Notes for Classical Mechanics I, CMI, Autumn 2021

Govind S. Krishnaswami, November 16, 2021

Please let me know at [email protected] of any comments or corrections
Course website http://www.cmi.ac.in/~govind/teaching/cm1-o21

Contents
1 Primer on vectors, polar coordinates and kinematics 1
1.1 Vectors, dot and cross product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Position coordinates and velocity and acceleration vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Uniform circular motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4 Nonuniform circular motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.5 Rotating vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.6 Integration of kinematical equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.7 Plane polar coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.8 Spherical polar coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.9 Taylor approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.10 Some vector calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2 Newton’s laws and forces 25

2.1 Time, light, simultaneity, space & time intervals, masses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2 Degrees of freedom, instantaneous configurations, trajectories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.3 Newton’s 1st law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.4 Newton’s 2nd law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.5 Galileo’s relativity principle, space-time homogeneity and isotropy of space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

2.6 Linear superposition of forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

rd
2.7 Newton’s 3 law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.8 Dynamics, kinematics and statics: what do they refer to? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.9 Dimensional analysis and units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

2.10 Examples of forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

3 Momentum, Energy, Work, Angular momentum, Dynamical variables 43

3.1 Work done by a force and conservative forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.2 Conserved energy for a conservative force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.3 Angular momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.4 Dynamical variables and conserved quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

4 Collisions or scattering and conservation laws 49

5 Motion in one dimension 52

5.1 Turning points, bound and unbound motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

1 Primer on vectors, polar coordinates and kinematics

1.1 Vectors, dot and cross product

• Vectors provide a convenient way of writing the equations of physics in

compact form. Newton’s 2nd law Fx = max , Fy = may , Fz = maz becomes
the single equation F = ma.

1
• Vectors also make it easier to understand structural features (behavior
under rotations, symmetries, transformation laws) of physical quantities
and allow us to bring to bear tools from linear algebra and geometry.
• A nonzero vector v in 3d Euclidean space is a directed line segment
emanating from the origin. It has a magnitude or length denoted |v| = v
and a direction. Additionally there is one exceptional vector called the
zero vector 0 which has zero length; its direction is not defined. For some
purposes it is convenient to think of the zero vector as one that points in
all directions!

• A unit vector is one with unit length. E.g., given any nonzero vector
a, we have the associated unit vector â obtained by ‘normalization’, i.e.,
a
dividing it by its length: â = |a| . Conversely a = aâ. For a unit vector
|â| = 1.
• Examples of vectors include the position vector of a particle moving in
3d space, its velocity and acceleration, the force acting on the particle, the
electric field at a point in space etc.
• Vectors in 3d space form the real vector space R3 in which addition of
vectors is defined as is the multiplication of a vector by a real number.
• The multiplication of a vector v by the real number α denoted αv is
a vector in the same (or opposite) direction as v (according as α ≥ 0 or
α ≤ 0) that has the length |α||v|. For example − 12 v is a vector of half the
length that points in the direction opposite√to v . The real scalar α need
not be rational, it could be irrational like 2 or π . Moreover, 0v = 0 is
the zero vector.
• Pictorially, the sum of the vectors a and b may be obtained by con-
structing the diagonal of the parallelogram with adjacent sides a and b.

2
• Evidently, the order does not matter: a + b = b + a. We say that
addition of vectors is commutative or an abelian operation.
• The zero vector has the special property that 0 + v = v for any vector
v.
• The zero vector 0 is not the same as the real number 0. The former lies
at the chosen origin of 3d space while the latter is a point on the real line.
They live in different spaces.
• The space of vectors on the 2d Euclidean plane form the real vector space
denoted R2 .
Dot or scalar product. Geometry has to do with angles, lengths, notions
of parallel and perpendicular etc. Geometry enters through the dot product
of vectors. For two vectors in 3d space, we define their dot product as
a · b = ab cos θ where θ is the angle between the vectors.
• Notice that a · b = b · a, so the dot product is commutative.
• Turning things around, the angle between vectors can be expressed in
terms of the dot product θ = arccos( a·b
ab ).
• As a consequence of the definition, a · a = a2 . Thus the length of a
vector can also be expressed in terms of the dot product.
• The dot product is also called the scalar product since the result is a
real number (scalar) and not a vector.
• Show the law of cosines for c = a + b:
c2 = a2 + b2 + 2ab cos θ. (1)

• Two vectors are orthogonal or perpendicular if a · b = 0.

• Component of b in the direction of a Note that b cos θ = b · a/a =
b · â is the component of b in the direction of a. The component is just a
real number, it can be positive or negative or even zero. It does not depend
on the length of a.
• The vector Pâ b = b cos θâ is called the orthogonal projection of b on a.
It is a vector that points in the direction of â or −â and has a magnitude
|b cos θ| equal to the absolute value of the component of b along â.
• Similarly, a · b̂ is the component of a in the direction of b.

3
 √
• The norm ||v|| of a vector v is defined as ||v|| = v · v . The norm is
the length of the vector, it is ≥ 0. The zero vector is the only one with
zero norm.
• Work as a scalar product. Suppose a constant force F acts on a
particle and displaces it by the vector s. Then the work done is F · s.

• Vector or cross product. The vector or cross product a × b is a

vector with magnitude ab sin θ where θ is the angle between the vectors.
Its direction is determined by the right hand thumb rule. If the fingers
of the right hand curl from a to b then the cross product points in the
direction of the thumb.
• In particular, a × b points in a direction perpendicular to both a and
b. Moreover, a × b = −b × a and a × a = 0 (the zero vector). Thus, the
cross product is not commutative in general.

• The torque due to a force F on a particle located at the position vector

r relative to a given origin is the cross product τ = r × F .
• How might a force point so that it imparts no torque on the particle?

4
• The area of a parallelogram spanned by the vectors a and b is equal to
|a × b| = |b × a|.

• Linear combination. Given vectors u and v , αu + βv where α, β are

real numbers is called a linear combination.
• Linear dependence. Two vectors u, v are linearly dependent if one
can be expressed as a multiple of the other, i.e., if they point in the same
or opposite directions. In other words, u = αv or v = βu for some
real numbers α and β . So when they are dependent, there is a linear
combination u − αv or v − βu that vanishes. We need to allow for both
possibilities. For instance if u = 0v and u 6= 0 then β is formally infinite
and we do not have a relation of the sort v = βu.

• u and v are said to be linearly independent if they point in different

directions (i.e., are neither parallel not antiparallel.).
• Show that u and v are linearly independent if and only if u × v 6= 0.
• The zero vector 0 and any other vector u are always linearly dependent,
since 0 = 0u.
• Linear independence. Vectors v1 , v2 , v3 , · · · are said to be linearly
independent if the only linear combination c1 v1 + c2 v2 + c3 v3 + · · · that
vanishes is the one where c1 = c2 = c3 = · · · = 0. In other words, the only
linear combination that vanishes, is the trivial one.
• In R3 we can have at most three linearly independent vectors.
• Cartesian axes. Given a choice of mutually perpendicular Cartesian
axes x, y, z in R3 we denote the unit vectors along the axes by x̂, ŷ and ẑ
or î, ĵ and k̂ .
• Cartesian orthonormal basis. These three vectors are orthonormal
in the sense that they each have unit norm and they are mutually perpen-

5
dicular:
x̂ · x̂ = ŷ · ŷ = ẑ · ẑ = 1 and x̂ · ŷ = ŷ · ẑ = ẑ · x̂ = 0. (2)
The (x̂, ŷ, ẑ) frame is called right-handed if x̂ × ŷ = ẑ (rather than −ẑ , in
which case it is left-handed). What are ŷ × ẑ and ẑ × x̂? We will work
with right-handed frames.

• x̂, ŷ and ẑ form a basis for R3 in the sense that they are linearly inde-
pendent and any vector can be written (uniquely) as a linear combination
of them:
a = ax x̂ + ay ŷ + az ẑ. (3)
The three real numbers ax , ay and az are the components of a along the
three coordinate axes, verify that
ax = a · x̂, ay = a · ŷ and az = a · ẑ. (4)

• Notice that ax x̂ = Px̂ a is the projection of a along x̂. We say that the
vector has been resolved into its components and written as a sum of its
orthogonal projections along the orthonormal basis vectors.
• In fact, (ax , ay , az ) are the Cartesian coordinates of the location of the
tip of the vector a.
• Express the Cartesian components of the cross product a × b in terms
of those of a and b.

6
1.2 Position coordinates and velocity and acceleration vectors

• The instantaneous location of a particle moving in 3d Euclidean space

may be specified by its Cartesian coordinates (x(t), y(t), z(t)). As the par-
ticle moves, it traces out a curve parametrized by time, called its trajectory.
It is a directed curve, the direction being that of increasing time.
• The instantaneous location of a particle is the same no matter which
coordinate system we use to describe it. The latter is simply a conve-
nient way of specifying its ‘address’. The coordinates x, y, z depend on
the choice of origin and orientation of coordinate axes. If we change the
origin of our coordinates or orientation of the axes, we will get a differ-
ent set of coordinates to describe the location of the particle. Two people
following different coordinate systems will nevertheless meet each other at
the common instantaneous location of the particle. [For instance, a courier
delivers a letter to the same geographic location irrespective of whether
the address on the envelope says CMI, Old number 2, 2nd Avenue or CMI,
New number 5, 2nd Avenue].

• The vector that points from the origin of Cartesian coordinates to the
instantaneous position of the particle, has components (x(t), y(t), z(t)). It
is called the position vector and is denoted r(t). While such a designation
is convenient for some purposes, it is important to bear in mind that the
location of a particle is not really a vector: it is not physically associated to
a direction and the location of the particle does not come with any intrinsic
notion of an origin.
• The infinitesimal displacement of a particle over a time [t, t + δt] does
define a vector, albeit a vector with infinitesimal length:

δr(t) = r(t + δt) − r(t). (5)

7
The concept of infinitesimal displacement defines an origin, namely the
initial location of the particle (at time t). The infinitesimal displacement
vector then points from this origin to the final location of the particle (at
time t + δt).
• The concept of infinitesimal displacement does not define a coordinate
frame, it only defines an origin and a vector δr . We may resolve δr along
the axes of any frame. Here, we will parallel transport δr to the origin of
our Cartesian coordinate frame, its components with respect to this frame
are
δr(t) = r(t+δt)−r(t) = (x(t+δt)−x(t), y(t+δt)−y(t), z(t+δt)−z(t)) (6)

• The arbitrarily chosen origin of the Cartesian coordinate system (x, y, z)

has no physical relevance to the infinitesimal displacement vector. We have
parallel transported it to this origin for ease of some later calculations.
• The velocity of the particle is defined as the limiting value of the differ-
ence quotient
δr(t)
v(t) = lim . (7)
δt→0 δt

• The velocity of the particle is a vector. It is the time derivative of the

position along the trajectory. The velocity
dr(t)
v(t) = (8)
dt
defines a vector that points from the instantaneous location in the direction
of motion. It is a tangent vector to the trajectory. Its magnitude is called
the instantaneous speed of the particle.
• The origin from which the velocity vector points moves with the particle.
• For many purposes, it is convenient to resolve v along the Cartesian
coordinate axes by moving the origin of the Cartesian frame to the current

8
location of the particle. With this understanding,
v(t) = (ẋ(t), ẏ(t), ż(t)) = ẋx̂ + ẏ ŷ + ż ẑ (9)

• The time-derivative of the velocity is the acceleration, which may be

viewed as the vector
a(t) = ẍ(t)x̂ + ÿ(t)ŷ + z̈(t)ẑ. (10)
It is the limit of the difference quotient (v(t + ∆t) − v(t))/∆t as ∆t → 0.
It may be regarded as a vector emanating from the instantaneous location
of the particle.

