General Physics I

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 General Physics I

Lecture 1: Introduction

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What is Physics?

Field of science

Study of nature at the most fundamental (basic) level

What is the world made of?

How do these parts interact with one another?

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Scientific Method

1) Make observations

2) Develop theory to explain observations

3) Make predictions based on theory

4) Do experiments to check predictions

5) Keep, refine or discard theory based on outcome

Only judge of theory is whether it agrees with experiment and makes

successful predictions
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Two Eras of Physics

Classical Physics (1687 - 1905)

• Newtonian mechanics
• Electromagnetism

Dividing line 1905

Modern Physics (1905- present)

• Quantum mechanics
• Special Relativity
• General Relativity
- physics of everyday life
- physics of the very small, very fast or very large
- atomic, nuclear, elementary particle physics
- cosmology (physics of the universe)
- nonintuitive

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Classical Physics

Stage: space and time

Actors: point-like structureless particles with the intrinsic property

of mass

Language: Newtonian mechanics

Script: How the actors interact

• Newtonian gravity
• Electric and Magnetic forces

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Understand the Basics

Keep things simple

Don’t try to describe complicated objects

Just describe motion and interactions of the basic point-like particles

Treat car, dog, planet, etc. as point particle

Leave details to engineering, chemistry, biology, geology, psychology etc.

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Units

Basic units:
• Length
• Time
• Mass

Until we study electricity where we will have to introduce an additional unit

of charge, all quantities (velocity, acceleration, momentum, energy, density,
etc.) can be written in terms of the three basic units

Example: velocity is length per time

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SI System of Units

System of units chosen (arbitrarily) by us

In science we use Standard International system of units

length -- measured in meters (m)

time -- measured in seconds (s)

mass -- measured in kilograms (kg)

Conversions to/from our idiosyncratic British system

1 m = 3.28 ft 1 ft = 0.305 m = 30.5 cm

1 km = 0.622 mi 1 mi = 1.610 km = 1610 m

1 cm = 0.394 in 1 in = 0.0254 m = 2.54 cm

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SI System of Units

Conversions of Units

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Scientific Notation

In terms of scientific notation, the numbers 232 and 0.0232 are expressed
as

232 = 2.32 × 102 and 0.0232 = 2.32 × 10−2

Multiplication:
(4.6 × 1016) (2.0 × 102) = 9.2 × 1016+2 = 9.2 × 1018

(−5.0 × 108) (6.0 × 10−10) = −30.0 × 108+(−10)

= −30.0 × 108−10
= −30.0 × 10−2
= −3.0 × 10−1
= −0.3

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Scientific Notation

Division

Raising to a power:

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Coordinate Systems
Cartesian or orthogonal coordinates (x, y, z)

a) 2–D (x, y):

b) 3–D (x, y, z):

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Coordinate Systems
Cartesian or orthogonal coordinates (x, y, z)

Note that the data point P(x, y, z) is y units

to the right of the origin, z units above
the origin, and x units out of the page
from the origin.

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Coordinate Systems
Cartesian or orthogonal coordinates (x, y, z)

c) Polar coordinates (r, ) can also be used in 2–D situations. In 3–D, polar
coordinates become either spherical coordinates (r, , ) or cylindrical
coordinates (r, , z).

- r is called the radius vector as is the

distance that a point is away from the
origin.

-  (Greek letter “theta”) is the angle

that the radius vector, r, makes with the
x-axis.

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Coordinate Conversion
a) To convert from polar coordinates to Cartesian coordinates, use

x = r cos
y = r sin

b) To convert from Cartesian coordinates to polar coordinates, use

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Exponentials and Logarithms

y = a x (base “a ” to power “x”)

x = logay (the exponent of “a ” that yields “y ”)

a) Product: loga(xy) = loga x + loga y .

b) Quotient: loga (x/y) = loga x − loga y

c) Power: loga (yn) = n loga y .

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Right-angle triangle relationships

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Generic triangle relationships

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Angle-sum and angle-difference relations

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Double-angle relations

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Scalars and Vectors

1. A scalar has magnitude but no directional information (e.g., c is a scalar).

a) 4 kg and 600 K are scalars.

b) 420 km/s is a scalar (i.e., speed).

2. A vector has both magnitude and directional information (e.g., ~ c is a

vector).
a) 420 km/s to the NW is a vector (i.e., velocity).

b) 420 km/s NW is not equal to 420 km/s SE!

c) Note that in these course notes I will always represent a vector with an
A
arrow over the variable letter (e.g., ~ ), whereas your textbook
indicates a vector with a boldface letter (e.g., A).

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Scale of Lengths

Observable universe 1027 m

Distance between galaxies 1023 m
Nearest stars 1017 m
Sun 109 m
Earth 107 m
Human 100 m
Grain of salt 10-4 m
Virus 10-7 m
Atom 10-10 m
Atomic nucleus 10-15 m

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Question 1

Traveling at a speed of 100 mi/hr, how long would it take you to reach the
closest stars?

a) 101 years

b) 104 years

c) 108 years

d) 1011 years

e) 1017 years

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Question 1

Traveling at a speed of 100 mi/hr, how long would it take you to reach the
closest stars?

a) 101 years

b) 104 years

c) 108 years

d) 1011 years

e) 1017 years

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