point mass
1
7.9
- noun
- /pɔɪnt mæs/
- Specialized
:
masa puntual
- A billiard is a 2D region of space in which a point mass moves freely between perfectly reflecting walls:
And then when he was there, he realized that he can solve Einstein's equations for a point mass.
- And then when he was there, he realized that he can solve Einstein's equations for a point mass.
Examples
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Are you assuming a meteor is a point mass?
Blog text (1) -
Spherically symmetric masses behave like (produce the same gravitational field as on the outside of) a point mass at the origin with the same total mass.
Blog text (18) -
One is if this had been a point mass, and the point mass will just go back and forth or up and down.
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And let's imagine this green dot that is this point mass we are going to drop.
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So outside it looks like a point mass, inside it looks like there's nothing.
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So take this example, a point mass particle that moves along the trajectory.
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These masses are point masses and we assuming no friction.
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And Schwarzsch solution is actually the full solution for a point mass in spherical symmetry.
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I was under the impression that this would work for any possible collection of point masses. -- Sconibulus, Oct 9 at 13:58
Blog text (20) -
In physics, we can simplify complex systems by treating them as a point mass, which has mass but no physical size.
Synonyms
A mass with no size that physicists treat as if at a single point
How Massive
1
5.4
- Specialized
1
7.9
- Specialized
447
4.2
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'point mass' is directly built from 'point' (a specific position) + 'mass' (amount of matter), so a learner can infer it denotes mass concentrated at a single point. This is a regular noun–noun composition common across languages, making the basic meaning accessible to a B1 learner (though the technical idealization of 'no size' is a discipline-specific detail).
Etymology
The term point mass comes from a simple picture: imagine all an object's mass, its weight, packed into a tiny point, like a single dot. Because of that image, physicists treat things as a point mass to make motion easier to calculate, so the phrase means 'an object with mass but no size'.