Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials: Vector Force Fields

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Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials: Vector Force Fields

written by Michael C. Wittmann and Bradley S. Ambrose
supported by the National Science Foundation

This set of tutorials explores forces and potentials in three dimensions. Students develop the concepts of conservative forces and potentials. The mathematical tools of the gradient, line integrals, and curl are applied to vector force fields. The implications of separable forces are included. The materials include the tutorials, homework, assessments, and instructor notes.

This is part of a large collection of similar tutorial materials in intermediate classical mechanics.

https://faculty.gvsu.edu/ambroseb/research/IMT-VectorFields.html

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Classical Mechanics - Work and Energy = Conservative Fields = Non-Conservative Forces Education Practices - Active Learning = Problem Solving Mathematical Tools - Vector Algebra = Cross Product - Vector Calculus = Vector Field	- Upper Undergraduate	- Instructional Material = Activity = Lesson/Lesson Plan = Tutorial

Intended Users	Formats	Ratings
- Educators - Learners	- application/pdf - application/ms-word - application/zip - text/html	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Access Rights:: Free access; Released under a modified Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License. By using any project materials, you agree to the user license. The user license includes sending Bradley S. Ambrose or Michael C. Wittmann an email notifying them that you are using the materials, re-publishing any modifications you make by sending them via email, and sending any pretest, homework, and post-test data as appropriate. Full details are available here.
License:: This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license.
Rights Holder:: Bradley Ambrose and Michael Wittmann
NSF Numbers:: 0441426; 0442388
Keywords:: curl, flow fields, gradient, potential energy
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created December 22, 2009 by Bryce Callies
Record Updated:: February 22, 2025 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: January 1, 2013
Other Collections:: The PER-Central

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Record Link

<a href="https://psrc.aapt.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=9731">Wittmann, Michael, and Bradley S. Ambrose. Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials: Vector Force Fields. January 1, 2013.</a>

AIP Format

M. Wittmann and B. Ambrose, (2005), WWW Document, (https://faculty.gvsu.edu/ambroseb/research/IMT-VectorFields.html).

AJP/PRST-PER

M. Wittmann and B. Ambrose, Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials: Vector Force Fields (2005), <https://faculty.gvsu.edu/ambroseb/research/IMT-VectorFields.html>.

APA Format

Wittmann, M., & Ambrose, B. (2013, January 1). Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials: Vector Force Fields. Retrieved March 28, 2025, from https://faculty.gvsu.edu/ambroseb/research/IMT-VectorFields.html

Chicago Format

Wittmann, Michael, and Bradley S. Ambrose. Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials: Vector Force Fields. January 1, 2013. https://faculty.gvsu.edu/ambroseb/research/IMT-VectorFields.html (accessed 28 March 2025).

MLA Format

Wittmann, Michael, and Bradley S. Ambrose. Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials: Vector Force Fields. 2005. 1 Jan. 2013. National Science Foundation. 28 Mar. 2025 <https://faculty.gvsu.edu/ambroseb/research/IMT-VectorFields.html>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Author = "Michael Wittmann and Bradley S. Ambrose", Title = {Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials: Vector Force Fields}, Volume = {2025}, Number = {28 March 2025}, Month = {January 1, 2013}, Year = {2005} }

Refer Export Format

%A Michael Wittmann %A Bradley S. Ambrose %T Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials: Vector Force Fields %D January 1, 2013 %U https://faculty.gvsu.edu/ambroseb/research/IMT-VectorFields.html %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Wittmann, Michael %A Ambrose, Bradley S. %D January 1, 2013 %T Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials: Vector Force Fields %V 2025 %N 28 March 2025 %8 January 1, 2013 %9 application/pdf %U https://faculty.gvsu.edu/ambroseb/research/IMT-VectorFields.html

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