Unit 3

Physics: Forces and Multi-dimensional kinematics

Objectives: Calculate displacements, velocities, and accelerations for motion in two dimensions using the kinematic equations developed in unit 2.understand forces and how they interrelate with one another -Define work, kinetic energy and potential energy* -Calculate the work done given the applied forces and the displacement* -Calculate work and/or kinetic energy change using the work-energy theorem* -Calculate gravitational potential energy -Compare and contrast conservative and non-conservative forces -Use the principle of conservation of mechanical energy to calculate values for kinetic energy and potential energy of a system -Define power* -Calculate the power involved in an energy change* -State the principle of conservation of energy* -Equilibrium Conditions* -Define impulse and momentum* -Calculate the value of impulse for contact force -Calculate the momentum of an object -Conservation of Momentum* -Compare and contrast elastic and inelastic collisions -Calculate velocities after a collision -Calculate the center of mass of a group of three objects Types of Forces: A force is a push or pull acting upon an object as a result of its interaction with another object. There are a variety of types of forces. Previously in this lesson, a variety of force types were placed into two broad category headings on the basis of whether the force resulted from the contact or non-contact of the two interacting objects. Contact Forces Frictional Force Tension Force Normal Force Air Resistance Force Applied Force Spring Force Action-at-a-Distance Forces Gravitational Force Electrical Force Magnetic Force

These types of individual forces will now be discussed in more detail. To read about each force listed above, continue scrolling through this page. Or to read about an individual force, click on its name from the list below.

Applied Force Gravitational Force Normal Force Frictional Force Air Resistance Force Tension Force Spring Force

Type of Force Description of Force (and Symbol) An applied force is a force that is applied to an object by a person or another object. If a person is pushing a desk across the room, then there is an applied force acting upon the object. The applied force is the force exerted on the desk by the person.

Applied Force Fapp

The force of gravity is the force with which the earth, moon, or other massively large object attracts another object towards itself. By definition, this is the weight of the object. All objects upon earth experience a force of gravity that is directed "downward" towards the center of the earth. The force of gravity on earth is always equal to the weight of the object as found by the equation: Gravity Force (also known as Weight) Fgrav Fgrav = m * g where g = 9.8 N/kg (on Earth) and m = mass (in kg) we will use 10 in this class see cheat sheet for more info in doc-sharing (Caution: do not confuse weight with mass.)

Normal Force Fnorm

The normal force is the support force exerted upon an object that is in contact with another stable object. For example, if a book is resting upon a surface, then the surface is exerting an upward force upon the book in order to support the weight of the book. On occasions, a normal force is exerted horizontally between two objects that are in contact with each

other. For instance, if a person leans against a wall, the wall pushes horizontally on the person.

Friction Force Ffrict

The friction force is the force exerted by a surface as an object moves across it or makes an effort to move across it. There are at least two types of friction force - sliding and static friction. Thought it is not always the case, the friction force often opposes the motion of an object. For example, if a book slides across the surface of a desk, then the desk exerts a friction force in the opposite direction of its motion. Friction results from the two surfaces being pressed together closely, causing intermolecular attractive forces between molecules of different surfaces. As such, friction depends upon the nature of the two surfaces and upon the degree to which they are pressed together. The maximum amount of friction force that a surface can exert upon an object can be calculated using the formula below: Ffrict = Fnorm The friction force is discussed in more detail later on this page.

Air Resistance Force Fair

The air resistance is a special type of frictional force that acts upon objects as they travel through the air. The force of air resistance is often observed to oppose the motion of an object. This force will frequently be neglected due to its negligible magnitude (and due to the fact that it is mathematically difficult to predict its value). It is most noticeable for objects that travel at high speeds (e.g., a skydiver or a downhill skier) or for objects with large surface areas. Air resistance will be discussed in more detail in Lesson 3.

Tension Force Ftens

The tension force is the force that is transmitted through a string, rope, cable or wire when it is pulled tight by forces acting from opposite ends. The tension force is directed along the length of the wire and pulls equally on the objects on the opposite ends of the wire.

Spring Force Fspring

The spring force is the force exerted by a compressed or stretched spring upon any object that is attached to it. An object that compresses or stretches a spring is always acted upon by a force that restores the object to its rest or equilibrium position. For most springs (specifically, for those that are said to obey "Hooke's Law"), the magnitude of the force is directly proportional to the amount of stretch or compression of the spring.

