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A preview of one of the most important and novel features you will encounter here. The S.I.M. strategy is a systematic, conceptual approach to starting mechanics problems.

The first step in solving any problem is to develop an understanding of the situation and to conceptually plan your attack. For those new to physics, this first step is often the hardest! As with learning any new skill, when learning to solve real problems it is important to be systematic. Luckily, there is a simple systematic approach that is usually a useful strategy for starting a mechanics problem. This approach is the SIM Strategy at the heart of problem solving in MAPS pedagogy:

• S.* Choose a system to consider.
  
  In every mechanics problem, you will choose to focus on the motion of one or more objects. These objects will make up the system under consideration. Sometimes this choice will be easy. For problems involving the motion of a single car or baseball or box, the car or baseball or box will be the system. Other times, the choice can be hard. When two boxes collide, you may want to focus on only one of the boxes, or both independently, or you may want to consider them together as one system. Or you may decompose the system into intervals where first one and then another treatment is best.

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