Force, Strain, and Tactile Sensors

Abstract

While the kinematics studies positions of objects and their motions, the dynamics answers the question – what causes the motion? Classical mechanics deals with moving objects whose velocities are substantially smaller than the speed of light. Moving particles, such as photons, atoms, and electrons, are the subjects of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. A typical problem of classical mechanics is the question: “What is motion of an object that initially had a given mass, charge, dipole moment, position, etc. and was subjected to external objects having known mass, charge, velocity, etc.?” That is, classical mechanics deals with interactions of macroobjects. In a general form, this problem was solved by Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) who was born in the year when Galileo died. He brilliantly developed ideas of Galileo and other great mechanics. Newton stated his first law as: “Every body persists in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed on it.” Sometimes, this is called a law of inertia. Another way to state the first law is to say that: “If no net force acts on a body, its acceleration a is zero.”