Confusion of Mass and Weight A few further comments should be added about the single force that is a source of much confusion to many students of physics - the force of gravity. As mentioned above, the force of gravity acting upon an object is sometimes referred to as the weight of the object. Many students of physics confuse weight with mass. The mass of an object refers to the amount of matter that is contained by the object; the weight of an object is the force of gravity acting upon that object. Mass is related to how much stuff is there and weight is related to the pull of the Earth (or any other planet) upon that stuff. The mass of an object (measured in kg) will be the same no matter where in the universe that object is located. Mass is never altered by location, the pull of gravity, speed or even the existence of other forces. For example, a 2-kg object will have a mass of 2 kg whether it is located on Earth, the moon, or Jupiter; its mass will be 2 kg whether it is moving or not (at least for purposes of our study); and its mass will be 2 kg whether it is being pushed upon or not. On the other hand, the weight of an object (measured in Newton) will vary according to where in the universe the object is. Weight depends upon which planet is exerting the force and the distance the object is from the planet. Weight, being equivalent to the force of gravity, is dependent upon the value of g - the gravitational field strength. On earth's surface g is 9.8 N/kg (often approximated as 10 N/kg). On the moon's surface, g is 1.7 N/kg. Go to another planet, and there will be another g value. Furthermore, the g value is inversely proportional to the distance from the center of the planet. So if we were to measure g at a distance of 400 km above the earth's surface, then we would find the g value to be less than 9.8
N/kg. (The nature of the force of gravity will be discussed in more detail in Always be cautious of the distinction between mass and weight. It is the source of much confusion for many students of physics.

Work: is a scalar quantity that can be described as the product of a force times the distance through which it acts, and it is called the work of the force. Only the component of a force in the direction of the movement of its point of application does work. The term work was first coined in 1826 by the French mathematician Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis. If a constant force of magnitude F acts on a point that moves s in the direction of the force, then the work W done by this force is calculated W=Fs. In particular, a force of 10 newtons (F=10N) acting along the path of 2 meters (s=2m) will do the work W= (10N) (2m) =20Nm=20J, where joule (J) is the SI unit for work (derived in order to replace the product Nm).

Calculating the work as "force times straight path segment" can only be done in the simple circumstances described above. If the force is changing, if the body is moving along a curved path, possibly rotating and not necessarily rigid, then only the path of the application point of the force is relevant for the work done, and only the component of the force parallel to the application point velocity is doing work (positive work when in the same direction, and negative when in the opposite direction of the velocity). This component of the force can be described by the scalar quantity called scalar tangential component ( , where is the angle between the force and the velocity). And then the most general definition of work can be formulated as follows: Work of a force is the line integral of its scalar tangential component along the path of its application point. Simpler (intermediate) formulas for work and the transition to the general definition are described in the text below. At any instant, the rate of the work done by a force is the scalar product of the force with the velocity vector of the point of application. This scalar product of force and velocity is called instantaneous power, and work is the time integral of instantaneous power along the trajectory of the point of application. Because changes in this trajectory will change the calculation of work, work is said to be path dependent. The first law of thermodynamics states that when work is done to a system its energy state changes by the same amount. This equates work and energy. In the case of rigid bodies, Newton's laws can be used to derive a similar relationship called the work-energy theorem. If a force F that is constant with respect to time acts on an object while the object is translationally displaced for a displacement vector d, the work done by the force on the object is the dot product of the vectors F and d

where

is the angle between the force and the displacement vector.

Torque and rotation Work done by a torque can be calculated in a similar manner, as is easily seen when a force of constant magnitude is applied perpendicularly to a lever arm. After extraction of this constant value, the integral in the equation (2) gives the path length of the application point, i.e. the circular arc , and the work done is . However, the arc length can be calculated from the angle of rotation (expressed in radians) as , and the ensuing product is equal to the torque applied to the lever arm. Therefore, a constant torque does work as follows:

Gravity F=mg does work W=mgh along any descending path Whereas the magnitude and direction of the force must remain constant, the object's path may have any shape: the work done is independent of the path and is determined only by the total displacement vector . A most common example is the work done by gravity see diagram. The object descends along a curved path, but the work is calculated from , which gives the familiar result . More generally, if the force causes (or affects) rotation of the body, or if the body is not rigid, displacement of the point to which the force is applied (the application point) must be used to calculate the work. This is also true for the case of variable force (below) where, however, magnitude of can equally be interpreted as differential displacement magnitude or differential length of the path of the application point. (Although use of displacement vector most frequently can simplify calculation of work, in some cases simplification is achieved by use of the path length, as in the work of torque calculation below.) In situations where the force changes over time, equation (1) is not generally applicable. But it is possible to divide the motion into small steps, such that the force is well approximated as being constant for each step, and then to express the overall work as the sum over these steps. This will give an approximate result, which can be improved by further subdivisions into smaller steps (numerical integration). The exact result is obtained as the mathematical limit of this process, leading to the general definition below.

