Preface |
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xiii | |
Acknowledgments |
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xv | |
About the Author |
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xvii | |
1 Classical Mechanics |
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1 | (24) |
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1 | (1) |
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What Is the SI System of Units? |
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2 | (2) |
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How Are SI Units Defined? |
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2 | (1) |
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What Are SI Base Units and Derived Units? |
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3 | (1) |
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Are SI Units the Only Ones Used in Physics? |
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4 | (1) |
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What Are Velocity and Acceleration? |
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4 | (4) |
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Are Velocity and Speed the Same? |
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6 | (2) |
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8 | (3) |
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What Are Newton's Laws of Motion? |
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8 | (1) |
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Are Mass and Weight the Same? |
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9 | (1) |
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Why Do Different Masses (or Weights) Fall at the Same Rate? |
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10 | (1) |
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What Are Friction and Drag Forces? |
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10 | (1) |
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What Are Work and Energy? |
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11 | (2) |
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What Is the Work-Energy Theorem? |
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12 | (1) |
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What Is Potential Energy? |
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12 | (1) |
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What Is Conservation of Mechanical Energy? |
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12 | (1) |
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13 | (1) |
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What Is Momentum Conservation? |
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13 | (2) |
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14 | (1) |
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14 | (1) |
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What Is Simple Harmonic Motion? |
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15 | (2) |
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What Are Torque and Angular Momentum? |
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17 | (2) |
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18 | (1) |
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What Is Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation? |
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19 | (4) |
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Why Is Newton's Gravitation Law Considered "Universal"? |
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19 | (1) |
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What Keeps Planets and Satellites in Orbit? |
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20 | (1) |
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What Orbits Do the Planets Follow? |
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21 | (1) |
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What Other Kinds of Orbital Paths Are Possible? |
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21 | (1) |
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What Is a Geosynchronous Satellite? |
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21 | (1) |
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Why Does the Acceleration due to Gravity Vary with Altitude and Latitude? |
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22 | (1) |
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What Is the Coriolis Force? |
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23 | (1) |
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Can Classical Mechanics Explain Everything? |
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23 | (1) |
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24 | (1) |
2 Electromagnetism and Electronics |
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25 | (24) |
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What Are Electric Charges, and How Do They Affect Each Other? |
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25 | (2) |
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Why Do I Get Shocked after Walking on Carpet? |
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26 | (1) |
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26 | (1) |
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How Strong Is the Electric Force Compared with Gravity? |
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26 | (1) |
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What Is Quantization of Charge? |
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27 | (1) |
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What Is an Electric Field? |
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27 | (2) |
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What Happens in a Thunderstorm? |
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28 | (1) |
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What Is Electric Potential? |
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29 | (1) |
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29 | (1) |
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How Does a Defibrillator Work? |
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30 | (1) |
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What Are Electric Current and Resistance? |
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30 | (2) |
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31 | (1) |
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32 | (3) |
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What Are Diodes and Transistors? |
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33 | (2) |
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What Are Superconductors? |
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35 | (1) |
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What Are Some Applications of Superconductors? |
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36 | (1) |
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What Are Magnetic Dipoles and Magnetic Fields? |
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36 | (3) |
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What about Earth's Magnetic Field? |
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38 | (1) |
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How Do Animals Use Earth's Magnetic Field? |
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39 | (1) |
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What Is Electromagnetism? |
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39 | (4) |
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What Is Magnetic Induction? |
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39 | (1) |
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How Does an Electromagnet Work? |
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40 | (1) |
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41 | (1) |
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How Are Magnetic Materials like Electromagnets? |
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42 | (1) |
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What Are Direct Current and Alternating Current? |
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43 | (1) |
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How Do Electric Motors Work? |
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44 | (1) |
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What Is an Electromagnetic Wave? |
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45 | (3) |
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What Is the Electromagnetic Spectrum? |
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46 | (1) |
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How Does Wireless Communication Work? |
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47 | (1) |
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How Does a Microwave Oven Work? |
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48 | (1) |
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48 | (1) |
3 Solids and Fluids |
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49 | (22) |
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What Are the States of Matter? |
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49 | (3) |
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50 | (1) |
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How Are the States of Matter Related to Density, Pressure, and Temperature? |
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50 | (1) |
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What Makes Some Solids Stronger Than Others? |
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51 | (1) |
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52 | (9) |
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Why Does Fluid Pressure Depend on Depth? |
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52 | (2) |
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How Does a Barometer Work? |
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54 | (1) |
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What Is Decompression Sickness? |
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54 | (1) |
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How Is Air Pressure Related to Weather? |
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55 | (1) |
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What Does Your Blood Pressure Mean? |
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56 | (1) |
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56 | (1) |
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What Is Bernoulli's Principle? |
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57 | (1) |
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58 | (2) |
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60 | (1) |
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What Are Transverse and Longitudinal Waves? |
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61 | (3) |
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What Is Wave Interference? |
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62 | (1) |
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62 | (1) |
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What Is a Tsunami (Tidal Wave)? |
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63 | (1) |
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64 | (3) |
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What Is the Speed of Sound? |
