Office Hours: please come by with questions
Calendar and Assignments:
| Day | Topic | Chapter | Notes, Homework Assignments |
| WEEK 1 | |||
| Tu - 08/30 |
Welcome Review of Mechanics |
Ch. 1 | Homework #1 |
| Th - 09/01 |
Curvilinear Coordinates Drag Forces |
Ch. 2 | |
| WEEK 2 | |||
| Tu - 09/06 |
Cyclotron Motion Differential Equations Complex Numbers |
Ch. 2 |
Homework #2 Hand in homework #1 |
| Th - 09/08 |
Momentum Angular Momentum |
Ch. 3 | Solutions to homework #1 |
| WEEK 3 | |||
| Tu - 09/13 | Energy |
Ch. 4 |
Homework #3 Hand in homework #2 |
| Th - 09/15 | Conservative Forces | Ch. 4 | Solutions to homework #2 |
| WEEK 4 | |||
| Tu - 09/20 |
Conservation of Energy Harmonic Oscillators |
Ch. 4, 5 |
Homework #4 Hand in homework #3 |
| Th - 09/22 | Damped and Driven Oscillators | Ch. 5 | Solutions to homework #3 |
| WEEK 5 | |||
| Tu - 09/27 | Fourier Series | Ch. 5 |
Homework #5 Hand in homework #4 |
| Th - 09/29 | Calculus of Variations | Ch. 6 | Solutions to homework #4 |
| WEEK 6 | |||
| Tu - 10/04 |
EXAM I Calculus of Variations |
Ch. 6 |
FIRST TAKE-HOME EXAM Homework #6 Hand in homework #5 |
| Th - 10/06 | Lagrange's Equation | Ch. 7 | Solutions to homework #5 |
| Fr - 10/07 | EXAM I | HAND IN TAKE-HOME EXAM | |
| FALL BREAK | |||
| Tu - 10/11 | FALL BREAK | ||
| Th - 10/13 | FALL BREAK | ||
| WEEK 7 | |||
| Tu - 10/18 | Lagrange Formalism | Ch. 7 |
Homework #7 Hand in homework #6 |
| Th - 10/20 |
Lagrange Formalism Noether's Theorem |
Ch. 7 | Solutions to homework #6 |
| WEEK 8 | |||
| Tu - 10/25 | Central Force Problems | Ch. 8 |
Homework #8 Hand in homework #7 |
| Th - 10/27 | Central Force Problems | Ch. 8 | Solutions to homework #7 |
| WEEK 9 | |||
| Tu - 11/01 | Accelerated Frames of Reference | Ch. 9 |
Homework #9 Hand in homework #8 |
| Th - 11/03 | Rotation of Rigid Bodies | Ch. 10 | Solutions to homework #8 |
| WEEK 10 | |||
| Tu - 11/08 | Rotation of Rigid Bodies | Ch. 10 |
Homework #10 Hand in homework #9 |
| Th - 11/10 |
Rotation of Rigid Bodies Coupled Oscillations |
Ch. 10, 11 | Solutions to homework #9 |
| WEEK 11 | |||
| Tu - 11/15 | Coupled Oscillations | Ch. 11 |
Homework #11 Hand in homework #10 |
| Th - 11/17 |
EXAM II Coupled Oscillations Waves |
Ch. 11 |
SECOND TAKE-HOME EXAM Solutions to homework #10 |
| WEEK 12 --- THANKSGIVING | |||
| Tu - 11/22 |
EXAM II Coupled Oscillations Waves |
Ch. 11 |
HAND IN TAKE-HOME EXAM Homework #12 Hand in homework #11 |
| Th - 11/24 | THANKSGIVING | ||
| WEEK 13 | |||
| Tu - 11/29 | Hamiltonian Mechanics | Ch. 13 |
Homework #13 Hand in homework #12 Solutions to homework #11 |
| Th - 12/01 |
Hamiltonian Mechanics Special Relativity |
Ch. 13, 15 | Solutions to homework #12 |
| WEEK 14 | |||
| Tu - 12/06 | Special Relativity | Ch. 15 |
Hand in homework #13 |
| Th - 12/08 | Special Relativity | Ch. 15 | Solutions to homework #13 |
| WEEK 15 --- FINALS | |||
| (self-scheduled) | FINAL EXAM | FINAL EXAM | |