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Classical mechanics
Classical mechanics[note 1] is a physical theory describing the
motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of
machinery, and astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets,
stars, and galaxies. For objects governed by classical mechanics, if
the present state is known, it is possible to predict how it will move
in the future (determinism), and how it has moved in the past
(reversibility).

The earliest development of classical mechanics is often referred to

as Newtonian mechanics. It consists of the physical concepts based
on foundational works of Sir Isaac Newton, and the mathematical Diagram of orbital motion
methods invented by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Joseph-Louis of a satellite around the
Lagrange, Leonhard Euler, and other contemporaries, in the 17th Earth, showing
century to describe the motion of bodies under the influence of a perpendicular velocity and
system of forces. Later, more abstract methods were developed, acceleration (force) vectors,
leading to the reformulations of classical mechanics known as represented through a
Lagrangian mechanics and Hamiltonian mechanics. These advances, classical interpretation.
made predominantly in the 18th and 19th centuries, extend
substantially beyond earlier works, particularly through their use of
analytical mechanics. They are, with some modification, also used in all areas of modern physics.

Classical mechanics provides extremely accurate results when studying large objects that are not
extremely massive and speeds not approaching the speed of light. When the objects being
examined have about the size of an atom diameter, it becomes necessary to introduce the other
major sub-field of mechanics: quantum mechanics. To describe velocities that are not small
compared to the speed of light, special relativity is needed. In cases where objects become
extremely massive, general relativity becomes applicable. However, a number of modern sources
do include relativistic mechanics in classical physics, which in their view represents classical
mechanics in its most developed and accurate form.

Contents
Description of the theory
Position and its derivatives
Velocity and speed
Acceleration
Frames of reference
Forces and Newton's second law
Work and energy
Beyond Newton's laws
Limits of validity
The Newtonian approximation to special relativity
The classical approximation to quantum mechanics

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History
Branches
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Description of the theory

The following introduces the basic concepts of classical
mechanics. For simplicity, it often models real-world objects as
point particles (objects with negligible size). The motion of a
point particle is characterized by a small number of
parameters: its position, mass, and the forces applied to it.
Each of these parameters is discussed in turn.

In reality, the kind of objects that classical mechanics can

describe always have a non-zero size. (The physics of very
small particles, such as the electron, is more accurately
described by quantum mechanics.) Objects with non-zero size
have more complicated behavior than hypothetical point
particles, because of the additional degrees of freedom, e.g., a The analysis of projectile motion
baseball can spin while it is moving. However, the results for is a part of classical mechanics.
point particles can be used to study such objects by treating
them as composite objects, made of a large number of
collectively acting point particles. The center of mass of a composite object behaves like a point
particle.

Classical mechanics uses common sense notions of how matter and forces exist and interact. It
assumes that matter and energy have definite, knowable attributes such as location in space and
speed. Non-relativistic mechanics also assumes that forces act instantaneously (see also Action at a
distance).

Position and its derivatives

The position of a point particle is defined in relation to a coordinate system centered on an

arbitrary fixed reference point in space called the origin O. A simple coordinate system might
describe the position of a particle P with a vector notated by an arrow labeled r that points from
the origin O to point P. In general, the point particle does not need to be stationary relative to O. In
cases where P is moving relative to O, r is defined as a function of t, time. In pre-Einstein relativity
(known as Galilean relativity), time is considered an absolute, i.e., the time interval that is
observed to elapse between any given pair of events is the same for all observers.[3] In addition to
relying on absolute time, classical mechanics assumes Euclidean geometry for the structure of
space.[4]

