INTERNATIONAL SERIES IN PURE AND APPLIED PHYSICS

CLASSICAL MECH·ANICS:
Barg~r and Olsson: Classical Mechanics: A Modem Perspective
Bjorken and Drell: Relativistic Quantum Fields A Modern Perspective
Bjorken and Drell: Relativistic Quantum Mechanics . Second Edition
Fetter and Walecka: Quantum Theory of Many-Particle Systems
Feuer and Walecka: Theoretical Mechanics of Particles and Continua
Feynmann and Hibbs: Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals
l tzykson and Zuber: Quantum Field Theory Vernon Barger
Morse and Feshbach: Methods of Theoretical Physics
,... Park: Introduction to the Quantum Theory Unjversity of Wisconsin, Madison
Schiff: Quantum Mechanics
Strauon: Electromagnetic Theory Martin Olsson
,.. Tinkham: Group Theory and Quantum Mechanics
Townsend: A Modern Approach to Quantum Mechanics University of Wisconsin, Madison
( Wang: Solid-State Electronics
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The late F. K. Richtmyer was Consulting Editor ~f the·Series from its
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r inception in 1929 to his death in 1939. Le"e A. DuBridge was Consulting TUa ToIFo§alWo
,.. Editor from 1939 to 1946; and G. P. Barnwell from 1947 to 1954.
BIBLIOTECAS
\ Leonard I . Schiff served as
. consultant
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'from
. ... .. . ... _,,.. .
. 1954
' .... until his .death in 197 I.
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McGRAW-HILL, INC.
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CLASSICAL MECHANICS: About the Authors (
A Modern Perspective
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Copyright© 1995, 1973 by McGraw-Hill, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the
United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act (
of 1976, no part of this publication may be re produced or distributed in any form or Vernon D. Barger earned his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees at the Pennsylva-
by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without the prior written (
nia State University and joined the-fac ulty of t he University of Wisconsin-
pem1ission of the publisher.
Madison in 1963, where he continues to teach and do research. He is ( ( )
currently Vilas P rofessor and Director of the Institute for E lementary (
This book is printed on acid-free paper. Particle Physics Research. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Univer-
(
sity of Hawaii and the University of Du rham, and a Visiting Scientist at
t he SLAC, CERN and Rut herford Laboratories. Dr. Barger's fellowships (
include Fellow of t he American Physical Society, John Simon Guggen- (
23456789 0 DOC DOC 9098765 heim Memorial Foundation Fellow, and Senior Visiting Fellow of t he
Br it is h Science-Engineering Research Council. Barger has co-authored (
ISBN 0-07-003734-5 t hree other textbooks and has published more than 300 scientific articles. (
The editor was Jack Shira;
the production supervisor was Annette Mayeski.
(
The photo editor was Anne Manning. (
R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company was printer and binder. Martin G. Olsson earned his B.S. degree at the Califo rn ia Institute of
Technology a nd his Ph.D. degree at t he University of Maryland. (
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 94-72897 A member of the University of Wisconsin faculty since 1964, he has (
published over 100 research papers. With Barger he also coauthored
(
the t extbook Classical Electricity and Magnetism: A Contemporary Per- ,.
spective. Olsson was t he recipient of a University distinguised teaching (
Photo Credits award and has served as Chair of t he Physics Department. He has held (
Front, 2-page spread, endpaper: Skydiving over Sydney, Australia (Associated Press visit ing posit ions at t he University of Durham a nd CERN, Los Alamos
photo). Wide World Photos. and Rutherford Laboratories. (
Front, reverse side of right endpaper: Lunar module over the moon with earth in the (
background (NASA photo). Courtesy NASA.
(
Back, reverse of left endpaper: Jupiter and its Galilean moons (NASA Voyager photo).
Courtesy Je t Propulsion Laboratory. (
Back, le ft end paper: Einstein ring due to gravitational lensing of a distant quasar
(National Radio Astronomy Observatory photo). (
Back, right end paper: Rings of glowing gas encircling the 1987 A supernova. (Hubble (
Space Telescope _photo). Courtesy Space Telescope Science Institute.
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Fig. 7 .17: Richard Wainscoat, University of Hawaii, Institute for Astronomy.
Fig. 8.15: National Radio Astronomy Observatory. (
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 Contents

Preface XI

Chapter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION 1

1.1 Newtonian Theory 1
1.2 Interactions 3
1.3 The Drag Racer: Frictional Force 6
1.4 Sport Parachuting: Aerodynamic Drag 8
1.5 Archery: Spring Force 12
1.6 Methods of Solution 13
1.7 Simple Harmonic Oscillator 15
To Annetta, Victor, Charlene, Amy and Andrew
1.8 Damped Harmonic Motion 19
r To Sallie, Marybeth, Nina and Anne 1.9 Damped Oscillator with Driving Force: Resonance 26
Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION 37
2.1 Potential Energy 37
2.2 Gravitational Escape 39
2.3 Small Oscillations 41
2.4 Three-Dimensional Motion 44
2.5 Conservative Forces in Three Dimensions 58
2.6 Motion in a Pla ne 64
2.7 Simple Pendulum 67
2.8 Coupled Harmonic Oscillators 71
Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD 84
3.1 Lagrange Equations 84
3.2 Lagrange's Equations in One Dimension 85
r 3.3 Lagrange's Equations in Several Dimensions 89
3.4 Constraints 9i'
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3.5 Pendulum With Oscillating Support 96
3.6 Hamilton's Principle and Lagrange's Equations 99
3.7 Hamiltons' Equations 102
Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 111
r 4.1 Rocket Motion 113
4.2 Frames of Reference 115
4.3 Elastic Collisions: Lab and CM Systems 118
4.4 Collisions of Billiard Balls 125
4.5 Inelastic Collisions 128

vii
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Vlll Contents Contents IX
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Chapter 5 ANGULAR- MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 135
Chapter 9 NEWTON IAN COSMOLOGY 321
5.1 Central Forces 135 (
9.1 The Expansion of the Universe 321
5.2 Planetary Motion 144 (
9.2 Cosmic Redshift 330
5.3 I(epler's Laws 149
9.3 Virial Theorem 332 (
5.4 Satellites and Spacecraft 152 9.4 Dark Matter 335
5.5 Grand Tours of the Outer Planets 154 (
Chapter 10 RELATIVITY 342
5.6 Rutherford Scattering 164
10.l The Relativity Idea 342 (
Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 177 10.2 The Michelson-Morley Experiment 343
177
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6.1 Center of Mass and the Two-Body Problem 10.3 Lorentz Transformation 345
6.2 Rotational Equation of Motion 184 10.4 Consequences of Relativity 350 (
6.3 Rigid Bodies: Static Equilibrium 187 10.5 Relativistic Momentum and· Energy 356 (
6.4 Rotations of Rigid Bodies 189 10.6 Relativistic Dynamics 362
6.5 Gyroscope Effect 193 (
Chapter 11 NON-LINEAR MECHANICS: APPROACH TO CHAOS 367
6.6 The Boomerang 195 11 .l The Anharmonic Oscillator 368 (
6.7 Moments and Products of Inertia 203 11.2 Approximate Analytic Steady-State Solutions 370
205
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6.8 Single-Axis Rotations 11.3 Numerical Solutions of Duffing's Equation 374
6.9 Moments-of-Inertia Calculations 207 11.4 Transition to Chaos: Bifurcations and (
6.10 Impulses and Billiard Shots 211 Strange Attractors 377 (
6.11 Super-Ball Bounces 214 11 .5 Aspects of Chaotic Behavior 379
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Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 228 Appendix A TABLES OF UNITS, CONSTANTS AND DATA 392
7.1 Transformation to Moving Coordinate Frames 228 A-1 Abbreviations for Units 392 (
7.2 Fictitious Forces 231 A-2 Conversion Factors 393 (
7.3 Motion on the Earth 236 A-3 Some Physical Constants 394
241 A-4 Some Numerical Constants 394 (
7.4 Foucault's Pendulum
7.5 Dynamical Balance of a Rigid Body 244 A-5 Vector Identities 394 (
7.6 Principal Axes and Euler's Equations 248 A-6 Sun and Earth Data 395
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7. 7 T he Tennis Racket Theorem 252 A-7 Moon Data 395
7 .8 The Earth as a Free Symmetric Top . 258 A-8 Properties of the Planets 396 (
7.9 The Free Symmetric Top: External Observer 261 Appendix B ANSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS 397 (
7.10 The Heavy Symmetric Top 264 Index 411 (
7.11 Slipping Tops: Rising and Sleeping 271
7.12 The Tippie-Top 273 (

Chapter 8 GRAVITATION 284 (

8. 1 Attraction of a Spherical Body: Newton's Theorem 284
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8.2 The Tides 287
8.3 Tidal Evolution of a Planet-Moon System 295 (
8.4 General Relativity: The Theory of Gravity 300 (
8.5 Planetary Motion- Perihelion Advance 306
309 (
8.6 Self-Gravitation Bodies: Stars
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 PREFACE

In the twenty-one years that have elapsed since the original edition was
published, we have collected many ideas for improvements. In decid ing
which changes to make, we have continued with our original philosophy of
a reasonably concise presentation that includes numerous applications of
I interest in t he real world. By incorporating feedback from students in our
classes, we have t ried to make the text book even more student friend ly.
The original edition was designed for an intensive one se mester cou rse
of 45 lectures and t he present text preserves t hat option with the basic
material contained in the first 8 chapters. A one-semester course may
include Chapters 1, 2, 3.1- 3.3, 3.7, 4, 5.1-5.4, 5.6, 6.1- 6.5, 6.7- 6.9, 7.1-
7.7, 7.10, 8.1-8.2. Several new chapters are included to accom modate
longer courses of two quarters or two semesters and to provide enrichment
for students taking a one-semester course. Numero us new exercises have
been added. Short answers to most exercises are given in an Append ix.
The major changes include the following:
o One of the salient features of the first edition was the introduction of La-
grangian meth.o ds at an early stage. In t he new edition more Lagrangian
material and examples are included which made it natural to devote a
single chap ter to a n introduction to the Lagrangian approach. We have
integrated a parallel track devel~pment of Lagrangian and Newton ian
methods t hroughout the text.
o We updated t he section on t he Grand Tour of the outer pl.anets in
v iew of the spectacular success of the Voyager space mission . In the first
edition, more than five years before the launch, we did not anticipate how
tru ly revolutiona ry this odyssey would be.
o In the treatment of tops we now use t he Euler a ngles a nd t he Lagrangian
to obtain the equations of motion .
o We have expanded the gravitation chapter to introduce t he physical
ideas t hat underlie general relativity and qualitatively explore its conse-
quences.
o An area of exploding interest today is cosmology and we devote a new
chapter to t he Newtonian description of the universe as a whole. First we
classify the possi ble universes consistent wit h Hubble's law and Newto-
nian dynam ics; then we use the virial theo rem together with astronomical

xi
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xii Preface
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observations to discuss the evidence that most of the matter in the uni-
verse is in the form of dark matter. (
• A chapter on special relativity is added for curricula where relativity is (
taught in the mechanics course. A description is given of an experimental CLASSICAL MECHANICS:
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test of time dilation with round-the-world flights with atomic clocks. A MODERN PERSPECTIVE
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o The years since the original edition saw t he emergence of non-linear dy-
namics a.s a major area in physics. We give an introduction to t his a rea by (
describing solutions to the Duffing equation for a damped and driven an- (
harmonic oscillator. After considering approximate analytic solutions, we
explore numerical solu,.tions including the period-doubling route to chaos. (
This chapter may pr~~e a convenient starting point for students who (
want to do an undergraduate thesis involving numerical studies of non-
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linear systems: it is at a somewhat higher level than the other chapters.
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e We have dele.t ed a few sections from the original edition in the interest
of keeping a reasonable length . Numerous sections have been rewritten (
to m ake the derivations more understandable. Throughout t he text we (
have made improvements in notation.
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Many colleagues and students contributed greatly to t he development
of this new edition and we wish to thank them for their help and encour- (
agement. In particular, we wou ld like to express our appreciation to the (
following people. Throughout many drafts of the manuscript, Professor
Charles Goebel generously gave us excellent advice and made s ubstantial (
contributions to t he contents. Amy Barger and Andrew Barger gave valu- (
able student input on the manuscript and solved many of the exercises.
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Professor Micheal Berger provided input from his classroo m experience
with the book. Professors Art Code and J acqueline Hewett were very (
helpful in providing photos. Collin Olson, J ames Ireland and Andrew (
Barger made computer-generated figures. Ed Stoeffhaa.s skillfully type-
set the manuscript using 1'EX and created many of t he new illustrations. (
J ack Shira, as editor of this series, was extremely helpful and supportive (
of our efforts to produce an improved textbook. (
We have found classical mechanics to be an extremely interesting
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course to teach since it offers the ·opportunity for students to develop
an appreciation for the physical explanation of diverse phenomena. We (
sincerely hope that students will enjoy using the book as much a.s we have (
enjoyed creating it !
Vernon Barger (
Martin Olsson (
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 Chapter 1

ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION

The fo rmul ation of classical mechanics represents a giant milestone in

our intellectual and technological history, as t he first mathematical ab-
straction of physical theory from empirical observation. T his crowning
achievement is rightly accorded to Isaac Newton (1642- 1727), who mod-
estly ack nowledged t hat if he had seen furt her than others, "it is by
standing. upon the s houlders of Giants." However, the great physicist
Pierre Simon Laplace characterized Newton's work as the supreme exhi-
bition of individual intellectual effort in the history of the human race.
Newton t ranslated the interpretation of various physical observa-
tions into a com pact mathematical theory. Three centuries of experience
indicate that mechanical behavior in t he everyday domain can be under-
stood fro m Newton's theory. His simple hypotheses are now elevated to
the exalted status of laws, and these are our point of embarkation into
t he subject.

1.1 Newtonian Theory

The Newtoni an theory of mechanics is customarily stated in t hree laws.

According to the first law, a particle continues in uniform motion (i.e.,
in a straight line at constant velocity) unless a force acts on it. T he fi rst
law is a fu ndamental observation that p hysics is simpler when viewed
from a certain kind of coordin ate system, called an inertial frame . One
can not define an inertial frame except by saying t hat it is a frame in
which Newton's laws hold. However, once one finds (or imagines) such a
frame, all other frames which move with respect to it at constant velocity,
with no rotation, are also inertial frames. A coordinate system fixed on
t he su rface of the earth is not an inertial frame because of the accelera-
tion due to the rotation of t he earth and t he earth's motion around the
sun . Nevertheless, for many purposes it is an adequate approximation
to regard a coordin ate frame fixed on the earth's surface as an inertial
frame.
I
Indeed, Newt on himself discovered nature's t rue laws while riding
on t he earth!

