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Browse materialsMIT 8.01SC · Fall 2016 · OCW Scholar

Classical Mechanics

Subject: Physics

Art: Reinier Vinkeles / Pieter Pietersz Barbiers II, De zaal der physica van Felix Meritis, 1794 · Public domain

Instructors
Prof. Deepto Chakrabarty, Dr. Peter Dourmashkin, Dr. Michelle Tomasik, Prof. Anna Frebel, Prof. Vladan Vuletic
Term
Fall 2016
Level
Undergraduate
What's inside
211 videos · 25 problem sets · 3 solutions · 2 readings · 240 other files · 224 web pages
Materials open
Videos here · files on MIT OCW

Start here

Start course: Review: VectorsFind a topic

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About this course

Source: MIT OpenCourseWare 8.01SC Classical Mechanics, Fall 2016, Prof. Deepto Chakrabarty, Dr. Peter Dourmashkin, Dr. Michelle Tomasik, Prof. Anna Frebel, Prof. Vladan Vuletic — original course page on ocw.mit.edu ↗. License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Study order: MIT's own units, each a lecture sequence in MIT's listing order; no single course-wide order across units is claimed. Taken from MIT's published course files, downloaded from ocw.mit.edu on September 22, 2026. The “How to start this course” route below is taken from MIT's own pages for this course, as fetched on September 25, 2026. How RedLectern is built.

Study route

How to start this course

Words in quotation marks are MIT’s own, from its pages for this course, linked under each part. The headings, labels and links are RedLectern’s.

Before you start

Can I start this?

MIT’s prerequisites, in MIT’s words. Tick each one you meet; nothing here is graded or saved.

  • Not yet? MIT points to Single Variable Calculus (18.01SC).

  • Not yet? MIT points to Review: Vectors.

MIT's own preparation:

From MIT: Syllabus ↗, Review: Vectors ↗, Readings ↗

What you'll learn

  • “Our goal is to develop a conceptual understanding of the core concepts, a familiarity with the experimental verification of our theoretical laws, and an ability to apply the theoretical framework to describe and predict the motions of bodies.”

From MIT: Syllabus ↗

Time

  • “Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 2 hours / session”
  • “Problem Solving: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session”
  • “The course is broken into twelve weeks, as listed above. Each week contains 3-4 lessons on distinct topics.”

From MIT: Syllabus ↗

What you need

  • “The textbook for this course is Classical Mechanics: MIT 8.01 Course Notes by Peter Dourmashkin.”
    “These notes were updated in 2022 to reflect corrections that readers have noticed.”

Books

  • The free book on our Start page for this course is this course's own textbook. Open it in our library
  • “Specific readings for each assignment are provided in the Readings section.”

From MIT: Syllabus ↗, Online Textbook ↗

If this isn't the right fit

Physics I: Classical Mechanics (8.01L, Fall 2005)

  • “8.01L is an introductory mechanics course, which covers all the topics covered in 8.01T. The class meets throughout the fall, and continues throughout the Independent Activities Period (IAP).”

From MIT: 8.01L course home ↗

Your first sessions

  • “Each lesson consists of a series of videos explaining the topic, which are meant to be viewed in sequence.”

From MIT: Syllabus ↗

  1. Lesson 1: 1D Kinematics - Position and Velocity

    This session on MIT’s site ↗

  2. Lesson 2: 1D Kinematics - Acceleration

    This session on MIT’s site ↗

  3. Lesson 3: 2D Kinematics - Position, Velocity, and Acceleration

    This session on MIT’s site ↗

  4. Week 1 worked examples and Problem Set 1

    This session on MIT’s site ↗

Learn one topic

48 concept pages, one per MIT session: the clips, notes and practice for that topic. MIT solutions for 0 of 48 topics.