Velocity and speed

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The velocity, or the rate of change of The SI derived "mechanical"

displacement with time, is defined as the (that is, not electromagnetic or thermal)

derivative of the position with respect to time: units with kg, m and s

position m
.
angular position/angle unitless (radian)

velocity m·s−1
In classical mechanics, velocities are directly
additive and subtractive. For example, if one car angular velocity s−1
travels east at 60  km/h and passes another car
traveling in the same direction at 50  km/h, the acceleration m·s−2
slower car perceives the faster car as traveling angular acceleration s−2
east at 60 − 50 = 10 km/h. However, from the
perspective of the faster car, the slower car is jerk m·s−3
moving 10  km/h to the west, often denoted as "angular jerk" s−3
−10  km/h where the sign implies opposite
direction. Velocities are directly additive as specific energy m2·s−2
vector quantities; they must be dealt with using
absorbed dose rate m2·s−3
vector analysis.
moment of inertia kg·m2
Mathematically, if the velocity of the first object
in the previous discussion is denoted by the momentum kg·m·s−1
vector u = ud and the velocity of the second angular momentum kg·m2·s−1
object by the vector v = ve, where u is the speed
of the first object, v is the speed of the second force kg·m·s−2
object, and d and e are unit vectors in the
torque kg·m2·s−2
directions of motion of each object respectively,
then the velocity of the first object as seen by the energy kg·m2·s−2
second object is:
power kg·m2·s−3

pressure and energy density kg·m−1·s−2

Similarly, the first object sees the velocity of the surface tension kg·s−2
second object as:
spring constant kg·s−2

irradiance and energy flux kg·s−3

When both objects are moving in the same kinematic viscosity m2·s−1
direction, this equation can be simplified to:
dynamic viscosity kg·m−1·s−1

density (mass density) kg·m−3

Or, by ignoring direction, the difference can be specific weight (weight density) kg·m−2·s−2
given in terms of speed only: number density m−3

action kg·m2·s−1

Acceleration

The acceleration, or rate of change of velocity, is the derivative of the velocity with respect to time
(the second derivative of the position with respect to time):

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Acceleration represents the velocity's change over time. Velocity can change in either magnitude or
direction, or both. Occasionally, a decrease in the magnitude of velocity "v" is referred to as
deceleration, but generally any change in the velocity over time, including deceleration, is simply
referred to as acceleration.

Frames of reference

While the position, velocity and acceleration of a particle can be described with respect to any
observer in any state of motion, classical mechanics assumes the existence of a special family of
reference frames in which the mechanical laws of nature take a comparatively simple form. These
special reference frames are called inertial frames. An inertial frame is an idealized frame of
reference within which an object has no external force acting upon it. Because there is no external
force acting upon it, the object has a constant velocity; that is, it is either at rest or moving
uniformly in a straight line.

A key concept of inertial frames is the method for identifying them. For practical purposes,
reference frames that do not accelerate with respect to distant stars (an extremely distant point)
are regarded as good approximations to inertial frames. Non-inertial reference frames accelerate
in relation to an existing inertial frame. They form the basis for Einstein's relativity. Due to the
relative motion, particles in the non-inertial frame appear to move in ways not explained by forces
from existing fields in the reference frame. Hence, it appears that there are other forces that enter
the equations of motion solely as a result of the relative acceleration. These forces are referred to
as fictitious forces, inertia forces, or pseudo-forces.

Consider two reference frames S and S'. For observers in each of the reference frames an event has
space-time coordinates of (x,y,z,t) in frame S and (x',y',z',t') in frame S'. Assuming time is
measured the same in all reference frames, and if we require x = x' when t = 0, then the relation
between the space-time coordinates of the same event observed from the reference frames S' and
S, which are moving at a relative velocity of u in the x direction is:

This set of formulas defines a group transformation known as the Galilean transformation
(informally, the Galilean transform). This group is a limiting case of the Poincaré group used in
special relativity. The limiting case applies when the velocity u is very small compared to c, the
speed of light.

The transformations have the following consequences:

v′ = v − u (the velocity v′ of a particle from the perspective of S′ is slower by u than its

velocity v from the perspective of S)
a′ = a (the acceleration of a particle is the same in any inertial reference frame)
F′ = F (the force on a particle is the same in any inertial reference frame)
the speed of light is not a constant in classical mechanics, nor does the special position
given to the speed of light in relativistic mechanics have a counterpart in classical
mechanics.

For some problems, it is convenient to use rotating coordinates (reference frames). Thereby one
can either keep a mapping to a convenient inertial frame, or introduce additionally a fictitious
centrifugal force and Coriolis force.
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Forces and Newton's second law

A force in physics is any action that causes an object's velocity to change; that is, to accelerate. A
force originates from within a field, such as an electro-static field (caused by static electrical
charges), electro-magnetic field (caused by moving charges), or gravitational field (caused by
mass), among others.

