Abstract¶
In this part we cover the fundamentals of Classical Mechanics. We discuss the three laws of Newton and their first consequences. This part focusses on the primary concepts and quantities: Force, Work, Energy, Angular Momentum. We derive and discuss the conservation equations of these and their applications. Two topics receive special attention: oscillations and collisions. We restrict the discussion to one-dimensional cases as much as possible to help understand the physics and not get lost in multi-dimensional problems at an early stage. However, more-dimensionality is not avoided as, for instance, it should be clear from the start that physics not only deals with numbers (better: scalars) but equally important, if not more important, with vectors. Moreover, angular momentum and torque by their very nature require multi-dimensional thinking.
There are also subjects that we don’t touch upon. We will not deal with rigid bodies (although some of the ideas are met when talking about kinetic energy: its translational versus rotational flavors). Rigid bodies require a higher level of abstract thinking and will take up quite some time that is not available in most introductory courses on Classical Mechanics. Nor will we discuss non-inertial frames of reference and fictitious forces like the centrifugal and Coriolis Force. This is left for later years. Finally, the concepts of the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian are left for an advanced course in Classical Mechanics.