rigid Body
13. Newton’s Theory of Gravity
14. Oscillations
15. Fluids and Elasticity

Part IV. Thermodynamics
16. A Macroscopic Description of Matter
17. Work, Heat, and the First Law of Thermodynamics
18. The Micro/Macro Connection
19. Heat Engines and Refrigerators

Part V. Waves and Optics
20. Traveling Waves
21. Superposition
22. Wave Optics
23. Ray Optics
24. Optical Instruments

Part VI. Electricity and Magnetism
25. Electric Charges and Forces
26. The Electric Field
27. Gauss’s Law
28. The Electric Potential
29. Potential and Field
30. Current and Resistance
31. Fundamentals of Circuits
32. The Magnetic Field
33. Electromagnetic Induction
34. Electromagnetic Fields and Waves
35. AC Circuits

Part VII. Relativity and Quantum Physics
36. Relativity
37. The Foundations of Modern Physics
38. Quantization
39. Wave Functions and Uncertainty
40. One-Dimensional Quantum Mechanics
41. Atomic Physics
42. Nuclear Physics

About the Author

Randy Knight has taught introductory physics for nearly 30 years at Ohio State University and California Polytechnic University, where he is currently Professor of Physics and Director of the Minor in Environmental Studies. Randy received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics before joining the faculty at Ohio State University. It was at Ohio State, under the mentorship of Professor Leonard Jossem, that he began to learn about the research in physics education that, many years later, led to Five Easy Lessons: Strategies for Successful Physics Teachingand this book. Randy’s research interests are in the field of lasers and spectroscopy. When he’s not in the classroom or in front of a computer, you can find Randy hiking, sea kayaking, playing the piano, or spending time with his wife Sally and their seven cats.