Ebook Newtonian Dynamics An Introduction 1St Edition Richard Fitzpatrick Online PDF All Chapter

Newtonian Dynamics An Introduction
1st Edition Richard Fitzpatrick

Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmeta.com/product/newtonian-dynamics-an-introduction-1st-edition-richar
d-fitzpatrick/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...
Plasma Physics 2nd Edition Richard. Fitzpatrick
https://ebookmeta.com/product/plasma-physics-2nd-edition-richard-
fitzpatrick/
Critical Dementia Studies An Introduction 1st Edition

Richard Ward
https://ebookmeta.com/product/critical-dementia-studies-an-
introduction-1st-edition-richard-ward/
Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science

Richard Saferstein
https://ebookmeta.com/product/criminalistics-an-introduction-to-
forensic-science-richard-saferstein/
Nonlinear Dynamics and Quantum Chaos An Introduction

2nd Edition Sandro Wimberger
https://ebookmeta.com/product/nonlinear-dynamics-and-quantum-
chaos-an-introduction-2nd-edition-sandro-wimberger/
My Pulse Is an Earthquake 1st Edition Kristin
Fitzpatrick
https://ebookmeta.com/product/my-pulse-is-an-earthquake-1st-
edition-kristin-fitzpatrick/
An Introduction to Economic Dynamics: Modelling,

Analysis and Simulation 1st Edition Srinivas
Raghavendra
https://ebookmeta.com/product/an-introduction-to-economic-
dynamics-modelling-analysis-and-simulation-1st-edition-srinivas-
raghavendra/
An Introduction to Conservation Biology 3rd Edition

Richard B. Primack
https://ebookmeta.com/product/an-introduction-to-conservation-
biology-3rd-edition-richard-b-primack/
An Introduction to Advanced Fluid Dynamics and Fluvial

Processes 1st Edition B. S. Mazumder
https://ebookmeta.com/product/an-introduction-to-advanced-fluid-
dynamics-and-fluvial-processes-1st-edition-b-s-mazumder/
Tomorrow's Lawyers: An Introduction to your Future

(Third Edition) Richard Susskind
https://ebookmeta.com/product/tomorrows-lawyers-an-introduction-
to-your-future-third-edition-richard-susskind/
Newtonian Dynamics
Newtonian Dynamics
An Introduction
Richard Fitzpatrick
First edition published 2022
by CRC Press
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
and by CRC Press

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
© 2022 Richard Fitzpatrick
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot as-
sume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have
attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders
if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please
write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or
utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including pho-
tocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission
from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, access www.copyright.com or contact the
Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. For works that are
not available on CCC please contact mpkbookspermissions@tandf.co.uk
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are used only for iden-
tification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Fitzpatrick, Richard, 1963- author.

Title: Newtonian dynamics : an introduction / Richard Fitzpatrick.
Description: First edition. | Boca Raton : CRC Press, 2022. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021031651 | ISBN 9781032046624 (hardback) | ISBN
9781032056661 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003198642 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Dynamics--Textbooks.
Classification: LCC QA845 .F58 2022 | DDC 531/.11--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021031651
ISBN: 978-1-032-04662-4 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-032-05666-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-19864-2 (ebk)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003198642
Publisher’s note: This book has been prepared from camera-ready copy provided by the authors.
Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Chapter 1 Measurement and Units 1

1.1 MKS UNITS 1
1.2 STANDARD PREFIXES 2
1.3 OTHER UNITS 2
1.4 DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS 3
1.5 EXPERIMENTAL ERRORS 5
1.6 EXERCISES 8
Chapter 2 Motion in One Dimension 9

2.1 INTRODUCTION 9
2.2 DISPLACEMENT 9
2.3 VELOCITY 10
2.4 ACCELERATION 11
2.5 MOTION WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY 12
2.6 MOTION WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION 14
2.7 USEFUL RESULTS 16
2.8 FREE-FALL UNDER GRAVITY 17
2.9 EXERCISES 18
Chapter 3 Motion in Three Dimensions 21

3.1 INTRODUCTION 21
3.2 VECTOR MATHEMATICS 21
3.2.1 Scalars and Vectors 21
3.2.2 Vector Algebra 22
3.2.3 Cartesian Components of a Vector 23
3.2.4 Coordinate Transformations 24
3.2.5 Scalar Product 26
3.2.6 Vector Product 27
3.3 VECTOR DISPLACEMENT, VELOCITY, AND ACCELERATION 29
3.4 MOTION WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY 30
v
vi Contents
3.5 MOTION WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION 31

3.6 PROJECTILE MOTION 31
3.7 RELATIVE VELOCITY 33
3.8 EXERCISES 35
Chapter 4 Newton’s Laws of Motion 39

4.1 INTRODUCTION 39
4.2 NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF MOTION 39
4.3 NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION 40
4.4 MEASUREMENT OF FORCE 40
4.5 NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF MOTION 42
4.6 MASS, WEIGHT, AND REACTION 42
4.6.1 Block Resting on Earth’s Surface 43
4.6.2 Block in an Elevator 44
4.7 SUSPENDED MASSES 45
4.7.1 Block Suspended by a Single Cable 45
4.7.2 Block Suspended by Three Cables 46
4.7.3 Two Blocks Suspended by Five Cables 47
4.7.4 Many Blocks Suspended by Many Cables 48
4.7.5 Catenary 49
4.7.6 Suspension Bridge 52
4.8 CABLE-PULLEY SYSTEMS 54
4.8.1 Simple Pulley 54
4.8.2 Compound Pulley 55
4.8.3 Table Pulley 56
4.8.4 Atwood Machine 57
4.9 VELOCITY-DEPENDENT FORCES 57
4.10 FRICTION 60
4.11 INCLINED PLANES 61
4.11.1 Smooth Planes 61
4.11.2 Rough Planes 62
4.12 FRAMES OF REFERENCE 63
4.13 EXERCISES 65
Chapter 5 Conservation of Energy 69

5.1 INTRODUCTION 69
5.2 ENERGY CONSERVATION DURING FREE-FALL 69
5.3 WORK 71
5.4 CONSERVATIVE AND NON-CONSERVATIVE FORCE-FIELDS 76
5.5 POTENTIAL ENERGY 78
5.6 HOOKE’S LAW 80
Contents vii
5.7 MOTION IN A GENERAL ONE-DIMENSIONAL POTENTIAL 81

5.8 POWER 83
5.9 EXERCISES 84
Chapter 6 Conservation of Momentum 87

6.1 INTRODUCTION 87
6.2 TWO-COMPONENT SYSTEMS 87
6.2.1 Hot-Air Balloon 89
6.2.2 Cannon and Cannonball 90
6.3 MULTI-COMPONENT SYSTEMS 91
6.3.1 Explosion of Krypton 93
6.4 ROCKET SCIENCE 93
6.5 IMPULSES 95
6.6 BOUNCING BALL 97
6.7 ONE-DIMENSIONAL COLLISIONS 99
6.7.1 Elastic Collisions 102
6.7.2 Totally Inelastic Collisions 103
6.7.3 Inelastic Collisions 103
6.8 TWO-DIMENSIONAL COLLISIONS 104
6.9 EXERCISES 111
Chapter 7 Circular Motion 115

7.1 INTRODUCTION 115
7.2 UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION 115
7.3 CENTRIPETAL ACCELERATION 117
7.4 ROTATING WEIGHT ON THE END OF A CABLE 118
7.5 BANKED CURVE 119
7.6 CONICAL PENDULUM 120
7.7 NON-UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION 121
7.8 VERTICAL PENDULUM 125
7.9 MOTION ON CURVED SURFACES 127
7.9.1 Fairground Ride 128
7.9.2 Skier on a Hemispherical Mountain 129
7.10 EXERCISES 129
Chapter 8 Rotational Motion 133

8.2 RIGID BODY ROTATION 133
8.3 IS ROTATION A VECTOR? 135
8.4 CENTER OF MASS 137
8.4.1 Centroid of Regular Pyramid 138
viii Contents
8.5 MOMENT OF INERTIA 139

8.5.1 Perpendicular Axis Theorem 141
8.5.2 Parallel Axis Theorem 142
8.5.3 Moment of Inertia of a Circular Disk 143
8.5.4 Standard Moments of Inertia 143
8.6 TORQUE 144
8.7 POWER AND WORK 147
8.8 TRANSLATIONAL MOTION VERSUS ROTATIONAL MOTION 148
8.9 UNWINDING PULLEY 149
8.10 PHYSICS OF BASEBALL BATS 150
8.11 COMBINED TRANSLATIONAL AND ROTATIONAL MOTION 153
8.11.1 Cylinder Rolling Down a Rough Incline 154
8.12 EXERCISES 157
Chapter 9 Angular Momentum 161

9.2 ANGULAR MOMENTUM OF A POINT PARTICLE 161
9.3 ANGULAR MOMENTUM OF AN EXTENDED OBJECT 162
9.4 ANGULAR MOMENTUM OF A MULTI-COMPONENT SYSTEM 164
9.5 CONSERVATION OF ANGULAR MOMENTUM 167
9.5.1 Two Movable Weights on a Rotating Rod 167
9.5.2 Figure Skater 168
9.5.3 Bullet Striking a Pivoted Rod 168
9.6 SPINNING TOP 169
9.7 EXERCISES 171
Chapter 10 Statics 173

10.2 PRINCIPLES OF STATICS 173
10.3 EQUILIBRIUM OF A LAMINAR OBJECT 175
10.4 RODS AND CABLES 177
10.4.1 Horizontal Rod Suspended from Two Cables 177
10.4.2 Pivoting Horizontal Rod Supported by a Cable 178
10.5 LADDERS AND WALLS 180
10.6 JOINTED RODS 181
10.7 TIPPING OR SLIDING? 182
10.8 EXERCISES 184
Chapter 11 Oscillatory Motion 189

11.2 SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION 189
Contents ix
11.3 TORSION PENDULUM 192

11.4 SIMPLE PENDULUM 193
11.5 COMPOUND PENDULUM 195
11.6 EXERCISES 196
Chapter 12 Rotating Reference Frames 199

12.2 ROTATING REFERENCE FRAMES 199
12.3 CENTRIFUGAL ACCELERATION 200
12.4 CORIOLIS FORCE 203
12.5 FOUCAULT PENDULUM 204
12.6 EXERCISES 207
Chapter 13 Newtonian Gravity 209

13.2 UNIVERSAL GRAVITY 209
13.2.1 Surface Gravity 210
13.3 GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL ENERGY 210
13.3.1 Escape Velocity 211
13.4 CIRCULAR ORBITS 212
13.4.1 Lunar Orbital Period 212
13.4.2 Geostationary Satellites 213
13.5 EXERCISES 214
Chapter 14 Orbital Motion 217

14.2 KEPLER’S LAWS 217
14.3 PLANETARY EQUATIONS OF MOTION 217
14.4 CONIC SECTIONS 219
14.5 KEPLER’S SECOND LAW 222
14.6 KEPLER’S FIRST LAW 223
14.7 KEPLER’S THIRD LAW 224
14.8 ORBITAL PARAMETERS 225
14.9 ORBITAL ENERGIES 225
14.10 TRANSFER ORBITS 226
14.11 LOW-ECCENTRICITY ORBITS 227
14.12 TWO-BODY DYNAMICS 228
14.12.1 Binary Star Systems 229
14.13 EXERCISES 231
x Contents
Chapter 15 Gravitational Potential Theory 235

15.2 GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL 235
15.3 AXIALLY-SYMMETRIC MASS DISTRIBUTIONS 236
15.4 GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL DUE TO A UNIFORM SPHERE 238
15.5 GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL OUTSIDE A UNIFORM SPHEROID 239
15.6 ROTATIONAL FLATTENING 241
15.6.1 Rotational Flattening of Earth 243
15.7 TIDAL ELONGATION 243
15.7.1 Tidal Elongation of Earth Due to Moon 247
15.7.2 Tidal Elongation of Earth Due to Sun 247
15.7.3 Ocean Tides 248
15.8 LUNI-SOLAR PRECESSION 248
15.9 EXERCISES 254
Appendix A Useful Mathematics 257

