Offbeat Physics : Machines, Meditations and Misconceptions (Paperback)

Section 1: Machines, 1. Dynamics of Braking Vehicles: from Coulomb Friction to Anti-lock Braking Systems, 2. Simple Thermodynamics of Jet Engines, 3. Surprises of the Transformer as a Coupled Oscillator System, 4. Maximum Thermodynamic Power Coefficient of a Wind Turbine, Section 2: Meditations, 5. Mutual Inductance between Piecewise Linear Loops, 6. The Hertz Contact in Chain Elastic Collisions, 7. Tilted Boxes on Inclined Planes, 8. Magnetic Forces Acting on Rigid Current-Carrying Wires Placed in a Uniform Magnetic Field, 9. Comparing a Current-carrying Circular Wire with Polygons of Equal Perimeter: Magnetic Field versus Magnetic Flux, 10. The Elastic Bounces of a Sphere between Two Parallel Walls, 11. How Short and Light Can a Simple Pendulum Be for Classroom Use?, 12. Experiments with a Falling Rod, 13. Oscillations of a Rectangular Plate, 14. Bullet Block Experiment: Angular Momentum Conservation and Kinetic Energy Dissipation, 15. The Continuity Equation in Ampere’s Law, Section 3: Misconceptions, 16. On the Relation between Angular Momentum and Angular Velocity, 17. A Very Abnormal Normal Force, 18. Rolling Cylinder on an Inclined Plane