Dynamics

This free course is concerned with moving objects, that is, dynamics. Section 1 introduces concepts like position, velocity and acceleration, which describe the way an object moves. Section 2 discusses Newton’s laws of motion, which predict the motion of an object when the forces acting on it are known. Section 3 shows how Newton’s second law of motion can be used to predict the motion of objects. Section 4 concerns modelling some of the forces that occur in nature, which enables more realistic situations to be analysed. Section 5 looks at motion in more than one dimension.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

Understand and use basic terms for the description of the motion of particles, vector functions and the fundamental laws of Newtonian mechanics

Solve mechanics problems in one dimension that involve one or more of the forces of gravity, friction and air resistance

Understand the concept of terminal speed, and use it in solving mechanics problems in one dimension

Apply Newton’s second law in vector form to problems in more than one dimension

Solve problems relating to the motion of a projectile in the absence of air resistance.