A.1 CALCULUS 257
A.2 SERIES EXPANSIONS 258
A.3 TRIGONOMETRIC IDENTITIES 259
A.4 HYPERBOLIC IDENTITIES 260
A.5 COMPLEX IDENTITIES 261
A.6 VECTOR IDENTITIES 261
Bibliography 263
Index 265
Preface
The aim of this book is to give a concise, comprehensive, college-level introduction to the
branch of physics known as Newtonian dynamics. The book assumes a high-school-level
knowledge of physics, as well as a familiarity with geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and
calculus.
Newtonian dynamics is the study of the motion of bodies (including the special case in
which bodies remain at rest) in accordance with the general principles first enunciated by Sir
Isaac Newton in his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687), commonly known
as the Principia. Newtonian dynamics was the first branch of physics to be discovered, and
is the foundation upon which all other branches of physics are built. Moreover, Newtonian
dynamics has many important applications in other areas of science, such as astronomy (e.g.,
celestial mechanics), chemistry (e.g., the dynamics of molecular collisions), geology (e.g., the
propagation of seismic waves, generated by earthquakes, through the Earth’s crust), and
engineering (e.g., the equilibrium and stability of structures). Newtonian dynamics is also of
great significance outside the realm of science. After all, the sequence of events leading to the
discovery of Newtonian dynamics—starting with the ground-breaking work of Copernicus,
continuing with the research by Galileo, Kepler, and Descartes, and culminating in the
monumental achievements of Newton—involved the complete overthrow of the Aristotelian
picture of the universe, which had previously prevailed for more than a millennium, and
its replacement by a recognizably modern picture in which the Earth and humankind no
longer play a privileged role.
The central message of the Principia is that the same laws of motion that govern the
movements of everyday objects on the surface of the Earth also govern the movements of
celestial bodies. Hence, the first eleven chapters of this book are devoted to the application of
Newton’s laws of motion to the dynamics of everyday objects, whereas the final four chapters
employ the same laws to analyze the dynamics of celestial bodies. In particular, the final
section of the book covers the following important topics: the orbits of artificial satellites
around the Earth; the orbits of the planets around the Sun; the rotational flattening of the
Earth; lunar and solar tides; and the precession of the equinoxes.
This book starts off at a mathematical level that is suitable for beginning undergrad-
uates. The level of the mathematics gradually increases, as the book proceeds, until it
(almost) reaches that of a typical upper-division physics course. Hence, this book consti-
tutes an ideal vehicle for easing the difficult transition between elementary and advanced
undergraduate physics courses.
A large number of exercises are included at the end of each chapter. Some of these exer-
cises involve simple numerical calculations, while others require more extensive mathemati-
cal analysis. All of the exercises are accompanied by their final answers (when appropriate).
The aim of the exercises is to allow the student to accurately gauge their understanding of
the material presented in the book.
xi
Acknowledgments
The material presented in Section 3.2 of this book is reproduced from Sections 2.2, 2.4, and
2.5 of Fitzpatrick 2008. (courtesy of Jones & Bartlett).
The material presented in Section 5.7 of this book is reproduced from Section 1.7 of
Fitzpatrick 2012. The material presented in Sections 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, and 15.5 of this book is
reproduced from Chapter 2 of Fitzpatrick 2012. Most of the material presented in Chapter 14
of this book is reproduced from Chapter 3 of Fitzpatrick 2012. The material presented in
Sections 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 15.6, and 15.7 of this book is reproduced from Chapter 5 of
Fitzpatrick 2012. Finally, most of the material presented in Section 15.8 of this book is
reproduced from Section 7.10 of Fitzpatrick 2012 (courtesy of Cambridge University Press).
The material presented in Sections 11.2, 11.4, and 11.5 of this book is reproduced from
Chapter 1 of Fitzpatrick 2019 (courtesy of Taylor & Francis).
xiii
CHAPTER 1
Measurement and Units
1.1 MKS UNITS

The first principle of any exact physical science is measurement. In Newtonian dynamics,
there are three fundamental quantities that are subject to measurement:
1. Intervals in space; that is, length.
2. Quantities of inertia, or mass, possessed by various bodies.
3. Intervals in time.
Any other type of measurement in Newtonian dynamics can (effectively) be reduced to some
combination of measurements of these three quantities.
Each of the three fundamental quantities—length, mass, and time—is measured with
respect to some convenient standard. The system of units currently used by most scientists
and engineers is called the mks system—after the first initials of the names of the units of
length, mass, and time, respectively, in this system. That is, the meter, the kilogram, and
the second.
The mks unit of length is the meter (symbol: m). The meter was formerly the distance
between two scratches on a platinum-iridium alloy bar kept at the International Bureau of
Weights and Measures in Sèvres, France, but is now defined as the distance travelled by
light in vacuum in 1/299 792 458 seconds (Wikipedia contributors 2021).
The mks unit of mass is the kilogram (symbol: kg). The kilogram was formally de-
fined as the mass of a platinum-iridium alloy cylinder kept at the International Bureau
of Weights and Measures in Sèvres, France, but is now defined in such a manner as to
make Planck’s constant take the value 6.626 070 15 × 10−34 when expressed in mks units
(Wikipedia contributors 2021).
The mks unit of time is the second (symbol: s). The second was formerly defined in
terms of the Earth’s rotation, but is now defined as the time required for 9 192 631 770
complete oscillations associated with the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the
ground state of the isotope Cesium 133 (Wikipedia contributors 2021).
In addition to the three fundamental quantities, Newtonian dynamics also deals with
derived quantities, such as velocity, acceleration, momentum, angular momentum, etcetera.
Each of these derived quantities can be reduced to some particular combination of length,
mass, and time. The mks units of these derived quantities are, therefore, the corresponding
combinations of the mks units of length, mass, and time. For instance, a velocity can be
reduced to a length divided by a time. Hence, the mks units of velocity are meters per
second:
[L]
[v] = = m s−1 . (1.1)
[T ]
DOI: 10.1201/9781003198642-1 1
2 Measurement and Units
Here, v stands for a velocity, L for a length, and T for a time, whereas the operator [· · · ]
represents the units, or dimensions, of the quantity contained within the brackets. Momen-
tum can be reduced to a mass times a velocity. Hence, the mks units of momentum are
kilogram-meters per second:
[M ][L]
[p] = [M ][v] = = kg m s−1 . (1.2)
[T ]
Here, p stands for a momentum, and M for a mass. In this manner, the mks units of all
derived quantities appearing in Newtonian dynamics can easily be obtained.
Some combinations of meters, kilograms, and seconds occur so often in physics that they
have been given special nicknames. Such combinations include the newton, which is the mks
unit of force, and the joule, which is the mks unit of energy. These so-called derived units
are listed in Table 1.1.
1.2 STANDARD PREFIXES

MKS units are specifically designed to conveniently describe those motions that occur in
everyday life. Unfortunately, mks units tend to become rather unwieldy when dealing with
motions on very small scales (e.g., the motions of molecules) or on very large scales (e.g.,
the motions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy). In order to help cope with this problem, a
set of standard prefixes has been devised that allow the mks units of length, mass, and time
to be modified so as to deal more easily with very small and very large quantities. These
prefixes are specified in Table 1.2. Thus, a kilometer (km) represents 10 3 m, a nanometer
(nm) represents 10−9 m, and a femtosecond (fs) represents 10−15 s. The standard prefixes
can also be used to modify the units of derived quantities.
1.3 OTHER UNITS

The mks system is not the only system of units in existence. Unfortunately, the obsolete
cgs (centimeter-gram-second) system, and the even more obsolete fps (foot-pound-second)
system, are still in use today, although their continued employment is now strongly dis-
couraged in science and engineering. Conversion between different systems of units is, in
principle, perfectly straightforward, but, in practice, a frequent source of error. Witness,
for example, the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter in 1999 because the Lockheed Martin
engineers who designed and built its rocket engine used fps units whereas the NASA mission
controllers employed mks units. Table 1.3 specifies the various conversion factors between
mks, cgs, and fps units. Note that a pound is a unit of force, rather than mass. Additional
non-standard units of length include the inch (1 ft = 12 in), the yard (1 ya = 3 ft), and
the mile (1 mi = 5 280 ft). Additional non-standard units of mass include the ton (in the
US, 1 ton = 2 000 lb; in the UK, 1 ton = 2 240 lb), and the metric ton (1 tonne = 1 000 kg).
Table 1.1 Derived Units

Physical Quantity Derived Unit Abbreviation MKS Equivalent
Force newton N m kg s−2
−2
Energy joule J m2 kg s
−3
Power watt W m2 kg s
−2
Pressure pascal Pa m−1 kg s
Dimensional Analysis 3
Table 1.2 Standard Prefixes

Factor Prefix Symbol Factor Prefix Symbol
18 −1
10 exa- E 10 deci- d
1015 peta- P 10−2 centi- c
1012 tera- T 10−3 milli- m
109 giga- G 10−6 micro- µ
106 mega- M 10−9 nano- n
103 kilo- k 10−12 pico- p
102 hecto- h 10−15 femto- f
101 deka- da 10−18 atto- a
Finally, additional non-standard units of time include the minute (1 min = 60 s), the hour
(1 hr = 60 min), the (solar) day (1 da = 24 hr), and the (Julian) year (1 yr = 365.25 da).
1.4 DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

As we have already seen, length, mass, and time are three fundamentally different entities
that are measured in terms of three completely independent units. It, therefore, makes no
sense for a prospective law of physics to express an equality between (say) a length and a
mass. In other words, the example law,
m = l, (1.3)
where m is a mass and l is a length, cannot possibly be correct. One easy way of seeing
that Equation (1.3) is invalid (as a law of physics) is to note that this equation is dependent
on the adopted system of units. That is, if m = l in mks units then m 6= l in fps units,
because the conversion factors which must be applied to the left- and right-hand sides of
the equation differ. Physicists hold very strongly to the maxim that the laws of physics
possess objective reality. In other words, the laws of physics are equivalent for all observers.
One immediate consequence of this maxim is that a law of physics must take the same form
in all possible systems of units that a prospective observer might choose to employ. The
only way in which this can be the case is if all laws of physics are dimensionally consistent.
In other words, the quantities on the left- and right-hand sides of the equality sign in any
given law of physics must have the same dimensions (i.e., the same combinations of length,
mass, and time). A dimensionally consistent equation naturally takes the same form in all
Table 1.3 Conversion Factors

Between the mks, cgs, and fps
systems of Units. Here, g, ft,
and lb are the Abbreviations
for gram, foot, and pound,
respectively.
1 cm = 10−2 m
1g = 10−3 kg
1 ft = 0.3048 m
1 lb = 4.448 kg m s−2
1 slug = 14.59 kg
possible systems of units, because the same conversion factors are applied to both sides of
the equation when transforming from one system to another.
As an example, let us consider what is probably the most famous equation in physics:
that is, Einstein’s mass-energy relation,
E = m c 2. (1.4)
Here, E is the energy of a body, m is its mass, and c is the velocity of light in vacuum.
The dimensions of energy are [M ][L2 ]/[T 2 ], and the dimensions of velocity are [L]/[T ].
Hence, the dimensions of the left-hand side are [M ][L2 ]/[T 2 ], whereas the dimensions of the
right-hand side are [M ] ([L]/[T ])2 = [M ][L2 ]/[T 2 ]. It follows that Equation (1.4) is indeed
dimensionally consistent. Thus, E = m c 2 holds good in mks units, in cgs units, in fps
units, and in any other sensible set of units. Had Einstein proposed E = m c, or E = m c 3
then his error would have been immediately apparent to other physicists, because these
prospective laws are not dimensionally consistent. In fact, E = m c 2 represents the only
simple, dimensionally consistent way of combining an energy, a mass, and the velocity of
light in a law of physics.
The last comment leads naturally to the subject of dimensional analysis. That is, the
use of the idea of dimensional consistency to guess the forms of simple laws of physics. It
should be noted that dimensional analysis is of fairly limited applicability, and is a poor
substitute for analysis employing the actual laws of physics. Nevertheless, it is occasionally
useful.
For instance, suppose that a special effects studio wants to film a scene in which the
Leaning Tower of Pisa topples to the ground. In order to achieve this goal, the studio might
make a scale model of the tower, which is (say) 1 m tall, and then film the model falling over.
The only problem is that the resulting footage would look completely unrealistic because
the model tower would fall over too quickly. The studio could easily fix this problem by
slowing the film down. But, by what factor should the film be slowed down in order to make
it look realistic?
Although, at this stage, we do not know how to apply the laws of physics to the problem
of a tower falling over, we can, at least, make some educated guesses as to the factors upon
which the time, tf , required for this process to occur depends. In fact, it seems reasonable
to suppose that tf depends principally on the mass of the tower, m, the height of the tower,
h, and the acceleration due to gravity, g. In other words,
tf = C m x h y g z , (1.5)
where C is a dimensionless constant, and x, y, and z are unknown exponents. The exponents
x, y, and z can be determined by the requirement that the previous equation be dimension-
ally consistent. Incidentally, the dimensions of an acceleration are [L]/[T 2 ]. Hence, equating
the dimensions of both sides of Equation (1.5), we obtain
z
x y [L]
[T ] = [M ] [L] . (1.6)
[T 2 ]
We can now compare the exponents of [L], [M ], and [T ] on either side of the previous
expression. These exponents must all match in order for Equation (1.5) to be dimensionally
consistent. Thus,
0 = y + z, (1.7)
0 = x, (1.8)
1 = −2 z. (1.9)
Experimental Errors 5
It immediately follows that x = 0, y = 1/2, and z = −1/2. Hence,

s
h
tf = C . (1.10)
g
√ Now, the actual tower of Pisa is approximately 100 m tall. It follows that because tf ∝
h (g is the same for
pboth the real and the model tower), the 1 m high model tower would
fall over a factor of 100/1 = 10 times faster than the real tower. Thus, the film must be
slowed down by a factor of 10 in order to make it look realistic.
1.5 EXPERIMENTAL ERRORS

All experimental measurements are subject to errors. Indeed, an experimental measurement
in physics is not considered complete unless it is accompanied by an estimate of the error
in the measurement.
Consider a measurement made of some physical quantity, x. We can express the result
of such a measurement in the form
x = x + δx. (1.11)
Here, x is the mean value of the measurement. In other words, x is the value obtained when
a very large number of independent measurements of x are performed, and the resulting
values are averaged. δx represents the error in an individual measurement of x. Let h· · · i
represent the average value of the quantity enclosed in the angle brackets. By definition,
hxi = x. Hence, averaging Equation (1.11), we deduce that hδxi = 0. Let
h(δx)2 i = σx2 . (1.12)
Here, σx is an estimate of the magnitude of the error in an individual measurement of x. In

other words, such a measurement is likely to yield a value lying between x − σx and x + σx ,
and unlikely to yield a value lying outside this range.
Consider measurements made of two independent physical quantities, x and y. Suppose
that
z = x + y. (1.13)
We can write
x = x + δx, (1.14)
y = y + δy, (1.15)
z = z + δz, (1.16)
where hδxi = hδyi = hδzi = 0. It follows that
z + δz = x + δx + y + δy. (1.17)
Averaging the previous equation, we obtain
z = x + y. (1.18)
In other words, not surprisingly, if z is the sum of x and y then the mean value of z is
the sum of the mean values of x and y. Taking the difference between the previous two
equations, we deduce that
δz = δx + δy. (1.19)
Hence,
(δz)2 = (δx)2 + (δy)2 + 2 δx δy. (1.20)
Averaging the previous equation, we get
h(δz)2 i = h(δx)2 i + h(δy)2 i + 2 hδx δyi. (1.21)
However, h(δx)2 i = σx2 , h(δy)2 i = σy2 , and h(δz)2 i = σz2 , where σz is the magnitude of the
error in the measured value of z. If x and y are independent physical quantities then we would
expect the errors in the measurements of these quantities to be completely uncorrelated. In
other words, hδx δyi = 0. Thus, the previous equation yields
σz2 = σx2 + σy2 . (1.22)
This expression specifies how the errors propagate in Equation (1.13).

