Analytical Dynamics Development of the Canonical Equations

Abstract

It is most common to construct the Hamiltonian function and Hamilton's canonical equations through a Legendre transformation of the Lagrangean function or through the central equation. These common perspectives, however, seem abstract and detached from classical analytical dynamics. A new and different approach is presented in which the Hamiltonian function is created as one investigates d'Alembert's equation of motion. This formulation directly ties the Hamiltonian function and Hamilton's canonical equations to the root of classical analytical dynamics more than any other approach.