High School Physics: Mechanics Course

Lesson 1 • Position, Distance, and Displacement

It distinguishes position from displacement and distance from path length. It anchors the conceptual difference between scalar and vector descriptions of location.

Lesson 2 • Physical Quantities and SI Units

It introduces scalar and vector quantities, SI base units, and unit conversion. It provides the measurement language used throughout the entire course.

Lesson 3 • Vectors and Vector Operations

It covers graphical and component methods for adding and resolving vectors. It builds the mathematical foundation required for force and motion analysis.

Lesson 1 • Problem-Solving Strategy for Kinematics

It introduces a structured five-step method for solving kinematics problems. It reduces errors by emphasising diagram drawing, variable listing, and unit checking.

Lesson 2 • Motion Graphs and Their Interpretation

It analyses position-time, velocity-time, and acceleration-time graphs. It reinforces the calculus-like relationships between these quantities without formal calculus.

Lesson 3 • Free Fall and Gravitational Acceleration

It applies kinematic equations to objects in free fall using gravitational acceleration. It addresses common sign-convention errors in upward and downward motion.

Lesson 1 • Relative Motion and Reference Frames

It applies vector addition to find velocities observed from different reference frames. It solves classic river-crossing and airplane-wind problems.

Lesson 2 • Two-Dimensional Motion Framework

It decomposes two-dimensional motion into independent x and y components. It establishes the superposition principle that underlies all planar kinematics.

Lesson 3 • Projectile Motion Analysis

It analyses the parabolic trajectory of objects launched at an angle under gravity. It derives range, maximum height, and time-of-flight formulas.

Lesson 1 • Newton's Third Law and Force Pairs

It identifies action-reaction pairs and explains why they do not cancel. It resolves common misconceptions about equal and opposite forces.

Lesson 2 • Free-Body Diagrams

It teaches systematic construction of free-body diagrams for single objects. Accurate diagrams are the prerequisite for all force-equation setups in subsequent chapters.

Lesson 3 • Newton's Second Law Applications

It applies F equals ma to calculate acceleration from net force and mass. It emphasises the vector nature of the equation and its component form.

Lesson 1 • Multi-Body Connected Systems

It applies Newton's Second Law simultaneously to two or more connected objects. It introduces the constraint that connected objects share the same acceleration magnitude.

Lesson 2 • Inclined Plane Problems

It resolves forces along and perpendicular to inclined surfaces using tilted coordinate systems. It combines friction and normal force analysis on slopes.

Lesson 3 • Normal Force and Weight

It distinguishes weight as gravitational force from normal force as a surface reaction. It calculates normal force on horizontal, vertical, and inclined surfaces.

Lesson 4 • Friction Forces

It introduces static and kinetic friction coefficients and their governing equations. It applies friction to sliding, pushing, and pulling scenarios.

Lesson 1 • Gravitational Potential Energy

It defines gravitational potential energy relative to a chosen reference level. It introduces the concept of conservative forces and path independence.

Lesson 2 • Conservation of Mechanical Energy

It states and applies the conservation of mechanical energy for systems without friction. It solves roller-coaster, pendulum, and projectile problems using energy conservation.

Lesson 3 • Power and Energy Transfer Rate

It defines power as the rate of work done and relates it to force and velocity. It solves problems involving engines, motors, and human exertion.

Lesson 4 • Work Done by a Force

It defines work as the dot product of force and displacement. It calculates work done by constant and variable forces, including cases where force and displacement are not parallel.

Lesson 1 • Elastic Collisions

It applies both momentum and kinetic energy conservation to elastic collisions. It derives velocity equations for equal and unequal mass cases.

Lesson 2 • Perfectly Inelastic Collisions

It analyses collisions where objects stick together and kinetic energy is not conserved. It calculates post-collision velocity and energy lost in one-dimensional cases.

Lesson 3 • Linear Momentum and Impulse

It defines momentum as mass times velocity and impulse as force times time interval. It derives the impulse-momentum theorem and applies it to collision and impact scenarios.

Lesson 4 • Two-Dimensional Collision Analysis

It extends momentum conservation to collisions in a plane using x and y components. It solves glancing collision problems with vector momentum diagrams.

Lesson 1 • Moment of Inertia

It defines moment of inertia as rotational inertia and provides formulas for common shapes. It explains how mass distribution affects resistance to angular acceleration.

Lesson 2 • Rotational Kinematics

It introduces angular displacement, velocity, and acceleration as rotational analogs of linear quantities. It applies constant angular acceleration equations to spinning objects.

Lesson 3 • Newton's Second Law for Rotation

It applies the rotational form of Newton's Second Law (tau equals I alpha) to spinning objects. It solves problems involving applied torques and resulting angular accelerations.

Lesson 4 • Rotational Kinetic Energy and Angular Momentum

It extends energy and momentum concepts to rotating systems. It applies conservation of angular momentum to spinning skaters and collapsing stars.