About the book

This textbook explains the con­cepts and most important advances of modern physics without resort to higher mathematics. Avoids the traditional division between clas­sical and modern physics and en­deavours to present all material so as to develop quantum mechanical concepts.

The textbook is intended for secon­dary schools and as a teaching aid for physics teachers in general and technical secondary schools. Will be found useful by correspondence students studying ‘A ’ level and first year physics.

CONTENTS

 Part One: Motion and Forces

Chapter 1: Velocity

1.1. Mechanical motion 19

1.2. Frames of reference. Paths 20

1.3. Rectilinear motion. Motion equations 22

1.4. Uniform motion 23

1.5. Variable motion 24

1.6. Average velocity 25

1.7. Instantaneous velocity of variable motion 27

 Chapter 2: Inertia

2.1. The principle of inertia 28

2.2. Inertial reference frames 30

2.3. The principle of relativity 32

2.4. Galilean transformations 33

2.5. Classical law of the addition of velocities 35

 Chapter 3: Scalars and Vectors. Velocity Vector

3.1. Scalar quantities 35

3.2. Vector quantities 36

3.3. Certain operations on vectors 37

3.4. Resolving a vector into two components 39

3.5. Velocity is a vector 40

3.6. Addition of velocities 42

Chapter 4: Acceleration

4.1. Average and instantaneous acceleration 43

4.2. Rectilinear variable motion 44

4.3. Uniformly accelerated rectilinear motion 44

4.4. Velocity graph for uniformly accelerated motion 45

4.5. Graphical calculation of displacement 45

4.6. Displacement and average velocity in uniformly accelerated motion 46

4.7. Uniform circular motion of a particle 48

4.8. Acceleration in uniform circular motion of a particle 48

Chapter 5: Force

5.1. Force, a measure of the interaction of bodies 50

5.2. Elastic and plastic deformation 51

5.3. Force is a vector 52

5.4. Vector addition and resolution of forces applied to a particle 54

 Chapter 6: Weight and Mass

6.1. Force of gravity. Weight 55

6.2. Free fall 57

6.3. Mass of a body 58

6.4. The density of substances 59

Chapter 7: Fundamental Law of Dynamics

7.1. Force and acceleration 60

7.2. Applying the fundamental law of dynamics 63

7.3. Weightlessness 66

7.4. System of units 67

7.5. The international system of units 68

7.6. The cgs and mk(force)s systems of units 69

Chapter 8: Equations of Motion and Initial Conditions

8.1. The basic problem of dynamics 69

8.2. Motion of a particle subject to the force of gravity 70

8.3. Numerical solution of the basic problem of dynamics 72

8.4. Motion of a body subject to an elastic force 73

8.5. Quantities determining the motion equation of a particle 77

Chapter 9: Gravitation

9.1. Discovery of the law of gravitation 78

9.2. Newton’s law of universal gravitation 80

9.3. The Cavendish experiment 81

9.4. Determining the distances from the sun to the planets 82

9.5. The gravitational field 83

9.6. Gravitational field intensity 84

9.7. The earth’s gravitational field 84

9.8. Effect of the earth’s rotation on free-fall acceleration 86

Chapter 10: Electric Forces

10.1. Electric charge 87

10.2. Coulomb’s law 88

10.3. Units of charge and systems of units 90

10.4. The electric dipole 92

10.5. The electric field. Field strength 94

10.6. Electric field of a point charge and of a dipole 94

Chapter 11: Friction

11.1. External and internal friction 97

11.2. Static friction 97

11.3. The angle of friction 100

11.4. Sliding friction 101

11.5. Rolling friction 102

11.6. Motion of bodies subject to the force of friction 102

11.7. Internal friction 103

11.8. Motion of bodies in fluids 105

11.9. Bodies falling in a fluid 108

Chapter 12: The Theory of Relativity

12.1. Velocity of light and the law of addition of velocities 110

12.2. Basic postulates of the special theory of relativity 113

12.3. Simultaneity of events 113

12.4. Simultaneity and length 116

12.5. Relativistic law for the addition of velocities 116

12.6. Limiting nature of the velocity of light 118

12.7. Lorentz transformations 119

12.8. Length or distance 120

12.9. Time interval between two events 121

12.10. The time interval between cause and effect 122

12.11. The relation between relativistic and Newtonian mechanics 123

Chapter 13: Mass, Momentum and Force in the Theory of Relativity

13.1. Relativistic mass 125

13.2. The fundamental law of dynamics in the theory of relativity 126

13.3. The relation between Newtonian and relativistic dynamics 128

Chapter 14: Equations of Motion and the Uncertainty Relation

14.1. Initial conditions and measuring apparatus 130

14.2. The uncertainty relation 134