1.3 Uniform circular motion

Suppose a particle moves counterclockwise on the circle x2 + y 2 = `2 of

radius ` in the x-y plane at a constant angular speed ω > 0 radians per
second. Assuming it starts from the point (`, 0) at t = 0, its instantaneous
location may be given by the Cartesian coordinates
x(t) = ` cos ωt and y(t) = ` sin ωt. (11)
Sometimes, it is convenient to regard r(t) = ` cos ωt x̂+` sin ωtŷ as a vector
that points radially outwards from the center of the circle. Thus r(t) is
the position vector of the particle relative to the origin chosen to lie at the
center of the circle.

• Let us see why this formula is justified. Notice that x2 + y 2 = `2 at

all times and that the motion is counterclockwise. The velocity vector is
given by
v(t) = −`ω sin ωt x̂ + `ω cos ωt ŷ. (12)
√
The speed of the particle v = |v(t)| = v · v = `ω is constant ensuring
uniform circular motion. The particle goes round the circle once in a time
T = 2π`/v = 2π/ω . Thus, the particle covers 2π radians in a time 2π/ω

9
resulting in an angular speed of ω radians per second (angular speed is
sometimes called angular frequency).
• Notice that v · r = 0. Thus, the velocity vector is tangent to the circle.
The acceleration is given by

a(t) = v̇(t) = −`ω 2 cos ωtx̂ − `ω 2 sin ωtŷ = −ω 2 r(t). (13)

We see that the acceleration has the constant magnitude |a(t)| = `ω 2 and
points radially inwards towards the center of the circle. The latter feature
justifies the name centripetal acceleration. Centripetal means ‘seeking the
center’ in Latin.

• The time derivative of acceleration ȧ is sometimes called jerk or jolt.

Show that ȧ · a = 0. Which way does the jerk point in uniform circular
motion?
• We observe that if there is a radially inward force F (like a person tug-
ging at a string with a stone tied at the other end and rotated) that is
responsible for this circular motion, then F · ds = 0. Here ds is the in-
finitesimal displacement of the particle, which is tangent to the circle. This
dot product is called the infinitesimal work done by the force in displacing
the particle ds. Thus we see that a radially inward force does no work
in moving a particle along a circular trajectory. This is not the case of
the motion is due to a force that is tangential - like an agent pushing the
particle along the rim of the circle.

1.4 Nonuniform circular motion

• We may model nonuniform circular motion of a particle around a circle

of radius ` via the position vector

r(t) = `(cos θ(t), sin θ(t)) = `(cos θ(t)x̂ + sin θ(t)ŷ). (14)

10
If we denote ω(t) = θ̇, then the angular speed of such a particle is |ω(t)| =
|θ̇|, which we suppose is not constant.
• The velocity of such a particle is
v(t) = `θ̇(− sin θ(t), cos θ(t)). (15)
Notice that v · r = 0. So v always points tangent to the circle as it must
for a particle confined to the circle. However, the speed `|θ̇| may vary with
time.
• The acceleration is given by
a = v̇ = `θ̈(− sin θ, cos θ) − `θ̇2 (cos θ, sin θ). (16)
The first term points tangentially, and is called the angular acceleration
while the second term points radially inwards and is called the centripetal
acceleration. Thus a · v 6= 0 in general for nonuniform circular motion.

1.5 Rotating vectors

• We observed that the velocity of a uniformly rotating particle is orthog-

onal to its radius vector, i.e., the time derivative of the position vector r
is perpendicular to r : r · (dr/dt) = r · v = 0. In fact, this is true even if
the rotation is not uniform. Let us comment on the significance of this.
• Suppose A is any vector such that its time derivative is orthogonal to
A. Then the infinitesimal change in A in a short time is perpendicular to
A and not along A. This means the magnitude of A cannot change, and
the vector can only rotate. Let us obtain a formula for |dA/dt|. Suppose
∆A = A(t + ∆t) − A(t) is the infinitesimal change in A. Since the length
of A does not change, the three vectors A(t), A(t + ∆t) and ∆A form an
isosceles triangle with ∆A as base. Let us denote the angle at the apex of
this isosceles triangle by ∆θ, which is the angle of rotation.

• Then
|∆A| = |2A sin(∆θ/2)| ≈ A|∆θ| for small ∆θ. (17)

11
We have used the linear Taylor approximation for the sine function (more
on this soon). Taking the limit ∆t → 0,
   
 dA 
 = A  dθ  .
 

 dt   dt  (18)

Here, |dθ/dt| is the angular speed of A.

• We may apply this to circular motion where A = r is the radius vector
of the particle and dA/dt = v is its velocity. Then the linear speed of the
particle is v = r|ω| where ω = dθ/dt is the angular speed (positive for
counterclockwise motion). Note that v, ω need not be constant. Uniform
circular motion is a special case where ω is a constant and
r = r(cos ωt x̂ + sin ωt ŷ) and v = rω(− sin ωt x̂ + cos ωt ŷ) (19)
Notice that v · r = 0 since v points tangentially/azimuthally while r is
radial. This ensures that the length of r does not change with time. What
is more, we showed that the acceleration a = v̇ = −ω 2 r so that v̇ is
perpendicular to v for uniform circular motion. Thus, the velocity vector
cannot change in magnitude and must also simply rotate! Verify that the
same is true of a as well, for uniform circular motion.

1.6 Integration of kinematical equations

As we will soon learn, if the forces on a particle are known, then one
may use Newton’s second law to find its acceleration. This is called the
dynamical part of the problem of motion, since it depends on the forces and
interactions. The kinematical part of the problem of motion is to determine
the velocity of the particle and its trajectory from its acceleration.
• Suppose we are given the acceleration of a particle. Then the velocity
must satisfy dv
dt = a(t). Integrating this equation with respect to time from
t0 to t, we get Z t
v(t) = v(t0 ) + a(t0 )dt0 . (20)
t0
In addition to knowledge of the acceleration, here we needed an ‘initial
condition’ v(t0 ) (actually three ICs, the three Cartesian components of
v(t0 )) to determine the velocity. The problem of determining velocity has

12
been reduced to quadratures i.e., to evaluating integrals (one each for the
three Cartesian components of velocity).
• The step from velocity to position involves one more integration and
another initial condition:
Z t
ṙ(t) = v(t) ⇒ r(t) = r(t0 ) + v(t0 )dt0 . (21)
t0

Evaluating these integrals for a specific acceleration may or may not be

feasible analytically.
• We have solved the 2nd order ordinary differential equations r̈(t) = a(t)
in two steps. Being 2nd order, the process required two initial condition or
pieces of initial data v(t0 ) and r(t0 ) (each of which is a vector with three
components).
• A simple example is that of uniform acceleration, i.e., where a(t) is a
constant vector a. In this case,

v(t) = v(t0 ) + (t − t0 )a, (22)

and integrating once more,

1
r(t) = r(t0 ) + (t − t0 )v(t0 ) + (t2 − t20 )a − (t − t0 )t0 a. (23)
2
The formula simplifies if t0 = 0:
1
r(t) = r(0) + tv(0) + t2 a (24)
2
This formula applies to the case of constant acceleration.

1.7 Plane polar coordinates

• For many problems, especially those where there is rotational symme-

try around a central object, polar coordinates are more convenient than
Cartesian coordinates.
• For simplicity, we consider polar coordinates (r, θ) on the plane. Sup-
pose we are given an origin O and horizontal and vertical x and y axes.
Given a point P (x, y), r is the distance of P from the origin, and θ is

13
the counterclockwise angle the radius vector r = (x, y) makes with the
horizontal axis. Note that x and y are called the abscissa and ordinate of
the point P . In other words, cos θ = x/r or tan θ = y/x. Thus,
p
r = x2 + y 2 and θ = arctan(y/x) = arccos(x/r). (25)

Conversely,
x = r cos θ and y = r sin θ. (26)

• Notice that θ is defined modulo 2π . θ = 0 and θ = 2π both corre-

spond to the positive x-axis. One often chooses a convenient ‘fundamental
domain’ for θ such as [0, 2π) or (−π, π].

 is important to observe that the polar coordinate system breaks down

It
(or is singular) at the origin where x = y = r = 0. At this point, θ is not
defined. In a sense, the point at the origin could be assigned any value of θ,
depending how we approach the origin. Said differently, the map between
x, y and r, θ fails to be 1-1 at the origin.
• Notice that the constant x and constant y curves (also known as the
level curves1 of x and y ) are mutually orthogonal straight lines parallel to
the y and x axes respectively. By contrast, the constant θ curves are rays
emanating radially outwards from the origin while the constant r curves are
concentric circles centered at O. This explains why polar coordinates are
called curvilinear coordinates. Despite being curvilinear, the level curves
of r and θ are mutually orthogonal.
• A real-valued function on the plane is any function of x and y that
assigns a real number to each point (x, y). The simplest of these functions
are the ‘coordinate functions’ x and y themselves.
• Analogously, r and θ are the coordinate functions in polar coordinates.
1
A level curve of a quantity is a curve on which the quantity is a constant.

14
• Unit vectors r̂ and θ̂. Recall that at a point (x, y) on the plane, x̂ and
ŷ are unit vectors in the directions of increasing x holding y fixed and vice
versa. Similarly, we define the unit vectors r̂ and θ̂ at any point (r, θ).
r̂ points radially outwards while θ̂ points counterclockwise tangentially
to the circle of radius r. The direction in which θ̂ points is called the
azimuthal direction.

• x̂, ŷ furnish one basis for vectors at any point on the plane. Similarly,
r̂, θ̂ furnish another basis at points away from r = 0. We can therefore
expand r̂ and θ̂ in the x̂, ŷ basis.
• A figure shows that we may decompose r̂ and θ̂ as
x y
r̂ = cos θ x̂ + sin θ ŷ = x̂ + ŷ
r r
y x
and θ̂ = − sin θ x̂ + cos θ ŷ = − x̂ + ŷ. (27)
r r

• Check that r̂ and θ̂ are orthonormal:

r̂ · θ̂ = 0 and r̂ · r̂ = θ̂ · θ̂ = 1. (28)

• Exercise: Express x̂ and ŷ as linear combinations of r̂ and θ̂.

