Light and Matter — physics for students majoring in the life sciences Simple Nature — physics for scientists and engineers, with a nontraditional order of topics Mechanics — introductory mechanics for scientists and engineers, with a traditional order of topics Conceptual Physics Problems in Introductory Physics Fundamentals of Calculus Relativity for Poets Special Relativity General Relativity.
Click here to download these free ebooks. Next 19 Sites With Free Textbooks. A rule of thumb for a class like this is to devote, on average, 2.
For a course that meets 5 hours each week, that means you should spend about 10 to 15 hours per week studying physics. Spread that 10 to 15 hours out over an entire week! At what time of the day am I at my best for studying physics? Pick a specific time of the day and stick to it. Distractions will break your routine and cause you to miss important points. Scientists or engineers seldom work in isolation from one another but rather work cooperatively.
You will learn more physics and have more fun doing it if you work with other students. Some professors may formalize the use of cooperative learning or facilitate the formation of study groups. You may wish to form your own informal study group with members of your class.
Use e-mail to keep in touch with one another. Your study group is an excellent resource when you review for exams. An important component of any college course is the lecture. In physics this is especially important, because your professor will frequently do demonstrations of physical principles, run computer simulations, or show video clips. All of these are learning activities that will help you understand the basic principles of physics. If for some reason you do, ask a friend or member of your study group to provide you with notes and let you know what happened.
Take your class notes in outline form, and fill in the details later. It can be very difficult to take word-for-word notes, so just write down key ideas. Your professor may use a diagram from the textbook. Leave a space in your notes and add the diagram later. After class, edit your notes, filling in any gaps or omissions and noting things that you need to study further.
Make references to the textbook by page, equation number, or section number. Ask questions in class, or see your professor during office hours. Your college may have teaching assistants or peer tutors who are available to help you with any difficulties. Taking an examination is stressful. But if you feel adequately prepared and are well rested, your stress will be lessened. Preparing for an exam is a continuous process; it begins the moment the previous exam is over.
You should immediately go over the exam to understand any mistakes you made. If you worked a problem and made substantial errors, try this: Take a piece of paper and divide it down the middle with a line from top to bottom. In one column, write the proper solution to the problem. For example, on the section of Significant Figures, they write out the rule in text form without any highlighting of the short description of the rule itself. The flow is common in many textbooks. I generally want to group like-concepts together, but I understand that many textbooks are going in the direction of explaining concepts as they come along and use them right away.
This is a new and potentially promising procedure for texts. I found that a little displeasing. I find nothing offensive in this text. Example, they refer to a person walking on a train in Example 7. I am thinking of using this text for future calculus-based class I teach. Though there are very few issues with the text that I, personally, would like changed, the overall quality is on par with texts that students have to purchase.
University Physics, Volume 1 by Ling, Sanny and Moebs covers the typical topics found in a first semester physics course. The example problems are well worked out.
Students who are familiar with traditional textbooks should have no problem using Students who are familiar with traditional textbooks should have no problem using this one.
There are concepts of vector manipulation and use of spherical and cylindrical coordinates that are missing. Overall, if an online homework system is not needed, this is a decent textbook for beginning students. There are no major errors, but some items are a misleading. The explanation of torque and angular momentum is typically not robust and the examples are confusing.
I would suggest rewriting this section or supplementing it. The content of the book is about physics over a century old years in most cases. The material is not going to change but I suspect that interactive online resources will supplant the text pasted online that is here.
The examples are clearly explained. In an online setting, interactive applets or at minimum some animations would help a lot. The 3D diagrams could be replaced with non-static images either slow rotating gif or user controlled POV. I also dislike the large number of derived equations presented in lists. This gives the impression that memorization of the equations is important, not applying the simple principles and doing the necessary algebra, trigonometry or calculus.
The text is consistent in its use of terms and variables. There is little ability to skip around as most of the material builds on previous chapters. This is inherent in introductory physics, anyway. It is possible to skip around a bit. Same would be possible with covering momentum prior to work and energy. The organization is similar to that in many other texts, nothing surprising. This is a problem with most texts, anyway.
The material generally flows smoothly. There are appropriate hyperlinks to other material in the text. The interface is easy to use. I think it would be better to embed interactive examples rather than hyperlink to external material. But because it is easy to click and see some related material within or external to the text , there is some advantage to the interface over a paper text.
I would recommend the text if there is no requirement for an online homework system. I will also list it in future as an additional resource for the students. This would also be helpful to anyone needing to refresh some of the more basic concepts. If cost is a primary concern on textbook adoption, this makes a good choice.
This book strikes an effective balance between rigor and breadth. It introduces key concepts slowly enough to help many beginners become comfortable with Physics concepts without being overwhelmed. It also allows for a dependable reference for It also allows for a dependable reference for more advanced students, who can cover the material more quickly but will not be bored by the presentation.
I worked some of the advanced challenge problems given throughout and they seemed to be sufficiently rigorous for an advanced student to challenge herself or himself. The content seems thorough and accurate throughout. The one not-quite error I found was in the chapter on sound which presented resonance pipe antinodes occurring at open ends and nodes at closed ends.