14.3. The uncertainty relation and classical mechanics 134

Part Two: Conservation Laws

Chapter 15: Law of Conservation of Linear Momentum

15.1. Closed system of bodies 138

15.2. Law of conservation of linear momentum 139

15.3. Recoil phenomena 141

15.4. Measurement of mass 142

15.5. Jet propulsion (propulsion by reaction) 143

15.6. Rocket fuel calculations 144

15.7. Centre of mass 145

15.8. Motion of the centre of mass 146

Chapter 16: Total and Kinetic Energy

16.1. Total energy of a body 148

16.2. Kinetic energy 149

16.3. Energy and linear momentum 150

16.4. Kinetic energy and work 151

16.5. Power 153

16.6. Units of energy, work and power 154

16.7. Momentum, and energy of a localized particle 155

Chapter 17: Elementary Collision Theory

17.1. What is a collision? 157

17.2. Completely inelastic collision 158

17.3. Elastic collision 160

17.4. Neutron moderation 162

17.5. Pressure of a stream of particles on a wall 163

Chapter 18: Conservative Forces and Potential Energy

18.1. Work done by a variable force 165

18.2. Work done by an elastic force 167

18.3. Work done by a Coulomb force 168

18.4. Work done by a gravitational force 170

18.5. Conservative forces 171

18.6. Potential energy of elastic, Coulomb, and gravitational interactions 172

18.7. Potential of an electrostatic field 174

18.8. Electric potential of the field set up by a point charge 175

18.9. Energy of an electric field 176

Chapter 19: Law of Conservation of Energy in Newtonian Mechanics

19.1. Mechanical energy and its conservation 177

19.2. Mechanical energy and friction 177

19.3. Space velocities 178

19.4. Looping the loop 179

19.5. Potential energy curves 180

19.6. Potential energy and equilibrium 183

Chapter 20: Internal Energy

20.1. Internal energy of a system of particles 184

20.2. Changes in internal energy when a body is deformed 185

20.3. Changes in internal energy of a body in thermal processes 186

20.4. Changes in internal energy in chemical reactions 187

20.5. Changes in internal energy in nuclear reactions 188

Chapter 21: The Law of Conservation of Energy

21.1. Work as a measure of the change in total and internal energy 189

21.2. Heat exchange 190

21.3. Quantity of heat 192

21.4. The first law of thermodynamics 193

21.5. An adiabatically isolated system 194

21.6. The law of conservation of energy 194

21.7. The law of conservation of mass 195

21.8. More about relativistic mass 197

Chapter 22: The Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum

22.1. Features of rotational motion 199

22.2. Kinetic energy and moment of inertia 199

22.3. Dependence of the moment of inertia on the location of the axis of rotation 201

22.4. Moment of force 204

22.5. Equilibrium conditions for a body having an axis of rotation 205

22.6. Angular momentum and the fundamental law of dynamics 205

22.7. The law of conservation of angular momentum 207

22.8. Analogies between quantities and their relations in translational and rotational motion 209

Chapter 23: Symmetry in Nature and the Conservation Laws

23.1. The conservation laws are nature’s principal laws 211

23.2. The conservation laws are forbiddenness principles 212

23.3. The conservation laws and space-time symmetry 213

23.4. Uniformity of time and the conservation of energy 214

Part Three: Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Gases

Chapter 24: Noninertial Frames of Reference and Gravitation

24.1. Phenomena in an accelerated reference frame 214

24.2. Inertial forces 216

24.3. Features of inertial forces 218

24.4. Space and time in noninertial reference frames 219

24.5. The principle of equivalence 222

24.6. An idea of Einstein’s theory of gravity 224

24.7. The twin paradox 228

Chapter 25: Molecular Motion

25.1. How molecular speeds were measured 231

25.2. Molecular speed distribution 233

25.3. Mean free path of molecules 235

25.4. Diffusion 238

25.5. Law of diffusion 239

25.6. Separation of gas mixtures 240

Chapter 26: An Ideal Gas

26.1. Gas pressure 242

26.2. Units of pressure 244

26.3. An ideal gas 246

26.4. Temperature 248

26.5. Absolute temperature and the equation of state of an ideal gas 249

26.6. The constant-volume gas thermometer 250

26.7. The degree and the kelvin. The practical and absolute temperature scales 251

26.8. Absolute zero 253

26.9. Avogadro’s number and Boltzmann’s constant 254

26.10. Molecule distribution in a force field 256

26.11. Barometric distribution 258

Chapter 27: An Ideal Gas and the First Law of Thermodynamics

27.1. Internal energy of a monatomic ideal gas 260

27.2. Work done in the expansion of an ideal gas 261

