Good textbook to complement Physics II?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around finding a suitable textbook to complement a Physics II course, particularly focusing on topics related to electricity and magnetism (EM). Participants share their experiences with various textbooks and seek recommendations for challenging and comprehensive resources that include a good number of problems with answers.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses dissatisfaction with the current textbook, Spiral Physics, citing its lack of real-world examples and incorrect answers.
  • Another participant mentions having used Ohanian's Physics for Scientists and Engineers, finding it decent for Physics I, but is open to better alternatives for Physics II.
  • There is a question regarding the relevance of Morin's Classical Mechanics book for Physics II, which is typically focused on EM.
  • A participant suggests that Morin's work in conjunction with Purcell's Electricity and Magnetism could be beneficial, highlighting the abundance of solved examples in that text.
  • Another participant recommends Kip's Electricity and Magnetism, noting its positive reviews but also mentioning that it may be out of print.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on a single recommended textbook, and multiple competing views regarding the suitability of different texts remain present throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about the effectiveness of certain textbooks for specific topics within Physics II, and there are concerns about the reliability of feedback from commercial sources like Amazon.

Ascendant78
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I am currently taking Physics II and need a good textbook to complement my course. We are using a free one, Spiral Physics, which is relatively worthless. It explains very basic concepts, but gives very few (if any) real-world examples and at least half the answers in the back for Physics II are wrong, so you have no way to even check yourself to make sure you are doing it all right.

I have heard of Halliday and Morin (have the Morin Classical Mechanics already), but not sure how either of their books are for Physics II? I would like something challenging, comprehensive, has a good amount of problems with answers to try out, and digestible to someone who is still in the process of taking Physics II.
 
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Oh, just to add, I do have Physics for Scientists and Engineers from Ohanian. Seems decent as I used vol. 1 of it to complement my Physics I course, but if there is something that would be better, I'm all ears.
 
You say you have Morin's CM book, but that's for CM and isn't Physics II generally EM?
 
WannabeFeynman said:
You say you have Morin's CM book, but that's for CM and isn't Physics II generally EM?

Yes, you are right. My point was that I know Morin is one of the more challenging books when it comes to CM, but I didn't know how theirs was for EM. Some authors can be hit or miss depending on the topic, so I didn't want to make any assumptions. I also don't like to base my conclusions off feedback on Amazon because a lot of people will give bad ratings because they couldn't keep up with the content. Figured I'd get more reliable feedback here.
 
I liked (Arthur) Kip, Electricity and Magnetism. Amazon gives it several 5-star reviews. I have heard Kip is out of print however. Maybe your library has it. I have not looked in the book for years though so I am not really familiar with it
 

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