Physics I for dummies / by Steven Holzner.

Includes index.

Introduction -- About this book -- Conventions used in this book -- What you're not to read -- Foolish assumptions -- How this book is organized -- Part 1: Putting Physics Into Motion -- Part 2: May The Forces Of Physics Be With You -- Part 3: Manifesting The Energy To Work -- Part 4: Laying Down the Laws Of Thermodynamics -- Part 5: Part Of Tens -- Icons used in this book -- Where to go from here -- Part 1: -- Putting Physics Into Motion: -- Using physics to understand your world: -- What physics is all about -- Observing the world -- Making predictions -- Reaping the rewards -- Observing objects in motion -- Measuring speed, direction, velocity, and acceleration -- Round and round: rotational motion -- Springs and pendulums: simple harmonic motion -- When push comes to shove: forces -- Absorbing the energy around you -- That's heavy: pressures in fluids -- Feeling hot but not bothered: thermodynamics -- Reviewing physics measurement and math fundamentals: -- Measuring the world around you and making predictions -- Using systems of measurement -- From meters to inches and back again: -- Converting between units -- Eliminating some zeros: using scientific notation -- Checking the accuracy and precision of measurements -- Knowing which digits are significant -- Estimating accuracy -- Arming yourself with basic algebra -- Tackling a little trig -- Interpreting equations as real-world ideas -- Exploring the need for speed: -- Going the distance with displacement -- Understanding displacement and position -- Examining axes -- Speed specifics: what is speed, anyway? -- Reading the speedometer: instantaneous speed -- Staying steady: uniform speed -- Shifting speeds: nonuniform motion -- Busting out the stopwatch: average speed -- Speeding up (or down): acceleration -- Defining acceleration -- Determining the units of acceleration -- Looking at positive and negative acceleration -- Examining average and instantaneous acceleration -- Taking off: putting the acceleration formula into practice -- Understanding uniform and nonuniform acceleration -- Relating acceleration, time, and displacement -- Not-so-distant relations: deriving the formula -- Calculating acceleration and distance -- Linking velocity, acceleration and displacement -- Finding acceleration -- Solving for displacement -- Finding final velocity -- Following directions: motion in two dimensions: -- Visualizing vectors -- Asking for directions: vector basics -- Looking at vector addition from start to finish -- Going head-to-head with vector subtraction -- Putting vectors on the grid -- Adding vectors by adding coordinates -- Changing the length: multiplying a vector by a number -- Little trig: breaking up vectors into components -- Finding vector components -- Reassembling a vector from its components -- Featuring displacement, velocity, and acceleration in 2-D -- Displacement: going the distance in two dimensions -- Velocity: speeding in a new direction -- Acceleration: getting a new angle on changes in velocity -- Accelerating downward: motion under the influence of gravity -- Golf-ball-off-the-cliff exercise -- How-far-can-you-kick-the-ball exercise -- Part 2: -- May The Forces Of Physics Be With You: -- When push comes to shove: force: -- Newton's first law: Resisting with inertia -- Resisting change: inertia and mass -- Measuring mass -- Newton's second law: Relating force, mass and acceleration -- Relating the formula to the real world -- Naming units of force -- Vector addition: gathering net forces -- Newton's third law: Looking at equal and opposite forces -- Seeing Newton's third law in action -- Pulling hard enough to overcome friction -- Pulleys: supporting double the force -- Analyzing angles and force in Newton's third law -- Finding equilibrium -- Getting down with gravity, inclined planes, and friction: -- Acceleration due to gravity: one of life's little constants -- Finding a new angle on gravity with inclined planes -- Finding the force of gravity along a ramp -- Figuring the speed along a ramp -- Getting sticky with friction -- Calculating friction and the normal force -- Conquering the coefficient of friction -- On the move: understanding static and kinetic friction -- A not-so-slippery slope: handling uphill and downhill friction -- Let's get fired up! Sending objects airborne -- Shooting an object straight up -- Projectile motion: firing