Description

This course is for highly motivated students who want to do USAPhO-level (or other equivalent national Olympiad) questions on classical mechanics. Specifically, this course aims to go beyond the standard AP Physics C: Mechanics curriculum to go into Olympiad-level tricks, ideas, and (most importantly) mindset on how to approach mechanics problems.

Pre-requisites: AP Physics C, AP Calculus BC (or equivalent). Some basic understanding of matrices and partial derivatives are preferred but not required.

Syllabus

1. Reference Frames and Coordinate Systems
2. Choice of Pivot Point, Complicated Scenarios for Statics Problems
3. Elementary Analysis, Catenary Problem
4. F=dp/dt, Rocket Equation, Product Rule trick for solving ODEs
5. Celestial Mechanics
6. Driven and Damped Oscillations
7. Coupled Oscillations and Normal Modes, Unconventional Scenarios for Oscillation
8. Misc. Topics & The Art of Physics