• Unlike x̂ and ŷ which point in the same direction everywhere, the direc-
tions of r̂ and θ̂ change with location.

15
• Position coordinate and velocity vector. The position vector can
now be expressed in polar coordinates.

r = xx̂ + y ŷ = r cos θx̂ + r sin θŷ = rr̂. (29)

We wish to find the velocity and acceleration vectors in plane polar co-
ordinates. These are the polar coordinate analogues of v = ẋx̂ + ẏ ŷ and
a = ẍx̂ + ÿ ŷ .
• Now, suppose r(t) = r(t)r̂(t) is the position of a particle at time t. As
it moves along a trajectory, the radial coordinate r can change, but so can
the unit vector r̂(t). Thus, its velocity is given by
dr̂
v(t) = ṙ(t) = ṙ r̂ + r . (30)
dt
ṙr̂ is what we might naively guess as the radial velocity. The other term
comes from the change in direction of the basis vector r̂.
• Let us take a moment to find the rates of change of the basis unit vectors
r̂ and θ̂. Being unit vectors, their change can come only from a change in
their direction. For instance,
dr̂
r̂ = cos θx̂ + sin θŷ ⇒ = − sin θ θ̇ x̂ + cos θ θ̇ ŷ = θ̇θ̂, (31)
dt
where we recalled that θ̂ = − sin θx̂ + cos θŷ .
• Thus, the change in r̂ is always in the azimuthal θ̂ direction. Neither
the magnitude nor the direction of r̂ changes in the radial direction. Un-
derstand this through the figure

• Similarly,
dθ̂
θ̂ = − sin θx̂ + cos θŷ ⇒ = − cos θ θ̇ x̂ − sin θ θ̇ ŷ = −θ̇ r̂. (32)
dt

16
The rate of change of θ̂ always points radially.

• Putting these together, we get the decomposition of the velocity of the

particle in the polar coordinate basis:
d(rr̂) dr̂
v = ṙ(t) = = ṙ r̂ + r = ṙ r̂ + r θ̇ θ̂. (33)
dt dt

• We say that v · r̂ = ṙ is the radial velocity while v · θ̂ = rθ̇ is the angular

or azimuthal component of velocity.
• For circular motion at a constant radius `, ṙ = 0 and v = `θ̇θ̂ is purely
azimuthal. The speed of the particle is v = `|θ̇| while its angular speed is
v/` = |θ̇|.
• Acceleration in polar coordinates. We may differentiate the velocity
to obtain the acceleration in polar coordinates.
d dr̂ dθ̂
a = v̇ = (ṙ r̂ + r θ̇ θ̂) = r̈ r̂ + ṙ + ṙθ̇θ̂ + rθ̈θ̂ + rθ̇ (34)
dt dt dt
˙
Now we use r̂˙ = θ̇θ̂ and θ̂ = −θ̇r̂ to combine the first and last terms ∝ r̂
and the remaining terms ∝ θ̂:

a = (r̈ − rθ̇2 )r̂ + (rθ̈ + 2ṙθ̇)θ̂. (35)

• The various terms in a have physical interpretations.

• r̈r̂ is the radial acceleration.
• −rθ̇2 r̂ is called the centripetal acceleration, which we met in the context
of uniform circular motion. It always points radially inwards.
• rθ̈θ̂ is the angular acceleration that comes from the varying angular
speed θ̇ of the particle.
• The last term 2ṙθ̇θ̂ is called the Coriolis acceleration, it is present when-
ever both r and θ change with time.

17
1.8 Spherical polar coordinates

• The analogue of plane polar coordinates in 3d (R3 ) are called spherical

polar coordinates (r, θ, φ). They are called the radial, polar and azimuthal
coordinate respectively. They are particularly useful in dealing with sys-
tems where there is spherical symmetry about a central object such a the
Sun in the solar system of the nucleus in an atom.
• Given a point P with Cartesian coordinates (x,
p y, z), the radial coordi-
nate r is the distance of P from the origin r = x2 + y 2 + z 2 . Evidently,
0 ≤ r < ∞.

• If P has position vector r relative to the origin, then the polar angle θ
is the angle r makes with respect to the upward vertical z axis. Thus θ =
arccos(z/r). Notice that 0 ≤ θ ≤ π with θ = 0 and θ = π corresponding
to the positive and negative z axis.

• Finally, suppose we orthogonally project the position vector onto the

x-y plane. This projected vector has length r sin θ = x2 + y 2 .
• The azimuthal angle φ is defined as the angle that this projection
p makes
with the x axis, measured counterclockwise. Thus, φ = arccos(x/ x2 + y 2 )
or φ = arctan(y/x). Notice that 0 ≤ φ < 2π .
• φ is the azimuthal angle for plane polar coordinates on the x-y plane
(it was called θ in that discussion!)
• Unfortunately, the spherical polar coordinate system breaks down along
the z axis, where φ is not uniquely defined (it can be assigned any value
0 ≤ φ < 2π ). [When a coordinate system does not cover the whole of R3 ,

18
we could introduce another set of coordinates that work in the excluded
region.]
• Alternatively, we may write
z = r cos θ, x = r sin θ cos φ and y = r sin θ sin φ. (36)
p
Check that tan θ = x2 + y 2 /z .
• The position vector of a particle located at (x, y, z) is then given by
r = xx̂ + y ŷ + z ẑ = rr̂.
• The other formulae we derived for plane polar coordinates may be gen-
eralized to spherical polar coordinates.
• For instance, if r̂, θ̂, φ̂ are the unit vectors in the directions of increasing
r, θ, φ, then the figure helps us express
r̂ = cos θẑ + sin θ(cos φx̂ + sin φŷ),
θ̂ = − sin θẑ + cos θ(cos φx̂ + sin φŷ) and
φ̂ = − sin φx̂ + cos φŷ. (37)

• Verify that (r̂, θ̂, φ̂) is a right-handed orthonormal system.

1.9 Taylor approximation

• Taylor series for one variable. Given a function of one real variable
f (x) that is continuous and hopefully differentiable a few times, we are
interested in approximately evaluating it in the neighborhood of a point
x0 .
• By continuity, f (x) ≈ f (x0 ) is of course our zeroth order approximation
to the value of the function for x near x0 .
• The next possibility is to approximate f by a linear function near x0 .
It is natural to take the slope of this linear function to be the derivative of

19
f at x0 (assuming f is differentiable at x0 ), so that we approximate the
graph of f by the tangent through the point (x0 , f (x0 )). This leads to the
first order or linear Taylor approximation

f (x) ≈ f (x0 ) + f 0 (x0 )(x − x0 ). (38)

• To indicate that x − x0 is small, we will denote it by ∆x = x − x0 , and

denote f (x) − f (x0 ) = ∆f . Then we have ∆f ≈ f 0 (x0 )∆x. This is only
an approximation
• It is also convenient to introduce the differential of f , which at x is
defined as df (x) = f 0 (x)dx. dx is called the differential of x. The deriva-
tive denoted df /dx is the limit of ∆f /∆x as ∆x → 0. For example,
d sin x = cos x dx. The differential of a function is also called a 1-form.
• More generally, if f is n times differentiable at x0 , we have the nth order
Taylor polynomial approximation for small x − x0 :
1 1
f (x) ≈ f (x0 ) + f 0 (x0 )(x − x0 ) + f 00 (x0 )(x − x0 )2 + f 000 (x0 )(x − x0 )3
2 3!
1 (n)
+ · · · + f (x0 )(x − x0 )n , (39)
n!
where f (n) (x0 ) is the nth derivative of f at x0 .
• For many of the functions we encounter, the Taylor series, obtained by
letting n → ∞, converges to the function f (x) for x in a neighborhood of
x0 . Such functions are called real analytic.
• A real-valued function that is continuous in some domain is said to be of
type C 0 in that domain. A function that is differentiable with continuous
first derivative is said to be of class C 1 in that domain. Similarly we
have the notion of C k functions for k = 1, 2, 3, . . .: k times continuously
differentiable functions in some domain. A function that is C k for all
k = 1, 2, 3, 4, . . . is said to be smooth or C ∞ . A function whose Taylor

20
series converges to the function in some domain is said to be real analytic
or of type C ω .
• For example, show that the Taylor series for 1/(1 − x) around x = 0 is
given by a geometric series:
1
= 1 + x + x2 + · · · . (40)
1−x
This series converges to 1/(1 − x) for |x| < 1. Also verify that (1 − x)(1 +
x + x2 + · · · ) = 1 by multiplying things out and canceling. Note that
1/(1 − x) does not admit a Taylor expansion around x = 1.
• Show that the Taylor series for ex , is given by
x x2 xn
e =1+x+ + ··· + + ··· . (41)
2! n!
This series has an infinite radius of convergence. Find the Taylor series for
sin x and cos x.
• The binomial series is a very useful Taylor series around x = 0:
ν(ν − 1) 2 ν(ν − 1)(ν − 2) 3
(1 + x)ν = 1 + νx + x + x + ··· (42)
1·2 1·2·3
which converges for |x| < 1 and any (real or complex) number ν . For a
positive integer ν = n, this series terminates and we recover the binomial
expansion with coefficients given by combinatorial factors: (1 + x)n =
P n n r


r=0 r x .
• In particular, show that
1 x x2
√ =1− + + ··· . (43)
1+x 2 8
• Taylor series for more variables. For a real function f (x, y) of two
variables, we have the Taylor expansion of f around a point (x0 , y0 ):
∂f ∂f
f (x, y) = f (x0 , y0 ) + |(x0 ,y0 ) (x − x0 ) + |(x ,y ) (y − y0 )
 2 ∂x ∂y 0 0
2
∂2f ∂2f

1 ∂ f 2 ∂ f 2
+ (x − x0 ) + 2 (y − y0 ) + (x − x0 )(y − y0 ) + (y − y0 )(x − x0 ) + (44)
···
2 ∂x2 ∂y ∂x∂y ∂y∂x

where all the partial derivatives are evaluated at (x0 , y0 ). The mixed sec-
∂2f ∂2f
ond partials ∂x∂y and ∂y∂x are equal (Clairaut’s or Schwarz’s Theorem,
assuming the second partials are continuous).