Newton was the first to mathematically express the relationship between force and momentum.
Some physicists interpret Newton's second law of motion as a definition of force and mass, while
others consider it a fundamental postulate, a law of nature.[5] Either interpretation has the same
mathematical consequences, historically known as "Newton's Second Law":

The quantity mv is called the (canonical) momentum. The net force on a particle is thus equal to
the rate of change of the momentum of the particle with time. Since the definition of acceleration
is a = dv/dt, the second law can be written in the simplified and more familiar form:

So long as the force acting on a particle is known, Newton's second law is sufficient to describe the
motion of a particle. Once independent relations for each force acting on a particle are available,
they can be substituted into Newton's second law to obtain an ordinary differential equation,
which is called the equation of motion.

As an example, assume that friction is the only force acting on the particle, and that it may be
modeled as a function of the velocity of the particle, for example:

where λ is a positive constant, the negative sign states that the force is opposite the sense of the
velocity. Then the equation of motion is

This can be integrated to obtain

where v0 is the initial velocity. This means that the velocity of this particle decays exponentially to
zero as time progresses. In this case, an equivalent viewpoint is that the kinetic energy of the
particle is absorbed by friction (which converts it to heat energy in accordance with the
conservation of energy), and the particle is slowing down. This expression can be further
integrated to obtain the position r of the particle as a function of time.

Important forces include the gravitational force and the Lorentz force for electromagnetism. In
addition, Newton's third law can sometimes be used to deduce the forces acting on a particle: if it
is known that particle A exerts a force F on another particle B, it follows that B must exert an equal
and opposite reaction force, −F, on A. The strong form of Newton's third law requires that F and
−F act along the line connecting A and B, while the weak form does not. Illustrations of the weak
form of Newton's third law are often found for magnetic forces.

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Work and energy

If a constant force F is applied to a particle that makes a displacement Δr,[note 2] the work done by
the force is defined as the scalar product of the force and displacement vectors:

More generally, if the force varies as a function of position as the particle moves from r1 to r2 along
a path C, the work done on the particle is given by the line integral

If the work done in moving the particle from r1 to r2 is the same no matter what path is taken, the
force is said to be conservative. Gravity is a conservative force, as is the force due to an idealized
spring, as given by Hooke's law. The force due to friction is non-conservative.

The kinetic energy Ek of a particle of mass m travelling at speed v is given by

For extended objects composed of many particles, the kinetic energy of the composite body is the
sum of the kinetic energies of the particles.

The work–energy theorem states that for a particle of constant mass m, the total work W done on
the particle as it moves from position r1 to r2 is equal to the change in kinetic energy Ek of the
particle:

Conservative forces can be expressed as the gradient of a scalar function, known as the potential
energy and denoted Ep:

If all the forces acting on a particle are conservative, and Ep is the total potential energy (which is
defined as a work of involved forces to rearrange mutual positions of bodies), obtained by
summing the potential energies corresponding to each force

The decrease in the potential energy is equal to the increase in the kinetic energy

This result is known as conservation of energy and states that the total energy,

is constant in time. It is often useful, because many commonly encountered forces are
conservative.

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Beyond Newton's laws

Classical mechanics also describes the more complex motions of extended non-pointlike objects.
Euler's laws provide extensions to Newton's laws in this area. The concepts of angular momentum
rely on the same calculus used to describe one-dimensional motion. The rocket equation extends
the notion of rate of change of an object's momentum to include the effects of an object "losing
mass".
(These generalizations/extensions are derived from Newton's laws, say, by decomposing a
solid body into a collection of points.)

There are two important alternative formulations of classical mechanics: Lagrangian mechanics
and Hamiltonian mechanics. These, and other modern formulations, usually bypass the concept of
"force", instead referring to other physical quantities, such as energy, speed and momentum, for
describing mechanical systems in generalized coordinates. These are basically mathematical
rewriting of Newton's laws, but complicated mechanical problems are much easier to solve in these
forms. Also, analogy with quantum mechanics is more explicit in Hamiltonian formalism.

