The Course Outline

The first lecture began with the distribution (in three locations several hundred kilometres apart) of textbooks, questionnaires, course outlines, and a sheet of useful data and formulæ. The skeleton of the course is described below, with more detail to come in subsequent posts.

Week One - Introduction

1. Units
2. Scientific Notation
3. Rounding
4. Vectors

Week Two - Kinematics

1. Definitions of s,v and a
2. Graphs of s,v and a
3. Equations of motion
4. Projectile motion

Week Three - Energy

1. Forms of energy
2. Work and power
3. Kinetic energy
4. Gravitational potential energy
5. Conservation of mechanical energy
6. Elastic potential energy

Week Four - Forces and Newton's Laws

1. Forces
2. Newton's first
3. Newton's second
4. Newton's third
5. Inclined plane
6. Friction

Week Five - Momentum, Circular Motion

1. Conservation of momentum

Week Six - Circular Motion

1. Circular motion
2. Torque
3. Angular momentum

There are readings and several problems from the course textbook (Walding, Rapkins and Rossiter's New Century Senior Physics) for each topic covered.