Simple Examples of the Interpretation of Changes in Kinetic and Potential Energy Under Galilean Transformations
Edw. S. Ginsberg · The Physics Teacher · 2018
The compatibility of the Newtonian formulation of mechanical energy and the transformation equations of Galilean relativity is demonstrated for three simple examples of motion treated in most introductory physics courses (free fall, a frictionless inclined plane, and a mass/spring system). Only elementary concepts and mathematics, accessible to students at that level, are used. Emphasis is on pedagogy and concepts related to the transformation properties of potential energy.