• Suitable for a wide range of mechanics courses given in mathematics and physics departments.
• Clear direct style makes the subject easy to understand.
• Many fully worked examples in the text.
• Includes a careful treatment of two body scattering and the zero momentum frame.
• Includes a careful treatment of the calculus of variations and variational principles.
• Includes a gentle introduction to tensors and tensor algebra.
• Answers to all the problems are supplied in the book.
• Model solutions for the problems are available to teachers.

Textbook: Classical Mechanics (Cambridge U. Press, 2006)

Description

Classical Mechanics is a major new textbook for undergraduates in mathematics and physics. It is a thorough, self-contained and highly readable account of a subject many students find difficult. The author's clear and systematic style promotes a good understanding of the subject; each concept is motivated and illustrated by worked examples, while problem sets provide plenty of practice for understanding and technique. A theme of the book is the importance of conservation principles. These appear first in vectorial mechanics where they are proved and applied to problem solving. They reappear in analytical mechanics, where they are shown to be related to symmetries of the Lagrangian, culminating in Noether's theorem.

Inspection copy and Solutions Manual

Any lecturer who is giving an undergraduate course on classical mechanics can request an inspection copy of this book. Lecturers who adopt the book for their course may receive the Solutions Manual. This has a complete set of detailed solutions to the problems at the end of the chapters. To obtain an inspection copy, or the Solutions Manual, simply go to the book's web page on the Cambridge University Press web site and follow the links.

Contents

1. The algebra and calculus of vectors.
2. Velocity, acceleration and scalar angular velocity.
3. Newton's laws of motion and gravitation.
4. Problems in particle dynamics.
5. Linear oscillations and normal modes.
6. Energy conservation for a single particle.
7. Orbits in a central field.
8. Non-linear oscillations and phase space.
9. Multiparticle systems: the energy principle.
10. Multiparticle systems: the linear momentum principle.
11. Multiparticle systems: the angular momentum principle.
12. Lagrange's equations and conservation principles.
13. The calculus of variations and Hamilton's principle.
14. Hamilton's equations and phase space.
15. The general theory of normal modes.
16. Vector angular veclocity and rigid body kinematics.
17. Rotating reference frames.
18. Tensor algebra and the iniertia tensor.
19. Problems in rigid body dynamics.

to the top