OpenStax Physics (with Python)

University Physics is a three-volume collection that meets the scope and sequence requirements for two- and three-semester calculus-based physics courses. Volume 1 covers mechanics, sound, oscillations, and waves. Volume 2 covers thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and Volume 3 covers optics and modern physics. This textbook emphasizes connections between theory and application, making physics concepts interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the mathematical rigor inherent in the subject. Frequent, strong examples focus on how to approach a problem, how to work with the equations, and how to check and generalize the result.

• Volume 1 Table of Contents
• Volume 2 Table of Contents
• Volume 3 Table of Contents

This version of OpenStax is a custom version hosted by BYU-Idaho Physics Department. It has been modified to include computational methods exercises. The text features imbedded python code cells that run in-browser so students have no need to install python on their computers. This version of OpenStax University Physics was copied March 2025. Any changes made to the University Physics textbooks since then may not be reflected in this version of the text. The live OpenStax text can be found here (for volume 1).

A summary of the Python material covered in this modification of the text is found here.

This work is based on the original textbook University Physics by OpenStax, licensed under CC BY 4.0. This version has been modified by Brigham Young University - Idaho, Physics Department. The original work is available at openstax.org.

For help on editing the text, see here.

Python Cell Demonstration

Throughout the text are python cells similar to that shown below.

This text uses pyodide and code-mirror to make python runnable from the browser. Below is an example of the code cells that can be embedded throughout the text.

Here is another code cell that features matplotlib support.

Look for these chode cells throughout the text and think about how they can make physics more interesting.

P.S. You can also have equations like $$ \hat{H}\psi (x)=E\psi (x)$$ or you can put them on their own line like so $\nabla \times \mathbf{E}=\frac{\partial \mathbf{B}}{\partial t}.$ Hopefully that is useful.

We can also have animated "manipulate" style plots.