Light and Matter Index

This page is a table of contents with links to chapters in the entry level physics textbook, Light and Matter by Dr. Benjamin Crowell. Each chapter and subchapter has a dedicated web page that includes the complete open-source text and graphics.  However, these pages also have the unique feature of vCalc enabled formulas.  Wherever the user sees a solvable formula, vCalc had activated a link behind the formula that pops-up a calculator with that formula preloaded.  This give the reader the ability to use the formula in an accurate calculator at moment they encounter it.  Furthermore, at the top of every page is a formulary box containing a quick reference of all of the formulas that appear in the chapter.  This formulary box is useful for homework assignments associated with that chapter.

This vCalc collection is an index into the different vCalc enabled chapters of Dr. Crowell's open source physics textbook, Light and Matter.

Table of Contents

Click on the name of a chapter to navigate to the page containing that chapter.

• Chapter 0 - Introduction and Review
  • 0.1 The scientific method
  • 0.2 What is physics?
  • 0.3 How to learn physics?
  • 0.4 Self-Evaluation
  • 0.5 Basics of the metric system
  • 0.6 The Newton, the metric unit of force
  • 0.7 Less common metric prefixes
  • 0.8 Scientific Notation
  •  0.9 Conversions
  • 0.10 Significant Figures
  • 0.11 A note about diagrams
  • 0.12 Summary
• Chapter 1 - Scaling and estimation
  • 1.1 Introduction
  • 1.2 Scaling of area and volume
  • 1.3 Scaling applied to biology
  • 1.4 Order-of-magnitude estimates
  • 1.5 Summary
• Chapter 2 - Velocity and relative motion
  • 2.1 Types of motions
  • 2.2 Describing distance and time
  • 2.3 Graphs of motion: velocity
  • 2.4 The principle of inertia
  • 2.5 Addition of velocities
  • 2.6 Graphs of velocity versus time
  • 2.7 Applications of calculus
  • 2.8 Summary
• Chapter 3 - Acceleration and free fall
  • 3.1 The motion of falling objects
  • 3.2  Acceleration
  • 3.3 Positive and negative acceleration
  • 3.4 Varying acceleration
  • 3.5 The area under the velocity-time graph
  • 3.6 Algebraic results for constant acceleration
  • 3.7 A test of the principle of inertia
  • 3.8 Application of calculus
  • 3.9 Summary
• Chapter 4 - Force and Motion
  • 4.1 Force
  • 4.2 Newton’s first law
  • 4.3 Newton’s second law
  • 4.4 What Force is not
  • 4.5 Inertial and noninertial frames of reference
  • 4.6 Summary
• Chapter 5 - Analysis of Forces
  • 5.1 Newton’s Third Law
  • 5.2 Classification and behavior of forces
  • 5.3 Analysis of forces
  • 5.4 Transmission of forces by low-mass
  • 5.5 Objects under strain
  • 5.6 Simple Machines: the pulley
  • 5.7 Summary
• Chapter 6 - Newton’s laws in three dimensions
  • 6.1 Forces have no perpendicular effects
  • 6.2 Coordinates and components
  • 6.3 Newton's laws in three dimensions
  • 6.4 Summary
• Chapter 7 - Vectors 
  • 7.1 Vector Notation
  • 7.2 Calculations with magnitude and direction
  • 7.3 Techniques for adding vectors
  • 7.4 Vector Unit notation
  • 7.5 Rotational Invariance
  • 7.6 Summary and Problems
• Chapter 8 - Vectors and motion  
  • 8.1 - The velocity vector
  • 8.2 - The acceleration vector
  • 8.3 - The force vector and simple machines
