Description
To Students
HOW TO STUDY
1. Read the Chapter. Learn new vocabulary and notation. Try to respond to questions and exercises as they occur.
2. Attend all class meetings. Listen. Take notes, especially about aspects you do not remember seeing in the book. Ask questions (everyone wants to, but maybe you will have the courage).You will get more out of class if you read the Chapter first.
3. Read the Chapter again, paying attention to details. Follow derivations and worked-out Examples. Absorb their logic. Answer Exercises and as many of the end-of-Chapter Questions as you can, and all MisConceptual Questions.
4. Solve at least 10 to 20 end of Chapter Problems, especially those assigned. In doing Problems you find out what you learned and what you didn’t. Discuss them with other students. Problem solving is one of the great learning tools. Don’t just look for a formula—it might be the wrong one.
NOTES ON THE FORMAT AND PROBLEM SOLVING
1. Sections marked with a star (*) are considered optional. They can be omitted without interrupting the main flow of topics. No later material depends on them except possibly later starred Sections. They may be fun to read, though.
2. The customary conventions are used: symbols for quantities (such as m for mass) are italicized, whereas units (such as m for meter) are not italicized. Symbols for vectors are shown in boldface with a small arrow above: .
3. Few equations are valid in all situations. Where practical, the limitations of important equations are stated in square brackets next to the equation. The equations that represent the great laws of physics are displayed with a tan background, as are a few other indispensable equations.
4. At the end of each Chapter is a set of Questions you should try to answer. Attempt all the multiple-choice MisConceptual Questions. Most important are Problems which are ranked as Level I, II, or III, according to estimated difficulty. Level I Problems are easiest, Level II are standard Problems, and Level III are “challenge problems.” These ranked Problems are arranged by Section, but Problems for a given Section may depend on earlier material too. There follows a group of General Problems, not arranged by Section or ranked. Problems that relate to optional Sections are starred (*). Answers to odd-numbered Problems are given at the end of the book. Search and Learn Problems at the end are meant to encourage you to return to parts of the text to find needed detail, and at the same time help you to learn.
5. Being able to solve Problems is a crucial part of learning physics, and provides a powerful means for understanding the concepts and principles. This book contains many aids to problem solving: (a) worked-out Examples, including an Approach and Solution, which should be studied as an integral part of the text; (b) some of the worked-out Examples are Estimation Examples, which show how rough or approximate results can be obtained even if the given data are sparse (see Section 1–7); (c) Problem Solving Strategies placed throughout the text to suggest a step-by-step approach to problem solving for a particular topic—but remember that the basics remain the same; most of these “Strategies” are followed by an Example that is solved by explicitly following the suggested steps; (d) special problem-solving Sections; (e) “Problem Solving” marginal notes which refer to hints within the text for solving Problems; (f) Exercises within the text that you should work out immediately, and then check your response against the answer given at the bottom of the last page of that Chapter; (g) the Problems themselves at the end of each Chapter (point 4 above).
6. Conceptual Examples pose a question which hopefully starts you to think and come up with a response. Give yourself a little time to come up with your own response before reading the Response given.
7. Math review, plus additional topics, are found in Appendices. Useful data, conversion factors, and math formulas are found inside the front and back covers.