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2 Chapter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION 1.f! Interactions 3
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The essence of Newton's theory is the second law, which states that change of the mom enta of particles A and B are equal but opposite, and
the time rate of change of momentum of a body is equal to the force acting therefore t he total PA +PB is constant. This law is extremely useful, fo r (
on the particle. For motion in one dimension, the second law is instance in the treatment of rigid-body motion , but its range of applica- (
bility is not as universal as the first two laws. The third law breaks down
(
F = dp ( 1.1) when t he interact ion between the part icles is electromagnetic, because
dt the electromagnetic field carries momentum. (

where the momentum p is given by the product of (mass) x (velocity) It is a remarkable fact t hat macroscopic phenomena can be explained (
for the particle by such a simple set of mathematical laws. As we shall see, the math- (
ematical solu tions to some problems can be complex; nevertheless, t he
p=mv (1.2) (
physical basis is just (1.1) . Of course, t here is still a great deal of physics
The second law provides a definition of force. It is useful because expe- to put into (1. 1), namely, the laws of force fo r specific kinds of interac- (
rience bas shown that the force on a body is related in a quantitative tions.
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way to the presence of other bodies in its vicinity. Further, in many cir-
cumstances it is found that the force on a body can be expressed as a 1.2 Interactions (
function of x, v, and t, and so (1.1) becomes (
Using the planetary orbit data analysis by Kepler, Newton was able to
dp d2 x show that all known planetary orbits cou ld be accounted for by t he fol- (
F(x,v,t) = dt = m dt2 (1.3) lowing force law (

This d ifferential equation is called the equation of motion. Here m is (1.5) (

assumed to be constant. For the remainder of this book we use Newton's (
This states that force between masses M 1 and M2 is proportional to the
, notation :i; = dx /dt; x = d2 x/dt2 . Newton's second law is then
masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between (
t hem. The negative sign in (1.5) denotes an attractive force between (
F(x,x,t) = mx =ma (1.4)
t he masses. The force acts along t he line between the two masses and
t hus for non-rotational motion the problem is effectively one-dimensional. (
where a = x is the acceleration. In the special case F = 0, integration of
Newton proposed that this gravitational law was universal, the same (
(1.1) gives p =constant in a~cord ance with the fi rst law.
force Jaw applying between us and the earth as between celestial bodies
W hile Newton's laws apply to any situation in which one can spec- (and more generally between any two masses) . The universality of t he (
ify the force, very few interesting physical problems lead to force laws gravitational law can be verified, and the proportionality constant G (
amenable to simple mathematical solu tion. The fundamental force laws determined, by delicate experimental measurements of the force between
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of gravitation and electromagnetism do have simple fo rms for wh ich the masses in t he laboratory. The value of G is
second law of motion can often be solved exactly. The use of approximate (
empirical forms to ap proximate the true force laws of physical situations G = 6.672 x 10-11 m3 /( kgs) 2 (1.6) (
involving frictional and drag fo rces is one of the arts that will be taught
in this book. However, in th is modern age of com puters, one can handle (
The dominant gravitational force on an object located on the surface
arbitrary force laws by the brute-force method of numerical integration. (
of the earth is the attraction to the earth. The gravitational force between
The th ird Jaw states that if body A experiences a force due to body B, two spherically symmetric bodies is as if all the mass of each body were (
then B experiences an equal but opposite force due to A. (One speaks of concentrated at its center, as Newton proved. We will give a proof of this
this as the force between the two bodies.) As a consequence, the rates of (
assert ion in Chapter 8. The earth is very nearly spherical so we can use
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4 Chapter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION J .2 Interactions 5

the fo rce law of (1.5). Th us for an object of mass m on the surface of Frictional forces prevent or dam p motions. The sLatic frictional force
earth , the force is between two solid surfaces is

F = - mMEG
--2
- =-mg (1.7) (1.12)
RE
whe re g is t he gravitational acceleration, The force F acts t o prevent sliding motion. N is the perpendicu la r
force (normal force) holding the surfaces together, and µ 3 is a materi al-
dependent coefficient. Equation (1.12) is an approximate formula for fric-
g ~ 9.8 m/s 2 (1.8)
tional forces which has been deduced from empirical observations. The
frictional force which retards the motion of sliding objects is given by
Using the measured value of RE = 6,371 km along with the measu red
values of g a nd G as given above, we may use (1.7) to deduce t he mass (1.13)
of t he eart h to be
It is observed that this force is nearly independent of the velocity of the
ME = 5.97 x 1024 kg (1.9)
motion for velocities which are neither too small (where t here is melecular
Since the earth's radius is la rge, t he gravitational force of an object any- adhesion) nor too large (where frictional heating becomes important). For
where in t he biosphere is given t o good accu racy by (1.7) ; even at t he t op a given pair of surfaces, t he coefficient of kinetic friction µk is less t ha n
of t he atmosphere (~ 200 km up) t he force has decreased by less t han the coefficient of static friction µ 0 •
10% from its value at the surface of the earth. Consequently, in many Frict ional laws to describe the motion of a solid through a fluid or
a pplications on earth, we can neglect the variation of t he gravitational a gas are often complicated by such effects as turbulence. However, for
force wit h posit ion. sufficiently small velocities, the approximate fo rm
T he stat ic Coulomb fo rce between two cha rges e1 and e2 is simila r in F = - bv (1.14)
form to the gravitational-fo rce law of (1.5),
where b is a constant, holds. The drag coefficient b in (1.14) is pro-
F = k e1e2 (1.10) portional to the fl uid viscosity. For a sphere of rad ius a moving slowly
,.2
t hrough a fl uid of viscosity TJ the Stokes law of resistance is calcul ated to
be
This fo rce is attractive if the charges are of opposite sign and repulsive if
the charges are of the same sign. The constant k depends on the system bsphere = 67ra7J (1.15)
of electrical units; in S I units, k =
(4u0 ) - 1 ~ 9 x 109 N- m 2 /C 2 . At higher, but still subsonic velocit ies, the drag law is
Another force wit h a wide range of a pplication is t he s pring force or
Hooke's law, which is expressed as F = -cv2 (1.16)

For instance, the drag fo rce on an airplane is remarkably well represented

F = - kx (1.ll) by a constant t~mes the square of the velocity. The drag coefficient c for
a body of cross-sectional area S moving t hrough a fluid of density p is
wit h k > Q. Here k is a spring constant which is depend ent on t he given by
properties of t he spring and x is the extension of t he spring fro m its
relaxed position. T his particular force law is a very good approximation c = tCoSp (1.17)
in m a ny physical situations (e.g., the stretching or bending of materials) where Co is a dimension less factor related to t he geometry of the body
which are initially in equilibrium. (about 0.4 fo r a sphere).
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6 Chap~er 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION 1.3 Th e Drag Racer: Frictional Force 7 (

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Externall y imposed forces can take on a variety of forms. Of t hose Since t he racer is in vertical equilibrium , the sum of the external
(
depending explicitly on time, sinusoid ally oscillating forces like vertical forces must vanish,
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F= F0 coswt (1.18)
(1.20) (
are frequently encountered in physical situations . (
Both N 1 and N 2 must be positive. For the horizontal motion we apply
In a general case t he forces can be position-, velocity-, and time- (
Newton's second law ,
dependent,
F=Ma (1.21) (
F=F(x,v,t) (1.19)
T he frictional force F is bounded by (
Among the most interesting and easily solved examples are those in which
the forces depend on only one of t he above t hree variables, as illustrated (
by the exampl.es in t he following three sections. (1.22) (

1.3 The Drag Racer: Frictional Force The maximum friction force occurs just as the racer tires begin to slip rel- (
ative to the drag strip, because the coefficient of kinetic friction is smaller (
A number of interesting engineering-type problems can be solved from than t he coefficient of static friction. For maximal init ial acceleration we
(
straightforward application of Newton's laws. As a n illustration, suppose must h ave the maximum friction force F = µN2 • Referring back to (1.20),
we consider a drag racer that can achieve maximum possible acceleration a maximal N 2 = Mg is obtained when N 1 = 0, that is, when t he back (
when starting from rest. The external forces on the racer which must wheels completely support the racer . The greatest possible acceleration (
be take n into account are (1) gravity, (2) t he normal forces supporting is then
t he racer at the wheels, and (3) the frictional forces which oppose the (
rotation of the powered rear wheels. A sketch indicating the various (1.23)
(
external forces is given in Fig. 1-1.
We see that t he optimum acceleration is independent of the racer's mass. (
Under normal conditions the coefficient of friction /J, between rubber and (
concrete is about unity. T hus a racer can achieve a n acceleration of abo ut
9 .8 m/s 2 . In actual design a small normal force N 1 on the fron t wheels (
is allowed for steering pu rposes. (
The standard drag strip is~ 400 m (1/4 mi) in length . If we assume (
that the racer can maintain the maximum acceleration for the duration of
a race and t hat the coefficient of friction is constant, we can calculate the
(
final velocity and the elapsed time. The differential form of the second
law is (
F =Ma = Mdv = Mx (1.24) (
dt
When the acceleration a is constant, a single integration (

F IGURE 1-1. Forces on a drag racer. 1.,

v0
dv =a [' dt
Jo
(1.25) (
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8 Chapter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION 1.4 Sport Paracliutin_q: Aerodynamic Drag 9

gives area (perpendicular to the direction of motion) thereby lowering the air
v - vo =at (1.26) resistance [smaller value of c in (1.16)), and increase his terminal velocity
of descent. Event ually, of cou rse, the diver opens his parachute. T his
Using dx = vdt, a second in tegration dramatically increases the air resistance and correspondingly red uces his
terminal velocity, to allow a soft impact wit h the ground.

1"'
xo
dx = [' (v0 + at)dt
Jo
(1.27) To analyze t he physics of skydiving, we shall assume that t he motion
is vertically dow nward and choose a coo rdinate system with x = 0 at t he
earth's surface and positive upward. In this coo rdinate frame, downward
yields
forces a re negative. We approximate the external force on the diver as
x --: xo = vot + tat2 (1.28)
F =-mg +cv 2 (1.30)
We can eliminate t from (1.26) and (1.28) to obtain
The frictional fo rce is positive, as requi red for an upward force. T he
term inal velocity is reached when the opposing gravity and frictional
v = 2
v5 + 2a(x - xo) (1.29)
forces balance, giving F = 0. Und er th is condition, th e ter minal velocity
is
Substituting a= 9.8m/s , x = 0.40km, xo = 0 and v0 = 0, we find
2

v = 89 m/s (or 320.4 km/h)! The t ime elapsed, t = v/a, is about 9s.
For comparison, the world drag-racing records (with a piston engine)
Vt= f!!-- (1.31)

as of 1992 are v = 134.8 m/s (485.3 km/h) fo r velocity and 4.80 s fo r To solve t he differential equation of motion,
elapsed time. (These records were set in different races.) With t ires t hat dv
are several times wider than automobile tires and have treated surfaces, F = m- = -mg + cv 2 (1.32)
dt
coefficients of friction considerably great er than µ = 1 are realized in
we rearrange the factors and integrate
drag racing. The rubber laid down by previous racers in effect gives
a rubber-ru bber contact which also increases the coefficient of friction.
Aerodynamic effects are important as well. The drag force from wind 1
11

O Vt
2
dv
- V
2 =- g
-2
Vt
it
0
dt (1.33)
resistance reduces t he speed of a racer, while a negative lift force on
In (1.32) the frictional coefficient c has been replaced. by Vt fro m (1.3 1).
the back wheels can be produced by wind resistance against an up-tilted
We obtain
rear wing fo und o n many racers, which increases the normal force, giving
greater t raction and allowing larger acceleration. _!_ In ( Vt+
2Vt Vt -
v) = _ _!!__t
V Vt 2
(1.34)

1.4 S port Parachuting: Aerodynamic Drag which can be inverted to express v in terms oft,

The sport of skydiving visually ill ustrates t he effect of t he visco us fric- V = - V1t --- exp(- 2gt/v1)
- , - - - -- (1.35)
l + exp(-2gt/vt)
tional force of (1. 16) . Immediately upon leaving t he aircraft, t he j umper
accelerates downward d ue to t he gravity fo rce. As his velocity increases, At large t imes the decreasing exponentials go to zero rapidly and v ap-
t he air resistance exerts a greater retarding force, and eventually approx- proaches the term inal velocity,
imately balances the pull of gravity. From this time onward t he descent
(1.36)
of the diver is at a u~iform rate, called the terminal velocity. The termi-
nal velocity in a spread-eagle position is rough ly 120 mi/h. By assum ing Although t he limiting velocity is exactly reached only at infinite t ime,
a vertical head-down position, t he diver can decrease his cross sectional it is approximately reached for times t ~ vtf2g. A ty pical value for Vt
 (
1..4 Sport Parachu ting: Aerodynamic Drag 11
10 Chapter 1 ONE- DIMENSIONAL MOTION
(
(
on a warm sum mer day is 54 m/s (194.4 km / h) for a 70 kg diver in a
(
spread-eagle position. After a time
1400
(
t = 2Vt = 2(54) = ll S (1.37) 1300 (
g 9.8
'I
1200 \ (
\ Sky diver altitude vs. time
the s ky diver would be traveling about 52 m/s with his pa rachute un- \
opened ! The velocity of t he dive r a.s a function of time is plotted in 1100 \ (
\
Figs. 1-2 a nd 1-3. To calculate the distance the diver ha.s fa.lien after a \ '(
1000 \
specific elapsed t ime, we integrate dx v dt using (1.35), = \
\ (

lh
x dX = - Vt lt (
o
1-
2 exp(-2gt/v 1) ) d
1 + exp(-2gt/vt )
t (1.38) E 800
.;
900 \
\
\
\
(
"Cl \ (
E 700 \
\
~ \
\
(
0 600 \
\
(
Sky diver velocity vs. time \
500 (
~
E
-20
400 \
'\ (
\
>;
·o.2 300
No air resistance\
I
(
> -40 I
I
I
(
200 I
I
I
(
100 I
20 25
I
I (
Time, s 0 10 20 30 (
Time, s
F IGU R E 1-2. Velocity of a sky diver as a function of time for a terminal velocity of (
54 m /s. F IGURE 1-3. Altit ude of a sky diver with unopened parachute as a function of time
(for a termina l velocity of 54 m/s). (
(
The resu lt of t he integration is Finally, let us use t he drag coefficient formu la of (1.17) to estimat e
t he free fall terminal velocity of a sky diver. By (1.31) and (1. 17) we have (
h - x = Vt [t - Vt
- In ( 2 )] (1.39) (
g 1 + exp(-2gt/vt) (1.41)
(
At time t = 2vtfg, the diver has fallen a distance (h - x), given by
Assumi ng that in a spread-eagle position Cv :::'. 0.5 a nd S :::'. 1 m 2 and (
2
v 2 [2 - (54) t hat the ai r d ensity is 1 kg/ m3 we fi nd for a 70 kg d ive r,
h- x =~ In (
1
+2e_4 )] = "9.8(2 - 0 .7) = 385 m (1.40) (
70(9.8) (
Sky divers normally free-fa.II about 1,400 m (in 30 s) so much of the descent Vt = 0.25(1)(1) = 52 m/s (1.42)
(
is at termin al velocity.
(
12 Chopter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION 1.6 Methods of Solution 13

very near the actual value. The excellent agreement is fortuitous but the 1.6 Methods of Solution
ability to make such estimates of the drag force is certainly useful.
For the genera.I motion of a particle in one dimension, the equation of
1.5 Archery: Spring Force motion is

