Why Is Action Defined as Energy Minus Potential Energy in Physics?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on understanding why the action is defined as the difference between kinetic energy (T) and potential energy (V), which leads to the recovery of Newton's laws of motion. A user seeks clarification on this concept, indicating a need for guidance. The response highlights that the reasoning behind T-V recovering Newton's laws is straightforward and provides links for further reading, including a detailed explanation on a personal website. The conversation emphasizes the importance of the Lagrangian formulation in classical mechanics. Overall, the thread serves as a resource for those looking to grasp the foundational principles of action in physics.
Andrea2
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Hi! I'm new of this forum and I'm searching a way to understand why the action is E-U, but in this moment i don't know how to do...ther's someone who can help me? Thank you
 
Physics news on Phys.org
It turns out that if you set the Lagrangian to be T-V then you recover Newton's laws of motion.
 
Andrea2 said:
Hi! I'm new of this forum and I'm searching a way to understand why the action is E-U, but in this moment i don't know how to do...ther's someone who can help me? Thank you

The question is of course: why does T-V recover Newton's laws of motion? As it turns out: that question is not hard to answer.

An abbreviated discussion is in post https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=2975435&postcount=10" of the recent thread called 'Lagrangian'.

A more detailed version (more diagrams) is available on my website: http://www.cleonis.nl/physics/phys256/least_action.php" .
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ok, thank you very much!
 
Thread 'Question about pressure of a liquid'
I am looking at pressure in liquids and I am testing my idea. The vertical tube is 100m, the contraption is filled with water. The vertical tube is very thin(maybe 1mm^2 cross section). The area of the base is ~100m^2. Will he top half be launched in the air if suddenly it cracked?- assuming its light enough. I want to test my idea that if I had a thin long ruber tube that I lifted up, then the pressure at "red lines" will be high and that the $force = pressure * area$ would be massive...
I feel it should be solvable we just need to find a perfect pattern, and there will be a general pattern since the forces acting are based on a single function, so..... you can't actually say it is unsolvable right? Cause imaging 3 bodies actually existed somwhere in this universe then nature isn't gonna wait till we predict it! And yea I have checked in many places that tiny changes cause large changes so it becomes chaos........ but still I just can't accept that it is impossible to solve...
Back
Top