PHYS5301, Momenta and Forces

In figure 1A we want to follow the motion of a plane pendulum. In the XYZ

Cartesian coordinate system the location of m is is given by its (x,y,z) coor-
dinates. In figure 1B an alternate orthogonal coordinate system in shown in
terms of the displacement R ~ = Lr̂ from the fulcrum point on the Y axis. Here
we will use the (r, θ, Z) coordinate system. For a small change in the position
of m during a small time, dt, in the two coordinate systems we have

dR~ = dxx̂ + dy ŷ + dz ẑ (1a)

~ = dLr̂ + Ldθθ̂ + dz ẑ
dR (1b)
dx dy dz
~v = x̂ + ŷ + ẑ (1c)
dt dt dt
dL dθ dz
~v = r̂ + L θ̂ + ẑ (1d)
dt dt dt
~
using ~v = dR .
dt
The base vectors can be translated between the two coordinate systems using
figure 1B.

r̂ = sin(θ)x̂ − cos(θ)ŷ (2a)

θ̂ = cos(θ)x̂ + sin(θ)ŷ (2b)
x̂ = sin(θ)r̂ + cos(θ)θ̂ (2c)
ŷ = −cos(θ)r̂ + sin(θ)θ̂ (2d)

The base vector ẑ is the same in both systems. The momenta in both systems
are

p~ = mẋx̂ + mẏ ŷ + mż ẑ (3a)

p~ = mL̇r̂ + mLθ̇θ̂ + mż ẑ (3b)

The force on m is due to gravity and the contact, Fr , between the rod and m.

F~ = Fr r̂ − mg ŷ = Fr r̂ − mg(−cos(θ)r̂ + sin(θ)θ̂) (4a)

F~ = (Fr + mgcos(θ))r̂ − mgsin(θ)θ̂ (4b)

question1
What is the kinetic energy, T , and the potential energy, V , in both these co-
ordinate systems? Express the kinetic energy in term of momentum. Recall
p2 ≡ p~ · p~. Assume ż = 0.

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 question2
Using the Lagrangian, L = T − V . Find the equation of motion for θ̈. You
don’t have to solve for the motion here. Once we know the acceleration of the
coordinate q̈ k we can setup the algorithm for computing the time evolution from
the initial conditions. Recall the conjugate momentum is defined pk = ∂T .
∂ q̇ k
Since
d ∂T ∂L
( )− = 0. (5)
dt ∂ q̇ k ∂q k
we realize we will get a term in L̇ when we take the time derivative in 5. What
is the equation for θ̈ in
Case 2A for L̇ = 0

and for
Case 2B for L̇ 6= 0

question3
~
Find the angular momentum, Λ(θ), both in magnitude and direction. Recall
you will need to know the torque, ~τ using equation 4b.
Case 3A What is the equation of motion for θ̈. Does it agree or disagree
with the equation from Case 2B?

Discussion
Remember when we solved mechanics problems using the (X,Y,Z) Cartesian
coordinates. We approached the motion in the different directions asking if there
were forces in the x̂, ŷ, ẑ directions. Our equations to determine the motion are
given by
d
p~ = F~ (6a)
dt
d
(px x̂ + py ŷ + pz ẑ) = Fx x̂ + Fy ŷ + Fz ẑ (6b)
dt

So here we assumed that d (px x̂) = ṗx x̂ = Fx x̂., for example. But we have
dt
made an assumption here that
d d
(px x̂) = ṗx x̂ + px x̂ = ṗx x̂. (7)
dt dt
We assume that the unit vectors of the coordinate system are independent of
time. This is why we can make a direct connection between the momenta in
a given direction with the force in that direction using the (X,Y,Z) Cartesian
coordinates.

question4
In equation 3b we find the momentum in the θ̂ direction. We realize that the

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unit vectors, θ̂ and r̂ must be time dependent.
Case 4A
Including the fact that θ̂ is time dependent what is the resulting equation for θ̈
assuming the force in the θ̂ direction is F~θ given in equation 4b?

d
(mLθ̇) = −mgsin(θ)θ̂ (8)
dt

Is this result for θ̈ the same you got from the Lagrangian and the angular mo-
mentum approach?

Case 4B
What are the time derivatives of the unit vectors r̂ and θ̂?

Case 4C
Since your equation 8 disagrees with the earlier result what is wrong? Do we still
insist that equation 6a is fundamental and always correct within the limitations
of Newtonian mechanics? Perhaps we are misusing Newton’s law of motion?
The statement equates the time derivative of the the total momentum to the
total force. Is it always legitimate to separate the momentum components from
the force components? Let’s take Newton seriously and try
d
(mL̇r̂ + mLθ̇θ̂) = (Fr + mgcos(θ))r̂ − mgsin(θ)θ̂ (9)
dt

From equation 9 find the equation for θ̈. Is this equation in agreement with your
two previous results from the Lagrangian and the angular momentum approach?
If we wanted to procede to follow the pendulum now over time as a function of
θ we procede as before with the steps in equation 10. We would need to give an
expression for Fr in equation 9 and a way to calculate L̇. An example is given
in exercise pend2LTheta.pdf.

dθ̇ = θ̈dt (10a)

θ̇(t + dt) = θ̇(t) + dθ̇ (10b)
dθ = θ̇(t)dt (10c)
θ(t + dt) = θ(t) + dθ (10d)

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Figure 1: A pendulum of mass m on a massless rod of length L makes an angle
θ with respect to the Y axis with coordinates (x,y) in the XY coordinate system
in(A). In (B) an alternate orthogonal coordinate system given by unit vectors
θ~ and ~r is shown. 4