Basic information:

· Class hours and location: 11:00-11.50 am, MWF in Wright 124.
· Textbook: The required textbook for this class is Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems, by J.B. Marion and S.T. Thornton, 4^th edition. An optional student solutions manual is also available, which gives more detailed solutions to ~ 1/4 of the problems. See also a list of books placed on reserve for PHYS 310 for additional help with this material.
· Instructor: Ms. Yumi Ijiri
Office:  Wright 210
Phone: 775-6484
Email: yumi.ijiri@oberlin.edu, http://www.oberlin.edu/~yijiri
· Office hours: TBA, most likely on Wed/Fri afternoons.
· Extra session: TBA, most likely Tues evening, Wed afternoon. Sessions are to discuss specific topics or problems as well as to meet up with other members of the class.
· Evaluation: Grading will be based on the following:
Final Exam (as set by registrar) 20%
1^st take home exam (Mar. 10^th -13^th) 20%
2^nd take home exam (Apr. 14^th- 17^th) 20%
Problem sets 20%
In-class presentation and class participation 20%

Detailed description:

· Objective: The objective of this course is to understand more about classical mechanics and how to treat fundamental concepts such as force, energy, and momentum in the context of more complex systems. To do so, you will make use of mathematical techniques you have learned elsewhere as well as those introduced in the course itself. However, this is a PHYSICS course, not a MATHEMATICS course, and so the emphasis is on developing physical insight and a deeper understanding of physical ideas. Some of the topics for this class, such as chaos and nonlinear dynamics, are areas of active physics research. Others, such as Hamiltonian and Lagrangian approaches, have wide applicability throughout advanced physics. In short, this course serves as a gateway to a variety of different topics.

· Course design: This course emphasizes problem solving in the belief that "you learn by doing" and that you can't really understand some concept unless you can apply it and discuss it. With this in mind, the course has several important features:

1. Problem sets: Each Friday, a problem set will be due at the start of class. Late homework will not be accepted unless prearranged at least 24 hours in advance, and then only for rather good reasons. You are encouraged to talk and work with others about the problems, especially after you've made a first attempt at them by yourself. The final writeup, however, should be yours completely--and in it, you should name your collaborators or sources you've used. Do not consult solutions from students or instructors from previous years--the aim is not to make this into a library research project!!

2. In-class presentation and class participation: With another student, you will be asked to give a 10-15 minute oral presentation concerning classical mechanics, with up to 5 minutes for questions. You should prepare a worksheet which summarizes the calculations/derivations involved in your presentation. The topic is of your choosing, but it must relate to classical mechanics. Possible presentation ideas (from last year) include:
a) discussing an application--taking an example from the book or class and reevaluating it with "real numbers"--when the Death Star exploded, how did the debris affect the Ewoks?
b) modeling certain nonlinear differential equations-exploring aspects of chaos with Mathematica.
c) presenting the physics of everyday phenomena--how to design roller coasters or what are the time constraints for jugglers.
d) discussing more complex theorems or relationships--the virial theorem and its relationship to stars or the horn and the Schroedinger equation.
The presentation should give you an opportunity to improve on your speaking skills. The presentations will be scheduled mostly for Mondays or Wednesdays, beginning the third or fourth week of class and extending to the end of the semester. See presentation sheet for more information.

3. Exams: There will be three exams for this class--two during the semester and one final exam. Each will be two hours in length. The two during the semester will be take home exams (Mar. 10^th -13^th and Apr. 14^th- 17^th for the second), while the third is scheduled by the registrar. The exams may be longer in length than you may be used to, but this is to ensure enough time for you to do your best effort.

· Course topics: A tentative list of topics and the schedule is given below:
 

Dates	Topics	Comments
Feb. 7,9,11	Chap. 1. Math methods: review of vectors, matrix algebra, coordinate system.
Feb. 14,16,18	Chap. 1 and 2. Math methods, cont'd. -div, grad, curl; Single particle motion-projectiles and other examples.
Feb. 21,23,25	Chap. 2 and 3. Conservation theories, oscillations.
Feb. 28, Mar. 1,3	Chap. 3 and 4. Driving forces, Green's functions, chaos.
Mar. 6,8,10	Chap. 5 and 6. Gravitation and Calc. of Variation.	EXAM 1
Mar. 13,15,17	Chap. 6 and 7. Lagrangian methods.
Mar. 20,22,24	Chap. 7. Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods.
Apr. 3,5,7	Chap. 8. Central force motion.
Apr. 10,12,14	Chap. 9. Systems of particles.	EXAM 2
Apr. 17,19,21	Chap. 10. Rotating coordinate systems.
Apr. 24,26,28	Chap. 11. Rigid body motion.
May 1,3,5	Chap. 12. Coupled oscillations.
May 8,10,12	Chap. 14. Relativity.

· Additional resources: I encourage you to look for other references that will explain the material in a better fashion for you. Below are other texts, the majority will be placed on reserve in the Physics library.

At the course level:
-R. Baierlein, Newtonian Dynamics (Used in 1990. Not loved, but some students liked its style.)
-V. Barger and M. Olsson, Classical Mechanics (Considers lots of real world problems: superball, archery. May give you some project ideas.)

More introductory:
-R. Feynman, Lectures on Physics, Vol I. (Lots of gems throughout. Chaps 1-25 are directly relevant.)
-D. Kleppner and Kolnikov, Introduction to Mechanics (An introductory text, but a good one. Lots of good examples and problems.)
-E. F. Taylor, Introductory Mechanics (Generally below the level of this course, but a good treatment.)

More advanced: (so you know...)
-H. Goldstein, Classical Mechanics (Excellent graduate text.)
-L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Mechanics (Another classic graduate text, like Goldstein. The first volume of a series covering all of physics at a very high level. Difficult, penetrating, and rewarding. Be warned that the authors make intentional small errors.)
-K. R. Symon, Mechanics (A solid but stuffy book, written in 1953 and still going strong. Above the level of this course.)

Special Relativity:

-A. P. French, Special Relativity (A very nice presentation of SR clear with lots of discussion. More introductory than Rindler, but that may be helpful.)
-W. Rindler, Essential Relativity (Covers both SR and General Relativity. More abbreviated and older than our text, but worth looking at.)
-E. F. Taylor and J. A. Wheeler, Spacetime Physics (A book that can be read on several levels and yields new insights each time you pick it up. Two master teachers. Worth looking at.)

Other Topics:

-M. Jammer, Concepts of Force (Philosophically oriented history of classical mechanics. Interesting despite many errors.)
-R. Lindsay and H. Margenau, Foundations of Physics (Philosophically oriented treatment of classical mechanics.)
-E. Mach, The Science of Mechanics (A discussion of the underlying foundations of mechanics and an intriguing history of the subject.)
-B. Weinstock, Calculus of Variations with Applications to Physics and Engineering.