Fundamentals of Physics Extended, 8th Edition

[Shackleford]

I'm currently in the first of my introductory physics course - PHYS 2425: Mechanics and Heat. This is the book we're using. Is it a good intro. textbook? Thanks.

Fundamentals of Physics Extended, 8th Edition
David Halliday, Robert Resnick, Jearl Walker

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471758019.html

 

[DylanB]

Its the text i used last term for mechanics and am using this term for wave mechanics and oscillations.

I didn't really study from it, but it seems like a good textbook. The chapter concept review pages are good to look over every week and there's plenty of good questions to work on.

 

[Shackleford]

Its the text i used last term for mechanics and am using this term for wave mechanics and oscillations.

I didn't really study from it, but it seems like a good textbook. The chapter concept review pages are good to look over every week and there's plenty of good questions to work on.

Yeah, it'll be my Electricity and Magnetism textbook, too. I'm glad it's a solid textbook, so I can lay a firm conceptual understanding of physics for the road ahead.

 

[kocher]

we used the 7th edition for mechanics up to waves and 8th edition from point charges to optics

I thought these textbooks were good

 

[rocomath]

Definitely better than University Physics by Young & Freedman. It's also half the size! Pretty much to the damn point.

 

[Helical]

Anyone know if Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach by Randall D. Knight is any good?

 

[PowerIso]

Halliday seems to be used by many people. It's mostly plug and chug type work, but it makes a good introduction to a lot of topics in physics.

 

[Dr Transport]

I used the 3rd edition back in '83-84 for my first three semesters of physics.

 

[glueball8]

I have it on pdf and it says its 8th edition but I'm sure its not. Does anyone know what edition it is if it has a clock on it on the 1st page of chapter one?

 

[BioCore]

Anyone know if Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach by Randall D. Knight is any good?

I am currently using this textbook. I would say it is alright as it tends to have very detailed problems and examples and gives a good blend of end of chapter problems. I would recommend though getting the Volumed set if this is for a class, as it is easier to carry around.

 

[Defennder]

My former physics lecturer once advised me to get the older Halliday and Resnick's physics textbook. He said the older editions (I think he mentioned the 2nd edn in particular) had more challenging problems than the newer ones.

 

[Nick M]

I just finished using "Fundamentals of Physics, 8th Edition" last year for Physics I w/Calculus - Newtonian Mechanics, and Physics II w/Calculus - Electricity & Magnetism.

It covered a lot of material, way more than I could fully absorb at the pace in which it was taught. In Physics I we covered chapters 1-13, and briefly touched on selected topics in 14-20. In Physics II we covered chapters 21-32. The instructor assigned problems he came up with rather than those in the book. Most everyone was taking Calculus I & II with these courses, respectively. Any math we couldn't do at the time was explained conceptually, and we used Mathematica to supplement the Calculus we knew.

I purchased the "extended" (Part 5) portion of the text separately - it was not included in the standard version of the text. Now that I'm on summer break, I've been slowly re-reading the first two parts of the text (chapters 1-20) in order to better absorb the material (now that I have Calculus I & II completed and better understand the proofs). I plan to re-read the E&M material (Part 3, chapters 21-32) once I've completed Multivariate Calculus this upcoming fall, and hope to read Parts 4 & 5 down the road.

Overall I enjoyed the text in class, and have come to enjoy it even more now that I can read at my leisure. The most valuable part is it's connections with real-life concepts rather than just abstractions. I looked at some of my instructors other texts on Mechanics and E&M, and this text is much more focused on helping you connect the topics it flys through to real world problems. More Engineering geared I guess.

 

[glueball8]

I just finished using "Fundamentals of Physics, 8th Edition" last year for Physics I w/Calculus - Newtonian Mechanics, and Physics II w/Calculus - Electricity & Magnetism.

Hi, so your a physics major? and Physics I and Physics II are in the same year?

 

[BioCore]

Hi, so your a physics major? and Physics I and Physics II are in the same year?

I am not in the physics major but I can give you some insight since I know some friends. They tell me that they usually do take Physics I and II in first year. They split them though over a period of two semesters or just give one full course equivalent sometimes.

 

[awvvu]

Anyone know if Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach by Randall D. Knight is any good?

I used this textbook for AP Physics Mechanics and E&M in high school and I thought it was pretty well-written.

 

[Monocles]

I am going to be using Electricity, Magnetism, and Light by Saslow as my textbook for physics 2 this fall. Any comments on this textbook?

 

[G01]

Anyone know if Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach by Randall D. Knight is any good?

It has some good problems, but I find that Knight can be way too wordy at times. I think he over explains some things, and in the end, makes those topics harder for students to understand. Not the worst book out there, but I would pick Halliday over Knight any day of the week.

 

[adartsesirhc]

I would have to say that Halliday/Resnick/Walker is the best introductory physics book I've ever seen. I have Physics for Scientists and Engineers by Mosca/Tipler, and although it's a good book (and certainly more thorough and rigorous than HRW), it's not as good at explaining things as HRW is. I've read a couple chapters in some books and glanced at others, and none of them really measure up. I keep this on the same bookshelf as The Feynman Lectures on Physics and all of Griffiths' textbooks.

 

[Shackleford]

What about Physics for Scientists & Engineers Giancoli Fourth Edition?

 

[Markus1]

I am going to be using Electricity, Magnetism, and Light by Saslow as my textbook for physics 2 this fall. Any comments on this textbook?

Make sure that you get the corrections at http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/saslow/. Look for the line "Here are a list of text typos, a list of figure typos, and a corrected set of Answers to the odd-numbered problems." I have taught from this textbook, so I know something about it. If you have questions, I'll see if I can answer them.