27.3. The first law of thermodynamics and the specific heat of a gas 262

27.4. Isochoric processes 264

27.5. Isobaric processes 265

27.6. Isothermal processes 266

27.7. Adiabatic processes 267

27.8. Specific heat of a diatomic gas 269

27.9. Quantum theory of the specific heats of gases 272

Chapter 28: The Second Law of Thermodynamics

28.1. Quasi-static processes 276

28.2. Reversible processes 277

28.3. Irreversibility of real thermal processes 278

28.4. Irreversibility and statistics 279

28.5. Diffusion and thermodynamic probability 282

28.6. Thermodynamic probability in other thermal processes 283

28.7. Thermodynamic probability and entropy 284

28.8. Entropy and heat exchange 286

28.9. The second law of thermodynamics 288

28.10. The statistical sense of the second law of thermodynamics. Fluctuations 289

28.11. Brownian motion and fluctuations 290

28.12. Brownian motion and Boltzmann’s constant 291

Chapter 29: Heat Engines and Refrigerators

29.1. Heat engines and the advancement of engineering 295

29.2. The heat engine 295

29.3. Principle and energy balance of a heat engine 296

29.4. The heat engine and the second law of thermodynamics 298

29.5. The Carnot cycle 299

29.6. The efficiency of a real engine 300

29.7. The reverse Carnot cycle 301

29.8. Refrigerators and heat pumps 302

Chapter 30: Fundamentals of Fluid Dynamics

30.1. Thermodynamic parameters of moving fluids 304

30.2. The equation of continuity 305

30.3. The momentum equation 306

30.4. Bernoulli’s equation 306

30.5. Rate of propagation of disturbance waves in elastic media 308

30.6. Compressible fluid dynamics. Mach number 311

30.7. The Mach cone 312

30.8. The bow shock wave 313

30.9. Phenomena of a normal compression shock 314

30.10. Wave drag 316

30.11. Nozzles 318

30.12. Analogy between a nozzle and a heat engine 320

30.13. The Laval nozzle 320

30.14. The jet engine 321

30.15. The airplane wing 323

30.16. Measuring the pressure and velocity in a stream of fluid 324

30.17. Viscous fluid dynamics. Fluid friction in pipes 325

Part Four: Molecular Forces and States of Aggregation of Matter

Chapter 31: Molecular Forces

31.1. The density and compressibility of substances 327

31.2. Molecular forces 328

31.3. The electrical origin of molecular forces 329

31.4. The molecular force graph 331

31.5. The potential energy curve of molecular interaction 333

31.6. Thermal expansion of solids and liquids 334

Chapter 32: Long-Range Order

32.1. The monocrystal 336

32.2. The polycrystal 338

32.3. The crystal lattice. Long-range order 339

32.4. Defects in packing and the block structure of crystals 340

32.5. Motion of defects and diffusion 341

32.6. Dislocation motion and the deformation of the crystal 342

Chapter 33: Close Packing of Particles

33.1. Types of crystalline bonds 344

33.2. Closest packing of identical spheres 346

33.3. Closest packing of spheres of different radii 348

33.4. Lattices which cannot be represented as the packing of spheres 348

33.5. The structure of ice 351

33.6. Polymers 351

Chapter 34: Short-Range Order

34.1. Features of the liquid state 354

34.2. The structure of a liquid, and its properties 355

34.3. Mean residence lifetime 356

34.4. Diffusion in liquids 358

34.5. The viscosity of liquids 359

34.6. Amorphous bodies 360

34.7. Energy of the surface layer and the surface tension of liquids 361

34.8. Pressure caused by the curved surface of a liquid 363

34.9. Capillary phenomena 364

34.10. Adsorption. The Rebinder effect 365

Chapter 35: Vapours

35.1. Vaporization 367

35.2. Saturated vapour 369

35.3. The pressure of saturated vapour 370

35.4. Vapour isotherms 373

35.5. The critical state of a substance 374

35.6. Air humidity 376

Chapter 36: Phase Transitions

36.1. Changes in the state of aggregation 378

36.2. Liquid-gas transition diagram 379

36.3. Crystal-gas transition diagram 379

36.4. Crystal-liquid transition diagram 380

36.5. Crystal-crystal transition diagram 381

36.6. The triple point 383

36.7. Changes in internal energy in first-order phase transitions 383

36.8. Metastable states 385

36.9. Condensation. Supersaturated vapour 387

36.10. Boiling. Superheated liquid 388

36.11. The liquefaction of gases 391

Part Five: Electrodynamics

Chapter 37: A Field of Fixed Charges in a Vacuum

37.1. Lines of force 393

37.2. Equipotential surfaces 394

37.3. The relation between field strength and potential 396

37.4. A dipole in an electric field 397

37.5. The parallel-plate capacitor 399

 Part Five: Electrodynamics

Chapter 37: A Field of Fixed Charges in a Vacuum

37.1. Lines of force 393

