- #1
teroenza
- 195
- 5
My textbook (Taylor, Classical Mechanics) and professor introduced the concept of [itex]\nabla[/itex][itex]_{1}[/itex]
to mean "the gradient of the function (potential energy) with respect to the position (x[itex]_{1}[/itex],y[itex]_{1}[/itex],z[itex]_{1}[/itex]) of particle 1.
I do not understand this. I am familiar with partial derivatives and gradients with respect to general x,y,and z, but not with respect to a fixed point. I could not find anything from my calculus book to help.
to mean "the gradient of the function (potential energy) with respect to the position (x[itex]_{1}[/itex],y[itex]_{1}[/itex],z[itex]_{1}[/itex]) of particle 1.
I do not understand this. I am familiar with partial derivatives and gradients with respect to general x,y,and z, but not with respect to a fixed point. I could not find anything from my calculus book to help.