The expressions given above for momentum and kinetic energy are only valid when there is no
significant electromagnetic contribution. In electromagnetism, Newton's second law for current-
carrying wires breaks down unless one includes the electromagnetic field contribution to the
momentum of the system as expressed by the Poynting vector divided by c2, where c is the speed of
light in free space.

Limits of validity
Many branches of classical mechanics
are simplifications or approximations of
more accurate forms; two of the most
accurate being general relativity and
relativistic statistical mechanics.
Geometric optics is an approximation to
the quantum theory of light, and does
not have a superior "classical" form.

When both quantum mechanics and

classical mechanics cannot apply, such
as at the quantum level with many
degrees of freedom, quantum field
theory (QFT) is of use. QFT deals with
small distances, and large speeds with
many degrees of freedom as well as the
possibility of any change in the number Domain of validity for classical mechanics
of particles throughout the interaction.
When treating large degrees of freedom
at the macroscopic level, statistical mechanics becomes useful. Statistical mechanics describes the
behavior of large (but countable) numbers of particles and their interactions as a whole at the
macroscopic level. Statistical mechanics is mainly used in thermodynamics for systems that lie
outside the bounds of the assumptions of classical thermodynamics. In the case of high velocity
objects approaching the speed of light, classical mechanics is enhanced by special relativity. In
case that objects become extremely heavy (i.e., their Schwarzschild radius is not negligibly small
for a given application), deviations from Newtonian mechanics become apparent and can be
quantified by using the parameterized post-Newtonian formalism. In that case, general relativity
(GR) becomes applicable. However, until now there is no theory of quantum gravity unifying GR
and QFT in the sense that it could be used when objects become extremely small and heavy.[4][5]

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The Newtonian approximation to special relativity

In special relativity, the momentum of a particle is given by

where m is the particle's rest mass, v its velocity, v is the modulus of v, and c is the speed of light.

If v is very small compared to c, v2/c2 is approximately zero, and so

Thus the Newtonian equation p = mv is an approximation of the relativistic equation for bodies
moving with low speeds compared to the speed of light.

For example, the relativistic cyclotron frequency of a cyclotron, gyrotron, or high voltage
magnetron is given by

where fc is the classical frequency of an electron (or other charged particle) with kinetic energy T
and (rest) mass m0 circling in a magnetic field. The (rest) mass of an electron is 511 keV. So the
frequency correction is 1% for a magnetic vacuum tube with a 5.11 kV direct current accelerating
voltage.

The classical approximation to quantum mechanics

The ray approximation of classical mechanics breaks down when the de Broglie wavelength is not
much smaller than other dimensions of the system. For non-relativistic particles, this wavelength
is

where h is Planck's constant and p is the momentum.

Again, this happens with electrons before it happens with heavier particles. For example, the
electrons used by Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer in 1927, accelerated by 54  V, had a
wavelength of 0.167  nm, which was long enough to exhibit a single diffraction side lobe when
reflecting from the face of a nickel crystal with atomic spacing of 0.215 nm. With a larger vacuum
chamber, it would seem relatively easy to increase the angular resolution from around a radian to a
milliradian and see quantum diffraction from the periodic patterns of integrated circuit computer
memory.

More practical examples of the failure of classical mechanics on an engineering scale are
conduction by quantum tunneling in tunnel diodes and very narrow transistor gates in integrated
circuits.

Classical mechanics is the same extreme high frequency approximation as geometric optics. It is
more often accurate because it describes particles and bodies with rest mass. These have more
momentum and therefore shorter De Broglie wavelengths than massless particles, such as light,
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with the same kinetic energies.

History
The study of the motion of bodies is an ancient one, making classical mechanics one of the oldest
and largest subjects in science, engineering, and technology.

Some Greek philosophers of antiquity, among them Aristotle, founder of Aristotelian physics, may
have been the first to maintain the idea that "everything happens for a reason" and that theoretical
principles can assist in the understanding of nature. While to a modern reader, many of these
preserved ideas come forth as eminently reasonable, there is a conspicuous lack of both
mathematical theory and controlled experiment, as we know it. These later became decisive factors
in forming modern science, and their early application came to be known as classical mechanics.
In his Elementa super demonstrationem ponderum, medieval mathematician Jordanus de
Nemore introduced the concept of "positional gravity" and the use of component forces.

