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This best-selling classical mechanics text, written for the advanced undergraduate one- or two-semester course, provides a complete account of the classical mechanics of particles, systems of particles, and rigid bodies. Vector calculus is used extensively to explore topics.The Lagrangian formulation of mechanics is introduced early to show its powerful problem solving ability.. Modern notation and terminology are used throughout in support of the text's objective: to facilitate students' transition to advanced physics and the mathematical formalism needed for the quantum theory of physics. CLASSICAL DYNAMICS OF PARTICLES AND SYSTEMS can easily be used for a one- or two-semester course, depending on the instructor's choice of topics. Key Features Written for maximum flexibility, this best-selling junior level mechanics text is easily adaptable to any length--one- or two-semester--or focus of course. LAGRANGIAN and HAMILTONIAN DYNAMICS are introduced early in the text. This text has an entire chapter on NONLINEAR METHODS. NUMERICAL METHODS PROBLEMS are included for students to solve using a computer. About the Author Stephen Thornton is Professor of Physics at the University of Virginia. He has over 130 research publications in experimental nuclear physics and has done research at several accelerator facilities in the United States and Europe. He has directed the research for 25 graduate students. He has held two U.S. Senior Fulbright-Hays Fellowships and a Max-Planck Fellowship to do research at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany on two occasions. He was the founding Director of the University of Virginia Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics. He has published three college textbooks for physics: "Classical Dynamics" and "Modern Physics" (both published with Brooks Cole, a part of Cengage Learning), and "Physics for Scientists and Engineers." He is currently Director of the Master of Arts in Physics Education program at the University of Virginia, which has graduated more than 70 high school physics teachers. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of several organizations including American Association of Physics Teachers, American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Science Teachers Association, Virginia Association of Science Teachers (past President), and the Virginia Math and Science Coalition. He has developed multiple courses for undergraduate students and high school physics teachers. Table of Contents 1. Matrices, Vectors, and Vector Calculus. 2. Newtonian Mechanics--Single Particle. 3. Oscillations. 4. Nonlinear Oscillations and Chaos. 5. Gravitation. 6. Some Methods in the Calculus of Variations. 7. Hamilton''s Principle--Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics. 8. Central-Force Motion. 9. Dynamics of a System of Particles. 10. Motion in a Noninertial Reference Frame. 11. Dynamics of Rigid Bodies. 12. Coupled Oscillations. 13. Continuous Systems: Waves. 14. The Special Theory of Relativity. Appendices. Selected References. Bibliography. Answers to Even-Numbered Problems.