All 48 topics
  1. Vectors
  2. 1D Kinematics - Position and Velocity
  3. 1D Kinematics - Acceleration
  4. 2D Kinematics
  5. Week 1 Worked Examples
  6. Newton's Laws of Motion
  7. Gravity
  8. Contact Forces
  9. Tension and Springs
  10. Deep Dive: Friction
  11. Week 2 Worked Examples
  12. Circular Motion - Position and Velocity
  13. Uniform Circular Motion
  14. Circular Motion – Acceleration
  15. Newton's 2nd Law and Circular Motion
  16. Worked Example - Orbital Circular Motion
  17. Pulleys and Constraints
  18. Massive Rope
  19. Resistive Forces
  20. Momentum and Impulse
  21. Conservation of Momentum
  22. Center of Mass and Motion
  23. Relative Velocity and Recoil
  24. Continuous Mass Transfer
  25. Week 6 Worked Examples
  26. Kinetic Energy and Work in 1D
  27. Kinetic Energy and Work in 2D and 3D
  28. Conservative and Non-Conservative Forces
  29. Worked Example - Collision and Sliding on a Rough Surface
  30. Potential Energy
  31. Conservation of Energy
  32. Potential Energy Diagrams
  33. Types of Collision
  34. Elastic Collisions
  35. Deep Dive: Center of Mass Reference Frame
  36. Introduction to Translation and Rotation
  37. Review of Angular Velocity and Acceleration
  38. Moment of Inertia
  39. Torque
  40. Rotational Dynamics
  41. Blocks and Massive Pulley
  42. Angular Momentum of a Point Particle
  43. Angular Momentum of a Rigid Body
  44. Torque and Angular Impulse
  45. Rolling Kinematics
  46. Rolling Dynamics
  47. Rolling Kinetic Energy & Angular Momentum
  48. Deep Dive: Gyroscopes

Before you start

How this course was organized

What's here, and what isn't

  • This course has 210 videos, each embedded on its own MIT page, across 202 sections. They're shown in MIT's listing order within each section. A verified course-wide order is not claimed for this course.

Not included here

5 items from the source could not be safely included:

  • MIT's page format for this item wasn't recognized clearly enough to place it safely. (4 items)
  • Referenced in a table, but without MIT's own verified order, so it isn't used to claim a sequence.

Units

Each unit is offered as its own lecture sequence; there is no single course-wide order across units.

  1. Review: Vectors6 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  2. Week 1: Kinematics22 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  3. Week 2: Newton's Laws21 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  4. Week 3: Circular Motion15 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  5. Week 4: Drag Forces, Constraints and Continuous Systems15 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  6. Week 5: Momentum and Impulse14 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  7. Week 6: Continuous Mass Transfer16 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  8. Week 7: Kinetic Energy and Work19 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  9. Week 8: Potential Energy and Energy Conservation13 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  10. Week 9: Collision Theory17 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  11. Week 10: Rotational Motion21 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  12. Week 11: Angular Momentum14 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order
  13. Week 12: Rotations and Translation - Rolling17 activities · lecture sequence, in MIT's listing order

Materials by section

Grouped by section, as MIT organized them. Not sequenced or ordered.

Syllabus

Online Textbook

33 files

Week 1: Kinematics

Problem Set 1

Week 2: Newton's Laws

Problem Set 2

Week 3: Circular Motion

Problem Set 3

Week 4: Drag Forces, Constraints and Continuous Systems

Problem Set 4

Week 5: Momentum and Impulse

Problem Set 5

Week 6: Continuous Mass Transfer

Problem Set 6

Week 7: Kinetic Energy and Work

Problem Set 7

Week 8: Potential Energy and Energy Conservation

Problem Set 8

Week 9: Collision Theory

Problem Set 9

Week 10: Rotational Motion

Problem Set 10

Week 11: Angular Momentum

Problem Set 11

Week 12: Rotations and Translation - Rolling

Problem Set 12

Other materials from this course

1 file

206 video transcripts
34 images

More videos from MIT's YouTube channel

MIT OpenCourseWare posts these videos to its own YouTube channel, but this course's OCW page doesn't link them, so they aren't sequenced as activities here. Listed in each playlist's own order.

MIT 8.01SC Classical Mechanics, Fall 2016 Open playlist ↗

MIT OpenCourseWare, Prof. Deepto Chakrabarty, Dr. Peter Dourmashkin, Dr. Michelle Tomasik, Prof. Anna Frebel, Prof. Vladan Vuletic, 8.01SC Classical Mechanics, Fall 2016.

License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · Edition: Fall 2016 · Open the original course on OCW ↗

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