The Science of Everything Podcast Episode 13: Newtonian Mechanics
Jan 20, 2011
A podcast discussing Newtonian mechanics, including forces, velocity, acceleration, Newton's three laws of motion, and common misconceptions. It also touches on circular motion and the physics of walking and driving a car.
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Two Faces Of Mass
- Mass has two conceptually different meanings: inertial mass and gravitational mass.
- They are experimentally identical, a fact that motivated Einstein's development of general relativity.
Mass Versus Weight
- Mass is constant but weight depends on local gravity and is measured in newtons.
- On the Moon you keep the same mass but weigh about one-sixth as much as on Earth.
Why Center Of Mass Matters
- The center of mass lets us treat complex bodies as if all mass were concentrated at one point.
- That simplification makes analysing motion and forces far easier for extended objects.