College Physics: A Strategic Approach, 4th edition

Published by Pearson (January 12, 2018) © 2019

  • Randall D Knight California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
  • Brian Jones Colorado State University
  • Stuart Field Colorado State University

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For courses in introductory algebra-based physics.

Make physics relevant for today's mixed-majors students

College Physics: A Strategic Approach presents basic physics, using real world examples to engage students and connect physics with other fields such as biological sciences and architecture. From these connections, students learn in research-driven ways to understand why they are taking the course and how it applies to other areas.

The 4th Edition expands its focus from how mixed majors students learn physics to focusing on why they learn physics. Problems use real data to show physics at work and to help students see that physics is the science underlying everything around them.

Hallmark features of this title

  • Problem-Solving Strategy Overviews show the big picture and state the types of problems a strategy is intended for and how to use it.
  • Tactics Boxes give explicit procedures for developing specific skills (drawing free-body diagrams, using ray tracing, etc.).
  • Looking Back Pointers provide just-in-time references and encourage students to refer back to relevant material in earlier chapters.
  • Integrated Examples demonstrate problem solving within the context of a multi-concept real-world scenario.
  • Critical Thinking and Reasoning Emphasis gives students essential practice in applying core physical principles to real-world situations.
  • Preface: Studying for and Taking the MCAT Exam gives students tips on preparing for the exam with MCAT-Style Passage Problems.

New and updated features of this title

  • Real-world data in hundreds of new end-of-chapter questions and problems ensure students can make sense of answers grounded in the real world.
  • Key Concept figures encourage students to actively engage with key or complex figures by asking them to reason with a related STOP TO THINK question. Additional questions provide crucial practice and concept checks as students go through the chapters.
  • Physics topics connect to other courses that students are likely to take. For example, a new section connects the concept of the conservation of energy to topics from chemistry.
  • Examples use chapter concepts to explore interesting and realistic situations, such as how a study of force and torque in the jaw explains why dogs have long snouts and cats don't. The STRATEGIZE step shows students the big picture view before delving into the details.
  • Topics of interest to life science students provide current coverage of topics relevant in the Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences community.
  • Chapter Previews focus on the 3 most important ideas and align to specific learning objectives, giving students a chance to build on their knowledge from previous chapters. Learning Objectives help students check their understanding and optimize study time.

Highlights of the DIGITAL UPDATE for Mastering Physics (available for Fall 2022 classes)

Instructors, contact your sales rep to ensure you have the most recent version of the course.

  • NEW: Key Concept Videos address applications, techniques and topics across 10 chapters (3 per chapter) and include pause-and-predict functionality.
  • NEW: Practice Tests feature 10 questions per test, are specific to the text and located in the Study Area
  • NEW: Online Problem Sets are algorithmically randomized, web-based online-only problems that provide answer-specific feedback and are continually updated and expanded.

Features of Mastering Physics for the 4th Edition; published 2018

  • Video Tutor Solutions by co-author Brian Jones walk students through worked examples and select End-of-Chapter problems for help solving problems for key topics.
  • Enhanced End-of-Chapter Questions feature real-world and biomedical problems that expand the range of reasoning skills students to solve.
  • Dynamic Study Modules feature 25 questions specific to the text and pose question sets about a course topic.
  • Video Tutor Demonstrations feature pause-and-predict demonstrations of key physics concepts and include assessment with answer-specific feedback.
  • Prelecture Videos feature co-author Brian Jones expanding on Chapter Previews as he provides context, examples and opportunities for practice.
  • Dynamic Figure Videos are 1-minute videos based on figures from the text that depict important but challenging physics principles.
  • Full Version, All Chapters: Chs 1-30
  • Volume 1: Chs 1-16
  • Volume 2: Chs 17-30

