MOTION! Physics began 4 centuries ago with the study of motion. An obstacle for students, and for early physicists, is that there are many kinds of motion, which need totally different approaches mathematically, although all are described with the same basic physical laws. Consider:
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Translational motion of objects whose size and orientation are not important (“points”) |
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Collisions |
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Explosions! |
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Rotation of an extended body about a fixed axis. |
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Translation plus rotation of a rigid object (like a rolling wheel) |
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Oscillation or vibration |
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Collective atomic motion (WAVES!) |