The force exerted on an arrow by an arche r's bow can be approximated

mx = F(x,x,t) (1.50)

by the spring force of (1.11) . A 134 Newton bow with a 0.72 meter draw Since this is a second-order differential equation, the solution fo r x as a
d has a spring constant k given by funct ion of t involves two arbitrary constants. These const ants can be
fixed from physical condit io ns, such as the position and velocity at the
k= -
IFI = -
134
= 186 kg/s 2
. initial time. In the examples of § 1.3 t o 1.5, we have introduced several
(1.43)
d 0.72 tech niques for solving (1.50). In the case where F depends on only one
After release of the bowstring, the motion of the arrow of mass m is of the variables x, :i;, or t, the formal solution of (1.50) is straightforward .
described by the second law, We now run through the methods of solution to the differential equations
of motion for these specific classes of force laws.
dv
m dt= -kx' x< O (1.44) For a fo rce t hat depends only on x, we may use the cha.in rule of
(1.45), and integrate (1.50) to obtain
it leaves the bowstring at x = 0.
u nt il Here we neglect the mass of the
bowstring. To integrate t his differential equation for t he velocity, we use
the chain rule of differentiation
m jv v'dv' =I"F(x') dx' + C1 (1.5 1)

dv dv dx dv where C 1 is a constant of integration. Here we have used primes to denote

dt = dx dt = dx v (1.45)
the dummy variables of integration. The resulting expression for v(x) is

ff I'' F(x') dx' +

Substituting into (1.44), rearranging factors, and integrating we o btai n
= (1.52)
Jo x dx v C1
m
1
0
v .
vdv = -k
-d
(1.46)
This method of solution was employed in the archery discussion of§ 1.5.
or =
The solution for x(t) is found by substituting v :i; in (1.52) , rearranging
(1.47) factors so as to separate the variables, and integrating, to get

Thus the velocity of the arrow as it leaves the bowstring is given by f2J·t
= V-:; -,_ + C2
v=
fk
dy-:;;,_ (1.48)
i x
Vr·
dx I
F(x")dx" + C1 m
dt' (1.53)

T he integration constants C1 and C2 can be fixed from the initial velocity

The longer the draw and the stronger the bow, t he higher t he arrow and position.
velocity. For a typical target a rrow, with weight m = 23 g, the velocity With a velocity-dependent force we can integrate (1.50) as follows:
is
d I ft dt' + C1
J
V
186 (1.54)
v = 0.72 23 X 10-3 = 65 m/s (1.49) m F(:') =
This is almost double the maximum s peed of a fastball t hrown by a We used this tec hnique in the sky-d iving analysis of § 1.4. The result of
professional baseball piayer! the integration gives v(t), which can then be integrated overt to find x(t).
 (
14 Chapte,- 1 ONE-DIMENSI ONAL MOTION I. 7 Simple Harmonic Oscillator 15
(
(
The solution of {1.50) for a time-dependent force F(t) can be obtained made smaller. This ill ustrates that a unique solution to the differential
from direct integration, equation of motion is always possible for any reasonable force law. For (
the numerical solution to a specific problem the use of more sophisticated (
m Jv = Jt F(t')
dv' dt' +Ci (1.55) numerical methods is usually desirable in order to increase the accuracy
of the result for a given D.t.
(
(
A second in tegration leads to the solution for x(t),

l
1. 7 Simple Harmonic Oscillator (

m J
"'
dx' = JJt [ t'
F(t")dt" +Ci dt' + C2 (1.56) Many common physical applications of the spring force involve oscilla-
tory motion, such as vibrations of a mass attached to a spring. A system
(
(
undergoing periodic steady-st ate motion under the action of a spring is
If the force law depends on more than one variable, t he techniques for called a harmonic oscillator. The motion is called simple harmonic when (
finding analytical solutions, when they exist, are more com plicated. the restoring force is proportional to the displacement from an equilib- (
For the forces involved in many physical problems, (1.50) cannot be rium position (for instance, proportional to the extension o r compression
solved in closed analytical form. However, we can then resort to numer- of a sp ring). Any system in which there is a linear restoring force (such (
ical methods which can be evaluated using computers. To illustrate the as AC circuits and certain servomechanisms) exh ibits simple harmonic (-
numerical approach, we assume that the position x 0 and velocity v0 are oscillations.
(
known at the initial time t 0 . The acceleration a 0 then is given by (1.50) The equation of motion for a sim pie harmonic oscillator,
as (

ao = F(xo, Vo, to)

(1.57)
mx = - kx (1.61)
(
m
with k > 0, can be solved by (1.52) and (1.53). However, we can cleverly (
After a short time in terval D..t,
construct the solution as follows. The functions cos wot and sin wot satisfy (
ti =to + D.t (1.61) if the angular frequency wo is given by
(
x 1 = xo + vob..t (1.58)
v1 = vo + aob..t
Wo = {k (1.62) (
v~
(
where we have neglected the change in a and v over t:..t. This approxima- The general solu tion to (1.61) is a linear superposition of coswot and
(
tion becomes more accurate as the time increment D.t is made smaller. sin w 0 t solu tions
From these new values of the variables, we can calculate t he new accel- x(t) = A cosw0t + B sin wot (1.63) (
eration using (1.50) (
where A and Bare arbitrary constants. An equivalent form of the solution
(1.59) is (

By repetition of this procedure n t~mes, we can calculate x and v at time x(t) = acos(wot + a ) (1.64) (
tn = to+ nb..t with constants related by (
Xn = Xn- 1 + Vn- 1 b..t (
(1.60) A = acosa B = - a sin a (1.65)
Vn = Vn-1 + an- 1 b..t
(
We t hereby obtain a complete numerical solut ion to the equation of mo- The constant a is called the amplitude of the motion, and a is called the
(
tion. The solution becomes more accurate as t he time increment D..t is initial phase. The initial conditions can be used to specify the arbitrary
(
(

(
(
16 Chapter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION 1. 7 S imple Harm anic Oscillator 17

constants a a nd a. l<rom (1.64) the velocity of t he oscillator is

v(t) = -a.W0 sin(w0 t + a) (1.66)
1.0 I
The period r of the motion is the time required for the system to undergo /Arrow feather position
a complete oscillation and return to the initial values of x and v . The .8
I
period for t he oscillator is I
.6 I
27r .4
T = - (1.67)
Wo
.2
The frequency of the oscillator (number of oscillations per unit time) is E

1 Wo " 0
.1 0
v = - = - (1.68) -.2
T 211"
-.4
We can illust rate our harmonic-oscillator solution wit h t he bow-and-
-.6
arrow example of § 1.5. At t = 0 the bow is at full draw, x = -d, and
the arrow velocity is zero. From (1.66) we find - .8

(1.69) FIGURE 1-4. Displacement of a simple harmonic oscillator vs. time. The position of
and from (1.64) we obtain the feather end of the archer's arrow as a function of time is indicated by the dashed
line after the arrow leaves the bow.
a= - d (1.70}
The solution with proper boundary conditions is 80
x(t) = -dcoswot (1.71) 60 ----------- Arrow velocicy

v(t) = dw0 sinw0 t (1.72} 40

with wo = -/k"[m. As time increases from t = 0, x increases to zero at 1

i:
t= ~ (~)
2 Wo
(1.73)
'O
0
;l! -20
.08 .1 0

At this ins tant t he arrow leaves the bowstring with velocity, -40

v = dwo = dl"f (1.74}

-60

-80

which agrees with (1.48). For the bow descri bed in § 1.5 the arrow-
FIGURE 1-5. Velocity of a simple harmonic oscillator vs. time. The velocity of the
propulsion time from (1.73) is
arrow aft er it leaves the bow is indicated by the dashed line.

t= ~ /m = ~ I23 x rn-3 ~ __!__ 8 (1.75)

2 Vk 2 V 186 60 As another instructive example we consider the spring-mass system
In our archery example the simple-harmonic-force law does not a pply in Fig. 1-6. The spring, assumed massless, has a rest length £. When the
beyond this t ime (one-fourth of the period r), as illustrated in Figs. 1-4 mass mis attached to the free end, the equation of motion in the absence
and 1-5. of gravity is
 (
18 Chapter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MO T ION 1.8 Damped Harmonic Motion 19
(

mx = -k(x - .e) (1. 76)

(
We conclude this section by solving the simple harmonic equation of
motion (1.61) in a more systematic way. The equation of motion (
or
(
.. 2 2n
x+w0 x = w0 .c:, Wo =m-k
2
(1.77) Wo=ff (1.81) (

The solution is evident ly of t he form (

is a linear differential equation wi_th constant coefiicients; such an equa-
tion always has a solution of th e fo rm (
x(t) = C +A cosw0 t + B sin w0 t (1.78) (
x(t) = e>-.t (1.82)
(
Substitution into (1.77) yields C = .e and we conclude that the motion
consists of harmonic motion with angular frequency w0 a bout t he equi- With this substitution, (1.81) becomes (
librium point x = .e. (
(1.83)
(
which requires that .X 2 = -w5. Thus (1.82) is a solution if .A = iw0 or
(-
A = - iw0 and so the linear superposition
R x(t) ! g
I·
(
(1.84) (
__ j___ -======]x-R (
is a solution; here c 1 and c2 are constants (generally complex). Since by
FI G URE 1-6. A mass m suspended by a spring of rest length f. w1dergoes vertical appropriately choosing these constants we can fi t any initial conditions (
oscillations. x 0 a nd x0 , (1.84) is the general solu tion. Using the identity e±i9 =
cos()± i sin() we can rewrite this general solution as (
(
\ !\Tith gravity present, we must add mg to the forces acting on m and x(t) = c1 (cos wot+ i sin wot ) + c2 (cos wo t - i sin w0 t )
(1.85) (
the equatio n of motion becomes = (c1 + c2) coswat + i(c1·- c2 ) sinw0 t
(
mx = -k(x - .e) +mg (1. 79) Since any physical quantity such as x(t) must be real (no imaginary part) (
we must choose C2 = ci, where er
is t he complex conjugate of C1. With
(
or 2Rec1 =A and 21ffic1 = -B, we obtain the result in (1.63) .
(
(1.80) 1.8 Damped Harmonic Motion
(
Comparing to t he gravity-free case shows t he equ ation of motion differs In almost all physical problems frictional forces pl ay a role. For example, (
only by t he constant on t he right·side. The solution to (1.80) is then a harmonic oscillator that is subject to a dampin g fo rce has an amplitude
(1.78) but with C = .e + ¥ · T he motion is again harmonic with angular t hat decreases with time. For this reason, and also because a damped
(
freq uency wo except that the equilibrium point is .e+y. When the mass harmonic oscillator applies to such a broad range of physical phenomena, (
is at .e+ y , the upward force due to the spring is k(y) =mg, which just we t reat its solution at some length. The form (1.14) chosen for the (
equals the weight force. The mass will remain at this position if released frictic;mal force is linear in the velocity; the equation of motion is then
at rest there. linear in both x and its time deri vatives and is solvable analytically. (
(
(
(
(
20 Chapter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTI ON 1.8 Damped Harmonic Motion 21

The equation of motion of the damped har monic oscillator is the general solution of the second order differential equation. Treating
mx = -kx - b:i: (1.86)
n n
the = 0 case as a limit -+ 0 we can expand the exponen tials

We define the dampli ng constant/= t(b/m) and t he natural frequency (1.94)

w0 = ~ to express (1.86) in t he form
and group the terms in (1.93) as
(1.87)

Like t he undamped harmonic oscillator equation of motion, (1.81), this

is a linear differential equation wit h constant coefficients so again
Then defining c = C1 + C2 and D = (c1 - c2)n, the solution fo r n = 0 is
x(t) = e>.t (1.88)
II. (1.96)
is a solutio n. Su bstituting t his into (1.87) we find

(>. 2 + 21.A + w5)e>.t = 0 (1.89) In case III, we express

which is satisfied only if t he term in parentheses vanishes. Solving the (1.97)

qu adratic equation, the possible values of >. are
in terms of the real quantity
>. = -1 ± J12 - wo2 = -1 ± n (1.90)

where we have defined (1.98)

n = )1 2 -w5 (1.91)
Then t he form of the solution (1.93) is
T he qualitative nature of t he solution depends on t he relative mag-
nit ud e of t he frictional coefficient / and the natural freq uency wo. We III. (1.99)
d isting uis h t he t hree cases:
n real For x(t) to be real the constants c 1 and c2 must be complex conjugates,
I. I> wo'
c2 = ci. Th us the solution can be expressed in the form
II. /=Wo , Q zero (1.92)
III. "( < Wo 1 n imagina ry (1.100)

For n =fa O t he general solution is a superposition of e>.t terms with

Writing c1 in polar form as c1 = taeia where a and O:' are real, we. obtain
both possible values of >.. In case I . t he solution is
x(t) = c1e-('y-n)t + c2e-('l+n)t
I. (1.93)
:::! e--yt(c1ent + c2e-nt) III. (1.10 1)

If n = 0 the two terms in (1.93) have t he same t-dependence. T hen, The two constants which appear in the above solutions can be related
since the expression depends only on the one constant c1 +c2, (1.93) is not to the initial conditions x(O) =
x 0 and :i:(O) =
v0 at time t = 0. After
 (
22 Chapt er 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION 1.8 Damped Harmon ic Mo tion 23
(
(
solving for the constants from the initial conditions, the solu tions are of
the forms 1.0 (
(
I• X (t) = ~ [ Xo, + (vo +S}/Xo) ] e-(-y-n)t + ~ [XQ _ (vo +S}1xo)] e-h+n)i
2 2 (
Damped harmonic oscillator
.8
(1.102) (n alural frequency wo = 10 rad /s) (
II. x(t) = e--yt [xo + (vo + /Xo ) t] (1.103) .(
III. x(t) = ae-'Y1 cos (n't +a) (1.104) .6 (
(
with a= (w5x5 + 2/voxo + vJ) 112 /D' and t an a= -(vo + 1x0 )/x0 D.'. (
In all t hree cases the amplitude of the displacement decays exponen- .4
(
tially with time, although in II t he exponential factor is multiplied by a
linear fu nction oft. At large times the rates of falloff are characterized (
by the exponentials: .2 (-
I. e - h-!l.)t I> w0 (overdamped) (
(
II. e --yt * (linear function of t) -y = w0 (critically damped) i
.L
0
Xo (
III. e --y t *(sinusoidal function oft) -y < w 0 (underdamped)
(
(1.105)
-.2 (
m
-y= I
Illustrations of the t ime dependences for the three cases are given (
in Fig. 1-7 for t he initial conditions x = xo, v0 = 0. An exception to (
t he above rates of decrease occurs when t he initial conditions are such -.4

t hat the coefficient of the e - (-y - n)t term of solution I vanishes. In that (
circumstance, the mass returns to rest like e-h+n)t. (
There are endless applications of damped harm.onic oscillators. The -.6
(
pneumatic spring return on a door represents an everyday situation where
solution II is the ideal. Upon releasing the door with no init ial veloc- (
ity, we want it to close as rapidly as possible without· slamming. Equa- (
tions (1.105) indicate that solution II should be selected; t he spring-tube
(
system should be designed with -y = w 0 . Solution III might close the door
faster, due to the vanishing of the cosine factor in (1.104) , but this would FIGURE 1-7. Time dependence of the displacement of a damped harmonic oscillator (
for the initial conditions x = xo, v = 0. The na tural frequency of the oscillator is
let the door slam! On the other hand, solution III describes physical w0 = 10 rad/s. Results for va rious strengths of the damping cons tant 'Y are illustrated. (
systems th at undergo damped periodic oscillations.
(
The behavior of simple electric circuits is determined by a differential oscillator. As an example we consider the circuit of Fig. 1-8 with an
equation which has t he same mathematical form as the damped harmonic induct or L, resistor R, and capacitor C in series. When the switch is (
(
(
(
24 Chapter t ONE-DIMENSI ONAL MOTION J .8 Damped Harmonic Motion 25

closed, the sum of t he voltage drops across the elements of the circui t If t he circ uit in F ig. 1-8 is in a static state, when the switch is closed
must add up to zero. This leads to the differential equation at time t = 0 t he initial condit ions a re
q(t = 0) = qo = CVo
di g (1.109)
L -+ Ri +- = 0 {l.106) i(O) = q(t = 0) = 0
dt c
where V0 is the voltage across th e capacitor. By reference to ( 1.102)-
where i(t) is the current flowing in the circuit and q(t) is t he charge o n (1. 104) the solu tions for the charge as a func tion of time are
one of the capacitor plates. Since i = dq/dt = q, the circuit equation can
R fl (1 > wo, overdamped)
be written as
I.
2£ > Vw (1.110)
Lq + Rq + J_
c =0 (1.107)
q(t) = q0 [( 1 + ~) e-h-n)t + (1 _ ~) e-h+n)t]
This equation h as the form of the dam ped-harmonic-oscillator equation
1
{l.86) with the following correspondences: RL -- y{1L
LC
C (1 = wo, critically damped)
II. 2 (1. 111)
q(t) = go (1 + 1t)e-"lt
x -t q

