Definition:Particle

Definition

A particle is a representation of an object in the physical universe which is idealized as having no magnitude.

That is, it is modelled as being a mass concentrated at a single point.

Also known as

A particle is also referred to as a point mass or mass-point if it important to stress the fact that it has a definite mass.

Also see

• Results about particles can be found here.

Historical Note

The concept of a particle as a mass concentrated at a point was first explicitly introduced by Leonhard Paul Euler in $1736$.

Sources

• 1961: D.S. Jones: Electrical & Mechanical Oscillations ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $1$: Equilibrium: $1.1$ Introduction
• 1965: J.W. Leech: Classical Mechanics (2nd ed.) ... (next): Chapter $\text {I}$: Introduction
• 1972: George F. Simmons: Differential Equations ... (previous) ... (next): $\S 3$: Appendix $\text A$: Euler
• 1989: Ephraim J. Borowski and Jonathan M. Borwein: Dictionary of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): particle (Mechanics)
• 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {A}.21$: Euler ($\text {1707}$ – $\text {1783}$)
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): particle
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): particle
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): particle