In order to accomplish work on an object there must be a force exerted on the object and it must move in the direction of the force.

For the special case of a constant force, the work may be calculated by multiplying the distance times the component of force which acts in the direction of motion.

The product of average force and the time it is exerted is called the impulse of force. From Newton's second law

Impulse: (abbreviated I or J) is defined as the integral of a force with respect to time. When a force is applied to a rigid body it changes the momentum of that body. A small force applied for a long time can produce the same momentum change as a large force applied briefly, because it is the product of the force and the time for which it is applied that is important. The impulse is equal to the change of momentum.

an impulse may also be regarded as the change in momentum of an object to which a force is applied. The impulse may be expressed in a simpler form when both the force and the mass are constant:

where F is the constant total net force applied, t is the time interval over which the force is applied, m is the constant mass of the object, v is the change in velocity produced by the force in the considered time interval, and p is the change in linear momentum. It is often the case that not just one but both of these two quantities vary. In the technical sense, impulse is a physical quantity, not an event or force. The term "impulse" is also used to refer to a fast-acting force. This

type of impulse is often idealized so that the change in momentum produced by the force happens with no change in time. This sort of change is a step change, and is not physically possible. This is a useful model for computing the effects of ideal collisions (such as in game physics engines). Impulse has the same units (in the International System of Units, kgm/s = Ns) and dimensions (MLT1) as momentum. Impulse can be calculated using the equation the impulse of force can be extracted and found to be equal to the change in momentum of an object provided the mass is constant:

The main utility of the concept is in the study of the average impact force during collisions. For collisions, the mass and change in velocity are often readily measured, but the force during the collision is not. If the time of collision can be measured, then the average force of impact can be calculated.

Gravitation: The gravitational constant, denoted G, is an empirical physical constant involved in the calculation of thegravitational attraction between objects with mass. It appears in Newton's law of universal gravitation and in Einstein's theory of general relativity. It is also known as the universal gravitational constant, Newton's constant, and colloquially Big G. It should not be confused with "little g" (g), which is the local gravitational field (equivalent to the free-fall acceleration[2]), especially that at the Earth's surface; see Gravity of Earth and gravity. We will use 10m/s/s in this class.

The Moon orbits around the Earth. Since its size does not appear to change, its distance stays about the same, and hence its orbit must be close to a circle. To keep the Moon moving in that circle--rather than wandering off--the Earth must exert a pull on the Moon, and Newton named that pulling force gravity. Was that the same force which pulled all falling objects downward? Supposedly, the above question occurred to Newton when he saw an apple falling from a tree. John Conduitt, Newton's assistant at the royal mint and husband of Newton's niece, had this to say about the event when he wrote about

Newton's life: If it was the same force, then a connection would exist between the way objects fell and the motion of the Moon around Earth, that is, its distance and orbital period. The orbital period we know--it is the lunar month, corrected for the motion of the Earth around the Sun, which also affects the length of time between one "new moon" and the next. To calculate the force of gravity on the Moon, one must also know how much weaker it was at the Moon's distance. Newton showed that if gravity at a distance R was proportional to 1/R2 (varied like the "inverse square of the distance"), then indeed the acceleration g measured at the Earth's surface would correctly predict the orbital period T of the Moon. Newton went further and proposed that gravity was a "universal" force, and that the Sun's gravity was what held planets in their orbits. He was then able to show that Kepler's laws were a natural consequence of the "inverse squares law" and today all calculations of the orbits of planets and satellites follow in his footsteps. Nowadays students who derive Kepler's laws from the "inverse-square law" use differential calculus, a mathematical tool in whose creation Newton had a large share. Interestingly, however, the proof which Newton published did not use calculus, but relied on intricate properties of ellipses and other conic sections. Richard Feynman, Nobel-prize winning maverick physicist, rederived such a proof (as have some distinguished predecessors); see reference at the end of the section. Here we will retrace the calculation, which linked the gravity observed on Earth with the Moon's motion across the sky, two seemingly unrelated observations. If you want to check the calculation, a hand-held calculator is helpful. Calculating the Moon's Motion: an exercise: We assume that the Moon's orbit is a circle, and that the Earth's pull is always directed towards the Earth's center. Let RE be the average radius of the Earth (first estimated by Erathosthenes)

