For high school and undergraduate students alike, physics classes are recommended or required courses for a wide variety of majors, and continue to be a challenging and often confusing course. Physics I For Dummies tracks specifically to an introductory course and, keeping with the traditionally easy-to-follow Dummies style, teaches you the basic principles and formulas in a clear and concise manner.

Includes index.

Introduction -- About this book -- Conventions used in this book -- What you're not to read -- Foolish assumptions -- How this book is organized -- Part 1: Putting Physics Into Motion -- Part 2: May The Forces Of Physics Be With You -- Part 3: Manifesting The Energy To Work -- Part 4: Laying Down the Laws Of Thermodynamics -- Part 5: Part Of Tens -- Icons used in this book -- Where to go from here -- Part 1: -- Putting Physics Into Motion: -- Using physics to understand your world: -- What physics is all about -- Observing the world -- Making predictions -- Reaping the rewards -- Observing objects in motion -- Measuring speed, direction, velocity, and acceleration -- Round and round: rotational motion -- Springs and pendulums: simple harmonic motion -- When push comes to shove: forces -- Absorbing the energy around you -- That's heavy: pressures in fluids -- Feeling hot but not bothered: thermodynamics -- Reviewing physics measurement and math fundamentals: -- Measuring the world around you and making predictions -- Using systems of measurement -- From meters to inches and back again: -- Converting between units -- Eliminating some zeros: using scientific notation -- Checking the accuracy and precision of measurements -- Knowing which digits are significant -- Estimating accuracy -- Arming yourself with basic algebra -- Tackling a little trig -- Interpreting equations as real-world ideas -- Exploring the need for speed: -- Going the distance with displacement -- Understanding displacement and position -- Examining axes -- Speed specifics: what is speed, anyway? -- Reading the speedometer: instantaneous speed -- Staying steady: uniform speed -- Shifting speeds: nonuniform motion -- Busting out the stopwatch: average speed -- Speeding up (or down): acceleration -- Defining acceleration -- Determining the units of acceleration -- Looking at positive and negative acceleration -- Examining average and instantaneous acceleration -- Taking off: putting the acceleration formula into practice -- Understanding uniform and nonuniform acceleration -- Relating acceleration, time, and displacement -- Not-so-distant relations: deriving the formula -- Calculating acceleration and distance -- Linking velocity, acceleration and displacement -- Finding acceleration -- Solving for displacement -- Finding final velocity -- Following directions: motion in two dimensions: -- Visualizing vectors -- Asking for directions: vector basics -- Looking at vector addition from start to finish -- Going head-to-head with vector subtraction -- Putting vectors on the grid -- Adding vectors by adding coordinates -- Changing the length: multiplying a vector by a number -- Little trig: breaking up vectors into components -- Finding vector components -- Reassembling a vector from its components -- Featuring displacement, velocity, and acceleration in 2-D -- Displacement: going the distance in two dimensions -- Velocity: speeding in a new direction -- Acceleration: getting a new angle on changes in velocity -- Accelerating downward: motion under the influence of gravity -- Golf-ball-off-the-cliff exercise -- How-far-can-you-kick-the-ball exercise -- Part 2: -- May The Forces Of Physics Be With You: -- When push comes to shove: force: -- Newton's first law: Resisting with inertia -- Resisting change: inertia and mass -- Measuring mass -- Newton's second law: Relating force, mass and acceleration -- Relating the formula to the real world -- Naming units of force -- Vector addition: gathering net forces -- Newton's third law: Looking at equal and opposite forces -- Seeing Newton's third law in action -- Pulling hard enough to overcome friction -- Pulleys: supporting double the force -- Analyzing angles and force in Newton's third law -- Finding equilibrium -- Getting down with gravity, inclined planes, and friction: -- Acceleration due to gravity: one of life's little constants -- Finding a new angle on gravity with inclined planes -- Finding the force of gravity along a ramp -- Figuring the speed along a ramp -- Getting sticky with friction -- Calculating friction and the normal force -- Conquering the coefficient of friction -- On the move: understanding static and kinetic friction -- A not-so-slippery slope: handling uphill and downhill friction -- Let's get fired up! Sending objects airborne -- Shooting an object straight up -- Projectile motion: firing an object at an angle -- Circling around rotational motion and orbits: -- Centripetal acceleration: changing direction to move in a circle -- Keeping a constant speed with uniform circular motion -- Finding the magnitude of the centripetal acceleration -- Seeking the center: centripetal force -- Looking at the force you need -- Seeing how the mass, velocity, and radius affect centripetal force -- Negotiating flat curves and banked turns -- Getting angular with displacement, velocity, and acceleration -- Measuring angles in radians -- Relating linear and angular motion -- Letting gravity supply centripetal force -- Using Newton's law of universal gravitation -- Deriving the force of gravity on the earth's surface -- Using the law of gravitation to examine circular orbits -- Looping the loop: vertical circular motion -- Go with the flow: looking at pressure in fluids: -- Mass density: getting some inside information -- Calculating density -- Comparing densities with specific gravity -- Applying pressure -- Looking at units of pressure -- Connecting pressure to changes in depth -- Hydraulic machines: passing on pressure with Pascal's principle -- Buoyancy: float your boat with Archimedes's principle -- Fluid dynamics: going with fluids in motion -- Characterizing the type of flow -- Picturing flow with streamlines -- Getting up to speed on flow and pressure -- Equation of continuity: relating pipe size and flow rates -- Bernoulli's equation: relating speed and pressure -- Pipes and pressure: putting it all together -- Part 3: -- Manifesting The