In this algebra-based physics course, students explore the major fundamental topics in physics as they relate to mechanics, such as motion and forces, gravity and projectiles, and energy and work. Through their exploration of these topics and embedded lab work, students learn to describe the motion of objects in both one and two dimensions, and to solve problems through the application of Newton's laws of motion. Students also apply the principles of conservation of energy and momentum to analyze the behavior of interacting objects. PHY-150 requires MAT-140 Precalculus as a prerequisite.
A genuinely focused deep dive into mechanics specifically
Unlike PHY-101's broad survey across physics subfields, PHY-150 focuses specifically and deeply on mechanics — motion, forces, energy, momentum — giving students genuinely thorough coverage of this foundational physics subfield.
Embedded lab work connecting theory to observed motion
The course integrates lab work directly into its exploration of mechanics topics, ensuring theoretical concepts like Newton's laws are tested against genuinely observed motion, not learned as abstract equations alone.
Key topics in PHY150
- Motion in one and two dimensions
- Newton's laws of motion
- Gravity and projectile motion
- Conservation of energy
- Conservation of momentum
- Embedded mechanics lab work
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Worked example: conservation principles analyzing interacting objects
- Single-object approach: Analyzing one object's motion in isolation using Newton's laws alone
- PHY-150's approach: Applying conservation of energy and momentum principles to analyze how multiple interacting objects behave together
- Lesson: PHY-150 teaches that these conservation principles extend mechanics analysis genuinely beyond single-object motion to interacting systems
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Frequently asked questions
While PHY-150 doesn't require calculus itself, analyzing motion in two dimensions, applying Newton's laws quantitatively, and working with conservation of energy and momentum equations genuinely requires the strong algebraic and functional fluency that precalculus builds, beyond what basic algebra alone provides. The MAT-140 prerequisite ensures students have this quantitative foundation solid before tackling PHY-150's genuinely rigorous mechanics problem-solving.
Mechanics — the study of motion, forces, and energy — is genuinely foundational to understanding physics as a whole, and a focused, in-depth treatment of this subfield builds a stronger, more rigorous quantitative problem-solving foundation than a broad survey course could provide for this specific topic area. PHY-150's mechanics-only focus reflects that some students and programs benefit from this deeper single-subfield treatment rather than PHY-101's broader multi-subfield survey.