PART I FORCE AND MOTION

  • OVERVIEW The Science of Physics
  1. Representing Motion
    • 1.1 Motion: A First Look
    • 1.2 Models and Modeling
    • 1.3 Position and Time: Putting Numbers on Nature
    • 1.4 Velocity
    • 1.5 A Sense of Scale: Significant Figures, Scientific Notation, and Units
    • 1.6 Vectors and Motion: A First Look
    • 1.7 Where Do We Go from Here?
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Motion in One Dimension
    • 2.1 Describing Motion
    • 2.2 Uniform Motion
    • 2.3 Instantaneous Velocity
    • 2.4 Acceleration
    • 2.5 Motion with Constant Acceleration
    • 2.6 Solving One-Dimensional Motion Problems
    • 2.7 Free Fall
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Vectors and Motion in Two Dimensions
    • 3.1 Using Vectors
    • 3.2 Coordinate Systems and Vector Components
    • 3.3 Motion on a Ramp
    • 3.4 Motion in Two Dimensions
    • 3.5 Projectile Motion
    • 3.6 Projectile Motion: Solving Problems
    • 3.7 Circular Motion
    • 3.8 Relative Motion
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Forces and Newton's Laws of Motion
    • 4.1 Motion and Forces
    • 4.2 A Short Catalog of Forces
    • 4.3 Identifying Forces
    • 4.4 What Do Forces Do?
    • 4.5 Newton's Second Law
    • 4.6 Free-Body Diagrams
    • 4.7 Newton's Third Law
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Applying Newton's Laws
    • 5.1 Equilibrium
    • 5.2 Dynamics and Newton's Second Law
    • 5.3 Mass and Weight
    • 5.4 Normal Forces
    • 5.5 Friction
    • 5.6 Drag
    • 5.7 Interacting Objects
    • 5.8 Ropes and Pulleys
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Circular Motion, Orbits, and Gravity
    • 6.1 Uniform Circular Motion
    • 6.2 Dynamics of Uniform Circular Motion
    • 6.3 Apparent Forces in Circular Motion
    • 6.4 Circular Orbits and Weightlessness
    • 6.5 Newton's Law of Gravity
    • 6.6 Gravity and Orbits
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Rotational Motion
    • 7.1 Describing Circular and Rotational Motion
    • 7.2 The Rotation of a Rigid Body
    • 7.3 Torque
    • 7.4 Gravitational Torque and the Center of Gravity
    • 7.5 Rotational Dynamics and Moment of Inertia
    • 7.6 Using Newton's Second Law for Rotation
    • 7.7 Rolling Motion
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Equilibrium and Elasticity
    • 8.1 Torque and Static Equilibrium
    • 8.2 Stability and Balance
    • 8.3 Springs and Hooke's Law
    • 8.4 Stretching and Compressing Materials
    • 8.5 Forces and Torques in the Body
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  • PART I SUMMARY Force and Motion
  • ONE STEP BEYOND Dark Matter and the Structure of the Universe
  • PART I PROBLEMS

PART II CONSERVATION LAWS

  • OVERVIEW Why Some Things Stay the Same
  1. Momentum
    • 9.1 Impulse
    • 9.2 Momentum and the Impulse-Momentum Theorem
    • 9.3 Solving Impulse and Momentum Problems
    • 9.4 Conservation of Momentum
    • 9.5 Inelastic Collisions
    • 9.6 Momentum and Collisions in Two Dimensions
    • 9.7 Angular Momentum
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Energy and Work
    • 10.1 The Basic Energy Model
    • 10.2 Work
    • 10.3 Kinetic Energy
    • 10.4 Potential Energy
    • 10.5 Thermal Energy
    • 10.6 Conservation of Energy
    • 10.7 Energy Diagrams
    • 10.8 Molecular Bonds and Chemical Energy
    • 10.9 Energy in Collisions
    • 10.10 Power
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Using Energy
    • 11.1 Transforming Energy
    • 11.2 Energy in the Body
    • 11.3 Temperature, Thermal Energy, and Heat
    • 11.4 The First Law of Thermodynamics
    • 11.5 Heat Engines
    • 11.6 Heat Pumps
    • 11.7 Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics
    • 11.8 Systems, Energy, and Entropy
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  • PART II SUMMARY Conservation Laws
  • ONE STEP BEYOND Order Out of Chaos
  • PART II PROBLEMS

PART III PROPERTIES OF MATTER

  • OVERVIEW Beyond the Particle Model
  1. Thermal Properties of Matter
    • 12.1 The Atomic Model of Matter
    • 12.2 The Atomic Model of an Ideal Gas
    • 12.3 Ideal-Gas Processes
    • 12.4 Thermal Expansion
    • 12.5 Specific Heat and Heat of Transformation
    • 12.6 Calorimetry
    • 12.7 Specific Heats of Gases
    • 12.8 Heat Transfer
    • 12.9 Diffusion
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Fluids
    • 13.1 Fluids and Density
    • 13.2 Pressure
    • 13.3 Buoyancy
    • 13.4 Fluids in Motion
    • 13.5 Fluid Dynamics
    • 13.6 Viscosity and Poiseuille's Equation
    • 13.7 The Circulatory System
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  • PART III SUMMARY Properties of Matter
  • ONE STEP BEYOND Size and Life
  • PART III PROBLEMS

