Introduction to Mechanics of Particles and Systems

This textbook is a revised, expanded and translated version of the author’s lecture notes (originally in Greek) for his freshman-level Physics course at the Hellenic Naval Academy. Its purpose is to introduce the student to classical Newtonian Mechanics of particles and systems. Chapters 2-5 present the mechanics of a single particle from both the kinetic and the dynamical point of view, while in Chapters 6-8 the mechanics of more complex structures such as systems of particles, rigid bodies and ideal fluids is studied. Chapter 1 summarizes basic concepts from vector analysis, while the Mathematical Supplement at the end of the book constitutes a brief introduction to the concepts of differential operators and differential equations. The text contains 60 fully solved problems.