Equations of motion force the object exerts. Replacing momentum by mass times velocity, the law is also written more famously as since is a constant in Newtonian mechanics. Newton's second law applies to point-like particles, and to all points in a rigid body. They also apply to each point in a mass continua, like deformable solids or fluids, but the motion of the system must be accounted for, see material derivative. In the case the mass is not constant, it is not sufficient to use the product rule for the time derivative on the mass and velocity, and Newton's second law requires some
Velocity dispersion Velocity dispersion In astronomy, the velocity dispersion ("σ") is the statistical dispersion of velocities about the mean velocity for a group of objects, such as an open cluster, globular cluster, galaxy, galaxy cluster, or supercluster. By measuring the radial velocities of its members, the velocity dispersion of a cluster can be estimated and used to derive the cluster's mass from the virial theorem. Radial velocity is found by measuring the Doppler width of spectral lines of a collection of objects. The more radial velocities one measures, the more accurately one knows their dispersion. A central velocity dispersion refers to the