III.
R
2£
< fl; (1 < wo, underd amped)
(1.112)
m-t L
q(t) = (f2')- 1w 0 qoe-'Yt cos (n't - arctan iM
(1.108)
b -t R 1 Fo r a circuit wit h a voltage source, a.s in Fig. 1-9, t he sum of t he volt-
LC age drops around the circle must eq ual 0. Th us t he differential equation
for t he circuit in Fig. 1-9 is
1
k-t -
c (1. 113)

where V(t) is the voltage of the generator. This d iffe rent ial equation is
Since it is often far easier to connect circuit elements than to build and of t he fo rm of the equation of motion for a damped harmonic oscillator
test a mecha nical system, this a nalogy has been of considerable practical su bjected to an external force, a topic which we take up in t he following
importance. section .

R R

F IGURE 1-8. Simple L, R, C electric series circuit . FIGUR E 1-9. Series L, R, C circuit with a voltage generator V(t).
26 Chapt er 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION (
1.9 Damped Oscillator With Drivi ng Force: Resonance 27 (
1.9 Damped Oscillator With Driving Force: Resonance (
The complex facto r R can be written in polar form
(
Numerous physical systems can be described in terms of a damped har-
monic oscillator driven by an external force that oscillates sinusoidally R = rei 8
(l.121) (
with time as where (
= Fo cos wt= mf cos wt
F(l) (1.114)
(1.122) (
where we have introduced f = F0 /m for later convenience. The equation and (
of motion in (1.87) gets modified to
tan() = (unR)
1?.eR
=
wJ - w2
2-yw (1.123) (
x + 2-y± + w0 2
x = f cos wt (1.115) (
The angle() lies between 0 and rr. Using (1.116), (1.118), and (1.121), we
arrive at t he desired solution to (1.115) (
A particular solution to this inhomogeneous linear differential equation is
most readily obtained by using complex numbers and solving for a related (
equation with a complex driving force. For this purpose we introduce x = 1?.ez = 1?.e ( ~ei(wt-8)) (1.124) (
z= x + iy or (
(1.116)
eiwt = coswt + isin wt x(t) = £r cos(wt - B) (1.125)
(
(
and observe that the real part of The response x(t) to t he force mf cos wt is thus proportional to l/r. The
response oscillates with a phase (wt - B) that lags the oscillations of the (
z + 2-yz + wo2 z = feiwt (1.117) force by a phase angle B. (
Both r and B depend on the relative size of the driving frequency (
is identical with (1.115) . This latter form is more convenient to solve. w and natural frequency wo. For small damping 'Y « w0 and values of
Once we find the solution for z, the physical displacement x is obtained w near to wo, we can make the following approximations in (1.121) and (
from x = Re z. Note t hat if the left-hand side of (1.117) were not linear in (1.122): (
z this method wou ld not work. Since the first and second derivatives of
eiwt are iweiwt and -w 2eiwt, there is a solution with t he time dependence (1.126)
(
eiwt. Thus, as a possible solution to (1.117), we try (
tan B = 21w ~ _ __
! (l.127) (
(1.118) (wo-w)(wo+w) wo-w
(
From these approximate expressions, we see that r 2 has a minimum when
where 1/ R is a time-independent response factor. The differential eq ua- the driving force is at t he natural frequency of the oscillator, w = w0 . The (
tion is satisfied by this choice if large response x(t) produced by a driving frequen cy in the vici nity w = w0 (
is called a resonance. The magnitude rm of r at the resonance frequency
(
[(iw) 2 + 2-y(iw) + w5] ~ =f (1.1 19) w = wo is governed by the size of the frictional coefficient I·
(
(1.128)
or (
R = w5 - w 2
+ 2i-yw {l.120) The wid th of the resonance is defi ned as the d ifference of the two values
of w at which 1·2 is twice its minimum value. From (1.126) and (1.128)
(
28 Chapter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION 1.9 Damped Oscillalor With Driving Force: Resonance 29

t hese values are w =

w 0 ± / and thus the width is 2/. The resona nce
I.I
becomes narrower and the maximum displacement x larger as friction is
made smaller. Plots of [r(w0 )/r(w)]2 and B(w) are shown in Figs. 1-10 1.0
and 1- 11. The phase lag B is 90° at resonance. At small frequencies w, .9
the phase lag tends to zero, and far above resonance it approaches 180°,
as is evident from (1.123) or {1.120). Resonance phenomena analogous .8

to that discussed here' play an extremely important role in all branches

~
] .7
of physics and engineering.
The solution we have been discussing is known as a particular solution
J .6

t:o .5 -width
since there are no integration constants. This particular solution is often ~

_§,
called the steady state solut ion. It is not the most general solu tion since it .4

does not match a general initial state of the oscillator. The general sol u- .3
tion to the forced-oscillator differential equation is obtained by adding to
.2
the particular solution in (1.125) the general solution of the homogeneous
equation (i.e., the oscillation equation with no driving force). The result .1 Wo
for the underd amped case is
4 6 10 12 14 16 18
w, rad/s
x(t) = ae- -yt cos (n't +a)
+ f cos(wt - arctan
21
w ) (1.129) FIGURE 1-10. Square or the magnification factor, [r(w = wo)/r(w) 2, as a function j
1 2 2
of driving frequency w for forced oscillator of natural frequency wo = 10 and damping
[(w5-w2)2+412w2]2 Wo - W constant 'Y = 1.

The sum satisfies (1.117) and contains two arbit rary const a nts, a and 180
n-. The initial conditions determine t hese constants. The term with the
Phase log
decaying exponential is called a transient- it vanishes at large times. The 160

force-depende nt term describes t he steady-state oscillatory motion of t he 140

harmonic system.
120
Any periodic force can be Fourier-analyzed into an infinite series of
cos(nwt + <f>n) terms r: 100

.,,~
..; 80
{1.130)
n 60

where Fn and <f>n are constants and the period is 2rr /w. The solution 40

(1.129) for a driving force F 0 coswl can be used for a force Fncos(nwt +
20
<f>n)· Then the solution for a superposition of driving freq uencies in
(1.130) can be obtained as a s umm ation over solutions with d riving fre- 0 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
quencies nw. w, rad/s

FIGURE 1-11. Phase lag 0 as a rw1ction or driving frequency w for the forced oscillator.
30 Chapter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION (
Pmblems 31
(
PROBLEMS are related by (
(
1.2 Interactions Rsin 2B + d(l +cos 28) = R 2 /Ro
(
1-1. An athlete can throw a javelin 60 m fro m a standing position. If
where (
he can run 100 m at constant velocity in 10 s, how far could he
hope to t hrow t he javelin while running? Neglect air resistance Ro= v5/g (
and the height of the thrower in the interest of simplicity. (Hint:
(
derive an expression for the distance R in terms of the initial angle b) The condition for maximum ran ge R m is
0 to the horizontal and maximize.R.) Compare your answer with a (
world-class throw of 105 m for the javelin. tan 2Bm = Rm/ d (
1-2. A world class shotputter can· put a 7.26 kg s hot a distance of 22 m. . I
(
Assume that the shot is constantly accelerated over a distance of [Note that if d = 0 t hen Bm = 45°.]
2 m at a n angle of 45 degrees and is released at a height of 2 m c) If the land falls off with a constant slope a ngle </> (i.e., d = (
above t he ground. Esti~ate the weight that this athlete can lift Rm tan </>) then the maximum range angle Bm and </> are related (
with one hand. by
(-
1-3. For the shotput of Problem 1-2 determine t he initial angle B of the 2Bm + </> = 90° (
trajectory to maximize the distance R of t he put. Approximate the
value of v0 by t hat obtained in Problem 1-2. A photographic study
[Note that if </> = 0 t hen Bm = 45° .] (
fou nd t hat expert athletes have learned by trial and error to release d) The maximum range is given by (
the shot put at t his optimum angle. ·
(
R5 + 2dRo = R;,.
1-4. A projectile is shot from the origin with initial velocity v 0 and (
inclination angle B as shown. [Note t hat if d = 0 then Rm= Ro.]
(
e) The optimum angle, maximum range, slope to impact angle </>,
R (
and the elevation drop d satisfy the triangle relation
(
Ro~ d f- (
29 Rm
- ~ (
d
(
1-5. A perfectly flexible cable has length l. Initially, the cable is at rest (
with a length xo of it hanging vertically over the edge of a table'.
Neglecting friction, compute the length hanging over the edge after (
a time t. Assume t hat the sections of the cable remain straight (
during the motion.
(
Show the following: 1-6. A particle of mass m, ini tially at rest, moves on a horizontal line
subject to a force F(t) = ae-bt. Find its position and velocity as a (
a) The range R (maximum horizontal distance), v0 , B and t.he drop d function of time. (
(

(
(
 32 Chapter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION
1.4 Drag F orce
1-7. A boat is slowed by a drag fo rce F(v). Its velocity d ecreases ac-
cording to the formula
v = c2 (t - t 1 ) 2
where c is a constant and t 1 is th e time at which it stops. F ind t he
force F(v) as a function of v.
1-8. A mass m sliding horizontally is subject to a viscous drag force. For
a n init ial velocity v0 (at x = t = 0) and a retarding force F = - bx
find t he velocity as a function of dist ance, v(x) , and s how t hat t he
mass moves a fi ni te distance before coming to rest. For the same
initial conditions and a retarding force F = -c:i; 2 find v(x) and
x(t), and show t hat the mass never comes to rest.
1-9 . Integrate the equation of motion in (1.32) to directly find the ve-
locity as a function of distance fallen for a sky diver in free fall.
At what free-fall distance does the velocity reach two-th irds of t he
terminal velocity? Assume that v1 = 54 m/s.
1-10. A diver of mass m begins a descent from a 10 meter.diving board
wi t h zero ini tial velocity.
a) Calculate the velocity v 0 on impact with t he water and the ap-
proximate elapsed time from dive until impact.
b) Set up t he equation of motion for vertical descent of t he diver
,. through t he water , assu ming that t he buoyancy fo rce balances
the gravity fo rce underwater and t he drag fo rce is given by (1.16).
Solve for the velocity v as a fun ction of t he depth x und er wat er
and im pose the boundary condition v = Vo at x = 0.
c) If t he constant c in (1.16) is given by c/m = 0.4 (meter)- 1 ,
mate the depth at which v = 110 vo.
d) Solve for the time under water in terms of t he depth. How long
does it take for t he diver to reach t he bottom of a 5 m deep pool?
1-11. A ball of mass mis t hrown vert ically upward with init ial velocity v;.
If t he air resistance is proportional to v 2 and t he terminal velocity
is v 1 , show t hat t he ball retu'rns to its initial position with velocity
v 1 given by
1 1 1
-
v} -- -vf+ vf
- b) At what angle should the arrow be released so as to hit the target?
1-12. A bicyclist is able to pedal at a maximum speed v0 on t he level with
Problems 33
no wind. If there is a wind force w parallel to the bi ker's path t he
biker will slow down or speed up. T he ai r resistance is proportional
to the square of the ai r s peed. The biker's power output is equal
to the applied force times the ground velocity. Assu me the power
output is constant and that there are no other power losses. Find
an equation that relates v to v0 and w . Compute th e velocity
numerically fo r Vo = 15 m/s in t he cases of a head wi nd w = 5 m/s
and a tail wind w = 5 m/s.
1-13. A d rag racer experiences a retarding force due to wind resistance
that is proportion al t o the square of t he racer 's velocity. Ass um ing
th at t he racer is designed for optimum acceleration, set up t he
equation of motion and derive a relation between v and t . Also
d erive a relation between v and x . Eliminate the coefficient of
friction and solve the resulting equatio n numerically for the terminal
velocity t hat can reproduce the 1988 world record of v = 129.1 m/s,
t = 4.99 s for x = 0.4 km. Then determine the coefficient of friction.
1.5 Spring Fo rce
1-14. A massless spring of rest length e
and spring constant k has a mass
m attached to one end. The sys-
tem is set on a table with the
mass vertically above the spring
as shown.
a) What is t he new equ ilibrium height of the mass above th e table?
b) The spring is compressed a distance c below the new equilibrium
esti- point and reieased. Find the motion of t he mass assu ming the
free end of the spring remains in contact wit h the table.
c) Find t he critical compression for which the spring will break con-
tact wit h the table.
1-15. A n archer using the equipment described in § 1.5 aims horizontally
at a. target 50 m away.
a) How far below t he aiming point will the arrow strike? (Neglect
air resistance.)
c) What would be the maximum possible flight distance on level
ground? (Neglect air resistance and the height of t he archer.)
 (
34 Chapter 1 ONE-D IM ENS IO NAL MOTION Problems 35
(

