Mechanics (FYS100)

Content

Classical Mechanics was developed by Newton in the 17th century to describe the motion of everyday objects. Central concepts are forces that act between objects and determine their acceleration, as described by Newton's three laws of motion. Forces in turn give rise to the quantities energy, momentum and angular momentum, which are found to obey certain conservation laws. Applications of this simple but extremely powerful formalism include balls, cars, springs, ships, rockets, planets, fluids, solids and most other things that surround us.

This course provides an introduction to classical mechanics; first re-expressing parts of the high-school physics curriculum using more advanced mathematical tools and more complex applications; then introducing new and powerful concepts and methods to address translational and rotational motion in 2 and 3 dimensions.

We will cover the following topics:

• Kinematics
• vectors
• Newton's laws
• work-energy relation
• conservative forces
• linear momentum
• center of mass
• rotation of rigid bodies
• torque and angular momentum
• moment of inertia
• static equilibrium
• simple harmonic motion damped and forced oscillations
• waves

Learning outcome

After completing this course, the student should:

Knowledge

K1: Understand central concepts of classical mechanics, including kinematics, forces, Newton's laws and conservation of energy, momentum and angular momentum, for point particles and rigid bodies.

K2: Understand how physics applies mathematical models to describes the natural world, subject to verification, adjustment and falsification through experiment and observation.

Skills

F1: Be able to apply the concepts and laws of motion to a broad range of mechanical systems, and explicitly compute their properties.

F2: Be able to transcribe mechanical systems into a quantitative mathematical language, and conversely be able to interpret a mathematical outcome into a physics context.

General competency

G1: Understand the role of simplification, modelling, and approximations in describing the physical world, and be able to judge the validity of an approximation or assumption.

Required prerequisite knowledge

Recommended prerequisites

Exam

Coursework requirements

6 of 9 compulsory assignments must be approved to gain access to the exam.

75% attendance at problem solving sessions is required to gain access to the exam.

Course teacher(s)

Course coordinator:

Head of Department:

Method of work

6 hours of lectures + 2 hours of problem-solving sessions per week. Problem-solving sessions will be carried out under supervision of student assistants.

Language of tuition: English. The exam is given in English. Mandatory assignments and the exam may be completed in English or Norwegian.

Open for

Course assessment

Literature