Detecting Interactions

Claimed by Yahia Ali (Spring 2016)

Claimed by Kristen Sparks

The Main Idea

Detecting whether an interaction has taken place is a simple, yet fundamental, skill necessary to the analysis of any physics problem. The importance of this skill will especially be seen when working with problems that call for the identification of multiple forces acting on a system.

A Mathematical Model

There are two main conditions that, if observed, would allow one to conclude that an interaction has taken place: change in direction or change in speed. Since velocity consists of both speed and direction, an observed change in velocity would indicate the existence of an interaction.

[math]\displaystyle{ {\frac{d\vec{p}}{dt}}_{system} = \vec{F}_{net} }[/math] where p is the momentum of the system and F is the net force from the surroundings.

A Computational Model

Detection an interaction is often the first step to trying to troubleshoot VPython code. If you're trying to model a net force acting on an object, but you do not see that object changing in speed or direction, then there is likely an issue with your force equations, momentum update, or position update. How do we visualize or predict using this topic. Consider embedding some vpython code here Teach hands-on with GlowScript

History

Isaac Newton summarized the relationship between a change in velocity and the presence of an interaction in his First Law of Motion, which says that, when viewed in an inertial reference frame, an object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by a force.

See also

Are there related topics or categories in this wiki resource for the curious reader to explore? How does this topic fit into that context?

External links

Internet resources on this topic

References

Chabay, Ruth W., and Bruce A. Sherwood. Matter & Interactions. 4th ed. Wiley. ISBN: 978-1118875865