01 / Reading Guide
Reading Guide
Citation
Moebs, W., Ling, S. J., & Sanny, J. (2016). University Physics Volume 2. OpenStax. Free official edition: https://openstax.org/details/books/university-physics-volume-2
Chapter Summary
Chapter 1: Temperature and Heat
Unit 1, Thermodynamics, opens with temperature and thermal equilibrium (the zeroth law), thermometers and temperature scales, and thermal expansion. The chapter then covers heat, specific heat and calorimetry, phase changes with latent heat, and the three mechanisms of heat transfer—conduction, convection and radiation.
Chapter 2: The Kinetic Theory of Gases
Starting from the ideal gas law (and the van der Waals equation for real gases), the chapter builds a molecular model in which pressure and temperature are explained by molecular motion and rms speed. It derives heat capacities from the equipartition of energy and introduces the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of molecular speeds.
Chapter 3: The First Law of Thermodynamics
The chapter defines thermodynamic systems, work done by expanding gases, heat and internal energy, and states the first law. It analyses isothermal, isobaric, isochoric and adiabatic processes and the heat capacities of an ideal gas at constant volume and pressure.
Chapter 4: The Second Law of Thermodynamics
Reversible and irreversible processes lead to heat engines, refrigerators and heat pumps, the Kelvin and Clausius statements of the second law, and the Carnot cycle as the most efficient cycle. Entropy is then introduced macroscopically and, in the final section, on a microscopic (statistical) scale.
Chapter 5: Electric Charges and Fields
Unit 2, Electricity and Magnetism, begins with electric charge, conductors and insulators, charging by induction, and Coulomb's law. The chapter defines the electric field, computes fields of continuous charge distributions by integration, and introduces field lines and electric dipoles.
Chapter 6: Gauss's Law
Electric flux through open and closed surfaces leads to Gauss's law, which is then used to find fields of charge distributions with spherical, cylindrical and planar symmetry. The chapter ends with the properties of conductors in electrostatic equilibrium.
Chapter 7: Electric Potential
Electric potential energy and potential are defined, potential is calculated for point charges and continuous distributions, and the field is recovered from the potential by differentiation. Equipotential surfaces, conductors and applications of electrostatics (such as the Van de Graaff generator and xerography) close the chapter, which opens with the energy in a lightning strike.
Chapter 8: Capacitance
Capacitors and capacitance for common geometries, series and parallel combinations, energy stored in the electric field, and the effect of dielectrics—including a molecular model of dielectric polarization—are covered.
Chapter 9: Current and Resistance
The chapter defines current and current density, presents a model of conduction in metals based on drift velocity, then resistivity and its temperature dependence, Ohm's law, electrical energy and power, and superconductors, motivated by the electromagnets of an MRI scanner.
Chapter 10: Direct-Current Circuits
Electromotive force and internal resistance, resistors in series and parallel, Kirchhoff's rules, ammeters and voltmeters, charging and discharging RC circuits, and household wiring and electrical safety make up this chapter.
Chapter 11: Magnetic Forces and Fields
After a historical introduction to magnetism, the chapter treats the magnetic force on moving charges, the motion of charged particles in magnetic fields, forces on current-carrying wires, torque on a current loop and the magnetic dipole moment, the Hall effect, and applications such as the mass spectrometer and cyclotron.
Chapter 12: Sources of Magnetic Fields
Magnetic fields produced by currents are found with the Biot-Savart law (straight wires, current loops) and Ampère's law (solenoids and toroids). The force between parallel currents is derived, and the chapter ends with magnetism in matter: paramagnetism, diamagnetism and ferromagnetism.
Chapter 13: Electromagnetic Induction
Faraday's law and Lenz's law, motional emf, induced electric fields, eddy currents, electric generators and back emf, and applications of induction (from card readers to induction charging) form this chapter, which introduces time-varying fields.
