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Don't be a $\frac{d^3x}{dt^3}$

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What does it all mean?

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    $\begingroup$ So that's a shirt that specifically asks mathematicians and physicists to not be jerks? Because...? $\endgroup$
    – Jonas
    Mar 17, 2013 at 16:23
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    $\begingroup$ Related: What came fist, Rice Crispy or Snap, Crackle and Pop? $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Mar 17, 2013 at 20:06
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    $\begingroup$ This question is not that bad, it is about the physical meaning of the time derivate of the acceleration and therefore a legitimate physics question. So it need not to be closed or something as certain people claim ... $\endgroup$
    – Dilaton
    Mar 17, 2013 at 20:50
  • $\begingroup$ An oxymoronic T shirt? :-) $\endgroup$
    – John Rennie
    Mar 18, 2013 at 8:25
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    $\begingroup$ At first, I thought, "Don't be a jolt", what does that mean? Then, I remembered that in some countries, it is called "jerk". $\endgroup$
    – Abhimanyu Pallavi Sudhir
    Jun 22, 2013 at 5:32

3 Answers 3

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It means don't be a jerk. The third derivative of position (i.e. the change in acceleration) is called "jerk", though it's a little used quantity. It's called jerk because a changing acceleration is felt as a "jerk" in that direction.

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In physics, sometimes the third derivative of position with respect to time is called jerk.

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Jerk is the third derivative, fourth derivative is jump.

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