d) Suppose t hat the a rrow is released at a height of 1.6 rn a bove th e This means that many oscillations of t.hc carrier occu r while the (
grou nd (typical shoulder-height o f a perso n) at the angle found modulation only changes slightly. A rud imentary radio receiver (
in part b) above. Calculate the horizontal distance at which the circuit is shown schematically in the accompanying .figure. The in-
(
a rrow would hit the ground. cident radio waves induce an oscillating voltage Vo cos wet in the
a ntenna, where We= 21rvc and Vo~ 1 mV. (
1. 7 Simple Harmonic Oscillator
(
1-16. Solve the d a mped unforced oscillator by the following method. De-
(
fi ne a new variable y by
(
(
Substitute into the equat ion of motion (1.87) to find the equation c
satisfied by y(t). Choose f3 such that th e coefficient of y vanishes (
a_n d solve in t he underdamped , cri t ical, and overdamped cases. R (
1-17. Show th at t he underdamped oscillator solution (1.104) can be ex- a) Given the capacitance C = 300 pico-farads a nd resistance R = (
pressed as x(t ) = x 0 e--yt (cosst't + ( "~~fi72 )sinS11 t] a nd demon- 5 ohms find the proper inductance L to create a resonance with (-
strate by direct calculat ion that x(O) = xo a nd :i:(O) =Vo. the incid ent wave. flint: at first assume the resistance has little
effect on the resonant frequ ency and then verify that this is a good (
1.8 Forced Oscillator With Damping approximation. (
=
1-18. Show by direct su bstit ution that x r- 1 f cos(wt - 8) satisfies t he b) Compute the damping constant and verify t hat t he transie nts die (
forced d amped oscillator equ ation of motion out much faster than the mod ulation varies. T his ins ures t hat
the receiver will faithfully amplify th e incident signal.
(
x+ 21± + w5 x = f cos wt (
c) Compute the maximum voltage across t he capacitor in t erms of
a nd that r a nd (} are t he same as in (1.122) and (1.123). t he above valu e of V0 . This is the voltage amplification of t he (
circuit. (
1-19. An electric motor of mass 100 kg is supported by vertical springs
which compress by 1 mm when t he motor is inst a lled. If the motor's d ) An adjacent st a tion in carrier frequ ency is 20 kHz highe r. If our (
armature is not properly balanced, for what revolutions/ minute receiver is t uned to the o riginal 106 Hz how much will t he adjacent
stations's carrier be am plified? (
would a resonance occur?
1-20. F ind t he initial conditions such t h at an underdamped harmonic os- 1-23 . A crit ically damped oscillator with w 0 = 1 rad/sec is acted upon (
cillator will immediately begin steady-state motion under the time- by a driving fo rce Fdriver (
dependen t force F = mf cos wt. a) F ind a partic ular solution for Fdriver = m f et. (
1-21. F ind th e steady-st ate solution for a damped ha rmonic oscillator
b) Find a particular solutio n for Fdriver = m fe -t . Hint: Try x = (
driven by the force Atne- t for n = 0, 1, 2.
(
F(t) = mfsin wt c) Using the preceding results obtai n the general solution for
(
1-22. An AM radio station t ransmits a signal consisting of a carrier wave =
Fdri ver mf cash t with ini t ial condi t ions x(O) = x(O) = 0.
(
at frequency V e =
106 Hz whose a mplitude is mo dulated at fre- 1-24. An und amped harmonic oscillator with natural frequency w 0 is sub-
quency Vm = 4
10 Hz, as illustrated in the accompanying figure. jected to a driving force F(t) = ae-bt. T he oscillator starts from (
36 Ch apter 1 ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION

rest at. the origin (x = 0) a t tim e t = 0. Find the solu t ion of the
equat ion of motion wh ich satisfies t he specified init ial condition. Chapter 2
1-25. Find th ~ average power dissipated per driving period by the fric-
ENERGY CONSERVATION
t ional force of a sinusoidally driven harmonic oscillator in steady
state. (Recall th a t power= force x velocity.) Show that m aximum
dissipation occu rs at w = w 0 and evaluate t his maximum.
1-26. A sawtooth wave (see accompanying figure) can be decomposed into
There are three im portant conservation laws of mech a nics: energy, mo-
a n infinite sum of cosines
mentum, and angular mom entum . The three laws can be derived from
00 1 Newtonian theory. However, t heir ra nge of validity is much broader, ex-
f (t) =L (2n+ 1) 2 cos(wnt), tending even to t he domain of relativistic elementary particles, although
n=O
slightly changed in form. In t heir ramifications in all branches of science,
these conservation laws have exceptionally far-reaching conse9 uences. In
where W n = (2n + I)w and w is the "angular frequency" of the this chapter we discuss energy conservat ion a nd then in later chapters we
sawtooth . Find the steady-state motion of an oscillator driven by t a ke up in t urn momentum and angul a r mom entu m co nservation.
this force per unit mass
2 .1 Potential Energy
x + 27± + w~x = f (t) .
To derive the energy-conservation law in t he case of one-dimensional mo-
· Hint: find the solution for a given Wn and use the principle of su- tion, we start wit h the second law of motion fo r a body of mass m
perposition. d
dt (mv) = F(x, v, t ) (2.1)

and multiply by v . Since v dv/dt = td(v 2)/dt we obtain the equatio n

-d (-2I mv)
2 = F ( x,v,l ) v (2.2)
o.s dt
....
,--,_
4::;' 0
Substit uting v = dx/dt on the righ t- hand side and in tegrating with re-
spect to t gives

-0.S
tmv 2(t 2) - tmv (ti) = j
2
12
F(x(t) , v(t), t) ~~ dt = 1x 2
F(x , v(x) , t(x)) dx
·I ti 1 (2.3)
The left-ha nd side is the differe nce at two times of the familia r expression
· l.S for the kinetic energy
0 2 J 6 s 10 l:?
t J( = tmv2 (2.4)
Equation (2.3) is the Work-Energy theorem
x2

K2 - [(1 = f:!.J( = Work =

1 X1
F(x, v(x), t(x)) dx (2.5)

37
38 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION 2.2 Gravitational Escape 39
r
(

This theorem states that the work done by the force acting on m equ als from a reference point x, to a. new reference point x~ is just to change
,..
the cha nge in kinetic energy. V(x) in (2.6) by a constant, independent of x. The force is unaffected (
Some forces depend on ly on position , and then t he in tegrand o f (2.5) by a change in refere nce point since it is calculated from the derivative (
is a. function only of x and t he integral does not depend on the particular of the potential energy. Because the motion of the particle is determined
by t he force, all measurable quantities a.re independent of X 3 j hence Xs (
motion x(t). In s uch cases it is valuable to define t he potent ial energy
can be chosen arbi trari ly. (

V (x) =- lx
x,
F(x')dx' (2.6) Since the energy is a constant of the motion for a. conservative force,
we can use (2 .9) to determine v as a. function of x, given E. If the energy
(
(
is known fo r a. conservative syst em , it can be used as one of t he initial
where Xs is a.n arbitrary but fixed reference point. The right-hand side condi tions . The conservative nat u re of spring and gravitational forces (
of (2.5) can be expressed in terms of V as allows the use of energy conser.vation. The potential energy of the sp ring (
force is
1~
2
F(x) dx = 1~· F(x)dx + 1~
2

F(x)dx = V (x i) - V( xz) (2.7) V(x) =

.
-1x
0
(-kx')dx' = tkx 2 (2.11)
(
(
(-
for any xs, even one which is outside the range X1 to Xz. Using t his in where we have chosen Xs = 0. Equation (1.47) of the archery example is
(2.5) yields a s pecial case of (2 .11) with this potential energy for x < 0. The total (
K2 + V(x2) = / ( 1 + V(xi) =E (2.8) energy of an oscillator can be calculated from (2.11) using the solutions (
for x and v from (1.64) and (1.66) . We find
The quantity E is known as the total energy of the body. Since this (
2 2
E is independent of coordinate, the energy is constant in time; i.e., the E = tmv2 + tkx 2 = m(-wa sin(wt+ a)] + tk(a cos(wt + a)] (2.12) (
energy is conserved. ff F has an explicit dependence on eit her v or t,
(
t here is no conserved energy of t he form (2.8). This does not mean which simplifies to
that the energy of t he universe is not conserved, but only that energy is (
transferred between the mechanical form (2.8) and other forms such as (2.13)
(
thermal energy (microscopic motion of molecules) . where we have used = k/m. The energy is proportional to the square
w2 (
The expression for the energy in (2.8) can be simply written as of the maximum displacement a, which is called t he amplitude. At t he
turning points of the motion, x = ±a, the energy is entirely potential (
E = [( + V (x) = t mv 2
(x) + V(x) (2.9) energy. At x = 0, the kinetic energy is greatest; see Fig. 2-1. (
(
for any value of the coordinate x. The term potential energy means that 2.2 Gravitational Escape
V is a form of energy which potentially may appear as kinetic energy. (
By differentiating (2.6), we can solve for the force in terms of the The gravitational potential energy due to t he earth's att raction on a mass (
potential energy: m at a distance x 2: RE. from the center of the earth is
(
dV(x)
F(x) = - - -
dx
(2.10) V(x) = _
}
r (- GmME)
xn
dx' = _ GmME
x
(2.14)
(
00
(
A force that is d erivable in t his way from a potential energy is called
a conservative force. In one-dimensional motion, any force which is a We have chosen x, so that t he potential energy vanishes at infinite dis- (
·function only of position is a conservative force. The effect of changing tance. We may express the gravitational constant G in terms of the

(
,
 40 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION
2.3 Sma!I Oscillations 41

The escape velocity is independent of t he mass of the rocket. To get to

t the moon, a spacecraft launched from the earth needs a velocity nearly
Energy
equal to the escape velocity.

E=O
K(x)

-mgR,2
x

x=-a x=a x-

FIGURE 2-1. PoteoL.ial and kinetic energies for motion under the spring force.
FIGURE 2-2. Gravitational potential energy due to the earth and the minimum
gravitational acceleration on the surface of the earth using (1.7), kinetic energy /( 0 1 c needed for escape from the earth's gravitational at traction.

GME =gR~ (2.15)

to obtain 2.3 Small Oscillations
__ mgR~
r V( X ) - I x?: RE (2 .16) For a ge neral potential energy the velocity can be calculated from (2.9)
x
to be
We can use (2.16) in (2.9) to calculate the minimum velocity needed by
a rocket at the earth's surface to go to x = oo, that is, to "to escape
from the earth's gravitational attraction" (see F ig. 2-2). From (2.9) the
v(x) = ±V! [E - V(x) ] (2.19)

velocity at some position x is This exp ression determines only the magnitude of the velocity. T he sign
depends on th e previous history of the motion. Since the velocity must
v(x)=± !(E+mgxR~) (2.17) be real, t he accessible region is

V(x) ~ E (2.20)
For the velocity to be always real as x increases to oo, E ?: 0 is required .
The minimum velocity for escape from the earth's s urface is consequently
The positions at which V(x) = E are turning points, where the velocity
obtained by putting E = 0, x =RE in (2.17), yielding
goes through zero and changes sign, i.e., the particle comes to rest and
Vesc = J2gRE reverses its direction of motion. The qualitative nature of t he motion of
a particle can be described using (2.19); see Fig. 2-3.
= J2(9.8)(6.371 x 1Q6) m/s (2.18)
For the potential energy sketched in Fig. 2-4, at t he total energy
= 11.2 km/s (40,200 km/h)
indicated by th e dashed horizontal line there are three turning points,
 2.3 Small Oscillations 43 (
42 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION
(

\ (

E--~--~
cl (
(
(
XT X
t (
!
d) l . (

Xr-~- (
(
(
(
F IGURE 2-3. Behavior of a) t he potential energy V (x), b) the velocity v(x ), c) th e
velocity v(t), and d) the position x(t), near a turning point xr of the motion. We 0 (
ill1,1strate h ere the case of a particle initially moving with a velocity in the positive x
direction. (-
F IGURE 2-4. Allowed and forbidden regions for motion of a particle with energy E
x1, X2, X3. The regions 0 ;:; x < and X2 < x < x 3 are for bidden by
x1
for a potential energy V{x). (
(2.2 0). T he mot ion x(t) of a particle in the region x 1 ;:; x < x 2 will be (
oscillatory, i.e., t he particle will move back and fo rth between x 1 and x 2 • The constant term V(xe) can be drop ped since it has no conseq uences for (
The sign of the velocity in t his region changes at the t urning points as the physical motion. If we make a change of variable to t he displacement
in (2.19). Finally, a particle approaching x 3 from infinity will slow down, from equilibrium , we see that t he potential e nergy in (2.22) is. that of
(
reve rse its motion at x = x 3 , and go back out toward infinity. (
a simple harmon ic oscillator, (2.11), with x replaced by x - Xe. Small
The motion of a particle in the potential valley, x 1 ;:; x ;:; x 2 , is oscillations in any system can be approximately treated in terms of simple (
particula rly sim ple if the maximum displacements from t he minimum harmonic mot ion. The expansion about a potential-ene rgy min imum as in
potential energy at x =
x 0 a re small. In such a case, we can approx im a te (2.22) a lso provides just ification fo r Hooke's law o n t he s pringlike elastic
(
the potential by a few terms of a series expansion a bout x Xe: = deformation in solids . (
2
V(x) = V( xe) + (x -
..
T
Xe ) [dV(x) ] _+ t(x -
X - Xe
Xe)
2
¥
[d V(x)]
X=X e
+ · ··
In t he case discussed above, the e ffective s pring constant k was posi-
t ive and Xe was a stable equilibrium point. If instead, V(x e) were a local
(
(
(2.21) maximum , F(xe) would still vanish since ~~ I = 0, but then ~I (
The derivative dV/dx vanishes at a minimum. Since the second derivative Xe Xe
would be negative. Since t he effectiv~ spring constant k wo uld be neg-
of V(x) is positive at a mi nimu m of V(x), a particle at x Xe is in = ative under a s mall displacement from Xe, the force would be directed
(
stable equili bri u m, so for small displacements t he potential energy can
away from Xe · In this instance Xe is called an unstable equili brium point. (
be approximated by
As a n illustration, ~e find an approximate solu tion for t he motion of (
(2.22) a particle of mass rn in the potential energy (
wh ere (
-g2 Ji2
(2.23) V(x) = -x + x-2 (2.24) (
(

(
44 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION fLi Th ree-Dimensional Motion: Vector Notation 45

At the equilibrium position, equations of motion must have the same form. In t he new coordinate
system the equations of motion a.re

which gives
= 0 (2 .25)
I mx' = Fx•
my'= Fy' (2.31)
mi'= F..·
2h2
Xe= - 2 (2.26) whe re (x', y', z') a.re the coordinates of the particle in the new coordinate
g
From (2.23) the s pring constant for small oscillations a.bout Xe is I frame. Each of (2.31) is a. linear combination of (2.30). As a.n example,
suppose the new coordinate system has the same origin a.s the original
system but is rotated by an angle </> around the z axis, a.s illustrated in
-2g 2
k= [d V~x)]
2
6h 2
-3-+-1 (2.27) Fig. 2-5. The coordinates of the particle in the two frames are related by
dx x=x. Xe Xe

x' = x cos</>+ y sin</>

or upon substitution from (2.26), y' = - xsin</>+ycos¢ (2.32)
z' = z
(2.28)
By time-differentiating, we see that analogous relations hold for velocities
which is positive so that Xe is a point of stable equilibrium. The approx- and accelerations; e.g.,
imate solutibn to the equation of motion from (2.28), (1.62) and (1.64)
is
x' = xcos</>+ jj sin</>
g4 ) t - a]
ii' = -x sin¢+ ii cos</> (2.33)
x(t) - -2h2
g 2
=a cos [(
h 3
VBm
8m
(2.29)
i' = i
where a and a a.re arbitrary constants to be determined from the initial Substituting (2.30) into (2.33), we obtain
conditions.
mi'= Fx cos¢+ Fy sin¢
2.4 Three-Dimensional Motion: Vector Notation my'= -Fx sin¢+ Fy cos</> (2.34)

