What Do You Get When You Integrate Force?

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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.
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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?
 
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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.
 
I do not have a good working knowledge of physics yet. I tried to piece this together but after researching this, I couldn’t figure out the correct laws of physics to combine to develop a formula to answer this question. Ex. 1 - A moving object impacts a static object at a constant velocity. Ex. 2 - A moving object impacts a static object at the same velocity but is accelerating at the moment of impact. Assuming the mass of the objects is the same and the velocity at the moment of impact...

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