Introduction

This book isn’t purely a textbook. Sure, it’s got information about physics, but it’s not really meant to be read like a textbook. There are tons of physics textbooks out there and frankly most of the information we teach in this class hasn’t changed in hundreds of years.

You don’t need to know any formal physics to get started with this course, but you are expected to have a strong math background (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and some calculus) and will be expected to use those skills early and often in this course. Math is, after all, the language of physics!

In this manual, you’ll find a quick overview of the material you need to know from each section we cover, additional resources to help you better understand the material, the problems we will work on as a group in class, problems from previous course exams, problem-solving tips and strategies, and equation sheets for your own exams. Each chapter covers a general topic in the course and will include links to videos and other resources to help you with the material itself and the required math background.

Let’s get started!