What are some recommended physics books for self-study before taking a course?

[Miike012]

I have never taken a physics course and I won't be taking one until next semetser... I wanted to know if someone can suggest a good indepth physics book that I can study now so I will be ready for next semester.

 

[fss]

What math background do you have?

 

[Miike012]

algebra... I will be taking trig this semester... I know a lil calc to.. idk if that matters?

 

[zeromodz]

algebra... I will be taking trig this semester... I know a lil calc to.. idk if that matters?

You need to have a great understanding of algebra, trig, and calculus in order to keep up and understand physics.

 

[Pengwuino]

Also, is it a calculus based physics course or physics course for non-science majors?

 

[Miike012]

Well the physics that I am going to be taking says I only need trig... hence it basically an intro to physics... I guess I will just wait until I have finished trig b4 I mess with physics.

 

[fss]

Well the physics that I am going to be taking says I only need trig... hence it basically an intro to physics... I guess I will just wait until I have finished trig b4 I mess with physics.

Probably. I don't know what the good non-calculus intro texts are these days. Giancoli was only so-so when I used it many years ago.

 

[Miike012]

I know the good books are probably limited because I don't have much math experience... so I will be hjappy with any book right now.

 

[Jack21222]

I think practicing your math will be more important than practicing your physics. The class will be set up specifically to teach people who have never taken physics before, so not having taken physics before does not put you at a disadvantage.

Brush up on your trig and your algebra.

 

[Miike012]

you do have a point... sounds like good advice.. thanks.

 

[Dickfore]

what year physics course are you taking and in what level of your education?

 

[Miike012]

I will be taking my first phy course next sem... which will be my third semester of college.

 

[Dickfore]

I will be taking my first phy course next sem... which will be my third semester of college.

What is your major if you hadn't taken trigonometry before?

 

[Miike012]

engineering.

 

[Dickfore]

lol. what kind of engineer goes until junior year in college without knowledge of trigonometry? Are you a seventh grader? Be honest.

 

[Miike012]

I know it is sad... my background in high school wasnt the best... never took school seriously so when I did take trig in high school I got like a c in it... so I don't count that course because I really didnt learn anything..

 

[PieceOfPi]

If you are an engineering major, you probably need to take a calculus-based physics course. It is very likely that you can take this sequence at the same time you are taking your calculus sequence. And of course, you need good knowledge of algebra and trigonometry to succeed in both physics and calculus.

Check with your major department.

 

[Miike012]

I understand that there are prerequisites before I can take a class( and I already know what they are...) however that does not mean that I can't study on my own... I havnt taken trig but I have been studying clac on my own for the past mo... So i fugured I could do the same with phy.

 

[DBTS]

lol. what kind of engineer goes until junior year in college without knowledge of trigonometry? Are you a seventh grader? Be honest.

Third semester, he is a sophomore... Unless, he took in more credits which I highly doubt he did, so being a newly sophomore is okay, even if he is a junior who cares? Lol, didn't read the name, now I understand...

I have never taken a physics course and I won't be taking one until next semetser... I wanted to know if someone can suggest a good indepth physics book that I can study now so I will be ready for next semester

I will answer your question since no-one else could... Pick up, "Basic physics: A self-teaching guide" since you want to familiarize yourself with physics before you head into the course. At least you will have some understanding even if you have not completed trigonometry yet. It is pretty easy to read and the questions are pretty basic, it goes over concepts you will need to know for an introduction to physics.

Sites I would suggest:

Khanacademy
The great courses (Most of their courses range from 200-300 but it is worth it in my opinion)
The book I told you about
http://www.beyondbooks.com/psc91/index.asp
The MathtutorDVD set on physics (I used him as well)

All things I would suggest looking into.

 

[Jack21222]

I understand that there are prerequisites before I can take a class( and I already know what they are...) however that does not mean that I can't study on my own... I havnt taken trig but I have been studying clac on my own for the past mo... So i fugured I could do the same with phy.

Right, it doesn't mean you can't study on your own... but it does mean you can't sign up for the class.

If you're an engineering major, you will absolutely need calculus to take physics 1. To take calculus, you'll need trig. So, you have at least two semesters of math before you can take this introductory physics class.

Otherwise, you could take the algebra-based physics class now, and then later take the calculus-based physics class later. But that seems like a waste of time, to take two versions of the same class.

If you want to be an engineer, spend the next couple of semesters really hammering away at the math classes. I'd say many of your engineering classmates were at your level in math by the end of 9th or 10th grade.

 

[Dickfore]

If you can't grasp trigonometry by doing a quick revision on your own, I highly doubt you can 'read up' on an in-depth Physics book.