21
• To calculate a partial derivative with respect to y we simply differentiate
the function with respect to y treating x as fixed.
• One way to obtain this series is to treat y as fixed and first write down
a Taylor series in x around x0 with coefficients being functions of y . Then
we expand these coefficients in a Taylor series in y .
• Calculate the mixed second partials of f (x, y) = cos xy and show that
they are both equal to − sin xy − xy cos xy

1.10 Some vector calculus

• Scalar fields. At a given instant of time, the pressure p(r) in the

atmosphere is a real number that depends on height, and more generally on
location r . The density ρ(r) of sea water at a given instant of time depends
on depth. Similarly, the salt concentration of sea water c(r) depends on
location. The potential energy V (r) of a massive particle in Earth’s gravity
depends on height above the Earth’s surface as well as the latitude and
longitude. All these are examples of real valued functions in 3d space. We
will also refer to real-valued functions as scalar fields. A scalar field assigns
a real number to each location r . Typically, the real number would vary
smoothly (or at least continuously differentiably) as the location changes.
• Note that the notion of a field introduced here is different from the
algebraic notion of a field (e.g., field of real or complex numbers). Here,
field refers to something depends on location.
• Vector fields. Similarly, we have the concept of a vector field: a
smoothly varying vector v(r) at each location r . The gravitational force
felt by a point mass m at various locations and heights above the Earth’s
surface defines a vector field.

• In figure, we have displayed three vector fields on the plane. Since such
a vector field has two components in Cartesian coordinates, a vector field
on the plane may be regarded as a map from R2 → R2 . If x and y are

22
the horizontal and vertical directions, then the first vector field is plausibly
v ∝ x̂. The second vector field points radially outwards with a magnitude
increasing with radial distance and is circularly symmetric. It is plausible
that the 2nd vector field v ∝ xx̂ + y ŷ = r . The 3rd vector field could be
the velocity vector field of a steadily flowing fluid.
• Gradient of a scalar field. Given a scalar field φ(r), its gradient
is a kind of derivative that produces a vector field denoted ∇φ(r). In
Cartesian coordinates r = (x, y, z),
∂φ ∂φ ∂φ
grad φ = ∇φ(r) = x̂ + ŷ + ẑ. (45)
∂x ∂y ∂z
• Example 1: If φ(x, y) = x then ∇φ = x̂ is a constant vector field
pointing in the x direction at all points of R2 .
• Example 2: If φ = 21 (x2 + y 2 + z 2 ), then
∇φ = xx̂ + y ŷ + z ẑ = rr̂ (46)
is a radially outward pointing vector field on R3 , with magnitude equal to
the distance from the origin.
• At any location r , ∇φ is a vector that points in the direction of most
rapid increase of φ. For a vector field v = ∇φ on the plane, ∇φ must
point orthogonally to the level curves (or equipotentials if φ is regarded as
a potential function) of φ, since φ is constant along its level curves. For
φ(x, y) = x, the level curves are lines parallel to the y axis, and ∇φ = x̂
points perpendicular to these lines. For a vector field on R3 , v = ∇φ must
point perpendicular to the level surfaces of φ. For φ = 12 (x2 + y 2 + z 2 ), the
level surfaces are concentric spheres centered at the origin and ∇φ = r is
perpendicular to these surfaces.
• Line integral. Given a vector field v(r) = (vx , vy , vz )(r) in 3d space
and a parametrized curve γ(t) = (x(t), y(t), z(t)) for 0 ≤ t ≤ 1, we may
define the ‘line integral’ of v along γ as the real number
Z Z 1 Z 1 
dγ dx dy dz
v · dγ = v· dt = vx + vy + vz dt. (47)
γ 0 dt 0 dt dt dt

• Here, γ̇ = dγ
dt = ẋx̂ + ẏ ŷ + ż ẑ is a vector field along the curve γ (it is
not defined elsewhere in R3 ).

23
• For example, if γ is the helix (cos t, sin t, t), then dγ = (− sin t, cos t, 1)dt.
We may consider dγ as the differential of the map γ : [0, 1] → R3 .
• The work done by a force field F (r) in moving a particle
R along a curve
γ is an important example of a line integral: WF (γ) = γ F · dγ .
• In general, the line integral depends on the values of v all along the
curve γ . However, if v is the gradient of a scalar, v = ∇φ, then the line
integral can be evaluated in terms of the values of φ at the endpoints:
Z Z 1 
∂φ dx ∂φ dy ∂φ dz
∇φ · dγ = + + dt
γ 0 ∂x dt ∂y dt ∂z dt
Z 1
dφ(r(t))
= dt = φ(r(1)) − φ(r(0)). (48)
0 dt
Here, we viewed φ(x(t), y(t), z(t)) as a function of t and used the chain
rule to differentiate it wite respect to t.
• In particular, if γ is a closed curve, then r(0) = r(1) and the line integral
of a gradient vanishes I
∇φ · dγ = 0. (49)
γ
H
Here denotes a line integral around a closed contour.

• A vector field that is the gradient of a scalar field is called a gradient

vector field. In mechanics, if a force field F (r) is the gradient of a scalar
field (or ‘potential’ φ(r)), then it is called a conservative force field. The

24
work done by a conservative force field ∇φ depends only on the initial and
final locations of the particle, and not on the rest of the details of the path
taken. A conservative force field does no work in moving a particle around
a closed curve.

2 Newton’s laws and forces

2.1 Time, light, simultaneity, space & time intervals, masses.

• To describe the dynamics (motion or more precisely the evolution in

time) of mechanical systems, observers find it helpful to have a notion of
time (measured with a clock) to index a sequence of events.
• In Newtonian mechanics, one assumes that if there is a flash of light
somewhere, then all observers (irrespective of their locations) receive the
flash instantaneously. In effect, light is assumed to travel infinitely fast.
• Using such flashes of light, all observers can synchronize their clocks and
assign the same time for a given event.
• Another consequence is that two events (possibly at different locations)
that occur at the same time for one observer occur simultaneously for any
other observer.
• These assumptions about light, time and simultaneity were in line with
common human experience in Newton’s time (as well as today!).
• In Newtonian mechanics, one also assumes that masses of particles, scales
of length and time are the same for all observers. In other words, distances
(like the length of a meter stick) and time intervals (like that between two
ticks of a clock) are the same for all observers.
• Causality. Our experience with physical systems indicates that they
respect the principle of causality: cause precedes effect. For example, a
stone that is stationary is seen to move when it is pushed and not before
that.
• The principle of causality postulates that it is not possible to send a
signal from an event to its past. Given our Newtonian concept of time, all
observers have a common notion of the past and future of an event. The

25
future of an event that occurs at time t0 consists of all events that occur
at t > t0 and the past consists of events that occurred at t < t0 .
• These notions of time, simultaneity and universality of masses, space
and time intervals had to be discarded and replaced with more accurate
concepts in the special theory of relativity, where speeds of bodies or ob-
servers could be comparable to that of light, which is a large but finite
constant in vacuum (c ≈ 3 × 108 m/s).
• Newtonian or nonrelativistic mechanics is a limiting case of special rela-
tivistic mechanics where the speed of light is infinite (very large compared
to other speeds). The principle of causality continues to apply in special
relativity, though the notions of past and future need to be revised.

2.2 Degrees of freedom, instantaneous configurations, trajectories

• A point particle moving in three-dimensional space has three degrees of

freedom: we need three coordinates (say (x, y, z) or (r, θ, φ)) to specify the
location of the particle at the initial instant of time. x, y and z can be
chosen arbitrarily at the initial instant of time.
• For a system of particles, the number of degrees of freedom is the number
of real parameters (coordinates) needed to specify the locations of all the
particles in the system at the initial instant of time.
• The number of degrees of freedom does not depend on the nature of
forces. So a free particle and a particle subject to Earth’s gravity moving
in three-dimensional space both have three degrees of freedom.
• On the other hand, a point particle that is constrained to move along a
fixed wire has only one degree of freedom. We need one coordinate, say the
distance (arc length) from one end of the wire, measured along the wire to
specify the location of the particle at a given instant of time.

• A particle constrained to move on a spherical surface (such as a bob at

the end of a rigid rod whose other end is attached to a pivot) has only two

26
degrees of freedom.

• Two point masses moving in three dimensional space have six degrees
of freedom. We need six coordinates (x1 , y2 , z1 ) and (x2 , y2 , z2 ) to specify
the locations of the two particles. E.g., the Sun and the Earth regarded
as point masses is a system with 6 degrees of freedom. Here, we do not
restrict to a particular orbit of the Earth around the Sun but ask how many
coordinates are needed to specify all possible locations of the Sun and the
Earth at any fixed instant of time, without reference to the nature of the
force between the two.
• A general rigid body like a stone has six degrees of freedom. For con-
venience, we may enumerate them as follows: 3 translational degrees of
freedom to fix the location of a marked point in the body and 3 rotational
degrees of freedom to orient the body holding the marked point fixed.
• A fluid consisting of N ∼ 1024 molecules in a bucket has a very large
number of degrees of freedom, which can be taken to be the 3N Carte-
sian coordinates needed to specify the instantaneous locations of the N
molecules, treated as point masses.
• An instantaneous configuration of a system of two point particles is any
possible location of the two particles.
• Zeroth law of classical mechanics. The path followed by a particle in
time is called its trajectory. It is a curve parametrized by time and directed
towards increasing time. The zeroth law of mechanics can be regarded
as saying that the trajectory r(t) of a particle is a (twice) differentiable
function of time.
• This not an assumption but rather an assertion about natural phenom-
ena, deduced by observing the motion of terrestrial and celestial bodies.
This assertion applies to the motion of planets, pendulum bobs, cricket
balls etc. But it fails for Brownian motion (movement of pollen grains in
water, which are observed to follow very jagged paths). It also fails for

27
electrons in an atom, which require a quantum mechanical treatment.
• Isaac Newton formulated three laws of classical mechanics in his Principia
(1687).

2.3 Newton’s 1st law

• Newton’s 1st law, or the law of inertia, says that “Every body continues in
its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled
to change that state by a force impressed upon it”. In other words, the
momentum p = mv = mṙ of a particle that is free (isolated or far from
physical interactions) does not change with time. Note that if ṙ does not
change with time, i.e., r̈ = 0, then the trajectory r(t) = r(0) + ṙ(0)t is a
straight line that is uniformly traversed.
• In general, it is found that macroscopic interactions decrease with dis-
tance, so it is possible to isolate a particle by taking it far from other
bodies.
• We have been a bit imprecise in our statement of Newton’s first law.
Newton’s first law holds only in reference frames. To specify the compo-
nents of the position and velocity vectors, we need a frame of reference,
i.e., an origin and coordinate axes.
• It is found that a particle that is not subject to any forces (i.e., an
isolated body) could fail to follow a constant velocity trajectory in certain
reference frames.
• A frame in which Newton’s first law holds is said to be an inertial frame.
To a reasonable approximation (if one ignores some effects of the rotation
of the Earth), a frame that is fixed in a tennis court is an inertial frame
for the motion of tennis balls, racquets etc. In particular, if the effects of
gravity and friction are ignored (or somehow cancelled), then tennis balls
in this frame would always move uniformly in straight lines.
• However, it is found that Newton’s first law for tennis balls fails to hold
in a frame that is attached to a swinging pendulum or a rotating merry-
go-round beside the tennis court. Such frames are called accelerated or
noninertial.

