Newtonian Mechanics

Newtonian Mechanics is derived from two principles:

• the motion of tangible bodies: position, velocity, acceleration
• what causes it - force on the object.
  

Newton's description leads naturally to two new quantities, which prove to be globally constant

• momentum - the "quantity of motion" as Newton called it
• energy - the quantity of work that can be done

Whereas momentum was very much a part of Newton's thinking, energy is a concept that arose ~160 years after Newton and is highly relevant to our civilization today. 

Since extended bodies can rotate as well as move, these concepts are generalized to include

• angular position and its velocity and acceleration
• torque - force that acts to rotate an object about an axis 

Together the above 6 concepts constitute Newtonian Mechanics, which underlies the fields of mechanical and civil engineering and when extended to flowing fluids (ie. liquids and gasses) the fields of aeronautics and hydrodynamics as well.  In this WIKI we will group them into four major areas:

1. Motion of a particle in 3-dimensional space
2. Energy
3. Momentum and Force
4. Angular Momentum (including the description of angular motion) 

In principle, Newtonian Mechanics can be derived from only Newton's Laws (which include SF=ma) and the calculus of motion.  However, energy and momentum follow from these assumptions and prove to be extremely useful ways to think about the world.