AP Physics C Mechanics Videos
AP Physics C Mechanics Videos: 10 Minute Videos to Help You Understand Physics
A. Kinematics (The Study of Describing Motion)
video A1: Distance, Position, Displacement, Speed, Velocity and Acceleration. Quickly explains what is meant by each of these terms including average and instantaneous velocity.
video A2.1: Deriving the Kinematics Equations for Straight-Line Uniform Acceleration Using Calculus. Note: integral calculus is used for these derivations.
video A3: A Quick and Intuitive Way to Solve Some Kinematics Problems. This video uses the idea of average velocity to quickly solve some types of kinematics problems. It is a good method for quickly checking your answers on kinematics tests.
video A4: A Quick and Intuitive Way to Solve Some Free Fall Problems. This video uses the idea of average velocity to quickly solve some types of kinematics problems. It is a good method for quickly checking your answers on kinematics tests.
video A5: A Quick and Intuitive Way to Solve Some Projectile Motion Problems. This video uses the idea of average velocity to quickly solve some types of kinematics problems. It is a good method for quickly checking your answers on kinematics tests.
video A6: Projectile Motion Basics. Just the basics of projectile motion.
video A7: Relative Velocity. All velocities are relative, this video describes how to find the velocity of one object relative to another object using vectors.
video A8: Vector Basics (Part I). Just the basics of vector notation including an explanation of unit vectors.
video A9: Vector Basics (part 2) Vector Basics (part 2). Some basics of the relationship between velocity and acceleration vectors.
B. Newton’s Laws
video B1: Solving Newton's Second Law Problems. This video shows the steps to solving a Newton's second law problem with particular attention given to an object moving on an inclined plane.
video B1.1: Basics on the Force of Tension. This video explains why a string or rope of negligible mass will usually have the same tension throughout it.
video B1.2: The Force of Kinetic Friction
video B1.3: The Force of Static Friction
video B2: Inclined Planes (Continued from Video B1): This video is continued from video B1. It looks at an object on an inclined plane where friction is present.
video B2.1: Two Newton's 2nd Law Example Problems: Ball Hanging From the Ceiling of a Truck and Crate in a Truck. This video covers 2 Newton's 2nd Law Problems. Problem 1. A ball hangs from a rope that is attached to the ceiling of a truck. Given the angle the rope is deflected from the vertical, find the acceleration of the truck. Problem 2. A truck transporting a crate is accelerating down the road. Given the coefficient of static and kinetic frictions, find the maximum acceleration the truck can have before it begins to slide on the truck's horizontal floor.
video B3: Solving Problems Involving Multiple-Bodies Using Newton's Laws: This videos explains how to find the acceleration and forces for a problem involving 2 or more bodies.
video B3.1: Atwood's Machine Problems. This video shows a method for solving Newton's second law problems involving pulleys.
video B4: Atood's Machine Problems (part II). This video finishes up the analysis of Atwood's machine problems which are problems involving pulleys.
video B5: Circular Motion Problems. This video shows how Newton's laws are applied to circular motion problems.
video B6: Circular Motion Problems (part 2). This video looks at cars travelling around an unbanked turn.
video B6.5: Circular Motion for Non-Uniform Circular Motion. Explains how Newton's 2nd law is used to analyze an object that is traveling in non-uniform circular motion. (Non-uniform circular motion is circular motion in which the object is either speeding up or slowing down.)
video B7: Banked Turns and Toy Airplanes. This is video details the physics of a car travelling around a circle on a banked turn.
video B7.1: The Physics of a Banked Turn (with Friction Considerations). This video shows the physics of when a car goes around a banked turn but still needs friction to navigate the turn. It needs friction because it's either going too fast or too slow. If it's going too slow than the force of friction is up the embankment. If it's going too fast then the force of friction is down the embankment. The first example is one in which a car travels around a frictionless banked track. The second example is one in which a car travels around a banked track that has friction.
video B8: Elevator Problems and Newton's Laws. This video shows how to handle a typical elevator problem involving Newton's laws of motion.
video B9: Review of Unit B. Newton's Laws (part 1). This video is a review of the concepts covered in unit B. Try pausing the video after each question to see if you can answer the question on your own.
video B10: Review of Unit B (part 2)
video B11: Review of Unit B (part 3)
C. Work, Energy, and Power
video C0: Part 1 of the Dot Product or Scalar Product. I originally forgot to add this one. Watch this before D1.
