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Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics, 5th edition

Published by Pearson (March 12, 2021) © 2022

  • Randall D Knight California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

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For courses in introductory calculus-based physics.

A research-driven approach to physics

Physics for Scientists and Engineers incorporates Physics Education Research and cognitive science best practices that encourage conceptual development, problem-solving skill acquisition and visualization. Knight stresses qualitative reasoning through physics principles and development of problem-solving skills using a systematic, scaffolded approach. This practical introduction to physics relates physics to everyday life and includes models, modeling and advanced topics.

New content in the 5th Edition includes Entropy quantitatively, Viscosity and Poiseuille's Equation, and Carnot Efficiency details.

Hallmark features of this title

Problem-solving skills

  • Model boxes analyze complex, real-world situations to help students recognize when and how to use recurring models in solving problems.

Deeper understanding

  • Looking Back Pointers direct students to the exact point in a previous chapter to use when they need to apply or review concepts.
  • Visual chapter summaries are explicitly hierarchical in design to help students connect the ideas, organize their knowledge and see the big picture.

A variety of physics topics

  • Optional topics include rocket propulsion, gyroscopes and precession, wave equation including for electromagnetic waves, speed of sound in gases and interference of light.
  • Tactics Boxes give step-by-step procedures for developing skills (drawing free-body diagrams, using ray tracing).

New and updated features of this title

Problem-solving skills

  • 4-step problem-solving approach shifts to Model/Visualize/Solve/Review, using a final step of “Review” rather than “Assess” to better reflect the content of the final step. This approach provides a framework throughout the book, using the 4-step framework with detailed problem-solving strategies for different topics and types of problems. Tactics Boxes give step-by-step procedures for developing specific skills (drawing free-body diagrams, using ray tracing, etc.).
  • Worked examples follow the 4-step strategy and include careful explanations of the underlying, and often unstated, reasoning with new examples that show how things work to relate physics to everyday life.

Deeper understanding

  • Enhanced Chapter Previews address the questions students are most likely to ask themselves while studying the material for the first time. Questions cover the important ideas, and provide a big-picture overview of the chapter's key principles.

Features of Mastering Physics for the 5th Edition

  • ENHANCED: 20% of Enhanced End-of-Chapter (EOC) Questions and 300 EOC Questions are coded with wrong-answer feedback. Revised EOC problem sets offer more challenging problems to expand the range of physics and math skills students use to solve problems.
  • NEW: 10 Reading Questions per chapter, created by Randall Knight, provide wrong-answer feedback, check students' familiarity with key concepts and motivate them to do assigned reading before class.
  • NEW: Interactive Prelecture Videos introduce key topics with embedded assessment to help students prepare before lecture and professors to identify student misconceptions. Expanded animated whiteboard prelecture videos provide active classroom content. Quantitative Prelecture Videos help students learn how to solve problems for a specific concept.
  • NEW: Ready-to-Go Study Tools in the Study Area help students master the toughest topics. Students can use on their own, even when their professor doesn't assign.
  • NEW: 25 Video Tutor Solutions, specific to the text, walk students through the problem-solving process and link to relevant content. All are available in the Study Area and assignable in Mastering.
  • NEW: Book-specific Tutorials specific to each chapter of Physics for Scientists and Engineers are assignable in Mastering Physics.

Features of Pearson eText for the 5th Edition

  • NEW: 25 Video Tutor Solutions (VTS) for Physics for Scientists and Engineers walk students through the problem-solving process, provide links to relevant content in the text, and can be accessed using embedded links in the eText. Select VTSs are provided as optional links in related end-of-chapter problems.

Complete version: Chapters 1-42 includes 6 chapters of modern physics. This title is also available as 3 separate volumes:

  • Volume 1: Chapters 1-21
  • Volume 2: Chapters 22-36
  • Volume 3: Chapters 36-42

I. NEWTON'S LAWS

  1. Concepts of Motion
  2. Kinematics in One Dimension
  3. Vectors and Coordinate Systems
  4. Kinematics in Two Dimensions
  5. Force and Motion
  6. Dynamics I: Motion Along a Line
  7. Newton's Third Law
  8. Dynamics II: Motion in a Plane

II. CONSERVATION LAWS

  1. Work and Kinetic Energy
  2. Interactions and Potential Energy
  3. Impulse and Momentum

III. APPLICATIONS OF NEWTONIAN MECHANICS

  1. Rotation of a Rigid Body
  2. Newton's Theory of Gravity
  3. Fluids and Elasticity

IV. OSCILLATIONS AND WAVES

  1. Oscillations
  2. Traveling Waves
  3. Superposition

V. THERMODYNAMICS

  1. A Macroscopic Description of Matter
  2. Work, Heat, and the First Law of Thermodynamics
  3. The Micro/Macro Connection
  4. Heat Engines and Refrigerators

VI. ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM

  1. Electric Charges and Forces
  2. The Electric Field
  3. Gauss's Law
  4. The Electric Potential
  5. Potential and Field
  6. Current and Resistance
  7. Fundamentals of Circuits
  8. The Magnetic Field
  9. Electromagnetic Induction
  10. Electromagnetic Fields and Waves
  11. AC Circuits

VII. OPTICS

  1. Wave Optics
  2. Ray Optics
  3. Optical Instruments

VIII. RELATIVITY AND QUANTUM PHYSICS

  1. Relativity
  2. The Foundations of Modern Physics
  3. Quantization
  4. Wave Functions and Uncertainty
  5. One-Dimensional Quantum Mechanics
  6. Atomic Physics
  7. Nuclear Physics

APPENDICES

  • A. Mathematics Review
  • B. Periodic Table of Elements
  • C. Atomic and Nuclear Data
 

Answers to Stop to Think Questions and Odd-Numbered Problems

About our author

Randy Knight taught introductory physics for thirty-two years at Ohio State University and California Polytechnic State University, where he is Professor Emeritus of Physics. Professor Knight received a PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics before joining the faculty at Ohio State University. A growing awareness of the importance of research in physics education led first to Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach and later College Physics: A Strategic Approach. Professor Knight's research interests are in the fields of laser spectroscopy and environmental science. When he's not in front of a computer, you can find Randy hiking, traveling, playing the piano, or spending time with his wife Sally and their five cats.

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