What Do You Get When You Integrate Force?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alcubierre
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Force Integrating
AI Thread Summary
Integrating thrust force with respect to time yields linear momentum, as shown by the relationship F = dp/dt. This means that the integral of force over time results in the change in momentum. Conversely, integrating force with respect to distance provides energy, highlighting the importance of the variable of integration. The discussion emphasizes that the context of integration—whether time or distance—determines the resulting physical quantity. Understanding these relationships is crucial for applying concepts in physics effectively.
Alcubierre
Messages
80
Reaction score
0
Hello,

I came across a problem the other day where the person integrated thrust force from 0 to y in respect to y. And that got me thinking: you integrate jerk to get acceleration and integrate acceleration to get velocity, so what do you get when you integrate a force, namely thrust force? Why would you even do such a thing?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Alcubierre said:
Hello,

I came across a problem the other day where the person integrated thrust force from 0 to y in respect to y. And that got me thinking: you integrate jerk to get acceleration and integrate acceleration to get velocity, so what do you get when you integrate a force, namely thrust force? Why would you even do such a thing?

If we differentiate linear momentum with respect to time , we get force right ?

lim Δt→0 Δp/Δt = dp/dt = F
F = dp/dt

So if we integrate Force with respect to time we get :

∫ F dt = ∫(dp/dt) dt
∫ F dt = p

which is linear momentum.

We use it as it has many uses.

You are given Force as a function of time :
F = t + 5t2 + 6t3.
Now how will you obtain linear momentum of that body at t=5 ?
 
Last edited:
Alcubierre said:
Hello,

I came across a problem the other day where the person integrated thrust force from 0 to y in respect to y. And that got me thinking: you integrate jerk to get acceleration and integrate acceleration to get velocity, so what do you get when you integrate a force, namely thrust force? Why would you even do such a thing?

What is y? A distance? In that case, you integrate force over a length, which gives energy.
 
As you'll have seen from the other replies, it's not enough to say "integrate such-and-such". You have to specify the quantity you're integrating with respect to. For the purpose of understanding the nature of the answer, you can treat it like multiplication by that independent variable. If s, t are distance and time variables respectively, F.dt is force * time = momentum, F.ds is force * distance ('.' being the dot product of vectors) = energy, F\timesds is force-cross-product-distance = torque.
 
So I know that electrons are fundamental, there's no 'material' that makes them up, it's like talking about a colour itself rather than a car or a flower. Now protons and neutrons and quarks and whatever other stuff is there fundamentally, I want someone to kind of teach me these, I have a lot of questions that books might not give the answer in the way I understand. Thanks
Back
Top