Introductory Mechanics and Relativity

Harvard FAS

Physics 15a is an introduction to the topics of Newtonian mechanics and special relativity, but it is also an introduction to what it means to be a physicist—formulating theoretical models to describe the natural world and testing those models for consistency with data. Topics include: vectors; kinematics in three dimensions; Newton's laws; force, work, power; conservative forces, potential energy; momentum, collisions; rotational motion, angular momentum, torque; static…