Mechanics

This article is about an area of scientic study. For other able to solve problems which are unmanageable dicult
uses, see Mechanic (disambiguation). in quantum mechanics and hence remains useful and well
used. Modern descriptions of such behavior begin with
Mechanics (Greek ) is an area of science con- a careful denition of such quantities as displacement
(distance moved), time, velocity, acceleration, mass, and
cerned with the behaviour of physical bodies when sub-
jected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent ef- force. Until about 400 years ago, however, motion was
explained from a very dierent point of view. For ex-
fects of the bodies on their environment. The scientic
discipline has its origins in Ancient Greece with the writ- ample, following the ideas of Greek philosopher and sci-
ings of Aristotle and Archimedes[1][2][3] (see History of entist Aristotle, scientists reasoned that a cannonball falls
classical mechanics and Timeline of classical mechan- down because its natural position is in the Earth; the sun,
ics). During the early modern period, scientists such as the moon, and the stars travel in circles around the earth
Khayaam, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton, laid the foun- because it is the nature of heavenly objects to travel in
dation for what is now known as classical mechanics. It perfect circles.
is a branch of classical physics that deals with particles Often cited as the father of modern science, Galileo
that are either at rest or are moving with velocities signif- brought together the ideas of other great thinkers of his
icantly less than the speed of light. It can also be dened time and began to analyze motion in terms of distance
as a branch of science which deals with the motion of and traveled from some starting position and the time that
forces on objects. it took. He showed that the speed of falling objects in-
creases steadily during the time of their fall. This accel-
eration is the same for heavy objects as for light ones,
provided air friction (air resistance) is discounted. The
1 Classical versus quantum me- English mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton im-
chanics proved this analysis by dening force and mass and relat-
ing these to acceleration. For objects traveling at speeds
close to the speed of light, Newtons laws were super-
Historically, classical mechanics came rst, while seded by Albert Einsteins theory of relativity. For atomic
quantum mechanics is a comparatively recent invention. and subatomic particles, Newtons laws were superseded
Classical mechanics originated with Isaac Newton's laws by quantum theory. For everyday phenomena, however,
of motion in Philosophi Naturalis Principia Mathemat- Newtons three laws of motion remain the cornerstone of
ica; Quantum Mechanics was discovered in the early 20th dynamics, which is the study of what causes motion.
century. Both are commonly held to constitute the most
certain knowledge that exists about physical nature. Clas-
sical mechanics has especially often been viewed as a
model for other so-called exact sciences. Essential in this
respect is the relentless use of mathematics in theories, as 2 Relativistic versus Newtonian
well as the decisive role played by experiment in generat-
ing and testing them. mechanics
Quantum mechanics is of a bigger scope, as it encom-
passes classical mechanics as a sub-discipline which ap- In analogy to the distinction between quantum and clas-
plies under certain restricted circumstances. According sical mechanics, Einstein's general and special theories
to the correspondence principle, there is no contradiction of relativity have expanded the scope of Newton and
or conict between the two subjects, each simply per- Galileo's formulation of mechanics. The dierences be-
tains to specic situations. The correspondence principle tween relativistic and Newtonian mechanics become sig-
states that the behavior of systems described by quantum nicant and even dominant as the velocity of a mas-
theories reproduces classical physics in the limit of large sive body approaches the speed of light. For instance,
quantum numbers. Quantum mechanics has superseded in Newtonian mechanics, Newtons laws of motion spec-
classical mechanics at the foundation level and is indis- ify that F = ma, whereas in Relativistic mechanics and
pensable for the explanation and prediction of processes Lorentz transformations, which were rst discovered by
at the molecular, atomic, and sub-atomic level. How- Hendrik Lorentz, F = ma (where is the Lorentz factor,
ever, for macroscopic processes classical mechanics is which is almost equal to 1 for low speeds).

1
2 4 HISTORY

3 General relativistic versus quan-

tum
Relativistic corrections are also needed for quantum me-
chanics, although general relativity has not been inte-
grated. The two theories remain incompatible, a hurdle
which must be overcome in developing a theory of every-
thing.