In three dimensions the position of a. particle of mass m can be specified mi'= F..
by its ca.rtesian coordinates (x,y,z). Newton's second law can then be When we identify
stated as the three equations
Fx• = Fxcos</>+ Fysin</>
mx=Fx Fy' = - Fx sin </> + Fy cos ¢ (2.35)

my.= Fy (2.30) F... = Fz

mi=Fz
where (Fx, Fy, F.. ) a.re ca.lied the x, y, z components of the force of the
particle. If one chooses to use a different cartesia.n coordinate system,
which is translated and rotated with respect to the original system, the
the set of all three new equations is equivalent to the old set; the new
equations a.re just linear combinations of the old equations. For instance,
mi' = Fx• is just cos¢ times the equation mx = Fx plus sin</> times the
equation my = Fy. Notice that Fx•, Fy•, F..• a.re related to Fx, Fy, F.. in
the same way as x', y', z' a.re related to x, y, z [(2.32)].
 (
46 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSER\IATION 2.4 Three-Dimensional Motion: \lector Notation 47
(

(
In vector notation Newton's second law can be wri tten as a single
I equation (
z, z
mr=F (2.36) (
(
This is shorthand for the set of (2.30) or (2.31). An advantage of vector
notation is that no specific reference frame is necessary in this statement (
of the laws of motion. Vector notation is also often useful in manipulation (
and solving the equations of motion .
(
The distance of a point (x, y, z) from the origin of t he coordinate
(
system is Jx z
2 + y 2 + 2 . This distance is independent of t he rotational

orientation of the coordin ate system, (

(
J x'2 + y'2 + z'2 = J x2 + y2 + z2 (2.37)
(
as can easily be checked for the t ransformation in (2.32) . The above (-
quantity is called the length, or magnitude, of r and is denoted by (
(
lrJ = r = J x2 + y2 + z2 (2.38)
(
For a general vector a= (ax, ay, az), the length, or magnitude, is similarly (
x
defined as
(
(2.39) (
FIGURE 2-5. Two coordinate systems related by a rotation by an angle ¢ about the Since by the definition of a vector given above t he components of a trans- (
z axis. form under rotations of the coordinate system in the same way as t he (
components of r, the length of a is independent of the orientation of the
coordinate frame. A quantity, such as laJ, that is independent of frame (
To symbolize t he above state of affairs and at t he same time realize a orientation is called a scalar, to distinguish it from a quantity such as Fx, (
great simplification in notation, we introduce the concept of a vector. A which is the component of a vector, and therefore is different in different
(
vector is a set of three quantities (in a three-dimensional coordinate sys- car tesian coordinate systems [see (2.35)) .
tem) whose components in differently oriented (i.e., rotated) coordinate (
If vectors are multiplied by scalars and added together by the rule
systems are related in the same way as the set 'of coordinates (x, y, z). (
Symbolicall y, we denote a vector with components (ax, ay, az) by a. Ex- (2.40) (
amples of vectors which we have already encountered are the position
vector r = (x,y,z), the velocity vector v = r = (:i:,y,z), the acceleration the resulting quantity is again a vector because its components transform
(
vector r = (x, y, z), and the force vector F ::: (Fx, Fy; Fz). The basic under coordinate-system rotations according to the definition of a vector. (
idea of a vector is that it is a quantity with components t hat change in a Since any linear combination of vectors is a vector, many new vectors (
specific way when the coordinate system is changed [e.g., (2.32)]. can be generated from the posit ion vector r. For instance, the relative
(

(
48 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION 2.4 Three-Dimensional Motion: Vector Notation 49

coordinate of two particles r2 - r 1 = ( x2 - x 1 , Y2 - Yi, z 2 - z 1) is a vector, z

as is the change of coordinate of a particle between two t imes:

6.r = r(t+6.t)-r(t) = [x(t+6.t)-x(t), y(t+6.t) - y(t), z(t +6.t)-z(t)] I

------------1./ 1
(2.41) I I I
I I I
It follows that the velocity, I I I
I I I
.
v=r= l"1m -6.r (2.42) r--- I
I
At-tO 6.t
I
and the acceleration, I
I
I
a= r= lim v(t + 6.t) - v(t) (2.43) I
AHO 6.t
I I
are vectors. We note that all vectors which are constructed from the I I
I /X
difference of two position vectors (such as r2-r1, 6.r, i-, r) are unchanged I I
by a shift in origin of the coordinate frame. Under a change in origin, all _______ _; _____ _yI/
position vectors rare replaced by r' = r+s, wheres is a constant vector. y
It follows that the vectors fo rmed from differences of two position vectors
are independent of s. Since the acceleration is unchanged by a shift in
origin, the force vector must also share this property in order for (2.36) x
to hold in translated frames. The .position vector r is t he only vector
which depends upon t he origin of the coordinate system, and therefore is F l G URE 2-6. Position vector r and coordinate-system unit vectors x, y, z.
sometimes said not to be a true vector.
The dot product of two vectors is defined as
The geometrical representation of a vector as a directed line segment,
or "arrow~' is a powerful intuitive tool. We represent the position vector a. b = axbx + ayby + azbz (2.44)
r = (x, y, z) by an arrow drawn from the origin to the point (x, y, z), as T he dot prod uct is a scalar (i.e., independent of t he frame orientation),
illustrated in Fig. 2-6. The length of r is then just the length of the arrow. as we can readily demonstrate from the identity
The components of r are the coordinates of the orthogonal projections
of the arrow's point onto the coordinate axes. We can also represent an a· b = axbx + ayby + azbz = ~ [(ax+ bx) 2 - a; - b; + (ay + b.,) 2
arbitrary vector a by an arrow, since under rotations of the coordinate
frame the components of a transform the same way as the components of - a; - b; + (az + bz) 2 - a; - &; ]
r. The length of the arrow is proportional to the magnitude of the vector, 2 2
= ~ (Ja + bl - Jaj - lbJ )
2
and t he projections of the arrow on t he coordinate axes are proportional (2.45)
to the components of the vector, as illustrated in Fig. 2- 7. The location Since the vector magnitudes Jaj, lbJ, Ja + bj are sea.la.rs, it follows that
of the arrow is arbitrary (so long a.8 the arrow represents a "true" vector, the dot product is a scalar. From the defining (2.44), we further observe
not the position vector) and may be chosen for convenience. For instance, that
arrows representing the velocity, acceleration, or force on a particle may a· a = jaj 2 = a 2
be attached to the point representing the position of t he particle. T he
a·h=h·a (2.46)
addition of vectors is represented by t he head-to-tail construction illus-
trated in Fig. 2-8. (a+b) · c =a · c+h·c
 (
50 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION 2.4 Three-Dimensi~nal Motion: Vector Notation 51
(
(
z
y (
(
{""------------..,,I I
11
(
I I I I (
I I I
f--.l.----------- I (
I
I
II a
I Oz
I (
I I I
I I I I (
I ---------l--;} (
I ! I /
I I I I ax
ILI _________ __jlI I (
Oy
(
(
(
(
(
FIGURE 2-8. Head-to-tail construction of the addition of two vectors a and b. ("'
. f'll roc
convemence o 1 ustration the x, y-coordinate axes are taken to lie in the plane defined (
x
by a and b. )
(
FIGURE 2-7. Arrow representation of an a rbitrary vector a.
(
T he magnitude of the vector a + b is given in terms of the dot product F ig. 2-9. If a · b = 0, even though a =j:. 0 and b =j:. 0, t he angle between
(
t he vectors is 90° and the vectors are said to be orthogonal.
a· b by
2 (
. !a+ h,1 2 = (a+ b) · (a+ b) = a 2 + b + 2a · b (2.47)
(
Furthermore, inasmuch as the vectors a, b, and a+ b form a triangle as
illustrated in Fig. 2-8, the opposite side !a+ bl of t he triangle is related (
by trigonometry to the adjacent sides !al and !hi by (
!a + bl 2
=a 2 2
+ b + 2ab cos () (2.48)
b or
(
(
where () is the angle between the .arrows representing a and b. Equating
the above two formulas for la+ bl 2 , we deduce t he following res ult for (
the dot product: 8 (
1&<---'>-- I b I cos 6
a· b = abcosB (2.49)
• (
T hus the dot product represents the product of the length of one vector
(
times the ort hogonal projection of the other vector on it, as indicated in FIGURE 2-9. Geometrical illustration of t he dot product .
(
(
(
52 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION 2.4 Three-Dimensional Motion: Vector No tation 53

It is useful to define a set of coordinate-axis vectors x, y, z of unit we note that

length !x i = !YI = lzl = 1 which are directed along the x, y, z axes of the
coordinate system, as in Fig. 2-6. The components of these orthogonal ax b =- bx a (2.57)
unit vectors a.re
x=(l,o,o) The cross product of a vector with itself vanishes:
y = (0, 1, 0) (2.50)
z= (0 , 0 , 1) a x a =O (2.58)

From this definition the dot products of unit vectors with ea.ch other a re
The cross product transforms like an ordinary vector under rotations of
x·x=y·y=z·z =l the coordinate system. For instance, consider the transformation equ a-
(2.51)
x·y=x·z=y.. z=O tion (2.32). The vectors a and b transform in the same way as the
position vector r; that is,
In a given frame a general vector a can be represented in terms of the
unit vectors of the frame as ax• = ax cos</>+ ay si n</> bx' = bx cos</> + by sin </>
(2.52) ay• = -ax sin </> + ay cos</> by• = - bx sin </> + by cos 4> (2.59)
bz' = b.
The sum of two vectors can be expressed as

(2.53) The com ponents of ax b in the rotated fram e are t hen found to be

Another type of product of two vectors of considerable importance (a X b )x• = (ay• bz' - a,•Uy•)
is the cross product, written a x b. The cross product has t hree compo- = (aybz - a.by) cos</>+ (azbx - axbz) sin</>
nents, defined by =(ax b) xcos<f>+ (ax b)ysin </> (2.60)
(ax b)x = aybz - azby (a x b) y' = - (a x b) x sin </> + (a x b) y cos </>
(a X b)y = a,bx - axbz (2.54)
(a X b) z' = (a X b) z
(a X b)z = axby - aybx
Thus, in terms of the unit vectors of the coordinate system, the cross which corresponds to the transformation of (x, y, z) in (2.32). For this
product is reason the cross product is sometimes called the vector product. How-
ever, the cross product behaves differently from ordina ry vectors under
(2.55)
inversion of the coordinate axes (that is, x' = -x, y' = -y, z' = -z) .
We have
Alternatively,_ the definition can be sy mbolically written as the determi-
nant
r' = -r a'= -a (ax b)' =(ax b) (2.61)

axb = <let ( : :Y :. ) (2.56)

A three-component quantity such as (ax b), which behaves like a vector
bx by bz
under rotation of the coordinate axes but does not change sign under
From the symmetry properties of the determinant or directly from (2.55), inversion, is called an axial vector.
 (
54 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION 2.4 Three-Dimensional Motion: Vector Notation 55
(
(
The dot product of the vector a with a x b is zero, as we show by
use of (2.44) and (2.54), (
a· (a X b) = ax(aybz - azby) + ay(azbx - axbz) + az(axby - aybx)
= 0
r (
(
(2.62)
(
Eq uivalently aXb
(
h· (axh)= O (2.63)
(
since a and b are ar bitrary vectors, and we can rename a H b. Thus
the cross-product vector a x bis orthogonal to t he vectors a and b. The (
arrow representing a x b must therefore be perpendicular to the plane (
defined by the arrows of a and b. By the definition in (2.55), the direction
of a x b is the direction in which a right-hand screw moves when it turns (
from a toward b , as indicated in Fig. 2-10. The square of the magnitude (
of the cross product Right-hand
screw (
Ja X bJ 2 = (aybz - azby) 2 + (azbx - axbz)2 + (a xby - aybx) 2 (2.64) (
can be rewritten (
2
Ja X bJ = (a!+ a!+ a;)(b; + b! + b;) - (axbx + ayby + azbz) 2 (
(2.65)
= a 2 b2 - Ja · bJ 2
(
Since a, b and a· b are scalars under rotations, the length of a x b is also
(
a scalar. By substitution of (2.49) , we obtain
(
Ja x bJ 2 = a 2b2 (1 - cos 2 B) (2.66)
(
and so
(
Ja x bl = abl sin Bl (2.67)
(
where B is t he angle between the arrows representing a and b. The length
Right-hand (
of ax b is just the area of the parallelogram, with the arrows a and b as rule
sides. (
The cross products of the unit vectors x, y, z of (2.50) are found FIGURE 2-10. Geometrical illus tration of the cross product. (
[from (2.55)) to be ·
(
xxy=z y x"X = - z xxx =O triple product. From (2.44) and (2.56) the triple product can be written
as a determinant of the vector components: (
y x z=x z xy= - x yXy = O (2.68)
(
zxx=y xx z = -y zxz = O
(
A new kind of scalar can be formed by taking t he dot product of a a·(b x c)=det(:: :: ::) (2.69)
(
vector a with an axial vector (b x c). This scalar, a· (bx c) is called the Cx Cy Cz
(
 2.4 Three-Dim ensional Motion: \lector Notation 57
56 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSER\IATION

From the components a; and b; of two vectors a and b , we can for m

The symmetry properties of the determinant under interchange of rows
3 x 3 = 9 products a;bj. We denote t hese nine components by t he sy mbol
imply that
T ;i:
a· (b x c) = c ·(ax b ) = b · (c X a) (2.70)
T;i = a;bi (2.78)
This interchangeability of the dot and cross products,
In vector notation we regard the nine qu antities as compone nts of
a· (bx c) =(ax b) · c (2.71)
'II' = ab (2.79)
is a useful property of vector algebra. Although t he triple product is a with no dot or cross between the ,vectors a and b. T his is sometimes
scalar under rotations it is called a pseudoscalar because it changes sign called the direct or outer product of t he vectors a and b. Any such quan-
under coordinate inversion. tity whose nine elements in one coordi nate system transform to t hose
The repeated cross product of three vectors a X (b X c) can be-worked in a rotated coordinate system in the same way as a product of vector
out to components transform is called a. tensor (more precisely, a tensor of sec-
a x (b x c) = b(a · c) - c (a · b) (2.72) ond mnk). Any linear combination of tensors is also a tensor. A general
tensor can always be written as a linear combination of outer products.
When t he cross products are carried out in a different order, the resu lt is The sum of t he diagonal elements (i = j) of the tensor 'II'= ab,

(a x b ) X c = b (a · c} - a(b · c) (2.73) (2.80)

