Origin and demonstration of Newton's second law

AI Thread Summary
Newton's second law is expressed in two forms: the force equation (eq(1)) and the momentum equation (eq(2)). Historically, eq(2) was the one defined by Newton, although the origins of both equations remain unclear as he did not detail their derivation. The momentum equation allows for the derivation of Einstein's equation E=mc², but Newton likely assumed mass as constant. The discussion also touches on proving eq(2) through the Euler-Lagrange equation and mentions geometric demonstrations used by Newton. The exact experimental basis for these equations is not known.
fab13
Messages
300
Reaction score
7
At high school, we saw without demonstration the fundamental principle of dynamics (2th Newton's law), i.e :

$$\sum \vec{F}=m \vec{a}\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,eq(1)$$

after, at university, we saw another expression of this 2th Newton's law :

$$\sum \vec{F}= \dfrac{d\vec{p}}{dt}\,\,\,\,\, \,\,\,eq(2)$$ with ##\vec{p} = m\vec{v}## the momentum.

From an historical point of view, which one was defined by Newton, eq(1) or (eq2) ?

The eq(2) allows to deduce the famous equation ##E=mc^{2}## by considering ##dp=d(mv)=dm\,v +m\,dv## but I think that Newton could not have access to ##dm## and so defined rather ##m=\text{constant}##, didn't he ?

Does the origin of eq(1) and eq(2) come from physical experiments performed by Newton ?

Secondly, we can proove eq(2) thanks to Euler-Lagrange equation, taking ##p_{i}## the i-th momentum :

$$\dfrac{d}{dt}\bigg(\dfrac{ \partial L}{\partial \dot{q}_{i}}\bigg)=\dfrac{d\,p _{i}}{dt}=\sum F$$

Are there other ways to get the eq(2) ?

Finally, one told me that Newton has used geometric demonstration : Anyone could give me a link on these geometric prooves ?

Thanks for your help
 

Attachments

  • mimetex.gif
    mimetex.gif
    3.3 KB · Views: 637
  • mimetex.gif
    mimetex.gif
    3.3 KB · Views: 648
  • mimetex.gif
    mimetex.gif
    304 bytes · Views: 617
  • mimetex.gif
    mimetex.gif
    3.3 KB · Views: 641
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
fab13 said:
From an historical point of view, which one was defined by Newton, eq(1) or (eq2) ?

The second.

fab13 said:
Does the origin of eq(1) and eq(2) come from physical experiments performed by Newton ?

We will never know. He didn't explain how he derived this equation.
 
Hi there, im studying nanoscience at the university in Basel. Today I looked at the topic of intertial and non-inertial reference frames and the existence of fictitious forces. I understand that you call forces real in physics if they appear in interplay. Meaning that a force is real when there is the "actio" partner to the "reactio" partner. If this condition is not satisfied the force is not real. I also understand that if you specifically look at non-inertial reference frames you can...
I have recently been really interested in the derivation of Hamiltons Principle. On my research I found that with the term ##m \cdot \frac{d}{dt} (\frac{dr}{dt} \cdot \delta r) = 0## (1) one may derivate ##\delta \int (T - V) dt = 0## (2). The derivation itself I understood quiet good, but what I don't understand is where the equation (1) came from, because in my research it was just given and not derived from anywhere. Does anybody know where (1) comes from or why from it the...
Back
Top