Goals
Our treatment of Physics intends to do two things:
- Outline the topics taught in a calculus-based General Physics course taught in the late 20th Century (what you will study)
- Provide examples of the use of Vectors in Physics (what you can do)
The Outline
The first semester started with a study of Vectors and a review of some math learned in Trigonometry. Kinematics was then introduced, specifically three laws dealing with Position, Velocity and Acceleration in situations where acceleration was a constant.
Students were then introduced to Newton’s Three Laws and Force Diagrams were used to show all forces summing to zero. Friction was introduced, in a simplified version with two forms, Static Friction and Sliding Friction, both of which forces proportional to a Normal Force. Inclined Planes were then introduced, providing an opportunity to consider Component Forces. Pulleys were introduced showing how humans could use a “trick” to cut the Force needed to lift an object in half by making it so the length of rope required to be pulled would be twice the distance that the lifted object would move. One small note: you would need to pull with a force a little bit greater than this calculated force in order to lift the object.
At this point the first test of the first semester was given.
Next, Energy was introduced, explaining the distinction between Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy. The idea of a Conservative System was introduced, where no energy would be lost to real “problems” such as friction, heat, wind resistance, etc., so that we could do simpler calculations where all the Potential Energy converts in to Kinetic Energy. We could then do calculations with a child sliding down a slide, or a child going down an Inclined Plane on a sled.
Centripetal Force was introduced, both as an object on a string, and as a motorcycle rider on a circular, banked track.
The idea of Conservation was taken further, with consideration of Conservation of Momentum and Conservation of Force. The idea of Tension was introduced–if you are hanging on a rope, the tension in that rope is providing whatever force is needed to provide a “net zero” calculation. Said another way, the tension in the rope equals the summation of forces pulling you downward.
Newton’s Law of Gravitation was introduced. Caution was given to correctly distinguish between Acceleration and Force. Differences between metric and “English” required careful mathematical navigation. We said jokingly/seriously that this was to teach us to enjoy metric and to dislike “English”.
The last test covered Sound, Heat and Temperature. Calculations included dealing with the change to pitch if there is motion (specifically, velocity) of the source of the sound relative to the creature hearing the sound. The difference between Heat and Temperature was explained and an equation was given to use Specific Heat to Convert between Heat and Temperature. More math was introduced to deal with the energy needed changes to physical state, melting/freezing and vaporization/condensation. A problem might put a block of ice of known mass and temperature in water of known mass and temperature and ask the student to determine the temperature at which the system would reach equilibrium.
The second semester (Physics was taught over two semesters) began with Coulomb’s Law. There were fewer topics, and this gave more time for studying Electric Fields and Gravitational Fields. We learned that magnets rotating around a wire would induce the flow of electrical current. Alternately, forcing electricity through a wire would induce a magnetic field.
Electronic Circuits were used, introducing Voltage, Current and Resistance. Students learned to do Parallel Addition or Serial Addition (2+2=4 is serial addition, for parallel addition 2+2=1).
The semester ended with the study of light. Snell’s Law was a calculation relating the apparent change of angle (like a pencil in water) to a difference in refractive index between two phases–we see the angle as light moves from one phase to another.
Examples with Vectors
Kinematics with Vectors provides a chance to contrast Speed with Velocity. Assume we set up a system where the positive direction is to the east (and on our paper, this direction is to the right). What is our Velocity if we are traveling at a constant speed of 100 kilometers per hour to the west?
This introduces the notion that a negative velocity implies a speed with a known direction. Students were cautioned that an answer on a test that relied on Speed rather than Velocity would probably result in lost points–the student lost information when they did their calculation.
If a spaceship in space is coasting at a constant velocity and everybody on it will be floating around. If the same spaceship accelerates with an acceleration of 
Vectoreverything 