Kinematics, the theory of the motion of bodies. Kinematics deals with the mathematical description of motion without considering the applied forces. The quantities position, path, time, velocity and acceleration play central roles.
1 1.1 Description of motion
Motion, the change of the position of a body during a time interval. To describe the motion, numerical values (coordinates) are assigned to the position of the body in a coordinate system. The time variation of the coordinates characterizes the motion.
Uniform motion exists if the body moves equal distances in equal time intervals. Opposite: non-uniform motion.
1.1 1.1.1 Reference systems
1.1.1 1. Dimension of spaces
Dimension of a space, the number of numerical values that are needed to determine the position of a body in this space.
■ A straight line is one-dimensional, since one numerical value is needed to fix the position; an area is two-dimensional with two numerical values, and ordinary space is three-dimensional, since three...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsEditor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer-Verlag
About this entry
Cite this entry
(2002). Kinematics. In: Benenson, W., Harris, J.W., Stocker, H., Lutz, H. (eds) Handbook of Physics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-21632-4_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-21632-4_1
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-95269-7
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-21632-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive