All resources in CUNY OER Initiative Materials

Astronomy

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Astronomy is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of one- or two-semester introductory astronomy courses. The book begins with relevant scientific fundamentals and progresses through an exploration of the solar system, stars, galaxies, and cosmology. The Astronomy textbook builds student understanding through the use of relevant analogies, clear and non-technical explanations, and rich illustrations. Mathematics is included in a flexible manner to meet the needs of individual instructors.

Material Type: Textbook

Authors: Andrew Fraknoi, David Morrison, Sidney C. Wolff

Life and the Universe: What if …?

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This book is a journey through the world of physics and cosmology, and an exploration of our role in this universe. We will address questions such as: What if the force of gravity were a little stronger? What if there were more of fewer atoms in our universe? What if Newton and not Einstein had been right? Would we still be here? Can the universe exist without us to observe it? Can chance explain the world around us, as well as us? The purpose of this book is to phrase these questions and pursue the consequences of potential answers through rigorous scientific reasoning; in the process we will learn how the very small and the very large are interconnected, and even how we can affect events that happened six billion years ago. Licensed CC-BY-4.0 with attribution instructions on page 2 of the document. Table of Contents Introduction 7 The fundamental forces 10 The force of gravity 18 What if … the force of gravity were different? 23 The electric and magnetic forces 26 The electric force 27 What if … the electric force were different? 39 The magnetic force 48 What if … the magnetic force were different? 58 The strong and weak forces 59 What if … ? 65 How do forces work? 74 The history of the universe 85 What if … ? 94 The history of our species 106 Odds 124 The building blocks of the universe 128 What if … ? 140 Dark energy 150 What if … dark matter were more interesting? 159 When you do not look…. 162 Manifestations of the wave nature of matter 169 The delayed choice experiment: Affecting the past 186 What if … ? 191 The story so far 195 Unification and our role 199 Fine-tuning? 214 The Multiverse and aliens 226 The laws of physics 234 The Anthropic Principle and Puddle Theory 237 Post mortem 249 Further reading and chapter notes 251

Material Type: Textbook

Authors: Lanika Ruzhitskaya, Wouter Montfrooij

Chemistry

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Chemistry is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the two-semester general chemistry course. The textbook provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of chemistry and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them. The book also includes a number of innovative features, including interactive exercises and real-world applications, designed to enhance student learning.

Material Type: Textbook

Authors: Allison Soult, Andrew Eklund, Carol Martinez, Don Carpenetti, Don Frantz, Emad El-Giar, George Kaminski, Jason Powell, Jennifer Look, Klaus Theopold, Mark Blaser, Paul Flowers, Paul Hooker, Richard Langley, Simon Bott, Tom Sorensen, Troy Milliken, Vicki Moravec, William R. Robinson