4 History
Main articles: History of classical mechanics and History
of quantum mechanics

4.1 Antiquity

Main article: Aristotelian mechanics

The main theory of mechanics in antiquity was

Aristotelian mechanics.[4] A later developer in this tra-
dition is Hipparchus.[5] Arabic Machine Manuscript. Unknown date (at a guess: 16th to
19th centuries).

4.2 Medieval age account of mechanics, using the newly developed mathe-
matics of calculus and providing the basis of Newtonian
Main article: Theory of impetus
mechanics.[5]
In the Middle Ages, Aristotles theories were criticized
and modied by a number of gures, beginning with John There is some dispute over priority of various ideas:
Philoponus in the 6th century. A central problem was Newtons Principia is certainly the seminal work and has
that of projectile motion, which was discussed by Hip- been tremendously inuential, and the systematic math-
parchus and Philoponus. This led to the development ematics therein did not and could not have been stated
of the theory of impetus by 14th-century French priest earlier because calculus had not been developed. How-
Jean Buridan, which developed into the modern theories ever, many of the ideas, particularly as pertain to iner-
of inertia, velocity, acceleration and momentum. This tia (impetus) and falling bodies had been developed and
work and others was developed in 14th-century England stated by earlier researchers, both the then-recent Galileo
by the Oxford Calculators such as Thomas Bradwardine, and the less-known medieval predecessors. Precise credit
who studied and formulated various laws regarding falling is at times dicult or contentious because scientic lan-
bodies. guage and standards of proof changed, so whether me-
dieval statements are equivalent to modern statements or
On the question of a body subject to a constant (uniform)
sucient proof, or instead similar to modern statements
force, the 12th-century Jewish-Arab Nathanel (Iraqi, of
and hypotheses is often debatable.
Baghdad) stated that constant force imparts constant ac-
celeration, while the main properties are uniformly accel-
erated motion (as of falling bodies) was worked out by the
14th-century Oxford Calculators. 4.4 Modern age

Two main modern developments in mechanics are

4.3 Early modern age general relativity of Einstein, and quantum mechanics,
both developed in the 20th century based in part on ear-
Two central gures in the early modern age are Galileo lier 19th-century ideas. The development in the modern
Galilei and Isaac Newton. Galileos nal statement of his continuum mechanics, particularly in the areas of elastic-
mechanics, particularly of falling bodies, is his Two New ity, plasticity, uid dynamics, electrodynamics and ther-
Sciences (1638). Newtons 1687 Philosophi Naturalis modynamics of deformable media, started in the second
Principia Mathematica provided a detailed mathematical half of the 20th century.
6.2 Quantum mechanics 3

5 Types of mechanical bodies Lagrangian mechanics, another theoretical

formalism, based on the principle of the least
The often-used term body needs to stand for a wide action.
assortment of objects, including particles, projectiles, Classical statistical mechanics generalizes ordinary
spacecraft, stars, parts of machinery, parts of solids, parts classical mechanics to consider systems in an un-
of uids (gases and liquids), etc. known state; often used to derive thermodynamic
Other distinctions between the various sub-disciplines of properties.
mechanics, concern the nature of the bodies being de-
scribed. Particles are bodies with little (known) inter- Celestial mechanics, the motion of bodies in space:
nal structure, treated as mathematical points in classical planets, comets, stars, galaxies, etc.
mechanics. Rigid bodies have size and shape, but retain Astrodynamics, spacecraft navigation, etc.
a simplicity close to that of the particle, adding just a
few so-called degrees of freedom, such as orientation in Solid mechanics, elasticity, the properties of de-
space. formable bodies.
Otherwise, bodies may be semi-rigid, i.e. elastic, or non- Fracture mechanics
rigid, i.e. uid. These subjects have both classical and
quantum divisions of study. Acoustics, sound ( = density variation propagation)
For instance, the motion of a spacecraft, regarding its in solids, uids and gases.
orbit and attitude (rotation), is described by the relativis- Statics, semi-rigid bodies in mechanical equilibrium
tic theory of classical mechanics, while the analogous
movements of an atomic nucleus are described by quan- Fluid mechanics, the motion of uids
tum mechanics.
Soil mechanics, mechanical behavior of soils