The first published causal explanation of the motions of planets was

Johannes Kepler's Astronomia nova, published in 1609. He
concluded, based on Tycho Brahe's observations on the orbit of
Mars, that the planet's orbits were ellipses. This break with ancient
thought was happening around the same time that Galileo was
proposing abstract mathematical laws for the motion of objects. He
may (or may not) have performed the famous experiment of
dropping two cannonballs of different weights from the tower of
Pisa, showing that they both hit the ground at the same time. The
reality of that particular experiment is disputed, but he did carry out
Three stage Theory of quantitative experiments by rolling balls on an inclined plane. His
impetus according to theory of accelerated motion was derived from the results of such
Albert of Saxony. experiments and forms a cornerstone of classical mechanics. In 1673
Christiaan Huygens described in his Horologium Oscillatorium the
first two laws of motion.[6] The work is also the first modern treatise
in which a physical problem (the accelerated motion of a falling body) is idealized by a set of
parameters then analyzed mathematically and constitutes one of the seminal works of applied
mathematics.[7]

Newton founded his principles of natural philosophy on three proposed laws of motion: the law of
inertia, his second law of acceleration (mentioned above), and the law of action and reaction; and
hence laid the foundations for classical mechanics. Both Newton's second and third laws were
given the proper scientific and mathematical treatment in Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis
Principia Mathematica. Here they are distinguished from earlier attempts at explaining similar
phenomena, which were either incomplete, incorrect, or given little accurate mathematical
expression. Newton also enunciated the principles of conservation of momentum and angular
momentum. In mechanics, Newton was also the first to provide the first correct scientific and
mathematical formulation of gravity in Newton's law of universal gravitation. The combination of
Newton's laws of motion and gravitation provide the fullest and most accurate description of
classical mechanics. He demonstrated that these laws apply to everyday objects as well as to
celestial objects. In particular, he obtained a theoretical explanation of Kepler's laws of motion of
the planets.

Newton had previously invented the calculus, of mathematics, and used it to perform the
mathematical calculations. For acceptability, his book, the Principia, was formulated entirely in
terms of the long-established geometric methods, which were soon eclipsed by his calculus.
However, it was Leibniz who developed the notation of the derivative and integral preferred[8]
today. Newton, and most of his contemporaries, with the notable exception of Huygens, worked on
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the assumption that classical mechanics would be able to

explain all phenomena, including light, in the form of
geometric optics. Even when discovering the so-called
Newton's rings (a wave interference phenomenon) he
maintained his own corpuscular theory of light.

After Newton, classical

mechanics became a principal
field of study in mathematics
as well as physics.
Mathematical formulations
progressively allowed finding
solutions to a far greater
number of problems. The first
notable mathematical
treatment was in 1788 by
Joseph Louis Lagrange. Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727), an
Lagrangian mechanics was in influential figure in the history of
turn re-formulated in 1833 by physics and whose three laws of
William Rowan Hamilton. motion form the basis of classical
Lagrange's contribution mechanics
was realising Newton's Some difficulties were
ideas in the language of discovered in the late 19th
modern mathematics, now century that could only be resolved by
called Lagrangian more modern physics. Some of these
mechanics. difficulties related to compatibility
with electromagnetic theory, and the
famous Michelson–Morley
experiment. The resolution of these problems led to the special
theory of relativity, often still considered a part of classical
mechanics.

A second set of difficulties were related to thermodynamics. When

combined with thermodynamics, classical mechanics leads to the
Gibbs paradox of classical statistical mechanics, in which entropy is
Hamilton's greatest
not a well-defined quantity. Black-body radiation was not explained
contribution is perhaps the
without the introduction of quanta. As experiments reached the
reformulation of
atomic level, classical mechanics failed to explain, even
Lagrangian mechanics,
approximately, such basic things as the energy levels and sizes of
now called Hamiltonian
atoms and the photo-electric effect. The effort at resolving these
mechanics forming the
problems led to the development of quantum mechanics.
preferred choice by many
prominent mathematical
Since the end of the 20th century, classical mechanics in physics has
physics formulations.
no longer been an independent theory. Instead, classical mechanics
is now considered an approximate theory to the more general
quantum mechanics. Emphasis has shifted to understanding the
fundamental forces of nature as in the Standard model and its more modern extensions into a
unified theory of everything.[9] Classical mechanics is a theory useful for the study of the motion of
non-quantum mechanical, low-energy particles in weak gravitational fields. Also, it has been
extended into the complex domain where complex classical mechanics exhibits behaviors very
similar to quantum mechanics.[10]

