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7 votes
2 answers
5k views

Centrifugal Force and Polar Coordinates

In Classical Mechanics, both Goldstein and Taylor (authors of different books with the same title) talk about the centrifugal force term when solving the Euler-Lagrange equation for the two body ...
user1604449's user avatar
8 votes
9 answers
2k views

Different coordinate system as opposed to different reference frame

I'm having a hard time getting the difference between the two. In Euler's equations of rotating bodies for example, we have: $$ \mathbf{\dot{L}}+\mathbf{\omega} \times \mathbf{L} = \mathbf{\Gamma},$$ ...
Darkenin's user avatar
  • 1,038
8 votes
3 answers
741 views

In a general physical sense, is the position of a particle really a vector?

Is it consistent to define the position of a particle in some frame as a vector or is just an informal representation? Velocity and acceleration can be added up and multiplied by real numbers and ...
Генивалдо's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
675 views

Understanding the definition of tangent basis

This question could sound silly but I though a lot about it and I'm not new to physics. Let's say I have a plane on which I use polar coordinates, it means a point $P$ can be indicated by its ...
SimoBartz's user avatar
  • 1,904
0 votes
1 answer
70 views

Doubt in fictitious forces chapter in Morin

The question is this - I know 2 is what the non-inertial frame measures, but isn't $\frac{d\mathbf{A}}{dt}$ the real thing, the physical thing? And you can write that too in terms of the unit vectors ...
Neeladri Reddy's user avatar