A useful formula for the dot product of two cross products can be derived is just the dot product a · b. The components of the cross product a x b
from (2.73). We t ake the dot product of (2.73) with a vector d, are constructed from the off-diagonal elements ( i 'f:. j) of this tensor.
If we make a dot product of the tensor (ab) with a vector c , we get
(a x b) x c · d = (a · c )(b · d) - (a · d )( b · c) (2.74)
a vector
then interchange t he dot and cross products on the left-hand side to (ab ) · c = a(b · c)
(2.81)
obtain c· (ab)= b (c·a)
(ax b) · (c x d) = (a · c)(b · d) - (a· d)(b · c) (2.75) because (b · c) and ( c ·a) a.re scalars, and a vector multiplied by a scalar
is a vector. Hence, fo r a general tensor 'II', the dot products 'II' · c a nd
The components of a vector are often labeled a = (a1, a2, a3), the c·'Il' are vectors. In terms of components,
subscripts 1, 2, 3 denoting the x, y, z components, respectively. In this
notation the dot product of two vectors can be written as ('Il'·c); = T;jCj
(2.82)
(c·'Il') ; = CjT ji
(2.76)
with a summation over the index j implied. The most important use of
a tensor is to relate two vecto.rs in this way. T he unit tensor II, with the
where t he summation is over i :::; 1, 2, 3. As a convenient shorthand property t hat
notation , we shall often omit the I:
. sym bol and simply write
1 a·Il=Il·a = a (2.83)

a ·b = a;b; (2.77) for any vector a, is given in terms of unit vectors by

where a s ummation over the repeated vector component index i is implied . (2.84)
This is known as the summation convention.
 (
58 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION 2.5 Conservative Forces in Three Dimensions 59 (
(
The components of a seco nd-rank tensor are often written in a 3 X 3 In analogy to our derivation in (2.3) to (2.9) of e nergy conservation (
matrix a rray as in one-dimensional motion, we take the dot product with v of both sides
of (2.89) to obtain (

(2.85) d (
v · dt (mv ) = F(r, v,t)·v (2.90)
(
or equivalently,
(
and a vector c is represented by a column vector d (tmv · v) = F(r, v, t) · dr (2.91)
(
From (2.44), the dot p roduct v · v is
(
(2.86) v ·v = v = + +vz
2 2
v "' v 2y 2
(2.92) (
T hus the differential on t he left-hand side of (2.91) is the kinetic energy (
for three-dimensional motion. Integrating, we obtain the work-energy (
or a row vector theorem in three dimensions:
(-
(2.87) 1·2

The dot product 'Il'·c can then be worked out by matrix multiplication:
D.I< = I<2 - I<1 = J.. , F(r, v, t) · dr =Work (2.93)
(
(
An integral of t he above form is called a line integral. Using the definitions (
Tu T 12 T 13 ) (c1) ( T11c1 + T12c2 + T13C3) of the dot p roduct it can be expressed as (
'Il'·c = T 21 T 22 T 23 c2 = T21 c1 + Tnc2 + T 22c3
( (
T31C1 + TJ2C2 + TJ3C3
J J J
r2 :i:2 Y2
T31 T 32 T33 C3
(2.88) F · dr = F.,(r(x), v(x),t(x))dx + Fy(r(y), v(y) '. t(y))dy (
Similarly, to evaluate c·'Il' we use the row vector form of~- Tens~r meth- Yt
(2.94) (
ods are important in the treatment of rigid body dynamics, as discussed
J
%2

in C hapter 6. + Fz(r(z),v(z),t(z))dz (
z, (
2 .5 Conservative Forces in Three Dimensions (
where in the integral over dx the line along which the integral is carried
out is desc ribed by the functions y = y(x) and z = z(x), and simila rly (
We want to find the conditions on tf1e force F for which e nergy conserva-
for the integrals over dy and dz.
tion methods apply in t hree d imensions. With vector notation, Newton's (
As in the one-dimensional case, we define a potential energy V(r) by
laws of motion can com pactly be expressed as (
the line integral
r
d
dt
.
-(mv) = F(r, v,t) (2.89)
V(r) = - J
r,
F(r') · dr' (2.95)
(
(

The appearance of the vectors r and v in the argument of F indicates (

This line integral is illustrated in Fig. 2-11. By the same reasoning as
that each component of F can depend on all t he components of rand v. in the one-dimensional case, a necessary condition t hat the potential en- (
[For example, F.,(x, y, z, v.,, Vy, Vz, t).] ergy is a unique function of coordinate is t hat the force be a function of (
60 Chapter 2 ENERGY C ONSERVATION 2.5 Conservative Forces in Three Dimensions 61

coordinate only. But it is also necessary that the value of the in tegral in
(2.95) be independent of the integration path. Assuming this, we obtain
I
t he energy conservation condition as before:

E = tmv 2 + V(r) =constant (2.96)

I n
F • dr' = F(r') cos 8 (r') dr'

FIGURE 2-12 . Integration path in the y, z plane including two alternative routes
around an infinitesimal rectangle.

The corresponding resu lt from Path II is

(2.98)

Demanding that the same V(r) results from both integration paths yields
by subtraction

[F.,(x., y,,, Zs+dz) - Fy(x,, y,,, zs)]dy

(2.99)
- [Fz(x.,ys+dy,z5 ) - Fz(x 5 ,y8 ,z5 )]dz = 0

FIGURE 2-11. Geometrical interpretation of the line integral J,~ F(r') · dr ', where r' The quantities in brackets are immediately recognizable in terms of par-
is the integration variable and r,, rare the limits of integration. The projection an gle tial derivatives as
0 generally varies along the path.
[O~y (x., Ys1 z. )] dz
Before proceeding further, we investigate t he condition on the force
for the above line integral to be path-independent. To find this condition and
on F, we first consider integration paths which include two adjacent sides
of an infinitesimal rectangle in the y, z plane, as shown in Fig. 2-12. We
[ ()f}:z (x ., Ys 1
Z 3 )] dy
locate a corner of the rectangle at the point (y., zs) and calculate V(r)
Canceling the factor dy dz in (2.99) gives the condition,
at the diagonal corner (Ys + dy, z 3 +dz) by two different paths:
Path I : (Ys 1Zs) --t (Ysi Zs+ dz) --t (Ys + dy, Zs+ dz ) 8Fy 8F;,
-f} z - -f)y -- o (2.100)
Path II: (Ysi Zs) --t (Ys + dy, Zs) --t (Ys + dy, Zs+ dz)
The value of V(r) calculated from Path I is for the force F to be conservative. This condition must hold for any choice
of (xs, ~., zs) on the curve. To derive the above condition on an energy-
V(r) = - Fz(X 5 , Ysi z,)dz - F.,(x., y., Zs+ dz)dy (2.97)
conservrng force, we have used an integration path in the y, z plane. If
 2.5 Conservative Forces in Three Dim ensions (
62 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATIO N 63
(

Conversely, if t he potential-energy function V(r) exists, t hen from (

instead we integrate along a differential rectangle in the x, y plane, we
get (2.95) we can express F(r) in terms of it. The differential of (2.95) reads (

aFx _ aFy = O (2. 101) dV(r) = - F (r) · dr (2.107)

(
ay ax (
and similarly for a rectangle in the x, z plane. Comparing t he right- hand side with t he total differential dV (
At this point it is convenient to introduce the vector differentiation (
av av av
dV = - dx + - dy + - dz = (VV) . dr (2.108)
operator V, defined as 8x 8y az (
(
.a .a
"'V = x-ax + y-+z-
.a (2.102)
we see
ay az F(r) = - V'V(r) (2. 109)
(
(
This is called the del operator, also known as the gradient or grad. In In component form we can write
(
vector notation the requirement in (2.100) can then be written
(•
(2.110)
(V x F )x = 0 (2.103) (
(
Forming t he curl of this F, we find
where VxF is called t he curl of F, sometimes written curl F. To verify
(
t his assertion we recall t he cross-product definition from (2.54):
V' x F = -V x V'V(r) = 0 (2.111) (
(
(2 .104) since V X V = 0. Hence, there is a potential energy if and only if
V x F = 0. (

Among the most important physical examples of conservative forces (

In genera.I, t he requirement for a force to be conservative (i. e. , derivable
from a path-independent potential) is are central forces. The magnitude of a central force at each point de- (
pends only on the distance from a certain point, 'the force center, and the
(
direction of the force is radial to t he force center, i. e., towards or away
VxF=O (2.105)
from it. The gravitational and Coulomb fo rces are both of this type. If (
t he force center is at the origin of the coordinate system, the force field (
where from (2.55) with a = V and b = F we obtain the complete expan- has t he form
sion for V x F in cartesian coordinates: (
F(r) = F(r)r (2.112)
(
aFz -aFy ) A (aFx -aFz ) A+ (aFy -aFx) A where 1· = r/r . If F(r) < 0 the force is towards the center and is called
VxF= (-ay - az x+ - 8z - ax y - ax - ay z attractive (at t hat value of r), while if F(r) > 0 the force is repulsive.
(

(2.106) More generally, the center can be at any point r 0 and the expression for (
To summarize the preceding discussion, we have shown t hat if V X F = 0 the force looks li ke (2. 112} with r replaced by r - r 0 (and r by Jr - r 0 1). (
t hen J,r F(r') . dr' is path-independent and there is therefore a unique The ~uperposition of several such central forces wit h arbitrary centers is
r, (
potential energy. also conservative.
(
64 Chapter 2 ENER GY CONSERVATI ON 2.6 Motio n in a Plane 65

To prove explicitly that central forces a re conservative, it suffices to 2.6 Motion in a Plane
take the center at the origin, (2.112). Using cartesian components
For the analysis of the mechanical motion of some systems cartesian co-
x y z
F., = -F(r), Fy = -F(r), Fz = -F(r)
r
(2.113) ordinates are not the most convenient choice. For. exa:mple, some kinds
r r of motion in a plane can frequently be described more simply in terms of
we construct dV according to (2.107) polar coord inates (r, B) t han (x, y) . Since Newton's eq uations of motion
do not have t he same fo rm in polar coordi nates, we cannot just substitute
dV = -(F.,dx + Fydy + Fzdz) 1: and Bfo r x and ii in Newton's equations; Newton's equations have the
(2.114) sarrie form only in 'different cartesian coordinate systems. Therefore we
·= _ F(r) (x dx + y dy + z dz)= - F(r)dr must do some algebra to express Newton's equations in terms of polar
r coordinates .
In the last step we have used the differential of In cartesian coordin ates we have

1.2 = x2 + y2 + z2 (2.115)
mx=F., my= Fy (2.120)
Since the right-hand side of (2.114) depends only on the radial coordinate
which is written in vector form as
r (not on B or¢), its integral is path-independent. This establishes the
conservative nature of a central force; equivalently we could have directly mr =F (2.121)
shown t hat V x F = 0.
From (2.114) we obtain the central potential energy from the force with
law as r =:Xx + yy and F = xFx+ YFy (2 .122)
V(r) = -1~ F(r')dr' (2.116) In polar coordinates t he vector r is given by

The above fo rmula could have been found directly from the line integral r = xr cos B+ y1· sin B =fr (2.123)
(2.95). For instance, from the gravitational force law
T he unit vectors x and y in the cartesian system do not change with
GMm~
F= - - -r (2.117) time. The differential dr is thus
r2
dr = x( cos Bdr - r si n BdB) + y(sin Bdr + 1· cos BdB)
t he gravitational potent ial energy due to a mass M at r = 0 is
= (xcosB + ysin B)dr + (-xsin B + y cosB)rdB (2.124)
V(r) = - !~ (-G~m e) · dr' (2.118) = rdr + OrdB
and with dr' = r' dr' + o' r' dB' we have r' · dr' = d,·' and t herefore where in t he last form we have defined t he unit vecto rs r and 0 to be
rGMm 1 GMm along the direction of dr when only r or B, respectively, are increased:
V(r) =
l oo
- · -dr = - - -
ra r
(2.119)
r = x cos B + y sin B
(2.125)
Only t he magnitude of the velocity enters into the three dimensional
iJ = -xsinB+ycosB
energy conservation law and hence t he laun ch direction of a rocket is
arbitrary as long as the rocket does not hit the earth. If v ~ Vesc1 the [see Fig. 2-13 for a geomet rical representation.) By direct calculation it
spacecraft will not return. =
is seen that r . r = 0 . 0 1.
 (
66 Cha pter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION 2. 7 Simpl e Pendu lum 67
(

Notice the difference between t he left-h and side of t hese eq uations and t he (
ca.rtesian equations (2 .30). In other coordin ate systems the structure of (
\\~· the equ ations in motion can be even more complicated, and t he derivation
(
\ 8 / of results similar to (2 .130) correspondingly more. difficult. In th e next
/
\ I A /
chapter we will see that t he d erivation of the equations of motion 1s (
• I r ,,"\ 8
---~~ - 0 great)~ simplified using Lagrange's method.
--------------
x I
\
(
\
\ 2. 7 Simple Pendulum
\ (
The plane pendulum is a familiar system of hist orical importance whose (
y
motion cannot be described in terms of elementary functions. Never- (
theless, we can easily ·find t he equations ·or motion a nd an approximate
solu tion for small oscillations. (

T he simple p lane pe ndulum consists of a point mass mat the end of a (

e
weightless rod or string of constant lengt h which swings back a nd forth (
in a vertical plane. We take t he origin of the coordinate system at the
FIGURE 2-13. Polar variables and unit vectors for motion in a plane. (
pivot point , with x positive down a nd y positive to th e right. The two

Dividing dr by dt we obtain
I forces acting upon the mass mare gravity and the tension in the rod Tr, (
I· as s hown in Fig. 2- 14. If Tr is positive, the force on mis rad ially inward. (
v = r = rr + iJriJ (2.126) I In terms of polar coordina tes the force components are
(
Differentiating v with respect to time, we find Fr = mgcos O-Tr (
(2 .131)
v = rr +fr+ ore+ (Or+ (H)iJ (2.127) Fo = - mg sin(} (
(
The derivatives of r and iJ a.re found from (2.125) to be Newton 's law in polar coordin a tes, (2.130), wit h r = e, together with t he
(
f = iJ(J a bove forces gives
(2.1 28) (
iJ = - iJr -mi02 = mg cos() - Tr (2.132) (
Substituting t hese resul ts for f and iJ into the expressions for v a nd v mf.0 = -mg sin () (2.133) (
a bove, we a rrive at (
The first equation can be ignored if we a re not interested in t he value of
v = r = rr + iJriJ (2.129) Tr(t), but only in t he motion B(t). After solving t he second equation for
(
• ·2 .. . .
~
a= v = r(r - rO ) + O(r B + 2r0) O(t) , t he first equation then gives T r(O). The second equation , (2.133), (
can be written as (
In polar coordinates we write F = rFr+fJFo, so Newton's law mr =F is
(2. 134) (
m(r - r02 ) = Fr
(2.130)
m(rO + 2r0) = Fo where wo = .,;g{i. (
(
68 Chapter 2 E NERGY CONSERVATION 2 .7 Si mple Pendulum 69

is independent of a an d a. Th is a pproximately am plitude-inde pendent

feat ure of t he p eriod of motion, called isochronism, is incor porated in the
pend ulum clock.
To solve fo r the motion exactly, without a small displacement approx-
imation , we can use th e energy method . Usi ng t he chain ru le,

e= ~: ~~ = e:: = :B ( e;) (2 .138)