This is true but only for displacement, not pressure, which is at least misleading since all of sound covered up to that point dealt with pressure, and the diagrams didn't clearly state what was being measured. This is the best free general physics textbook I have found so far, and it provides examples and application points which point to relevant technology and cultural phenomena, but usually in a general enough way that it does not require a separate update every 5 years.
One exception is the photo of an early iPhone as an example of GPS - it already looks a bit dated given the pace of cell phone updates, and I expect it will seem moreso to students as time goes on, given the familiarity of this generation with the latest in smartphone technology. I liked the text pretty well. A couple of times it seemed they were glossing over something or leaving something as a challenge problem without fully grounding it in theory, but this was the exception rather than the rule.
The book is pretty consistent, although the order of presentation of subject necessitates some fluctuation on that count. Later chapters on waves and sound go back and forth between being a bit over-didactic, introducing lots of concepts, and then being extremely mathematical, referencing concepts such as kinetic and potential energy of the wave, introducing lots of equations.
I expected the book overall to be more consistently math-y throughout, but the use of text blocks to introduce other applications was not uncalled for, and I think many students would respond positively to it. I am considering using part of this textbook for a graduate course on acoustics that I teach. It will need to be supplemented with other sound-centric materials since even this book's chapters on sound focus more on physical acoustics than perception of sound or musical sound.
But these are always contentious issues in physics education. Once I increased the text size, the online version was fairly easy to read. Sometimes I did not care much for the format, layout, text-to-space ratios, etc, but those may be different in the pdf version.
Some of the photo figures likewise do not seem to be neatly formatted. In the sense that physics is trying to study the universal, so too does this book. There are some unavoidable cultural references in the application points, but those seem considered and not focused on any one place or people group. In general, this is a good book for intro physics classes.
I will probably not make it my only textbook for my acoustics course, but I may use it so supplement some wave concepts here and there. This book is very comprehensive covering every aspect of a major physics first year at any University.
It is well orgainised and follows a traditional logical order, ie. There are also slides and a students solutions manual. There are no discernible errors in the text and each topic is dealt with in the professional way you would expect of a physics text. The books contents are standard basic but comprehensive physics. There is plenty of room for expansion within the text. Includes discussion, some questions and problems on Higgs boson for example.
It is quote cumbersome to edit the book and extract pieces that are not whole sections or whole chapters. The book follows an very familiar traditional flow that will be familiar to all physics majors. It would be best, stating the obvious, to start at the begingin and following the book through in chapter order.
This is more to do with the subject matter than the book. There are no problems with the layout or interface of the material. All equations and diagrams are clear and pristine in theit native form. However they do not so easly lend them selves to editing.
This would be the best resource I have ever found - IF - it was easier to edit and use in a bespoke way. Excellent and detailed coverage of mechanics, sound, oscillations, and waves at early years university study. Text covers the fundamental of physics which will not date and examples and questions are relevant and current. The chapters have a structure that would allow individual sections to be assigned and chapters could be delivered in alternative ordering.
I have not found anything in the book that would be considered culturally insensitive or offensive. The electricity and magnetism part can The electricity and magnetism part can serve as a standalone textbook for a one-semester calculus based university physics course.
All the topics in a similar course I offered for many years can be found in this textbook. It is very easy to adapt the material in the textbook to a common university physics course to cover electricity and magnetism.
There are many wonderful examples to show the students how to apply the concepts discussed in the text. And the sets of homework are particularly useful for the teachers and students. However, if your course is designed to manage homework online, for example, LON-CAPA, you probably need some time to write the codes in order to use the homework problems.
In my course, I continue with diffraction of waves and ray optics. If the authors can change the outline of the contents to include optics in volume 2, that will be wonderful. For a university physics course focus on electricity and magnetism, the content is similar to most of the textbooks in the market. The contents presented in this textbook are up-to-date and require a minimum amount of updates. The concepts are clearly explained with sometimes good examples to go with them. The text is easy to read.
For a student took calculus courses, there is no difficulty of understanding the mathematics used in the examples and the equations. The connections and the framework of the topics presented in this textbook are standard, thus it is very consistent. The layout of the textbook is very clear.
All the modules can be readily adapted and divided into smaller reading sections and lecture notes. It is a very clear structure of the topics. This structure is common and similar to other commercial available textbooks. Some of the cartoon drawings are not high quality. For example, Figures 6. If the pictures were drawn using a professional software, the textbook would be beautiful.
Similar thing is the equation, particularly when a vector is involved. This is the first in a 3-volume set. It covers all of classical mechanics along with waves and oscillations. It is appropriate for a calculus-based physics course in a 3-semester sequence.
Combined with the other volumes, it can be adapted to Combined with the other volumes, it can be adapted to use in a 2-semester sequence. The book does have an excellent index in the PDF version. Online, it has searchable content, but I could not find an index.
The table of contents, however, should be sufficient for a student to use it as a reference book. The book does have a glossary for each chapter, giving the meaning of bolded words throughout.
