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PHY 321: Classical Mechanics 1, Michigan State University, Spring 2025

About the course

Getting Started
Teachers and Grading
Textbooks

Calendar & Lecture Materials

Course Calendar
Course Material and Links
Slides
Handwritten Notes

Weekly Course Materials

Week 1 - Overture: What is Classical Physics?
Week 1 - Notes: Introduction to Classical Mechanics
Week 2 - Computing as a tool for science
Week 2 - Notes: Mathematical Preliminaries
Week 3 - What is Mathematical Modeling?
Week 3 - Notes: Making Classical Models
Week 4 - Why does fluid drag complicate things?
Week 4 - Notes: Equations of Motion
Week 5 - Conservation Laws
Week 5 - Notes: Conservation of Energy
Week 6 - Stability and Equilibria
Week 6 - Notes: Stability and Energy
Week 6 - Notes: Linear and Angular Momentum
Week 7 - Nonlinear Dynamics
Week 7 - Notes: Critical Points; Phase Space; Trajectories

Assignments

Homework 1 (Due 24 Jan)
Homework 2 (Due 31 Jan)
Homework 3 (Due 07 Feb)
Homework 4 (Due 17 Feb)
Midterm 1 (Due 28 Feb)

Solutions

Solution Homework 1
Solution Homework 2
Solution Homework 3

Resources

Course Commitments
i-Clicker Setup Instructions
Generative Artificial Intelligence
Submitting Assignments on Gradescope
Finding Research Opportunities
Numerical Integrators

Honors Projects

Chaos in the driven nonlinear pendulum
From Ordinary Differential equations to Neural Networks, solving mechanics problems in a new way
Building a model for the solar system using ordinary differential equations

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By Danny Caballero, Morten Hjorth-Jensen, Rachel Henderson

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