Does not require Physics 101A. Credit 3 units. Natural and human-made phenomena can be understood by simple and basic ideas of physics. This course illustrates these underlying principles by using examples from everyday life as well as from physics and other fields. Credit 3 units. The ideas of physics that have revolutionized our perception of the world and reality.
Emphasis is on understanding a selected set of crucial concepts without losing track of the numbers.
Using the writings of Hawking, Feynman, and Lightman, a study is made of such topics as energy and conservation laws, the relativity of time, the wave-particle duality, the modern microscopic picture of matter at the smallest and the largest distance scales, and the history of the universe. Credit 3 units. Physics 117A. General Physics I Introduction to the concepts, laws, and structure of physics. Mechanics, including Newton's laws, energy, linear momentum, angular momentum, the conservation laws, gravitational force, harmonic motion, wave motion, interference of waves, sound, heat, the first and second laws of thermodynamics, kinetic theory of gases. Three class hours and a 2.5 hour laboratory session each week.