The objective of this course is to give the student a basic knowledge of general physics with emphasis on classical mechanics and thermodynamics.

01. BASICS CONCEPTS

01.01 The scientific method in Physics

01.02 How to express physical quantities: numbers, errors, significant digits

01.03 The International System of units of measure

01.04 Dimensional equations

02. VECTORS

02.01 Scalar and vector quantites

02.02 Operations on vectors

02.03 Decomposition of vectors

02.04 Scalar product

02.05 Cartesian reference frame. Cartesian representation

02.06 Vector product

02.07 Cartesian espression of vector operations

02.08 Derivative of a vector

03. KINEMATICS.

03.01 Basic Concepts

03.02 The "inverse problem" in Kinematics

04. ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION:

04.01 Introduction

04.02 Uniform rectilinear motion.

04.03 Uniformly variable rectilinear motion

04.04 Simple harmonic motion.

05. TWO-DIMENSIONAL MOTION

05.01. Parabolic motion

05.02 Circular motion:

tangent and central accelerations and velocities, angular velocity.

05.03 Uniform circular motion

05.04 Uniformly variable circular motion

06. RELATIVE MOTION.

06.01 The motion from different reference systems

06.02 Galilei transformations.

07. DYNAMICS

07.01 Forces.

07.02 First principle of Dynamics

07.03 Second principle of Dynamics..

07.04 Third principle of Dynamics (Action and Reaction).

07.05 Inertial and noninertial frames, fictitious forces.

08. APPLICATIONS OF DYNAMICS PRINCIPLES

08.01 Composition of forces. Equilibrium.

08.02 Some important cases: costant force, elastic force, friction.

08.03 The problem of motion: some examples

09. WORK AND ENERGY

09.01 Work. Power. Definition of work of a force.

09.02 Kinetic energy. Theorem of Kinetic Energy.

09.03 Work of some forces.

09.04 Conservative forces. Potential energy.

09.05 Conservation of mechanical energy.

10. LINEAR MOMENTUM

10.01 Linear Momentum.

10.02 Newton laws revisited. Conservation of momentum.

10.03 Systems of particles

10.04 Consevation of momentum for a system of particles.

11. GRAVITATION

11.01 Kepler laws.

11.02 Newton's universal law of gravitation.

11.03 Central forces.

11.04 The gravitational field

12. ROTATIONAL DYNAMICS

12.01 Rotational Kinetic energy

12.02 Moment of Inertia

12.03 Steiner theorem

12.04 Moment of force

12.05 Angular Momentum

12.06 Conservation of angular momentum

13. FLUID MECHANICS

13.01 Definition of fluid

13.02 Density and Pressure

13.03 Stevin's Law

13.04 Pascal's law

13.05 Archimedes' principle

13.06 Bernoulli's equation

14. THERMODYNAMICS

14.01 Temperature and zeroth law of thermodynamics

14.02 Thermometers

14.03 Gas internal energy

14.04 Ideal gas

14.05 Work and heat

14.06 First law of thermodynamics

14.07 Entropy and the second law of thermodynamics 

Although there are no mandatory prerequisites for this exam, students are strongly recommended to take it after Calculus. It is also worth noticing that the topics covered by this course will be used in Physics II.

Knowledge and Understanding

On completion successful students will be able to understand the basic concepts of classical mechanics and thermodynamics. In particular: Newton's laws, work, energy, conservation of energy, the principles of thermodynamics.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding

The student will be able to understand phenomena related to classical mechanics and thermodynamics and to solve simple problems on these subjects.

Making Judgements

The student will be able to recognize a physical phenomenon and the laws which govern it, to understand the most relevant physical quantities involved and to give an estimate of them.

Communication Skills

The student will have to know how to communicate in a rigorous and effective way the concepts learnt during the course.

Learning Skills

The acquired knowledge will allow the student to further study the classical physics and to apply the methodologies of physical sciences to other subjects.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

Theory lectures and exercises, both face-to face and on-line.

Attendance

Although recommended, course attendance is not mandatory.

Course books

Elementi di Fisica Vol. 1 - Meccanica e Termodinamica
P. Mazzoldi - M. Nigro - C. Voci
EdiSES  Edizione: II / 2007
Fisica I
D. Halliday, R. Resnick, K. S. Krane
Casa Editrice Ambrosiana
2003
Physics, Volume 1
D. Halliday, R. Resnick, K. S. Krane 
John Wiley & Sons

Assessment

Written exam and oral exam. The written exam (duration 3 hours) consists of two exercises on different subjects of the course. It is passed if the mark (which is valid for all the exam calls of the same academic year) is at least 15/30. The oral exam can be taken only if the written exam is passed. The final mark is the weighted average of the written and the oral marks with weights 1/3 and 2/3, respectively.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

The course offers additional e-learning facilities on the Moodle platform > elearning.uniurb.it  

For additional lecture notes and information see http://hal.fis.uniurb.it/fisicaI-info/