Video Lectures

Special software is required to use some of the files in this section: .mp4.


Photo of Prof. Lewin swinging on a pendulum.

Professor Walter Lewin demonstrates that the period of a pendulum is independent of the mass hanging from the pendulum. This demonstration can be viewed on the video of Lecture 10. (Image courtesy of Markos Hankin, Physics Department Lecture Demonstration Group).

 

LEC# TOPICS
  Course Introduction
1 Powers of Ten - Units - Dimensions - Measurements - Uncertainties - Dimensional Analysis - Scaling Arguments
2 1D Kinematics - Speed - Velocity - Acceleration
3 Vectors - Dot Products - Cross Products - 3D Kinematics
4 3D Kinematics - Free Falling Reference Frames
5 Circular Motion - Centrifuges Moving - Reference Frames - Perceived Gravity
6 Newton's Laws
7 Weight - Perceived Gravity - Weightlessness Free Fall - Zero Gravity in Orbit (misnomer)
8 Friction
9 Exam Review
10 Hooke's Law - Springs - Simple Harmonic Motion - Pendulum - Small Angle Approximation
11 Work - Kinetic Energy - Potential Energy - Conservative Forces - Conservation of Mechanical Energy - Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation
12 Non-Conservative Forces - Resistive Forces - Air Drag - Terminal Velocity
13 Potential Energy - Energy Considerations to Derive Simple Harmonic Motion
14 Escape Velocities - Bound and Unbound Orbits - Circular Orbits - Various Forms of Energy - Power
15 Momentum - Conservation of Momentum - Center of Mass
16 Collisions - Elastic and Inelastic - Center of Mass Frame of Reference
17 Impulse - Rockets
18 Exam Review
19 Rotating Rigid Bodies - Moment of Inertia - Parallel Axis and Perpendicular Axis Theorem - Rotational Kinetic Energy - Fly Wheels - Neutron Stars - Pulsars
20 Angular Momentum - Torques - Conservation of Angular Momentum - Spinning Neutron Stars - Stellar Collapse
21 Torques - Oscillating Bodies - Hoops
22 Kepler's Laws - Elliptical Orbits - Satellites - Change of Orbits - Ham Sandwich
23 Doppler Effect - Binary Stars - Neutron Stars and Black Holes
24 Rolling Motion - Gyroscopes - VERY NON-INTUITIVE
25 Static Equilibrium - Stability - Rope Walker
26 Elasticity - Young's Modulus
27 Fluid Mechanics - Pascal's Principle - Hydrostatics - Atmospheric Pressure - Over Pressure in Lungs and Tires
28 Hydrostatics - Archimedes' Principle - Fluid Dynamics - What Makes Your Boat Float? - Bernoulli's Equation
29 Exam Review
30 Simple Harmonic Oscillations - Energy Considerations - Torsional Pendulum
31 Forced Oscillations - Normal Modes - Resonance - Natural Frequencies - Musical Instruments
32 Heat - Thermal Expansion
33 Kinetic Gas Theory - Ideal Gas Law - Isothermal Atmosphere - Phase Diagrams - Phase Transitions
34 The Wonderful Quantum World - Breakdown of Classical Mechanics
35 Farewell Special - High-energy Astrophysics