Physics - Alyoops!

1 Physics FOR. DUMmIES.. by Steven Holzner Physics For Dummies . Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774. Copyright 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400.

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6 ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-5433-9. ISBN-10: 0-7645-5433-6. Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. 1B/RY/RR/QV/IN. About the Author Steven Holzner is an award-winning author of 94 books that have sold over two million copies and been translated into 18 languages. He served on the Physics faculty at Cornell University for more than a decade, teaching both Physics 101 and Physics 102. Dr. Holzner received his in Physics from Cornell and performed his undergrad work at MIT, where he has also served as a faculty member. Dedication To Nancy. Author's Acknowledgments Any book such as this one is the work of many people besides the author.

7 I'd like to thank my acquisitions editor, Stacy Kennedy, and everyone else who had a hand in the book's contents, including Natalie Harris, Josh Dials, Joe Breeden, et al. Thank you, everyone. Publisher's Acknowledgments We're proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services Media Development Project Coordinator: Maridee Ennis Project Editor: Natalie Faye Harris Layout and Graphics: Mary J.

8 Gillot, Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy Denny Hager, Erin Zeltner Copy Editors: Josh Dials, Kristin DeMint Proofreaders: Laura Albert, Leeann Harney, Technical Editor: Joseph L. Breeden Jessica Kramer, Arielle Mennelle, Joe Niesen, Carl William Pierce Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker Indexer: Joan Griffitts Editorial Assistants: Hanna Scott, Nadine Bell, David Lutton Special Help Danielle Voirol Cover Photos: Getty Images/Photodisc Cartoons: Rich Tennant ( ). Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies Kristin A.

9 Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services Contents at a Glance Introduction ..1. Part I: Putting Physics into Motion ..5. Chapter 1: Using Physics to Understand Your World ..7. Chapter 2: Understanding Physics Fundamentals ..13. Chapter 3: Exploring the Need for Speed.

10 25. Chapter 4: Following Directions: Which Way Are You Going? ..43. Part II: May the Forces of Physics Be with Chapter 5: When Push Comes to Shove: Force ..63. Chapter 6: What a Drag: Inclined Planes and Friction ..81. Chapter 7: Circling around Circular Motions and Orbits ..99. Part III: Manifesting the Energy to Chapter 8: Getting Some Work out of Physics ..119. Chapter 9: Putting Objects in Motion: Momentum and Chapter 10: Winding Up with Angular Kinetics ..153. Chapter 11: Round and Round with Rotational Chapter 12: Springs-n-Things: Simple Harmonic Motion ..189.