Kinematics

Kinematics is the branch of classical mechanics which describes the motion of points (alternatively "particles"), bodies (objects), and systems of bodies without consideration of the masses of those objects nor the forces that may have caused the motion. Kinematics as a field of study is often referred to as the "geometry of motion" and as such may be seen as a branch of mathematics. Kinematics begins with a description of the geometry of the system and the initial conditions of known values of the position, velocity and or acceleration of various points that are a part of the system, then from geometrical arguments it can determine the position, the velocity and the acceleration of any part of the system. The study of the influence of forces acting on masses falls within the purview of kinetics. For further details, see analytical dynamics.