Chapter 14: Inductance
Mutual inductance and self-inductance, energy stored in a magnetic field, RL circuits, the oscillations of an LC circuit as an electrical analogue of a mass on a spring, and RLC series circuits are developed.
Chapter 15: Alternating-Current Circuits
Using phasors, the chapter analyses resistors, capacitors and inductors in ac circuits, the impedance of RLC series circuits, average power and power factor, resonance, and the transformer's role in power transmission.
Chapter 16: Electromagnetic Waves
The volume closes with Maxwell's equations, including the displacement current, and shows how they predict electromagnetic waves. It describes plane waves, the energy and intensity they carry, momentum and radiation pressure (illustrated by a comet's tail), and the electromagnetic spectrum.
Key Concepts
Chapter 1: Temperature and Heat
- Zeroth law of thermodynamics: two systems each in thermal equilibrium with a third are in equilibrium with each other, which makes temperature measurable.
- Specific heat and latent heat: the energy needed to change a unit mass's temperature, and to change its phase at constant temperature.
Chapter 2: The Kinetic Theory of Gases
- Ideal gas law: pV = nRT, explained microscopically by molecular collisions with walls.
- Equipartition theorem: each quadratic degree of freedom carries on average ½kT of energy, which predicts heat capacities.
Chapter 3: The First Law of Thermodynamics
- First law: the change in internal energy equals heat added minus work done by the system.
- Adiabatic process: a process with no heat exchange, for which pV^γ is constant in an ideal gas.
Chapter 4: The Second Law of Thermodynamics
- Carnot efficiency: the maximum efficiency of any engine between two reservoirs, 1 − T_c/T_h.
- Entropy: a state function whose total never decreases in an isolated system, interpreted microscopically as a count of accessible microstates.
Chapter 5: Electric Charges and Fields
- Coulomb's law: the force between point charges is proportional to their product and inversely proportional to distance squared.
- Electric field: force per unit charge, found for continuous distributions by integration.
Chapter 6: Gauss's Law
- Electric flux: the surface integral of the electric field.
- Gauss's law: the flux through a closed surface equals the enclosed charge divided by ε₀.
Chapter 7: Electric Potential
- Electric potential: potential energy per unit charge; differences in it are voltages.
- Field from potential: the electric field is the negative gradient of the potential.
Chapter 8: Capacitance
- Capacitance: charge stored per unit potential difference, fixed by geometry and material.
- Dielectric: an insulating material whose polarization increases capacitance.
Chapter 9: Current and Resistance
- Drift velocity: the slow average velocity of conduction electrons that constitutes a current.
- Ohm's law and resistivity: current proportional to voltage in ohmic materials, with resistance set by resistivity and geometry.
Chapter 10: Direct-Current Circuits
- Kirchhoff's rules: charge conservation at junctions and energy conservation around loops.
- RC time constant: the product RC that sets how quickly a capacitor charges or discharges.
Chapter 11: Magnetic Forces and Fields
- Magnetic force on a moving charge: F = qv × B, perpendicular to both velocity and field.
- Hall effect: the transverse voltage across a current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field, used to identify charge carriers.
Chapter 12: Sources of Magnetic Fields
- Biot-Savart law: the magnetic field produced by a small current element.
- Ampère's law: the line integral of B around a closed path equals μ₀ times the enclosed current.
Chapter 13: Electromagnetic Induction
- Faraday's law: a changing magnetic flux induces an emf.
- Lenz's law: the induced current opposes the change in flux that produces it.
Chapter 14: Inductance
- Self-inductance: the emf induced in a device by its own changing current.
- LC oscillations: energy sloshing between capacitor and inductor at a natural angular frequency 1/√(LC).
Chapter 15: Alternating-Current Circuits
- Reactance and impedance: the frequency-dependent opposition of capacitors and inductors, combined with resistance in an RLC circuit.
- Resonance: maximum current when the driving frequency equals the circuit's natural frequency.
Chapter 16: Electromagnetic Waves
- Displacement current: Maxwell's added term showing that a changing electric field produces a magnetic field.
