Course description

This course is sui for high school students, at which level it is appropriate for blended learning, as well as for early college or applied university students, at which level it can also be employed in a remedial or flipped classroom setting.

Description of the course: this module is the second part of a dynamics course and covers two-dimensional motion. The chapter starts with basic foundational concepts such as the independence of perpendicular motions and the distinction between the distance walked in two-dimensions and the straight-line distance between two points. It proceeds with the development of vector addition and subtraction techniques, both graphical and analytical. Finally, it develops descriptions of projectile motion in two-dimensions and discusses addition of velocities, thereby introducing the notion of relative velocities.

Study load: 0.5 ECT.

Sample course plan

In the tab below, you can find a selection of suggested exercises for classroom demonstration and for student practice. Later in this document, you can also find a sample diagnostic test. Assuming a four hour per week class load, this module (including its introductory chapter) can be covered in three weeks.

Assessments

In the tab below, you can find a selection of exercises that are suitable for diagnosing a student's level in the contents of this module. Note that knowledge of significant figures is required to solve most of the exercises in the two-dimensional motion chapter.

Best practices and tips

It is crucial to understand the notion of independent perpendicular motions and to master vector decomposition (obtaining the #x#- and #y#-components from the original vector) and recomposition (obtaining the direction and magnitude from the components) before venturing into projectile motion and vector addition. Exercises that test graphical methods of vector addition use a virtual ruler and a protractor, whose use is detailed in a video present in the theory page.

The two chapters contained in this module are adapted from the first and third chapters of the OpenStax book College Physics 2e. Our exercise packages contain adapted exercises from the OpenStax book as well as original SOWISO exercises. Further practice material can be found in the OpenStax page of the College Physics 2e book.

Additional resources
This module requires basic knowledge of motion, which can be found in Sowiso's One-dimensional motion module. Moreover, the module requires basic mathematics knowledge as a prerequisite. These can be found in chapters 1 through 8 of SOWISO's Basic Math course. In particular, no differentiation or integration is needed to complete this module.