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All exercises in Dynamic Models in Physics have been completed and will be ported to Virtlab at a later date.

Dynamic Models in Physics
Volume I: Mechanics

By

Frank Potter, University of California, Irvine 
Charles W. Peck, California Institute of Technology

First-year students of mechanics are confronted with numerous physical processes easily represented as second-order differential equations. Dynamic Models in Physics offers such students the opportunity to tangibly interact with Newton's laws of motion and to observe the consequences of these laws even when analytic solutions do not exist or are beyond the abilities of most beginning students.

Students learn how to

• Solve Newton's second law of motion numerically even in situations where no analytic solution exists.
• Build and explore computer simulations of laboratory apparatus such as inclined planes, colliding pucks, pendulums, pulleys, and other devices and examine the behavior of conservative and nonconservative mechanical systems by dynamically altering physical parameters to see new behavior.
• Solve problems including both translational and rotational motions.

Table of Contents

• CHAPTER 1: Getting Started 
• CHAPTER 2: Motion
• CHAPTER 3: Forces
• CHAPTER 4: Work, Energy and Momentum
• CHAPTER 5: Rotational Motion
• CHAPTER 6: Periodic Motion

Exercises

Chapter 2: Motion Exercise 2.1: Uniform Acceleration Exercise 2.2: Rates of Change Exercise 2.3: Vectors Exercise 2.4: Nonuniform Acceleration Exercise 2.5: Velocity by Simpson's Rule Chapter 3: Forces Exercise 3.1: The Second Law of Motion: Euler's Method Exercise 3.2: The Second Law of Motion: the Runge-Kutta Method Exercise 3.3: Trajectories Exercise 3.4: Orbits Chapter 4: Work, Energy, and Momentum Exercise 4.1: The Conservation of Energy Exercise 4.2: the Potential Energy Function: Energy Conservation in Two Dimensions Exercise 4.3: The Conservation of Energy: Nonconservative Systems Exercise 4.4: The Energy Integral Exercise 4.5: The Conservation of Momentum: Collisions in One Dimension Exercise 4.6: The Conservation of Momentum: Collisions in Multiple Dimensions Chapter 5: Rotational Motion Exercise 5.1: An Introduction to Uniform Rotary Motion Exercise 5.2: The Center of Mass and The Inertia Tensor Exercise 5.3: The Inertia Tensor of a Uniformly Rotating Body Exercise 5.4: Diagonalizing the Inertia Tensor Exercise 5.5: Fixed-Axis Rotation with Variable Angular Velocity Exercise 5.6: General Rotational Motion Chapter 6: Periodic Motions Exercise 6.1: The Driven Harmonic Oscillator Exercise 6.2: Coupled Oscillators Exercise 6.3: Discrete Systems with a Periodic Restoring Force