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 8
Elasticity and Mechanical Properties of Solids, Pressure and Fluids, Work, Energy and Power
A steel cable holds a lift, a bridge bends a little under a lorry, and a rubber band snaps back. A solid changes its shape when we push, pull or twist it, and it comes back when we let it go. In this chapter we measure how much a solid changes, with stress and strain, we find the three moduli of elasticity that describe steel, copper or rubber, we find the energy that is stored in a stretched wire, and we use all this to choose the rope of a crane and the beam of a bridge. Python fits the moduli and designs the beams.
3 courses
Chapter 9
Fluid Flow, Bernoulli's Principle and Viscosity, Pressure and Fluids, Surface Tension and Capillarity
A diver feels the water press on the ears, a ship of steel floats, a plane stays in the air and a drop of water holds its shape on a leaf. Liquids and gases are called fluids, because they flow. In this chapter we find the pressure inside a fluid and the force of buoyancy, we study how a fluid flows, from a pipe to the wing of a plane, and we meet two properties that belong to the surface and the layers of a fluid, the surface tension and the viscosity. Python finds the pressure, the speed of the flow and the rise of water in a thin tube.
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