Continuum mechanics, mechanics of continua (both

6 Sub-disciplines in mechanics solid and uid)

Hydraulics, mechanical properties of liquids

The following are two lists of various subjects that are
studied in mechanics. Fluid statics, liquids in equilibrium
Note that there is also the "theory of elds" which con-
Applied mechanics, or Engineering mechanics
stitutes a separate discipline in physics, formally treated
as distinct from mechanics, whether classical elds or Biomechanics, solids, uids, etc. in biology
quantum elds. But in actual practice, subjects belonging
to mechanics and elds are closely interwoven. Thus, for Biophysics, physical processes in living organisms
instance, forces that act on particles are frequently de-
rived from elds (electromagnetic or gravitational), and Relativistic or Einsteinian mechanics, universal
particles generate elds by acting as sources. In fact, in gravitation.
quantum mechanics, particles themselves are elds, as de-
scribed theoretically by the wave function.
6.2 Quantum mechanics
The following are categorized as being part of quantum
6.1 Classical mechanics
mechanics:
The following are described as forming classical mechan-
ics: Schrdinger wave mechanics, used to describe the
movements of the wavefunction of a single particle.
Newtonian mechanics, the original theory of motion Matrix mechanics is an alternative formulation that
(kinematics) and forces (dynamics). allows considering systems with a nite-dimensional
state space.
Analytical mechanics is a reformulation of Newto-
nian mechanics with an emphasis on system energy, Quantum statistical mechanics generalizes ordinary
rather than on forces. There are two main branches quantum mechanics to consider systems in an un-
of analytical mechanics: known state; often used to derive thermodynamic
properties.
Hamiltonian mechanics, a theoretical
formalism, based on the principle of conser- Particle physics, the motion, structure, and reactions
vation of energy. of particles
4 11 EXTERNAL LINKS

Nuclear physics, the motion, structure, and reactions [5] "A Tiny Taste of the History of Mechanics". The Univer-
of nuclei sity of Texas at Austin.

Condensed matter physics, quantum gases, solids, [6] Walter Lewin (October 4, 1999). Work, Energy, and Uni-
liquids, etc. versal Gravitation. MIT Course 8.01: Classical Mechanics,
Lecture 11. (ogg) (videotape). Cambridge, MA US: MIT
OCW. Event occurs at 1:21-10:10. Retrieved December
23, 2010.
7 Professional organizations
Applied Mechanics Division, American Society of 10 Further reading
Mechanical Engineers

Fluid Dynamics Division, American Physical Soci- Robert Stawell Ball (1871) Experimental Mechanics
ety from Google books.

Society for Experimental Mechanics Landau, L. D.; Lifshitz, E. M. (1972). Mechanics

and Electrodynamics, Vol. 1. Franklin Book Com-
Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the United pany, Inc. ISBN 0-08-016739-X.
Kingdoms qualifying body for Mechanical Engi-
neers and has been the home of Mechanical Engi-
neers for over 150 years. 11 External links
International Union of Theoretical and Applied Me-
chanics iMechanica: the web of mechanics and mechani-
cians
Mechanics Denition
8 See also
Mechanics Blog by a Purdue University Professor
Applied mechanics The Mechanics program at Virginia Tech
Dynamics Physclips: Mechanics with animations and video
clips from the University of New South Wales
Engineering
U.S. National Committee on Theoretical and Ap-
Index of engineering science and mechanics articles
plied Mechanics
Kinematics
Interactive learning resources for teaching Mechan-
Kinetics ics

Non-autonomous mechanics The Archimedes Project

Statics Engineering Fundamental Solid & Fluid Mechanics

Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude (WTMA)

9 References
[1] Dugas, Rene. A History of Classical Mechanics. New
York, NY: Dover Publications Inc, 1988, pg 19.

[2] Rana, N.C., and Joag, P.S. Classical Mechanics. West

Petal Nagar, New Delhi. Tata McGraw-Hill, 1991, pg 6.

[3] Renn, J., Damerow, P., and McLaughlin, P. Aristotle,

Archimedes, Euclid, and the Origin of Mechanics: The
Perspective of Historical Epistemology. Berlin: Max
Planck Institute for the History of Science, 2010, pg 1-
2.

[4] "A history of mechanics". Ren Dugas (1988). p.19.

ISBN 0-486-65632-2
 5

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