,Modern Classical Mechanics
Solution Manual
T. HELLIWELL
V. SAHAKIAN
, Preamble
Our book “Modern Classical Mechanics” includes more than 500 problems, attached as
usual in a few pages at the end of every chapter. Some problems are easy – labeled by (*),
some are challenging tagged with (***), many others are somewhere in between and are
denoted by (**). Truth be told, it took us about as long to collect or invent these problems,
solve them, and typeset them, as to write and typeset the main body of the textbook itself.
Some we have assigned already many times in our courses, while others are newly minted.
It is of course through solving problems that most students learn, really learn, the
material. And for that to succeed it is obviously important to keep the solutions manual
confidential. As every physicist knows, it is only through grappling with problems oneself,
making mistakes, following blind alleys, and otherwise challenging oneself, is the material
truly learned. Having solutions with which students can compare their work only at the end
then becomes an invaluable resource for learning from their mistakes.
In this problem solutions manual we have attempted to solve all of the problems at the
end of the chapters. Surprisingly, we have been known to make mistakes. There may even
be typos here and there. So we hope that people who use the book and this manual will let
us know when they find errors so that we can correct them. We will keep an errata webpage
updated at:
sahakian.physics.hmc.edu/mcm
You can submit corrections and suggestions by contacting via
email; please include the words “MCM errata” in the subject of the email. We will
periodically update the content of the booklet at the Cambridge University Press website.
Finally, we are grateful to Ivy Yuan for help in typesetting this manual.
iii
, Part I
1 Newtonian Particle Mechanics 3
2 Relativity 45
3 The Variational Principle 82
4 Lagrangian Mechanics 108
5 From Classical to Quantum and Back 143
Solution Manual
T. HELLIWELL
V. SAHAKIAN
, Preamble
Our book “Modern Classical Mechanics” includes more than 500 problems, attached as
usual in a few pages at the end of every chapter. Some problems are easy – labeled by (*),
some are challenging tagged with (***), many others are somewhere in between and are
denoted by (**). Truth be told, it took us about as long to collect or invent these problems,
solve them, and typeset them, as to write and typeset the main body of the textbook itself.
Some we have assigned already many times in our courses, while others are newly minted.
It is of course through solving problems that most students learn, really learn, the
material. And for that to succeed it is obviously important to keep the solutions manual
confidential. As every physicist knows, it is only through grappling with problems oneself,
making mistakes, following blind alleys, and otherwise challenging oneself, is the material
truly learned. Having solutions with which students can compare their work only at the end
then becomes an invaluable resource for learning from their mistakes.
In this problem solutions manual we have attempted to solve all of the problems at the
end of the chapters. Surprisingly, we have been known to make mistakes. There may even
be typos here and there. So we hope that people who use the book and this manual will let
us know when they find errors so that we can correct them. We will keep an errata webpage
updated at:
sahakian.physics.hmc.edu/mcm
You can submit corrections and suggestions by contacting via
email; please include the words “MCM errata” in the subject of the email. We will
periodically update the content of the booklet at the Cambridge University Press website.
Finally, we are grateful to Ivy Yuan for help in typesetting this manual.
iii
, Part I
1 Newtonian Particle Mechanics 3
2 Relativity 45
3 The Variational Principle 82
4 Lagrangian Mechanics 108
5 From Classical to Quantum and Back 143
