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Mechanics: Motion, Forces, Energy and Gravity, from Particles to Planets 

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Mechanics: Motion, Forces, Energy and Gravity, from Particles to Planets
 at 
Coursera 
Overview

Duration

29 hours

Total fee

Free

Mode of learning

Online

Difficulty level

Beginner

Official Website

Explore Free Course External Link Icon

Credential

Certificate

Mechanics: Motion, Forces, Energy and Gravity, from Particles to Planets
Table of contents
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Mechanics: Motion, Forces, Energy and Gravity, from Particles to Planets
 at 
Coursera 
Highlights

  • Shareable Certificate Earn a Certificate upon completion
  • 100% online Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
  • Flexible deadlines Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.
  • Beginner Level
  • Approx. 29 hours to complete
  • English Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, English, Spanish
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Details Icon

Mechanics: Motion, Forces, Energy and Gravity, from Particles to Planets
 at 
Coursera 
Course details

More about this course
  • Most of the phenomena in the world around you are, at the fundamental level, based on physics, and much of physics is based on mechanics. Mechanics begins by quantifying motion, and then explaining it in terms of forces, energy and momentum. This allows us to analyse the operation of many familiar phenomena around us, but also the mechanics of planets, stars and galaxies.
  • This on-demand course is recommended for senior high school and beginning university students and anyone with a curiosity about basic physics. (The survey tells us that it's often used by science teachers, too.)
  • The course uses rich multimedia tutorials to present the material: film clips of key experiments, animations and worked example problems, all with a friendly narrator. You'll do a range of interesting practice problems, and in an optional component, you will use your ingenuity to complete at-home experiments using simple, everyday materials.
  • You will need some high-school mathematics: arithmetic, a little algebra, quadratic equations, and the sine, cosine and tangent functions from trigonometry. The course does not use calculus. However, we do provide a study aid introducing the calculus that would accompany this course if it were taught in a university.
  • By studying mechanics in this course, you will understand with greater depth many of the wonders around you in everyday life, in technology and in the universe at large. Meanwhile, we think you'll have some fun, too.
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Mechanics: Motion, Forces, Energy and Gravity, from Particles to Planets
 at 
Coursera 
Curriculum

Introduction and Basic Tools

Course Welcome

Lesson 1.1: Introduction and Context

Lesson 1.2: Units and Significant Figures

Lesson 1.3: Vectors and Scalars

Lesson 1.4: Estimating

Course structure and grading

Week 1 Study Aids

Start of course survey

Introduction and Context

Units and Significant Figures (Important skills in this course!)

Vectors and Scalars

Estimating

Week 1 Test

Velocity and Acceleration

Lesson 2.1: Graphing Displacement and Velocity

Lesson 2.2: Acceleration

Lesson 2.3: Relating Velocity, Acceleration and Displacement

Lesson 2.4: Relative Motion

Week 2 Study Aids

Graphing Displacement and Velocity

Acceleration

Relating Velocity, Acceleration and Displacement

Relative Motion

Week 2 Test

Motion in Two Dimensions

Lesson 3.1: Projectiles, Falling Vertically Under Gravity

Lesson 3.2: Combining Vertical and Horizontal Motion

Lesson 3.3: Trajectories and Range

Lesson 3.4: Uniform Circular Motion

Week 3 Study Aids

Projectiles, Falling Vertically Under Gravity

Combining Vertical and Horizontal Motion

Trajectories and Range

Uniform Circular Motion

Week 3 Test

Newton's Laws of Motion

Lesson 4.1: Newton's Laws of Motion

Lesson 4.2: Inertial and Non-inertial Frames

Lesson 4.3: Newton's Third Law

Lesson 4.4: Calculating Total Force

Lesson 4.5: Practice Problems

Historical Interlude

The Syllogism

Week 4 Study Aids

Newton's Laws of Motion

Inertial and Non-inertial Frames

Newton's Third Law

Calculating Total Force

Practice Problems

Week 4 Test

Weight, Friction and Spring Forces

Lesson 5.1: Weight versus Mass

Lesson 5.2: Springs and Hooke's Law

Lesson 5.3: Normal and Frictional Forces

Lesson 5.4: Friction Problems

Week 5 Study Aids

Weight versus Mass

Springs and Hooke's Law

Normal and Frictional Forces

Friction Problems

Week 5 Test

Work, Energy and Power

Lesson 6.1: What is Work?

Lesson 6.2: Work and Kinetic Energy

Lesson 6.3: Work and Potential Energy

Lesson 6.4: Energy Conservation

Lesson 6.5: Energy, Work and Power

Week 6 Study Aids

What is Work?

Work and Kinetic Energy

Work and Potential Energy

Energy Conservation

Energy, Work and Power

Week 6 Test

Momentum and Collisions

Lesson 7.1: Momentum and Collisions

Lesson 7.2: Impulse and More About Collisions

Lesson 7.3: Centre of Mass, Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

Lesson 7.4: Problems Involving Collisions

Week 7 Study Aids

Momentum and Collisions

Impulse and More About Collisions

Centre of Mass, Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

Problems Involving Collisions

Week 7 Test

Gravity

Lesson 8.1: Gravity, Orbits, Planets, Stars...

Lesson 8.2: g Varies with Latitude and Altitude; Gravitational Potential Energy

Lesson 8.3: Orbits

Lesson 8.4: Gravity and Other Forces

Another Historical Interlude

Week 8 Study Aids

Gravity, Orbits, Planets, Stars...

g Varies with Latitude and Altitude; Gravitational Potential Energy

Orbits

Gravity and Other Forces

Week 8 Test

End of course survey

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Mechanics: Motion, Forces, Energy and Gravity, from Particles to Planets
 at 
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