  • 8.4 - Calculus with vectors
  • 8.5 - Summary
• Chapter 9 - Circular motion
  • 9.1 - Conceptual framework
  • 9.2 - Uniform circular motion
  • 9.3 - Nonuniform circular motion
  • 9.4 - Summary
• Chapter 10 - Gravity
  • 10.1 - Kepler's laws
  • 10.2 - Newton's law of gravity
  • 10.3 - Apparent weightlessness 
  • 10.4 - Vector addition of gravitational forces
  • 10.5 - Weighing the earth
  • 10.6 - Dark energy
  • 10.7 - A gravitational test of Newton's first law
  • 10.8 - Summary
• Chapter 11 - Conservation of energy
  • 11.1 - The search for a perpetual motion machine
  • 11.2 - Energy
  • 11.3 - A numerical scale of energy
  • 11.4 - Kinetic energy
  • 11.5 - Power
  • 11.6 - Summary
• Chapter 12 - Simplifying the energy zoo
  • 12.1 - Heat is kinetic energy
  • 12.2 - Potential energy: energy of distance or closeness
  • 12.3 - All energy is potential or kinetic
  • 12.4 - Summary
• Chapter 13 - Work: the transfer of mechanical energy
  • 13.1 - Work: the transfer of mechanical energy
  • 13.2 - Work in three dimensions
  • 13.3 - Varying force
  • 13.4 - Applications of calculus
  • 13.5 - Work and potential energy
  • 13.6 - When does work equal force time distance?
  • 13.7 - The dot product
  • 13.8 - Summary
• Chapter 14 - Conservation of momentum
  • 14.1 - Momentum
  • 14.2 - Collisions in one dimension
  • 14.3 - Relationship of momentum to the center of mass
  • 14.4 - Momentum transfer
  • 14.5 - Momentum in three dimensions
  • 14.6 - Applications of calculus
  • 14.7 - Summary
• Chapter 15 - Conservation of angular momentum
  • 15.1 - Conservation of angular momentum
  • 15.2 - Angular momentum in planetary motion
  • 15.3 - Two theorems about angular momentum
  • 15.4 - Torque: the rate of transfer of angular momentum
  • 15.5 - Statics
  • 15.6 - Simple Machines: the lever
  • 15.7 - Proof of Kepler's elliptical orbit law
  • 15.8 - Summary
• Chapter 16 - Thermodynamics
  • 16.1 - Pressure and temperature
  • 16.2 - Microscopic description of an ideal gas
  • 16.3 - Entropy
• Chapter 17 - Vibrations
  • 17.1 - Period, frequency, and amplitude
  • 17.2 - Simple harmonic motion
  • 17.3 - Proofs
  • 17.4 - Summary
• Chapter 18 - Resonance
  • 18.1 - Energy in vibrations
  • 18.2 - Energy lost from vibrations
  • 18.3 - Putting energy into vibrations
  • 18.4 - Proofs
  • 18.5 - Summary
• Chapter 19 - Free waves
  • 19.1 - Wave motion
  • 19.2 - Waves on a string
  • 19.3 - Sound and light waves
  • 19.4 - Periodic waves
  • 19.5 - The Doppler effect
  • 19.6 - Summary
• Chapter 20 - Bounded waves
  • 20.1 - Reflection, transmission, and absorption
  • 20.2 - Quantitative treatment of reflection
  • 20.3 - Interference effects
  • 20.4 - Waves bounded on both sides
  • 20.5 - Summary
• Chapter 21 - Electricity and circuits
  • 21.1 - The quest for the atomic force
  • 21.2 - Electrical forces
  • 21.3 - Current
  • 21.4 - Circuits
  • 21.5 - Voltage
  • 21.6 - Resistance
  • 21.7 - Applications of calculus
  • 21.8 - Series and parallel circuits
  • 21.9 - Summary
• Chapter 22 - The nonmechanical universe
  • 22.1 - The stage and the actors
  • 22.2 - The gravitational field
  • 22.3 - The electric field
  • 22.4 - Calculating the energy in fields
  • 22.5 - Voltage for nonuniform fields
