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Abstract
This is an old collection of problems on rigid body and analytical
mechanics. It has been modernized by means of LATEX and Corel-
Draw. The texts have been edited and translated to English but the
main work has been done on the illustrations. Minor errors have been
corrected. Thank’s to Gösta Wingårdh for checking the answers.
1
1 Problems on the three dimensional dyna-
mics of rigid bodies
h
r
a
G
a
a
a
2
z y
wt
B
Wt
D A
x
B
l
A
r
3
O a A
a
B
2a
2a
4
j
mg
A
w
a
R
L
5
W
a a
W
w
a
r
r/2
R
A
6
r
a
R
2pn
x
wt
a C
Wt a
2pN
D
y
z
l
7
B
w0
F
D C
O
w
R O
r
A w
R
P
8
C
W
A B
wr
a b
v w
Problem 15 A fast car with a gas turbine engine drives along a straight
road and passes a hill top with speed v. The hill top has radius of curvature
ρ. The axis of the gas turbine is oriented along the length of the car. Its
rotor has moment of inertia J with respect to the turbine axis, and angular
velocity ω relative to the car, so that the angular velocity vector ω points
in the forward direction. The driver notices that the car has a tendency to
turn to sideways.
a) In which direction and how much torque is required to keep the car from
turning?
b) Find the magnitude of the torque in SI-units if v = 30 m/s, ρ = 100 m,
J = 1 kg m2 and ω = 2000 radians per second!
9
z C
a
D
y
C’
B
A x
D’
O a B x
A
y
10
z
x
R
T
R
m
P
11
2 Problems on the Lagrange’s method
j P
R
x x
l a x
A B P C
j
l
l
q
12
O A
x
j
B
Problem 21 The end point A of a rod AB can move with negligible friction
along a straight horizontal track (the x-axis). The rod is thin and homoge-
neous. Its length is and its mass m. It moves in a vertical plane where
it can rotate freely about A. The point A is acted on by a periodic force
Fx = mg3
cos(ωt), where ω 2 = g/, directed along the x-axis.
a) Find the equations of motion for this pendulum!
b) Determine its motion assuming that the angle ϕ and the angular velocity
ϕ̇ always remain small. Use the initial values (at t = 0): x(0) = ẋ(0) =
ϕ(0) = ϕ̇(0) = 0, where x is A:s position.
13
z
w
q
a B
wt
m
k
x
x
x
2m
km
km
r r
l
j
m
14
3 Answers and hints
Answer 1
Note that the angular velocity vector is parallel to the line of contact between
the cone and the horizontal plane. The kinetic energy is,
3mω 2 6h2 + r2 2
T = r .
40 h2 + r2
Answer 2
Note that the kinetic energy is the same for all directions of the rotation axis
through the center of mass; the cube is a spherical top. The kinetic energy
is,
1
T = ma2 ω 2 .
12
Answer 3
The components of the moment of force are:
m2 2
Mx = − Ω sin ωt cos ωt,
12
m2
My = ωΩ cos ωt,
6
Mz = 0.
Answer 4
The force becomes,
mrω02
F = mg + .
2
Answer 5
The angular velocity of the wheel becomes ω0 .
The axis BA ends up with the angular velocity 2ω0 vertically downwards.
The force on the ground becomes F = 4maω02 .
Answer 6
Use the fact that the vertical component of the angular momentum is con-
served. Using this one obtains:
ω
ϕ̇(θ) = .
cos2 θ
Use of the conservation of energy and the fact that the turning points in the
θ-motion occur when θ̇ = 0 one obtains that the turning points are given by
θmin = 0 and
⎛ ⎡ ⎤⎞
2
ω 2 ⎣ 3g
θmax = arcsin ⎝ 1+ − 1⎦⎠ .
3g ω 2
Answer 7
This system is called the precessing heavy symmetric top. The result should
be, 2
2Lg L 1
ω= 2 + 2 − Ω cos α.
R Ω R 2
Note that if ω 1 one must necessarily have Ω 1 and the second term
in the expression can then be neglected compared to the first. For certain
values of the parameters R and L the second term is identically zero. What
does this mean?
15
Answer 8
You need the moments of inertia of a triangle. One find that the angle can
be either α = 0 or,
4g
α = arccos .
3hΩ2
Answer 9
The angle is,
RΩ2
α = arctan .
rωΩ − g
Answer 10
Note that the coin rolls in such a way that a point, rigidly connected to the
coin, and situated on its axis, is fixed. This is the point in the middle of the
circle on which it rolls. Be careful with the signs in the rolling constraints.
The period becomes,
r 4 cot2 α cos α sin α + 2 cot α − cos α sin α
T = π .
g sin α
Answer 11
a) The forces on the bearings become,
M 2π 2 nN a2
NC,D = g± .
2
Answer 12
The thread AE acquires the tension,
Jωω0
SAE = .
L
Answer 13
The force on the disc is,
mr3 ω 2
N= − mg,
2R2
and the angular velocity must fulfill,
2gR2
ω2 ≥ .
r3
16
Answer 14
The largest angular velocity that is allowed is,
mga
Ωmax = .
Jω
Answer 15
a) The car tends to turn to the left and the torque is
Jvω
M= .
ρ
b) With the given data the torque becomes M = 600 Nm .
Answer 16
The angular velocity is,
3 3g
ωx = − .
4 a
Answer 17
a) The angular velocity is,
a
ω = − ω.
2b
b) The impulse is
maω
Sz = .
8
Answer 18
The angular velocity vector immediately after the impact is,
v
ω= (4 ex − 20 ey ).
29R
The reaction impulse at A is given by,
mv
S=− ez .
29
Answer 19
One finds the relation,
mR
x= (1 − sin ϕ),
2M + m
for the position of the cylinder as a function of the position angle of the
particle.
Answer 20
The particle maintains contact with the rod if the acceleration downwards is
less that g at its position. Note that you only need the accelerations at the
initial moment, i.e. when ϕ = θ = ϕ̇ = θ̇ = 0. Using this one finds that
a ≥ 2/3
17
Answer 21
a) Using Lagrange’s method the equations of motion become
1 1 1
ẍ + ϕ̈ cos ϕ − ϕ̇2 sin ϕ = g cos ωt,
2 2 3
2
ẍ cos ϕ + ϕ̈ = −g sin ϕ.
3
b) Linearization and solution gives the result:
2
ϕ = cos 6g/ t − cos g/ t ,
5
2
x = − cos 6g/ t + cos g/ t .
3 5 3
Answer 22
Note that the contribution to the kinetic energy from ż can be neglected near
the equilibrium. Using the theory for couple oscillations one obtains:
g 2g
ω12 = , ω22 = .
2c 3c
Answer 23
a) The angular frequency when the track is not rotating is,
k
Ω= .
m
b) The new equilibrium position when the track rotates is,
Ω2
q0 = a .
Ω2 − ω 2
ϕ = α cos ωt
18