Doing Physics with Scientific Notebook

Joe Gallant, Kent State University, USAJoe Gallant is currently a tenured associate professor of physics at Kent State University. He received his Ph.D. in 1996 in theoretical nuclear physics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His primary task is teaching and he taught a number of physics courses at Kent State University from 1993 to 2007 before moving to Hiram College, where his currently responsible for teaching a number of physics courses, including: Principles of Physics I and II; Doing Physics with Scientific Notebook; Modern Physics; Thermal Physics and Electricity and Magnetism. He also carries out original research, and has published three papers where he uses used SNB to do the calculations. His current research involves classical periodic orbits near black holes.

• Preface xvSo we’re all on the same page... xviiWhat is science? xviiiTo the Student xixTo the Teacher xxContact Information xxAcknowledgments xxi1 Introduction to SNB 1Why SNB? 1The Basics 2Physics à la mode: Math or Text 8Creating Mathematical Expressions 8Evaluate and Evaluate Numerically 11Scientific Notation 13Substitution and Endpoint Evaluation 14Solving Equations 17Solve Exact 18Solve Numeric 21Systems of Equations 24The Compute Menu 25Simplify and Expand 25Factor 26Rewrite and Combine 28Check Equality 29Polynomials 31Power Series 32Definitions 35Other Good Stuff 37Computing In-place 37Making Assumptions About Variables 37Limits 40A Few Words About Calculus 42Units 46Converting Units 47User-Defined Units 51Plotting 52Plot 2D Rectangular 54Other 2-Dimensional Plots 55Plot 3D Rectangular 58Cylindrical and Spherical Plots 60Plotting Data 63Fitting a Curve to Data 63Differential Equations 67Solve ODE Exact and Laplace 68Solve ODE Numeric 70Problems 752 One-Dimensional Kinematics 83Constant Acceleration 83Displacement and Position 83Velocity and Acceleration 84Equations of Motion 86Signs of the Times 88Free Fall 89Varying Acceleration 91Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration 91Equations of Motion 93Gravity and Air Resistance 96Resisting Air Resistance is Futile 97Long-Distance Free Fall 99Problems 1023 Vectors 105Components of a Vector 107Magnitude and Direction 108Adding Vectors 111The Component Method 112The SNB Method 113The Graphing Method 115Unit Vectors 119Multiplying Vectors 120Dot Product 121Cross Product 122Problems 1254 Projectile Motion 127No Air Resistance 127Trajectory 132Time of Flight 134Maximum Height 135Linear Air Resistance 137Trajectory 141Time of Flight and Range 143Maximum Height 145Turn Off the Air! 146Turn Down the Air! 147Quadratic Air Resistance 151Height-Dependent Air Resistance 152Problems 1545 Newton’s Laws of Motion 157Newton’s First Law 157Newton’s Second Law for Constant Forces 158Newton’s Second Law for Varying Forces 165Time-Dependent Forces 165Velocity-Dependent Forces 167Position-Dependent Forces 170Newton’s Third Law 173Problems 1756 Conservation Laws 179Definitions 179Conservation of Energy 181Work 181The Work-Energy Theorem 185Potential Energy 186Mechanical Energy is Conserved 188A Complete Bookkeeping 191Conservation of Momentum 193Collisions in 1-Dimension 193Collisions in 2-Dimensions 196Rockets 199Deep Space 199Launch 202Air Resistance 207Varying Gravity and Air Resistance 213Problems 2167 Circular Motion 221Uniform Circular Motion 222The Rotating Umbrella 224Rotational Kinematics 227The Compact Disk 229Newton’s Second Law and Circular Motion 233Uniform Circular Motion and the 2nd Law 233Non-Uniform Circular Motion and the 2nd Law 235Sliding on a Sphere 236Problems 2488 Harmonic Motion 251Simple Harmonic Motion, Simply 251Energy and SHM 254Not-Quite-as-Simple Harmonic Motion 255Energy and SHM, Again 257Damped Harmonic Motion 259Underdamped (β2 < ω20) 259Critically Damped (β2 = ω20) 261Overdamped (β2 > ω20) 262Driven Harmonic Motion 263Constant Driving Force, no Damping 263Sinusoidal Driving Force, no Damping 264Constant Driving Force with Damping 265Sinusoidal Driving Force with Damping 267Small Oscillations 270Not-so-Simple Harmonic Motion 272Problems 2759 Central Forces 279Equations of Motion 279Newtonian Gravitation 285Kepler’s Laws 286The Effective Potential 292Two Special Forces 296The 3-d Harmonic Oscillator 296The Inverse-Square Force 299Numerical Stuff 303Problems 30510 Fluids 309Density and Pressure 309Static Fluids 311Buoyancy 312Fluids in Motion 314Bernoulli’s Equation 316Applications of Bernoulli’s Equation 318A More Realistic Approach 320Flow in a Pipe 321Stokes’ Law 330Problems 33111 Temperature and Heat 335Temperature Scales 335Absolute Temperature 337Heat and Work 338Heat Flow 339Change in Temperature: Specific Heat 339Change in State: Latent Heat 340Calorimetry 341Varying Specific Heat 344The Specific Heat of Solids 345Problems 35312 Special Relativity 359The Two Postulates 360The Consequences 361Time Dilation 363Length Contraction 364Addition of Velocities 365Simultaneity 367The Lorentz Transformation 367Space-Time 370Relativistic Momentum and Energy 375Relativistic Collisions 378Relativistic Dynamics 382Four-Vectors 387Problems 392A Topics in Classical Physics 397Newton’s Nose-Cone Problem 397Simple Shapes 398Frusta and Fudges 403Newton’s Minimizer 409Indented Tips and the Minimizer 411The Shape of the Eiffel Tower 414An Interesting Classical Orbit 417Fisher’s Crystal 421Problems 428B Topics in Modern Physics 435The Tale of the Traveling Triplets 435Trip 1: Constance goes to Vega 435Relativistic Interlude: Constant Acceleration 437Trip 2: Axel goes to Vega 441What happens on the way to Vega... 443Orbits in General Relativity 445Angular Momentum 447Precessing Ellipses and Periodic Orbits 451Be the Ball: Embedding Diagrams 456Classical Lifetime of a Hydrogen Atom 460Missed It By That Much 460Can Special Relativity Save the Day? 462Quantum Mechanical Bound States 465Infinite Square Well (“Particle in a Box”) 467Finite Square Well 470V-shaped Linear Well 477Problems 483References and Suggested Reading 491Index 495