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HW 4 SOLUTIONS
(c)
Now for cylindrical coordinates we should remember the line element looks like:
d~l = dr
r + rd + dz
z.
So for a function r = r() we have:
ds =
dr 2
r 2 d2
= d
r2
dr
d
2
q
= d r 2 + (r )2 .
(d)
And for a function = (r) we have:
ds =
dr 2
r 2 d2
= dr
1+
r2
d
dr
2
) = dr
1 + r 2 ( )2 .
1 + R2 ( )2 .
(e)
For a function = (z) we have:
ds =
R2
d
dz
2
= dz
dz 2 + R2 d2 = d R2 +
dz
d
2
= dz
dz 2
R2 d2
= dz
1+
(f )
For a function z = z() we have:
ds =
R2 + (z )2 .
d~l = dr
r + rd + r sin d.
(g)
So for a function = () we have:
s
2
q
q
d
2
2
2
2
2
2
ds = R d + R sin d = Rd sin +
= Rd sin2 + ( )2 .
d
(h)
And for a function = () we have:
ds =
R2 d 2 + R2 sin2 d2 = Rd
1 + sin2
d
d
2
= Rd
q
1 + sin2 ( )2 .
x1
p
x 1 + y 2 dx,
is stationary.
For this we turn to the Euler-Lagrange equation:
f
d f
= 0,
y
dx y
Where f =
p
x 1 + y 2 .
f
y
= constant or:
xy
p
= k.
1 + y 2
k
.
x k2
Which is a separable differential equation which can be solved like:
y =
dy =
Zx
dx
x0
k
.
x k2
(1)
x k2 C.
(y + C)2
+ k2 .
4k2
The equation to find the area between the string and the x-axis is as so:
Area =
Zxf
ydx.
Zl
f ds,
(2)
so that we can deal with something we know, l, the length of the string.
Our normal ds element is as such:
ds =
Which can be rearranged to get:
dx =
dx2 + dy 2 .
ds2 dy 2 = ds 1
dy 2
= ds
ds
1 y2 .
Now since there is no explicit dependence on s in f we can use the first integral as in
equation 6.43 of the text. So we will have:
f y
f
= constant.
y
y
p
1 y2
= k.
1 (y/k)2 .
arcsin(y/k) = s/k;
or:
y = k sin(s/k);
(3)
x = k k cos(s/k);
(4)
Zsf
si
ds
.
v
Zxf
xi
dx2 + dy 2 = dx
1 + y2 .
1 + y2
v v0 + V y.
So we have:
t=
Zxf
xi
dx(1 + 12 y 2 )
.
v0 (1 + ky)
1 + 12 y 2
.
f=
1 + ky
Now this is not explicitly dependent on the variable x so we may use the first integral as
we discussed in discussion section Thursday night but did not finish. There is a subtlety,
however. The first integral is as follows:
f y
f
= C.
y
=
= C.
1 + ky
1 + ky
1 + ky
This is a first order differential equation. Now we are told the solution looks as follows:
y = x(D x).
Plugging in to our differential equation we get:
1 2
1 y = C(1 + ky).
2
Or:
1
1 2 D2 22 x2 + 22 Dx = C + Ck[xD x2 ].
(5)
2
In order to get an equation for we must get rid of all terms involving x. If we set our
constant term equal to 2
k (since its a constant we have that freedom) equation 5 reduces
to:
1
2
1 2 D 2 =
.
2
k
Which has solution:
4 + 2k2 D 2 2
;
=
kD2
as advertised.
You may also do this using the Euler-Lagrange equation (equation 1) to get a second order
differential equation:
k
y [1 ky] + k y 2 = 0.
2
This will lead to the same equation for .
ds =
So:
ds =
dx2 + dy 2 or:
dx2
dy 2
= d
s
dx
d
2
dy
d
2
Where we inserted the above definition for x and where y0 = a(1 cos )(remember in this
picture gravity is in the positive y-direction).
Putting this together with our definition of time integral we have:
t=
Zsf
si
ds
=
v
p
r Z
(1 cos )
a
=
.
d p
d p
g
2ga(cos 0 cos )
(cos 0 cos )
p
a 2(1 cos )
So now we have this integral to complete. The book suggests a change of variables = 2.
With this change we can find:
r Z0
cos
a
t=2
d p
.
2
g
(sin 0 sin2 )
0
Lets do a substitution u =
sin
sin 0 :
r Z1
r
r
du
a
a
a
t=2
=
.
=2
g
g2
g
1 u2
0
So this means no matter where you let go of the car, the time to get to the bottom is the
same. Qualitatively if you were to move the cars initial position further up the track, the
extra distance the car needs to travel is exactly balanced by the increased slope of the track.