28
• For instance, a frame that is attached to a bee as it flies irregularly in a
faraway spaceship is not inertial, since a free particle at rest in the same
spaceship would appear to move in a nonuniform manner.
• Note: here, we use the metaphor of the bee for the limited purpose of
defining a frame that moves nonuniformly relatively to the spaceship. A
flying bee is not a free particle - it does not move uniformly, it makes use
of its internal energy and friction with the air to change direction, speed
up or maintain its speed etc.
• Similarly, a frame that is attached to a top (spinning on the floor of the
spaceship) and participates in its rotational motion is noninertial.
• To summarize, Newton’s first law is the assertion that there is a frame
of reference (called an inertial frame) in which all isolated bodies (far from
physical interactions) move at constant velocity.
• As we will see shortly, from a principle enunciated by Galileo, an inertial
frame is not unique.
• Henceforth, unless otherwise stated, all quantities will be specified with
respect to an inertial frame of reference.
• There are indirect ways to check whether a frame is inertial even if one
cannot isolate particles. This makes use of Newton’s second law (which is
a statement about inertial frames) and its consequences. Roughly, suppose
we assume a frame is inertial, deduce consequences using Newton’s second
law and find that they are experimentally violated. Then, one possible
reason for the discrepancy can be that the frame was not inertial to begin
with. The Foucault pendulum gives a concrete realization of this idea and
strongly suggests that the Earth is not quite an inertial frame, due to its
rotation on its axis.

2.4 Newton’s 2nd law

• The departure from rest or uniform motion along a straight line (in an
inertial frame) is caused by forces. For example, tugging at a string that
is attached to a ball exerts a force on the ball and makes it accelerate.
• Forces typically arise from interactions between objects. The Earth

29
exerts a force on a ball that is dropped, making it accelerate downwards.
• Newton’s 2nd law says that the rate of change of momentum ṗ is equal
to the impressed force. In particular, it is in the direction in which the
force acts.
• For a single particle of mass m, the acceleration a = r̈ = ṗ/m along
the trajectory r(t), due to the force F is determined by the equation
mr̈ = F or ṗ = F . (50)
The mass (more precisely, inertial mass) m of the particle is postulated to
be independent of time.
• We may use Newton’s 2nd law to give a way of assigning inertial masses
to bodies. We begin by selecting a reference body A and choose units in
which its inertial mass is assigned the value 1. We apply a force to A (e.g.,
let a compressed spring push it), and record its acceleration aA . Given
body B whose inertial mass we wish to determine, we apply the same
force to it, and measure its acceleration aB . Then we assign the mass
mB = |aA |/|aB |.
• The force is generally a vector field F (r), it could depend on the location
of the particle. To begin with, the force field may not be known to us, so
we do experiments with particles, observe their trajectories (measure their
accelerations) and thereby deduce what the force field may be. Having
done some such experiments, we develop a formula or picture of the force
field. This is called the inverse problem: determination of the force from
observed motion of particles. Having done this to our satisfaction, we may
then make predictions of what a given particle may do when subjected to
this force field by solving Newton’s equation with prescribed initial con-
ditions and the available information on F (r). This latter problem is
called the direct problem: finding trajectories given a force field. We then
compare these predicted trajectories with new observations to validate our
formula/picture for the force field. If discrepancies are found, we may need
to update our formula for the force field. Thus, one goes back and forth
between the inverse and direct problems.
• In Cartesian coordinates, the trajectory is given by r(t) = (x1 , x2 , x3 ) =
(x, y, z) and Newton’s second law becomes mẍi = F i . This component

30
form of Newton’s equation changes in curvilinear coordinates, such as
spherical polar coordinates (i.e., it does not simply say mr̈ = F · r̂ etc.).
For instance, there could be terms involving products of first derivatives of
coordinates in addition to naive second derivative ‘acceleration’ terms as
we found in plane polar coordinates:
m(r̈ − rθ̇2 ) = F · r̂ and m(rθ̈ + 2ṙθ̇) = F · θ̂. (51)
One may transform the equation from Cartesian coordinates to the desired
system to find the form it takes.
• Being 2nd order in time, Newton’s equation requires both the initial
position r and velocity or momentum ( ṙ or p) as initial conditions. For a
particle with 3 degrees of freedom, these would amount to 6 pieces of ini-
tial data (6 real numbers), say x(0), y(0), z(0) and px (0), py (0), pz (0). The
knowledge of the current position and momentum determines the trajectory
via Newton’s 2nd law. Bearing this in mind, we define the state of the par-
ticle as being specified by giving its instantaneous position and momentum.
Thus, the knowledge of the current state of the particle along with New-
ton’s second law determines its future evolution (trajectory). For instance,
for a particle moving on a line subject to a force field f (x), if we know x(t)
and p(t), then at the next instant of time, p(t + δt) ≈ p(t) + (δt)f (x(t))
and x(t + δt) ≈ x(t) + (δt)p(t)/m.
• The path of the particle r(t) (satisfying Newton’s equation and initial
conditions) is called its trajectory. Trajectories are oriented by arrows
specifying forward time evolution.

2.5 Galileo’s relativity principle, space-time homogeneity and isotropy of

space

• Notice that Newton’s 2nd law relates the force to the second derivative of
position along a trajectory, as opposed to the first, third or other derivative.
This is to incorporate Galileo’s relativity principle which says roughly that
there is no dynamical way of telling if a frame is at rest or moving uniformly
relative to an inertial frame.
• In 1632, Galileo Galilei observed that it was not possible to detect the
uniform motion (constant velocity motion without rocking) of a ship rela-

31
tive to the shore by performing mechanical experiments under the deck of
the ship (i.e., without looking out or by using external forces etc.).
• These experiments could include observing the motion of projectiles (e.g.
how long it takes for a ball thrown horizontally at a given speed to reach a
wall), the manner in which water drips from a jug, how flies and fish move
and so on.
• It is important to note that Galileo’s principle is not concerned with
forces external to the lab. In other words, if the acceleration due to grav-
ity varies with location, then it may be possible for an observer in the
uniformly moving ship to infer that the ship’s frame is moving relative
to the shore. Thus, Galileo’s principle asserts that the relative motion of
bodies in the lab is the same whether observed when the ship is docked or
when it is uniformly moving.
• This idea is elevated to the principle of Galilean relativity, which states
that the laws of mechanics must take the same form in two inertial frames
that are in uniform motion relative to each other.
• Galileo’s principle of relativity continues to hold in special relativity.
To accommodate the constancy of the speed of light, Einstein modified
the transformation rule that relates coordinates in two frames that are in
uniform motion relative to each other.
• In Galilean relativity, it is assumed that
(a) the mass of a particle is the same in two frames that are in uniform
relative motion,
(b) both observers use the same scale for measuring distances and
(c) both observers agree on the time interval between any pair of events.
• In other words, uniformly moving measuring sticks have the same length
as when they are observed at rest and a clock that is moving at a constant
velocity neither slows down nor speeds up relative to a clock at rest.
• With these assumptions, the appearance of acceleration r̈ (rather than
velocity ṙ ) in Newton’s 2nd law can be motivated. It ensures that when
referred to a frame S 0 moving at constant velocity u relative to an inertial
frame S , Newton’s 2nd law takes the same form for a system of (interacting)

32
particles.

• For example, suppose the frames coincide at t = 0 so that r 0 = r − ut.

2
Then r̈ = r̈ 0 as m dtd 2 (ut) = 0. Then the equation for a free particle is the
same in both frames mr̈ = 0 and mr̈ 0 = 0. A particle is free in one frame
iff it is free in the other.
• Similarly, Newton’s second law for a pair of particles subject to an in-
terparticle force that depends on the relative distance between the two
particles,
mr̈1 = F2 on 1 (|r1 − r2 |) & mr̈2 = F1 on 2 (|r2 − r1 |) (52)
takes the same form in frame S 0 with r1 and r2 replaced with r10 and r20
since
r1 − r2 = r10 + ut − r20 − ut = r10 − r20 . (53)
The velocity u cancels out from the difference in position vectors. The
relative velocity between the frames u makes no appearance.
• u also cancels out from the difference in velocity vectors ṙ1 − ṙ2 so
the same conclusion also applies to interparticle forces that depend on
velocities (such as friction).
• Thus, practically speaking, (1) projectiles move in exactly the same way
when observed in two frames in uniform relative motion (ignoring a possible
variation of the external gravitational acceleration) and (2) a brick sliding
on a plank subject to friction displays the same dynamics irrespective of
whether the experiment is performed below the deck of a docked ship or a
uniformly moving ship.
• Newton’s 2nd law for a particle subject to an external force mr̈ = F (r)
however is not the same in the two frames. It becomes mr̈ 0 = F (r 0 + ut).
The appearance of u in this frame would mean that one could find out
which frame corresponds to the moving ship and which to the docked

33
ship. For instance, variation in the acceleration due to gravity at different
locations could be used to determine that the experiment was performed
in a moving ship rather than at a fixed location on the shore. This does
not violate Galileo’s principle of relativity since the latter is not concerned
with external forces but with interparticle forces.
• If Newton’s 2nd law for a particle involved velocity instead of accelera-
tion, say ν ṙ = G, then in a frame moving at velocity u, the equation for
a free particle would take the form ν(ṙ 0 + u) = 0. The appearance of u on
the left of this equation implies that it does not have the same form as the
equation ν ṙ = 0 in S and would allow us to determine the velocity u of
the frame S 0 relative to S and thereby tell the frames apart, in violation
of Galileo’s principle.
• Relating the force to the second derivative of position (as opposed to, say,
the third derivative of r(t)) is the simplest way of incorporating Galileo’s
principle.
• Fortunately, experiments and observations confirm that Newton’s 2nd law
accurately describes both terrestrial and celestial mechanical phenomena
(motion of tennis balls, planets etc.), so there is no need to include higher
time derivatives in Newton’s second law, although they would not violate
Galileo’s principle.
• There are other reasons to avoid higher time derivatives on the LHS of
Newton’s equation. Indeed, suppose Newton’s second law for the position
...
x(t) of a particle moving along a line had a 3rd derivative term: mẍ+ν x =
f , for some constant ν 6= 0, where f is the force. Now, consider a free
...
particle, f = 0. The equation mẍ + ν x = 0 may be integrated once to
get mẋ + ν ẍ = α and integrated a second time to get mx + ν ẋ = αt + β
for constants of integration α, β . It can be shown that the solution of this
first order equation is
x(t) = γe−mt/ν + m−2 [m(β + αt) − αν] . (54)
where γ is a third constant of integration. For γ, ν 6= 0, this is clearly not
of the constant speed form x(0) + v(0)t. Thus, in violation of Newton’s 1st
law, this free particle trajectory does not have constant speed. We conclude
that a third derivative term on the left of Newton’s 2nd law equation would
not be consistent with Newton’s first law.

