- Alyssa J. Pasquale, Ph.D.
- David R. Fazzini, Ph.D.
- Carley Bennett, Ph.D.
Conceptual Physics is an Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook intended for a conceptual physics class for non-majors. No calculus or trigonometry is used. Conceptual understanding of topics is emphasized. Topics include kinematics, matter, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, waves, and quantum mechanics.
Features
- Free to use
- Creative Commons BY-NC license which can be remixed and/or reused
- End of chapter numerical, conceptual, and experimental questions with selected solutions at the end of the textbook.
- 150+ embedded videos with physics demonstrations.
Additional Resources
Lab manual — to be published in 2027 or 2028 (can also reference Pivot labs (but those are not free))
Problem solving manual (practicing physics) – Hewitt has this
Lecture videos
Instructor Resources
Homework platform — look into getting entire book published, otherwise link by question
Instructor manual
Test bank
Lecture slides
Clicker questions / slides (Google drive with permissions) — to be developed in 2026
Lecture and demo videos
| Chapter | Video |
|---|---|
| 1. About science | About science lecture video [26:09] |
| 2. Newton’s first law | Demo: Styrofoam inertia brick [0:07] |
| etc. | etc. |
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- About science
- Kinematics
- Newton’s first law
- Linear motion
- Newton’s second law
- Newton’s third law
- Momentum
- Work and energy
- Rotational motion
- Gravity
- Projectile and satellite motion
- Matter
- The atomic nature of matter
- Solids
- Liquids
- Gases
- Thermodynamics
- Temperature and heat
- Heat transfer
- Phase change
- Thermodynamics
- Sound and waves
- Vibrations and waves
- Sound
- Musical sounds
- Electricity and magnetism
- Electrostatics
- Electric circuits
- Magnetism
- Electromagnetic induction
- Light
- Color
- Reflection and refraction
- Light waves
- Light emission
- Quantum and nuclear physics
- Light quanta
- Quantum physics
- Nuclear physics and radioactivity
- Fission and fusion
- Appendices
- Vectors and vector arithmetic
- Units and unit conversions
- Answers to selected questions