(bolding mine)
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger]
So, naturally, when we take the integral of momentum, we’re going to get a squared term.
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This use of ‘naturally’ is why i love this board!
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends]
Can I add another related question here, rather than start my own thread? What’s the highest power to appear in an equation describing a scientific law? Are there any laws involving, say, a fourth power? A fifth? Even higher powers?
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It depends. You can, to give one example, write any trig function as an infinite series, so any equation with a trig function could be written in such a way that the answer to your question is infinite. To a certain extent the way we choose to write out the equations is arbitrary-- based on the coordinate system we use or the mathematical formalism we employ.
[QUOTE=glee]
(bolding mine)
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger]
So, naturally, when we take the integral of momentum, we’re going to get a squared term.
[/QUOTE]
This use of ‘naturally’ is why i love this board!
[/QUOTE]
Reminds me of a story from one of those “overheard comments” books from some years ago. A student is crossing the quad in a Cambridge college and sees two dons walking towards him, one talking vigorously and ticking off points on his fingers. As they pass, the student overhears just " … and ninthly …".