You are viewing an old version of this page. View the current version.

Compare with Current View Page History

« Previous Version 6 Next »

Definitions of Position and Velocity    null

If we start knowing the position vs. time x(t), then the velocity, v(t), is the derivative of its position, and the derivative in turn of this velocity is the particle's acceleration, a(t). The force is the particle's mass times a(t).

Unknown macro: {latex}

\begin

Unknown macro: {large}

[ v = \frac

Unknown macro: {dx}
Unknown macro: {dt}

][ a = \frac

Unknown macro: {dv}

= \frac{d^

Unknown macro: {2}

x}{dt^{2}}]\end

In fact, as you can see, the velocity and acceleration are defined as derivatives of the position, a fact acknowledged by the phrase "the calculus of motion".  Newton had to invent calculus of one variable to deal with motion!

  • No labels