The troublesome topic of Galilean invariance in Lagrangian mechanics is discussed in two situations: (i) A particular case involving a rheonomic constraint in uniform motion and (ii) the general translation of an entire system and the constants of motion involved. A widespread impropriety in most textbooks is corrected, concerning a condition for the equality h = E to hold.

1.
J. B.
Griffiths
,
The Theory of Classical Dynamics
(
Cambridge U.P.
,
Cambridge, UK
,
1985
).
2.
Antonio S.
de Castro
,
Eur. J. Phys.
21
,
23
26
(
2000
).
3.
Lev
Landau
and
Evgeny
Lifchitz
,
Mechanics
(
MIR
,
Moscow
,
1966
), pp.
12
15
; in this book the authors argue that L is a Galilean invariant but in fact they show that it is the Lagrange equations that are so.
4.
Herbert
Goldstein
,
Classical Mechanics
(
Addison-Wesley
,
Reading, MA
,
1980
), pp.
60
63
.
5.
Stephen T.
Thornton
and
Jerry B.
Marion
,
Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems
(
Brooks/Cole
,
Belmont, CA
,
2004
), pp.
258
261
.
6.
Arnold
Sommerfeld
,
Mechanics
(
Academic Press
,
New York
,
1952
), pp.
190
191
.
7.
Keith R.
Symon
,
Mechanics
(
Addison-Wesley
,
Reading, MA
,
1972
), p.
379
(see also p. 375).
8.
Vladimir I.
Arnold
,
Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics
(
MIR
,
Moscow
,
1987
), p.
71
.
9.
Jorge V.
José
and
Eugene J.
Saletan
,
Classical Dynamics
(
Cambridge U.P.
,
Cambridge, UK
,
1998
), p.
71
.
10.
Grant R.
Fowles
and
George L.
Cassiday
,
Analytical Mechanics
(
Thomson Brooks/Cole
,
Belmont, CA
,
2005
), p.
455
.
AAPT members receive access to the American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.