College · University · First year
A broad starter collection for introductory college Physics, from algebra-based textbooks to calculus-based university courses, simulations and a public South African university practice paper. Use your own department’s syllabus and lecturer guidance to choose the right depth.
CAPS note: These are university-level resources, not materials officially mapped to South African CAPS. Use them for first-year study, subject knowledge and enrichment. Grade 12 school resources are on the CAPS Physical Sciences guide.
An algebra-based introductory textbook that does not require calculus. The free web/PDF text includes worked examples and practice questions across mechanics, fluids, thermal physics, waves, electricity, magnetism, optics and modern physics.
A free calculus-based sequence for two or three semesters of university Physics: mechanics and waves; thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism; then optics and modern physics.
First-course undergraduate mechanics materials include videos, readings, worked examples, problem sets and a downloadable online textbook. MIT lists single-variable calculus as a corequisite.
Freshman-level second-semester material on electric fields and potential, Gauss’s law, circuits, magnetism, induction, AC circuits and Maxwell’s equations. The 8.02 syllabus requires 8.01 or equivalent mechanics preparation.
Interactive simulations and virtual labs across motion, sound and waves, work and energy, heat, light, quantum phenomena, circuits and magnetism. Filter the collection by topic, language and accessibility features.
A publicly accessible 70-mark, first-semester University of Johannesburg practice paper. It includes questions and formulae but no solutions; topics include units, vectors, sound, optics, capacitors and radiation.
“Free to access” does not mean unrestricted to republish. TeachDeck links to provider sources; check each source’s license and item-level notices before copying, adapting, embedding or using material commercially. Some university past-paper portals require institutional sign-in; this collection does not promise access to every institution’s restricted exam archive.