Branches

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Classical mechanics was traditionally divided into three main branches:

Statics, the study of equilibrium and its relation to forces

Dynamics, the study of motion and its relation to forces
Kinematics, dealing with the implications of observed motions without regard for
circumstances causing them

Another division is based on the choice of mathematical formalism:

Newtonian mechanics
Lagrangian mechanics
Hamiltonian mechanics

Alternatively, a division can be made by region of application:

Celestial mechanics, relating to stars, planets and other celestial bodies

Continuum mechanics, for materials modelled as a continuum, e.g., solids and fluids
(i.e., liquids and gases).
Relativistic mechanics (i.e. including the special and general theories of relativity), for
bodies whose speed is close to the speed of light.
Statistical mechanics, which provides a framework for relating the microscopic
properties of individual atoms and molecules to the macroscopic or bulk
thermodynamic properties of materials.

See also
Dynamical systems
History of classical mechanics
List of equations in classical mechanics
List of publications in classical mechanics
List of textbooks on classical and quantum mechanics
Molecular dynamics
Newton's laws of motion
Special theory of relativity
Quantum mechanics
Quantum field theory

Notes
1. The "classical" in "classical mechanics" does not refer classical antiquity, as it might in,
say, classical architecture; indeed, the (European) development of classical mechanics
involved substantial change in the methods and philosophy of physics.[1] The qualifier
instead attempts to distinguish classical mechanics from physics developed after the
revolutions of the early 20th century, which revealed classical mechanics' limits of
validity.[2]
2. The displacement Δr is the difference of the particle's initial and final positions:
Δr = rfinal − rinitial.

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References
1. Ben-Chaim, Michael (2004), Experimental Philosophy and the Birth of Empirical Science:
Boyle, Locke and Newton, Aldershot: Ashgate, ISBN 0-7546-4091-4, OCLC 53887772 (ht
tps://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53887772).
2. Agar, Jon (2012), Science in the Twentieth Century and Beyond, Cambridge: Polity Press,
ISBN 978-0-7456-3469-2.
3. Knudsen, Jens M.; Hjorth, Poul (2012). Elements of Newtonian Mechanics (https://book
s.google.com/books?id=rkP1CAAAQBAJ) (illustrated ed.). Springer Science & Business
Media. p. 30. ISBN 978-3-642-97599-8. Extract of page 30 (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=rkP1CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30)
4. MIT physics 8.01 lecture notes (page 12) (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-01-phy
sics-i-fall-2003/lecture-notes/binder1.pdf) Archived (http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/2013
0709154423/http%3A//ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8%2D01%2Dphysics%2Di%2Dfal
l%2D2003/lecture%2Dnotes/binder1.pdf) 2013-07-09 at the Library of Congress Web
Archives (PDF)
5. Thornton, Stephen T.; Marion, Jerry B. (2004). Classical dynamics of particles and
systems (https://archive.org/details/classicaldynamic00thor) (5. ed.). Belmont, CA:
Brooks/Cole. pp. 50 (https://archive.org/details/classicaldynamic00thor/page/n67).
ISBN 978-0-534-40896-1.
6. Rob Iliffe & George E. Smith (2016). The Cambridge Companion to Newton. Cambridge
University Press. p. 75. ISBN 9781107015463.
7. Yoder, Joella G. (1988). Unrolling Time: Christiaan Huygens and the Mathematization of
Nature (https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/unrolling-time/1427509C7A14C464B0
8209322E42ABB6). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-34140-0.
8. Jesseph, Douglas M. (1998). "Leibniz on the Foundations of the Calculus: The Question
of the Reality of Infinitesimal Magnitudes (https://muse.jhu.edu/article/28020/summar
y)". Perspectives on Science. 6.1&2: 6–40. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
9. Page 2-10 of the Feynman Lectures on Physics says "For already in classical mechanics
there was indeterminability from a practical point of view." The past tense here implies
that classical physics is not universally valid; there is physics after classical mechanics.
10. Complex Elliptic Pendulum (https://arxiv.org/abs/1001.0131), Carl M. Bender, Daniel W.
Hook, Karta Kooner in Asymptotics in Dynamics, Geometry and PDEs; Generalized Borel
Summation vol. I (https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-88-7642-379-6_1)

