Lessons for MIT 8.01 by David E. Pritchard
This sequence of lessons is closely based on the classes of Prof. David E. Pritchard in Introductory Physics Course 8.01 at MIT. This organizational scheme is designed to help students learn the Modeling Applied to Problem Solving pedagogical approach of Prof. Pritchard and his RELATE educational group (particularly Dr. Andrew Pawl and Dr. Annalia Barrantes).
- 1 The MAPS Approach to Newtonian Mechanics
- 2 Motion with No Force — Newtonian Mechanics is named after Isaac Newton, whose Principia Naturalis (1684) represented the first scientifically correct description of motion and its causes. Newton's first major insight was that the natural state of an isolated body (one with no forces on it) is motion with constant velocity. This contradicted more intuitively appealing earlier theories of motion in which the natural state of motion was at rest.
- 3 Constant Velocity, No Net Force — We introduce a simple model based on Newton's revolutionary insight - that the natural state of motion of an isolated body is motion with constant velocity.
- 4 1-D Motion - General — We consider the motion of a point particle in one dimension, which can occur either because the particle is constrained to move along a track, or because we restrict attention of one Cartesian component of a particle's motion.
- 5 Constant Acceleration — The One-Dimensional Motion with Constant Acceleration model is one of the most frequently applied in all of introductory mechanics.
- 7 Force and Interactions
- 9 Total Energy and Mechanical Energy
- 13 Momentum and External Force — The Momentum and External Force model is introduced. This model has great utility for describing multi-body processes that occur over a finite time interval, particularly nearly-instantaneous collisions.