Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials

Sponsored in part by NSF grants DUE-0441426 and DUE-0442388.

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Tutorials | Course Syllabi | Workshops | Research

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Because each course may be taught slight differently, we present the materials below not in any specified order but according to physics topic. For possible tutorial order within a course based on Fowles and Cassiday (to provide just one example), click here.

In using these materials, you are agreeing to abide by the USER LICENSE.

Click on each link to open the folder with information about each tutorial. Tutorials are listed in several locations, based on the content pieces that they contain. Longer descriptions will someday arrive...

Harmonic Motion

• Simple Harmonic Motion
• Harmonic Motion in Two Dimensions
• Damped Oscillations (kinematics)
• Damped oscillations (energy)
• Graphical Interpretation of Differential Equations
• Forced Oscillations
• Phase Space - SHM
• Phase Space (Damped Harmonic Motion)
• Phase Space (self-limiting)

Velocity Dependent Forces

• Velocity Dependent Forces
• Integration Error Analysis
• Damped Oscillations (kinematics)
• Damped oscillations (energy)
• Forced Oscillations
• Phase Space (Damped Harmonic Motion)

Energy and/or Conservative Forces

• Conservative Forces and Equipotentials
• Damped oscillations (energy)
• Separable Forces
• Comparing Newton and Lagrangian equations

Non-Cartesian Coordinate systems

• Phase Space - SHM
• Phase Space (Damped Harmonic Motion)
• Phase Space (self-limiting)
• Separable Forces
• Generalized coordinates (required for tutorial on Lagrangians)

Accelerating Reference Frames

• Accelerating Frames (local g)
• Accelerating Frames (rotation)
• Accelerating Frames (Foucault)

Angular Momentum and Orbits

• Angular Momentum and Kepler's Second Law
• Energy and Angular Momentum for Closed Orbits

Group Problem Solving

• Air resistance
• Integration Error Analysis

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Connecting Meaning and Mathematics

Interested in more tutorials? Dawn Meredith, of the University of New Hampshire, has posted online her collection of tutorial materials for intermediate and advanced topics in mechanics. They complement the Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials very nicely, and we strongly urge all interested users to explore them for use in your own classes!

• UNH "Connecting Meaning and Mathematics" tutorials

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Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials are modeled after

• Tutorials in Introductory Physics, L.C. McDermott, P.S. Shaffer, and the Physics Education Group at the U. of Washington (Prentice Hall, 2002)
• Activity-Based Tutorials, M.C. Wittmann, R.N. Steinberg, E.F. Redish, and the University of Maryland Physics Education Research Group (Wiley, 2004 and 2005)

Contact Information Bradley S. Ambrose Department of Physics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids, MI tel: 616-331-2524 Email: ambroseb@gvsu.edu

Michael C. Wittmann Department of Physics and Astronomy 5709 Bennett Hall University of Maine Orono ME 04401-5709 tel: 207 - 581 - 1237 fax: 207 - 581 - 3410 email: wittmann@umit.maine.edu