Related papers: Ballistic trajectory: parabola, ellipse, or what?
Relational mechanics is a reformulation of mechanics (classical or quantum) for which space is relational. This means that the configuration of an $N$-particle system is a shape, which is what remains when the effects of rotations,…
The study of the motion of a rigid body on a plane (RBP motion) is usually one of the most challenging topics that students face in introductory physics courses. In this paper, we discuss a couple of problems which are typically used in…
The restricted planar four body problem describes the motion of a massless body under the Newtonian gravitational force of other three bodies (the primaries), of which the motion gives us general solutions of the three body problem. A…
It is generally believed that physical laws, reflecting an inherent order in the universe, are ordained by nature. However, in modern physics the observer plays a central role raising questions about how an observer-centric physics can…
We consider a bound system of charged particles moving in an external electromagnetic field, including leading relativistic corrections. The difference from the point particle with a magnetic moment comes from the presence of…
A general paradigm for describing classical (and semiclassical) gravity is presented. This approach brings to the centre-stage a holographic relationship between the bulk and surface terms in a general class of action functionals and…
We present a theoretical and experimental analysis of the elliptical-like orbits of a marble rolling on a warped spandex fabric. We arrive at an expression describing the angular separation between successive apocenters, or equivalently…
The rosette-shaped motion of a particle in a central force field is known to be classically solvable by quadratures. We present a new approach of describing and characterizing such motion based on the eccentricity vector of the two body…
The electromagnetic interaction is characterised by discrete states for bound systems in contrast to continuous states for unbound systems. The difference merely arises because the characteristic equations do not exhibit the same behaviour…
The Hamiltonian formulation of the motion of a spinning relativistic particle in an external electromagnetic field is considered. The approach is based on the introduction of new coordinates and their conjugated momenta to describe the spin…
Acceleration is a fundamental concept in physics which is taught in mechanics at all levels. Here, we discuss some challenges in teaching this concept effectively when the path along which the object is moving has a curvature and…
The motion of astronomical bodies and the centre of mass of the system is not always well perceived by students. One of the struggles is the conceptual change of reference frame, which is the same that held back the acceptance of the…
Gravity is treated as manifestation of bending of 4D plate at the variational functionals level. Some estimates of elastic constants of space-time are made. Field lagrangians and Einstein equations are discussed in view point of the…
Circular orbits of a particle sliding on a frictionless surface of revolution about a vertical axis are unstable below a critical radius if the curvature of the surface satisfies a specified condition. This behavior can be realized in a…
We study the motion of a charged particle around a weakly magnetized rotating black hole. We classify the fate of a charged particle kicked out from the innermost stable circular orbit. We find that the final fate of the charged particle…
A point particle of mass $\mu$ moving on a geodesic creates a perturbation $h_{ab}$, of the spacetime metric $g_{ab}$, that diverges at the particle. Simple expressions are given for the singular $\mu/r$ part of $h_{ab}$ and its distortion…
Since the late 1950's, the dynamics of a charged particle's ``guiding center" in a strong, inhomogeneous magnetic field have been understood in terms of near-identity coordinate transformations. The basic idea has been to approximately…
We study the quantization of a model proposed by Newton to explain centripetal force namely, that of a particle moving on a regular polygon. The exact eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are obtained. The quantum mechanics of a particle moving…
The unification of gravity with the three other forces has been an important goal of physics for some time now, because a quantum theory of gravity is necessary to explain the universe at its earliest moments. Its pursuit has largely…
Relativistically covariant form of equation of motion for real particle (neutral in charge) under the action of electromagnetic radiation is derived. Various formulations of the equation of motion in the proper frame of reference of the…