A similar calculation to that just performed reveals that if
z =x−y (1.23)
then
z = x − y, (1.24)
σz2 = σx2 + σy2 . (1.25)
Suppose that N independent measurements are made of some physical quantity, x. Let
xi be the result of the ith measurement, and let
X
X= xi . (1.26)
i=1,N
A straightforward generalization of Equation (1.22) reveals that
σX2 = N σx2 . (1.27)
Here, we are assuming that the errors in different measurements are uncorrelated; that is,
hδxi δxj i = 0 when i 6= j. We are also assuming that h(δxi )2 i = σx2 for all i. Let
X
x̃ = (1.28)
N
be the average of all of the measurements. It is clear that σx̃ = σX /N (see Exercise 1.8).
Hence, we deduce from Equation (1.27) that
σx
σx̃ = √ . (1.29)
N
We conclude that we can reduce the uncertainty in the measured value of x by making a
large number of independent measurements, and averaging the results. Unfortunately, the
error scales as one over the square root of the number of measurements, which means that
increasing
√ the number of measurements by a factor of 10 only reduces the error by a factor
of 10 = 3.16.
Suppose that
z = x y. (1.30)
Experimental Errors 7
It follows that
z + δz = (x + δx) (y + δy) = x y + x δy + y δx + δx δy. (1.31)
Averaging the previous equation, making use of hδxi = hδyi = hδx δyi = 0, we deduce that
z = x y. (1.32)
In other words, not surprisingly, if z is the product of x and y then the mean value of z is
the product of the mean values of x and y. Taking the difference between the previous two
equations, we obtain
δz = x δy + y δx, (1.33)
where we have neglected the term that is second order in the errors (assuming that the
errors are relatively small). It follows that
(δz)2 = y 2 (δx)2 + x 2 (δy)2 + 2 x y δx δy. (1.34)
Averaging the previous equation, making use of z̄ = x̄ ȳ, hδx δyi = 0, and h(δx)2 i = σx2 ,
h(δy)2 i = σy2 , h(δz)2 i = σz2 , we obtain
σz2 σx2 σy2

= + . (1.35)
z2 x2 y2
This expression specifies how the errors propagate in Equation (1.30).
A straightforward generalization of the previous analysis reveals that if
x
z= (1.36)
y
then
x
z= , (1.37)
y
σz2 σx2 σy2
= + . (1.38)
z2 x2 y2
Finally, suppose that
z = f (x, y), (1.39)
where f (x, y) is a general function of two variables. We can write
z + δz = f (x + δx, y + δy). (1.40)
Performing a Taylor expansion of the right-hand side of the previous equation, and neglect-
ing terms that are second order, or higher, in the small errors, we obtain
∂f (x, y) ∂f (x, y)
z + δz = f (x, y) + δx + δy, (1.41)
∂x ∂y
It follows that
z̄ = f (x, y), (1.42)
∂f (x, y) ∂f (x, y)
δz = δx + δy. (1.43)
∂x ∂y
Taking the square of the previous equation, and averaging, we deduce that
2 2
∂f (x, y) ∂f (x, y)
σz2 = σx2 + σy2 . (1.44)
∂x ∂y
The generalization to a function of more that two variables is straightforward.
1.6 EXERCISES
1.1 Farmer Jones has recently brought a 40 acre field, and wishes to replace the surround-
ing fence. Given that the field is square, what length of fencing (in meters) should
Farmer Jones purchase? (1 acre equals 43 560 square feet.) [Ans: 1.609 × 10 3 m.]
1.2 How many seconds are there in a (Julian) year? [Ans: 31 557 600 s.]
1.3 Large-scale water resources in the United States (of America) are conventionally
measured in acre-feet. One acre-foot is the volume of a sheet of water of uniform
depth one foot that extends over an acre. How many cubic meters are in one acre-
foot? [Ans: 1233.48 m 3 .]
1.4 The recommended tire pressure in a 2021 Honda Civic is 32 psi (pounds per square
inch). What is this pressure in atmospheres? (1 atmosphere, which is the mean
pressure of the atmosphere at sea level, is 10 5 Pa.) [Ans: 2.21 atmospheres.]
1.5 The speed of sound, v, in a gas might plausibly depend on the pressure, p, the
density, ρ, and the volume, V , of the gas. Use dimensional analysis to determine the
exponents x, y, and z in the formula
v = C p x ρ y V z,
p
where C is a dimensionless constant. [Ans: v = C p/ρ.]
1.6 The propagation speed of a water wave, v, in shallow water might plausibly depend
on the density of the water, ρ, the depth of the water, d, and the acceleration due to
gravity, g. Use dimensional analysis to determine the exponents x, y, and z in the
formula
v = C ρ x g y d z,
√
where C is a dimensionless constant. [Ans: v = C g d.]
1.7 The additional (to atmospheric pressure) pressure a depth h below sea level might
plausibly depend on the depth, the density of sea water, ρ, and the acceleration due
to gravity, g. Use dimensional analysis to determine the exponents x, y, and z in the
formula
p = C ρ x g y h z,
where C is a dimensionless constant. [Ans: p = C ρ g h.]
1.8 Suppose that z = a x + b y, where x, y are physical quantities, and a, b are constants.
Express σz in terms of a, b, σx , and σy . [Ans: σz2 = a 2 σx2 + b 2 σy2 .]
1.9 Suppose that z = a x µ y ν , where x, y are physical quantities, and a, µ, ν are

constants. Express σz in terms of a, µ, ν, z, x, y, σx , and σy . [Ans: σz2 /z 2 =
µ 2 σx2 /x 2 + ν 2 σy2 /y 2 .]
1.10 Suppose that z = a exp(µ x), where x is a physical quantity, and a, µ are constants.
Express σz in terms of a, µ, z, and σx . [Ans: σz2 /z 2 = µ 2 σx2 .]
1.11 A measurement of the length of the side of a cube yields the result 1.237 ± 0.034 m.
What is the volume of the cube? Include an estimate of the error in your answer.
[Ans: 1.89 ± 0.16 m 3 .]
CHAPTER 2
Motion in One Dimension
2.1 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the concepts of displacement, velocity, and
acceleration. For the sake of simplicity, we shall restrict our attention to one-dimensional
motion.
2.2 DISPLACEMENT
Consider a rigid body moving in one dimension. For instance, a train traveling down a
straight railroad track, or a truck driving down an interstate in Kansas. Suppose that we
have a team of observers who continually report the location of this body to us as time
progresses. To be more exact, our observers report the distance, x, of the body from some
arbitrarily chosen reference point located on the track upon which it is constrained to move.
This point is known as the origin of our coordinate system. A positive x value implies that
the body is located x meters to the right of the origin, whereas a negative x value implies that
the body is located |x| meters to the left of the origin. Here, x is termed the displacement
of the body from the origin. See Figure 2.1. Of course, if the body is extended then our
observers will have to report the displacement, x, of some conveniently chosen reference
point on the body (e.g., its center of mass) from the origin.
Our information regarding the body’s motion consists of a set of data points, each
specifying the displacement, x, of the body at some time t. It is usually illuminating to
graph these points. Figure 2.2 shows an example of such a graph. As is often the case, it
is possible to fit the data points appearing in this graph using a relatively simple analytic
track origin displacement body
x=0
Figure 2.1 Motion in one dimension
DOI: 10.1201/9781003198642-2 9
10 Motion in One Dimension
2
x(m)
0
1 2
t(s)
Figure 2.2 Graph of displacement versus time
curve. Indeed, the curve associated with Figure 2.2 is
t2 t4
x=1+t+ − . (2.1)
2 4
2.3 VELOCITY
Both Figure 2.2 and Equation (2.1) effectively specify the location of the body whose motion
we are studying as time progresses. Let us now consider how we can use this information
to determine the body’s instantaneous velocity as a function of time. The conventional
definition of velocity is as follows:
Velocity is the rate of change of displacement with time.
This definition implies that
∆x
v= , (2.2)
∆t
where v is the body’s velocity at time t, and ∆x is the change in displacement of the body
between times t and t + ∆t.
How should we choose the time interval ∆t appearing in Equation (2.2)? Obviously, in
the simple case in which the body is moving with constant velocity, we can make ∆t as
large or small as we like, and it will not affect the value of v. Suppose, however, that v is
constantly changing in time, as is generally the case. In this situation, ∆t must be kept
sufficiently small that the body’s velocity does not change appreciably between times t and
t + ∆t. If ∆t is made too large then Equation (2.2) merely gives the average velocity of the
body between times t and t + ∆t.
Suppose that we require a general expression for instantaneous velocity that is valid
irrespective of how rapidly or slowly the body’s velocity changes in time. We can achieve
this goal by taking the limit of Equation (2.2) as ∆t approaches zero. This ensures that,
Acceleration 11
−1
v(m/s)
−2
−3
−4
−5
0 1 2
t(s)
Figure 2.3 Graph of instantaneous velocity versus time associated with the motion specified
in Figure 2.2
no matter how rapidly v varies with time, the velocity of the body is always approximately
constant in the interval t to t + ∆t. Thus,
∆x dx
v = lim = , (2.3)
∆t→0 ∆t dt
where dx/dt represents the derivative of x with respect to t. The previous definition is
particularly useful if we can represent x(t) as an analytic function, because it allows us to
immediately evaluate the instantaneous velocity, v(t), via the rules of calculus. Thus, if x(t)
is given by Equation (2.1) then
dx
v≡ = 1 + t − t 3. (2.4)
dt
Figure 2.3 shows the graph of v versus t obtained from the previous expression. Note that
when v is positive the body is moving to the right (i.e., x is increasing in time). Like-
wise, when v is negative the body is moving to the left (i.e., x is decreasing in time).
Finally, when v = 0 the body is instantaneously at rest.
The terms velocity and speed are often confused with one another. A velocity can be
either positive or negative, depending on the direction of motion. The conventional definition
of speed is that it is the magnitude of velocity (i.e., it is v with the sign stripped off). It
follows that a body can never possess a negative speed.
2.4 ACCELERATION
The conventional definition of acceleration is as follows:
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with time.
This definition implies that
∆v
a= , (2.5)
∆t
where a is the body’s acceleration at time t, and ∆v is the change in velocity of the body
between times t and t + ∆t.
How should we choose the time interval ∆t appearing in Equation (2.5)? Again, in the
simple case in which the body is moving with constant acceleration, we can make ∆t as
large or small as we like, and it will not affect the value of a. Suppose, however, that a
is constantly changing in time, as is generally the case. In this situation, ∆t must be kept
sufficiently small that the body’s acceleration does not change appreciably between times t
and t + ∆t.
A general expression for instantaneous acceleration that is valid irrespective of how
rapidly or slowly the body’s acceleration changes in time can be obtained by taking the
limit of Equation (2.5) as ∆t approaches zero:
∆v dv d 2x
a = lim = = , (2.6)
∆t→0 ∆t dt dt 2
where use has been made of Equation (2.3). The previous definition is particularly useful if
we can represent x(t) as an analytic function, because it allows us to immediately evaluate
the instantaneous acceleration, a(t), via the rules of calculus. Thus, if x(t) is given by
Equation (2.1) then
d 2x
a≡ = 1 − 3 t 2. (2.7)
dt 2
Figure 2.4 shows the graph of a versus time obtained from the previous expression. Note
that when a is positive the body is accelerating to the right (i.e., v is increasing in time).
Likewise, when a is negative the body is decelerating (i.e., v is decreasing in time).
Fortunately, it is generally not necessary to evaluate the rate of change of acceleration
with time, because this quantity does not appear in Newton’s laws of motion.
2.5 MOTION WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY

The simplest type of motion (excluding the trivial case in which the body under investigation
remains at rest) consists of motion with constant velocity. This type of motion occurs in
everyday life whenever an object slides over a horizontal, low-friction surface. For instance,
when a puck slides across a hockey rink.
Figure 2.5 shows the graph of displacement versus time for a body moving with a
constant velocity. It can be seen that the graph consists of a straight-line. This line can be
represented algebraically as
x = x0 + v t. (2.8)
Here, x0 is the displacement at time t = 0. This quantity can be determined from the graph
as the intercept of the straight-line with the x-axis. Likewise, v = dx/dt is the constant
velocity of the body. This quantity can be determined from the graph as the gradient of the
straight-line (i.e., the ratio ∆x/∆t, as shown). Note that a ≡ d 2 x/dt 2 = 0, as expected.
Figure 2.6 shows a displacement versus time graph for a slightly more complicated case
of motion with constant velocity. The body in question moves to the right (because x is
clearly increasing with t) with a constant velocity (because the graph is a straight-line)
between times A and B. The body then moves to the right (because x is still increasing in
time) with a somewhat larger constant velocity (because the graph is again a straight-line,
but possesses a larger gradient than before) between times B and C. The body remains at
rest (because the graph is horizontal) between times C and D. Finally, the body moves to
the left (because x is decreasing with t) with a constant velocity (because the graph is a
straight-line) between times D and E.
Motion with Constant Velocity 13
0
a(m/s 2)
−5
−10
0 1 2
t(s)
Figure 2.4 Graph of instantaneous acceleration versus time associated with the motion spec-
ified in Figure 2.2.
∆x
∆t
x0
0
0 t
Figure 2.5 Graph of displacement versus time for a body moving with constant velocity.
0
0 A B C D E t
2.6 MOTION WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION

Motion with constant acceleration occurs in everyday life whenever an object is dropped.
The object moves downward with the constant acceleration 9.81 m s−2 , under the influence
of gravity.
Figure 2.7 shows the graphs of displacement versus time and velocity versus time for a
body moving with constant acceleration. It can be seen that the displacement-time graph
consists of a curved-line whose gradient (slope) is increasing in time. This line can be
represented algebraically as
1
x = x0 + v0 t + a t 2 . (2.9)
2
Here, x0 is the displacement at time t = 0. This quantity can be determined from the graph
as the intercept of the curved-line with the x-axis. Likewise, v0 is the body’s instantaneous
velocity at time t = 0. Finally, a is the body’s constant acceleration.
The velocity-time graph consists of a straight-line that can be represented algebraically
as
dx
v≡ = v0 + a t. (2.10)
dt
The quantity v0 is determined from the graph as the intercept of the straight-line with the
x-axis. The constant acceleration, a, can be determined graphically as the gradient of the
straight-line (i.e., the ratio ∆v/∆t, as shown). Note that dv/dt = a, as expected.
Equations (2.9) and (2.10) can be rearranged to give the following set of three useful
formulae that characterize motion with constant acceleration:
1 2
s = v0 t + at , (2.11)
2
v = v0 + a t, (2.12)
2
v = v02 + 2 a s. (2.13)
Motion with Constant Acceleration 15
x0
0
t
∆v
∆t
v0
0
t
Figure 2.7 Graphs of displacement versus time (Top) and velocity versus time (Bottom) for
a body moving with constant acceleration
0
A B C D t
Here, s = x − x0 is the net distance traveled after t seconds.

Figure 2.8 shows a displacement versus time graph for a slightly more complicated case
of accelerated motion. The body in question accelerates to the right [because the gradient
(slope) of the graph is increasing in time] between times A and B. The body then moves to
the right (because x is increasing in time) with a constant velocity (because the graph is a
straight-line) between times B and C. Finally, the body decelerates [because the gradient
(slope) of the graph is decreasing in time] between times C and D.
2.7 USEFUL RESULTS

Because v = dx/dt, it follows that the net displacement of an object between times t1 and
t2 can be written
Z t2
x(t2 ) − x(t1 ) = v(t0 ) dt0 . (2.14)
t1
In other words, the net displacement is the area under the object’s v(t) curve. (Note that
the contribution to the area is negative in time intervals in which v < 0.)
Likewise, because a = dv/dt, it follows that the velocity increment of an object between
times t1 and t2 can be written
Z t2
v(t2 ) − v(t1 ) = a(t0 ) dt0 . (2.15)
t1
In other words, the velocity increment is the area under the object’s a(t) curve. (Again, the
contribution to the area is negative in time intervals in which a < 0.)
Free-Fall Under Gravity 17
2.8 FREE-FALL UNDER GRAVITY

Galileo was the first scientist to appreciate that, neglecting the effect of air resistance, all
bodies in free-fall close to the Earth’s surface accelerate vertically downward with the same
acceleration; namely, g = 9.81 m s−2 .1 The neglect of air resistance is a fairly good approx-
imation for large objects that travel relatively slowly (e.g., a shot-put, or a basketball),
but becomes a poor approximation for small objects that travel relatively rapidly (e.g., a
golf-ball, or a bullet fired from a pistol). (See Section 4.9.)
Equations (2.11)–(2.13) can easily be modified to deal with the special case of an object
free-falling under gravity:
1 2
s = v0 t − gt , (2.16)
2
v = v0 − g t, (2.17)
v 2 = v02 − 2 g s. (2.18)
Here, g = 9.81 m s−2 is the downward acceleration due to gravity, s is the distance the object
has moved vertically between times t = 0 and t (if s > 0 then the object has risen s meters,
else if s < 0 then the object has fallen |s| meters), and v0 is the object’s instantaneous
velocity at t = 0. Finally, v is the object’s instantaneous velocity at time t.
Let us illustrate the use of Equations (2.16)–(2.18). Suppose that a ball is released from
rest, and allowed to fall under the influence of gravity. How long does it take the ball to
fall h meters? According to Equation (2.16) [with v0 = 0 (because the ball is released from
rest), and s = −h (because we wish the ball to fall h meters)], h = g t 2 /2, so the time of
fall is s
2h
t= . (2.19)
g
What is the final speed, u, of the ball? According to Equation (2.18) [with v0 = 0, s = −h,
and |v| = u], p
u = 2 g h. (2.20)
Suppose that a ball is thrown vertically upward from ground level with velocity u. To
what height does the ball rise, how long does it remain in the air, and with what velocity
does it strike the ground? The ball attains its maximum height when it is momentarily at
rest (i.e., when v = 0). According to Equation (2.17) (with v0 = u), this occurs at time
t = u/g. It follows from Equation (2.16) (with v0 = u, t = u/g, and s = h) that the
maximum height of the ball is given by
u2
h= . (2.21)
2g
When the ball strikes the ground it has traveled zero net meters vertically, so s = 0. It
follows from Equations (2.17) and (2.18) (with v0 = u and t > 0) that v = −u. In other
words, the ball hits the ground with an equal and opposite velocity to that with which it
was thrown into the air. Because the ascent and decent phases of the ball’s trajectory are
1 Actually, the acceleration due to gravity varies slightly over the Earth’s surface because of the combined
effects of the Earth’s rotation and the Earth’s slightly flattened shape. See Sections 12.3 and 15.6. The
acceleration at the poles is about 9.834 m s−2 , whereas the acceleration at the equator is only 9.780 m s−2 .
The average acceleration over the Earth’s surface is 9.81 m s−2 .
v(m/s)
4
00 4 8 12 16
t(s)
Figure 2.9 Figure for Exercise 2.1
clearly symmetric, the ball’s time of flight is simply twice the time required for the ball to
attain its maximum height; that is,
2u
t= . (2.22)
g
2.9 EXERCISES
2.1 Consider the motion of the object whose velocity-time graph is given in Figure 2.9.
(a) What is the acceleration of the object between times t = 0 and t = 2? [Ans:
4 m s−2 .]
(b) What is the acceleration of the object between times t = 10 and t = 12? [Ans:
−2 m s−2 .]
(c) What is the net displacement of the object between times t = 0 and t = 16?
[Ans: 100 m.]
2.2 Consider the motion of the object whose velocity-time graph is given in Figure 2.10.
What is the net displacement of the object between times t = 0 and t = 16? [Ans:
8 m.]
4
v(m/s)
-4
0 4 8 12 16
t(s)
Figure 2.10 Figure for Exercise 2.2.
2.3 The velocity of a certain body as a function of time is given by

v = t 2 − 3 t + 2,
Exercises 19
where v is measured in meters per second and t is measured in seconds.
(a) At which two times is the body instantaneously at rest? [Ans: t = 1 s and
t = 2 s.]
(b) What is the body’s minimum velocity? [Ans: −0.25 m/s.]
(c) What is the body’s net displacement between the two times at which it is
instantaneously at rest? [Ans: −0.167 m.]
2.4 In a speed trap, two pressure-activated strips are placed 120 m apart on a highway on
which the speed limit is 85 km/h. A driver traveling at 110 km/h notices a police car
just as he/she activates the first strip, and immediately slows down. What constant
deceleration is needed to ensure that the car’s average speed is within the speed limit
when the car crosses the second strip? [Ans: 2.73 m s−2 .]
2.5 Let v(t) represent the velocity of a car versus time. Suppose that v is the car’s average
velocity between times t1 and t2 .
(a) Demonstrate that
Z t2
[v(t0 ) − v] dt0 = 0.
t1
(b) In some countries, you can be prosecuted for speeding if your car’s average
speed between two checkpoints (which may be miles apart) exceeds the posted
speed limit. Demonstrate that if your car’s average speed really did exceed
the speed limit then it is impossible for its instantaneous speed not to have
exceeded the limit at some point between the two checkpoints.
2.6 In 1886, Steve Brodie achieved notoriety by jumping off the recently completed
Brooklyn Bridge, for a bet, and surviving. Given that the bridge rises 135 ft over
the East River, how long would Mr. Brodie have been in the air, and with what
speed would he have struck the water? You may neglect air resistance (which is not
particularly realistic, in this case). [Ans: 2.896 s, and 28.41 m s−1 (i.e., 63.6 mi/h) !]
2.7 With what speed, in miles per hour, would you need to throw a ball vertically
upward from ground level in order for it to attain a maximum height above the
ground of 1 mile? Neglect air resistance (which is not at all realistic, in this case).
[Ans: 397.5 mph.]
2.8 A boat takes a time t1 to travel a distance a up a river, and a time t2 to return.
Show that the speed of the boat relative to the river is a (t1 + t2 )/(2 t1 t2 ). [From
Lamb 1942.]
2.9 A particle is projected upward from ground level, attains a height h after t1 seconds,
and again after t2 seconds.
(a) Show that h = (1/2) g t1 t2 .
(b) Show that the initial velocity was (1/2) g (t1 + t2 ).
[From Lamb 1942.]
2.10 The speed of a car increases at a constant rate α from 0 to u, then remains constant
for an interval, and finally decreases to 0 at the constant rate β. Let l be the total
distance traveled.
(a) Show that the total travel time is

l u 1 1
+ + .
u 2 α β
p
(b) For what value of u is the time least? [Ans: 2 l α β/(α + β).]
p
(c) What is the least travel time? [Ans: 2 l (α + β)/(α β).]
[From Lamb 1942.]
2.11 If the displacements of a point object moving with constant acceleration are x1 , x2 ,
and x3 at times t1 , t2 , and t3 , respectively, show that the acceleration is
2 [(x2 − x3 ) t1 + (x3 − x1 ) t2 + (x1 − x2 ) t3 ]

.
(t2 − t3 ) (t3 − t1 ) (t1 − t2 )
[From Lamb 1942.]

2.12 If t is a quadratic function of x, show that the acceleration varies inversely as the
cube of the distance from a fixed point. [From Lamb 1942.]
2.13 If x 2 is a quadratic function of t, show that the acceleration varies as 1/x 3 , except
in a particular case. [From Lamb 1942.]
2.14 Prove that a point object cannot move such that its velocity varies as the distance it
has traveled from rest. Can it move such that the velocity varies as the square root
of the distance? [Ans: Yes.] [From Lamb 1942.]
CHAPTER 3
Motion in Three Dimensions
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this chapter is to generalize the previously introduced concepts of displace-
ment, velocity, and acceleration in order to deal with motion in three dimensions.
3.2 VECTOR MATHEMATICS

3.2.1 Scalars and Vectors
Consider the motion of a body moving in three dimensions. The body’s instantaneous
position is most conveniently specified by giving its displacement from the origin of our
coordinate system. Note, however, that in three dimensions such a displacement possesses
both magnitude and direction. In other words, we not only have to specify how far the body
is situated from the origin, we also have to specify in which direction it lies. A quantity
that possesses both magnitude and direction is termed a vector. By contrast, a quantity
that possesses only magnitude is termed a scalar. (A more exact definition of vector and
scalar quantities is given in Section 3.2.4.) Mass and time are scalar quantities. However, in
general, displacement is a vector. In fact, vector displacement is the prototype of all vectors.
A general vector obeys the same algebra as a displacement in space, and may thus
→
be represented geometrically by a straight-line, P Q (say), where the arrow indicates the
direction of the displacement (i.e., from point P to point Q). See Figure 3.1. The magnitude
of the vector is represented by the length of the straight-line.
It is conventional to denote vectors by bold-faced symbols (e.g., a, F) and scalars by
non-bold-faced symbols (e.g., r, S). The magnitude of a general vector, a, is denoted |a|, or
just a. It is convenient to define a vector with zero magnitude; this is denoted 0, and has
Figure 3.1 A vector. (Reproduced from Fitzpatrick 2008. Courtesy of Jones & Bartlett.)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003198642-3 21
22 Motion in Three Dimensions
b
a
c=a+b
Q
S
a
b
Figure 3.2 Vector addition. (Reproduced from Fitzpatrick 2008. Courtesy of Jones & Bartlett.)
no direction. Finally, two vectors, a and b, are said to be equal when their magnitudes and
directions are both identical.
3.2.2 Vector Algebra

→ →
Suppose that the displacements P Q and QR, shown in Figure 3.2, represent the vectors a
and b, respectively. It can be seen that the result of combining these two displacements is
→ →
to give the net displacement P R. Hence, if P R represents the vector c then we can write
c = a + b. (3.1)
This defines vector addition. By completing the parallelogram P QRS, we can also see that
→ → → → →
P R = P Q + QR = P S + SR . (3.2)
→ →
However, P S has the same length and direction as QR, and, thus, represents the same
→ →
vector, b. Likewise, P Q and SR both represent the vector a. Thus, the previous equation
is equivalent to
c = a + b = b + a. (3.3)
We conclude that the addition of vectors is commutative. It can also be shown that the
associative law holds; that is,
a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c. (3.4)
The null vector, 0, is represented by a displacement of zero length and arbitrary direction.
Because the result of combining such a displacement with a finite-length displacement is
the same as the latter displacement by itself, it follows that
a + 0 = a, (3.5)
Vector Mathematics 23
c=a−b
b a
c
−b
Figure 3.3 Vector subtraction. (Reproduced from Fitzpatrick 2008. Courtesy of Jones & Bartlett.)
where a is a general vector. The negative of a is defined as that vector which has the same
magnitude, but acts in the opposite direction, and is denoted −a. The sum of a and −a is
thus the null vector; that is,
a + (−a) = 0. (3.6)
We can also define the difference of two vectors, a and b, as
c = a − b = a + (−b). (3.7)
This definition of vector subtraction is illustrated in Figure 3.3.