RE= 6 371 km The distance R to the Moon is then about 60 RE. If a mass m on Earth is pulled by a force mg, and if Newton's "inverse square law" holds, then the pull on the same mass at the Moon's distance would be 602 = 3600 times weaker and would equal mg/3600 If m is the mass of the Moon, that is the force which keeps the Moon in its orbit. If the Moon's orbit is a circle, since R = 60 RE its length is 2 R = 120 RE Suppose the time required for one orbit is T seconds. The velocity v of the motion is then v = distance/time = 120 RE/T (Please note: gravity is not what gives the Moon its velocity. Whatever velocity the Moon has was probably acquired when it was created. But gravity prevents the Moon from running away, and confines it to some orbit.) The centripetal force holding the Moon in its orbit must therefore equal mv2/R = mv2/(60 RE) and if the Earth's gravity provides that force, then mg/3600 = mv2/(60 RE) dividing both sides by m and then multiplying by 60 simplifies things to g/60 = v2/RE = (120 RE)2/(T2 RE) Canceling one factor of RE , multiplying both sides by 60 T2 and dividing them by g leaves T2 = (864 000 2 RE)/g = 864 000 RE (2/g)

Providentially, in the units we use g ~ 9.81 is very close to 2 ~ 9.87, so that the term in parentheses is close to 1 and may be dropped. That leaves (the two parentheses are multiplied) T2 = (864 000) (6 371 000)

With a hand held calculator, it is easy to find the square roots of the two terms. We get (to 4-figure accuracy) 864 000 = (929.5)2 6 371 000 = (2524)2

Then T (929.5) (2524) = 2 346 058 seconds

To get T in days we divide by 86400, the number of seconds in a day, to get T = 27.153 days pretty close to the accepted value T = 27.3217 days

Electrostatics is the branch of physics that deals with the phenomena and properties of stationary or slow-moving (without acceleration) electric charges. Since classical antiquity, it was known that some materials such as amber attract lightweight particles after rubbing. The Greek word for amber, electron, was the source of the word 'electricity'. Electrostatic phenomena arise from the forces that electric charges exert on each other. Such forces are described by Coulomb's law. Even though electrostatically induced forces seem to be rather weak, the electrostatic force between e.g. an electron and a proton, that together make up a hydrogen atom, is about 40 orders of magnitude stronger than the gravitational force acting between them. Electrostatic phenomena include many examples as simple as the attraction of the plastic wrap to your hand after you remove it from a package, to the apparently spontaneous explosion of grain silos, to damage of electronic components during manufacturing, to the operation of photocopiers. Electrostatics involves the buildup of charge on the surface of objects due to contact with other surfaces. Although charge exchange happens whenever any two surfaces contact and separate, the effects of charge exchange are usually only noticed when at least one of

the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical flow. This is because the charges that transfer to or from the highly resistive surface are more or less trapped there for a long enough time for their effects to be observed. These charges then remain on the object until they either bleed off to ground or are quickly neutralized by a discharge: e.g., the familiar phenomenon of a static 'shock' is caused by the neutralization of charge built up in the body from contact with nonconductive surfaces. Coulomb's law: The fundamental equation of electrostatics is Coulomb's law, which describes the force between two point charges. The magnitude of the electrostatic force between two point electric charges Q1 and Q2 is directly proportional to the product of the magnitudes of each charge and inversely proportional to the surface area of a sphere whose radius is equal to the distance between the charges:

where 0 is a constant called the permittivity of free space, a defined value: in A2s4 kg-1m3 or C2N1m2 or F m1. [edit]The electric field The electric field (in units of volts per meter) at a point is defined as the force (in newtons) per unit charge (in coulombs) on a charge at that point:

From this definition and Coulomb's law, it follows that the magnitude of the electric field E created by a single point charge Q is:

The nuclear force (or nucleon-nucleon interaction or residual strong force) is the force between two or more nucleons. It is responsible for binding of protons and neutrons into atomic nuclei. The energy released causes the masses of nuclei to be less than the total mass of the protons and neutrons which form them. The force is powerfully attractive between nucleons at distances of about 1 femtometer (fm) between their centers, but rapidly decreases to insignificance at distances beyond about 2.5 fm. At very short distances less than 0.7 fm, it becomes

repulsive, and is responsible for the physical size of nuclei, since the nucleons can come no closer than the force allows. The nuclear force is now understood as a residual effect of the even more powerful strong force, or strong interaction, which is the attractive force that binds particles called quarks together, to form the nucleons themselves. This more powerful force is mediated by particles called gluons Gluons hold quarks together with a force like that of electric charge, but of far greater power. The concept of a nuclear force was first quantitatively constructed in 1934, shortly after the discovery of the neutron revealed that atomic nuclei were made of protons and neutrons, held together by an attractive force. The nuclear force at that time was conceived to be transmitted by particles called mesons, which were predicted in theory before being discovered in 1947. In the 1970s, further understanding revealed these mesons to be combinations of quarks and gluons, transmitted between nucleons that themselves were made of quarks and gluons. This new model allowed the strong forces that held nucleons together, to be felt in neighboring nucleons, as residual strong forces. The nuclear forces arising between nucleons are now seen to be analogous to the forces in chemistry between neutral atoms called van der Waals forces. Such forces between atoms are much weaker than the electrical forces that hold the atoms themselves together, and their range is shorter, because they arise from spontaneous separation of charges inside the atom. Similarly, even though nucleons are made of quarks and gluons that are in combinations which cancel most gluon forces, some combinations of quarks and gluons nevertheless leak away from nucleons, in the form of short-range nuclear force fields that extend from one nucleon to another close by. These nuclear forces are very weak compared to direct gluon forces inside nucleons, and they extend only over a few nuclear diameters, falling exponentially with distance. Nevertheless, they are strong enough to bind neutrons and protons over short distances, and overcome the electrical repulsion between protons in the nucleus.

Multidimensional kinematics Two Dimensional Kinematics Overview We will introduce physics problem examples, namely the description of free fall near the surface of the earth as motion of constant acceleration in the vertical direction and motion at constant velocity in the horizontal direction. We will use these descriptions to calculate some properties of projectile motion. Finally, we will use the principle of superposition to relate the descriptions of projectile motion. Kinematic Definitions in Three Dimensions o To this point, we have restricted ourselves to discussions of motions in one dimension; we have defined velocity as dx/dt and acceleration as dv/dt. How do we generalize these definitions to more than one dimension? The generalization we make is most easily understood in terms of Cartesian co-ordinates. Figure 2.1a shows a Cartesian coordinate system, with the mutually orthogonal directions labeled x, y, and z. To identify a point P in this space, we can specify its three co-ordinates (x,y,z). A point P is specified in a Cartesian coordinate System by its components (x, y, z). Figure A point P is specified by its displacement vector r Whose Cartesian coordinates are (x, y, z) with these definitions, we can see that everything we did last time for one Dimension (x) is just repeated for the other two dimensions (y and z). For example, we Can immediately write down the equations for all components for motion at constant Acceleration. Problems for you: Problem 1: Suppose a MIT student wants to row across the Charles River. Suppose the water is moving downstream at a constant rate of 1.0 m/s. A second boat is floating downstream with the current. From the second boats viewpoint, the student is rowing perpendicular to the current at 0.5 m/s. Suppose the river is 800 m wide.

a) What is the direction and magnitude of the velocity of the student as seen from an observer at rest along the bank of the river? b) How far down river does the student land on the opposite bank? c) How long does the student take to reach the other side?

Problem 2: A person initially at rest throws a ball upward at an angle ! with an initial speed v . He tries to catch up to the ball by accelerating with a constant acceleration a for a time interval !t and then continues to run at a constant speed for a time interval !t He catches the ball at exactly the same height he threw the ball. Let g be the gravitational constant. What was the persons acceleration A person, standing on a vertical cliff a height h above a lake, wants to jump into the lake but notices a rock just at the surface level with its furthest edge a distance s from the shore. The person realizes that with a running start it will be possible to just clear the rock, so the person steps back from the edge a distance d and starting from rest, runs at an acceleration that varies in time according to

and then leaves the cliff horizontally. The person just clears the rock. Find s in terms of the given quantities d , b 1 , h , and the gravitational constant g . You may neglect all air resistance

