Classical mechanics
Part of a series on
${\textbf {F))={\frac {d}{dt))(m{\textbf {v)))$ Second law of motion
History Timeline Textbooks
Branches Applied Celestial Continuum Dynamics Kinematics Kinetics Statics Statistical mechanics
Fundamentals Acceleration Angular momentum Couple D'Alembert's principle Energy kinetic potential Force Frame of reference Inertial frame of reference Impulse Inertia / Moment of inertia Mass Mechanical power Mechanical work Moment Momentum Space Speed Time Torque Velocity Virtual work
Formulations Newton's laws of motion Analytical mechanics Lagrangian mechanics Hamiltonian mechanics Routhian mechanics Hamilton–Jacobi equation Appell's equation of motion Koopman–von Neumann mechanics
Core topics Damping Displacement Equations of motion Euler's laws of motion Fictitious force Friction Harmonic oscillator Inertial / Non-inertial reference frame Mechanics of planar particle motion Motion (linear) Newton's law of universal gravitation Newton's laws of motion Relative velocity Rigid body dynamics Euler's equations Simple harmonic motion Vibration
Rotation Circular motion Rotating reference frame Centripetal force Centrifugal force reactive Coriolis force Pendulum Tangential speed Rotational frequency Angular acceleration / displacement / frequency / velocity
Scientists Kepler Galileo Huygens Newton Horrocks Halley Maupertuis Daniel Bernoulli Johann Bernoulli Euler d'Alembert Clairaut Lagrange Laplace Hamilton Poisson Cauchy Routh Liouville Appell Gibbs Koopman von Neumann
Physics portal Category
v t e

In physics and engineering, kinetics is the branch of classical mechanics that is concerned with the relationship between the motion and its causes, specifically, forces and torques.^[1]^[2]^[3] Since the mid-20th century, the term "dynamics" (or "analytical dynamics") has largely superseded "kinetics" in physics textbooks,^[4] though the term is still used in engineering.

In plasma physics, kinetics refers to the study of continua in velocity space. This is usually in the context of non-thermal (non-Maxwellian) velocity distributions, or processes that perturb thermal distributions. These "kinetic plasmas" cannot be adequately described with fluid equations.

The term kinetics is also used to refer to chemical kinetics, particularly in chemical physics and physical chemistry.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] In such uses, a qualifier is often used or implied, for example: "physical kinetics", "crystal growth kinetics", and so on.

References

^ kinetics. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
^ Louis Adolphe Martin (1907). Text-book of Mechanics. Wiley. p. Section X, pp. 69ff.
^ Kinetics must not be confused with kinematics, the study of motion without consideration of the physical circumstances causing it (see, e.g., Edmund Taylor Whittaker (1988). A Treatise on the Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies (Reprint of the Fourth Edition of 1936 with a foreword by William McCrea ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. Chapter 1. ISBN 0-521-35883-3.), which is a separate branch of classical mechanics.
^ See this discussion.
^ Lifshitz, E. M.; Pitaevskii, L. P.; Sykes, J. B.; Franklin, R.N. (1981). Physical Kinetics. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0-7506-2635-6.
^ Alexeev, Boris V.; Alexeev (2004). Generalized Boltzmann Physical Kinetics. Elsevier. ISBN 0-444-51582-8.
^ Gorelik, G. E.; N. V. Pavlyukevish; V. V. Levdansky; V. G. Leitsina; G. I. Rudin (1995). Physical Kinetics and Transfer Processes in Phase Transitions. Begell House. ISBN 1-56700-044-4.
^ Krainov, Vladimir P.; Kevin Hendzel (1992). Qualitative Methods in Physical Kinetics and Hydrodynamics. Springer. ISBN 0-88318-953-4.
^ American Chemical Society, Division of Physical Chemistry (1976). Evolution of Kinetics: A Centennial Symposium of the Division of Physical Chemistry, American Chemical Society. American Chemical Society.