an object at an angle -- Circling around rotational motion and orbits: -- Centripetal acceleration: changing direction to move in a circle -- Keeping a constant speed with uniform circular motion -- Finding the magnitude of the centripetal acceleration -- Seeking the center: centripetal force -- Looking at the force you need -- Seeing how the mass, velocity, and radius affect centripetal force -- Negotiating flat curves and banked turns -- Getting angular with displacement, velocity, and acceleration -- Measuring angles in radians -- Relating linear and angular motion -- Letting gravity supply centripetal force -- Using Newton's law of universal gravitation -- Deriving the force of gravity on the earth's surface -- Using the law of gravitation to examine circular orbits -- Looping the loop: vertical circular motion -- Go with the flow: looking at pressure in fluids: -- Mass density: getting some inside information -- Calculating density -- Comparing densities with specific gravity -- Applying pressure -- Looking at units of pressure -- Connecting pressure to changes in depth -- Hydraulic machines: passing on pressure with Pascal's principle -- Buoyancy: float your boat with Archimedes's principle -- Fluid dynamics: going with fluids in motion -- Characterizing the type of flow -- Picturing flow with streamlines -- Getting up to speed on flow and pressure -- Equation of continuity: relating pipe size and flow rates -- Bernoulli's equation: relating speed and pressure -- Pipes and pressure: putting it all together --

Part 3: -- Manifesting The Energy To Work: -- Getting some work out of physics: -- Looking for work -- Working on measurement systems -- Pushing your weight: applying force in the direction of movement -- Using a tow rope: applying at an angle -- Negative work: applying force opposite the direction of motion -- Making a move: kinetic energy -- Work-energy theorem: turning work into kinetic energy -- Using the kinetic energy equation -- Calculating changes in kinetic energy by using net force -- Energy in the bank: potential energy -- To new heights: gaining potential energy by working against gravity -- Achieving your potential: converting potential energy into kinetic energy -- Choose your path: conservative versus nonconservative forces -- Keeping the energy up: the conservation of mechanical energy -- Shifting between kinetic and potential energy -- Mechanical-energy balance: finding velocity and height -- Powering up: the rate of doing work -- Using common units of power -- Doing alternate calculations of power -- Putting objects in motion: momentum and impulse: -- Looking at the impact of impulse -- Gathering momentum -- Impulse-monentum theorem: relating impulse and momentum -- Shooting pool: finding force from impulse and momentum -- Singing in the rain: an impulsive activity -- When objects go bonk: conserving momentum -- Deriving the conservation formula -- Finding velocity with the conservation of momentum -- Finding firing velocity with the conservation of momentum -- When worlds (or cars) collide: elastic and ineleastic collisions -- Determining whether a collision is elastic -- Colliding elastically along a line -- Colliding elastically in two dimensions -- Winding up with angular kinetics: -- Going from linear to rotational motion -- Understanding tangential motion -- Finding tangential velocity -- Finding tangential acceleration -- Finding centripetal acceleration -- Applying vectors to rotation -- Calculating angular velocity -- Figuring angular acceleration -- Doing the twist: torque -- Mapping out the torque equation -- Understanding lever arms -- Figuring out the torque generated -- Recognizing the torque is a vector -- Spinning at constant velocity: rotational equilibrium -- Determining how much weight Hercules can lift -- Handling a flag: a rotational equilibrium problem -- Ladder safety: introducing friction into rotational equilibrium -- Round and round with rotational dynamics: -- Rolling up Newton's second law into angular motion -- Switching force to torque -- Converting tangential acceleration to angular acceleration -- Factoring in the moment of inertia -- Moments of inertia: looking into mass distribution -- DVD players and torque: a spinning-disk inertia example -- Angular acceleration and torque: a pulley inertia example -- Wrapping your head around rotational work and kinetic energy -- Putting a new spin on work -- Moving along