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64 | (1) |
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What Is the Decibel Scale? |
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65 | (1) |
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How Does Your Hearing Work? |
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65 | (2) |
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How Are Music and Musical Harmonies Made? |
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67 | (1) |
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What Is the Doppler Effect? |
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68 | (1) |
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69 | (1) |
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70 | (1) |
4 Quantum Mechanics |
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71 | (24) |
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71 | (9) |
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How Are Mass and Electric Charge Quantized? |
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72 | (1) |
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How Is Atomic Energy Quantized? |
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73 | (1) |
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What is Blackbody Radiation? |
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74 | (2) |
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How Is Electromagnetic Radiation Quantized? |
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76 | (1) |
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76 | (1) |
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What Is the Photoelectric Effect? |
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77 | (3) |
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What Is Wave-Particle Duality? |
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80 | (3) |
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What Does the Two-Slit Experiment Reveal about Wave-Particle Duality? |
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80 | (2) |
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82 | (1) |
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What Is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle? |
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83 | (1) |
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What Does Quantum Mechanics Tell Us about Hydrogen Atoms? |
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84 | (7) |
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How Does Quantum Mechanics Describe Transitions between States? |
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87 | (1) |
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How Does Quantum Mechanics Apply to Other Atoms? |
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87 | (3) |
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What Is the Zeeman Effect? |
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90 | (1) |
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What Is the Stern–Gerlach Experiment? |
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91 | (1) |
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91 | (1) |
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What Is Quantum Tunneling? |
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91 | (1) |
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What Is a Quantum Computer? |
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92 | (1) |
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What Are Some Other Applications of Quantum Mechanics? |
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92 | (1) |
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93 | (2) |
5 Light and Optics |
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95 | (26) |
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95 | (1) |
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What Are Ray Optics and Wave Optics? |
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96 | (1) |
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What Is the Law of Reflection? |
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96 | (3) |
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How Does the Law of Reflection Explain the Images You See in a Mirror? |
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97 | (1) |
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Why Doesn't Everything Reflect like a Mirror? |
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97 | (1) |
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How Do Curved Mirrors Form Images? |
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97 | (2) |
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99 | (4) |
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What Is Total Internal Reflection, and How Is It Used? |
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101 | (1) |
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101 | (1) |
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102 | (1) |
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102 | (1) |
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103 | (3) |
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How Do Converging Lenses Form Images? |
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105 | (1) |
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Does Your Eye Form Images This Way? |
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106 | (1) |
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What Are Aberration Effects in Lenses? |
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106 | (1) |
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What Are Some Common Refractive Vision Disorders, and How Are They Corrected with Lenses? |
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106 | (2) |
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What Does Your Corrective Lens Prescription Mean? |
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107 | (1) |
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108 | (1) |
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What Is an Electron Microscope? |
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109 | (1) |
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109 | (5) |
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How Does a Refracting Telescope Work? |
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110 | (1) |
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How Does a Reflecting Telescope Work? |
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111 | (2) |
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What Are Some Novel Designs for Modern Reflecting Telescopes? |
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113 | (1) |
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Can You Use Telescopes to See Other Kinds of (Invisible) Radiation? |
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113 | (1) |
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How Does Interference Reveal Light's Wave Properties? |
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114 | (3) |
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Can You See Thin-Film Interference from White Light? |
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114 | (2) |
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Are There Any Useful Applications of Interference? |
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116 | (1) |
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117 | (1) |
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What Is Polarization, and Why Is It Useful? |
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117 | (1) |
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118 | (1) |
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How Do Lasers Work, and What Makes Them Different from Other Light Sources? |
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118 | (1) |
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How Do CD and DVD Players Work? |
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119 | (1) |
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What Is a Light-Emitting Diode? |
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119 | (1) |
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What Is a Solar (Photovoltaic) Cell? |
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120 | (1) |
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120 | (1) |
6 Thermodynamics |
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121 | (22) |
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121 | (2) |
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What Are Some Common Temperature Scales? |
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122 | (1) |
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What Is the Kinetic Theory of Gases? |
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123 | (2) |
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What Is Thermal Expansion? |
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125 | (2) |
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What Are the Units for Thermal Energy, Heat, and Food Energy? |
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127 | (1) |
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What Are Heat Capacity and Specific Heat? |
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128 | (2) |
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How Is Specific Heat Measured for Gases? |
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128 | (1) |
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What Is the Equipartition Theorem? |
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129 | (1) |
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130 | (1) |
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131 | (1) |
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What Is Evaporative Cooling? |
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131 | (1) |
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What Is the First Law of Thermodynamics? |
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131 | (3) |
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What Are Conduction, Convection, and Radiation? |
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132 | (1) |
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How Does a Thermos Bottle Work? |
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133 | (1) |
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What Is the Greenhouse Effect? |
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133 | (1) |
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What Is the Second Law of Thermodynamics? |
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134 | (3) |
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135 | (2) |
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137 | (2) |
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How Do Refrigerators, Air Conditioners, and Heat Pumps Work? |
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138 | (1) |
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138 | (1) |
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What Are Quantum Statistics? |
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139 | (1) |
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140 | (1) |
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141 | (2) |
7 Atoms and Nuclei |
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143 | (28) |
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Atoms and Elements-What Are They? |
