Learning Paths
Each learning path is one chapter: a guided route through a topic, one small course at a time. Pick a class to see its chapters in order.
Chapter 3
Vectors and Motion in a Plane, Relative Motion, Circular Motion
A cricket ball flies in a curve, a boat crosses a river and lands far down the bank, and a stone on a string goes round and round. None of these moves in a straight line, so we need a new tool: the vector. In this chapter we learn to add vectors and to split them into parts, we describe motion in a plane with them, and we study two important cases, the flight of a projectile and uniform circular motion. Python draws the paths and does the calculations.
3 courses
Chapter 4
Newton's Laws of Motion, Friction, Momentum and Collisions, Circular Motion
Why does a book on a table stay still, a hockey puck slide on and on, and a car skid on a wet road? Three laws, written by Newton more than three hundred years ago, answer all of these and many more. In this chapter we learn the three laws, we draw the forces on a body, we solve problems with pulleys, slopes and friction, and we find the force that keeps a car on a bend. Python solves the equations and draws the graphs.
3 courses
Chapter 7
Gravitation, Work, Energy and Power, Circular Motion
An apple falls, the Moon goes round the Earth, and the Earth goes round the Sun. Newton saw that one law of gravitation explains all three. In this chapter we start from the laws that Kepler found in the observations of the planets, we write the law of gravitation, we find how gravity changes above and below the surface, we find the energy that is needed to leave the Earth, and we study satellites, from the Moon to a weather satellite, and the weightlessness of an astronaut. Python solves the orbits and the energy.
3 courses
Chapter 1
Motion in a Straight Line, Gravitation, Circular Motion
A bus starts to move, a ball falls, the minute hand goes round a clock. Everything moves, and a few simple ideas are enough to describe all of it: how far, how fast, and how quickly the speed changes. In this chapter you learn these ideas and read them from graphs. You use them to work out where something will be, and when. You also write a little Python and watch the numbers turn into pictures.
3 courses
Chapter 3
Gravitation, Pressure and Fluids, Circular Motion, Motion in a Straight Line
You jump up, and you come down. A ball that you throw high comes back. The Moon goes round the Earth and does not fall on it. Is one force behind all of this? In this chapter we meet the law of gravitation. We find why mass and weight are not the same thing. Then we study why a heavy ship floats on water, and a small needle sinks. Python helps us with every calculation.
3 courses