The Rolling Coin Pioblem

You can expect a pioblem of this geneial style on the Final.

Please see the following pages foi a uiscussion & a figuie. Beie aie a few notes:

The pioblem: A coin of iauius ! iolls without slipping on the giounu, so that the point of
contact moves along a ciicle of iauius #. It goes aiounu the ciicle with angulai velocity $.
The coin makes an angle % with the giounu.

Finu an equation foi the angulai velocity $ as a function of !& #& anu %.

S0L0TI0N NETB0B
The stiategy is to use a set of axes with constant oiientation (x,y,z) in the CN iefeience
fiame. Then iely on the equation


!
!
ABOUT CM
=
d
!
L
ABOUT CM
dt
.

The angulai momentum about the CN (just "angulai momentum" fiom now on) has a
component in the z-uiiection that uoes not change with time anu a poition in the x-y plane
(call it L
!
) that is iotating. If this component iotates with angulai velocity u, then we can
(anu we will) wiite

! = "L
#
(1)

We woik the pioblem using both the constant axes x anu z along with the piincipal axes of
the coin,
e
1
anu
e
3
(iefei to the figuie on the next page). Beie aie the steps:

1. Beteimine

!
! in teims of
e
1
anu
e
3
. This is so we can ueteimine the angulai momentum
using the ielation:

!
L = I
1
!
1

e
1
+ I
3
!
3

e
3
, wheie I1 anu IS aie the piincipal moments of ineitia.
We will use the fact that foi a unifoim cylinuei (the coin), the piincipal moments of ineitia
aie: I
1
=
1
4
mr
2
anu I
3
=
1
2
mr
2
. We aie inteiesteu in

L
!
=
!
Li

x . 0nce we have it, we have the
iight hanu siue of eq (1) above.

2. Next we analyze the toiques about the CN. At the point of contact, theie is both a noimal
foice anu a fiictional foice. The noimal foice must equal mg (since we assume that the CN
moves at a constant height). The fiictional foice is the foice necessaiy to keep the CN
moving in a ciicle, whose iauius is a bit smallei than the iauius of the ciicle tiaceu by the
contact point.

S. Put that all togethei to get a ielationship between the angulai fiequency of the laige
ciicle anu the angle of the coin with iespect to the giounu.