If n > 0 is a scalar then the expression n a denotes a vector whose direction is the same
as a, and whose magnitude is n times that of a. (This definition becomes obvious when n is
an integer.) If n is negative then, because n a = |n| (−a), it follows that n a is a vector whose
magnitude is |n| times that of a, and whose direction is opposite to a. These definitions
imply that if n and m are two scalars then
n (m a) = n m a = m (n a), (3.8)
(n + m) a = n a + m a, (3.9)
n (a + b) = n a + n b. (3.10)
3.2.3 Cartesian Components of a Vector

Consider a Cartesian coordinate system Oxyz, consisting of an origin, O, and three mutually
perpendicular coordinate axes, Ox, Oy, and Oz. See Figure 3.4. Such a system is said to
be right-handed if, when looking along the Oz direction, a 90◦ clockwise rotation about Oz
is required to take Ox into Oy. Otherwise, it is said to be left-handed. It is conventional to
always use a right-handed coordinate system.
It is convenient to define unit vectors, ex , ey , and ez , parallel to Ox, Oy, and Oz,
respectively. Incidentally, a unit vector is a vector whose magnitude is unity. The position
vector, r, of some general point P whose Cartesian coordinates are (x, y, z) is then given
by
r = x ez + y ey + z ez . (3.11)
In other words, we can get from O to P by moving a distance x parallel to Ox, then a
distance y parallel to Oy, and then a distance z parallel to Oz. Similarly, if a is an arbitrary
vector then
a = ax ex + ay ey + az ez , (3.12)
where ax , ay , and az are termed the Cartesian components of a. It is conventional to write

a ≡ (ax , ay , az ). It follows that ex ≡ (1, 0, 0), ey ≡ (0, 1, 0), and ez ≡ (0, 0, 1). Of course,
0 ≡ (0, 0, 0).
According to the three-dimensional generalization of the Pythagorean theorem, the dis-
tance OP ≡ |r| = r is given by
p
r = x 2 + y 2 + z 2. (3.13)
By analogy, the magnitude of a general vector, a, takes the form

q
a= ax2 + ay2 + az2 . (3.14)
If a ≡ (ax , ay , az ) and b ≡ (bx , by , bz ) then it is easily demonstrated that
a + b ≡ (ax + bx , ay + by , az + bz ). (3.15)
Furthermore, if n is a scalar then it is apparent that
n a ≡ (n ax , n ay , n az ). (3.16)
3.2.4 Coordinate Transformations

A Cartesian coordinate system allows position and direction in space to be represented in a
very convenient manner. Unfortunately, such a coordinate system also introduces arbitrary
elements into our analysis. After all, two independent observers might well choose Cartesian
coordinate systems with different origins, and different orientations of the coordinate axes.
In general, a given vector, a, will have different sets of components in these two coordinate
systems. However, the direction and magnitude of a are the same in both cases. Hence, the
two sets of components must be related to one another in a very particular fashion. Actually,
→
because vectors are represented by moveable line elements in space (i.e., in Figure 3.2, P Q
→
and SR represent the same vector), it follows that the components of a general vector are
not affected by a simple shift in the origin of a Cartesian coordinate system. On the other
hand, the components are modified when the coordinate axes are rotated.
Suppose that we transform to a new coordinate system, Ox0 y 0 z 0 , which has the same
origin as Oxyz, and is obtained by rotating the coordinate axes of Oxyz through an angle
y P
O x
Figure 3.4 A right-handed Cartesian coordinate system. (Reproduced from Fitzpatrick 2008.
Courtesy of Jones & Bartlett.)
y
y′ ⊙z
x′
θ x
O
Figure 3.5 Rotation of the coordinate axes about Oz. (Reproduced from Fitzpatrick 2008.
Courtesy of Jones & Bartlett.)
θ about Oz. See Figure 3.5. Let the coordinates of a general point P be (x, y, z) in Oxyz
and (x0 , y 0 , z 0 ) in Ox0 y 0 z 0 . According to simple trigonometry, these two sets of coordinates
are related to one another via the transformation
x0 = x cos θ + y sin θ, (3.17)

y 0 = −x sin θ + y cos θ, (3.18)
0
z = z. (3.19)
→
Consider the vector displacement r ≡ OP . Note that this displacement is represented by the
same symbol, r, in both coordinate systems, because the magnitude and direction of r are
manifestly independent of the orientation of the coordinate axes. The coordinates of r do
depend on the orientation of the axes; that is, r ≡ (x, y, z) in Oxyz, and r ≡ (x0 , y 0 , z 0 ) in
Ox0 y 0 z 0 . However, they must depend in a very specific manner [i.e., Equations (3.17)–(3.19)]
that preserves the magnitude and direction of r.
The components of a general vector, a, transform in an analogous manner to Equa-
tions (3.17)–(3.19); that is,
ax0 = ax cos θ + ay sin θ, (3.20)

ay0 = −ax sin θ + ay cos θ, (3.21)
az0 = az . (3.22)
Moreover, there are similar transformation rules for rotation about Ox and Oy. Equa-
tions (3.20)–(3.22) constitute the true definition of a vector. In other words, the three
quantities (ax , ay , az ) are the components of a vector provided that they transform under
rotation of the coordinate axes about Oz in accordance with Equations (3.20)–(3.22). (And
also transform correctly under rotation about Ox and Oy.) Conversely, (ax , ay , az ) cannot
be the components of a vector if they do not transform in accordance with Equations (3.20)–
(3.22). The true definition of a scalar quantity is that it is invariant under rotation of the
coordinate axes. Thus, the individual components of a vector (ax , say) are real numbers,
but they are not scalars. Displacement vectors, and all vectors derived from displacements
(e.g., velocity and acceleration), automatically satisfy Equations (3.20)–(3.22).
3.2.5 Scalar Product

A scalar quantity is invariant under all possible rotational transformations. The individual
components of a vector are not scalars because they change under transformation. Can we
form a scalar out of some combination of the components of one, or more, vectors? Suppose
that we were to define the “percent” product,
a % b ≡ ax bz + ay bx + az by = scalar number, (3.23)
for general vectors a and b. Is a % b invariant under transformation, as must be the case if it
is a scalar number? Let us consider an example. Suppose that a ≡ (0, 1, 0) and b ≡ (1, 0, 0).
◦
It is easily seen that a % b = 1. Let us now√rotate√ the coordinate axes
√ through
√ 45 about
Oz. In the new coordinate system, a ≡ (1/ 2, 1/ 2, 0) and b ≡ (1/ 2, −1/ 2, 0), giving
a % b = 1/2. Clearly, a % b is not invariant under rotational transformation, so the previous
definition is a bad one.
Consider, now, the scalar product:
a · b ≡ ax bx + ay by + az bz = scalar number. (3.24)
Let us rotate the coordinate axes though θ degrees about Oz. According to Equations (3.20)–
(3.22), a · b takes the form
a · b = (ax cos θ + ay sin θ) (bx cos θ + by sin θ)

+ (−ax sin θ + ay cos θ) (−bx sin θ + by cos θ) + az bz
= ax bx + ay by + az bz (3.25)
in the new coordinate system. Thus, a · b is invariant under rotation about Oz. It is easily
demonstrated that it is also invariant under rotation about Ox and Oy. We conclude that
a · b is a true scalar, and that the definition (3.24) is a good one. Incidentally, a · b is the
only simple combination of the components of two vectors that transforms like a scalar. It
is readily shown that the scalar product is commutative and distributive: that is,
a · b = b · a,
a · (b + c) = a · b + a · c. (3.26)
The associative property is meaningless for the scalar product, because we cannot have
(a · b) · c, as a · b is scalar.
We have shown that the scalar product a · b is coordinate independent. But what is the
geometric significance of this property? In the special case where a = b, we get
a · b = ax2 + ay2 + az2 = |a| 2 = a 2 . (3.27)
So, the invariance of a · a is equivalent to the invariance of the magnitude of vector a under
transformation.
Let us now investigate the general case. The length squared of AB in the vector triangle
shown in Figure 3.6 is
(b − a) · (b − a) = |a| 2 + |b| 2 − 2 a · b. (3.28)
However, according to the “cosine rule” of trigonometry,
(AB)2 = (OA)2 + (OB)2 − 2 (OA) (OB) cos θ, (3.29)

b
b−a
θ
O a A
Figure 3.6 A vector triangle. (Reproduced from Fitzpatrick 2008. Courtesy of Jones & Bartlett.)
where (AB) denotes the length of side AB, etcetera. It follows that
a · b = |a| |b| cos θ. (3.30)
In this case, the invariance of a · b under transformation is equivalent to the invariance of

the angle subtended between the two vectors. Note that if a · b = 0 then either |a| = 0,
|b| = 0, or the vectors a and b are mutually perpendicular. The angle subtended between
two vectors can easily be obtained from the scalar product:
a·b
cos θ = . (3.31)
|a| |b|
3.2.6 Vector Product

We have discovered how to construct a scalar from the components of two general vectors,
a and b. Can we also construct a vector that is not just a linear combination of a and b?
Consider the following definition:
a ∗ b ≡ (ax bx , ay by , az bz ). (3.32)
Is a ∗ b a proper vector? Suppose that a = (0, 1, 0), b = (1, 0, 0). In this case,
√ a ∗√ b = 0.
◦
However,√ if we rotate
√ the coordinate axes through 45 about Oz then a = (1/ 2, 1/ 2, 0),
b = (1/ 2, −1/ 2, 0), and a ∗ b = (1/2, −1/2, 0). Thus, a ∗ b does not transform like a
vector, because its magnitude depends on the choice of axes. So, previous definition is a
bad one.
Consider, now, the vector product:
a × b ≡ (ay bz − az by , az bx − ax bz , ax by − ay bx ) = c. (3.33)
Does this rather unlikely combination transform like a vector? Let us try rotating the
coordinate axes through an angle θ about Oz using Equations (3.20)–(3.22). In the new
coordinate system,
cx0 = (−ax sin θ + ay cos θ) bz − az (−bx sin θ + by cos θ)

= (ay bz − az by ) cos θ + (az bx − ax bz ) sin θ
= cx cos θ + cy sin θ. (3.34)
Thus, the x-component of a × b transforms correctly. It can easily be shown that the other
components transform correctly as well, and that all components also transform correctly
thumb
a×b
middle finger
b
θ
a index finger
Figure 3.7 The right-hand rule for vector products. Here, θ is less than 180◦ . (Reproduced
from Fitzpatrick 2008. Courtesy of Jones & Bartlett.)
under rotation about Ox and Oy. Thus, a × b is a proper vector. Incidentally, a × b is

the only simple combination of the components of two vectors that transforms like a vector
(which is non-coplanar with a and b). The vector product is anti-commutative,
a × b = −b × a, (3.35)
distributive,
a × (b + c) = a × b + a × c, (3.36)
but is not associative,
a × (b × c) =
6 (a × b) × c. (3.37)
The vector product transforms like a vector, which means that it must have a well-
defined direction and magnitude. We can show that a × b is perpendicular to both a and
b. Consider a · a × b. If this is zero then the vector product must be perpendicular to a.
Now,
a · a × b = ax (ay bz − az by ) + ay (az bx − ax bz ) + az (ax by − ay bx )

= 0. (3.38)
Therefore, a × b is perpendicular to a. Likewise, it can be demonstrated that a × b is

perpendicular to b. The vectors a, b, and a × b form a right-handed set, like the unit
vectors ex , ey , and ez . In fact, ex × ey = ez . This defines a unique direction for a × b, which
is obtained from a right-hand rule. See Figure 3.7.
Let us now evaluate the magnitude of a × b. We have
(a × b)2 = (ay bz − az by )2 + (az bx − ax bz )2 + (ax by − ay bx )2

= (ax2 + ay2 + az2 ) (bx2 + by2 + bz2 ) − (ax bx + ay by + az bz )2
= |a| 2 |b| 2 − (a · b)2
= |a| 2 |b| 2 − |a| 2 |b| 2 cos2 θ = |a| 2 |b| 2 sin2 θ. (3.39)
Thus,
|a × b| = |a| |b| sin θ, (3.40)
where θ is the angle subtended between a and b. Clearly, a × a = 0 for any vector, because
θ is always zero in this case. Also, if a × b = 0 then either |a| = 0, |b| = 0, or b is parallel
(or antiparallel) to a.
Vector Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration 29
3.3 VECTOR DISPLACEMENT, VELOCITY, AND ACCELERATION