37.2. Equipotential surfaces 394

37.3. The relation between field strength and potential 396

37.4. A dipole in an electric field 397

37.5. The parallel-plate capacitor 399

37.6. Capacitance 400

37.7. The energy of the electric field. Energy density 401

37.8. The force of interaction between capacitor plates 401

37.9. A conductor in an electric field 402

37.10. Determining the charge of the electron 404

Chapter 38: Dielectrics

38.1. An electric field with a dielectric 406

38.2. The polarization vector 407

38.3. Electric susceptibility 408

38.4. The field energy in a dielectric 409

38.5. Deformation polarizability 410

38.6. Orientational polarizability 411

Chapter 39: Direct Current

39.1. Nonelectrostatic fields. Voltage and emf 414

39.2. Current and current density 416

39.3. Ohm’s law for a uniform segment of a circuit 417

39.4. Resistance 418

39.5. Ohm’s law in differential form 419

39.6. Ohm’s law for a nonuniform segment of a circuit and for a closed circuit 419

39.7. The Joule-Lenz law 429

39.8. Charging and discharging capacitors 421

Chapter 40: A Magnetic Field in a Vacuum

40.1. The interaction of currents. Magnetic forces 423

40.2. The transformation law for the sideways momentum and the sideways force 424

40.3. Interaction between moving charges 425

40.4. Magnetic induction. Lines of induction 427

40.5. The magnetic field of a current-carrying conductor 428

40.6. The magnetic moment 430

40.7. Magnetic field strength 433

40.8. The magnetic field of a solenoid 434

40.9. Invariance of the electric charge 434

Chapter 41: Charges and Currents in a Magnetic Field

41.1. The Lorentz force 436

41.2. The motion of charged particles in a uniform magnetic field 437

41.3. Determining the sign of the charge of elementary particles 438

41.4. The cyclotron 440

41.5. Energy of the particle and the synchronization condition 442

41.6. Proton synchrotron 444

41.7. The electron charge-to-mass ratio 447

41.8. The ion charge-to-mass ratio 448

41.9. A current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field 449

41.10. A current-carrying loop in a magnetic field 450

Chapter 42: Magnetic Materials

42.1. Three types of magnetic materials 451

42.2. The magnetic moment of the atom 453

42.3. Quantities characterizing the magnetic field in matter 454

42.4. Diamagnetism 455

42.5. Paramagnetism 458

42.6. Ferromagnetism. The Curie temperature 459

42.7. Hysteresis 461

42.8. The domain structure of ferromagnetic materials 463

42.9. The Einstein and de Haas experiment 466

42.10. The Stern-Gerlach experiment 467

42.11. Electron spin 469

42.12. Antiferromagnetism 470

Chapter 43: Electromagnetic Induction

43.1. Faraday’s discovery 472

43.2. Electromagnetic induction and the Lorentz force 473

43.3. Induced electromotive force 474

43.4. The induction phenomenon in a stationary conductor 475

43.5. Strength of an induced field 476

43.6. The electromagnetic field and the relativity principle 477

43.7. Faraday’s law of induction 477

43.8. Lenz’s law 479

43.9. Electromagnetic induction and the law of conservation of energy 479

43.10. Self-induction 480

43.11. Energy of an electromagnetic field 481

43.12. Closing a circuit with inductance 483

Chapter 44: Electrical Conduction in Solids

44.1. Experimental basis for the electron theory of conduction in metals 484

44.2. The Hall effect 486

44.3. Electron gas 489

44.4. Derivation of Ohm’s law from electronic theory 490

44.5. The conductivity of metals and semiconductors 492

44.6. Derivation of the Joule-Lenz law 493

44.7. Contact potential difference 495

44.8. Thermoelectricity 496

44.9. The work function 498

Chapter 45: Heat Capacity and Thermal Conductivity of Solids

45.1. Heat capacity 500

45.2. Heat capacity of metals 502

45.3. Thermal conductivity of insulators 503

45.4. Thermal conductivity of metals 506

Chapter 46: Electrical Conductivity of Electrolytes

46.1. Electrolytic dissociation 508

46.2. Ohm’s law and the electrical conductivity of electrolytes 509

46.3. Faraday’s laws 511

46.4. The galvanic cell 512

Chapter 47: Current in a Vacuum

47.1. Thermionic emission 513

47.2. The diode and its characteristics 515

47.3. The triode and its characteristics 517

47.4. The cathode-ray tube 518

Chapter 48: Current in Gases

48.1. Ionization and recombination 519

48.2. Nonself-maintaining discharges 520

48.3. Collision ionization 523

48.4. The Geiger-Müller counter 524

48.5. Self-maintaining discharges. Plasma 526

48.6. Glow discharges 527

48.7. Plasma in a magnetic field 529

48.8. Pinching and confining a plasma 532

48.9. The magnetohydrodynamic generator 534