Complements of classical mechanics and thermodynamics

Written and oral exam

Course of general physics for 1st year students in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics.

• Vectors. Reference systems. Equations of motion and time law. Units of measurement and dimensional analysis. Particle kinematics and kinematics of the rigid body. Forces and torques.
• Statics. Friction forces. Tensions. Balancing forces and torques. Newton's laws.
• Oscillations: harmonic oscillator, driven oscillator, damped oscillator. Coupled oscillators.
• Non-inertial reference systems. Fictitious forces. 
• Conservation of energy in one dimension, conservative forces, work and potential energy. Small oscillations. Conservation of energy in three dimensions. Gravity. Tides. 
• Momentum conservation. Variable masses. Center of mass. Kinetic energy. Collisions in one and two dimensions.
• Central forces. Angular momentum. Effective potential. Kepler's laws. Angular momentum with fixed direction. Case of a two-dimensional object. Non-planar objects.
• Moment of inertia. Torques. Angular momentum general case. Angular velocity. Tensor of inertia. Principal axes. Euler equations. Spinning tops and gyroscopes.
• Kinetic theory of gases. Pressure, temperature and kinetic energy, the ideal gas law, Boltzmann law, distribution of molecular velocities. Specific heat.
• Temperature and heat. First and second law of thermodynamics. Entropy. Free energy.

• Landau Lev D., Lifšits Evgenij M, Fisica Teorica 1 Meccanica. (link)
• Goldstein H., Poole C.P., Safko J.L., Classical Mechanics, 3rd edition. (link or Italian version by Zanichelli here)
• Morin D., Introduction to Classical Mechanics. (link)
• Fermi E., Thermodynamics. (link)