Particle moving in conservative force field

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JD_PM
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I don't get why ##F \cdot dr = \frac{mv^2}{2}##

I know this has to be really easy but don't see it.

Thanks.
 
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I see what you mean but that is the vector and not the magnitude
 
archaic said:
Could you tell me the book's name?

Sure

Vector Analysis; Schaum's outlines
 
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I think the author intended to use
## F= \frac{m}{2}\frac{d(v^2)}{dr}##.
It comes from the definition of force
##F=m\frac{d^2r}{dt^2}=m\frac{dv}{dt}##
as ##v=\frac{dr}{dt}##.
Applying chain rule when using derivative with respect to r instead of t:
##F=m\frac{d v}{d r} \frac{d r}{d t}=m v \frac{d v}{d r}=\frac{m}{2}\frac{d(v^2)}{dr}## .
 
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