Special Relativity (Unit R) (Six Ideas That Shaped Physics) - Softcover

Moore, Thomas A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0070430586 ISBN 13: 9780070430587

Publisher: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 1998

Synopsis

"Six Ideas That Shaped Physics" is consistent with the three basic principles of the IUPP (Introductory University Physics Project, Pomona College, USA): the pace of the introductory course should be reduced so that a broader range of students can achieve an acceptable level of competence and satisfaction; there should be more contemporary physics in the course; and the course should use one or more "story lines" to help organize ideas and help motivate student interest. The author adds three principles of his own to help "round-out" this outlook: The course should seek to embrace the best of what educational research has taught us about conceptual and structural problems with the standard course; the course should stake out a middle ground between the standard introductory course and exciting but radical courses that require a substantial investment in infrastructure and/or training; and the course should be useful in fairly standard environments and should be easy for teachers to understand and adopt.

About this title

From the Publisher:

A MORE CAREFUL AND COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO PROBLEM-SOLVING
FRAMEWORKS. This includes a new general problem-solving framework that applies across units, new tools for solving specific kinds of problems, and more general instruction in problem-solving in the text.
Embraces the best of what research on physics education has found and incorporates into the text and the learning process.
Instructor's Manual and website support textbook adopters by advising on innovative uses of classroom time.
A six-part modular format allows maximum flexibility in course organization and coverage, and saves students money.
A NEW APPROACH TO EMPHASIZING IMPORTANT FORMULAS. The new edition puts crucial formulas in boxes that also display important information about its purpose and limitations and what its symbols mean.
New PHOTOGRAPHS help make the text more visually interesting and help link the concepts to physical reality.
TWO-COLOR LAYOUT WITH COLOR TIED TO PEDAGOGICAL GOALS. Color is used to emphasize the imaginary elements we add to a situation when we construct a mental model.
UNIT E (Electromagnetic Fields) HAS BEEN REWRITTEN to reduce the level of the mathematics, more strongly emphasize the concept of potential, and more strongly emphasize visual arguments.
UNIT C (Conservation Laws) HAS BEEN REORGANIZED to increase the time spent on the difficult topics of collisions and angular momentum, to introduce the concept of force sooner, and to present the material in a more efficient manner.
UNIT N (Laws of Physics) HAS BEEN SIMPLIFIED to reduce the level of the mathematics in various chapters, to use more visually-based lines of reasoning, and to more strongly emphasize computer solutions to realistic problems.
NEW MATERIAL IN UNIT T (Thermodynamics, gases...) includes a treatment of the Boltzmann
Factor and a more realistic exploration of degrees of freedom in gas molecules. This unit also discusses several new computer programs that help students more easily visualize important ideas.
Accompanying Website developed by the author! Website contains:
General Information About the Course (Guiding Principles; An Overview of the Course; Frequently-Asked Questions; Evidence of Success; Important Notes for Instructors).
News and Current Resources (Announcements and News; Text Error Listings; Useful Computer Programs;
Sample Instructor's Manual Chapters; A List of Known Current Users).

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw Hill Higher Education
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0070430586
• ISBN 13: 9780070430587
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 170