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PhysicsYear 1Quality review 0/4

Physics — Year 1

A university first-year foundation in physics for South African students: Newtonian mechanics, waves and oscillations, thermal physics, and the laboratory craft that turns measurements into physics. Every idea arrives in two modes — rigorous Theory and intuition-first Visual — with worked examples drawn from everyday South African life.

≈ 14 h 40 min5 sections · 32 lessonsNo ratings yet
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What you'll learn

  • Analyse one-dimensional motion and apply Newton's laws with free-body diagrams to predict the acceleration of real systems
  • Use the work–energy theorem, conservation of mechanical energy, and conservation of momentum to solve problems without tracking forces moment by moment
  • Describe simple harmonic motion and travelling waves quantitatively, and predict the frequencies of standing waves and beats
  • Apply the ideal gas law, kinetic theory and the first law of thermodynamics to energy transfers in gases and calorimetry
  • Carry out laboratory analysis: check equations by dimensions, quote and propagate measurement uncertainty, and extract a physical constant from the gradient of a linearised graph

Before you start

  • Grade 12 physics: describe motion with the equations of motion, apply Newton's laws in one dimension, and use conservation of momentum and energy
  • Grade 12 mathematics: rearrange formulae, solve simultaneous and quadratic equations, and work fluently with trigonometric ratios
  • Introductory calculus: interpret a derivative as a rate of change and an integral as an accumulated area

Academic references

Use the latest available edition and your institution's prescribed text.

  • OpenStax, University Physics, Volumes 1–3
  • Halliday, Resnick and Walker, Fundamentals of Physics
  • John R. Taylor, Classical Mechanics

Formal work standard

  • Draw the system boundary and coordinate frame before writing equations.
  • Carry units and uncertainty through every derivation.
  • Check limiting cases and compare the model with physical evidence.

Course content

0/32 lessons
1. Classical Mechanics (Newtonian)4 lessons
  1. Kinematics in One DimensionLesson25 min
  2. Newton's Laws and Free-Body DiagramsLesson30 min
  3. Work, Energy and PowerLesson30 min
  4. Momentum, Impulse and CollisionsLesson25 min
2. Extended Study 18 lessons
  1. Kinematics in One Dimension: Concept MapLesson25 min
  2. Newton's Laws and Free-Body Diagrams: Concept MapLesson30 min
  3. Work, Energy and Power: Concept MapLesson30 min
  4. Momentum, Impulse and Collisions: Concept MapLesson25 min
  5. Kinematics in One Dimension: MechanismLesson25 min
  6. Newton's Laws and Free-Body Diagrams: MechanismLesson30 min
  7. Work, Energy and Power: MechanismLesson30 min
  8. Momentum, Impulse and Collisions: MechanismLesson25 min
3. Extended Study 28 lessons
  1. Kinematics in One Dimension: RepresentationsLesson25 min
  2. Newton's Laws and Free-Body Diagrams: RepresentationsLesson30 min
  3. Work, Energy and Power: RepresentationsLesson30 min
  4. Momentum, Impulse and Collisions: RepresentationsLesson25 min
  5. Kinematics in One Dimension: Worked ReasoningLesson25 min
  6. Newton's Laws and Free-Body Diagrams: Worked ReasoningLesson30 min
  7. Work, Energy and Power: Worked ReasoningLesson30 min
  8. Momentum, Impulse and Collisions: Worked ReasoningLesson25 min
4. Extended Study 38 lessons
  1. Kinematics in One Dimension: Evidence and MeasurementLesson25 min
  2. Newton's Laws and Free-Body Diagrams: Evidence and MeasurementLesson30 min
  3. Work, Energy and Power: Evidence and MeasurementLesson30 min
  4. Momentum, Impulse and Collisions: Evidence and MeasurementLesson25 min
  5. Kinematics in One Dimension: Applied ScenarioLesson25 min
  6. Newton's Laws and Free-Body Diagrams: Applied ScenarioLesson30 min
  7. Work, Energy and Power: Applied ScenarioLesson30 min
  8. Momentum, Impulse and Collisions: Applied ScenarioLesson25 min
5. Extended Study 44 lessons
  1. Kinematics in One Dimension: MisconceptionsLesson25 min
  2. Newton's Laws and Free-Body Diagrams: MisconceptionsLesson30 min
  3. Work, Energy and Power: MisconceptionsLesson30 min
  4. Momentum, Impulse and Collisions: MisconceptionsLesson25 min