A lady goes on a hike for 77.2 minutes. If her average velocity was 1.938 km/h @ 24.04 W of N, express her final position as displacement as components west and north compared to her starting point. ans 1.016 W, 2.277 N

A disk spins at an angular velocity of 0.2151 rad/s. If it is an angle of 2.17 rad at time=0, what angle is it at when time=12.18sec.m ans 4.79rad A boat which travels at 8.6 km/h relative to the water aims straight for the opposite bank of a river. If the average river speed is 12 km/h and the boat is 102.1 m downstream when it reaches the opposite side, how wide is the river. ans73.2m If a roller coaster car accelerates down a 87 m high hill at 4.959 m/s2, what is the base length of the hill? ans148.2m What is the length of track on a 45 m high rollercoaster hill if a car going up it decelerates at 4.781 m/s2? ans 92.23m A ball is hanging on the end of a 0.56 m long string which is being swung such that the ball follows a circular path due to a centripetal acceleration of 45.11 m/s2. How many revolutions does it make in 21 seconds? ans 30 revolutions A ball is being swung in circles at the end of rope at 4.7 rpm. If the rope breaks and the ball flies off at 0.502 m/s, how long had the rope been? ans 1.02 m Continued miasmatic information: Classical mechanics(kinematics) is one of the two major sub-fields of mechanics, which is concerned with the set of physical laws describing the motion of bodies under the action of a system of forces. The study of the motion of bodies is an ancient one, making classical mechanics one of the oldest and largest subjects in science, engineering and technology. Classical mechanics describes the motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, as well as astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. Besides this, many specializations within the subject deal with gases, liquids, solids, and other specific sub-topics. Classical mechanics provides extremely accurate results as long as the domain of study is restricted to large objects and the speeds involved do not approach the speed of light. When the objects being dealt with become sufficiently small, it becomes necessary to introduce the other major sub-field of mechanics, quantum mechanics, which reconciles the macroscopic laws of physics with the atomic nature of matter and handles the wave-particle duality of atoms and molecules. In the case of high velocity objects approaching the speed of light, classical mechanics is enhanced by special relativity. General relativity unifies special relativity with Newton's law of universal gravitation, allowing physicists to handle gravitation at a deeper level. The term classical mechanics was coined in the early 20th century to describe the system of physics begun by Isaac Newton and many contemporary 17th century natural philosophers, building upon the earlier astronomical theories of Johannes Kepler, which in turn were based on the precise observations of Tycho Brahe and the studies of terrestrial projectile motion of Galileo. Because these aspects of physics were developed long before the emergence of quantum physics and relativity, some sources exclude Einstein's theory of relativity from this category. However, a number of modern sources do include relativistic mechanics, which in their view represents classical mechanics in its most developed and most accurate form. [note 1]

The initial stage in the development of classical mechanics is often referred to as Newtonian mechanics, and is associated with the physical concepts employed by and the mathematical methods invented by Newton himself, in parallel with Leibniz, and others. This is further described in the following sections. Later, more abstract and general methods were developed, leading to reformulations of classical mechanics known as Lagrangian mechanics and Hamiltonian mechanics. These advances were largely made in the 18th and 19th centuries, and they extend substantially beyond Newton's work, particularly through their use of analytical mechanics. Ultimately, the mathematics developed for these were central to the creation of quantum mechanics. Description of the theory

The analysis of projectile motion is a part of classical mechanics. The following introduces the basic concepts of classical mechanics. For simplicity, it often models real-world objects as point particles, objects with negligible size. The motion of a point particle is characterized by a small number of parameters: its position, mass, and the forces applied to it. Each of these parameters is discussed in turn. In reality, the kind of objects that classical mechanics can describe always have a non-zero size. (The physics of very small particles, such as the electron, is more accurately described by quantum mechanics). Objects with non-zero size have more complicated behavior than hypothetical point particles, because of the additional degrees of freedomfor example, a baseball can spin while it is moving. However, the results for point particles can be used to study such objects by treating them as composite objects, made up of a large number of interacting point particles. The center of mass of a composite object behaves like a point particle. Position and its derivatives

