- #1
joriarty
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Homework Statement
Explain which of the following quantities are invariant in Newtonian mechanics.
- Position
- Distance between two points
- Velocity
- Acceleration
- Momentum
- Kinetic Energy
- Potential Energy (I presume gravitational)
Homework Equations
N/A
The Attempt at a Solution
I understand that a quantity such as displacement would be invariant if a transformation is applied and that the transformed frame of reference has the same form as the original frame of reference.
However I am unsure exactly how to tackle the problem. Take for example kinetic energy, [tex]{E}_{k}=\frac{1}{2}mv^{2}[/tex]. How would I then determine if this was invariant or not? Can I just invent a one-dimensional transformation such as [tex]v'=v+a\cdot t[/tex] (where a is acceleration, t is time), apply this to the kinetic energy equation, and check the form of the result?
Thank you for your help