video C1: The Dot Product or the Scalar Product. This video explains one of two ways to multiply two vector quantities. The second method will be covered in a different video.
video C2: The Integral and Work Done by a Force. This video is an introduction to the work done by a varying force.
video C3: Using Calculus to Derive the Kinematics Equations for Straight-line Motion with Constant Acceleration. This video attempts to do just what it says.
video C4: Work Done on an Object by a Constant Force.
video C5: Work Done on an Object by a Varying Force.
video C6: Power and Efficiency
video C7: Conservative and Non-Conservative Forces. This video details the difference between conservative and non-conservative forces in relation to the work done by each type of force.
video C8: Conservative and Non-Conservative Forces (part 2)
video C9: Work Done By a Conservative Forces. This video details how the work done by a conservative force, such as the gravitational force, will equal the negative change in the system's potential energy.
video C10: Unit C Review (part 1). This video is a review of the concepts covered in unit D. Try pausing the video after each question to see if you can answer the question on your own.
video C11: Unit C Review (part 2)
video C12: Unit C Review (part 3)
video C13: Unit C Review (part 4)
D. Momentum, Impulse, and the Center of Mass
video D1: Momentum Basics. This video shows how momentum conservation follows from Newton's laws of motion.
video D2: Types of Collisions. This video details the different types of collisions between two objects.
video D3: Types of Collisions (part 2).
video D4: Collisions in 2 Dimensions. This video details the physics that occurs when the collision is not "head-on" but rather "off-center" so that the two objects travel off of their original straight-line paths.
video D5: Ballistic Pendulum Problems. This video details the physics of a ballistic pendulum problem. An example of a ballistic pendulum problem would be a block hanging from a string getting hit by a bullet so that the bullet-block system swings up to a particular height before it swings back down to its original position.
video D6: Unit D Review (part 1). This video is a review of the concepts covered in unit D on Momentum and Impulse. Try pausing the video after each question to see if you can answer the question on your own.
video D7: Unit D Review (part 2).
video D8: Unit D Review (part 3).
E. Rotational Motion
video E1: Rotational Kinematics. This video explains rotational kinematics for constant angular acceleration.
video E2: Rotational Kinematics (part 2). This video continues to explain rotational kinematics and details how the linear quantities are related to rotational (or angular) quantities as an object rotates.
video E3: Rotational Kinematics (part 3)
video E4: Torque and the Cross-Product (or Vector Product): This video explains a little bit about torque and the cross-product or vector product of two vectors. So this is the second way that two vector quantities can be multiplied together.
video E5: Torque and the Cross-Product (part 2)
video E6: Torque and the Cross-Product (part 3)
video E7: Static Equilibrium Problems. This is a video that explains the necessary conditions for keeping a structure in static equilibrium. Static equilibrium occurs when a system has no linear acceleration and no angular acceleration.
video E8: Static Equilibrium Problems (part 2)
video E8.1: Static Equilibrium Problem for Physics of a Person Climbing a Ladder. This video explains how to analyze the physics of a person climbing a ladder. The first part finds the forces on the ladder from the ground. The second part finds the maximum distance a person can climb the ladder before it slips out at the base of the ladder.
video E9: Rotational Inertia or Moment of Inertia. This video introduces the concept of rotational inertia (or rotational sluggishness or moment of inertia)
video E9.1: Rotational Inertia for a Long Slender Rod. This video derives the moment of inertia (I) for a long slender rod that has a uniform linear mass density.
video E9.2: Rotational Inertia for a Solid Disk. This video derives the moment of inertia (I) for a solid disk of uniform mass density about an axis that runs through its center and is normal to the plane of the disk.
video E9.3: Rotational Inertia for a Solid Cylinder. This video derives the moment of inertia (I) for a solid cylinder of uniform density with its axis through the center.
video E9.4: Rotational Inertia for a Slender Rod of NON-UNIFORM mass density. This video derives the moment of inertia (I) for a long slender rod of NON-UNIFORM mass density with its axis at the end of the rod and perpendicular to it.
video E9.5: Rotational Inertia for a Solid Cylinder of NON-UNIFORM mass density. This video derives the moment of inertia (I) for a solid cylinder of NON-UNIFORM density with its axis through the center.
video E10: The Parallel-Axis Theorem. If you know a system's rotational inertial about an axis that passes through its center of mass, then you can find the rotational inertial about a second axis that is parallel to the original axis by using the parallel-axis theorem.
