A short discussion of these topics appears in the appendices to the text. This is a college physics class and, therefore, it has similarities to other physics classes taught at universities throughout the country. Physics is a mathematical science and will require using mathematics as a tool for solving problems. For some students, the math serves as an obstacle to learning physics. I recommend that you become very comfortable with the mathematics described in Section 1.3 before progressing any farther into the semester.
Some students believe that if they can follow the lectures in class, then they have learned physics.
This is not true. To learn physics, a student must do a significant amount of work outside of class thinking about, and interacting with, the course material. No one ever learns physics by simply reading about it or listening to someone talk about it. You learn it by making the effort to understand the material and by solving problems using the principles learned. The standard requirement in a college class is that you spend two hours outside class working on the material for every hour in class.