These definitions are concise and accurate. The content is accurate. The authors give a nice treatment of vectors, projectile, and circular motion. I like how they bring in more advanced topics, like Brownian motion, as they present these ideas.
Instead of dealing with generic vectors, like many textbooks, the authors present only the displacement, velocity, and acceleration vectors. This is a solid, introductory, calculus-based physics text. I expect these basics of physics to last long beyond what anyone can envision. The pedagogy, too, is up-to-date. The students get lots of practice as they work through each section.
Physics is difficult without deliberate and spaced practice. These tools can help the student to master physics. Of course, the book does use appropriate language, which will be unfamiliar with most students. However, the vocabulary builds in each chapter, and the text has links back to previous material when it is referenced in the chapter. Again, the glossary does offer good, simple definitions of bolded words.
This book is consistent. It uses terminology from chapter to chapter, but it always refers back to technical terms in previous chapters with handy links. The framework, too, builds in each chapter. Students learn skills—vector math, eg. Of course, physics is a particularly good subject for such building.
The reason I love physics is because it is consistent. Like many physics texts, this book is divided into appropriate and small sections. Chapter 4, for example, is divided into 5 sections. A professor can assign a particular section per day as the students or before cover the material in class.
Indeed, these sections do not disrupt the reading but, instead, provide convenient breaks that allow the reader to pause and reflect. At the end of each section, the authors have included conceptual questions and practice problems so the reader can ensure their own mastery of the material.
As I stated previously, I might not present these topics in this particular order. For example, I like to cover centripetal forces with rotation. However, these issues are very minor.
The authors follow a putative order for presenting the topics; this order is used by many textbooks. No issues here. The OpenStax folks have their game together. Figures are clear and well-labeled. The online interface, which I prefer over the PDF, is easy to use.
It has, in my opinion, better writing than some other standard books Halliday, Serway, Tipler, etc. Of the 6 cartoon figures, all were white, and 2 were women. However, the people presented in these figures are small and not a big part of the text. In fact, 4 of the characters were partially obscured by masks or sporting equipment. The book does not take extra measures to make minorities feel included. The text is not offensive in any way unless someone hates physics!! Great book! I intend to use it next year.
I'd love to see some online tools like Tutor or Concept Coach, even if for a fee. I'd likely use them in my course.
Generally yes. Covers the topics typically covered in the first term of a calculus based introductory level physics course. I did not see an obviously located index, however the digital format of the book is searchable.
However, this feature However, this feature does not completely replace an index because some students buy a printed book. There is a glossary at the end of each section, but not a global glossary.
The book is generally accurate. Inaccuracies are not related to content, but rather to typographic errors and such. More importantly, a site exists where errata can be submitted by users and those submissions can be seen by users.
The text is written and arranged in similar fashion to standard texts on the subject, which have not changed much over a decade or more. The main updates are links to Phet simulations and other resources, however if the locationsURL of these resources changes then those links will be broken until updated.
Most students these days supplement the text with other resources such as video lectures and simulations, and open courseware, which I encourage. However, this means convincing students to read the text in-depth is even more difficult than in the past. The less formal language may help with this, and students comprehend the material at a level such that student outcomes will be affected by the slight reduction in rigor.
Certain sections dealing with common misconceptions, such as centrifugal force, were given specific treatment with careful language, which is important. The writing style often uses the word "this" in a paragraph of text with "this" referencing a concept described in a previous sentence or paragraph, which might possibly lead to confusion for students.
At times it appears to be overly differentiated, possibly to the point of distraction, but that may be a personal issue. Students might appreciate the level of differentiation.
The topics are presented in the same general order as standard textbooks on the subject. Some sections within chapters are ordered differently. This appeared to be purposeful, but at times possibly convoluted, such as calling chapter 10 Fixed axis rotation and then including rolling motion at the beginning of the Chapter titled Angular Momentum before any discussion of angular momentum is presented.
Generally the figures, links, graphic quality are sufficient with few exceptions. I found the quality to be generally higher than OpenStax College Physics, which had some issues with low quality graphics. Generally appeared acceptable, I am not an expert on grammar. See comments in the Clarity categories.
I did not notice anything offensive, however there did not appear to be a significant representation of a variety of ethnicities represented in graphics and diagrams. Gender representation was somewhat more level. I did not read every chapter problem. University Physics is a three-volume collection that meets the scope and sequence requirements for two- and three-semester calculus-based physics courses. Volume 1 covers mechanics, sound, oscillations, and waves.
This textbook emphasizes connections between between theory and application, making physics concepts interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the mathematical rigor inherent in the subject. Frequent, strong examples focus on how to approach a problem, how to work with the equations, and how to check and generalize the result. He joined the faculty at Loyola Marymount University in the fall of During his tenure, he has served as department Chair as well as Associate Dean.
Sanny enjoys teaching introductory physics in particular. He is also passionate about providing students with research experience and has directed an active undergraduate student research group in space physics for many years.
0コメント