- Radiation pressure: the pressure exerted by electromagnetic waves because they carry momentum.
Critical Analysis
Strengths
- Calculus-based but approachable. Fields of continuous charge distributions, potentials and the Biot-Savart law are worked out by integration with step-by-step examples, and each example follows the Strategy, Solution, Significance format; a count of the PDF gives about 160 worked examples and over 120 Check Your Understanding questions.
- Clear unit structure. Thermodynamics (Chapters 1–4) and electricity and magnetism (Chapters 5–16) are self-contained units, and electromagnetism is built in a logical order from charges and fields through potential, circuits, magnetism and induction to Maxwell's equations.
- Applications integrated into the text. Chapter openers and sections cover lightning, MRI magnets, household wiring and safety, hard drives, card readers, induction charging, power transmission by transformers and radiation pressure on comets, linking abstract laws to familiar technology.
- Strong end-of-chapter support. Each chapter review lists key terms, key equations and a section-by-section summary, followed by conceptual questions, problems, additional problems and challenge problems, with answers to odd-numbered items in the answer key.
Limitations
- No vector calculus formulation of electromagnetism. Maxwell's equations are given in integral form; divergence and curl are not used, so the differential form, boundary-value problems and potentials in the sense used by fuller electromagnetism texts are absent.
- Thermodynamics shares the volume. For an electromagnetism course, the first four chapters are not relevant, and the electricity and magnetism material, while broad, is introductory in depth.
- Limited treatment of fields in matter. Dielectrics and magnetic materials receive one section each (8.5 and 12.7), with no treatment of bound charges and currents in the sense of D and H fields.
- Answers but not solutions. The answer key gives final answers for odd-numbered problems only, so students working alone need other resources to check methods.
Where It Fits in the Course
University Physics Volume 2 is a calculus-based survey of electricity and magnetism. Fleisch's A Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations, by its description, focuses on explaining Maxwell's equations themselves; it complements Chapters 6, 12, 13 and 16 of this book by introducing the differential forms that the OpenStax text omits. Purcell and Morin's Electricity and Magnetism is the natural next step for a deeper, vector-calculus treatment of the same topics.
Griffiths's Introduction to Electrodynamics, Jackson's Classical Electrodynamics and Bittencourt's Fundamentals of Plasma Physics are texts for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Students should complete Chapters 5–16 here (or an equivalent first course) and acquire vector calculus before attempting Griffiths, and Jackson and Bittencourt come later still. This book is best used before, not instead of, those texts.
How to Use This Book
The book is aimed at second-semester students in a calculus-based physics sequence who have completed mechanics (Volume 1 or equivalent) and know single-variable calculus; some familiarity with surface and line integrals helps from Chapter 6 onward. For an electromagnetism course, read Chapters 5–16 in order; Chapters 5–7 (fields, Gauss's law, potential) and 11–13 (magnetic forces, sources of fields, induction) are the core, Chapters 8–10 and 14–15 cover circuit elements and circuits, and Chapter 16 brings everything together in Maxwell's equations. Chapters 1–4 serve a thermodynamics unit and can be skipped in an electromagnetism course.
Use the Problem-Solving Strategy boxes for Gauss's law, Ampère's law and Kirchhoff's rules as checklists, attempt the Check Your Understanding questions after each example, and work problems from each section before moving on. Pair Chapter 16 with a source that presents the differential form of Maxwell's equations if the course goes on to Griffiths or Purcell.
Edition and Sources
This guide is based on the free PDF of University Physics Volume 2 (original publication 2016; current PDF © 2026 Rice University, licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; senior contributing authors William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling and Jeff Sanny) downloaded from the official OpenStax page, https://openstax.org/details/books/university-physics-volume-2. It draws on the preface, the full table of contents, and for all sixteen chapters the chapter-opening figure and introduction, the outline of every section, and the end-of-chapter summary, with counts of examples and checks of specific topics.