Dynamics 101 Conservation of Energy of a Particle

As the climber ascends the rock wall he loops the safety rope through carabiners anchored to the
wall to limit the distance that he will drop in the event of a fall. A 180-lb climber is a distance d
above the last anchor point as shown below. The maximum force that the climber can sustain
from his harness without serious injury is 800lb. Find the maximum safe distance d assuming
that the rope behaves like a spring with a stiffness k=25lb/ft.

Solution:
If the climber falls, he will drop a total height h=2d+s, where s is the stretch of the rope, as
shown below.

Since the velocity of the climber is zero in both the start and end position, the potential energy is
the same for both.
PEend PEstart

1 2 1 1 ks2
ks mg (2d s) d s
2 2 2 mg
The stretch associated with the maximum load of 800lb can be found from
F 800lb
s 32 ft
k 25lb / ft
We can now calculate the distance d as
1 1 (25lb / ft)(32 ft) 2
d 32 ft 19.5 ft
22 180lb

Author: Kennedy, T. C.
Subject: Dynamics
Topic: Conservation of Energy of a Particle
Problem Length: 10 minutes
Grading: Hand graded
Presentation Format: Text and figure with problem statement
Other:
Dynamics 102 Particle Kinetics with Polar Coordinates
Does Spiderman violate the laws of dynamics? In one of his movies, he keeps pace with a
speeding police car by swinging like a pendulum on the end of a line of spider silk of length L as
shown below. Find the average horizontal velocity using this means of transport.

Solution:
We begin by drawing a free body diagram of Spiderman.

We write Newtons second law for the coordinate.

F ma

d 2
mg cos mL
dt 2
We can rewrite this result as
d g d
cos where
dt L dt
Next, we use the chain rule of calculus to rewrite this again as
d d d d g
cos
dt dt d d L
This is now in a form where we can separate variables and integrate.
g g

0
d
0 L
cos d 2 / 2 sin
L
Solving for and setting =d/dt gives
 d 2 g sin

dt L
Again, we separate variables and integrate over one 180 arc.
d 2g t 2g

0
sin

L 0
dt 5.08 t
L
Solving for the time to complete the arc gives.
L
t 5.08
2g
The horizontal distance traveled during this time is 2L. Therefore, the average horizontal
velocity is given as
2L
v horz 0.557 Lg
t
From the movie, it appears that L~150ft. This corresponds to a velocity of 38.7ft/s=26.4mph. Is
this sufficient to keep pace with a speeding police car?

Author: Kennedy, T. C.
Subject: Dynamics
Topic: Particle Kinetics with Polar Coordinates
Problem Length: 20 minutes
Grading: Hand graded
Presentation Format: Text and figure with problem statement
Other:
Dynamics 103 Particle Impulse and Momentum
Does the superhero Hancock violate the laws of dynamics? In the movie, he brings a moving
train to an abrupt stop using his bare hands. Find the force required to bring a 200ton locomotive
traveling at 20mph to a complete stop in one second as shown below.

Solution:
We begin by writing the impulse-momentum relation for the locomotive subjected to a force in
the x-direction.

F dt mv
x x end mv x start

To make the integration simple, lets assume that the force Fx is constant. This gives
Fx t mvxstart Fx mvxstart / t
For this case we have m=12,422slugs, vx-start=-29.3ft/s, and t=1s. This gives Fx=364,000lb. Lets
now draw a free body diagram of Hancock, assuming he weighs 200lb.

The horizontal force of 364,000lb must be transmitted into the ground to keep Hancock
motionless as shown in the movie. If this were done by friction, it would require N=364,000lb.
This results in a coefficient of friction =1820. This is not possible. Perhaps he braces his feet
against a railroad tie. Can a 6inX10inX72in wooden beam carry a 364,000lb force?

Author: Kennedy, T. C.
Subject: Dynamics
Topic: Particle Impulse and Momentum
Problem Length: 10 minutes
Grading: Hand graded
Presentation Format: Text and figure with problem statement
Other:
Dynamics 104 Rigid Body Kinetics without Rotation
Why do the front brakes on a car wear out faster than the rear brakes? To get some insight into
this, consider the following problem. The car shown below skids to a stop with the brakes
locked. The coefficient of friction between the tires and the road is 0.9. Compare the stopping
force on the front tires to those on the rear.

Solution:
We begin by drawing a free body diagram of the car with a coordinate system located at the
bottom of the rear wheels.

Applying force equilibrium gives

F x macx N r N f macx

F y macy N r N f mg 0
Solving gives acx=-g and Nr=mg-Nf. Now apply moment equilibrium with the recognition that
=0, aox=acx, and aoy=0.

