- #1
Bashyboy
- 1,421
- 5
Hello Everyone,
I am currently re-reading Taylor's Classical Mechanics, in particular, section 4 in chapter 1. He is discussing Newton's Laws, and makes the statement:
"A point mass, or particle, is a convenient fiction, an object with mass, but no size, that can move through space but has no internal degrees of freedom."
What are internal degrees of freedom, and how do they compare to "ordinary" degrees of freedom?
I am currently re-reading Taylor's Classical Mechanics, in particular, section 4 in chapter 1. He is discussing Newton's Laws, and makes the statement:
"A point mass, or particle, is a convenient fiction, an object with mass, but no size, that can move through space but has no internal degrees of freedom."
What are internal degrees of freedom, and how do they compare to "ordinary" degrees of freedom?