Product Description

This book will strengthen a student’s grasp of the laws of physics by applying them to practical situations, and problems that yield more easily to intuitive insight than brute-force methods and complex mathematics. These intriguing problems, chosen almost exclusively from classical (non-quantum) physics, are posed in accessible non-technical language requiring the student to select the right framework in which to analyse the situation and decide which branches of physics are involved. The level of sophistication needed to tackle most of the two hundred problems is that of the exceptional school student, the good undergraduate, or competent graduate student. The book will be valuable to undergraduates preparing for ‘general physics’ papers. It is hoped that even some physics professors will find the more difficult questions challenging. By contrast, mathematical demands are minimal, and do not go beyond elementary calculus. This intriguing book of physics problems should prove instructive, challenging and fun.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3551698 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Review
‘… the authors have done a grand job in collecting together some truly challenging puzzles … The solutions are explained in great detail, and that is a real strength … it is a book containing a number of gems and surprises …’. David L. Andrews, European Journal of Physics

‘… a book like this … has long been needed and will be indispensable for teachers and lecturers.’ Waldemar Gorzkowski, Physics World

‘ … a delightful book, which is both instructive and entertaining … intriguing,’ Brian L. Burrows, Zentralblatt für Mathematik und ihre Grenzgebiete Mathematics Abstracts

‘… a source of inspiration not only to exceptional school students and good undergraduates, but also to academics … buy this book even if you are not under the shadow of a ‘general paper’ - it is a lot of fun.’ Trevor Bacon, Times Higher Education Supplement

About the Author
Peter Gnädig graduated as a physicist from Roland Eötvös University (ELTE) in Budapest in 1971 and received his PhD degree in theoretical particle physics there in 1980. Currently he is a researcher (in high energy physics) and a lecturer in the Department of Atomic Physics at ELTE. Since 1985 he has been one of the leaders of the Hungarian Olympic team taking part in the International Physics Olympiad.

Gyula Honyek graduated as a physicist from Eötvös University (ELTE) in Budapest in 1975 and finished his Ph.D. studies there in 1977, after which he stayed on as a researcher and lecturer in the Department of General Physics. In 1984, following a two-year postgraduate course, he was awarded a teacher's degree in physics, and in 1985 transferred to the teacher training school at ELTE. His current post is as mentor and teacher at Radnóti Grammar School, Budapest. Since 1986 he has been one of the leaders and selectors of the Hungarian team taking part in the International Physics Olympiad.

Ken Riley read Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and proceeded to a Ph.D. there in theoretical and experimental nuclear physics. He became a Research Associate in elementary particle physics at Brookhaven, and then, having taken up a lectureship at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, continued this research at the Rutherford Laboratory and Stanford; in particular he was involved in the discovery of a number of the early baryonic resonances.

Customer Reviews

Encouraging creative thinking?
I bought this book recently for my own amusement expecting to find the problems challenging and thought-provoking, which they are. One might reasonably expect the solutions to be accurate and the notes and comments accompanying them to be helpful, for them not to be misleading at least, surely? "S4", the solution to "P4" was a cause for real concern. P4, concerning the folding and rolling back of an "ideal" carpet, is solved straightforwardly by the application of Newton's 2nd law. The minimum force, which one is asked to calculate, can be gauged also from an energy balance, as the authors point out in the notes to S4, and the two answers must or should agree, on the basis of the information given. They do not according to the authors though. The authors assert that energy balance gives an answer smaller by a factor of two than does the momentum balance and claim that the difference is due to energy dissipation. There was however no hint in the problem description or the hint (H4) that the carpet was dissipative (i.e. viscoelastic) and, even if it was, why would the ratio of kinetic to dissipated energy be precisely 1/2? It could be anything it liked presumably, depending upon the constitutive behaviour of the carpet? It is easy to show that the factor of 1/2 results from a trivial error made by the authors. Now, that is one thing, we all make them. But, to introduce new or additional physics not required or anticipated by P4 nor H4 is quite another. What is the neophyte to make of this? Is the teaching that if two calculations which should agree, do not, one is entitled to clutch at straws and make it up as one goes along? One would hope not. One cannot help but wonder where the notes to S4 came from? Was the problem borrowed from elsewhere without checking the solution? (worrying), or, do the authors really believe that all "conservative" systems dissipate exactly 1/2 their energy? (even more worrying). I tried to contact the authors by email before writing this review, but did not receive a reply. Nevertheless, I will of course consider revising my rating upwards somewhat in the light of my experience of the rest of the book in due course, but, for now, my confidence in it and enjoyment of it have been compromised by the outlandish notes to P4. This is an expensive book. It is aimed at students, it should not mislead in this way so early on.
RB

brilliant book of problems
I would recommend this book for very good secondary school students preparing for physics competitions or interested in physics, and undergraduates who are starting to forget why physics is fun after the barrage of (more) boring problems they are faced with.
The Hungarian authors are the trainers of the Hungarian international physics olympiad team, they are very good, and very imaginative. Riley is of "Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering" fame, no more comments needed.
Overall, enjoyable problems and great physics.