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generalized coordinates |
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| Jul3-05, 01:34 PM | #1 |
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generalized coordinates
I have just started to read Goldstein's classical mechanics, and he got me a bit confused: is it correct to think of polar and spherical coordinates as of generalized coordinates? the way I got it, every coordinate system different from the standard cartesian-one is a set of generalized coordinates...?
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| Jul3-05, 01:38 PM | #2 |
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No. Think about the 1D movement along the "x" axis. Which is the generalized coordinate...?
Daniel. |
| Jul3-05, 01:40 PM | #3 |
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Generalized coordinates refer to any coordinate system. i.e. a statement about generalized coordinates holds for cartesian, spherical, cylindrical, etc. coordinate systems. In particular, one is free to choose any convenient coordinate system for a problem and solve the problem using Lagrange's equations for that coordinate system.
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| Jul3-05, 05:14 PM | #4 |
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generalized coordinatesCarl |
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