Experimentalphysik 1 kompakt
Essentials of Experimental Physics 1

This course covers the basics and essentials of classical mechanics for first-semester physics bachelor students.  Using Newton's laws and conservation laws, motions of objects could be quantitatively described and understood.  This course equips students with the first tools to analyse a variety of situations involving classical mechanics and solve problems.

This course supplements the German course of Experimentalphysik 1, by reviewing some of the key topics in classical mechanics in English. 

After successful completion of this module, the student is able to

• compute the motion of objects
• apply Newton’s laws to determine forces on objects in equilibrium or in motion
• calculate the energies of objects
• apply conservation laws of energies and momentum

No preconditions in addition to the requirements for the bachelor’s program in Physics.

In classroom lectures the teaching and learning content is presented and explained in a didactical, structured, and comprehensive form. This includes basic knowledge in both classical mechanics and calculus. Crucial facts are conveyed by involving the students in discussions to develop their intellectual power and to stimulate their analytic thinking on physics problems. Regular attendance of the lectures is therefore highly recommended.

The presentation of the learning content is enhanced by problem examples and calculations that the students could work on a voluntary basis. These examples are intended to deepen the students' understanding and to help their learning of the course material. They are discussed at the exercise sessions to aid the students’ comprehension of the subject.

The examples as well as regular self-study of personal notes from the lectures and of textbooks are an important part of the learning process by the students. Such post-processing and practising of the teaching content is indispensable to achieve the intended learning results that the students develop the ability of explaining and applying the learned knowledge independently.

blackboard, discussions, PowerPoint presentation, post-lecture PDFs, videos, textbook, complementary literature

"The Mechanical Universe" by Steven C. Frautschi, Richard P. Olenick, Tom M. Apostol, David L. Goodstein
https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/physics/general-and-classical-physics/mechanical-universe-mechanics-and-heat-advanced-edition?format=PB&isbn=9780521715904

There will be a written exam of 120 minutes duration. Therein the achievement of the competencies given in section learning outcome is tested exemplarily at least to the given cognition level using calculation problems and comprehension questions.

For example an assignment in the exam might be:

• Determine a component of the force acting on an object in a given construction.
• Determine the trajectory of an object in a given construction

In the exam no learning aids are permitted.