M oz I o m( xc aoy yc a0 x ) N f L mgxc myc acx

This gives
mg( xc yc ) mg( L xc yc )
Nf and N r
L L
Now lets form the ratio of the front friction force to the rear friction force.
 ff N f xc y c 5 ft 0.9(2.2 ft)
6.84
fr N r L xc y c 8 ft 5 ft 0.9(2.2)
This means that stopping force from the front is almost seven times that of the rear for this case.

Author: Kennedy, T. C.
Subject: Dynamics
Topic: Rigid Body Kinetics without Rotation
Problem Length: 15 minutes
Grading: Hand graded
Presentation Format: Text and figure with problem statement
Other:
Dynamics 105 Rigid Body Kinetics with Rotation
A billiard ball with radius r=2.25in is struck in such a way that it is propelled to the right with
center velocity vco=10ft/s and backspin (counterclockwise rotation) of o=20radians/s. Find the
distance that the ball travels before its rotation becomes clockwise if the coefficient of friction is
=0.5.

Solution:
We begin by drawing a free body diagram of the ball.

Force equilibrium gives

F x macx N macx

F y macy N mg 0
From these we get
acx g and N mg
Integrating this with respect to time and using the fact that the initial velocity is vo gives
vcx vo gt
Integrating this with respect to time and using the fact that the initial position is xc=0 gives
xc vo t gt 2 / 2
Moment equilibrium gives
2 2
M cz I c Nr
3
mr
From this we get
3 g

2 r
Integrating this with respect to time and using the fact that the initial angular velocity is o gives
3 gt
o
2 r
The rotation direction changes from counterclockwise to clockwise when =0. Setting =0 and
solving for t gives
2 r o
t
3 g
Substituting this value for time in to the expression for position xc gives
g 2 ro 2 ro
xc vo 1.36 ft
2 3 g 3 g

Author: Kennedy, T. C.
Subject: Dynamics
Topic: Rigid Body Kinetics with Rotation
Problem Length: 20 minutes
Grading: Hand graded
Presentation Format: Text and figure with problem statement
Other:
Dynamics 106 Particle Kinetics with Normal and Tangential Coordinates
A 1500-lb race car travels around a curve with a radius =400ft at constant speed. Wings on the
car create a down force equal to cv2 where c=0.02slug/ft and v is the speed in ft/s. If the
coefficient of friction between the tires and the road is =1.5, find the maximum speed that the
car can have without slipping.

Solution:
We begin by drawing a free body diagram of the car assuming that it is on the verge of slipping.

Since the car is traveling with constant speed (i.e., v 0 ), Newtons second law gives
v2
F ma Nu ( N mg cv 2 )u z m u

This gives
v2
N mg cv 2 and N m

Solving for v gives
mg
v 161 ft / s 110mph
m
c

Author: Kennedy, T. C.
Subject: Dynamics
Topic: Particle Kinetics with Normal and Tangential Coordinates
Problem Length: 10 minutes
Grading: Hand graded
Presentation Format: Text and figure with problem statement
Other:
Dynamics 107 Kinetics of a Particle
A 0.5kg block starts from position 1 with velocity v1at the top of the disk and slides around the
smooth disk with radius r=0.2m. Find the maximum allowable value for v1 such that the block
does not lose contact with the disk when it passes position 2 at the bottom of the disk. The
spring has a stiffness k=400Newton/m and an unstretched length of 0.1m.

Solution:
We will begin by analyzing the motion from point 1 to point 2 using conservation of energy
since the normal force between the block and the disk does no work. We also observe that there
is no change in potential energy in the spring.
1 2 1
mv1 mg (2r ) mv22 v 22 v12 4 gr
2 2
Now we draw a free body diagram of the block in position 2.

We assume that the block is on the verge of losing contact with the disk so that N=0. Newtons
second law gives
v22
n
F man ks2 mg m
r
Substituting the expression for v2 gives
v 2 4 gr
ks2 mg m 1
r
Solving for v1 gives
 r 0.2m
v1 (ks2 5mg ) [( 400 Newton / m)(0.2m 0.1m) 5(0.5kg)(9.81m / s 2 ) 2.49m / s
m 0.5kg

Author: Kennedy, T. C.
Subject: Dynamics
Topic: Kinetics of a Particle
Problem Length: 15 minutes
Grading: Hand graded
Presentation Format: Text and figure with problem statement
Other:
Dynamics 108 Kinematics of Rigid Bodies
Point A moves to the left at a speed of 4ft/s. Point B moves to the right at a speed of 2ft/s. Find
the speed of point C at the instant shown.

