To give students a broad education in classical mechanics.
To appreciate the importance of simplification of complex physical phenomena, the establishment of ideal model, and its extension to a more realistic description of nature.
To train the students' ability to think logically and independently and to acquire the skills of problem solving.
To enhance student understanding how the real physics world works and inspire students to creatively explore hypotheses through experimentation.
To provide an experimental foundation for the theoretical concepts introduced in the lectures.
To familiarize students with the experimental apparatus, the scientific method and tools of experimental data analysis.
A learn the rules of units, vectors in measurements;
B know the difference between significant figures, accuracy & precision in measurements;
C describe Newton’s laws & apply them to simple problems;
D explain the conservation of energy and momentum & apply them to simple problems;
E describe how conservation laws can be used to solve problems more easily than Newton’s Laws;
F solve problems using mathematics discussed in the course.
G learn some experimental apparatus of mechanics, the scientific method and tools of experimental data analysis.
There are seven teaching weeks, from Week 8 to Week 14. Students will be expected to attend four hours of formal lectures and class demonstrations in a typical week. During the lectures, the students will be introduced to the academic content and practical skills which are the subject of the module. In addition, students will be expected to devote six hours per week of unsupervised time to private study. Private study will provide time for reflection and consideration of lecture material and background reading. Students will be required to attend two sessions of physics experiments. In addition, students will be expected to research each topic before coming to the lab. The pre-lab handout and video instructions will provide the relevant background. Moreover, for each lab, students will be required to submit a formal lab report within two weeks after they complete the experiment.