Let me give you a general introduction in a few paragraphs, if I may. Physics is colloquially categorized into Classical and Modern Physics. Modern Physics is a common term for the study of phenomena that are dealt within the Great Partial Theories of the XX century - The Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. These effects become pronounced when the objects move at speeds comparable to the speed of light in vacuo and the De Broglie wavelength associated with the particle motion becomes comparable to the linear dimensions that they traverse. In short, you can forget about this phenomena when considering an Intro to Physics.

All the previous knowledge accumulated through the preceding centuries is collected in a body called Classical Physics. The major areas of Classical Physics are:

• Classical Mechanics
• Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics
• Electromagnetism
• Optics

The first field that you usually encounter is Mechanics. Mechanics studies the so called mechanical motion - the relative displacement of physical bodies with respect to other bodies or parts of the same body with respect to other parts. The necessary mathematical techniques to grasp the concepts in Mechanics are Calculus and Vector analysis. Nevertheless, one can appreciate the basic concpets even without such level of sophistication and Algebra, supplemented by Trigonometry and preferably Analytic Geometry might be quite sufficient.

I think you should concentrate on this field at first. This constitutes the bulk of a first semester General Physics course.

The other part is usually elements of Thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is conceptually very hard for the novice, and you should keep returning to it as you learn more and more physics. Thermodynamics is so beautiful because its laws are so general and do not depend on the particular structure of the physical system under consider, that the conclusions drawn from it are general and far reaching, although they lack particular details. To find the details, one must turn to Statistical Physics, the study of systems composed of collosal number of units (atoms, molecules) through the use of the methods of Mathematical Statistics.

 

[Miike012]

I think for now it will be best that I just focus on sharpening my alg. and trig skills before I worry about phy.

 

[Fizex]

If you can't grasp trigonometry by doing a quick revision on your own, I highly doubt you can 'read up' on an in-depth Physics book.

Let me give you a general introduction in a few paragraphs, if I may. Physics is colloquially categorized into Classical and Modern Physics. Modern Physics is a common term for the study of phenomena that are dealt within the Great Partial Theories of the XX century - The Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. These effects become pronounced when the objects move at speeds comparable to the speed of light in vacuo and the De Broglie wavelength associated with the particle motion becomes comparable to the linear dimensions that they traverse. In short, you can forget about this phenomena when considering an Intro to Physics.

All the previous knowledge accumulated through the preceding centuries is collected in a body called Classical Physics. The major areas of Classical Physics are:

Don't listen to him, that's not really how an introductory physics book sounds like. It will explain much of the terminology and not throw advanced physics concepts at you in the first few paragraphs. You will probably only need algebra for the most part in non-calc physics.

 

[Miike012]

Yeah, Well I guess I could always just pic up a book like an intro to phy and read it, if I get stuck I always have this forum to help lol.
thanks.

 

[Jack21222]

Don't listen to him, that's not really how an introductory physics book sounds like. It will explain much of the terminology and not throw advanced physics concepts at you in the first few paragraphs. You will probably only need algebra for the most part in non-calc physics.

He'll need trig. Ever heard of free-body diagrams? All trig.

Plus, he's an engineering major. He'll need calc-based physics, not non-calc.

 

[dkotschessaa]

You can always run through Khan Academy's modules on trig, then Physics. http://www.khanacademy.org.

You can get a head start on Calc here too, and there's lots of problems to work on.

-DaveKA

 

[Miike012]

I know some calc. I would say I am about half or three quarters the way through the first sem of calc on studying on my own. as far as trig I havnt taught my self that just because I am going to be in it this sem and If I teach my self I won't listen in class lol... I know this because I taught my self alg and was bored in class so didnt listen

 

[dkotschessaa]

Well, your original request was for an "in depth" book, but seeing as you don't want to study trig just now you won't really find such a book without it.

So, for fun there's always http://www.larrygonick.com/html/pub/books/sci5.html" . It's a non serious book that you can read seriously. I actually went through it and took notes and did the calculations. This helped me through two semesters of non calc based physics.Or you can just read it in a week and get the most general of general ideas about physics in a fun way.

-DaveKA

 

[Miike012]

Hmm sounds interesting... Ill check it out, thanks.

 

[romsofia]

I know some calc. I would say I am about half or three quarters the way through the first sem of calc on studying on my own. as far as trig I havnt taught my self that just because I am going to be in it this sem and If I teach my self I won't listen in class lol... I know this because I taught my self alg and was bored in class so didnt listen

I think it's great that you continue to want more knowledge, and PLEASE don't take this the wrong way but you really should have a good handle on trigonometry and algebra before you start calculus. Half way through calc one you would already be done with derivatives of trig functions, and without knowing trig a lot of problems would arise I would suspect.

Once again, it's great that you want more math knowledge! But don't lie to yourself that you're half way or three quarters the way through calculus one just because you can take the limit, derivative, or integral of a basic function.