PART IV OSCILLATIONS AND WAVES

  • OVERVIEW Motion That Repeats Again and Again
  1. Oscillations
    • 14.1 Equilibrium and Oscillation
    • 14.2 Linear Restoring Forces and SHM
    • 14.3 Describing Simple Harmonic Motion
    • 14.4 Energy in Simple Harmonic Motion
    • 14.5 Pendulum Motion
    • 14.6 Damped Oscillations
    • 14.7 Driven Oscillations and Resonance
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Traveling Waves and Sound
    • 15.1 The Wave Model
    • 15.2 Traveling Waves
    • 15.3 Graphical and Mathematical Descriptions of Waves
    • 15.4 Sound and Light Waves
    • 15.5 Energy and Intensity
    • 15.6 Loudness of Sound
    • 15.7 The Doppler Effect and Shock Waves
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Superposition and Standing Waves
    • 16.1 The Principle of Superposition
    • 16.2 Standing Waves
    • 16.3 Standing Waves on a String
    • 16.4 Standing Sound Waves
    • 16.5 Speech and Hearing
    • 16.6 The Interference of Waves from Two Sources
    • 16.7 Beats
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  • PART IV SUMMARY Oscillations and Waves
  • ONE STEP BEYOND Waves in the Earth and the Ocean
  • PART IV PROBLEMS

PART V OPTICS

  • OVERVIEW Light Is a Wave
  1. Wave Optics
    • 17.1 What Is Light?
    • 17.2 The Interference of Light
    • 17.3 The Diffraction Grating
    • 17.4 Thin-Film Interference
    • 17.5 Single-Slit Diffraction
    • 17.6 Circular-Aperture Diffraction
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Ray Optics
    • 18.1 The Ray Model of Light
    • 18.2 Reflection
    • 18.3 Refraction
    • 18.4 Image Formation by Refraction
    • 18.5 Thin Lenses: Ray Tracing
    • 18.6 Image Formation with Spherical Mirrors
    • 18.7 The Thin-Lens Equation
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Optical Instruments
    • 19.1 The Camera
    • 19.2 The Human Eye
    • 19.3 The Magnifier
    • 19.4 The Microscope
    • 19.5 The Telescope
    • 19.6 Color and Dispersion
    • 19.7 Resolution of Optical Instruments
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  • PART V SUMMARY Optics
  • ONE STEP BEYOND Scanning Confocal Microscopy
  • PART V PROBLEMS

PART VI ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM

  • OVERVIEW Charges, Currents, and Fields
  1. Electric Fields and Forces
    • 20.1 Charges and Forces
    • 20.2 Charges, Atoms, and Molecules
    • 20.3 Coulomb's Law
    • 20.4 The Concept of the Electric Field
    • 20.5 The Electric Field from Arrangements of Charges
    • 20.6 Conductors and Electric Fields
    • 20.7 Forces and Torques in Electric Fields
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Electric Potential
    • 21.1 Electric Potential Energy and Electric Potential
    • 21.2 Sources of Electric Potential
    • 21.3 Electric Potential and Conservation of Energy
    • 21.4 Calculating the Electric Potential
    • 21.5 Connecting Potential and Field
    • 21.6 The Electrocardiogram
    • 21.7 Capacitance and Capacitors
    • 21.8 Energy and Capacitors
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Current and Resistance
    • 22.1 A Model of Current
    • 22.2 Defining and Describing Current
    • 22.3 Batteries and emf
    • 22.4 Connecting Potential and Current
    • 22.5 Ohm's Law and Resistor Circuits
    • 22.6 Energy and Power
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Circuits
    • 23.1 Circuit Elements and Diagrams
    • 23.2 Kirchhoff's Laws
    • 23.3 Series and Parallel Circuits
    • 23.4 Measuring Voltage and Current
    • 23.5 More Complex Circuits
    • 23.6 Capacitors in Parallel and Series
    • 23.7 RC Circuits
    • 23.8 Electricity in the Nervous System
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Magnetic Fields and Forces
    • 24.1 Magnetism
    • 24.2 The Magnetic Field
    • 24.3 Electric Currents Also Create Magnetic Fields
    • 24.4 Calculating the Magnetic Field Due to a Current
    • 24.5 Magnetic Fields Exert Forces on Moving Charges
    • 24.6 Magnetic Fields Exert Forces on Currents
    • 24.7 Magnetic Fields Exert Torques on Dipoles
    • 24.8 Magnets and Magnetic Materials
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. EM Induction and EM Waves
    • 25.1 Induced Currents
    • 25.2 Motional emf
    • 25.3 Magnetic Flux and Lenz's Law
    • 25.4 Faraday's Law
    • 25.5 Electromagnetic Waves
    • 25.6 The Photon Model of Electromagnetic Waves
    • 25.7 The Electromagnetic Spectrum
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. AC Electricity
    • 26.1 Alternating Current
    • 26.2 AC Electricity and Transformers
    • 26.3 Household Electricity
    • 26.4 Biological Effects and Electrical Safety
    • 26.5 Capacitor Circuits
    • 26.6 Inductors and Inductor Circuits
    • 26.7 Oscillation Circuits
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  • PART VI SUMMARY Electricity and Magnetism
  • ONE STEP BEYOND The Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming
  • PART VI PROBLEMS

