PHY11006: Fundamentals of Physics#

Mechanics Section#

Welcome to the course notes for the Mechanics parts of PHY11006.

A note on these notes

These notes have been converted from LaTeX (as a PDF file) into a Jupyter Book for the 2023-2024 academic year. This is the first time I’ve used this platform so if there are any bugs or breaks in the notes please let me know ASAP and I’ll fix them.

About me#

I’m Dr Matt Mears (he/him or they/them), and I’m a Senior University Teacher in Physics.
You get the delight(!) of me teaching you the Mechanics course in your very first semester, and then you’ll probably see me again in second year as I currently run the labs.

Office: D29, Hicks Building
Office Hours: Mondays, 13:00-14:30. You can book a 30 min appointment via https://tinyurl.com/mattmears Email: m.mears@sheffield.ac.uk

Structure of this course#

By “course” I am referring specifically to the Mechanics section, which will be delivered via one lecture per week alongside tutorials and homework questions.

I have produced these notes to be used in parallel with the lecture slides and what is written on the boards during the lectures. The course notes are pretty complete in terms of the curriculum content but you’ll benefit from attending lectures and tutorials in order to ask any questions or get more clarification on particular points.

It’s also important to read around the subject, particularly those topics that may not be clear immediately from the notes or lectures. Different books explain concepts in different ways so another author may spark that lightbulb moment. Textbooks are also a great resource for getting more practice questions to consolidate your understanding.

The list of 11 lectures are below. There will also be a revision lecture early in the exam period, date of which will be confirmed once we know the exam timetable.