How Things Work : The Physics of Everyday Life /
Louis A. Bloomfield.
- 3rd ed.
- Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, c2006.
- xiv, 561 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.
Includes index.
Chapter 1. The Laws of Motion, Part I. Experiment: Removing a Tablecloth from a Table 1.1.1 Skating. (inertia, force, velocity, acceleration, mass, Newton's first and second laws, inertial frames of reference, units).1.2 Falling Balls. (weight, projectile motion, vector components).1.3 Ramps. (net force, Newton's third law, energy, work, energy conservation, potential energy, ramps,mechanical advantage).Chapter 2. The Laws of Motion, Part II. Experiment: A Spinning Pie Dish.2.1 Seesaws. (rotational inertia, torque, angular velocity, angular acceleration, rotational mass, Newton's first and second laws of rotation, center of mass, levers).2.2 Wheels. (friction, thermal energy, wheels, bearings, kinetic energy).2.3 Bumper Cars. (momentum, impulse, momentum conservation, angular momentum, angular impulse, angular momentum conservation, Newton's third law of rotation, potential energy and acceleration).Chapter 3. Mechanical Objects, Part I. Experiment: Swinging Water Overhead.3.1 Spring Scales. (Equilibrium, stable equilibrium, Hooke's law, oscillation, calibration, center of gravity).3.2 Bouncing Balls. (collisions, energy transfers, vibration, elastic and inelastic collisions).3.3 Carousels and Roller Coasters. (feeling of acceleration, uniform circular motion, centripetal acceleration).Chapter 4. Mechanical Objects, Part II. Experiment: High Flying Balls.4.1 Bicycles. (unstable equilibrium, static and dynamic stability, precession).4.2 Rockets and Space Travel. (reaction forces, Newton's law of gravitation, elliptical orbits, Kepler's laws, special and general relativity, equivalence principle).Chapter 5. Fluids. Experiment: A Cartesian Diver.5.1 Balloons. (pressure, density, temperature, Archimedes' principle, buoyant force, ideal gas law).5.2 Water Distribution. (hydrostatics, Pascal's principle, hydraulics, hydrodynamics, steady state flow, Bernoulli's equation).Chapter 6. Fluids and Motion. Experiment: A Vortex Cannon.6.1 Garden Watering. (viscous forces, lamina
This book is an unconventional introduction to physics and science that starts with whole objects and looks inside them to see what makes them work. It's written for students who seek a connection between science and the world in which they live. How Things Work brings science to the reader rather than the reverse. Like the course in which it developed, this book has always been for nonscientists and is written with their interests in mind. Nonetheless, it has attracted students from the sciences, engineering, architecture, and other technical fields who wish to put scientific concepts into context. This book is written in English and organized in a case-study fashion. It conveys an understanding and appreciation for physics by finding physics concepts and principles within the familiar objects of everyday experience. Because its structure is defined by real-life examples, this book necessarily discusses concepts as they're needed and then revisits them later on when they reappear in other objects. Lou Bloomfield is a highly dedicated teacher and one of the most popular professors at University of Virginia, and was the recipient of the 1998 State of Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award. Lou has given talks all over the country on teaching physics through everyday objects. He has extreme attention to detail and knowledge of technical physics. He is very tech savvy and has been able to provide many of the photos and illustrations for the text himself.