1.Measurement
2.Optics
3.Force
4.Velocity and Acceleration
5.The Laws of Motion
6.Motion Along a Curved Path
7.Momentum
8.Energy
9.Fluids - Density and Pressure
10.Heat
11.Sound and other oscillations
12.Electricity
13.Electromagnetic Interactions
14.Modern Physics
Note the unusual placement of optics, actually only geometrical optics, at the start. It serves a dual purpose in preparatory
physics. In the first place, it is an algebra review in disguise. A third of the class may typically be white knuckles when it comes
to algebra. In this chapter, we help them catch up while not loosing the two-thirds that are okay in this regard.
The other purpose is to put off kinematics as long as possible. Students in general college physics who have skipped prep
physics frequently find themselves in deep trouble if general college physics is taught at a high level at your school. Many drop
back into prep physics after the first exam. Treating optics and vector forces first allows kinematics to be put off to the second
exam.
Also note the treatment of momentum before energy, the opposite of the order most appropriate for general college physics.
Treating momentum first avoids the common misconception that momentum is one of the many forms that energy can
take
At City College of San Francisco, we believe that high school physics is important. So important, in fact, that we require it as a
prerequisite for general college physics, both with and without calculus. We have always had this prerequisite, having inherited it
from the University of California at Berkeley, from which most of the founding members of our faculty were graduated.
Of course, it is rare to find a student at Berkeley who did not take physics in high school, as only the academically elite can
meet the entrance requirements to that fine school. The mission of City College, which is to provide an open door to education
for everyone, demands that we provide a path for students who, for one reason or the other, missed high school physics.
This book was written for the course that provides that path.
It is not high school physics. It cannot be. High school physics is two semesters five days per week. This course is one
semester, one to three days per week, depending on the section. It is a highly condensed version of the essence of what is
needed to successfully compete in general college physics with those who have had senior level high school physics.
Physics has the reputation of being a very difficult course -- a giant killer. That is because, without high school physics, many
students find it impossible to earn the grade in general college physics that is needed to get into veracious professional schools.
Their friends know them to be intelligent people who can discuss current affairs, art and culture with insight, and their friends
know how hard they study this awe filled course called physics. Then, at the end of the semester their friends needing to
downgrade their life’s goals because they failed to get the required grade in this, their most difficult course.
That is because at many schools this prerequisite course is not taught. At many schools, the physics instructor assumes no
previous course in physics. No matter that half the class already understands the difference between velocity and acceleration,
between mass and weight, between energy and momentum, between voltage and current. As these matters are developed, the
instructor looks out into the class and finds half the class nodding in understanding. The other half the class, the half without high
school physics, are white knuckles.
This book is for the course that takes the fear out of physics.
City College is also the home institution for another excellent course, a course for people who have never had physics, and
who only need one semester. My friend, mentor, and the artist who illustrated this book, is Paul Hewitt, who broke new ground
in teaching this fine course. Since none of his students needed the algebraic problem solving skills emphasized in this text, Paul
developed something now called the "conceptual approach." At first he called it physics "without math."
Wags called it
"physics without physics." In truth the math and physics are there in full force, but they are translated into English. I teach
several sections of that course, and I can attest to the fact that it is a damn hard course -- quite demanding for the intelligent
student. The virtues of this course are not to be disputed. Hewitt’s Conceptual Physics has sold in eight editions more copies
than any other physics book ever written, and is used at most schools in the United States. It teaches different skills, however,
from the analytical skills taught in this book.
In terms of problem solving skills, this book is on the opposite end of the spectrum
from Conceptual Physics. That is as it
should be, and the two courses compliment each other at our school.
Under ideal circumstances, the student would take both courses. With the "physics first" movement in high schools, this is
actually becoming possible. A version of conceptual physics is actually being taught at some high schools before biology and
chemistry. I am a strong supporter of this movement. Of course, there is a danger that the "physics first" course will replace the
standard senior level high school physics. Fortunately, most schools are using the "physics first" course as a ramp to their
standard senior level course.
That is how my own daughter did it. There was no ramp course, but I talked Paul into teaching a version of his course at San
Francisco’s Exploratorium when she was in middle school. I took her and her friends to watch this course. I could not get them
to read the book, but they seemed to enjoy the lectures. When she got to college, she decided to take the "real thing" in the big
lecture hall with Paul teaching. This time, she decided to read the book. That turned her into a physics major. I didn’t do it. It
was Paul. After completing a Bachelor of Music, in voice, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she completed a
Bachelor of Art in Physics, Magna Cum Laude, at San Francisco State.
Along the way, she took the course using this book. While continuing her voce studies, she decided to revise this text by
writing out the 70’s language and upgrading the problem sets. At the encouragement of Sue Broadston, our dear friend who
teaches at Cabrillo College, we decided to write a new chapter on electric and magnetic fields.
With roughly a third of the text rewritten, she is fully a co-author in this edition. I believe she brings the recent student’s
perspective to the style of the presentation. The good jokes are hers’. The bad jokes are mine. The visual jokes are Paul’s.
Introductory 