Inertial Coordinate Systems

t

Inertial coordinate systems are used in classical mechanics to describe the motion of a particle. Suppose the system

S

is at rest and a second coordinate system

S'

is moving with constant velocity

v

with respect to

S

. An event can be located in either coordinate system. The relations between the coordinates of the event are called Galilean transformations and are nonrelativistic.

Details

These relations can be summarized as

x=x'+vt,

y=y',

z=z',

t=t'.

For more information, see the Wikipedia entries for Frame of Reference and Galilean Transformation.

Permanent Citation

Enrique Zeleny

"Inertial Coordinate Systems"
http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/InertialCoordinateSystems/
Wolfram Demonstrations Project
Published: March 7, 2011