Steven Holzner - Physics II For Dummies (For Dummies (Math & Science))

Physics II For Dummies

by Steven Holzner, PhD

Physics II For Dummies

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2010926836

ISBN: 978-0-470-53806-7

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

Steven Holzner taught Physics at Cornell University for more than a decade, teaching thousands of students. Hes the award-winning author of many books, including Physics For Dummies, Quantum Physics For Dummies, and Differential Equations For Dummies, plus For Dummies workbooks for all three titles. He did his undergraduate work at MIT and got his PhD from Cornell, and he has been on the faculty of both MIT and Cornell.

Dedication

To Nancy, of course.

Authors Acknowledgments

The book you hold in your hands is the product of many peoples work. Id particularly like to thank Acquisitions Editor Tracy Boggier, Senior Project Editor Alissa Schwipps, Senior Copy Editor Danielle Voirol, Technical Editors Laurie Fuhr and Ron Reifenberger, and the many talented folks in Composition Services.

Publishers Acknowledgments

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Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Senior Project Editor: Alissa Schwipps

Acquisitions Editor: Tracy Boggier

Senior Copy Editor: Danielle Voirol

Contributor: Neil Clark

Assistant Editor: Erin Calligan Mooney

Senior Editorial Assistant: David Lutton

Technical Editors: Laurie Fuhr, Ron Reifenberger

Senior Editorial Manager: Jennifer Ehrlich

Editorial Assistants: Rachelle Amick, Jennette ElNaggar

Cover Photos: Thorsten | Dreamstime.com

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

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Indexer: Sharon Shock

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Introduction

F or many people, physics holds a lot of terror. And Physics II courses do introduce a lot of mind-blowing concepts, such as the ideas that mass and energy are aspects of the same thing, that light is just a mix of electric and magnetic fields, and that every electron zipping around an atom creates a miniature magnet. In Physics II, charges jump, light bends, and time stretches and not just because your instructor lost the class halfway through the lecture. Throw some math into the mix, and physics seems to get the upper hand all too often. And thats a shame, because physics isnt your enemy its your ally.

The ideas may have come from Albert Einstein and other people who managed to get laws and constants and units of measurement named after them, but you dont have to be a genius to understand Physics II. After all, its only partially rocket science and those are ultra-cool, nearing-the-speed-of-light rockets.

Many breakthroughs in the field came from students, researchers, and others who were simply curious about their world, who did experiments that often didnt turn out as expected. In this book, I introduce you to some of their discoveries, break down the math that describes their results, and give you some insight into how things work as physicists understand it.