Consider a body moving in three dimensions. Suppose that we know the Cartesian coordi-
nates, x, y, and z, of this body as time, t, progresses. Let us consider how we can use this
information to determine the body’s instantaneous velocity and acceleration as functions of
time.
The vector displacement of the body is given by
r(t) = [x(t), y(t), z(t)]. (3.41)
By analogy with the one-dimensional equation (2.3), the body’s vector velocity, v =
(vx , vy , vz ), is simply the derivative of r with respect to t. In other words,
r(t + ∆t) − r(t) dr

v(t) = lim = . (3.42)
∆t→0 ∆t dt
When written in component form, the previous definition yields
dx
vx = , (3.43)
dt
dy
vy = , (3.44)
dt
dz
vz = . (3.45)
dt
Thus, the x-component of velocity is simply the time derivative of the x-coordinate, and so
on.
By analogy with the one-dimensional equation (2.6), the body’s vector acceleration,
a = (ax , ay , az ), is simply the derivative of v with respect to t. In other words,
v(t + ∆t) − v(t) dv d 2r

a(t) = lim = = 2, (3.46)
∆t→0 ∆t dt dt
where use has been made of Equation (3.42). When written in component form, the previous
definition yields
dvx d 2x
ax = = , (3.47)
dt dt 2
dvy d 2y
ay = = 2, (3.48)
dt dt
dvz d 2z
az = = 2, (3.49)
dt dt
where use has been made of Equations (3.43)–(3.45). Thus, the x-component of acceleration
is simply the time derivative of the x-component of velocity, and so on.
As an example, suppose that the coordinates of the body are given by
x = sin t, (3.50)
y = cos t, (3.51)
z = 3 t. (3.52)
Figure 3.8 Motion with constant velocity
The corresponding components of the body’s velocity are then simply

dx
vx = = cos t, (3.53)
dt
dy
vy = = − sin t, (3.54)
dt
dz
vz = = 3, (3.55)
dt
while the components of the body’s acceleration take the form
dvx
ax = = − sin t, (3.56)
dt
dvy
ay = = − cos t, (3.57)
dt
dvz
az = = 0. (3.58)
dt
3.4 MOTION WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY

An object moving in three dimensions with constant velocity, v, possesses a vector displace-
ment of the form
r(t) = r0 + v t, (3.59)
where the constant vector r0 is the displacement at time t = 0. Note that dr/dt = v
and d 2 r/dt 2 = 0, as expected. As illustrated in Figure 3.8, the object’s trajectory is a
straight-line that passes through point r0 at time t = 0, and runs parallel to vector v.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
use; and in the Northern mythology the divine conquerors repair to
Asgard, and there construct similar dwellings.
Northern cosmogony was not unlike the Greek, for the people
Cosmogony. imagined that the earth, Mana-heim, was entirely
surrounded by the sea, at the bottom of which lay the
huge Midgard snake, biting its own tail; and it was perfectly natural
that, viewing the storm-lashed waves which beat against their
shores, they should declare they were the result of his convulsive
writhing. The Greeks, who also fancied the earth was round and
compassed by a mighty river called Oceanus, described it as flowing
with “a steady, equable current,” for they generally gazed out upon
calm and sunlit seas. Nifl-heim, the Northern region of perpetual cold
and mist, had its exact counterpart in the land north of the
Hyperboreans, where feathers (snow) continually hovered in the air,
and where Hercules drove the Cerynean stag into a snowdrift ere he
could seize and bind it fast.
Like the Greeks, the Northern races believed that the earth was
The created first, and that the vaulted heavens were made
phenomena of afterwards to overshadow it entirely. They also
the sky. imagined that the sun and moon were daily driven
across the sky in chariots drawn by fiery steeds. Sol, the sun
maiden, therefore corresponded to Helios, Hyperion, Phœbus, or
Apollo, while Mani, the moon (owing to a peculiarity of Northern
grammar, which makes the sun feminine and the moon masculine),
was the exact counterpart of Phœbe, Diana, or Cynthia.
The Northern scalds, who thought that they descried the
prancing forms of white-maned steeds in the flying clouds, and the
glitter of spears in the flashing light of the aurora borealis, said that
the Valkyrs, or battle maidens, were galloping across the sky, while
the Greeks saw in the same natural phenomena the white flocks of
Apollo guarded by Phaethusa and Lampetia.
As the dew fell from the clouds, the Northern poets declared that
it dropped from the manes of the Valkyrs’ steeds, while the Greeks,
who generally observed that it sparkled longest in the thickets,
identified it with Daphne and Procris, whose names are derived from
the Sanskrit word “to sprinkle,” and who are slain by their lovers,
Apollo and Cephalus, personifications of the sun.
The earth was considered in the North as well as in the South as
a female divinity, the fostering mother of all things; and it was owing
to climatic difference only that the mythology of the North, where
people were daily obliged to conquer the right to live by a hand-to-
hand struggle with Nature, should represent her as hard and frozen
like Rinda, while the Greeks embodied her in the genial goddess
Ceres. The Greeks also believed that the cold winter winds swept
down from the North, and the Northern races added that they were
produced by the winnowing of the wings of the great eagle Hræ-
svelgr.
The dwarfs, or dark elves, bred in Ymir’s flesh, were like Pluto’s
servants in that they never left their underground realm, where they,
too, sought the precious metals, which they molded into delicate
ornaments such as Vulcan bestowed upon the gods, and into
weapons which no one could either dint or mar. As for the light elves,
who lived aboveground and cared for plants, trees, and streams,
they were evidently the Northern substitutes for the nymphs, dryads,
oreades, and hamadryads, which peopled the woods, valleys, and
fountains of ancient Greece.
Jupiter, like Odin, was the father of the gods, the god of victory,
Jupiter and and a personification of the universe. Hlidskialf,
Odin. Allfather’s lofty throne, was no less exalted than
Olympus or Ida, whence the Thunderer could observe
all that was taking place; and Odin’s invincible spear Gungnir was as
terror-inspiring as the thunderbolts brandished by his Greek
prototype. The Northern deities feasted continually upon mead and
boar’s flesh, the drink and meat most suitable to the inhabitants of a
Northern climate, while the gods of Olympus preferred the nectar
and ambrosia which were their only sustenance.
Twelve Æsir sat in Odin’s council hall to deliberate over the
wisest measures for the government of the world and men, and an
equal number of gods assembled on the cloudy peak of Mount
Olympus for a similar purpose. The Golden Age in Greece was a
period of idyllic happiness, amid ever-flowering groves and under
balmy skies, while the Northern age of bliss was also a time when
peace and innocence flourished on earth, and when evil was as yet
entirely unknown.
Using the materials near at hand, the Greeks modeled their first
Creation of images out of clay; hence they naturally imagined that
man. Prometheus had made man out of that substance
when called upon to fashion a creature inferior to the
gods only. As the Northern statues were all hewed out of wood, the
Northern races inferred, as a matter of course, that Odin, Vili, and Ve
(who here correspond to Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Minerva, the
three Greek creators of man) made the first human couple, Ask and
Embla, out of blocks of wood.
The goat Heidrun, which supplied the heavenly mead, is like
Amalthea, Jupiter’s first nurse, and the busy, telltale Ratatosk is
equivalent to the snow-white crow in the story of Coronis, which was
turned black in punishment for its tattling. Jupiter’s eagle has its
counterpart in the ravens Hugin and Munin, or in the wolves Geri and
Freki, which are ever crouching at Odin’s feet.
The close resemblance between the Northern Orlog and the
Norns and Greek Destiny, goddesses whose decrees the gods
Fates. themselves and were obliged to respect, and the
equally powerful Norns and Mœræ, is too obvious to
need pointing out, while the Vanas are counterparts of Neptune and
the other ocean divinities. The great quarrel between the Vanas and
the Æsir is merely another version of the dispute between Jupiter
and Neptune for the supremacy of the world. Just as Jupiter forces
his brother to yield to his authority, so the Æsir remain masters of all,
but do not refuse to continue to share their power with their
conquered foes, who thus become their allies and friends.
Like Jupiter, Odin is always described as majestic and middle-
aged, and both gods are regarded as the divine progenitors of royal
races, for while the Heraclidæ claimed Jupiter as their father, the
Inglings, Skioldings, etc., said Odin was the founder of their families.
The most solemn oaths were sworn by Odin’s spear as well as by
Jupiter’s footstool, and both gods rejoice in a multitude of names, all
descriptive of the various phases of their nature and worship.
Odin, like Jupiter, frequently visited the earth in disguise, to
judge of the hospitable intentions of mankind, as in the story of
Geirrod and Agnar, which resembles that of Philemon and Baucis.
The aim was to encourage hospitality, therefore, in both stories,
those who showed themselves humanely inclined are richly
rewarded, and in the Northern myth the lesson is enforced by the
punishment inflicted upon Geirrod, as the scalds believed in poetic
justice and saw that it was carefully meted out.
The contest of wit between Odin and Vafthrudnir has its parallel
in the musical rivalry of Apollo and Marsyas, or in the test of skill
between Minerva and Arachne. Odin further resembled Apollo in that
he, too, was god of eloquence and poetry, and could win all hearts to
him by means of his divine voice; he was like Mercury in that he
taught mortals the use of runes, while the Greek god introduced the
alphabet.
The disappearance of Odin, the sun or summer, and the
Myths of the consequent desolation of Frigga, the earth, is merely a
seasons. different version of the myths of Proserpine and
Adonis.
When Proserpine and Adonis have gone, the earth (Ceres or
Venus) bitterly mourns their absence, and refuses all consolation. It
is only when they return from their exile that she casts off her
mourning garments and gloom, and again decks herself in all her
jewels. So Frigga and Freya bewail the absence of their husbands
Odin and Odur, and remain hard and cold until their return. Odin’s
wife Saga, the goddess of history, who lingered by Sokvabek, “the
stream of time and events,” taking note of all she saw, is like Clio,
the muse of history, whom Apollo sought by the inspiring fount of
Helicon.
Just as, according to Euhemerus, there was an historical Zeus,
buried in Crete, where his grave can still be seen, so there was an
historical Odin, whose mound rises near Upsala, where the greatest
Northern temple once stood, and where there was a mighty oak
which rivaled the famous tree of Dodona.
Frigga, like Juno, was a personification of the atmosphere, the
Frigga and patroness of marriage, of connubial and motherly love,
Juno. and the goddess of childbirth. She, too, is represented
as a beautiful, stately woman, rejoicing in her
adornments; and her special attendant, Gna, rivals Iris in the rapidity
with which she executes her mistress’s behests. Juno has full control
over the clouds, which she can brush away with a motion of her
hand, and Frigga is supposed to weave them out of the thread she
has spun on her jeweled spinning wheel.
In Greek mythology we find many examples of the way in which
Juno seeks to outwit Jupiter. Similar tales are not lacking in the
Northern myths. Juno obtains possession of Io, in spite of her
husband’s reluctance to part with her, and Frigga artfully secures the
victory for the Winilers in the Langobardian Saga. Odin’s wrath at
Frigga’s theft of the gold from his statue is equivalent to Jupiter’s
marital displeasure at Juno’s jealousy and interference during the
war of Troy. In the story of Gefjon, and the clever way in which she
procured land from Gylfi to form her kingdom of Seeland, we have a
reproduction of the story of Dido, who obtained by stratagem the
land upon which she founded her city of Carthage. In both accounts
oxen come into play, for while in the Northern myth these sturdy
beasts draw the piece of land far out to sea, in the other an ox hide,
cut into strips, serves to inclose the queen’s grant.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin, who could attract all living creatures
Musical by his music, is like Orpheus or Amphion, whose lyres
myths. had the same power; and Odin, as leader of the dead,
is the counterpart of Mercury Psychopompus, both
being personifications of the wind, on whose wings disembodied
souls were thought to be wafted away from this mortal sphere.
The trusty Eckhardt, who would fain save Tannhäuser and
prevent his returning to expose himself to the enchantments of the
sorceress in the Hörselberg, is like the Greek Mentor, who not only
accompanied Telemachus, but who gave him good advice and wise
instructions, and would like to have rescued Ulysses from the hands
of Calypso.
Thor, the Northern thunder-god, also has many points of
Thor and the resemblance with Jupiter. He bears the hammer
Greek gods. Miölnir, the Northern emblem of the deadly
thunderbolt, and, like Jupiter, uses it freely when
warring against the giants. In his rapid growth Thor resembles
Mercury, for while the former playfully tosses several loads of ox
hides about a few hours after his birth, the latter steals Apollo’s oxen
before he is one day old. In physical strength Thor resembles
Hercules, who also gave early proofs of uncommon vigor by
strangling the serpents sent to slay him in his cradle, and who
delighted, later on, in attacking and conquering giants and monsters.
Hercules became a woman and took to spinning to please Omphale,
the Lydian queen, and Thor assumed a woman’s apparel to visit
Thrym and recover his hammer, which had been buried nine rasts
underground. The hammer, his principal attribute, was used for many
sacred purposes. It consecrated the funeral pyre and the marriage
rite, and boundary stakes driven in by a hammer were considered as
sacred among Northern nations as the Hermæ or statues of Mercury,
whose removal was punished by death.
Thor’s wife, Sif, with her luxuriant golden hair, is, as we have
already stated, an emblem of the earth, and her hair of its rich
vegetation. Loki’s theft of these tresses is equivalent to Pluto’s rape
of Proserpine. To recover the golden locks, Loki must visit the dwarfs
(Pluto’s servants), crouching in the low passages of the underground
world; so Mercury must seek Proserpine in Hades.
The gadfly which hinders Jupiter from recovering possession of
Io, after Mercury has slain Argus, reappears in the Northern myth to
sting Brock and prevent the manufacture of the magic ring Draupnir,
which is merely a counterpart of Sif’s tresses, as it also represents
the fruits of the earth. It continues to torment the dwarf during the
manufacture of Frey’s golden-bristled boar, a prototype of Apollo’s
golden sun chariot, and it prevents the perfect formation of the
handle of Thor’s hammer.
The magic ship Skidbladnir, also made by the dwarfs, is like the
swift-sailing Argo, which was a personification of the clouds sailing
overhead; and just as the former was said to be large enough to
accommodate all the gods, so the latter bore all the Greek heroes off
to the distant land of Colchis.
The Germans, wishing to name the days of the week after their
gods, as the Romans had done, gave the name of Thor to Jove’s
day, and thus made it the present Thursday.
Thor’s struggle against Hrungnir is like the fight between
Hercules and Cacus or Antæus; while Groa is evidently Ceres, for
she, too, mourns for her absent child Orvandil (Proserpine), and
breaks out into a song of joy when she hears it will return.
Magni, Thor’s son, who when only three hours old exhibits his
marvelous strength by lifting Hrungnir’s leg off his recumbent father,
also reminds us of the infant Hercules; and Thor’s voracious appetite
at Thrym’s wedding feast has its parallel in Mercury’s first meal,
which consisted of two whole oxen.
Thor’s crossing the swollen tide of Veimer reminds us of Jason’s
wading across the torrent when on his way to visit the tyrant Pelias
and recover possession of his father’s throne.
The marvelous necklace worn by Frigga and Freya to enhance
their charms is like the cestus or girdle of Venus, which Juno
borrowed to subjugate her lord, and is, like Sif’s tresses and the ring
Draupnir, an emblem of luxuriant vegetation or a type of the stars
which jewel the firmament.
The Northern sword-god Tyr is, of course, the Roman war-god
Mars, whom he so closely resembles that his name was given to the
day of the week held sacred to Mars, which is even now known as
Tuesday or Tiu’s day. Like Mars, Tyr was noisy and courageous; he
delighted in the din of battle and warfare, and was quite fearless at
all times. He alone dared to brave the Fenris wolf; and the Southern
proverb concerning Scylla and Charybdis has its counterpart in the
Northern adage, “to get loose out of Læding and to dash out of
Droma.” The Fenris wolf, also a personification of subterranean fire,
is bound, like his prototypes the Titans, in Tartarus.
The similarity between the gentle, music-loving Bragi, with his
harp in hand, and Apollo or Orpheus is very great; so is the
resemblance between the magic draft Od-hroerir and the waters of
Helicon, which were also supposed to serve as inspiration to mortal
as well as to immortal poets. Odin dons eagle plumes to bear away
this precious mead, and Jupiter assumes a similar guise to secure
his cupbearer Ganymede.
Idun, like Adonis and Proserpine, or still more like Eurydice, is
also a fair personification of spring. She is borne away by the cruel
ice giant Thiassi, who represents the boar which slew Adonis, the
kidnapper of Proserpine, or the poisonous serpent which bit
Eurydice. Idun is detained for a long, long time in Jötun-heim
(Hades), where she forgets all her merry, playful ways, and becomes
mournful and pale. She cannot return alone to Asgard, and it is only
when Loki (now an emblem of the south wind) comes to bear her
away in the shape of a nut or a swallow that she can effect her
escape. She reminds us of Proserpine and Adonis escorted back to
earth by Mercury (god of the wind), or of Eurydice lured out of Hades
by the sweet sounds of Orpheus’s harp, which were also symbolical
of the soughing of the winds.
The myth of Idun’s fall from Yggdrasil into the darkest depths of
Idun and Nifl-heim, while subject to the same explanation and
Eurydice. comparison as the above story, is still more closely
related to the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, for the
former, like Bragi, cannot exist without the latter, whom he follows
even into the dark realm of death; without her his songs are entirely
silenced. The wolfskin in which Idun is enveloped is typical of the
heavy snows in Northern regions, which are considered a great
blessing, as they preserve the tender roots from the blighting
influence of the extreme winter cold.
The Van Niörd, who is god of the sunny summer seas, has his
Skadi and counterpart in Neptune and more especially in
Diana. Nereus, the personification of the calm and pleasant
aspect of the mighty deep. Niörd’s wife, Skadi, is the Northern
huntress; she therefore resembles Diana. Like her, she bears a
quiver full of arrows, and a bow which she handles with consummate
skill. Her short gown permits the utmost freedom of motion, also, and
she, too, is generally accompanied by a hunting hound.
The myths of the transference of Thiassi’s eyes to the firmament,
where they glow like brilliant stars, remind us of many Greek star
myths, and especially of Argus’s eyes ever on the watch, of Orion
and his jeweled girdle, and of his dog Sirius, all changed into stars
by the gods to appease angry goddesses. Loki’s antics to win a
smile from the irate Skadi are considered akin to the quivering
flashes of sheet lightning which he personified in the North, while
Steropes, the Cyclops, typified it for the Greeks.
The Northern god of sunshine and summer showers, the genial
Frey, has many traits in common with Apollo, for, like him, he is
beautiful and young, rides the golden-bristled boar which was the
Northern conception of the sunbeams, or drives across the sky in a
golden car, which reminds us of Apollo’s glittering chariot.
Frey has some of the gentle Zephyrus’s characteristics besides,
for he, too, scatters flowers along his way. His horse Blodug-hofi is
not unlike Pegasus, Apollo’s favorite steed, for it can pass through
fire and water with equal ease and velocity.
Fro, like Odin and Jupiter, is also identified with a human king,
and his mound lies beside Odin’s near Upsala. His reign was so
happy that it was called the Golden Age, and he therefore reminds
us of Saturn, who, exiled to earth, ruled over the people of Italy, and
granted them similar prosperity.
Gerda, the beautiful maiden, is like Venus, and also like
Atalanta; she is hard to woo and hard to win, like the fleet-footed
maiden, but, like her, she yields at last and becomes a happy wife.
The golden apples with which Skirnir tries to bribe her remind us of
the golden fruit which Hippomenes cast in Atalanta’s way, and which
made her lose the race.
Freya, the goddess of youth, love, and beauty, like Venus,
sprang from the sea, for she is a daughter of the sea-god Niörd.
Venus shows that she is not entirely devoid of martial tastes by
bestowing her best affections upon Mars and Anchises, while Freya
often assumes the garb of a Valkyr, and rides rapidly down to earth
to take her part in mortal strife and bear away one half of the heroes
slain to feast in her halls. Like Venus, she delights in offerings of
fruits and flowers, lends a gracious ear to the petitions of lovers, and
favors them as much as she can. Freya also resembles Minerva, for,
like her, she wears a helmet and breastplate, and, like her, also, she
is noted for her beautiful blue eyes.
Odur, Freya’s husband, is like Adonis, and when he leaves her,
Odur and she, too, sheds countless tears, which, in her case,
Adonis. are turned to gold, while Venus’s tears are changed
into anemones, and those of the Heliades, mourning
for Phaeton, harden to amber, which resembles gold in color and in
consistency. Just as Venus rejoices at Adonis’s return, and all Nature
blooms in sympathy with her joy, so Freya becomes lighthearted
once more when she has found her husband lover beneath the
flowering myrtles of the South. Venus’s car is drawn by fluttering
doves, while Freya’s is swiftly carried along by cats, which are
emblems of sensual love, just as the doves were considered types of
tenderest love. Freya is so sensitive to beauty that she angrily
refuses to marry Thrym, and Venus scorns and finally deserts
Vulcan, whom she has been forced to marry much against her will.
The Greeks represented Justice as a blindfolded goddess, with
scales in one hand and a sword in the other, to indicate the
impartiality and the fixity of her decrees. The corresponding deity of
the North was Forseti, who patiently listened to both sides of a
question ere he, too, promulgated his impartial and irrevocable
sentence.
Uller, the winter-god, resembles Apollo and Orion only in his love
for the chase, which he pursues with ardor under all circumstances.
He is the Northern bowman, and his skill is quite as unerring as
theirs.
Heimdall, like Argus, was gifted with marvelous keenness of
sight, which enabled him to perceive even the growth of the grass.
His Giallar-horn, which could be heard throughout all the world,
proclaiming the gods’ passage to and fro over the quivering bridge
Bifröst, was like the trumpet of the goddess Renown. As he was
related to the water deities on his mother’s side, he could, like
Proteus, assume any form at will, and made good use of this power
on one occasion to frustrate Loki’s attempt to steal the necklace
Brisinga-men.
Hermod, the quick or nimble, resembles Mercury not only in his
marvelous celerity of motion, but he, too, was the messenger of the
gods, and, like the Greek divinity, he flashed hither and thither, aided
not by winged cap and sandals, but by Odin’s steed Sleipnir, whom
he alone was allowed to bestride. Instead of the Caduceus, he bore
the wand Gambantein. He questioned the Norns and the magician
Rossthiof, through whom he learned that Vali would come to avenge
his brother Balder and to supplant his father Odin. Instances of
similar consultations are found in Greek mythology, where Jupiter
would fain have married Thetis, yet desisted when the Fates foretold
that she would be the mother of a son destined to surpass his father
in glory and renown.
The Northern god of silence, Vidar, has some resemblance to
Hercules, for while the latter has nothing but a club with which to
defend himself against the Nemean lion, whom he tears asunder, the
former, protected by one large shoe, rends the Fenris wolf at
Ragnarok.
Odin’s courtship of Rinda reminds us of Jupiter’s wooing of
Rinda and Danae, who is also a symbol of the earth; and while
Danae. the shower of gold in the Greek tale is intended to
represent the fertilizing sunbeams, the footbath in the
Northern story typifies the spring thaw which sets in when the sun
has overcome the resistance of the frozen earth. Perseus, the child
of this union, has many points of resemblance with Vali, for he, too,
is an avenger, and slays his mother’s enemies just as surely as Vali
destroys Hodur, the murderer of Balder.
The Fates were supposed to preside over birth in Greece, and to
foretell a child’s future just as well as the Norns; and the story of
Meleager has its unmistakable parallel in that of Nornagesta. Althæa
preserves the half-consumed brand in a chest, Nornagesta conceals
the candle end in his harp; and while the Greek mother brings about
her son’s death by casting the brand into the fire, Nornagesta,
compelled to light his candle end at Olaf’s command, dies as it
sputters and goes out.
Hebe and the Valkyrs were the cupbearers of Olympus and
Asgard. They were all personifications of youth; and while Hebe
married the great hero and demigod Hercules when she retired from
office, the Valkyrs were relieved from further attendance when united
to heroes like Helgi, Hakon, Völund, or Sigurd.
The Cretan labyrinth has its counterpart in the Icelandic
Völundarhaus, and Völund and Dædalus both effect their escape
from a maze by a cleverly devised pair of wings, which enables them
to fly in safety over land and sea and escape from the tyranny of
their respective masters, Nidud and Minos. Völund resembles
Vulcan, also, in that he is a clever smith and makes use of his talents
to work out his revenge. Vulcan, lamed by a fall from Olympus, and
neglected by Juno, whom he had tried to befriend, sends her a
golden throne, which is provided with cunning springs to seize and
hold her fast. Völund, hamstrung by the suggestion of Nidud’s
queen, secretly murders her sons, and out of their eyes fashions
marvelous jewels, which she unsuspectingly wears upon her breast
until he reveals their origin.
Just as the Greeks fancied that the tempests were the effect of
Myths of the Neptune’s wrath, so the Northern races attributed
sea. them either to the writhings of Iörmungandr, the
Midgard snake, or to the anger of Ægir, who, crowned
with seaweed like Neptune, often sent his children, the wave
maidens (the counterpart of the Nereides and Oceanides), out to
play in the tossing billows. Neptune had his dwelling in the coral
caves near the Island of Eubœa, while Ægir lived in a similar palace
near Cattegat. Here he was surrounded by the nixies, undines, and
mermaids, the counterpart of the Greek water nymphs, and by the
river-gods of the Rhine, Elbe, and Neckar, who remind us of Alpheus
and Peneus, the river-gods of the Greeks.
The frequency of shipwrecks on the Northern coasts made the
people describe Ran (the equivalent of the Greek sea-goddess
Amphitrite) as greedy and avaricious, and armed with a strong net,
with which she drew all things down into the deep. The Greek Sirens
had their parallel in the Northern Lorelei, who possessed the same
gift of song, and also lured mariners to their death; while Princess
Ilse, who was turned into a fountain, reminds us of the nymph
Arethusa, who underwent a similar transformation.
In the Northern conception of Nifl-heim we have an almost exact
counterpart of the Greek Hades. Mödgud, the guardian of the
Giallar-bru (the bridge of death), over which all the spirits of the dead
must pass, exacts a tribute of blood as rigorously as Charon
demands an obolus from every soul he ferries over Acheron, the
river of death. The fierce dog Garm, cowering in the Gnipa hole, and
keeping guard at Hel’s gate, is like the three-headed monster
Cerberus; and the nine worlds of Nifl-heim are not unlike the
divisions of Hades, Nastrond being an adequate substitute for
Tartarus, where the wicked were punished with equal severity.
The custom of burning dead heroes with their arms, and of
slaying victims, such as horses and dogs, upon their pyre, was much
the same in the North as in the South; and while Mors or Thanatos,
the Greek Death, was represented with a sharp scythe, Hel was
depicted with a broom or rake, which she used as ruthlessly, and
with which she did as much execution.
Balder, the radiant god of sunshine, reminds us not only of
Balder and Apollo and Orpheus, but of all the other heroes of sun
Apollo. myths. His wife Nanna is like Flora, and still more like
Proserpine, for she, too, goes down into the
underworld, where she tarries for a while. Balder’s golden hall of
Breidablik is like Apollo’s palace in the east; he, too, delights in
flowers; all things smile at his approach, and willingly take an oath of
allegiance to him. Just as Achilles is vulnerable only in the heel,
Balder can be slain only by the harmless mistletoe, and his death is
occasioned by Loki’s jealousy just as truly as Hercules was slain by
Dejanira’s. Balder’s funeral pyre on Ringhorn reminds us of
Hercules’s death on Mount Œta, the flames and reddish glow of both
fires serving to typify the setting sun. The Northern god of sun and
summer could only be released from Nifl-heim if all animate and
inanimate objects shed tears; so Proserpine could issue from Hades
only upon condition that she had partaken of no food. The trifling
refusal of Thok to shed a single tear is like the pomegranate seeds
which Proserpine ate, and the result is equally disastrous in both
cases, as it detains Balder and Proserpine underground, and the
earth (Frigga or Ceres) must continue to mourn their absence.
Through Loki evil entered into the Northern world; Prometheus’s
gift of fire brought the same curse down upon the Greeks. The
punishment inflicted by the gods upon both culprits is not unlike, for
while Loki is bound with adamantine chains underground, and
tortured by the continuous dropping of venom from the fangs of a
snake fastened above his head, Prometheus is bound to Caucasus
by adamantine fetters also, and a ravenous vulture continually preys
upon his liver. Loki’s punishment has another counterpart in that of
Tityus, bound in Hades, and in that of Enceladus, chained beneath
Mount Ætna, where his writhing produced earthquakes, and his
imprecations were the sudden eruptions of the volcano. Loki further
resembles Neptune in that he, too, assumed an equine form and
was the parent of a wonderful steed, for Sleipnir rivals Arion both in
speed and endurance.
The Fimbulwinter has been compared to the long preliminary
fight under the walls of Troy, and Ragnarok, the grand closing drama
of Northern mythology, to the burning of that famous city. “Thor is
Hector; the Fenris wolf, Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, who slew Priam
(Odin); and Vidar, who survives in Ragnarok, is Æneas.” The
destruction of Priam’s palace is the type of the ruin of the gods’
golden halls; and the devouring wolves Hati, Sköll, and Managarm,
the fiends of darkness, are prototypes of Paris and all the other
demons of darkness, who bear away or devour the sun maiden
Helen.
Ragnarok and According to another interpretation, however,
the Deluge. Ragnarok and the consequent submersion of the
world is only a Northern version of the Deluge. The survivors, Lif and
Lifthrasir, are like Deucalion and Pyrrha, who were destined to
repeople the world; and just as the shrine of Delphi alone resisted
the destructive power of the great cataclysm, so Gimli stood radiant
to receive the surviving gods.
We have already seen how closely the Northern giants
resembled the Titans; now it only remains to mention that while the
Greeks imagined that Atlas was changed into a mountain, so the
giants in Germany formed the Riesengebirge, and that the
avalanches were the burdens of snow which they impatiently shook
off in changing their cramped positions. The apparition of one of the
water giants, in the shape of a bull, in order to court the queen of the
Francs, has its parallel in the story of Jupiter’s wooing of Europa,
and Meroveus is evidently the exact counterpart of Sarpedon. A faint
resemblance can be traced between the giant ship Mannigfual and
the Argo, for while the one is supposed to have cruised all round the
Ægean and Euxine Seas, and to have made many places
memorable by the dangers it encountered there, so the Northern
vessel sailed about the North and Baltic Seas, and is mentioned in
connection with the Island of Bornholm and the cliffs of Dover.
While the Greeks imagined that the Nightmares were the evil
dreams which escaped from the cave of Somnus, the Northern race
fancied they were female dwarfs or trolls, who crept out of the dark
recesses of the earth to torment them. All magic weapons in the
North were the work of the dwarfs, the underground smiths, while
those of the Greeks were manufactured by Vulcan and the Cyclops,
under Mount Ætna, or on the Island of Lemnos.
In the Sigurd myth we find Odin one-eyed like the Cyclops, who
are also personifications of the sun. Sigurd is instructed by Gripir, the
horse trainer, who, like Chiron, the centaur, is not only able to teach
a young hero all he need know, and to give him good advice
concerning his future conduct, but is also possessor of the gift of
prophecy.
The marvelous sword which becomes the property of Sigmund
and of Sigurd as soon as they prove themselves worthy to wield it
reminds us of the weapon which Ægeus concealed beneath the
rock, and which Theseus secured as soon as he had become a man.
Sigurd, like Theseus, Perseus, and Jason, seeks to avenge his
father’s wrongs ere he sets out in search of the golden hoard, the
exact counterpart of the golden fleece, which is also guarded by a
dragon, and is very hard to secure. Like all the Greek sun-gods and
heroes, Sigurd has golden hair and bright blue eyes. His struggle
with Fafnir reminds us of Apollo’s fight with Python, while the ring
Andvaranaut can be likened to Venus’s cestus, and the curse
attached to its possessor is like the doom which accompanied Helen
and caused endless bloodshed wherever she went.
Sigurd could never have conquered Fafnir without the magic
sword, just as the Greeks could never have taken Troy without the
arrows of Philoctetes, which are also emblems of the all-conquering
rays of the sun. The recovery of the stolen treasure is like
Menelaus’s recovery of Helen, and it apparently brings as little
happiness to Sigurd as his recreant wife did to the Spartan king.
Brunhild resembles Minerva in martial tastes, in physical
appearance, and in knowledge; but when Sigurd deserts her in favor
of Gudrun, she becomes angry and resentful like Œnone, when
Paris left her to woo Helen. Brunhild’s anger continues to
accompany Sigurd through life, and she even seeks to compass his
death, while Œnone, feeling she can cure her wounded lover,
refuses to do so and permits him to die. Œnone and Brunhild are
both overcome by the same remorseful feelings when their lovers
have breathed their last, and both insist upon sharing their funeral
pyres, and end their lives lying by the side of those whom they had
loved.
Containing, as it does, a whole series of sun myths, the
Volsunga Saga repeats itself in every phase; and just as Ariadne,
forsaken by the sun hero Theseus, finally marries Bacchus, so
Gudrun, when Sigurd has departed, marries Atli, the King of the
Huns. He, too, ends his life amid the flickering flames of his burning
palace or ship. Gunnar, like Orpheus or Amphion, plays such
marvelous strains upon his harp that even the serpents are lulled to
sleep. According to some interpretations, Atli is like Fafnir, and
covets the possession of the gold. Both are therefore probably
personifications “of the winter cloud which broods over and keeps
from mortals the gold of the sun’s light and heat, till in the spring the
bright orb overcomes the powers of darkness and tempests, and
scatters his gold over the face of the earth.”
Swanhild, Sigurd’s daughter, is another personification of the
sun, as is shown by her blue eyes and golden hair; and her death
under the hoofs of black steeds represents the blotting out of the sun
by the clouds of storm or of darkness.
Just as Castor and Pollux hasten off to rescue their sister Helen
when she has been borne away by Theseus, so Swanhild’s brothers,
Erp, Hamdir, and Sörli, hasten off to avenge her death.
Such are the main points of resemblance between the
mythologies of the North and South, and the analogy serves to prove
that they were originally formed from the same materials, and that
the difference consists principally in the local coloring unconsciously
given by each nation.
INDEX TO POETICAL QUOTATIONS.
Aager and Else, Ballad of, 170.