Further reading
Alonso, M.; Finn, J. (1992). Fundamental University Physics. Addison-Wesley.
Feynman, Richard (1999). The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Perseus Publishing.
ISBN 978-0-7382-0092-7.
Feynman, Richard; Phillips, Richard (1998). Six Easy Pieces. Perseus Publishing.
ISBN 978-0-201-32841-7.
Goldstein, Herbert; Charles P. Poole; John L. Safko (2002). Classical Mechanics (3rd ed.).
Addison Wesley. ISBN 978-0-201-65702-9.
Kibble, Tom W.B.; Berkshire, Frank H. (2004). Classical Mechanics (5th ed.). Imperial
College Press. ISBN 978-1-86094-424-6.
Kleppner, D.; Kolenkow, R.J. (1973). An Introduction to Mechanics (https://archive.org/d
etails/introductiontome00dani). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-035048-9.
Landau, L.D.; Lifshitz, E.M. (1972). Course of Theoretical Physics, Vol. 1 – Mechanics.
Franklin Book Company. ISBN 978-0-08-016739-8.
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Morin, David (2008). Introduction to Classical Mechanics: With Problems and Solutions
(https://archive.org/details/introductiontocl00mori) (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87622-3.
Gerald Jay Sussman; Jack Wisdom (2001). Structure and Interpretation of Classical
Mechanics. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-19455-6.
O'Donnell, Peter J. (2015). Essential Dynamics and Relativity. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-
4665-8839-4.
Thornton, Stephen T.; Marion, Jerry B. (2003). Classical Dynamics of Particles and
Systems (5th ed.). Brooks Cole. ISBN 978-0-534-40896-1.

External links
Crowell, Benjamin. Light and Matter (http://www.lightandmatter.com/lm) (an
introductory text, uses algebra with optional sections involving calculus)
Fitzpatrick, Richard. Classical Mechanics (http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/301/301.
html) (uses calculus)
Hoiland, Paul (2004). Preferred Frames of Reference & Relativity (http://doc.cern.ch//arc
hive/electronic/other/ext/ext-2004-126.pdf)
Horbatsch, Marko, "Classical Mechanics Course Notes (http://www.yorku.ca/marko/PHY
S2010/index.htm)".
Rosu, Haret C., "Classical Mechanics (https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9909035)". Physics
Education. 1999. [arxiv.org : physics/9909035]
Shapiro, Joel A. (2003). Classical Mechanics (http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/ugrad/494/
bookr03D.pdf)
Sussman, Gerald Jay & Wisdom, Jack & Mayer, Meinhard E. (2001). Structure and
Interpretation of Classical Mechanics (https://web.archive.org/web/20120920024409/ht
tp://mitpress.mit.edu/SICM/)
Tong, David. Classical Dynamics (http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/tong/dynamics.htm
l) (Cambridge lecture notes on Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalism)
Kinematic Models for Design Digital Library (KMODDL) (http://kmoddl.library.cornell.ed
u/index.php)

Movies and photos of hundreds of working mechanical-systems models at Cornell

University. Also includes an e-book library (http://kmoddl.library.cornell.edu/e-books.p
hp) of classic texts on mechanical design and engineering.
MIT OpenCourseWare 8.01: Classical Mechanics (https://web.archive.org/web/2019032
7102351/https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-01sc-physics-i-classical-mechanics-fall
-2010/) Free videos of actual course lectures with links to lecture notes, assignments
and exams.
Alejandro A. Torassa, On Classical Mechanics (http://torassa.tripod.com/paper.htm)

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