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"What I am going to tell
you about is what we teach our physics students in the third
or fourth year of graduate school... It is my task to convince
you not to turn away because you don't understand it. You see
my physics students don't understand it... Richard P. Feynman |
| Note to the Reader: The author of this cyber-text retired from teaching after 36 years. You can still access this site due to the generosity of public school officials in Waterville Maine (USA) who continue to support this project. |
What follows is a work-in-progress that was once taking form as a syllabus for Physics 2K2 at Waterville High School. Given the breadth of variety and the rate of growth of useful materials available on the Internet, it seems advisable to forego the restrictions that come with using a traditional text, and to use in its stead materials and activities available on-line. Units that comprise the course are listed in the Table of Contents which follows. This elecronic text was used for the first time during the 1998-99 school year and was favorably received by the 46 students enrolled in the course. The current e-text is being updated and improved.
The premise of this approach is rather
straight forward. The short paragraphs on these pages were written
by me with the intent of providing a context that will connect
one topic to another. The links to web sites are intended to provide
the reader with background in the topic at hand. These sites will
take you to descriptions of the physics, or experiments, or problem
sets or other practice examples. The web sites listed here are
not intended to preclude Internet inquiry on the part of the student.
Rather, these links should illustrate examples of other sites
for which the student should be searching.
That this collection of materials may be of value to the reader
is due solely to the countless hundreds of scholars who have unselfishly
posted their thoughts at a web site to be shared with anyone whose
browsers caused them to stop by. In the same spirit of sharing,
I welcome any student to use what is written here if these pages
can make your study of physics easier.
The syllabus is posted here is incomplete; in fact, it will never
be "completed". I expect it to be altered and otherwise
improved almost every day it is in use.I invite interested educators
to send comments and suggestions regarding the scope of content
as well as the facility with which the web site can be used.
I have included the click-on address
for this purpose.
| Mike Gosselin |
| Waterville High School |
| 1 Brooklyn Ave |
| Waterville ME 04901 |
| Click here to visit my personal web site |