
Lecture Description
In this video lecture, Prof. Walter Lewin lectures on the Doppler Effect, Binary Stars, Neutron Stars and Black Holes. Doppler shift is introduced with sound waves, then extended to electromagnetic waves (radiation). The Doppler shift of stellar spectral lines and/or pulsar frequencies provides a measure of the line-of-sight (so-called radial) velocity of the source relative to the observer. Combined with Newton's law of universal gravitation, this can lead to the orbital parameters and the mass of both stars in a binary star system.
Course Index
- Measurements of Space and Time
- Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
- Vectors
- 3D Kinematics: The Motion of Projectiles
- Circular Motion
- Newton's Three Laws
- Weight and Weightlessness
- Frictional Forces
- Exam Review
- Hooke's Law and Simple Harmonic Motion
- Work and Mechanical Energy
- Resistive Forces
- Conservative Forces and SHO
- Energy, Power and Satellite Orbits
- Collisions and the Center of Mass
- Elastic and Inelastic Collisions
- Change of Momentum, Impulse and Rockets
- Exam Review
- Rotational Kinetic Energy
- Angular Momentum
- Torques and Oscillating Bodies
- Kepler's Laws and Elliptical Orbits
- Doppler Shift and Stellar Dynamics
- Rolling Motion & Gyroscopes
- Static Equilibrium
- Elasticity of Materials
- Pressure in a Static Fluid
- Buoyant Force and Bernoulli's Equation
- Exam Review
- Other Oscillating Systems
- Forced Oscillations and Resonance
- Heat, Conductivity and Thermal Expansion
- Kinetic Gas Theory & Phases
- The Wonderful Quantum World
- X-ray Astronomy and Astrophysics
Course Description
8.01 is a first-semester freshman physics class in Newtonian Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, and Kinetic Gas Theory. In addition to the basic concepts of Newtonian Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, and Kinetic Gas Theory, a variety of interesting topics are covered in this course: Binary Stars, Neutron Stars, Black Holes, Resonance Phenomena, Musical Instruments, Stellar Collapse, Supernovae, Astronomical observations from very high flying balloons (lecture 35), and you will be allowed a peek into the intriguing Quantum World.