Understanding Physics

Magnetism and Optics is a second book in the series of three. This book is built on the foundations of the 6th Edition of Halliday, Resnick, and Walker’s Fundamentals of Physics. One of primary goals of this book is to help students make sense of the physics they are learning. We cannot achieve this goal if students see physics as a set of disconnected mathematical equations that each apply only to a small number of specific situations. We stress conceptual and qualitative understanding and continually make connections between mathematical equations and conceptual ideas. We also try to build on ideas that students can be expected to already understand, based on the resources they bring from everyday experiences. This text is designed to work with learning strategies such as microcomputer-based labs and interactive lectures that are increasingly being used in physics instruction.