ABSTRACT

This book of problems and solutions in classical mechanics is dedicated to junior or senior undergraduate students in physics, engineering, applied mathematics, astronomy, or chemistry who may want to improve their problems solving skills, or to freshman graduate students who may be seeking a refresh of the material.

The book is structured in ten chapters, starting with Newton’s laws, motion with air resistance, conservation laws, oscillations, and the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Formalisms. The last two chapters introduce some ideas in nonlinear dynamics, chaos, and special relativity. Each chapter starts with a brief theoretical outline, and continues with problems and detailed solutions. A concise presentation of differential equations can be found in the appendix. A variety of problems are presented, from the standard classical mechanics problems, to context-rich problems and more challenging problems.

Key features:

  • Presents a theoretical outline for each chapter.
  • Motivates the students with standard mechanics problems with step-by-step explanations.
  • Challenges the students with more complex problems with detailed solutions.

chapter 1|41 pages

Newton's Laws

chapter 2|26 pages

Motion with Air Resistance

chapter 3|22 pages

Momentum and Angular Momentum

chapter 4|24 pages

Energy

chapter 5|28 pages

Oscillations

chapter 6|23 pages

Lagrangian Formalism

chapter 7|29 pages

Hamiltonian Formalism

chapter 8|24 pages

Coupled Oscillators and Normal Modes

chapter 9|18 pages

Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos

chapter 10|14 pages

Special Relativity