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Re: reason for "s = distance traveled"



I guess I'll drop the other shoe (maybe more than one). Why is "p"
used for translational momentum, or "l" (ell) for angular momentum?
or theta for angular displacement? or omega for angular velocity?
None of these has an obvious English root, but they are all
conventional symbols, and many other examples exist. They are,
after all, just symbols; why is one better than another?

I took a mechanics course from a text by Synge & Griffith. Newton's
second law was symbolized thus:

p = k m f

where p = force (phorce?), k = an explicit constant to handle
idiosyncratic units, and f = acceleration (fastering?). Somehow
mass got represented by "m". p and f are vector quantities, of
course, and later in the text he uses M for linear momentum! I've
always assumed that either he was intent on breaking students of
memorization based on symbols, or else he had some really perverted
mnemonics in mind.

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Leigh