CLASSICAL MECHANICS HAND NOTES FOR FREE DOWNLOAD

DEFINITION:

The branch of mechanics that is based on Newton's laws of motion and that applies to systems that are so large that Planck's constant can be regarded as negligibly small (distinguished from quantum mechanics).

classical mechanics freehand notes

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The Classical Mechanics (CM) Preliminary Exam will test basic concepts of classical mechanics and related applications to physical problems. The exam will cover both (i) material presented in PHY 5320 (the first semester of graduate CM at Baylor) and (ii) material generally presented at the undergraduate level. The topics that may be covered in the exam are given in the list below.

The graduate-level at which these topics will be covered is on par with Goldstein, Poole & Safko, Classical Mechanics. The level of the undergraduate material in the exam is representative of that found in typical undergraduate textbooks such as Thornton & Marion, Classical Dynamics.

Elementary PrinciplesNewton's laws; equations of motion; conservation laws & symmetries; work and energy; the center of mass; elastic and inelastic collisions

Lagrangian and Hamiltonian MechanicsHamilton's principle; d'Alembert's principle, the principle of virtual work; Lagrangian equations of motion; Lagrangian with constraints; generalized coordinates and momenta; undetermined multipliers; canonical equations;

Central Force MotionEquivalent one-body problem; classification of orbits, Virial theorem; Kepler's laws; planetary motion; scattering

Dynamics of Rigid BodiesMoment of inertia; inertia tensor; orthogonal transformations; eigenvalues and eigenvectors; Euler angles; Euler equations of motion; rotating coordinate systems; Coriolis effect

OscillationsSimple harmonic oscillators; damped oscillators; driven oscillators; coupled oscillators and normal modes

Hamilton Equations of MotionHamilton Equations of motion; cyclic coordinates and conservation theorems; the principle of least action

Special RelativityPostulates of special relativity; Lorentz transformations; length contraction and time dilation