Table of contents
Preface
General
This module is part of a collection of modules designed to make physics concepts accessible to blind students.
If you opened this page in the context of the book, a Table of Contents for the book (or collection) should be available above and to the left of thisparagraph. Otherwise, click here to open the book at the beginning.
This book is intended to supplement but not to replace the textbook in an introductory high school or college physics course.
The purpose of this module is to provide an introduction to statics, equilibrium, and forces in a format that is accessible to blind students.
Prerequisites
In addition to an Internet connection and a browser, you will need the following tools (as a minimum) to work through the exercises in these modules:
- A graph board for plotting graphs and vector diagrams ( (External Link) ).
- A protractor for measuring angles ( (External Link) ).
- An audio screen reader that is compatible with your operating system, such as the NonVisual Desktop Access program (NVDA), which is freelyavailable at (External Link) .
- A refreshable Braille display capable of providing a line by line tactile output of information displayed on the computer monitor ( (External Link) ).
The minimum prerequisites for understanding the material in these modules include:
- A good understanding of algebra.
- An understanding of the use of a graph board for plotting graphs and vector diagrams ( (External Link) ).
- An understanding of the use of a protractor for measuring angles ( (External Link) ).
- A basic understanding of the use of sine, cosine, and tangent from trigonometry ( (External Link) ).
- An introductory understanding of JavaScript programming ( (External Link) and (External Link) ).
- An understanding of all of the material covered in the earlier modules in this collection.
Supplemental material
I recommend that you also study the other lessons in my extensive collectionof online programming tutorials. You will find a consolidated index at www.DickBaldwin.com .
General background information
I will provide general information about forces and equilibrium in this module and will provide exercises involving those forces in a future module.
A real-world example of force and equilibrium
Assume that you are standing on the surface of the earth. As I explained in an earlier module, there is a gravitational attraction between your body mass and the massof the earth that is directly proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the center of mass of your bodyand the center of mass of the earth.
What about a gas planet?
If the earth was a gas planet such as Jupiter, that gravitational attraction would probably pull your body into the inner portions of the planet and yourlife would probably come to an abrupt end. That would be similar to trying to stand on the surface of a lake.