Classical Mechanics

Here we'll establish the bedrock principles of physics and use them to reveal matter in motion; from drones and rockets to skyscrapers and blinking fireflies.

By the end, you'll develop a rigorous approach to describing the natural world and you'll be ready to take on new challenges in quantum mechanics and special relativity.

• Introduction: A quick look at what classical mechanics can do for you.
• Formula One Racing: Want to design the fastest car? You'll need classical mechanics for that.
• Cellular Automaton: Complex behavior can emerge from very simple rules.
• Huygens's Clock Puzzle: Get hands-on with interactive pendulums and crack this classic puzzle.
• Kinematics: A common language for everything that moves.
• Kinematics in the City: Navigate the difference between acceleration and velocity on the streets of the city.
• The Kinematic Equations: Derive the most useful kinematic relationships for an accelerating object.
• Angular Kinematics: Try your kinematics skills at the racetrack.
• Projectile Motion: Can you help Robin Hood prove he's the best shot in Nottinghamshire?
• Gene Expression Problem: Can you predict the number of proteins manufactured in a cell?
• Newton's Laws: Three simple laws govern nearly everything you see.
• What are Forces?: Ride on a park swing to learn the basics of forces.
• The Three Laws of Motion: Get to know Newton's laws of motion at hockey practice.
• Weight and Scales: Use Newton's laws to help a fly escape from a sealed jar.
• Pressure: Take a deep dive to learn about forces in fluids.
• Buoyancy: How high can you fly in a hot-air balloon?
• Drag Forces: Watch out! The air is stealing your energy.
• Banked Curve Problem: How fast can you take a turn on a banked road?
• Energy: It's the currency of the Universe.
• Exploring Energy: Find out how energy transforms on the ski slopes.
• Work-Energy Theorem: Uncover the work-energy theorem by taking an elephant for a sleigh ride.
• Conservation of Energy: Energy can never be created or destroyed, only changed.
• Power: How much energy do your muscles consume?
• Elastic Energy: Can an inflated balloon store energy?
• Potential Energy: How much work can be done by a compressed spring?
• Drone Battery Problem: Find the right sized battery for your quadcopter.
• Momentum: Solve some harder problems with a different angle on Newton's Laws.
• Momentum in the Office: Annoy your coworkers by building a jet engine on your office chair.
• Impulse-Momentum Theorem: Save your knees when you jump from trees.
• Rocket Equation: How much fuel does a rocket need to get to space?
• Ideal Gas Law: How many gas molecules are inside a basketball?
• Photon Problem: Even particles of light have momentum and energy.
• Reference Frames: To make measurements, first you'll need a coordinate system.
• Relativity on the Train: Are you moving or am I?
• Center-of-Mass Frame: Bumper car collisions are simple in this reference frame.
• Rotating Frames: A rotating reference frame is necessary when you're driving around in circles.
• Einstein's Theory of Relativity: The speed of light is constant in any reference frame.
• Statics: The science of standing still.
• Tower of Cards: Where is the weakest point in a tower of cards?
• Irregular Towers: Derive the force on any single block in a stack.
• Static Equilibrium: Two conditions must be satisfied for any building to stand tall.
• Rope Statics: When you're scaling a cliff, it takes a lot of strength to stay still.
• Body Statics: Which yoga poses require the most strength?
• Plank Statics: Balance torque and internal forces while walking the plank.
• Springs: In a mostly stable world, simple harmonic oscillations are the norm.
• Energy Landscapes: A golf ball rolling in a valley behaves just like a spring.
• Elastic Forces: Much of modern physics stems from a single force law.
• Simple Harmonic Oscillators: A Florida orange moving around a circle is the perfect oscillator.
• Pendulums: How can a pendulum clock keep good time?
• Large-Angle Pendulum: Learn the basics of perturbation theory to tackle a more challenging pendulum.
• Oscillations: You see new behaviors when you link oscillators together.
• Vibrations in Molecules: The fingerprint of every molecule can be found in its vibrations.
• Coupled Oscillations: Connect two pendulums by a spring, and let them talk.
• Strings: Every possible vibration can be built up from simpler patterns.
• Loaded Strings: Make waves by coupling oscillators in a line.
• Firefly Problem: How do the flashes of fireflies in the night synchronize?
• General Considerations: Where do we go from here?
• Natural Units: Nature provides its own meter sticks, and it hints at the great unknown.
• Lagrangian Mechanics: There's another way to understand all of mechanics, and it's awesome.