CONSTRAINED MOTION OF

CONNECTED PARTICLES
Sometimes the motions of particles are interrelated because of the
constraints imposed by interconnecting members. In such cases, it is
necessary to account for these constraints in order to determine the
respective motions of the particles.
One Degree of Freedom:
Consider first the very simple
system of two interconnected Reference
Line
particles A and B. It should be quite
evident by inspection that the
horizontal motion of A is twice the
motion of B. We can illustrate this
by using the method of analysis The total length of the cable is

which applies to more complex  r2

L  x  2 y   r1  b
situations where the results cannot 2
be easily obtained by inspection. ( Here, L, r2 , r1 , ,b are cons tan t )
  r2
L  x  2 y   r1  b
2 Reference
Line
The first and second time derivatives of the equation give:

0  x  2 y or 0  v A  2vB

0  x  2 y or 0  a A  2aB

The velocity and acceleration constraint equations indicate that, for the
coordinates selected, the velocity of A must have a sign which is opposite to
that of the velocity of B, and similarly for the accelerations. The constraint
equations are valid for motion of the system in either direction. We
emphasize that vA is positive to the left and that vB is positive down.
 Two degrees of Freedom
The system with two degrees of freedom
Reference
Line is shown here. The positions of the lower
cylinder and pulley C depend on the
separate specifications of the two
coordinates yA and yB.

2. cable 1. cable

1. Cable Length:

L1  y A  2 yD  cons tan t  0  y A  2 y D  0  yA  2 yD

0  v A  2vD and 0  a A  2aD
2. Cable Length:

L2  y B  yC   yC  y D   cons tan t

0  y B  2 yC  y D or 0  vB  2vC  vD
0  yB  2 yC  yD or 0  aB  2aC  a D
PROBLEMS

1. Cylinder B has a downward velocity of 0.6 m/s and upward

acceleration of 0.15 m/s2. Calculate the velocity and
acceleration of block A.
sA

Cable Length:

sB L  2s A  3sB  cons tan t

0  2v A  3vB  0  2a A  3aB

v A  1.5vB  1.50.6  0.9 m / s ( Up the incline )

a A  1.5aB  1.5 0.15  0.225 m / s 2 ( Down the incline )
PROBLEMS
2. For the pulley system shown, each of the cables at A and
B is given a velocity of 2 m/s in the direction of the arrow.
Determine the upward velocity v of the load m.
x2 x1
vA=2 m/s
vB=2 m/s

y1
y2
y2 y1

x
x1  2 y1  cons tan t  x1  2 y1  0 y1   1
2
x2  y2   y2  y1   cons tan t  x2  2 y 2  y1  0

 x 
x2  2 y 2    1   0
 2
x x 2 2
y 2   2  1     1.5 m / s 
2 4 2 4
PROBLEMS
3. Neglect the diameters of the small pulleys and establish
the relationship between the velocity of A and the velocity
of B for a given value of y.

L  2 x  3 y 2  b 2  cons tan t
yy
L  2 x  3 0 x  v A and y  vB
y 2  b2
3 yv A
vB  
2 y 2  b2
PROBLEMS
4. Collars A and B slide along the fixed right-angle rods and
are connected by a cord of length L. Determine the
acceleration of collar B as a function of y if collar A is given
a constant upward velocity vA.

vA

vB x 2  y 2  L2  x 2  L2  y 2
yy
2 xx  2 yy  0  x  
x
x 2  xx  y 2  yy  0 y  v A  cons tan t y  0
2
 yy  2
    
y
x 2  y 2  x  L2v 2A
x    
x x 2
L y 
2 3/ 2
