Lecture Notes on Mechanics: Intermediate Level

Book excerpt: This book is for students who are familiar with an introductory course in mechanics at the freshman level. With an emphasis on perspectives that are more fundamental and techniques more advanced than those given in most introductory mechanics textbooks, the book illuminates on notions where vectors are coordinate free, presents the importance of reference frames (inertial and non-inertial) to mechanics problems, the role of Galilean Relativity on invariance and covariance of physical quantities, a framework to perform calculations -- free from the constraint of a fixed axis -- in rotational dynamics, and others. Moreover, it provides clear links between concepts in mechanics and other branches of physics, such as thermodynamics and electrodynamics, so that students can possess a more complete view of what they learn within the confines of physics.