Related papers: The Epistemology of Contemporary Physics: Classica…
In this paper of "The Epistemology of Contemporary Physics" series we investigate the epistemological significance and sensibility (and hence interpretability and interpretation) of classical mechanics in its Newtonian and non-Newtonian…
Under certain conditions usually fulfilled in classical mechanics, the principle of conservation of linear momentum and Newton's third law are equivalent. However, the demonstration of this fact is usually incomplete in textbooks. We shall…
The law of action-reaction, considered by Ernst Mach the cornerstone of physics, is thoroughly used to derive the conservation laws of linear and angular momentum. However, the conflict between momentum conservation law and Newton's third…
Most of the logical objections against the classical laws of motion, as they are usually presented in textbooks, centre on the fact that defining force in terms of mass and acceleration, the first two laws are mere assertions of concepts to…
The law of action-reaction is thoroughly used in textbooks to derive the conservation laws of linear and angular momentum, and it was considered by Ernst Mach the the cornerstone of physics. We give here a background survey of several…
Newtons Laws of Motion form the basis of classical mechanics, but misconceptions about their interrelationships persist in pedagogy. A prevalent misunderstanding is that Newtons First Law is a trivial consequence of the Second Law. This…
Despite its apparent simplicity, Newtonian Mechanics contains conceptual subtleties that may cause some confusion to the deep-thinking student. These subtleties concern fundamental issues such as, e.g., the number of independent laws needed…
We start by surveying the history of the idea of a fundamental conservation law and briefly examine the role conservation laws play in different classical contexts. In such contexts we find conservation laws to be useful, but often not…
In the present essay we attempt to reconstruct Newtonian mechanics under the guidance of logical principles and of a constructive approach related to the genetic epistemology of J. Piaget and R. Garc\'ia \citep{piag89}. Instead of…
The formalism of classical particle dynamics is reinvestigated according to the basic requirement of causal consistency, and a new equation of particle dynamics, which is more general and more in line with classical mechanics experiments…
We present a critical analysis of the classical approaches to energy subjects, based on the work-energy theorem and the conservation of mechanical energy proposed in the courses of the first years of tertiary education. We show how these…
This article is an attempt for a new vision of the basics of Physics, and of Relativity, in particular. A new generalized principle of inertia is proposed, as an universal principle, based on universality of the conservation laws, not…
This is the first of a series of papers that we intend to publish about the epistemology of fundamental physics in its current state. One of the main objectives of these papers is to improve our understanding of fundamental physics (and…
According to Newton's law of gravitation the force between two particles depends upon their inertial, as well as their active and passive gravitational masses. For ordinary matter all three of these are equal and positive. We consider here…
In the present work foundations of the law of the energy conservation and the introduction of particles in the classical electrodynamics are discussed. We pay attention to a logic error which takes place at an interpretation of the…
This work gives a brief summary of major formulations of the third law of thermodynamics and their implications, including the impossibility of perpetual motion of the third kind. The last sections of this work review more advanced…
This contribution analyses the classical laws of motion by means of an approach relating time and entropy. We argue that adopting the notion of change of states as opposed to the usual derivation of Newton's laws in terms of fields a…
There are several formulations of the second law, and they may, in principle, have different domains of validity. Here a simple mathematical theorem is proven which serves as the most general basis for the second law, namely the Thomson…
It is demonstrated that energy conservation allows for a straight derivation of Newtonian mechanics without an apriori definition of the concept of work. Furthermore it is shown that energy must be depicted as a function of position and…
Classical physics is generally regarded as deterministic, as opposed to quantum mechanics that is considered the first theory to have introduced genuine indeterminism into physics. We challenge this view by arguing that the alleged…