Electromagnetism

[JacobEvans]

My question concerns good sources of information about Electromagnetism. I don't want wikipedia, as those articles seem to require previous knowledge of the terminology which I am lacking in. Any good ideas? books, websites, anything!

 

[scikidus]

What in Electromagnetism, specifically? An intro course, high-school level? Actually, I'd recommend the Princeton Review SAT Subject Test book on Physics. It covers a ton on intro-level EM theory.

http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Physics-Subject-2009-2010-Preparation/dp/0375429115

(^ Whole bunch of other stuff in there too)

 

[Squagnut]

There's a very basic introduction to electromagnetism here.

There's a video lecture series here, which needs RealPlayer (I think the lectures can't be downloaded)

There's bound to be a lot of terminology when studying electromagnetism. It's a vast subject.

 

[scikidus]

There's a video lecture series here, which needs VLC player (I think the lectures can't be downloaded)

1. Fixed.
2. If you're using Firefox and RealPlayer isn't installed, they seem to download automatically.
3. In VLC Player, click File 00> Open URL, and paste in the linking address to those files.

Sorry.

 

[JacobEvans]

Thank you, I'll check them out in a bit, I always learn more from lectures than textbooks, I think hearing it just clicks easier for me.

 

[Squagnut]

There's a video lecture series here, which needs VLC player (I think the lectures can't be downloaded)
1. Fixed.
2. If you're using Firefox and RealPlayer isn't installed, they seem to download automatically.
3. In VLC Player, click File 00> Open URL, and paste in the linking address to those files.

Sorry.

Thank you - no need to apologise. I learned something. Tho' I also use Realplayer for vids from my phone - will VLC (which I have, of course) play those too? Don't answer, I'll test and ditch Real if it works cuz I can't stand Real.

 

[scikidus]

Thank you - no need to apologise. I learned something. Tho' I also use Realplayer for vids from my phone - will VLC (which I have, of course) play those too? Don't answer, I'll test and ditch Real if it works cuz I can't stand Real.

VLC will support almost anything, I believe. If the format you're using has a WIkipedia article, I'm pretty sure VLC can open it. It can also play DVDs, and save to your computer in any format any media you play in it.

 

[Einstein's_Advocate]

Here's the thing about physics... You could learn electricity and magnetism first. It's not logically impossible (like it would be to learn calculus before algebra), but it would be very, very difficult to grasp the concepts being used and the styles and ideas that are used in physics without starting from the foundations up. Newtonian mechanics is the most central idea of "simple" physics. You need to be aware of what a force is, what's relationship to acceleration is, what a body without forces on it does, what a body with forces on it does, what the basic notion of energy and momentum are, et cetera. So, I think it would behoove you to first learn the basics of Newtonian mechanics (and possibly the basics of calculus). Now, if you already know these things, then go right ahead. You're all ready for E&M. Otherwise, if you wish to do none of this, I would suggest a much more conceptual approach to E&M. If this is what you desire, I would say you are actually best off with a book (AP Princeton review for the Physics B and C exams have a very good conceptual, and mathematical, description of E&M phenomena).


Now, if you wish to begin with classical mechanics, I enjoy listening to lectures from this guy: (He's very good, but you need to know some calculus)
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=189C0DCE90CB6D81

(These are on YouTube from Stanford university, which is a plus)



And then you could move onto E&M here:

http://www.academicearth.org/courses/physics-ii-electricity-and-magnetism




NOTE: These are both electronic, freely available online lectures from Ivy League schools. Both YouTube and AcademicEarth provide excellent sources for looking for real science lectures. But on that note, don't get discouraged. Information can sometimes be hard to understand, so just watch it a couple of times and see where you're at.