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Halpern, Alvin M.
Schaum's 3000 solved problems in physics.
14 15 16 17 18 19 VLP VLP 0 5 4 3 2
Copyright 1988 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed
in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States
Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or
distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval
system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
McGraw-Hill ~
A Division ofTheMcGrawHiU Companies
CONTENTS
iii
iv D CONTENTS
INDEX 737
TO THE STUDENT
This book is intended for use by students of general physics, either in calculus- or noncalculus-
based courses. Problems requiring real calculus (not merely calculus notation) are marked with a
small superscript c.
The only way to master general physics is to gain ability and sophistication in problem-solving.
This book is meant to make you a master of the art - and should do so if used properly. As a
rule, a problem can be solved once you have learned the ideas behind it; sometimes these very ideas
are brought into sharper focus by looking at sample problems and their solutions. If you hav.e difficulty
with a topic, you can select a few problems in that area, examine the solutions carefully, and then
try to solve related problems before looking at the printed solutions.
There are numerous ways of posing a problem and, frequently, numerous ways of solving one. You
should try to gain understanding of how to approach various classes of problems, rather than memorizing
particular solutions. Understanding is better than memory for success in physics.
The problems in this book cover every important topic in a typical two- or three-semester general
physics sequence. Ranging from the simple to the complex, they will provide you with plenty of practice
and food for thought.
The Chapter Skeletons with Exams, beginning on the next page, was devised to help students with
limited time gain maximum benefit from this book. It is hoped that the use of this feature is self-
evident; still, the following remarks may help:
The Chapter Skeletons divide the problems in this book into three categories: SCAN,
HOMEWORK and EXAMS. (Turn to page ix to see an example.)
To gain a quick overview of the basic ideas in a chapter, review the SCAN problems and
study their printed solutions.
HOMEWORK problems are for practicing your problem-solving skills; cover the solution with
an index card as you read, and try to solve, the problem. Do both sets if your course is
calculus based.
No problem from SCANor HOMEWORKis duplicated in EXAMS,and no two Exams overlap.
Calculus-based students are urged also to take the Hard Exam. Exams run about 60 minutes,
unless otherwise indicated.
Still further problems constitute the two groups of Final Exams. Stay in your category(ies), and
good luck.
vii
ix