PART VII MODERN PHYSICS

  • OVERVIEW New Ways of Looking at the World
  1. Relativity
    • 27.1 Relativity: What's It All About?
    • 27.2 Galilean Relativity
    • 27.3 Einstein's Principle of Relativity
    • 27.4 Events and Measurements
    • 27.5 The Relativity of Simultaneity
    • 27.6 Time Dilation
    • 27.7 Length Contraction
    • 27.8 Velocities of Objects in Special Relativity
    • 27.9 Relativistic Momentum
    • 27.10 Relativistic Energy
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Quantum Physics
    • 28.1 X Rays and X-Ray Diffraction
    • 28.2 The Photoelectric Effect
    • 28.3 Photons
    • 28.4 Matter Waves
    • 28.5 Energy Is Quantized
    • 28.6 Energy Levels and Quantum Jumps
    • 28.7 The Uncertainty Principle
    • 28.8 Applications and Implications of Quantum Theory
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Atoms and Molecules
    • 29.1 Spectroscopy
    • 29.2 Atoms
    • 29.3 Bohr's Model of Atomic Quantization
    • 29.4 The Bohr Hydrogen Atom
    • 29.5 The Quantum-Mechanical Hydrogen Atom
    • 29.6 Multi-electron Atoms
    • 29.7 Excited States and Spectra
    • 29.8 Molecules
    • 29.9 Stimulated Emission and Lasers
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  1. Nuclear Physics
    • 30.1 Nuclear Structure
    • 30.2 Nuclear Stability
    • 30.3 Forces and Energy in the Nucleus
    • 30.4 Radiation and Radioactivity
    • 30.5 Nuclear Decay and Half-Lives
    • 30.6 Medical Applications of Nuclear Physics
    • 30.7 The Ultimate Building Blocks of Matter
    • SUMMARY
    • QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
  • PART VII SUMMARY MODERN PHYSICS
  • ONE STEP BEYOND The Physics of Very Cold Atoms
  • PART VII PROBLEMS

APPENDICES

  1. Mathematics Review
  2. Periodic Table of Elements
  3. Atomic and Nuclear Data

Answers to Odd-Numbered Problems

About our authors

Randy Knight taught introductory physics for 32 years at Ohio State University and California Polytechnic State University, where he is Professor Emeritus of Physics. Professor Knight received a Ph.D. 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. It was at Ohio State that he began to learn about the research in physics education that, many years later, led to Five Easy Lessons: Strategies for Successful Physics Teaching and this book, as well as Physics for Scientists and Engineers: 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, sea kayaking, playing the piano, or spending time with his wife Sally and their five cats.

Brian Jones has won several teaching awards at Colorado State University during his 30 years teaching in the Department of Physics. His teaching focus in recent years has been the College Physics class, including writing problems for the MCAT exam and helping students review for this test. In 2011, Brian was awarded the Robert A. Millikan Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers for his work as director of the Little Shop of Physics, a hands-on science outreach program. He is actively exploring the effectiveness of methods of informal science education and how to extend these lessons to the college classroom. Brian has been invited to give workshops on techniques of science instruction throughout the United States and in Belize, Chile, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Mexico, Slovenia, Norway, and Namibia. Brian and his wife Carol have dozens of fruit trees and bushes in their yard, including an apple tree that was propagated from a tree in Isaac Newton's garden.

Stuart Field has been interested in science and technology his whole life. While in school he built telescopes, electronic circuits, and computers. After attending Stanford University, he earned a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, where he studied the properties of materials at ultralow temperatures. After completing a postdoctoral position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he held a faculty position at the University of Michigan. Currently at Colorado State University, Stuart teaches a variety of physics courses, including algebra-based introductory physics, and was an early and enthusiastic adopter of Knight's Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Stuart maintains an active research program in the area of superconductivity. Stuart enjoys Colorado's great outdoors, where he is an avid mountain biker; he also plays in local ice hockey leagues.

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