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 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 5
Work, Energy and Power, Momentum and Collisions
A roller coaster climbs slowly, and then it races down. A bat hits a ball, and the ball flies away. A motor lifts a load in one minute, and a bigger motor does it in ten seconds. In each case, energy goes from one place or form to another. In this chapter we learn what work is, how it changes the motion of a body, how energy is stored and kept, how fast work is done, and what happens in a collision. Python adds up the work, draws the energy graphs and solves the collisions.
3 courses
Chapter 6
Rotational Motion, Momentum and Collisions
A diver tucks in the air and spins fast, and then opens out and enters the water. A ladder leans on a wall and does not slip. A cylinder rolls down a slope faster than a ring. Up to now, we treated every body as a point. Real bodies have a size and a shape, and they can turn. In this chapter we find the one point where a body or a system behaves like a single particle, we learn what torque, moment of inertia and angular momentum are, and we use them to study spinning, balancing and rolling. Python adds up the masses, solves the equations of balance and races the rolling bodies.
3 courses
Chapter 2
Newton's Laws of Motion, Momentum and Collisions, Friction
Have you stood in a bus when the driver braked hard? You moved forward, and nobody pushed you. Why did that happen? In this chapter we find out. We learn what a force is and how a force changes the way things move. We also see why every push has a push back. Newton explained all of this with three laws. We discuss them one at a time, and we use Python to watch them work.
3 courses