College Physics: A Strategic Approach (2nd Edition) + Solution

Book Preface

In 2006, we publi shed Col/ege Physics: A Slraleg ic Approach, a new algebra-based physics textbook for students majoring in the biologicaJ and life sciences, architecture, natural resources, and other disc iplines. As the first such book built from the ground up on research into how students can more effecti vely learn physics, it quickly gained widespread critical acclaim from professors and students alike. In this second edition , we build on the research-proven instru ctional techniques introduced in the first edition and the extensive feedback from thousands of users to take student learning even further.

Objectives

Our primary goals in writing College Physics: A Strategic Approach have been:
• To pro vide students with a textbook that ‘s a more manageabl e size, less encyclopedic in its coverage. and better designed for learnin g.
• To integrate proven techn.iques from physics education research into the classroom in a way that accommodates a range of teaching and learning styles.
• To help students develop both quantitati ve reasoning skills and solid conceptual understanding, with special focus on concepts well documented to cause learning difficulties.
• To help students develop problem-solving skills and confidence in a systematic manner usi.ng explicit and consistent tactics and strategies.
• To moti vat e students by integrating real-world examples relevant to their majors-especially from bi ology, sports, medi cine, the animal world-and that build upon their everyday experiences.
• To utilize proven techniques of visual instruction and des ign from educational research and cognitive psychology that improve student learnin g and retention and address a range of learner styles.

A more complete explanation of these goals and the rationale behind them can be found in Randy Knight ‘s paperback book, Five Easy Lessons: Strateg ies for Successful Physics Teaching. Please request a copy from your local Pearson sales representative if it would be of interest to you (ISBN 978-0-805-38702-5).

What’s New to This Edition

Our goal from the beginning has been a tex tbook combining the best results from physics education research with inspiring photographs and examples connecting physics to the many fields of study of students taking College Physics. In other words, to provide both the moti vation needed and the tools required for students to succeed. Our commitment to this goal is undiminished. At the same time, the extensive feedback we’ ve received from scores of in structors and hundreds of students, as well as our own ex periences teaching from the book, have led to numerous changes and improvements to the text, fi gures, and the end-of-chapter problems. These in clude:
• New illustrated Chapter Previews at th e start of each chapter provide visual, hi erarchical , and non-techni cal previews proven to help students organize their thinking and improve their understanding of the upcoming material.
• New lntegrated Examples at th e end of each chapter give students additional help in solving general probl ems not tied to particular sections. Many integrate material from other chapters.

• New Part Summary Problems at the end of each of the seven parts of the book test students’ abi.lities to draw on concepts and techniques from multiple chapters. Most of these are MCAT-stylc passage problems.

• More streamlined presentations throughout the text. Based on extensive feedback, we’ve pared some topics, reconfi gured others, and provided a more readable, student-fri endly text.
• Improved and more varied end-of-chapter problems. Using data from MasteringPhysics, we have reworked the problem sets to enhance clarity, topic coverage, and variety-adding, in particular, morc problems based on real-world situations and morc problems using ratio reasoning.