College Physics ›› 2018, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (5): 62-67.doi: 10.16854 /j.cnki.1000-0712.170399

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Who wrote F=ma?An investigation on the development history of physics symbols

LI Xi-jun,CHENG Min-xi   

  1. School of Physics and Telecommunication engineering,South China Normal University,Guangzhou,Guangdong 510006,China
  • Received:2017-07-07 Revised:2017-10-23 Online:2018-05-20 Published:2018-05-20

Abstract: By asking a question"who wrote F =ma?" the materials from 1638 to 1960 (including physics original works,biographies,physics textbooks in college and secondary school and reports of international conferences,etc) are discussed,the development of physics symbols is reviewed£® This history is summarized into four stages (geometry,mathematic symbol,physics symbol and SI symbol)

Key words: physics symbol, physics history,  Newton's second law