General Physics 1: Equilibrium & Gravity

General Physics 1

• Lesson 1: Rotational Equilibrium and Rotational Dynamics

  • Moment of Inertia: Opposition a body exhibits to changing its rotation speed
  • Moment of inertia depends on mass, rotation axis, and shape.
  • Formula for Moment of Inertia (I) = MR^2 (I= Inertia, M= Mass, R= Radius)
  • Static Torque: Does not produce angular acceleration
  • Dynamic Torque: Does not produce angular acceleration
  • Torque Formula: T= rF sin θ (T= Torque, r= moment arm, F= force, θ= angle between r and F)

• Lesson 2: Gravity

  • Gravity: Force of attraction between masses
  • Universal Gravitation: All objects attract each other with a force directly proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers.
  • Formula: F = G(m1m2/r^2) (F= Force, G= Universal Gravitational constant, m1 and m2= masses, r= distance)
  • Gravitational Field: Vector quantity representing gravitational force per unit mass, represented by field lines.
  • Gravity affects an object's speed and direction

• Lesson 3: Periodic Motion

  • Periodic Motion: Motion repeated in equal intervals of time
  • Oscillatory Motion: Motion back and forth about a fixed position.
  • Period (T): Time for one cycle
  • Frequency (f): Number of periods per second (measured in Hertz)
  • Formula: f= 1/T

• Lesson 4: Mechanical Waves and Sound

  • Mechanical wave: disturbance that travels through a medium, transferring energy.
  • Transverse wave: particles vibrate perpendicular to the wave direction
  • Longitudinal wave: particles vibrate parallel to the wave direction
  • Surface wave: particles move in circles
  • Properties of mechanical waves: Frequency, amplitude, wavelength, speed.
  • Reflection: wave bounces off a surface
  • Refraction: Bending of a wave as it enters a new medium at an angle
  • Diffraction: Bending of a wave as it passes through an opening or around an obstacle.

• Lesson 5: Fluid Mechanics

  • Fluids: Substances that flow and change shape under external force
  • Density: mass per unit volume
  • Archimedes' Principle: Buoyant force on an object is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.
  • Pascal's Principle: pressure change in a confined fluid is transmitted equally to all parts of the fluid
  • Bernoulli's Principle: Higher fluid velocity = lower pressure.

• Lesson 6: Laws of Thermodynamics

  • Thermodynamics: Relates to heat, work, and energy
  • Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics: Thermal equilibrium between objects
  • First Law of Thermodynamics: Conservation of energy
  • Second Law of Thermodynamics: Entropy of an isolated system never decreases in spontaneous processes
  • Third Law of Thermodynamics: Entropy of a perfect crystal approaches zero as the temperature approaches absolute zero.

• General Physics Topics:

  • Kelvin-Planck Statement: It is impossible for a system to accept heat from a single reservoir and do an equal amount of work
  • Isobaric Process: Pressure remains constant
  • Adiabatic Process: No heat transfer
  • Isochoric Process: Volume remains constant
  • Isothermal Process: Temperature remains constant
  • Thermal Expansion: Increase in size due to temperature change.
  • Internal Combustion Engine: Fuel burned inside the system
  • External Combustion Engine: Fuel burned outside the system

• Lesson topics not listed:

  • Speed, Wavelength, Frequency
  • Interference, Constructive Interference, Destructive Interference
  • Standing waves
  • Sound waves
  • Heat Engines, Reversible and Irreversible Process, Internal Energy, Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy