Syllabus

Classical Mechanics Course Introduction

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Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 2 hours / session

Problem Solving: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session

Prerequisites

This course has no prerequisites. 18.01SC Single Variable Calculus is a corequisite.

Course Overview

This first course in the physics curriculum introduces classical mechanics. Historically, a set of core concepts — space, time, mass, force, momentum, torque, and angular momentum — were introduced in classical mechanics in order to solve the most famous physics problem, the motion of the planets.

The principles of mechanics successfully described many other phenomena encountered in the world. Conservation laws involving energy, momentum and angular momentum provided a second parallel approach to solving many of the same problems. In this course, we will investigate both approaches: Force and conservation laws.

Our goal is to develop a conceptual understanding of the core concepts, a familiarity with the experimental verification of our theoretical laws, and an ability to apply the theoretical framework to describe and predict the motions of bodies.

Textbook

The textbook for this course is Classical Mechanics: MIT 8.01 Course Notes by Peter Dourmashkin. Specific readings for each assignment are provided in the Readings section.

Topics Covered

How to Use This Site

This version of 8.01 Classical Mechanics on OCW is modified from the materials presented in the fall 2016 course taught at MIT. The course is broken into twelve weeks, as listed above. Each week contains 3-4 lessons on distinct topics. Each lesson consists of a series of videos explaining the topic, which are meant to be viewed in sequence.

The first lesson is on vectors; the “Previous” and “Next” buttons can be used to navigate between videos. Alternatively, all videos can be accessed on the “Week” page corresponding to that lesson.

Grades

This subject is pass / no record for first-year students.

activities	percentages
3 Midterm Exams	45%
Final Exam	25%
Problem Sets	10%
Class Participation	20%

Problem Sets

Almost every week a problem set will be due. This homework will typically consist of five or six problems. To receive full credit for the written component of your homework, you must prepare and submit lucid and clearly reasoned written solutions. A selection of these problems will be graded and returned.

Tip for success

Work more frequently. Do your homework in frequent, small pieces. Do a few problems one night, a few problems on another. This ensures that any insights you have will stay in your brain, helping you understand and remember things better in the long run.

Group Work

Scientists and engineers work in groups as well as alone. Social interactions are critical to their success. Most good ideas grow out of discussions with colleagues. This subject encourages collaborative teamwork. As you study together, help your partners, ask each other questions, and critique your group homework and lab write-ups. Teach each other! You can learn a great deal by teaching others.

You will form groups of three for collaborative work. If you are not satisfied with the way your group is working, first try to discuss it with your group members. If you cannot arrive at a satisfactory solution, then discuss the problems with your instructor.

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Deepto Chakrabarty

Deepto Chakrabarty is Professor of Physics and Astrophysics Division Head in the Physics Department at MIT. He received an S.B. in Physics at MIT in 1988 and a Ph.D. in Physics at Caltech in 1996. Chakrabarty joined the MIT faculty in 1999 and has taught classes in Classical Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, Vibrations and Waves, Quantum Mechanics, and Astrophysics. His research specialty is in high-energy astrophysics and the physics and astrophysics of neutron stars, and he is the author of over 100 research papers. Chakrabarty was awarded the Buechner Teaching Prize in Physics from MIT in 2001 and the Bruno Rossi Prize in High Energy Astrophysics by the American Astronomical Society in 2006. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2011.

Saif Rayyan

Saif Rayyan is a lecturer in the Physics Department at MIT. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical particle physics from Virginia Tech before switching his interests to teaching and to physics education research. In addition to teaching introductory physics, Saif is working on the development of physics courses on edX.

Peter Dourmashkin

Peter Dourmashkin is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physics at MIT. His research interests are in Mathematical Physics, Lie Group and Algebra Representation Theory. He has been part of the development, implementation, and teaching team for Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL). He has developed OCW Scholar Courses, the physics curriculum for the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), and is currently working on online learning through MITx and edX.

Analia Barrantes

Analia Barrantes is a Physics Lecturer at the Experimental Study Group at MIT and is working in the development of pedagogical content for the freshmen physics courses on edX. Analia holds a master’s in physics from the University of Buenos Aires and a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from MIT.

Michelle Tomasik

Michelle Tomasik is a postdoc in the Department of Physics at MIT where she currently works on developing online classes and assists with physics education research and teaching introductory physics. She received her Ph.D. in physics from MIT working on photovoltaics and density functional theory.

George Stephans

George Stephans (PhD U Pennsylvania) is a Senior Research Scientist in the Laboratory for Nuclear Science and a Senior Lecturer in the Physics Department at MIT. His research work involves collisions of very high energy atomic nuclei. The goal of these studies is to understand the behavior of systems of sub-atomic constituents (quarks and gluons) at extremely high temperatures and densities. His most recent experiments use the CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. He has decades of experience teaching physics at MIT.

Anna Frebel

Anna Frebel is the Silverman (‘68) Family Career Development Professor and Assistant Professor in the Astrophysics Division of the Physics Department at MIT. Originally from Germany, she received her PhD from the Australian National University’s Mt. Stromlo Observatory. Frebel joined the MIT physics faculty in 2012. She has taught Astrophysics and Classical Mechanics, and mentors research students. Her research focuses on the oldest stars in the universe and the early evolution of the chemical elements. Frebel also enjoys communicating science to the public, lately through her popular science book “Searching for the oldest stars: Ancient Relics from the Early Universe”.