  • 22.6 - Two or three dimensions
  • 22.7 - Field lines and Gauss's law
  • 22.8 - Electric field of a continuous charge distribution
  • 22.9 - Summary
• Chapter 23 - Relativity and magnetism
  • 23.1 - Relativistic distortion of space and time
  • 23.2 - Magnetic interactions
  • 23.3 - Summary
• Chapter 24 - Electromagnetism
  • 24.1 - The magnetic field
  • 24.2 - Calculating magnetic fields and forces
  • 24.3 - The universal speed
  • 24.4 - Induction
  • 24.5 - Electromagnetic waves
  • 24.6 - Symmetry and handedness
  • 24.7 - Doppler shifts and clock time
  • 24.8 - Summary
• Chapter 25 - Capacitance and inductance
  • 25.1 - Capacitance and inductance
  • 25.2 - Oscillations
  • 25.3 - Voltage and current
  • 25.4 - Decay
  • 25.5 - Impedance
• Chapter 26  - The atom and `E=mc^2`
  • 26.1 - Atoms
  • 26.2 - Quantization of charge
  • 26.3 - The electron
  • 26.4 - The nucleus
  • 26.5 - Relativistic mass and energy
  • 26.6 - Proofs
  • 26.7 - Two tests of Newton's third law
  • 26.8 - Summary
• Chapter 27 - General relativity
  • 27.1 - Our universe isn't Euclidean
  • 27.2 - The equivalence principle
  • 27.3 - Black holes
  • 27.4 - Cosmology
• Chapter 28 - The ray model of light
  • 28.1 - The nature of light
  • 28.2 - Interaction of light with matter
  • 28.3 - The ray model of light
  • 28.4 - Geometry of specular reflection
  • 28.5 - The principle of least time for reflection
  • 28.6 - Summary
• Chapter 29 - Images by reflection
  • 29.1 - A virtual image
  • 29.2 - Curved mirrors
  • 29.3 - A real image
  • 29.4 - Images of images
  • 29.5 - Summary
• Chapter 30 - Images, quantitatively
  • 30.1 - A real image formed by a converging mirror
  • 30.2 - Other cases with curved mirrors
  • 30.3 - Aberrations
  • 30.4 - Summary
• Chapter 31 - Refraction
  • 31.1 - Refraction
  • 31.2 - Lenses
  • 31.3 - The lensmaker's equation
  • 31.4 - Dispersion
  • 31.5 - The principle of least time for refraction
  • 31.6 - Case study: the eye of the jumping spider
  • 31.7 - Summary
• Chapter 32 - Wave optics
  • 32.1 - Diffraction
  • 32.2 - Scaling of diffraction
  • 32.3 - The correspondence principle
  • 32.4 - Huygen's principle
  • 32.5 - Double-slit diffraction
  • 32.6 - Repetition
  • 32.7 - Single-slit diffraction
  • 32.8 - The principle of least time
  • 32.9 - Summary
• Chapter 33 - Rules of randomness
  • 33.1 - Randomness isn't random
  • 33.2 - Calculating randomness
  • 33.3 - Probability distributions
  • 33.4 - Exponential decay and half-life
  • 33.5 - Applications of calculus
  • 33.6 - Summary
• Chapter 34 - Light as a particle
  • 34.1 - Evidence for light as a particle
  • 34.2 - How much light is one photon?
  • 34.3 - Wave-particle duality
  • 34.4 - Photons in three dimensions
  • 34.5 - Summary
• Chapter 35 - Matter as a wave
  • 35.1 - Electrons as waves
  • 35.2 - Dispersive waves
  • 35.3 - Bound states
  • 35.4 - The uncertainty principle
  • 35.5 - Electrons in electric fields
  • 35.6 - The Schrodinger equation
  • 35.7 - Summary
• Chapter 36 - The atom
  • 36.1 - Classifying states
  • 36.2 - Angular momentum in three dimensions
  • 36.3 - The hydrogen atom
  • 36.4 - Energies of states in hydrogen
  • 36.5 - Electron spin
  • 36.6 - Atoms with more than one electron
  • 36.7 - Summary