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143 | (1) |
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144 | (1) |
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What Is the Rutherford–Bohr Model of the Atom? |
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144 | (4) |
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What Are Atomic Orbitals and Shells? |
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148 | (2) |
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How Do Atomic Shells and Subshells Explain the Periodic Table? |
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149 | (1) |
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150 | (3) |
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What Is the Difference between Characteristic and Bremsstrahlung X-Rays? |
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151 | (1) |
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How Do Medical X-Rays Work? |
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152 | (1) |
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What Are the Basic Properties of Nuclei? |
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153 | (1) |
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What Is the Strong (Nuclear) Force? |
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153 | (2) |
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How Are Nuclei Bound by the Nuclear Force? |
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155 | (1) |
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Which Combinations of Z and N Are More Stable? |
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155 | (1) |
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What Is Nuclear Binding Energy? |
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156 | (1) |
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What Are the Benefits and Dangers of Radioactive Nuclei? |
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156 | (7) |
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156 | (2) |
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158 | (1) |
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159 | (1) |
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What Is a Radioactive Half-Life? |
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160 | (1) |
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160 | (1) |
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How Are Radioactive Nuclides Used in Medicine? |
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161 | (1) |
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How Does Radioactive Dating Work? |
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162 | (1) |
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163 | (5) |
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What Is a Chain Reaction? |
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164 | (1) |
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What Makes an Atomic Bomb Work? |
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165 | (1) |
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How Much Energy Is Released in Fission? |
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165 | (1) |
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How Does a Nuclear Reactor Work? |
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165 | (3) |
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168 | (2) |
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169 | (1) |
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What Are the Prospects for Large-Scale Energy Production from Fusion? |
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169 | (1) |
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170 | (1) |
8 Fundamental Particles and Forces |
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171 | (16) |
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What Are Fundamental and Composite Particles? |
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171 | (1) |
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What Are the Historical Roots of the Search for Fundamental Particles? |
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172 | (1) |
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172 | (1) |
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What Is the Relative Abundance of Matter and Antimatter in the Universe? |
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173 | (1) |
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What Is the Particle Zoo? |
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173 | (3) |
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How Do Particles Mediate Forces? |
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176 | (1) |
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176 | (3) |
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178 | (1) |
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179 | (1) |
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What Is Quark Confinement? |
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179 | (1) |
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179 | (3) |
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What Is Neutrino Oscillation? |
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181 | (1) |
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182 | (1) |
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What Is a Feynman Diagram? |
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182 | (2) |
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What Conservation Laws Are Associated with Hadrons and Leptons? |
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184 | (1) |
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185 | (1) |
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185 | (1) |
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186 | (1) |
9 Relativity |
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187 | (20) |
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What's the Difference between Special Relativity and General Relativity? |
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187 | (1) |
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How Was Special Relativity Developed? |
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188 | (1) |
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What are the Two Principles (or Postulates) of Special Relativity? |
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189 | (1) |
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How Are Time and Distance Measurements Affected in Relativity? |
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190 | (3) |
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What Are Proper Time and Proper Length? |
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190 | (1) |
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How Are Time Dilation and Length Contraction Related? |
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191 | (1) |
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What Is the Twin Paradox? |
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192 | (1) |
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Can You Travel Backward in Time? |
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193 | (1) |
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193 | (1) |
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How Are Velocity Measurements Affected by High Speeds? |
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194 | (1) |
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What Is the Doppler Effect? |
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195 | (1) |
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What Is Relativistic Energy? |
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196 | (3) |
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198 | (1) |
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How Is Relativity Connected to Electromagnetism? |
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199 | (1) |
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What Is the Principle of Equivalence? |
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199 | (1) |
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How Does General Relativity Describe Gravity? |
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200 | (1) |
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What Are Some Consequences of General Relativity? |
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200 | (2) |
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202 | (1) |
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What Are Gravitational Waves? |
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203 | (1) |
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How Do We Use Relativity? |
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203 | (1) |
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So Is Everything Really Relative? |
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204 | (1) |
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205 | (2) |
10 Astrophysics and Cosmology |
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207 | (16) |
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What Are Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Cosmology? |
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207 | (1) |
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How Was Our Solar System Formed? |
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208 | (1) |
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209 | (1) |
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What Are the Orbits of the Planets? |
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209 | (2) |
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What Other Objects Are in the Solar System? |
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211 | (2) |
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Why Isn't Pluto Considered a Planet? |
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212 | (1) |
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213 | (1) |
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213 | (2) |
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How Do Stars Evolve in Time? |
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214 | (1) |
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How Are Stars Classified? |
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214 | (1) |
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215 | (2) |
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217 | (1) |
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How Has the Universe Evolved in Time? |
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218 | (2) |
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What Is the Evidence for the Big Bang and Expanding Universe? |
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218 | (1) |
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How Are Cosmic Distances Determined? |
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219 | (1) |
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What Are Dark Matter and Dark Energy? |
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220 | (1) |
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Where Do We Go from Here? |
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221 | (1) |
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221 | (2) |
Index |
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223 | |