PHY 201 - General College Physics I at Reynolds Community College
Course Description
Effective: 2015-05-01
Teaches fundamental principles of physics. Covers mechanics, thermodynamics, wave phenomena, electricity and magnetism, and selected topics in modern physics. Part I of II.
Lecture 3 hours. Laboratory 3 hours. Total 6 hours per week.
4 credits
General Course Purpose
The course is a non-calculus treatment of physics dealing with topics in classical and modern physics. This course is intended for students in some of the two-year technical programs offered through the VCCS and also for pre-med, pre-vet, pre-dental, Liberal Arts and pre-teaching non-science majors, thus satisfying the requirement for a laboratory science at many four-year institutions.
Course Prerequisites/Corequisites
MTH 163 or MTH 115
Course Objectives
- Apply the equations of kinematics to predict the position and the velocity at a later time.
- Apply Newton's laws of motion to find the acceleration of the objects and to identify other forces in the system.
- Apply the conservation laws (mechanical energy conservation, and momentum conservation, and angular momentum conservation) to compare the system before and after the interaction.
- Find the solutions of problems involving rectilinear motion, parabolic motion, circular motion, & objects in equilibrium.
- Apply the conservation laws to the solutions of problems involving collisions, conservative & nonconservative forces.
- Understand the fluid mechanics, such as buoyant force and Bernoulli's equation.
- Solve problems involving thermal expansion, heat transfer, thermodynamic processes & the behavior of ideal gases.
Major Topics to be Included
- Intro to Physics; Kinematics; Vectors; Newton's Laws of Motion; Potential Energy & Conservation of Energy; Linear Momentum & Collisions; Dynamics and Static Equilibrium; Fluids; Temperature & Heat; Phases; and the Laws of Thermodynamics.