Energy To Work: -- Getting some work out of physics: -- Looking for work -- Working on measurement systems -- Pushing your weight: applying force in the direction of movement -- Using a tow rope: applying at an angle -- Negative work: applying force opposite the direction of motion -- Making a move: kinetic energy -- Work-energy theorem: turning work into kinetic energy -- Using the kinetic energy equation -- Calculating changes in kinetic energy by using net force -- Energy in the bank: potential energy -- To new heights: gaining potential energy by working against gravity -- Achieving your potential: converting potential energy into kinetic energy -- Choose your path: conservative versus nonconservative forces -- Keeping the energy up: the conservation of mechanical energy -- Shifting between kinetic and potential energy -- Mechanical-energy balance: finding velocity and height -- Powering up: the rate of doing work -- Using common units of power -- Doing alternate calculations of power -- Putting objects in motion: momentum and impulse: -- Looking at the impact of impulse -- Gathering momentum -- Impulse-momentum theorem: relating -- Impulse and momentum -- Shooting pool: finding force from impulse and momentum -- Singing in the rain: an impulsive activity -- When objects go bonk: conserving momentum -- Deriving the conservation formula -- Finding velocity with the conservation of momentum -- Finding firing velocity with the conservation of momentum -- When worlds (or cars) collide: elastic and inelastic collisions -- Determining whether a collision is elastic -- Colliding elastically along a line -- Colliding elastically in two dimensions -- Winding up with angular kinetics: -- Going from linear to rotational motion -- Understanding tangential motion -- Finding tangential velocity -- Finding tangential acceleration -- Finding centripetal acceleration -- Applying vectors to rotation -- Calculating angular velocity -- Figuring angular acceleration -- Doing the twist: torque -- Mapping out the torque equation -- Understanding lever arms -- Figuring out the torque generated -- Recognizing the torque is a vector -- Spinning at constant velocity: rotational equilibrium -- Determining how much weight Hercules can lift -- Hanging a flag: a rotational equilibrium problem -- Ladder safety: introducing friction into rotational equilibrium -- Round and round with rotational dynamics: -- Rolling up Newton's second law into angular motion -- Switching force to torque -- Converting tangential acceleration to angular acceleration -- Factoring in the moment of inertia -- Moments of inertia: looking into mass distribution -- DVD players and torque: a spinning-disk inertia example -- Angular acceleration and torque: a pulley inertia example -- Wrapping your head around rotational work and kinetic energy -- Putting a new spin on work -- Moving along with rotational kinetic energy -- Let's roll! Finding rotational kinetic energy on a ramp -- Can't stop this: angular momentum -- Conserving angular momentum -- Satellite orbits: a conservation-of-angular momentum example ? Springs 'n' things: simple harmonic motion: -- Bouncing back with Hooke's law -- Stretching and compressing springs -- Pushing or pulling back: the spring's restoring force -- Getting around to simple harmonic motion -- Around equilibrium: examining horizontal and vertical springs -- Catching the wave: a sine of simple harmonic motion -- Finding the angular frequency of a mass on a spring -- Factoring energy into simple harmonic motion -- Swinging with pendulums -- Part 5: -- Laying Down The Laws Of Thermodynamics: -- Turning up the heat with thermodynamics: -- Measuring temperature -- Fahrenheit and Celsius: working in degrees -- Zeroing in on the Kelvin scale -- Heat is on: thermal expansion -- Linear expansion: getting longer -- Volume expansion: taking up more space -- Heat: going with the flow (of thermal energy) -- Getting specific with temperature changes -- Just a new phase: adding heat without changing temperature -- Here, take my coat: how heat is transferred: -- Convection: letting the heat flow -- Hot fluid rises: putting fluid in motion with natural convection -- Controlling the flow with forced convection -- Too hot to handle: getting in touch with conduction -- Finding the conduction equation -- Considering conductors and insulators -- Radiation: riding the (electromagnetic) wave -- Mutual radiation: giving and receiving heat -- Blackbodies: absorbing and reflecting radiation -- In the best of all possible worlds: the ideal gas law: -- Digging into molecules and moles with Avogadro's number -- Relating pressure, volume, and temperature with the ideal gas law -- Forging the ideal gas law -- Working with standard temperature and pressure -- Breathing problem: checking your oxygen -- Boyle's and Charles's laws: alternative expressions of the ideal gas law -- Tracking ideal gas molecules with the kinetic energy formula -- Predicting air molecule speed -- Calculating kinetic energy in an ideal gas -- Heat and work: the laws of thermodynamics: -- Thermal equilibrium: getting temperature with the Zeroth law -- Conserving energy: the first law of thermodynamics -- Calculating with conservation of energy -- Staying constant: isobaric, isochoric, isothermal, and adiabatic processes -- Flowing from hot to cold: the second law of thermodynamics -- Heat engines: putting heat to work -- Limiting efficiency: Carnot says you can't have it all -- Going against the flow with heat pumps -- Going cold: the third (and absolute last) law of thermodynamics -- Part 5: -- Part Of Tens: -- Ten physics heroes: -- Galileo Galilei -- Robert Hooke -- Sir Isaac Newton -- Benjamin Franklin -- Charles-Augustin de Coulomb -- Amedeo Avogadro -- Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot -- James Prescott Joule -- William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) -- Albert Einstein -- Ten wild physics theories: -- You can measure a smallest distance -- There may be a smallest time -- Heisenberg says you can't be certain -- Black holes don't let light out -- Gravity curves space -- Matter and antimatter destroy each other -- Supernovas are the most powerful explosions -- Universe starts with the big bang and ends with the gnab gib -- Microwave ovens are hot physics -- Is the universe made to measure? -- Glossary -- Index.