Newton's law, phase space, momentum and energy

Classical Mechanics (Fall, 2011)

Lecture Playlist

  1. State diagrams and the nature of physical laws

  2. Newton's law, phase space, momentum and energy

  3. Lagrangian, least action, Euler-Lagrange equations

  4. Symmetry and conservation laws

  5. The Hamiltonian

  6. Hamilton's equations

  7. Liouville s theorem

  8. Poisson brackets

  9. Electric and magnetic fields 1

  10. Electric and magnetic fields 2

October 3, 2011

This lecture focuses on classical mechanics expressed using Newton's 2nd law. The notions of phase space, momentum and energy are introduced.

Topics: 
  • Aristotle incorrect laws of motion
  • Newton's law (the 2nd law)
  • Inertial reference frames
  • Newton's determinism and the need of position and velocity
  • Momentum and Newton's law
  • Phase space
  • Newton and reversibility
  • Newton's law and conserved quantities
  • Newton's 3 laws
  • Proof of conservation of momentum for an isolated system of particles
  • Potential energy
  • Energy conservation for a system of particles
  • Harmonic oscillator and energy
References