PHYSICS 374 CLASSICAL DYNAMICS
FALL 2009
Instructor: Purrington
Office: 5050 Stern Hall
Office Hours: T 2-3 p.m., W 10-11 a.m. Or drop by, or call to see if I am in--anytime.
This course provides an introduction to the classical mechanics of particles and systems. The course will begin with an introduction and review of the mathematical tools necessary for treating such systems. Chapter 2 treats the Newtonian dynamics of a single particle, Chapter 3 treats motion under harmonic forces, principally undamped, damped, and driven oscillators. Chapter 5 deals with the properties of gravitating bodies. Chapters 6 and 7 introduce Lagrangia n and Hamiltonian mechanics through the vehicle of the calculus of variations, which is the content of Chapter 6. Chapter 8 treats the Kepler problem, the motion of a particle under a central (gravitational) force, and in particular the two-body problem with gravitational forces, which is an equivalent one-body problem. Chapters 9-11 treat systems of particles, with Chapter 10 dealing with non-inertial coordinate systems, and Chapter 11 treating rigid body motion.
We will cover the folowing chapters in the text: 1-3, 5-11. If time permits, w e will do some of Chapter 4, 12, and 13.
SYLLABUS
Chapters 1-3, Aug. 23-Sept. 24
Chapters 5-8, Sept. 29-Nov. 3
First Exam, Oct. 8, Chapters 1-3.
Fall Break, Oct 15-18
Second Exam, Nov. 12, Chapters 5-8
Chapters 9-11, Nov. 5-Dec. 3
Thanksgiving Holiday, Nov. 25-29
Final Exam, wednesday, Dec.9.
Problems will be assigned for each chapter. Approximate dates by which the problems will be due for each chapter will be posted here. They may, however, change slightly, and if so the dates will be announced in class.
When appropriate, I will assign computational exercises. These may be completed using MATLAB, C++, FORTRAN, or other programming languages you may have facility with. Please see me individually about this. Mathematica will be useful for some problems.
The course grade will depend on 1) mid-term and final exam grades (80%) and problem assignments (20%). Attendance is expected, and if your attendance is poor, you can expect consequences.
Problems (due dates to be added):
Chapter 1: 1,4, 9, 11, 14, 20,21, 22; due Sept. 10
Chapter 2: 7, 11, 16, 25, 33, 52, 53; due Sept. 22.
Chapter 3: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 24, 28; due Oct. 6.
Chapter 5: 3,4,6,10, 15, due Oct. 29
Chapter 6: 2,6, 10, due Nov. 5
Chapter 7: 1,3,6,7,13,25, 28, due Nov. 12
Chapter 8: 3,5,7,10,13,14,26
Chapter 9: 2,9,15,23,53
Chapter 10: 1, 3, 6, 8
Chapter 11: 2, 10, 13, 16, 25