This is a working draft under review. The prerequisites shown below are a first pass. Check the diagram and the prerequisite table most closely, because they show what a student must master before moving on.
The course map shows the eight units as a spine — kinematics first, fluids last. But the real prerequisite structure isn't a straight line: it's a directed graph. Physics is more strictly cumulative than most subjects — dynamics needs kinematics; every later unit needs dynamics; momentum, simple harmonic motion, torque, and fluids also need energy; and torque builds on momentum. A weak concept early doesn't just lower one grade, it cascades into everything downstream that needs it. This page is the map a guide uses to find the concept that's actually blocking a stuck student.
An arrow means “must be mastered first.” Dynamics (02) feeds every later unit and Energy (04) feeds Units 05–08; Units 05, 06, and 08 each pull from two upstream units and Unit 07 from three — those are the cascade points where one soft prerequisite quietly breaks several later units.
Prerequisite gating
A unit unlocks when its prerequisites are mastered — demonstrated, not merely seen. "Covered in class" is not the gate; a cleared rubric is. The difference matters most at the cascade points, where a soft prerequisite quietly breaks several later units.
| Unit | Must have mastered first |
|---|---|
| 01 Kinematics & Motion | — (entry point) |
| 02 Dynamics & Newton's Laws | 01 (velocity & acceleration underpin every force analysis) |
| 03 Circular Motion & Gravitation | 02 (centripetal force is a Newton's-law application) |
| 04 Energy & Work | 02 (work is a force acting through a distance) |
| 05 Momentum & Collisions | 02 (impulse is force applied over time) + 04 (elastic vs. inelastic turns on whether kinetic energy is conserved) |
| 06 Simple Harmonic Motion | 02 (a restoring force drives the oscillation) + 04 (energy trades between kinetic & potential) |
| 07 Torque & Rotational Motion | 02 (torque is the rotational form of Newton's second law) + 04 (rolling and rotational kinetic energy) + 05 (angular impulse and angular momentum mirror impulse and momentum) |
| 08 Fluids & Pressure | 02 (pressure is force per unit area) + 04 (Bernoulli is energy conservation in a flow) |
Gap-cascade diagnosis
When a student stalls late, the visible symptom is rarely the real problem — the broken concept is usually upstream. Trace the arrows backward. Common cascades:
| Late symptom | Upstream concept to check first |
|---|---|
| Bernoulli and pressure problems fall apart (Unit 08) | Energy & work from Unit 04 — Bernoulli is energy conservation in a moving fluid. |
| Rolling and angular-momentum problems stall (Unit 07) | Energy from Unit 04 and momentum from Unit 05 — rotation reuses both ideas. |
| Oscillation period and energy won't resolve (Unit 06) | Newton's second law from Unit 02 — the restoring force sets the whole motion. |
| Collision outcomes come out wrong (Unit 05) | Force analysis from Unit 02 — impulse is force applied over time, not a memorized formula. |
| Elastic and inelastic collisions get mixed up (Unit 05) | Kinetic energy from Unit 04 — only an elastic collision conserves it. |
| Centripetal and orbit problems stall (Unit 03) | Free-body reasoning from Unit 02 — centripetal force is just the net force pointed inward. |
Using the graph to plan a re-attempt
The graph turns a "not yet" into a targeted re-attempt instead of a whole-unit re-teach. When a student fails a downstream demonstration:
- Trace backward to the upstream node the symptom points to.
- Re-attempt the upstream concept first — close the gap at its source, not where it surfaced.
- Then re-run the downstream demonstration. Often it passes without any re-teaching of the downstream unit at all, because the cascade is resolved.
This is also where the integration guide matters: some physics concepts depend on an applied-math idea — trigonometry for resolving force vectors, proportional reasoning for scaling relationships — from another spoke. When the upstream physics node looks solid but the student still stalls, check the cross-disciplinary dependency before re-teaching the physics.