The SI derived "mechanical" (that is, not electromagnetic or thermal) units with kg, m and s Position The position of a point particle is defined with respect to an arbitrary fixed reference point, O, in space, usually accompanied by a coordinate system, with the reference point located at the origin of the coordinate system. It is defined as the vector r from O to the particle. In general, the point particle need not be stationary relative to O, so ris a function of t, the time elapsed since an arbitrary initial time. In pre-Einstein relativity (known as Galilean relativity), time is considered an absolute, i.e., the time interval between any given pair of events is the same for all observers. In addition to relying on absolute time, classical mechanics assumes Euclidean geometry for the structure of space.[1] Angular position/Angle velocity Angular velocity acceleration Angular acceleration jerk "Angular jerk" specific energy absorbed dose rate moment of inertia momentum angular momentum force torque energy power pressure and energy density surface tension Spring constant kinematic viscosity dynamic viscosity Density(mass density) Density(weight density) Number density Action m unit less (radian) m s1 s1 m s2 s2 m s3 s3 m2 s2 m2 s3 kg m2 kg m s1 kg m2 s1 kg m s2 kg m2 s2 kg m2 s2 kg m2 s3 kg m1 s2 kg s2 kg s2 m2 s1 kg m1 s1 kg m3 kg m2 s2 m3 kg m2 s1

irradiance and energy flux kg s3

Velocity and speed: The velocity, or the rate of change of position with time, is defined as the derivative of the position with respect to time or . In classical mechanics, velocities are directly additive and subtractive. For example, if one car traveling East at 60 km/h passes another car traveling East at 50 km/h, then from the perspective of the slower car, the faster car is traveling east at 60 50 = 10 km/h. Whereas,

from the perspective of the faster car, the slower car is moving 10 km/h to the West. Velocities are directly additive as vector quantities; they must be dealt with using vector analysis. Mathematically, if the velocity of the first object in the previous discussion is denoted by the vector u = ud and the velocity of the second object by the vector v = ve, where u is the speed of the first object, v is the speed of the second object, and d and e are unit vectors in the directions of motion of each particle respectively, then the velocity of the first object as seen by the second object is Similarly, When both objects are moving in the same direction, this equation can be simplified to Or, by ignoring direction, the difference can be given in terms of speed only: Acceleration The acceleration, or rate of change of velocity, is the derivative of the velocity with respect to time (the second derivative of the position with respect to time) or

Acceleration can arise from a change with time of the magnitude of the velocity or of the direction of the velocity or both. If only the magnitude v of the velocity decreases, this is sometimes referred to as deceleration, but generally any change in the velocity with time, including deceleration, is simply referred to as acceleration. [edit]Frames of reference Main articles: Inertial frame of reference and Galilean transformation While the position and velocity and acceleration of a particle can be referred to any observer in any state of motion, classical mechanics assumes the existence of a special family of reference frames in terms of which the mechanical laws of nature take a comparatively simple form. These special reference frames are called inertial frames. An inertial frame is such that when an object without any force interactions(an idealized situation) is viewed from it, it will appear either to be at rest or in a state of uniform motion in a straight line. This is the fundamental definition of an inertial frame. They are characterized by the requirement that all forces entering the observer's physical laws originate in identifiable sources (charges, gravitational bodies, and so forth). A noninertial reference frame is one accelerating with respect to an inertial one, and in such a non-inertial frame a particle is subject to acceleration by fictitious forces that enter the equations of motion solely as a result of its accelerated motion, and do not originate in identifiable sources. These fictitious forces are in addition to the real forces recognized in an inertial frame. A key concept of inertial frames is the method for identifying them. For practical purposes, reference frames that are unaccelerated

with respect to the distant stars are regarded as good approximations to inertial frames. Newton was the first to mathematically express the relationship between force and momentum. Some physicists interpret Newton's second law of motion as a definition of force and mass, while others consider it to be a fundamental postulate, a law of nature. Either interpretation has the same mathematical consequences, historically known as "Newton's Second Law":

The quantity mv is called the (canonical) momentum. The net force on a particle is thus equal to rate change of momentum of the particle with time. Since the definition of acceleration is a = dv/dt, the second law can be written in the simplified and more familiar form: So long as the force acting on a particle is known, Newton's second law is sufficient to describe the motion of a particle. Once independent relations for each force acting on a particle are available, they can be substituted into Newton's second law to obtain an ordinary differential equation, which is called the equation of motion. As an example, assume that friction is the only force acting on the particle, and that it may be modeled as a function of the velocity of the particle, for example: where is a positive constant. Then the equation of motion is

This result is