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Point mass
A point mass is an abstraction of an object.
Explanation
The space occupied by the object is reduced to a point. The object reduced to a point does retain its mass. It also retains its position in three-dimensional space.
Example 1
When a point mass rotates around a given axis of rotation, the angular momentum is the product of the mass of the object, the velocity and the distance - perpendicular to the velocity - to the axis.
HistoryThe concept was first used by the German mathematician August Möbius in 1827. |