video E11: Rotational Dynamics (Newton's Second Law in Rotational Motion)
video E12: Rotational Dynamics (part 2)
video E13: Rotational Dynamics (part 3): This is a video that details Atwood's machine problems where the pulley has significant mass.
video E14: Rotational Kinetic Energy (part 1)
video E15: Rotational Kinetic Energy (part 2)
video E15.1: An example of an Atwood's Machine problem involving a pulley with non-negligible mass and with friction in its axle.
video E16: Angular Momentum
video E17: Angular Momentum (part 2)
video E18: Unit E Review (part 1). This video is a review of the concepts covered in unit F on Rotational Motion. Try pausing the video after each question to see if you can answer the question on your own.
video E19: Unit E Review (part 2)
F. Satellite Motion
video F1: The Gravitational Force.
This video gives a few different viewpoints of the gravitational force and described by Newton's Law of Universal Gravity.
video F2: Gravitational Potential Energy.
This video gives a few different viewpoints of gravitational potential energy. More information on gravitational potential energy will be given in units D and G.
video F3: Gravitational Forces and Energies:
This video shows how the universal equations for gravitational force and energy transition into their more simple forms when you are near the earth's surface.
video F4: The Gravitational Field Strength. This video is on the gravitational field due to a planet.
video F5: Satellites in Circular Orbit. This video details the physics of satellites in circular orbit around another object.
video F6: Kepler's 3 Laws of Planetary Motion.
video F7: Elliptical Orbits and the Conservation of Energy
video F8: Elliptical Orbits and the Conservation of Angular Momentum
Video F9: Escape Velocity. Explains how you calculate an object's escape velocity for a given planet.
video F10: The Physics of Binary Star Systems
video F11: Review for Unit F (part 1). This video is a review of the concepts covered in unit G on Planetary or Satellite Motion. Try pausing the video after each question to see if you can answer the question on your own.
video F12: Review for Unit F (part 2)
video F13: Review for Unit F (part 3)
G. Periodic Motion (Harmonic Motion)
video G1: The Kinematics of Harmonic Motion (part 1): An Introduction into Harmonic Motion. This video compares the motion of an object travelling in uniform circular motion to an object travelling in simple harmonic motion. Kinematics is the study of DESCRIBING motion. Dynamics is the study of the CAUSES of motion.
video G2: The Kinematics of Harmonic Motion (part 2)
video G3: The Kinematics of Harmonic Motion (part 3)
video G4: The Dynamics of Simple Harmonic Motion (part 1). This video explains how Newton's laws apply to simple harmonic motion.
video G5: Energy Conservation and Simple Harmonic Motion
video G6: Harmonic Oscillator with a Crate on Top of a Crate. This video details the physics of a crate that is attached to a spring with another create sitting on top of the first one. The net force on the top crate is supplied only by the force of friction.
video G7: Springs in Series and Parallel. This video explains how to find the equivalent spring constants of either set of springs that are connected in parallel and or connected in series.
video G8: The Period of a Simple Pendulum. This video describes the derivation for the period of a simple pendulum.
video G9: The Period of a Physical Pendulum. This video describes the derivation for the period of a physical pendulum.
video G10: The Period of a Physical Pendulum (part 2). This video shows how to apply the equation derived in video G9.
video G11: The Equivalence of a Vertical Mass on a Spring to a Horizontal Mass on a Spring. This video attempts to explain why the physics of a mass attached to a horizontal spring has many similarites to the physics of a mass attached to a vertical spring.
video G12: Review of Unit G(part 1). This video is a review of the concepts covered in unit H on Harmonic Motion. Try pausing the video after each question to see if you can answer the question on your own.
video G13: Review of Unit G (part 2).
video G14: Review of Unit G (part 3)
video G15: Review Unit G (part 4)
video G 16: Review Unit G (part 5)
N. Growth and Decay in Physics (Air Resistance)*
video N1: Objects Falling With Air Resistance.
video N2: Objects Falling With Air Resistance (part 2)
video N3: Review of Air Resistance
video N4: Review of Air Resistance (part 2). Only a part of this video is air resistance. The other part of this video is on RC circuits.
H. The Big Picture
video H1: The Big Picture (part 1): The Big Picture. This video develops a concept map that links the various topics covered in mechanics.
video H2 The Big Picture (part 2): More summarizing of the big picture linking kinematics, newton's laws, energy, and power.