34
• Can the LHS of Newton’s equation mr̈ = F include a term such as
λr for some constant λ? No, for more than one reason. (a) This would
violate Newton’s first law, free particles would not always follow straight
line trajectories with constant speed. Indeed for λ 6= 0, mẍ + λx = 0 does
not admit the constant speed solution x(t) = vt + x0 . (b) It would violate
the homogeneity of space which requires that the laws of mechanics be
the same at all locations. Given the same external conditions, the results
of mechanical experiments do not depend on where they are performed.
Mathematically, Newton’s 2nd law equation must be translation-invariant.
Suppose we make a translation x0 = x+a, then mẍ+λx = f would become
mẍ0 + λ(x0 − a) = f , so that Newton’s equation would not take the same
form in a frame that is shifted by distance a relative to the original frame.
Note that interparticle forces are translation invariant, since they depend
on the relative locations of particles; the problem lies in the appearance of
a on the LHS of the equation of motion in the shifted frame.
• We also postulate that the laws of mechanics do not pick out any particu-
lar direction. We say that space is isotropic. The orientation of a frame has
no dynamical significance. Holding external conditions the same, rotating
the experimental apparatus does not change the results of experiments.
• Along with homogeneity and isotropy of space, we also postulate the
homogeneity of time. Given identical external conditions, the results of
mechanical experiments must not depend on when they are done. In other
words, the equations of mechanics must be invariant under translations of
time t → t + t0 . For instance, the masses of a pair of particles that interact
through interparticle forces cannot change with time.
• Space rotation invariance, space and time translation invariance along
with the invariance under a change from an inertial frame to one moving at
constant velocity are together termed the Galilean invariances of the laws
of mechanics.

2.6 Linear superposition of forces

• Suppose a particle is acted upon by two forces F1 and F2 . Then ac-

cording to the superposition principle, the total force F on the particle

35
or resultant of the two forces is the vector sum F = F1 + F2 . This is
to be expected from Newton’s 2nd law ma = F : acceleration is a vec-
tor and so force must also be a vector and vectors can be added using
the parallelogram law to obtain the total force. Newton does not mention
the superposition principle for forces as a separate law, but states it as
Corollary 1.
• It is noteworthy that Newton had more than three laws (about 5 or 6) in
his manuscript De motucorporum in mediis regulariter cedentibus that he
wrote a couple of years before the Principia. Some postulates/laws, such
as a version of the principle of relativity were later demoted to corollaries
of what we now call his three laws of motion.
• The superposition principle is very useful. It allows us to separately
determine individual forces on a body, which may have distinct origins
(gravitational, frictional, electric etc.) before adding them up to find the
total force.
• Note that we do not have a superposition principle for solutions of
Newton’s equation in general. For example, suppose mr̈1 = f1 (r1 ) and
mr̈2 = f2 (r2 ) are trajectories in the presence of individual forces. Then
putting r = r1 + r2 , we get mr̈ = f1 (r1 ) + f2 (r2 ). However, the latter
is generally not equal to the vector field f1 + f2 evaluated at r1 + r2 . So
we cannot in general ‘add’ trajectories in the presence of separate forces
to get a trajectory when both forces are present. The 1d example of a
superposition f = −kx + c of a linear restoring force f1 = −kx and a
constant force f2 = c provides a counterexample. Suppose mẍ1 = −kx1
and mẍ2 = c are trajectories in the presence of the separate forces. Verify
that the sum of these trajectories x = x1 + x2 satisfies mẍ = −kx1 + c
which differs from the desired equation mẍ = −kx + c = −k(x1 + x2 ) + c.
In general, it is meaningless to add solutions to Newton’s equation: they
typically do not form a linear space.
• Moreover, the superposition principle does not say that we can superpose
solutions to Newton’s equation for a given force field to get new solutions in
the same force field. For instance, suppose mr̈1 = f (r1 ) and mr̈2 = f (r2 ),
i.e., r1 (t) and r2 (t) are solutions of Newton’s equation for the same force
field f . Then in general r = r1 + r2 is not a solution of the equation

36
mr̈ = f (r). This is because the force could depend nonlinearly on the
location.

• Similarly, suppose a composite body is made up of several constituent

parts (e.g. a rigid body made of several point masses). Then the total force
on the composite body is the vector sum of the forces on its constituents.

2.7 Newton’s 3rd law

Newton’s 3rd law says that ‘to every action there is always opposed an
equal reaction’. In other words, if body A exerts a force F on body B ,
then B exerts a force −F on A. These two forces are called the impressed
and expressed forces. While the third law is not needed to understand
the motion of a particle subject to given external forces, it is needed to
understand the motion of bodies subject to interparticle forces.
• E.g. 1: The Sun attracts the Earth with a force equal in magnitude and
opposite in direction to the force exerted by the Earth on the Sun.
• E.g. 2: A cubical block of concrete of mass m that lies on the floor
exerts a downward force on the floor of magnitude equal to mg , where g
is the magnitude of the acceleration due to gravity. (Note: this is not the
force of the Earth on the block!) On the other hand, the floor exerts an
upward ‘normal reaction’ force N of the same magnitude mg on the block.
Notice that the impressed and expressed forces act on different bodies. In
this example, both forces can be called normal surface forces, it is just
conventional to call the force of the floor on the block by the name normal
reaction force. The force of the block on the floor is equally well a normal
reaction force. In a fluid, such equal and opposite normal surface forces
between small neighboring volumes of fluid go by the name of pressure.
• For future reference. Newton’s third law also helps us distinguish be-
tween a real force and a fictitious force in an accelerated or noninertial

37
reference frame that we will encounter in §??. According to Newton’s
third law, an acceleration due to a real force felt by a body is distinguished
by the presence of an equal and opposite reaction force on some other body.

2.8 Dynamics, kinematics and statics: what do they refer to?

• Dynamics refers to the evolution of a system in time. By this we mean

the behavior of the system with the passage of time due to the forces in
operation. To understand the dynamics, we need to know the forces and
interactions present. An aim of dynamics is to find the trajectory by solving
the equations of motion (EOM), given the initial conditions. By Newton’s
second law, doing this requires the knowledge of forces. The result of this
exercise for some initial conditions could be that the parts of the system
do not move while for other initial conditions the parts of the system may
move. The equations of motion are also called the dynamical equations.
• Statics refers to situations where a system does not change with time.
For example, a static solution of the EOM for a particle is one where r(t)
is independent of time. To discover static solution, we need to know the
forces and solve the equations of motion.
• In a somewhat different direction, kinematics refers to those aspects
of the system and its motion that do not depend on the specific forces
that act, but on other features like the number of degrees of freedom, the
range of values that physical variables can take, how these values change
in different frames of reference, etc. The problem of finding the trajectory
x(t) from a known acceleration ẍ(t) function is kinematical, while finding
the trajectory from the forces involves dynamics.

38
2.9 Dimensional analysis and units

• Physical quantities like the Cartesian components of the position of a

particle, a time interval or a force can each be assigned a dimension. It
turns out that the dimensions of all the mechanical quantities we encounter
can be expressed in terms of three basic dimensions: mass M , length L
and time T .
• More precisely, any quantity F can be assigned a dimension [F ] =
M α Lβ T γ for some real numbers α, β, γ (which are typically rational num-
bers). If α = β = γ = 0, the quantity is said to be dimensionless. Con-
sistency requires that all terms in an equation have the same dimensions.
This gives a quick way of eliminating some errors in equations.
• Examples of dimensions of physical quantities
[mass] = M, [length] = L, [time] = T, [velocity] = LT −1 ,
[acceleration] = LT −2 , [momentum] = M LT −1 ,
[force] = M LT −2 , [energy] = M L2 T −2 . (55)

• What is the dimension of an angle?

• Units. The most commonly used systems of units in mechanics are the
SI and CGS systems.
• In the International System of Units (SI), the basic units of length, mass
and time are the meter, kilogram and the second. The unit of force is
called the Newton 1N = 1 kg m / s 2 .
• In the CGS system, the corresponding base units are the centimeter,
gram and second. The unit of force is called the dyne, (one Newton is 105
dyne).

2.10 Examples of forces

• Gravity. The gravitational force played a central role in the development

of mechanics. Newton proposed his universal law of gravitation and devel-
oped his laws of mechanics in large part to understand the motion of the
planets.
• Newton’s law of gravity says that the force between two point masses

39
m1 and m2 is attractive and proportional to the product of the masses and
is inversely proportional to the square of the distance of separation. The
constant of proportionality is Newton’s gravitational constant G. If r1
and r2 are the position vectors of the two particles, then the force exerted
by m1 on m2 points from m2 towards m1 and is given by:
m1 m2
F1 on 2 = −G (r2 − r1 ) (56)
|r1 − r2 |3
By Newton’s third law, m2 exerts an equal and opposite force on m1 given
by F2 on 1 = −F1 on 2 .
• Principle of superposition of forces. Newton’s law of gravitation
applies to point particles. However, it may be used to calculate the force
due to extended bodies on point masses or on other extended objects. In
order to do this, one repeatedly uses the principle of linear superposition,
which states that the force due to two objects on a given particle is the
vector sum of the individual forces. Furthermore, the force on a composite
body is the vector sum of forces on all its constituents.
• By using the principle of superposition, one may show that the force on
a point mass m that lies outside a spherically symmetric mass distribution
is the same as the force due to a point particle (with mass equal to the
total mass M of the distribution) located at the center of the distribution.
• For example, the force due to a thin spherical shell of radius R and mass
M centered at the origin on a point mass m located at r (with r > R) is
given by −GmM |r|r̂ 2 . It turns out that the force vanishes inside the shell
due to a cancellation of forces due to diametrically opposite parts of the
spherical shell. These diametrically opposite surface elements have mass
proportional to their area, which grows as the square of the distance from
the apex of a cone. This quadratic growth is cancelled by the inverse square
fall off in Newton’s gravitational force so that the two elements exert equal

40
and opposite forces on a mass inside the shell.