Anderson, Rasmus B. (translations from the Elder Edda in
Norse Mythology, S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago), 13, 24,
27, 43, 53, 78, 80, 81, 88, 110, 111, 118, 124, 139, 147,
149, 264, 266, 270.
Anster (translation from Goethe), 130.
Arnold, Matthew, 12, 14, 15, 21, 23, 28, 29, 46, 47, 64, 68, 84,
107, 126, 144, 160, 167, 183, 188, 189, 192, 193, 194,
196, 267, 271.
Baldwin, James, Story of Siegfried (Charles Scribner’s Sons,

New York), 172.
Brace (translation of ballad), 212.
Brand, 120.
Browning, Robert, 33, 34.
Coneybeare (translation from the Anglo-Saxon), 165.
Du Chaillu, Paul, Viking Age (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New

York), 142, 143.
Edda (Sæmund’s, or the Elder), 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21,
24, 25, 27, 29, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 62, 65, 71,
75, 80, 81, 85, 88, 91, 96, 97, 98, 102, 104, 105, 107,
108, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 122, 123,
124, 129, 131, 134, 137, 138, 139, 141, 142, 143, 144,
146, 147, 149, 151, 154, 157, 162, 163, 164, 168, 174,
175, 177, 183, 184, 185, 195, 198, 200, 204, 205, 206,
207, 236, 242, 244, 246, 254, 262, 266, 267, 269, 270,
271, 272.
Edda, The Younger, 53, 77, 78, 79.
Forman (translations), 37, 40, 57, 100.
Goethe, 130.
Gray, 184, 185, 186.
Grotta-Savngr, 122, 123.
Heine, 180, 216.

Hemans, 30, 161.
Henderson (translations), 11, 154, 162.
Herbert (translations), 77, 79, 114, 115, 116, 138.
Herrick, 121.
Hewitt (translation), 162.
Homer, 36.
Howitt, 36, 65, 195, 222, 272, 273.
Jones, Julia Clinton, Valhalla (Bosqui & Co., San Francisco), 11,
16, 53, 62, 86, 89, 90, 91, 101, 102, 103, 152, 156,
166, 167, 168, 171, 178, 182, 195, 203, 205, 208, 264,
266, 267.
Keightley (translation), 179.

Kingsley, Charles, 50, 127.
L. E. R., 178.
La Motte-Fouqué, 218.
Longfellow, Saga of King Olaf, in Tales of a Wayside Inn
(Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston), 45, 63, 82.
Macdowall, Asgard and the Gods, 51.

Martin (translation from Heine), 216.
Mathisson, 179.
Meredith, Owen, 56, 57, 145.
Morris, William, 19, 24, 61, 113, 128, 156, 178, 226, 227, 228,
229, 230, 231, 232, 234, 235, 237, 238, 239, 241, 242,
243, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 252, 255, 256, 258,
259, 260, 261.
Naogeorgus, 119.
Oehlenschläger, 36, 66, 67, 68, 138, 176.

Oxford Carol, 119.
Percy (translation from the Edda), 62.

Pfeiffer (translation), 265.
Pigott (translations from Oehlenschläger), 66, 67, 68, 138, 176.
Scott, 32, 221.

Selcher (translation), 180.
Shakespeare, 85, 158, 223.
Southey, 35.
Spenser, 219.
Stagnelius, 179.
Stephens (translations from Fridthiof’s Saga in Viking Tales of
the North, Rasmus B. Anderson, S. C. Griggs & Co.,
Chicago), 20, 28, 44, 52, 72, 73, 98, 106, 113, 128,
135, 173, 195, 197, 265, 270.
Taylor (translations from the Sagas), 15, 17, 18, 27, 37, 38, 92,
269, 271.
Tegnér, Fridthiof’s Saga, 20, 28, 44, 52, 72, 73, 98, 106, 113,
128, 135, 173, 195, 197, 265, 270.
Thomson, 27, 168.
Thorpe (translations from Sæmund’s Edda), 12, 16, 21, 25, 29,
31, 39, 41, 42, 45, 71, 75, 85, 91, 96, 97, 98, 102, 104,
105, 107, 108, 112, 113, 116, 129, 131, 134, 137, 138,
139, 141, 144, 146, 151, 157, 163, 164, 168, 169, 174,

Ebook Newtonian Dynamics An Introduction 1St Edition Richard Fitzpatrick Online PDF All Chapter

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Ebook Newtonian Dynamics An Introduction 1St Edition Richard Fitzpatrick Online PDF All Chapter

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ebook Newtonian Dynamics An Introduction 1St Edition Richard Fitzpatrick Online PDF All Chapter

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Newtonian Dynamics An Introduction

1st Edition Richard Fitzpatrick

Plasma Physics 2nd Edition Richard. Fitzpatrick

Critical Dementia Studies An Introduction 1st Edition

Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science

Nonlinear Dynamics and Quantum Chaos An Introduction

An Introduction to Economic Dynamics: Modelling,

An Introduction to Conservation Biology 3rd Edition

An Introduction to Advanced Fluid Dynamics and Fluvial

Tomorrow's Lawyers: An Introduction to your Future

and by CRC Press

© 2022 Richard Fitzpatrick

CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Fitzpatrick, Richard, 1963- author.

ISBN: 978-1-032-04662-4 (hbk)

Chapter 1 Measurement and Units 1

Chapter 2 Motion in One Dimension 9

Chapter 3 Motion in Three Dimensions 21

3.5 MOTION WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION 31

Chapter 4 Newton’s Laws of Motion 39

Chapter 5 Conservation of Energy 69

5.7 MOTION IN A GENERAL ONE-DIMENSIONAL POTENTIAL 81

Chapter 6 Conservation of Momentum 87

Chapter 7 Circular Motion 115

Chapter 8 Rotational Motion 133

8.5 MOMENT OF INERTIA 139

Chapter 9 Angular Momentum 161

Chapter 10 Statics 173

Chapter 11 Oscillatory Motion 189

11.3 TORSION PENDULUM 192

Chapter 12 Rotating Reference Frames 199

Chapter 13 Newtonian Gravity 209

Chapter 14 Orbital Motion 217

Chapter 15 Gravitational Potential Theory 235

Appendix A Useful Mathematics 257

1.1 MKS UNITS

1.2 STANDARD PREFIXES

1.3 OTHER UNITS

Table 1.1 Derived Units

Table 1.2 Standard Prefixes

1.4 DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

Table 1.3 Conversion Factors

It immediately follows that x = 0, y = 1/2, and z = −1/2. Hence,

1.5 EXPERIMENTAL ERRORS

h(δx)2 i = σx2 . (1.12)

Here, σx is an estimate of the magnitude of the error in an individual measurement of x. In

where hδxi = hδyi = hδzi = 0. It follows that

Averaging the previous equation, we obtain

Averaging the previous equation, we get

h(δz)2 i = h(δx)2 i + h(δy)2 i + 2 hδx δyi. (1.21)

σz2 = σx2 + σy2 . (1.22)

This expression specifies how the errors propagate in Equation (1.13).

A straightforward generalization of Equation (1.22) reveals that

σX2 = N σx2 . (1.27)

σz2 σx2 σy2

1.9 Suppose that z = a x µ y ν , where x, y are physical quantities, and a, µ, ν are

track origin displacement body