-1

Once I read a bit about a pdf on Physics that said without Calculus, then studying Physics is a waste of time. After I stopped reading the pdf, I later got a book about Physics. So far there is no Calculus in it, so when will Calculus be used in Physics?

Qmechanic
  • 201,751
  • 1
    Check out Newton’s shell theorem. – shawn_halayka Jan 03 '22 at 01:17
  • @shawn_halayka I didn't find any calculus when I searched this theorem up. –  Jan 03 '22 at 01:19
  • How can you describe the motion of a particle inside a gravitational field without differential equations(calculus)? – Jun Seo-He Jan 03 '22 at 01:21
  • Kamal … Dude, it’s practically the very reason why Newton co-discovered calculus. Look on English Wikipedia. :) – shawn_halayka Jan 03 '22 at 01:22
  • Do you have C++ skills? – shawn_halayka Jan 03 '22 at 01:23
  • @shawn_halayka@Jun Seo-He https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/University_Physics/Book%3A_Physics_(Boundless)/5%3A_Uniform_Circular_Motion_and_Gravitation/5.5%3A_Newtons_Law_of_Universal_Gravitation If you can find calculus in this article then tell me. –  Jan 03 '22 at 01:26
  • @shawn_halayka I used to know a lot of C++ but forgot it all when I stopped. –  Jan 03 '22 at 01:27
  • @KamalSaleh try solve the problem I just told you without using differential equation.How are you going to express mathematically the change of the force between the 2 particles since their distance becomes shorter and shorter(because they are attracted)without using differential equations? – Jun Seo-He Jan 03 '22 at 01:34
  • 1
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_law_of_cooling – Jun Seo-He Jan 03 '22 at 01:35
  • libretexts article says "The proof of the theorem is not presented here. Interested readers can explore further using the sources listed at the bottom of this article." and cites https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_theorem ... Calculus begins to be applied here; "Substituting in dM and integrating both sides..." – Mitchell Porter Jan 03 '22 at 01:39
  • https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/548525/calculus-shouldnt-work-for-describing-physics https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/66927/application-of-calculus-in-physics https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/calculus –  Jan 03 '22 at 02:24
  • You seem to be a junior secondary student; at this level, physics is taught without calculus. When you will reach higher secondary level, physics will be impossible without calculus. – Osmium Jan 03 '22 at 02:33
  • @Osmium 1. thanks for the answer and 2. thanks for the compliment since I'm actually in seventh grade –  Jan 03 '22 at 02:37
  • 1
    At this level, you should focus on algebra and especially geometry. One example of the use of calculus is derivation of the integrated equation for charge in RC circuits. – Osmium Jan 03 '22 at 02:45

2 Answers2

3

"When" is probably the wrong question. "By whom" or "from what source" might be better.

While many aspects of physics have a straightforward description with calculus concepts, it is also a hurdle to some. In the US, high school physics is often taught without reference to calculus, and some college-level texts do the same. Usually the description or the introduction of the course will be explicit that calculus knowledge is not required to indicate that it will not be used.

Your text probably does the same. The resources in Recommendations for good Newtonian mechanics and kinematics books will be good ones to look at that use calculus.

BowlOfRed
  • 40,008
0

It is used in various places for derivations and solving problems such as in the topic of GRAVITATION To derive the gravitational field intensity due to a circular ring , a circular disc , a hollow sphere and a solid sphere .

KINEMATICS(As already mentioned in above answer) For instance ,,In initial level it is taught W=F.s Where, W=work done F= force S=displacement But to express work done as the product of force and displacement is sufficient only when the force which is doing work is constant but when it is variable we use 'integration' which is a part of calculus and then we express work done as

W=∫ Fdr

V(Average velocity)=∆s/∆t

When you have to find the instantaneous velocity (velocity at a particular instant of time )

V(instantaneous velocity)= ds/dt read as derivative of s(displacement) with respect to t(time) here we use some basics of differentiation. Similarly we use derivative to find instantaneous acceleration.

There are numerous examples.

Xyz
  • 17