• So far we have not been precise about what we mean by the mass of
a body or how it is to be fixed. The mass mi of a body that appears in
Newton’s second law F = mi a is called its inertial mass. We may use
Newton’s 2nd law to give a way of assigning inertial masses to bodies. We
begin by selecting a reference body A and choose units in which its inertial
mass is assigned the value 1. We apply a force to A (e.g., let a compressed
spring push it), and record its acceleration aA . Given body B whose
inertial mass we wish to determine, we apply the same force to it, and
measure its acceleration aB . Then we assign the mass mB = |aA |/|aB |.
In this manner, we assign inertial masses to various bodies.
• On the other hand, the masses that appear in Newton’s law of gravity
F2 on 1 = Gm1g m2g r̂/r2 are the gravitational masses, with r = r2 − r1 .
• Let us now focus on the gravitational force of the Earth on small bodies
near its surface. At the surface of the Earth, the force on a gravitational
mass mg is F = −GMe mg r̂/Re2 where Me is the gravitational mass of the
Earth and Re the radius of the Earth. The acceleration due to gravity
of the body is then a = F /mi = −(GMe (mg /mi )/Re2 )r̂. This downward
pointing acceleration is denoted g . On the face of it, the acceleration due
to gravity depends on the body through its inertial and gravitational mass.
• Equivalence principle. The surprising experimental observation is
that the acceleration due to gravity is the same for all bodies. The story of
different objects falling in unison from the leaning tower of Pisa is a way
to remember this. The magnitude of this acceleration g is approximately
9.8 m/s2 .
• Thus, the ratio mg /mi must be the same for all bodies. By absorbing
this constant ratio into G, we arrive at the equality mi = mg . This is called
the principle of equivalence of inertial and gravitational masses. Since we
have already assigned inertial masses to bodies, the Equivalence principle

41
gives a way of assigning gravitational masses as well. Henceforth we will
not make a distinction between inertial and gravitational masses.
• The weight of a body is defined as the Earth’s gravitational force acting
on it. At the the surface of the Earth, the weight of a body of mass m
is W = −(GMe m/Re2 )r̂ = mg . Since weight is a force, it is measured in
Newtons in SI units. The weight, as defined above, is independent of the
motion of the body.
• Normal reaction. There is a concept related to the weight of a body
that is sometimes confused with it. Consider a body of mass m at rest
on the Earth. Balance of forces in the vertical direction implies that the
floor must exert a ‘normal reaction’ force N = −mg upwards on the body.
This is the force that the floor exerts to support the body.
• Now suppose the body is in an elevator that accelerates upwards at
the rate a. The force due to gravity on the mass is still its weight W = mg .
Then Newton’s second law implies that ma = N + W or N = m(a − g).
Since N and a point upwards, while g points downwards, the magnitude
of the normal reaction is N = m(a + g). This is the force that the floor of
the elevator must exert upwards to support the body. The magnitude of
N exceeds the magnitude of the weight of the body. A ‘weighing’ scale is
usually calibrated to read the value |N |/g .

• Electrostatic force. Charged particles exert electrostatic forces on

each other. They are found to attract or repel. The force between point
charges is summarized in Coulomb’s law, which is very similar to Newton’s
law of gravitation between point masses, it is proportional to the product
of electric charges and falls off inversely with the square of the distance
of separation. However, while masses always attract, like charges (of the
same sign) repel and unlike charges (with opposite signs) attract.
• Many forces we are familiar with have their microscopic origin in electro-

42
static forces between molecules. The frictional force between a body and a
surface, the viscous force between layers of a fluid or between a fluid and a
body moving through it are macroscopic manifestations of electric forces.
The force that a stretched string exerts also has its microscopic origin in
electric forces between molecules.
• For this reason, the electric force is called a fundamental force while
friction and viscosity are called emergent or phenomenological forces.
• Friction and viscosity are also examples of contact forces, exerted when
bodies are in contact.
• Though these forces arise from electrostatic interactions, it is often not
practical to deduce their strength from microscopic considerations. They
are usually described via effective macroscopic formulae based on experi-
mental measurements like Hooke’s law for a spring.
• For instance,

1. The drag force on a sphere moving slowly through a fluid is approxi-

mately proportional to its speed and points in a direction opposite to
its velocity.
2. Neighboring segments of a stretched string are found to exert a ten-
sional force on each other tending to elongate each segment. The
tension can usually be modeled as a constant force along the length of
the stretched string.

• Aside from gravity and electromagnetic forces, there are two more fun-
damental forces: the weak and strong nuclear forces. The latter are very
short-ranged and act typically over nuclear and subnuclear scales. They
are responsible for radioactive decay and for binding neutrons and protons
in nuclei.

3 Momentum, Energy, Work, Angular momentum, Dynamical

variables

• The (linear) momentum of a particle of mass m moving at velocity v

is defined as p = mv . If there is no force, then each of the components

43
px , py , pz of momentum is conserved, since ṗ = F = 0 (this is Newton’s
first law). If the force only acts downwards, then the horizontal components
of momentum px , py are conserved.

3.1 Work done by a force and conservative forces

• Work done by a force. Suppose a particle is moved from position a

to b along a trajectory γ given by r(t) for t0 ≤ t ≤ t1 , then the work done
by the force F (r) is defined as the line integral
Z Z t1
dr
W (γ) = F · dr = F· dt. (57)
γ t0 dt
In general, this work depends on the trajectory and not just on the end-
points r(t0 ) = a and r(t1 ) = b.

• However, there is a special class of forces where this work depends only
on the endpoints. In fact, suppose the force field is given by the negative
gradient of a potential function F (r) = −∇V (r). Then the work done by
such a ‘conservative’ force is
Z t1 Z t1
dr dV (r(t))
W (γ) = − ∇V · dt = − dt = V (a) − V (b), (58)
t0 dt t0 dt
which is seen to be the drop in the potential. Here we used the chain rule
to write
   
∂V ∂V ∂V dx dy dz ∂V dx ∂V dy ∂V dz dV
∇V · ṙ = , , · , , = + + = .
∂x ∂y ∂z dt dt dt ∂x dt ∂y dt ∂z dt dt
(59)

44
3.2 Conserved energy for a conservative force

• Many interesting forces such as the gravitational force, the electrostatic

force and the simple harmonic restoring force (but not friction, see (??)) are
conservative F = −∇V . For such conservative forces, Newton’s second
law becomes mr̈ = −∇V (r). This implies that the sum of kinetic and
potential energies, E = 12 mṙ 2 + V (r) is conserved along trajectories:

Ė = mṙ · r̈ + ∇V (r) · ṙ = ṙ(mr̈ + ∇V ) = 0 since mr̈ = −∇V. (60)

We have used Newton’s equation of motion, which means that we have
shown that E is constant along a trajectory assuming the force is con-
servative. A curve qualifies as a trajectory if it satisfies the equation of
motion mr̈ = F .
• We say that the energy is a conserved quantity or a constant of motion
if the forces are conservative (expressible as the gradient of a potential).
• This total energy may also be expressed in terms of momentum p = mṙ
rather than velocity: E = p2 /2m + V (r). In the latter form, the energy is
also called the Hamiltonian.
• One can obtain this conserved energy by integrating Newton’s equation
of motion once using an integrating factor.
• Consider motion on a line (one degree of freedom). For a conservative
force f = −V 0 (x), Newton’s equation mẍ = f becomes mẍ + V 0 (x) = 0.
• Multiplying by the ‘integrating factor’ ẋ, we get
 
d 1
mẍẋ + V 0 (x)ẋ = 0 or mẋ2 + V (x(t)) = 0. (61)
dt 2
Thus, the total energy E = 21 mẋ2 + V (x) is conserved. This energy is the
sum of a kinetic energy 21 mẋ2 (which accrues from the particle’s motion)
and the previously introduced potential energy V (x).
• Work-kinetic energy relation Interestingly, even if the force is not
conservative and there is no potential V , the work done by the force while
moving a particle along a trajectory can be expressed as the increase in
kinetic energy 12 mv 2 . Indeed, suppose r(t) for ta ≤ t ≤ tb is a trajectory

45
from a to b, then using Newton’s second law,
Z tb Z Z
dr dp d(mv)
W (γ) = F· dt = · v dt = · v dt
t a
Z vb dt Z dt dt
1 1 1
= mv · dv = md(v 2 ) = mvb2 − mva2 .(62)
va 2 2 2
• This result is called the work-energy theorem or principle.
• Let us contrast this with formula (58) for the work done by a conservative
force (which depends only on the difference in potential energies at the end-
points of a trajectory). Despite appearances, the RHS of (62), (where we
make no assumption about the force being conservative) generally depends
on the trajectory and not just the endpoints a and b.
• In fact, the kinetic energies at a and b depend on the velocities (or mo-
menta) at a and b. As we noted in our discussion of Newton’s second law,
the specification of initial position and momentum is enough to determine
an entire trajectory.

3.3 Angular momentum

• The angular momentum (about a chosen origin) of a particle moving in

3d space is L = r × p, where r is the position vector of the particle from
the chosen origin. In components
Lx = ypz − zpy , Ly = zpx − xpz , Lz = xpy − ypx . (63)
Angular momentum is also called the moment of momentum. Formulae
for successive components are obtained by cyclically permuting x → y →
z → x.
• Newton’s force law then implies that the rate of change of angular mo-
mentum is the torque (or moment of force) about the same origin:
1
L̇ = ṙ × p + r × ṗ = p × p + r × F = r × F ≡ τ. (64)
m
• A particularly important example is a central force, i.e., one which points
radially along the line from the origin to the particle. Newton’s gravita-
tional force between point masses, as well as Coulomb’s electrostatic force
between point charges, are central forces.

46
• The torque due to a central force about the force center vanishes since
r and F are collinear. Thus, we conclude that the angular momentum
of a particle moving in a central force field is independent of time, it is a
conserved quantity.
• For a projectile moving under the vertical gravitational force, the torque
must be in the horizontal plane.

• So the vertical component of angular momentum Lz = xpy − ypx must

be conserved. Since px and py are also conserved, we conclude that the
trajectory (x, y, z)(t) must be such that its projection on the horizontal
plane is a straight line Lz = xpy − ypx .
• In fact, one can show that the trajectory of a projectile is a parabola over
the x-y plane. Knowledge of conserved quantities allowed us to clarify the
nature of the trajectory.

