Comparing Fundamentals & Principles of Physics 11th Edition Textbooks

[taylorandrian]

I am curious to know if there are any notable differences in the amount and difficulty of the questions between Fundamentals of Physics Extended 11th Edition and Principles of Physics 11th Edition. Additionally, I would like to know if both textbooks treat the theory in the same manner in terms of derivations.

It is important for me to assess the differences between these two editions before making a purchase. Any insights regarding the content and structure of these textbooks would be greatly appreciated.

 

[gmax137]

Maybe you should provide links to the specific books you're asking about, on Amazon for example.

 

[jtbell]

Titles of textbooks are so similar and generic that people here usually remember them and refer to them by the names of their authors.

I don't remember the title of an algebra/trig based intro physics book that my department used for several years, even though I taught from it myself, but I do remember Childers and Jones.

 

[jtbell]

OK, this rings a bell in the back of my head. You're referring to Halliday, Resnick and Walker, right? There are two separate distinctions here.

First is "Fundamentals of Physics" versus "Principles of Physics". My understanding is that they are basically the same book. The first is sold in the US and maybe Canada, whereas the second is sold elsewhere, by different regional/national divisions of the publisher.

Second is non-extended versus extended. The non-extended edition is basically classical physics, with maybe a little "modern physics" (relativity and quantum) at the end. It's been a long time since I've seen it, so I'm not sure. The extended edition contains more modern physics material. Compare the tables of contents and the difference should be obvious.

Some colleges/universities cover only classical physics in their two-semester first year course. They have a separate "intro modern physics" course that uses a different textbook. Other schools combine intro classical and modern physics into a single three-semester course.

 

[Muu9]

First is "Fundamentals of Physics" versus "Principles of Physics". My understanding is that they are basically the same book. The first is sold in the US and maybe Canada, whereas the second is sold elsewhere, by different regional/national divisions of the publisher

I thinkhe Principles of Physics text has these changes:

• No difficulty levels of problems indicated by dots,
• Cheaper cost
• Black and white
• Lower print quality
• No "flying circus of physics" excerpts indicated by an aeroplane
• No student Solutions Manual
• No GO(online solutions)
• And no Wiley plus

 

[NovaeSci]

If I can add something here. Principles of Physics and Fundamentals of Physics are the exact same books, just different regions of release. I can, however, explain how they differ:

I have seen both copies of the same editions of Principles of Physics, and Fundamentals of Physics. Fundamentals of Physics is usually found as the extended version, which also, compared to Principles of Physics, is slightly larger in scope (not by much) and has a lot more questions, too - close to twice as many questions; but, the text is pretty much word-for-word.

However, one thing, which is good news if you're in a region which you can only get hold of Principles of Physics (the UK for example) is that they barely differ from edition to edition. They are literally worded the exact same, and the only difference is that the questions may change, be re-ordered, along with maybe adding a couple of simple features, such as a learning checklist, etc.

A look on Amazon, and checking out the sample copy, will usually let you know what's new in that edition. But, in my opinion, it's barely anything, and not worth paying the extra - I bought the 9th Edition of Principles of Physics for £4.89 on eBay...DELIVERED! The 11th Edition would have set me back around £40 second-hand at the time.

You'll find it relatively easy to get an older edition, but my advice is that the amount it costs tapers off after a couple editions earier. I could have got the 8th Edition for £3.99, so was worth spending 90p extra for the 9th Edition. The 10th was £20. Gives you an idea of how far back to go, before the savings don't really matter.

But, just to add: the 9th Edition I've got is Principles of Physics Extended Edition, so it is exactly the same as Fundamentals of Physics. The only difference I've noticed, is that there are more questions than than the standard version of Principles of Physics, but less that Fundamentals of Physics. Fundamentals Extended seems to be their flagship book.

To give you an estimated idea, Principles will have around, on average 70 questions end-of-chapter questions, Principles Extended (my 9th Edition) has around 100, and Fundamentals Extended can have 120+. But, 100 is plenty!

If you are in the UK, or a region that is mainly where Principles is sold, then I would highly recommend to get the 9th Extended Edition. Just to add, this edition also features the level of difficulty of the questions, by dots, which I don't believe the standard Principles has. So, in a sense, Principles 9th Extended, is pretty much like Fundamnetals in terms of the content. Also, the author wrote a book called "The Flying Circle of Physics" (best of Googling this) which is mentioned at the beginning of Fundamnetals, and features parts of it throughout the book. Principles Standard doesn't have this, but my 9th Extended does.

Just to add to Muu9's comments:

I think the Principles of Physics text has these changes:

• No difficulty levels of problems indicated by dots (Principles 9th Extended has this)
• Cheaper cost (Definitely!)
• Black and white (Defintely in colour, for both standard and extended)
• Lower print quality (I'd definitely say the same, or at least mine is)
• No "flying circus of physics" excerpts indicated by an aeroplane (Principles 9th Extended has this)
• No student Solutions Manual ((Principles 9th Extended has this, and you can find it online in places)
• No GO(online solutions) (I'll have to get back to you on this one)
• And no Wiley plus (I've definitely accessed it with mine, but required me to input my university name, but it didn't ask me to verify. You can essentially add a course, click your course ID isn't listed, then just manually pick. This is all I did for my school and course. That's all it asked. This is how I've managed to "almost" thoroughly compare Fundamentals (this is the online ebook featured) to my Principles, and the Standard version. I actually use this for the extra questions if needed). I've just checked if my login still works, and it does. I never actually realised, but Fundamentals is actually on the 12th Edition now.)

Anyway, I hope this has helped? :)

 

[Muu9]

I just looked at a copy of the 10th edition of Principles of Physics, 10th Edition International Student Version (not extended) (ISBN 978-1-118-41378-4) and it is in color, but doesn't have the flying circus of physics excerpts or difficulty levels indicated by dots. I guess those features in which we disagreed are specific to either the extended editions or the US editions