Computational Physics

Computational Physics

The following are resources for introductory computational Physics, using Jupyter Notebooks.

Most of the links are downloadable files, whose type may be identified by the extension (see File Extensions, below).

To learn how to use the Jupyter Notebooks, see the resource links at the bottom of the page.

• Jupyter Notebooks
• File Extensions
• Resources

Jupyter Notebooks

• Vector Product Examples:
  • vector-product-examples.ipynb
  • vector-product-examples.html
• Computational Dynamics: an elementary introduction
  • intro-dynamics.ipynb
  • intro-dynamics.html
  • dynamics-examples.ipynb
  • dynamics-examples.html
• Functional Programming : how to use functions, loops, and import modules
  • functional_programming.ipynb
  • functional_programming.html
• Working with data : how to read in data, plot it and fit a function
  • data.ipynb
  • data.html
  • data file: data_freefall.csv
• Solving Equations
  • solving_equations.ipynb
  • solving_equations.html
• Equations from the Physics equation sheets (available for use in the text cells of your notebooks)
  • Physics 1 Equation Sheet (pdf)
    • equations-223.ipynb
    • equations-223.html
  • Physics 2 Equation Sheet (pdf)
    • equations-224.ipynb
    • equations-224.html
• Doing Physics Homework
  • doing_hw.ipynb
  • doing_hw.html
• Physics 1 Lab Activities
  • intro_comp_lab.ipynb – intro_comp_lab.html
  • comp_dynamics_lab.ipynb – comp_dynamics_lab.html

File Extensions

A file extension is the last few letters after “.” in a computer file name. It identifies the type of file. Files with the following extensions should be familiar to scientists and engineers:

<filename>.ipynb

IPython Notebook – This file must be opened in the Jupyter notebook, where you can edit and execute the code.

<filename>.html

Hypertext Markup Language – This is a web page (like the one you’re reading now). If you click a link to an html file the browser will render it as a web page. You will not be able to directly edit its contents.

<filename>.py

Python – This file contains only Python code. It can be imported into a notebook or another Python program.

<filename>.md

Markdown – This is text that can be converted to HTML. Markdown formatting is also used in the Jupyter notebooks. Try it here.

<filename>.pdf

Portable Document Format – A format used for nice presentation of documents. You cannot edit these files without special software.

<filename>.csv

Comma Separated Values – A simple (text-based) format for spreadsheet data.

<filename>.txt

Text – This file can be edited by a text editor; it is not recognized as code. Sometimes when saving an ipynb file a .txt extension will be added; the file cannot be read by Jupyter until the .txt extension is removed from the file name.

<filename>.png

Portable Network Graphics – An image format suitable for diagrams and plots. Not so good for photographs (for that use .jpg).

Resources

Getting Started

• Archie’s Jupyter Intro notebook (intro-to-jupyter.ipynb): a place to start from scratch
• Get Jupyter running yourself; Archie’s guide to getting started with Jupyter
• Gallery of interesting Jupyter Notebooks shows some of what can be done
• There are so many how-to introductory vidoes, I won’t recommend any one in particular but suggest you peruse some of the options found in a web search.
• Quick start guide for matplotlib, for making graphs

Python Language

• Python Language Reference
• Python Tutorial for getting started
• For specific questions, a simple web search is usually the best resource. For example, how do you perform an inverse cosine? Just search “python inverse cosine”.

Last modified: December, 2025.