3.4 Dynamical variables and conserved quantities

• Dynamical variables. The components of position r , momentum p,

p2
angular momentum L = r × p and energy E = 2m + V (r) are interesting
physical quantities associated with the dynamics of a particle. They are
examples of dynamical variables or observables (a term that is used more

47
in the quantum mechanical context). They can change with time.
• In general, any function f (r, p) of the components of the position and
momentum of a particle is a dynamical variable. The potential V (r) is a
dynamical variable. The components of position x, y, z and those of mo-
mentum px , py , pz are the basic dynamical variables. In general, dynamical
variables change along the trajectory.
• Conserved quantities. Conserved quantities are dynamical variables
that are constant along every trajectory. This means the value of a con-
served quantity does not change as the system evolves. The value of a
conserved quantity may differ from trajectory to trajectory. For example,
energy is a conserved quantity for free particle motion. But the value of
energy in general differs from trajectory to trajectory, depending on how
fast the particle is moving. In general, the value of a conserved quantity is
determined by initial conditions.
• Note that the mass of a particle or the charge of a particle are not
dynamical variables. They are called parameters and are used to specify
the nature of the particle or system.
• Conserved quantities are useful. They help us solve/understand New-
ton’s equation for the trajectory. E.g., for a particle moving on a line sub-
ject to a conservative force, Newton’s 2nd order equation mẍ = −V 0 (x)
can be reduced to a first order equation stating the conservation of energy.
we may then integrate once more and get an (implicit) expression for x(t):
r
1 2 dx 2
E = mẋ + V (x) ⇒ =± (E − V (x))
2 Z x dt m
dx0
⇒ t − t0 = ± q (65)
2 0
m (E − V (x ))
x0

• Conservation of energy has allowed us to reduce the order of Newton’s

original differential equation by one.
• It is noteworthy that both signs correspond to forward time evolution
(t ≥ t0 ). The positive sign corresponds to a situation where x > x0
(rightward motion) while the negative sign corresponds to x < x0 (leftward
motion). More on this below.

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• In effect, we have solved Newton’s second order equation of motion in
two steps. Energy is the constant of integration in the first step and x0 is
the second constant of integration. We can think of x0 and E as specifying
(partial, see below) initial conditions at time t0 . Though t0 is a constant
of integration we do not regard it as as an initial condition, but rather
designate it as the initial time.
• Our answer expresses t as a function of x. We must invert it to find
trajectories x(t) with energy E and initial location x0 at t0 .
• Interestingly, there is often more than one trajectory with fixed energy
and initial location, corresponding to the ± signs.
• This is to be expected, since specificationp of energy allows two possible
initial velocities in general v0 = v(t0 ) = ± (2/m)(E − V (x0 )).

• There are exceptions. If the particle is at a turning point of the potential

E = V (x0 ), initially, then v0 = 0 and the particle has only one way to go,
‘down hill’.
• So specification of energy and initial location is, in general, not a com-
plete specification of the instantaneous state of the particle.

4 Collisions or scattering and conservation laws

• We will now illustrate the use of conserved quantities (mass, momentum

and energy) in the context of collisions.
• By a collision of point particles, we shall mean an interaction among
particles that are far separated in the asymptotic past and future so that
each of them has a constant velocity as t → ±∞.
• This is a reasonable approximation if the forces between the particles
are sufficiently short-ranged so that particles behave as free particles when

49
they are separated by distances large compared to the ranges of forces.
• A collision does not mean the particles come into contact.
• For example (a) two particles may collide, each suffering a deflection in
direction of motion, (b) a particle may disintegrate/decay into two or more
particles, (c) two or more particles may coalesce, etc.
• Evidently, the number of incoming and outgoing particles in a collision
need not be equal.
• Though particle number need not be conserved, collisions may be fruit-
fully treated using the conservation laws of mass, momentum and energy
even without a detailed knowledge of the forces of interaction.
• (Inertial) mass, regarded intuitively as the amount of matter, is conserved
in nonrelativistic mechanical processes: it is neither created nor destroyed.
• The conservation of momentum and energy should not come as a surprise.
If external forces may be neglected, the total momentum of a system is
conserved. For a system of particles, this is a consequence of Newton’s 2nd
and 3 rd laws, with the latter allowing cancellation of interparticle forces in
computing the rate of change of total momentum.
• The total energy of an isolated system is also conserved. However, ki-
netic energy could arise from or be transformed into other types of energy
(potential energy in a spring, chemical bond energy etc.) and we must
account for this.
• Suppose we have a collision among p (‘past’) incoming particles resulting
in f (‘future’) outgoing particles. Let the masses and velocities (as t →
∓∞) of the particles be denoted (mi , vi ) for i = 1, . . . , p, p + 1, . . . , p + f .
• Then the law of conservation of mass states that
m1 + · · · + mp = mp+1 + · · · + mp+f . (66)

• The conservation of linear momentum in a collision is the statement that

m1 v1 + · · · + mp vp = mp+1 vp+1 + · · · + mp+f vp+f . (67)

50
• The conservation of energy reads
p p+f
X 1 X 1
mi vi2 = mi vi2 + Q. (68)
i=1
2 i=p+1
2

• The difference Q between initial and final kinetic energies is positive if,
say, kinetic energy is stored in a compressed spring or released as heat.
• It is negative if internal potential energy is converted into kinetic energy,
for instance in the decay of a particle that was initially at rest.
• If Q = 0, the collision is called elastic: kinetic energy is conserved but
may be redistributed among the particles.
• An example of a collision is the elastic ‘2 → 2’ scattering of two particles
which retain their identities (including their masses).
• In this case, conservation of mass is automatic and we have effectively 4
conservation laws (for energy and the three components of momentum).
• Given the initial velocities v1 , v2 , these 4 equations are insufficient to de-
termine the final velocities v3 , v4 , which comprise 6 unknowns. Although
conservation laws place restrictions on the final velocities, one needs infor-
mation on the nature of forces to determine the latter.
• However, in the special case of collisions in 1d, we have 2 conservation
laws and 2 unknown final velocity components and the system of equations
is even-determined.
• If we denote the initial and final velocities by v1 , v2 and v10 , v20 , then the
conservation laws for elastic 2 → 2 scattering become
m1 v1 + m2 v2 = m1 v10 + m2 v20 ≡ p and
1 1 1 1
m1 v12 + m2 v22 = m1 v102 + m2 v202 ≡ T. (69)
2 2 2 2
• Eliminating v10 = (p − m2 v20 )/m1 and writing M = m1 + m2 , we get
h p i
0 −1 2 2
v2 = M p ± p − M (m1 /m2 )(p /m1 − 2T )
= (2m1 v1 + (m2 − m1 )v2 )/M or v2 . (70)

• The second solution is the trivial one, where the particles retain their
velocities v10 = v1 , v20 = v2 . In the first, the scattering is nontrivial.

51
• For instance, suppose the particles had equal and opposite initial veloc-
ities, then show that the heavier particle comes to rest after the collision
if it is thrice as massive as the lighter one.

5 Motion in one dimension

• Consider a particle of mass m > 0 moving on the real line R with

instantaneous position x(t). We do this for simplicity, though some of the
features we discuss are valid more generally.
• It is said to possess one degree of freedom since precisely one coordinate
(x) is needed to specify its location.
• A particle moving on a circle or other curve also has one degree of
freedom.

• It is a free particle if it is isolated from physical influences (no ‘forces’

act on it), in which case Newton’s 1st law states that it must either be at
rest or moving at a constant velocity ẋ = dx dt to the right or left.
• On the other hand, if a force F acts on it, Newton’s 2nd law says that
the particle accelerates according to the equation of motion mass × accel-
eration = force or mẍ = F .
• To find the trajectory x(t) of the particle, we need to solve this second
order ordinary differential equation subject to a pair of initial conditions,
which could be the initial location and velocity (x(0), ẋ(0)).
• If the force depends only on location F = F (x), then in one dimension,
we may define a potential function such that F (x) = −V 0 (x). The latter
is a negative antiderivative or primitive of F :
Z x
V (x) = V (0) − F (x0 ) dx0 . (71)
0

• For a conservative force, Newton’s equation becomes mẍ + V 0 (x) = 0.

52
Multiplying by the ‘integrating factor’ ẋ we get
 
d 1
mẍẋ + V 0 (x)ẋ = 0 or mẋ2 + V (x(t)) = 0. (72)
dt 2
Thus, the total energy E = 21 mẋ2 + V (x) is conserved. This energy is the
sum of a kinetic energy 21 mẋ2 (which accrues from the particle’s motion)
and the previously introduced potential energy V (x).

5.1 Turning points, bound and unbound motion

• Having a conserved energy is helpful in understanding the dynamics.

• Indeed, for a given energy E , the nature of the motion can be deduced
from a graph of the potential V (x).
• On account of the positivity of kinetic energy 12 mẋ2 , the motion is con-
fined to the region where E ≥ V (x).
• This region, when nonempty, may be a union of several intervals/points
(see Fig 2). However, due to ‘potential barriers’ a particle cannot jump
between two disconnected intervals, so we may discuss each in isolation
6 V(x)

4
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

x1 x2 x3 3 ● x5 ●
x4 x6
2

1 V(x)=E
x
-2 -1 0 1 2

Figure 1: Qualitative characterization of motion of a particle in a 1d potential.

• In Fig. 2, the closed interval [x2 , x3 ] (the square brackets mean the
endpoints are included) is a connected set, any two points in it can be joined
by a curve lying in it. On the other hand, the disjoint union [x2 , x3 ] ∪ {x4 }
is disconnected.
• The points x where the energy-E horizontal line intersects the graph
of V (x) are the places where ẋ vanishes momentarily and the energy is
purely potential. They are called ‘turning points’ since the particle turns
around at such a point if reached in finite time [this happens if V 0 6= 0 at

53
a turning point].
• For the potential in Fig. 2, the classically allowed region corresponding to
the indicated energy is a union of six connected sets, with initial conditions
determining in which one the motion takes place. From left to right, try
to argue that the qualitative motion is of the following sorts:
6 V(x)

4
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

x1 x2 x3 3 ● x5 ●
x4 x6
2

1 V(x)=E
x
-2 -1 0 1 2

Figure 2: Qualitative characterization of motion of a particle in a 1d potential.

(a) (−∞, x1 ]: Particle can come in from any point to the left of x1 , collide
against the barrier at x1 , turn around and escape/scatter to −∞. In
this process, the particle reaches x1 in a finite time. This is indicated
via the square bracket, which means the interval is closed at the x1
end.
(b) [x2 , x3 ]: Particle oscillates with finite time period between the turning
points at x2 and x3 .
(c) x4 : Particle remains at rest at the stable equilibrium point x4 .
(d) [x5 , x6 ): For instance, particle starting at x5 accelerates and moves
rightward but then slows down and takes infinitely long to reach x6 .
Consequently, x6 is not part of the interval, and this is indicated via
the round bracket. By contrast, the turning point at x5 is reached
in finite time, at which the particle comes instantaneously to rest and
reverses direction. [x5 , x6 ) is a ‘closed-open’ interval.
(e) x6 : Particle remains at rest at the unstable equilibrium point x6 .
(f) (x6 , ∞): Particle can come leftwards from large x, but slows down and
takes infinitely long to reach x6 . Starting from x > x6 with rightward
velocity, particle speeds up and escapes to infinity.

54
(g) (x1 , x2 ), (x3 , x4 ) and (x4 , x5 ) are forbidden intervals. The particle
cannot be found in any of these intervals since its kinetic energy would
have to be negative.

• While in (b)-(d) the particle is ‘bound’ or ‘confined’, in (a) and (f) the
motion can be unbounded. The foregoing statements about the finite or
infinite time taken to reach turning points can be established by solving
Newton’s equation.

55