The goal of this class is to deepen our understanding of classical mechanics and physics areas that build on its intuition, which will include exploiting numerical simulations and computer visualizations using Python in Jupyter notebooks (no previous experience is assumed). We will begin by applying simulations to familiar problems formulated with Newtonian mechanics before turning to the Lagrangian formulation of mechanics, which provides a powerful alternative to Newton's laws. We will apply it to complex mechanical systems, including coupled oscillations, nonlinear phenomena (chaos!), and the mechanics of continuous media. We will also consider the Hamiltonian formulation of mechanics and some aspects of special relativity and collision theory.

The course requires a grade of C+ or above in Physics 2301 and Mathematics 2174 or 2568.