Calculus-Based Physics is an introductory physics textbook designed for use in the two-semester introductory physics course typically taken by science and engineering students.

A free, two-volume, on-line, editable, introductory calculus based physics textbook in PDF™ and Microsoft Word™ format. Also provides ancillary materials including video solutions to physics problems and Blackboard™ quizzes with extensive feedback.

A book on introductory mechanics and numerical methods for lower division undergraduate students in engineering or physical sciences.

This introductory, algebra-based, two-semester college physics book is grounded with real-world examples, illustrations, and explanations to help students grasp key, fundamental physics concepts. This online, fully editable and customizable title includes learning objectives, concept questions, links to labs and simulations, and ample practice opportunities to solve traditional physics application problems.

For a semester-length course, all seven chapters can be covered. For a shorter course, the book is designed so that chapters 1, 2, and 5 are the only ones that are required for continuity; any of the others can be included or omitted at the instructor’s discretion, with the only constraint being that chapter 6 requires chapter 4.

In this book I've attempted an innovation in the order of topics for freshman E&M, the goal being to follow the logical sequence while also providing plenty of opportunities for relating abstract ideas to hands-on experience. The typical sequence starts by slogging through Coulomb's law, the electric field, and Gauss's law, none of which are well suited to practical exploration in the laboratory. In this book, each of the first 5 chapters is short and includes a laboratory exercise that can be completed in about an hour and a half. The approach I've taken is to introduce the electric and magnetic field on an equal footing (which is in fact the way the subject was developed historically). As empirically motivated postulates, we take some primitive ideas about relativity along with the expressions for the energy and momentum density of the fields.

Another goal is to introduce the laws of physics in their natural, local form, i.e., Maxwell's equations in differential rather than integral form, without getting bogged down in an extensive development of the toolbox of vector calculus that would be more appropriate in an honors text like Purcell. Much of the necessary apparatus of div, grad, and curl is developed first in visual or qualitative form.

This is an open-access textbook for calculus-based introductory physics courses. Anyone that complies with the license is welcome to modify and use this work for their own use, and we hope that you will choose to contribute. The textbook is specifically intended for a flipped-classroom approach, wherein students complete readings at home and the material is then discussed in class. The textbook thus contains questions and activities to engage readers. This text also includes a curriculum in experimental physics, detailing the scientific method and process, suggesting experiments to perform at home and in the lab, and has chapters that cover: writing and reviewing proposals, writing and reviewing reports, analyzing data, as well as an introduction to python. Finally, this textbook was written with many contributions from students! We hope that you may find it useful, and we are interested to know if you are using it!

This is an introductory text intended for a one-year introductory course of the type typically taken by biology majors, or for AP Physics 1 and 2. Algebra and trig are used, and there are optional calculus-based sections. My text for physical science and engineering majors is Simple Nature.

This is a calculus-based book meant for the first semester of the type of freshman survey course taken by engineering and physical science majors. A treatment of relativity is interspersed with the Newtonian mechanics, in optional sections. The book is designed so that it can be used as a drop-in replacement for the corresponding part of Simple Nature, for instructors who prefer a traditional order of topics. Simple Nature does energy before force, while Mechanics does force before energy. Simple Nature has its treatment of relativity all in a single chapter, rather than in parallel with the development of Newtonian mechanics.

This is an open-source, modern physics textbook typically for the third semester students majoring in engineering, physics or chemistry. An emphasis is placed on fundamental principles as well as numerical solutions to equations where no analytical solutions exist. The content begins with optics and uses that as a stepping stone to wave phenomena and quantum systems.

This type of physics course can easily seem to the student like a random grab-bag of topics, consisting of everything that didn’t fit in the earlier semesters on mechanics and electromagnetism. But there is a clear organizing principle for most of what we’ll be studying. It has to do with two surprising facts about time. In particular, one of these facts leads us to the conclusion that light and matter can’t really be made of particles, as envisioned by Isaac Newton’s grand vision of the universe — they must be made of waves.

This site provides a free physics textbook that tells the story of how it became possible, after 2500 years of exploration, to answer such questions. The book is written for the curious: it is entertaining, surprising and challenging on every page. With little mathematics, starting from observations of everyday life, the text explores the most fascinating parts of mechanics, thermodynamics, special and general relativity, electrodynamics, quantum theory and modern attempts at unification. The essence of these fields is summarized in the most simple terms. For example, the text presents modern physics as consequence of the notions of minimum entropy, maximum speed, maximum force, minimum change of charge and minimum action.

Spiral Physics is a research based introductory physics curriculum developed at Monroe Community College. There are several important features of this curriculum. It integrates text and workbook activities in a modular fashion, and arranges topics so that students receive repeated exposure to concepts with increased complexity. It makes use of alternative problem types, including goal-less problem statements, ranking tasks, and critical analysis tasks. It restricts the equation set available for student use and is designed to facilitate active learning. Spiral Physics is available for both the algebra-based and calculus-based introductory courses. Assessment of Spiral Physics via the FCI, MBT, and MPEX compare favorably with the best results reported in the literature.

This is a “minimalist” textbook for a first semester of university, calculus-based physics, covering classical mechanics (including one chapter on mechanical waves, but excluding fluids), plus a brief introduction to thermodynamics. The presentation owes much to Mazur’s The Principles and Practice of Physics: conservation laws, momentum and energy, are introduced before forces, and one-dimensional setups are thoroughly explored before two-dimensional systems are considered. It contains both problems and worked-out examples.

University Physics is a three-volume collection that meets the scope and sequence requirements for two- and three-semester calculus-based physics courses. Volume 1 covers mechanics, sound, oscillations, and waves. Volume 2 covers thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and Volume 3 covers optics and modern physics. This textbook emphasizes connections between between theory and application, making physics concepts interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the mathematical rigor inherent in the subject. Frequent, strong examples focus on how to approach a problem, how to work with the equations, and how to check and generalize the result.

University Physics is a three-volume collection that meets the scope and sequence requirements for two- and three-semester calculus-based physics courses. Volume 1 covers mechanics, sound, oscillations, and waves. Volume 2 covers thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and Volume 3 covers optics and modern physics. This textbook emphasizes connections between theory and application, making physics concepts interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the mathematical rigor inherent in the subject. Frequent, strong examples focus on how to approach a problem, how to work with the equations, and how to check and generalize the result.

University Physics is a three-volume collection that meets the scope and sequence requirements for two- and three-semester calculus-based physics courses. Volume 1 covers mechanics, sound, oscillations, and waves. Volume 2 covers thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and Volume 3 covers optics and modern physics. This textbook emphasizes connections between between theory and application, making physics concepts interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the mathematical rigor inherent in the subject. Frequent, strong examples focus on how to approach a problem, how to work with the equations, and how to check and generalize the result.