Preface
The introductory physics course, variously known as ``general physics'' or
``college physics,'' is usually a two-semester in-depth survey of classical topics
capped o with some selected material from modern physics. Indeed the name
``college physics'' has become a euphemism for introductory physics without
calculus. Schaum's Outline of College Physics was designed to uniquely
complement just such a course, whether given in high school or in college. The
needed mathematical knowledge includes basic algebra, some trigonometry, and a
tiny bit of vector analysis. It is assumed that the reader already has a modest
understanding of algebra. Appendix B is a general review of trigonometry that
serves nicely. Even so, the necessary ideas are developed in place, as needed. And
the same is true of the rudimentary vector analysis that's requiredÐit too is taught as
the situation requires.
In some ways learning physics is unlike learning most other disciplines. Physics
has a special vocabulary that constitutes a language of its own, a language
immediately transcribed into a symbolic form that is analyzed and extended with
mathematical logic and precision. Words like energy, momentum, current, ¯ux,
interference, capacitance, and so forth, have very speci®c scienti®c meanings.
These must be learned promptly and accurately because the discipline builds layer
upon layer; unless you know exactly what velocity is, you cannot know what
acceleration or momentum are, and without them you cannot know what force is,
and on and on. Each chapter in this book begins with a concise summary of the
important ideas, de®nitions, relationships, laws, rules, and equations that are
associated with the topic under discussion. All of this material constitutes the
conceptual framework of the discourse, and its mastery is certainly challenging in
and of itself, but there's more to physics than the mere recitation of its principles.
Every physicist who has ever tried to teach this marvelous subject has heard the
universal student lament, ``I understand everything; I just can't do the problems.''
Nonetheless most teachers believe that the ``doing'' of problems is the crucial
culmination of the entire experience, it's the ultimate proof of understanding and
competence. The conceptual machinery of de®nitions and rules and laws all come
together in the process of problem solving as nowhere else. Moreover, insofar as the
problems re¯ect the realities of our world, the student learns a skill of immense
practical value. This is no easy task; carrying out the analysis of even a
moderately complex problem requires extraordinary intellectual vigilance and
un¯agging attention to detail above and beyond just ``knowing how to do it.''
Like playing a musical instrument, the student must learn the basics and then
practice, practice, practice. A single missed note in a sonata is overlookable; a
single error in a calculation, however, can propagate through the entire eort
producing an answer that's completely wrong. Getting it right is what this book is
all about.
Although a selection of new problems has been added, the 9th-edition revision
of this venerable text has concentrated on modernizing the work, and improving the
pedagogy. To that end, the notation has been simpli®ed and made consistent
throughout. For example, force is now symbolized by F and only F; thus
centripetal force is F
C
, weight is F
W
, tension is F
T
, normal force is F
N
, friction is
F
f
, and so on. Work (W ) will never again be confused with weight (F
W
), and period
iii
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