2.8 — Practice problems — 20 exercises for mastery
Twenty problems without step-by-step solutions — for working on your own. Original scenarios, difficulty varies:
2.7 — Worked problems — the Chapter 2 toolkit in action
Seven problems that exercise every tool from Chapter 2. Each begins with a scenario, then walks through the full solution — emphasizing which §2.x…
2.6 — Graphical analysis and motion integration
The §2.4 kinematic equations were valid only for constant acceleration. For variable acceleration (air drag, springs, variable-power engines), we…
2.5 — Free fall
The most important application of constant acceleration (§2.4) in nature: free fall. Any object near Earth’s surface subject only to gravity (no air…
2.4 — Constant acceleration and the kinematic equations
The most important special case in kinematics is constant acceleration (a = const). This case governs three crucial phenomena:
2.3 — Acceleration
From §2.2, we saw that instantaneous velocity can change over time. The rate of change of velocity is itself a fundamental quantity — we call it…
Article 3 — Earth mass, the value of g, and its variation with altitude
From Articles 1 and 2, we now have both pieces of the puzzle:
Article 2 — How Cavendish measured G
Article 1 — How Newton reached the 1/r² law
Gravitation — from Newton’s apple to Earth’s mass
From Newton’s apple to Earth’s mass — follow gravity from the 1/r² law through Cavendish’s experiment to the precise value of g.