学术报告会通知

为促进国际学术交流与合作，机械工程学院将继续不定期地邀请相关领域的国际知名专家/学者来访，并面向我院的博/硕士研究生及青年教师举办系列学术报告会，以切实提高研究生培养质量，进一步推动国家重点学科建设工作。

现通知学院近期拟举办的学术报告会信息如下：

题 目：Can Newton’s Third Law Be Questioned?

报告人：Prof. Ye-Hwa Chen（美国佐治亚理工学院）

时 间：2010年6月17日（周四）14:30－16:00

地 点：第24教学楼102教室

欢迎各学科研究生及相关教师参加。

学院研究生教育管理团队

2010年6月10日

附：

1．Prof. Ye-Hwa Chen简介

2．学术报告内容摘要

Biographical Notes of Prof. Ye-Hwa Chen

Ye-Hwa Chen received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the National Taiwan University in 1979. He then received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1983 and 1985, respectively. He served as a faculty in Syracuse University during 1986-1988. Since 1988, he has been with the School of Mechanical Engineering of Georgia Institute of Technology.

He has been serving as regional editor and associate editor for four journals. He has received the IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems Outstanding Paper Award, Sigma Xi Best Research Paper Award, and Sigma Xi Junior Faculty Award. His research interests include fuzzy dynamical systems and mechatronic systems modeling and control.

Can Newton’s Third Law Be Questioned?

Prof. Ye-Hwa Chen

The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA

yehwa.chen@me.gatech.edu

Abstract:

Newton’s three laws of motion (1687) are undoubtedly one of the major pillars in engineering. Newton’s second law of motion, briefly stated as force equals mass times acceleration, is empirically true for particles with low speed. Newton’s first law of motion, briefly stated as if force is zero, then velocity is constant, follows naturally from the second law. Newton’s third law, briefly stated as action and reaction forces are equal, opposite, and collinear, is however never this straightforward.

When we use the Newton’s third law, we actually only use its consequence (such as the equation of moment of momentum), instead of the law itself, which is not easy to be directly verified. In the past, it has been well recognized that Newton’s third law fails for magnetic forces between charged particles. However, there has been much less doubt for some more traditional cases such as rigid bodies.

This seminar will introduce an approach to examine the Newton’s third law. We will study some “mechanical engineering” cases. But what if, after this, we find that the third law has a hole?