Physics Problem-Solving Techniques for Understanding and Success in First Year Mechanics: A Structured Approach for Scientists and Engineers

Physics Problem-Solving Techniques for Understanding and Success in First Year Mechanics: A Structured Approach for Scientists and Engineers addresses a topic generally skipped in first-year textbooks: how conceptual understanding of the laws of physics are applied to problem-solving in a systematic way, as experts do. The book was written to empower students with the knowledge and skills necessary for them to have confidence solving any problem in mechanics, and later, to those in related disciplines.

The opening chapter is on the topic of word problems featuring examples from 1D kinematics. Chapters 2 through 6 mirror the same order found in most standard first-year physics textbooks: Newton's Second Law, Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem, Conservation of Energy, Conservation of Momentum, and Rotational Dynamics and Angular Momentum. An appendix contains a review of unit analysis and unit conversion.

Each chapter begins by reviewing a principle of mechanics in the context of its application to problem-solving, ending with a summary of the problem-solving steps for that principle. The second half of each chapter has example solutions in a two-column format with the solution steps on the left and annotations on the right, describing the steps so that students learn how the same steps are applied to all problems using the same principle.

Christine Berven, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Idaho, where she has taught courses including Physics in Everyday Life, Engineering-Physics, Quantum Mechanics, and Solid-State Physics. She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in physics from the University of Oregon. Dr. Berven's research includes charge and thermal transport in nanomaterials, nanosensors, and superconductor levitation. Her work has been published in Applied Physics Letters, Nanotechnology, and Physica E, among others.