Hi Physicsforums
I am re-learning classical mechanics and having a tough time dealing with a certain line from Thornton/Marion. On page 269 (5th ed), a little after introducing Hamiltonian dynamics and the canonical conjugate equations of motion, the author says: "the qk and the pk are independent, whereas the qk and the [itex]\dot{q}[/itex]k are not". The context is describing the advantages of using Hamiltonian dynamics over Lagrangian
In my mind, I see pk = m[itex]\dot{q}[/itex]k. If this is the case, I don't see how the author's statement stands.
Thank you for your time
I am re-learning classical mechanics and having a tough time dealing with a certain line from Thornton/Marion. On page 269 (5th ed), a little after introducing Hamiltonian dynamics and the canonical conjugate equations of motion, the author says: "the qk and the pk are independent, whereas the qk and the [itex]\dot{q}[/itex]k are not". The context is describing the advantages of using Hamiltonian dynamics over Lagrangian
In my mind, I see pk = m[itex]\dot{q}[/itex]k. If this is the case, I don't see how the author's statement stands.
Thank you for your time