A Scalar Equation of Motion

Alejandro A. Torassa
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (2014) Buenos Aires, Argentina atorassa@gmail.com

Abstract In classical mechanics, this paper presents a scalar equation of motion, which can be applied in any reference frame (rotating or non-rotating) (inertial or non-inertial) without the necessity of introducing ctitious forces.

Scalar Equation of Motion If we consider two particles A and B of mass ma and mb respectively, then the scalar equation of motion, is given by:
1 1 ma mb (va vb )2 + (aa ab ) (ra rb ) = ma mb 2 2 2 Fa F b ma mb d (ra rb ) + Fa F b ma mb (ra rb )

where va and vb are the velocities of particles A and B, aa and ab are the accelerations of particles A and B, ra and rb are the positions of particles A and B, and Fa and Fb are the net forces acting on particles A and B. This scalar equation of motion can be applied in any reference frame (rotating or non-rotating) (inertial or non-inertial) without the necessity of introducing ctitious forces. In addition, this scalar equation of motion is invariant under transformations between reference frames. On the other hand, this scalar equation of motion would be valid even if Newtons three laws of motion were false. 1

Annex Conservation of Energy A system of particles forms a system of biparticles. For example, the system of particles A, B, C and D forms the system of biparticles AB, AC, AD, BC, BD and CD. In this paper, the total energy Eij of a system of biparticles is:
Eij =

i j>i

1 m m (vi v j )2 + (ai a j ) (ri r j ) 2 2 i j

Fj Fi mi mj

d (ri r j )

Fj Fi mi mj

(ri r j )

where mi and mj are the masses of the i-th and j-th particles, vi and vj are the velocities of the i-th and j-th particles, ai and a j are the accelerations of the i-th and j-th particles, ri and rj are the positions of the i-th and j-th particles, and Fi and Fj are the net forces acting on the i-th and j-th particles. Therefore, from the scalar equation of motion it follows that the total energy Eij of a system of biparticles is always in equilibrium. General Equation of Motion The scalar equation of motion can be obtained from the following general equation of motion:

mi m j

j>i

(ri r j ) (ri r j ) (ri r j ) |ri r j | |ri r j |

Fj Fi mi mj

dt dt = 0

where mi and mj are the masses of the i-th and j-th particles, ri and r j are the positions of the i-th and j-th particles, and Fi and Fj are the net forces acting on the i-th and j-th particles.