Schaum’s Outline of College Physics, Twelfth Edition

Book Preface

The introductory noncalculus physics course at most colleges and universities is a two-semester survey of classical topics (i.e., roughly pre-20th century ideas) capped off with selected materials from what’s called modern physics. Schaum’s Outline of College Physics was designed to complement just such a course, whether given in high school or college. The requisite mathematical knowledge includes basic algebra, some trigonometry, and a bit of vector analysis, much of which will be discussed as needed, and can be learned as the reader progresses through the book. There are several appendixes for those who wish to review these subjects.

The main focus of this text is to teach problem solving. Everyone who has ever taught physics has heard the all-too-common student lament, “I understand everything; I just can’t do the problems.” Nonetheless most professors believe that doing problems is crucial to understanding physics. Like playing the piano, one must learn the basics, the theory, and then practice, practice, practice. A single missed note in a sonata may be overlooked; a single error in a calculation, however, will usually propagate throughout the entire analysis, producing a wrong answer. A teacher, even a great teacher, can only guide the learning process; the student must, on his/her own, master the material by studying problem solving by studying how problems of each type are analyzed. It’s part of the process to make mistakes, discover those mistakes, correct them, and learn to avoid them, all at home and not in class on an exam. That’s what this book is all about.

In this 12th edition, much effort has gone into increasing pedagogical effectiveness. I’ve added several hundred problems, most designed to develop the basic required analytic skills specific to each chapter. Today’s students need a more gradual introduction to approaching the particular demands of the material of each different physics topic—they need additional support in order to learn how to solve the distinctive problems associated with each individual block of concepts. To that end, I’ve added explanatory diagrams, alternative solutions, and lots of hints on how to proceed. Chapters now contain a brief section called “Problem Solving Guide,” which summarizes needed concepts, anticipates pitfalls, and offers cautionary notes that will be helpful in successfully dealing with the problems. I’ve gone over every question in the book to improve the pedagogy, removing possible ambiguities and making the questions more easily apprehended. All of this was field-tested and fine-tuned in countless exams in my many collegephysics classes over the several years since the last edition.

I am grateful for all the comments and suggestions received from users of this book, especially those of Gregory Stansbury, who is reading it just for fun, and Jeremy Holbrook of Kennewick High School (in Kennewick, Washington), who is helping to prepare the next generation. Speaking of the next generation, I thank several Adelphi students—Lani Chau, Kelly Hiersche, Tara Pena, Muhammad Aziz, and Danielle Sofferman—who collectively worked through all the new problems; their feedback is most appreciated. Dr. Andreas Karpf was kind enough to look over the entire book and offer valuable suggestions. All the new art was brilliantly digitally executed by Jim Atherton of Atherton Customs, whose elegant work is unsurpassed.

Last, I thank my wife, Carolyn Eisen Hecht, who patiently coped with one more edition of one more book. Her good humor, forbearance, wise counsel, and uncanny ability to spell any word in the language, were essential. Anyone wishing to make suggestions for this or future editions can reach me at Adelphi University, Physics Department, Garden City, New York, 11530, or at [email protected].

Freeport,

NY EUGENE HECHT