with rotational kinetic energy -- Let's roll! Finding rotational kinetic energy on a ramp -- Can't stop this: angular momentum -- Conserving angular momentum -- Satellite orbits: a conservation-of-angular momentum example -- Springs'n'things: simple harmonic motion: -- Bouncing back with Hooke's law -- Stretching and compressing springs -- Pushing or pulling back: the spring's restoring force -- Getting around to simple harmonic motion -- Around equilibrium: examining horizontal and vertical springs -- Catching the wave: a sine of simple harmonic motion -- Finding the angular frequency of a mass on a spring -- Factoring energy into simple harmonic motion -- Swinging with pendulums -- Part 5: -- Laying Down The Laws Of Thermodynamics: -- Turning up the heat with thermodynamics: -- Measuring temperature -- Fahrenheit and Celsius: working in degrees -- Zeroing in on the Kelvin scale -- Heat is on: thermal expansion -- Linear expansion: getting longer -- Volume expansion: taking up more space -- Heat: going with the flow (of thermal energy) -- Getting specific with temperature changes -- Just a new phase: adding heat without changing temperature -- Here, take my coat: how heat is transferred: -- Convection: letting the heat flow -- Hot fluid rises: putting fluid in motion with natural convection -- Controlling the flow with forced convection -- Too hot to handle: getting in touch with conduction -- Finding the conduction equation -- Considering conductors and insulators -- Radiation: riding the (electromagnetic) wave -- Mutual radiation: giving and receiving heat -- Blackbodies: absorbing and reflecting radiation -- In the best of all possible worlds: the idea gas law: -- Digging into molecules and moles with Avogadro's number -- Relating pressure, volume, and temperature with the ideal gas law -- Forging the ideal gas law -- Working with standard temperature and pressure -- Breathing problem: checking your oxygen -- Boyle's and Charles's laws: alternative expressions of the ideal gas law -- Tracking ideal gas molecules with the kinetic energy formula -- Predicting air molecule speed -- Calculating kinetic energy in an ideal gas -- Heat and work: the laws of thermodynamics: -- Thermal equilibrium: getting temperature with the Zeroth law Conserving energy: the first law of thermodynamics -- Calculating with conservation of energy -- Staying constant: isobaric isochoric, isothermal, and adiabatic processes -- Flowing from hot to cold: the second law of thermodynamics -- Heat engines: putting heat to work -- Limiting efficiency: Carnot says you can't have it all -- Going against the flow with heat pumps -- Going cold: the third (and absolute last) law of thermodynamics -- Part 5: -- Part Of Tens: -- Ten physics heroes: -- Galileo Galilei -- Robert Hooke -- Sir Isaac Newton -- Benjamin Franklin -- Charles-Augustin de Coulomb -- Amedeo Avogadro -- Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot -- James Prescott Joule -- William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) -- Albert Einstein -- Ten wild physics theories: -- You can measure a smallest distance -- There may be a smallest time -- Heisenberg says you can't be certain -- Black holes don't let light out -- Gravity curves space -- Matter and antimatter destroy each other -- Supernovas are the most powerful explosions -- Universe starts with the big bang and ends with the gnab big -- Microwave ovens are hot physics -- Is the universe made to measure? -- Glossary -- Index.

Overview: The fun and easy way to get up to speed on the basic concepts of physics For high school and undergraduate students alike, physics classes are recommended or required courses for a wide variety of majors, and continue to be a challenging and often confusing course. Physics I For Dummies tracks specifically to an introductory course and, keeping with the traditionally easy-to-follow Dummies style, teaches you the basic principles and formulas in a clear and concise manner, proving that you don't have to be Einstein to understand physics!: Explains the basic principles in a simple, clear, and entertaining fashion; New edition includes updated examples and explanations, as well as the newest discoveries in the field; Contains the newest teaching techniques; If just thinking about the laws of physics makes your head spin, this hands-on, friendly guide gets you out of the black hole and sheds light on this often-intimidating subject.