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Fall 2026A calculus-based first-semester physics course for engineering, physics, and physical science students.
University Physics I turns mechanics into a mathematical toolkit: students use derivatives, integrals, vectors, and differential-equation reasoning to connect motion, force, energy, momentum, rotation, gravitation, and oscillations.
Use this path when the goal is not just to survive mechanics, but to build the modeling habits needed for later engineering and upper-division physics courses.
University Physics I Learning Outcomes
Kinematics
• Use derivatives and integrals to connect position, velocity, acceleration, and time.
• Move between motion graphs, vector functions, parametric descriptions, and component equations.
• Treat one-dimensional and two-dimensional motion as one coherent mathematical model.
Force and Translational Dynamics
• Build free-body diagrams and turn them into Newton's second-law equations.
• Analyze constraints, tension, friction, normal forces, drag-style reasoning, and coupled-object systems.
• Use calculus to reason about changing motion, not just constant-acceleration special cases.
Work, Energy, and Power
• Compute work from force integrals and force-position graphs.
• Track kinetic energy, potential energy, conservative forces, nonconservative work, and power.
• Use energy methods when they simplify otherwise difficult force-based problems.
Linear Momentum
• Connect impulse, force-time relationships, center of mass, and system momentum.
• Apply momentum conservation to collisions, explosions, recoil, and multi-object systems.
• Combine momentum and energy when classifying elastic and inelastic interactions.
Torque and Rotational Dynamics
• Translate between linear and angular descriptions of motion.
• Use torque, rotational inertia, and rotational Newton's second law to analyze rotating systems.
• Model rolling, pulleys, static equilibrium, and coupled translation-rotation scenarios.
Energy and Momentum of Rotating Systems
• Track rotational kinetic energy, rolling constraints, torque-position work, and changing moment of inertia.
• Use angular momentum conservation in collisions, orbital-style motion, and spin systems.
• Connect torque-time graphs and angular momentum change across representations.
Oscillations
• Model simple harmonic motion with restoring forces, energy, period, frequency, and phase.
• Use calculus-based differential-equation reasoning where it clarifies oscillator behavior.
• Analyze springs, pendulums, and small-oscillation approximations.
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