Lets write the velocity of point C using point A as a reference.

vC v A AC xrC / A
L L
vC 4i AC k x( L cos 45i L sin 45 j ) 4i AC j AC i
2 2
Lets write the velocity of point C using point B as a reference.

vC v B BC xrC / B
L L
vC 2i BC k x( L cos 45i L sin 45 j ) 2i BC j BC i
2 2

Equating the two expressions for vC gives
L L L L
(4 AC )i AC j (2 BC )i BC j
2 2 2 2
From this we get
L L L L
(4 AC ) (2 BC ) and AC BC
2 2 2 2
We can solve these to get
BC 3 2 / L

Substituting this into the expression for vC gives

vC i 3 j and vC 3.16 ft / s
Author: Kennedy, T. C.
Subject: Dynamics
Topic: Kinematics of Rigid Bodies
Problem Length: 15 minutes
Grading: Hand graded
Presentation Format: Text and figure with problem statement
Other:
Dynamics 109 Kinematics of Rigid Bodies
A ring with outer radius r4=2.5in and inner radius r3=2in rolls clockwise without slipping at
R=10radians/s. The center shaft with radius r1=1in rotates counterclockwise at S =5radians/s.
Find the angular velocity of the bearings B with radius r2=0.5in. There is no slipping at the
contact points.

Solution:
For a wheel that rolls without slipping, there is a simple relation between the velocity of the
center of the wheel and its angular velocity; i.e., vc=-r4R.

Using the unit vectors in the figure above, we can write

v c r4 R i
The velocity of point b is

vb vc S xrb / c

vb r4R i S kx(r1 j ) (r1S r4R )i
The velocity of point a is

va vb B xra / b

va (r1S r4R )i B kx(2r2 j ) (r1S r4R 2r2B )i
The velocity of point d can be written as

vd va R xrd / a

vd (r1S r4R 2r2B )i R kx[(r3 r4 ) j ] [r1S r4R 2r2B (r3 r4 )R ]i
However, because point d does not slip, we can set

v d [r1 S r4 R 2r2 B (r3 r4 ) R ]i 0
From this we can solve for B as
r1 s r3 r (1in )(5s 1 ) (2in )( 10s 1 )
B 25s 1
2r2 2(0.5in )

Author: Kennedy, T. C.
Subject: Dynamics
Topic: Kinematics of Rigid Bodies
Problem Length: 20 minutes
Grading: Hand graded
Presentation Format: Text and figure with problem statement
Other:
Dynamics 110 Kinetics of Rigid Bodies with Rotation
A bar with length L is released from the position shown with =30. Find the acceleration of the
contact point if the surface is frictionless.

Solution:
We begin by drawing a free body diagram of the bar.

Considering force equilibrium in the x-direction gives

F x macx 0 macx
Since =0 for the initial position, the accelerations of points c and o are related through the rigid-
body kinematic relation
L
a cx a ox sin
2
Combining this with the previous equation, we conclude that
L
a ox sin
2
Considering moment equilibrium about point o gives
L 1 L
M oz I o m( xc aoy y c a0 x ) mg
2
cos mL2 m sin aox
3 2
Combining this equation with the previous one gives
 g
sin cos
a ox 2 12.9 ft / s 2
2 1 2
sin
3 2

Author: Kennedy, T. C.
Subject: Dynamics
Topic: Kinetics of Rigid Bodies with Rotation
Problem Length: 15 minutes
Grading: Hand graded
Presentation Format: Text and figure with problem statement
Other:
Dynamics 111 Kinetics of Particles with Polar Coordinates
While Cleetus is fishing, a game warden comes along and gives Cleetus a citation because one of
his fish is 2% below the minimum legal weight. Cleetus tells the game warden that the fish is
legal because the game wardens fish scale does not measure the true weight because it does not
account for the acceleration that the fish experiences due to the rotation of the earth. Does
Cleetus have a good case?
Solution:
We begin by drawing a free body diagram of the fish.

For objects that are stationary relative to the surface of the earth, Newtons second law gives

( Fscale mg )u r m(r 2 )u r
This gives
Fscale mg mr 2
The true weight is mg, while the measured weight is Fscale. Therefore, the error is
mg Fscale mg (mg mr 2 ) r 2
Error
mg mg g
For objects at the surface of the earth, r=6.38x106m and 1revolutuion / day 7.27 x10 5 s 1 .
Error=0.34%.
This is less than the 2% that the fish is underweight. Cleetus does not have a good case.

Author: Kennedy, T. C.
Subject: Dynamics
Topic: Kinetics of Particles with Polar Coordinates
Problem Length: 10 minutes
Grading: Hand graded
Presentation Format: Text and figure with problem statement
Other: