Advanced Introductory Classical Mechanics - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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This college-level, calculus-based Introductory Newtonian Mechanics course covers all of the topics and learning objectives specified in the College Board Course Description for Advanced Placement®Physics C (Mechanics). It covers Newton’s Laws, Kinematics, Energy, Momentum, Rigid Body Rotation, and Angular Momentum. The course covers applications of these basic principles to simple harmonic motion, orbital motion, and to problems that involve more than one basic principle. These principles also underlie the 12 online laboratory activities.

Our emphasis is on helping students learn expert-like ways of solving challenging problems, many of which are similar to problems on previous Advanced Placement Examinations in Mechanics C. We stress a key insight: mechanics is about forces changing motion. We apply this concept to organizing the core knowledge in a way that helps students apply it to sophisticated multi-concept problems. We feel this is the best way to prepare students for success not only on the AP Examination but also in other college-level science, technology, engineering and math courses that emphasize problem-solving.

If you are a teacher looking to learn better ways to teach your students, or are interested in using some of our MOOC materials in your own classroom—possibly as a private online course for your students—we strongly encourage you to sign up for our teacher’s discussion cohort, a “private discussion room” for teachers to share pedagogical ideas and instructional techniques.To join these discussions, verify yourself as a teacher by clicking this link, and we will enroll you in the teacher’s discussion cohort.

• Newtonian Mechanics beyond a first-year introductory course
• Angular momentum, planetary orbits, and harmonic motion
• A unified overview of the structure of Mechanics
• When and How to apply each conservation law
• Expert strategies to solve multi-concept problems
• To make measurements and do analyses of virtual experiments