I we integrate (2.134)
I
I
9 82 9

I { d( ) = _g_ { sin BdB (2 .139)

eI Jo 2 e lea
I
1·
where Bo is t he a ngle at which B = 0 (Bo is t he maximu m a ngle of the
I I
motion). The evaluation of the integrals gives
I
r- - - - - -y - - - -
I
I
I '2 2g
B = l(cosB-cos Bo) (2.140)

~ s= Q6
If we multiply by tme2 , we can recognize t his as the statement of energy
conservation .
I Before find ing the mot ion, we make t he observat ion that we can use
I (2.140) to elimi nate Bfrom t he fo rmul a (2 .132) for t he tension
I
Tr = mg cos B+ mfB 2 (2.141)
t o get
F IGURE 2-14 . Sim ple plane pendulum.
Tr = 3mg cos B - 2mg cos Bo (2.142)
For sm a ll oscillations, IBI ~ 1, we can approximate sin B ~ B, with B
in radians, t o obt ain Equ a t ion (2. 140) gives the a ngu la r velocity to be

(2.135) dB (29
dt =±ye y'cosB - cosB0 (2.143)
This is read ily recogniza ble as sim ple har mo nic motion in B wit h a ngular
freq uency w0 [see (1.61) t h rough (1.64)). T he gene ral solution of (2.135.) T his d iffe rential equat io n is sepa ra ble; it can be written as
is
dB = ± (29 dt (2.144)
B = a c,os(wot +a) (2.136) )cosB - cosB0 Vl
where t he ar bit rary constants a and a area to be fixed by the initial con- and int egrated
d it ions . The period of small oscillations,
18
T = 27T = 27T fE (2 .137)
i o
t
dt ' - -
- e0
dB'
v'cos..B' - cos Bo
(2.145)

wo V9 T he minus sign is required if Bo is posit ive (noting th at 0 < 80 a nd t he B

 (
70 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION 2.8 Coupled Harmonic Oscillators 71
(
(
integral is negative). This integral can be cast into a standard form by expanded by power series and then integrated ter m by term
s ubstitution of the identity (
(
. zB -ToT = -7r211r/Zd{3 [1 + -1 Sill
. 2 (Bo).
-
2
Sill {3 + · · ·]
cos B = 1 - 2 Sill 2 (2.146) O 2 2 (
(
in (2.145) = ;2 [ 1 . 2 (Bo) (
{3 + 4 Sill
sin2{3)
2 {3 - -2 - + .. .]1r/Z
0
(2.152)
(

2
Jg re d(}'
(2.147)
(
= [1+ . 2 (Bo)] + ···
Vet=- Jeo Jsin 2 (B0 /2) -sin 2 (B'/2) 41 Sill 2 (
(
If we now introduce a new variable Again using the approximation of B0 small and sin 2 (B0 /2) ~ B6/4, we find (
• sin(B' /2) (
~~ + " )
1
(2.148)
Sill {3 = sin(Bo/2) T = To ( 1+ (2.153)
f
(
the solution in (2.147) becomes
The period is increased over the simple harmonic period. The fractional
(
lengthening of t he period is
Jg 1 1r/2 d{3'
(2.149)
(
Vet= f3 J1-sin 2 (B0 / 2) 2
sin {3'
(2.154)
(
(
Setting B = O, hence {3 = 0, gives a quarter period , so the period is given (
For a 30° maximal displacement, the fractional lengthe ni ng of t he period
by
(
(2.150) T - To = _!__ (~) 2 = 0.017 (2.155) (
To 16 57.3°
(
is less t han 2 percent. For a pendulum clock of period 1 s and ~o = 5° , (
In terms of the simple harmonic period To = 2rr /'f, the am plitude Bo must be regulated to ±3° if t he clock is to be accurate (
to 1 min/day. If the clock is desired to have a n accuracy of 1 s/day, Bo
must be regulated to 0.06 degrees. (
T 211r/Z d{3
(2.151)
To =; o J 1 - sin 2 ~ sin 2 {3 2 .8 Coupled Harmonic Oscillators
(
(
(
T his integral is known as the complete elliptic integral of the first kind . It In physical problems t hat can be approximated by several small oscilla-
cannot be evaluated in closed form, but numerical evaluations are avail- tions there is usually a coupling between the oscillators. As a specific (
able in tabular form or from computer software. To find an approxima- exam ple, we investigate the motion of two simple pendulums whose bo bs (
tion to the period for small angular displacements, the integrand can be are connect ed by a spring, as indicated in F ig. 2-15 .
(
(
(
(
72 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION 2.8 Coupled Harmor..ic Oscillators 73

Rest
position
Rest
position
~
,,_____....
I I
I
I
I
II
I I I
I 82
I
HY1 K r-Y2~
I

I I
I
~]))-))))))9))])
I
I I I
I I I
I I I
I I I
I I I
I
I
I
I
I F IGURE 2-16. Equivalent t hree-spring system for Lhe coupled-pendulu m system of
I Y2
" -
Fig. 2-15 .

~]))]JID~)))])))19~~·~-- The equations of motion can be obtained by considering t he forces

m I
I mg on each mass separately. First fix y 2 at Y2 = 0 and imagine a posi-
I
tive y 1 displacement. The restoring forces on m 1 are -ky1 due to t he
mg extension of left spring and -Ky1 due to the compression of the right
spring. Now incl ude a positive y2 displacement a nd consider its effect on
F IGURE 2-15 . Two simple pendulums coupled by a spring. m 1 . The stretching of t he middle sprin g gives a positive fo rce 1ty2 on m 1 .
Combining t hese forces the equation of motion for m 1 is
For small angular displacements t he equation of motion of a single
isolated pendu lum is given by (2.1 35).
(2 .159)
(2.156)
Note t hat t he restori ng force d ue to t he middle spri ng depends only on
T his equation can be alternatively expressed in terms of the x and Y the difference y 1 - Y2. A sim ilar exercise applied to the right-hand mass
yields
coordinates of the pend ulum bo b. For B « 1, we have
(2.160)
x = R.cosB ~ R.
(2.157) T he differential equations of motio n for the system are t hus
y =I.sin B ~ eo
and (2.135) bec;:omes
mfji = -ky1 :- 1t(Y1 - Y2 )
(2.161)
•• 2
Y-t.WoY=
0 (2.158) mfh = -ky2 + 1t(Y1 - Y2)

In this approximation the pend ulum executes simple harmon~c motio_n
in t he horizontal direct ion. T he pendulum spri ng system of Fig. 2-15 is
t herefore equivalent fo r small displacements to the t hree-spring syste1? of
F ig. 2-16, with spring const ants k = mw5 = mg/e fo r t he oute r spri ngs
and ,.,, for t he inner sprin g.
To solve these differential equations, we look for linear combinations
of y1 and y2 t hat yield differe ntial equations of sim ple harmonic form .
Later in t his Section we discuss t he solution to coupled eq uations in
some generality. l n the present case it suffices to take t he sum and the
difference of t he eq uations to uncouple t hem. If we add the equ at ions,
 2.8 Coupled Harmonic Oscillators 75 (
74 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSER\IATION
(
(
we find
(
m(ih + ih) = -k(y1 + Y2) (2.162)
(
and if we subtract
(

(2. 163) (
(
T he solutions of these two uncoupled equations are found directly from (
(1.64) to be
(
Y1 + Y2 =a+ cos(w+t +a+) In phase motion: frequency w+
(2.1 64) (
Yi - Y2 =a_ cos(w_t +a_)
(
where the a ng ular frequencies a re
:I (
I (
(
(2.165)
(
(
(
+
Th e combinations (y1 y2) a nd (Y1 - Y2) oscillate indepe ndently, sim-
Out of phnse motion: frequency w_
ple ha rmonically, and a re called t he normal modes. T he motion of t he (
pendulum bobs is in gene ral a superposition of the two norm al modes of (
vibratio n a nd from (2.164) we have F IGU RE 2-17. Normal modes for the coupled-pendulum system.
(
by a distance a. When these init ial conditions are imposed on (2.166),
Y1 = ta+ cos(w+t +a+)+ ta- cos(w_t +a_) (
(2.166) we obtain
Y2 =ta+ cos(w+t +a+) - ta- cos(w_ t +a_) a (
Y1 = 2(cosw+t + cosw_t)
(
(2.167)
T he fo ur constants a+, a_ , a+, an d a_ in (2.166) a re to be deter- a
mined by t he initial cond itions. If o nly th e a mplitu de of one normal mode
Y2 = 2(cosw+t - cosw_ t) (
is excited, t hat is, only a+ or a _ is non-zero, t he bobs swing in ph ase (
From trigonometric identities for t he sum and difference of cosine func-
wit h freq uency w+ or out of phase with frequency w_, as illustrated in tions, (2.167) can be written as (
F ig . 2-17 . We note t ha t w+ does not depend o n K si nce t he middle sp ring
(
is never stretched .
In t he weak coupling limit K «
k, the coupling between the two
¥1 = a cos ( w_ +w+
2
t) cos (w- -w+)
2
t (
pendulums causes a gradu al interchange of energy between t he two os- (2.168) "(
cillators. To demonstrate this we suppose that both bobs a re initially at y2 = a . (w- +2 w+ t) . (w_ -2 w+ t)
Sill Sill (
rest a nd t he motion of the system is start ed by displaci ng the first bob
(
(
(
(
76 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION
2.8 Coupled Harmonic Oscillators 77

At time t = tr/(w_ - w+), the first pendulum has come to rest a.nd the equations (2.161) become
a.ll the energy has been transferred through the coupling to the second
oscillator. For the weak coupling limit, w~ -w+ ~ w+, the last factors in ih + (wJ + ti. 2)Y1 - 6. 2y2 = 0
(2.170)
(2.168) a.re slowly varying functions of time. These slowly varying factors ih + (wJ + ti. 2)y2 - ·ti. 2 y1 = O·
constitute an envelope for the rapidly oscillating sinusoidal factors of
This coupled set of differential equations is homogeneous a.nd linear with
argument [(w_ +w+)/2]t, as illustrated in Fig. 2-18. This phenomenon
constant coefficients. It ha.s complex solut ions of the form
is known as beats. The beat trequency is (w_ -w+)/2, and t he period of
the envelope of the amplitude is 27r /(w_ - w+). Y1 = C1eiwt
(2.171)
Y2 = C2eiwt
where C 1 and C 2 are constants that a.re, in genera.I, com plex. The physical
YI
..... /
,,,
'' / .,.,.- - .....
solutions a.re the real parts of these complex y 1 , Y2 solutions. Substitution
of (2.171) into (2.170) gives a. pair of coupled linear equations for C 1 a.nd
/
' C 2 that can be written in matrix fo rm as

-w2+w5+ti.2 -ti.2 ) ( Cc21 ) =0 (2.172)

( -ti.2 -w2 +w5 + ti,2
For a. non-trivia.I solution the determinant of the matrix must vanish,
/
/

/
-- ' ' - ...... /

-- .....
' ' ..... giving
(2.173)
/
/
/ ' 2
Solving the quadratic equation for w , in this simple case by taking t he
/ /
Yl
/
/ ' /
'' /
/ square root, we find two solu tions, w2 = wi a.nd w 2 = w:_, where
' w+2 =w02
(2.174)
w:_ = wJ + 26. 2

''' Then solving for C2/C1 from (2.172) with these w 2 values gives

-- .,.,.
C2/C1 = +1 for
for
w = wi
2

w2 = w:_ (2.175)
C2/C1 = -1
F IGURE 2-18. Beats and envelope exhibited by the coordinates of two weakly coupled We s hall parameterize the complex constant C 1 for solu tions W± by
oscillators.
(2.176)
We solved the coupled differential equations (2.161) by adding a.nd where a± a.nd Cl'± a.re real. Then t he most genera.I motion is given by the
subt racting to obta.ih uncoupled equations. We now discuss a.n alterna- linear superpositions
tive method of solution which ca.n be more straightforwardly generalized
_ la ei(w+t+a+) +la ei(w_ t+ a-)
to more complex coupled systems with different masses a.nd spring con- Y1 - 2 + 2 -
(2.177)
stants. Denoting Y2 = ta+ei(w+t+a+) - ta_ei(w_ t+a-)

2
Wo := -
k a.nd (2.169) The general physical solution obtained by ta.king t he real part of the
m s uperposition is the same as (2 .166) . If only one mode is excited, by
 (
78 Chapter 2 ENERG Y CONSERVATION Problems 79 (
(
a particular choice of initial conditions, the system will oscillate with a 2.2 Gravitational Escape (
single frequency- the normal mode frequency w+ or w_.
2-3. From the radius and mass ratios
Equation (2.172) is an example of an eigenvalue problem with matrix (
equation R (moon)/ R (earth)~ 1/3:66 (
M (moon)/M (earth)~ 1/81.6 (
(2.178)
show that the gravitational acceleration on the moon and earth are (
related by
The eigenvalues are w2 = wi and w 2 = w:.. The vectors ( g~t and (
g (moon)/g (earth)~ 1/6
(
(g~ )- are known as eigenvectors. Two eigenvectors corresponding to
Find the escape velocity from the surface of t he moon.
different eigenvalues are orthogonal, or normal. The modes of motion (
corresponding to wi
and w:.
are accordingly called normal modes. 2-4. A projectile is fired from the surface of the earth to the moon. (
Neglecting the orbital motion of the moon, what is the minimum
velocity of impact on the surface of the moon? Take into account (.
PROBLEMS ~
the gravitational pull of both the moon and the earth. (
2.1 Potential Energy 2-5. An iron meteor enters t he earth's atmosphere at the escape velocity.
'
('
2-1. The potential energy of a mass element dm at a height z above the Compute the kinetic energy per molecule and compare with the
(
earth's surface is dV = (dm)gz. Compute the potential energy in rough vaporization energy of 1 eV /molecule.
a pyramid of height h, square base b x b, and mass density p. The (
Great Pyramid of Khufu is 147 m high and has a base of234x234 m. 2.3 Small Oscillations
(
Estimate its potential energy using p = 2.5 g/cm 3 for the density 2-6. A particle of mass m moves under the action of a force
of its material. If an average worker lifted 50 kg through a distance (
of 1 m each minute of a 10 hr work day, estimate the person-years F = -Fo sinh(ax) = - ~o (eax - e-ax) (
of labor expended in the construction of the Great Pyramid. This
(
ignores friction and the considerable effort required to quarry and where a > 0. Sketch the potential energy, discuss the motion, and
transport the stone. solve for the frequency of small oscillation if there exists a point of (
2-2. The Turkish bow of the 15th and 15th centuries greatly outper- stability. (
formed western bows. The draw force F(x) of the Turkish bow 2-7. A particle moves subject to t he potential energy (
versus the bowstring displacement x (for x negative) is approxi-
mately represented by a quadrant of the ellipse V(x) = Vo(~ +:_) (
x a
2 2 (
F(x) )
( Fmax
+ (x+d) =1 where V0 and a are positive. Locate any equilibrium points, deter-
d (
mine which are stable a nd obtain the frequency of small oscillations
Ca\cul'ate the work done by the bow in accelerating the arrow, tak- about those points. (
ing Fmax = 360 N, d = 0.7 m, and arrow mass m = 34 g. Assuming 2-8. Estimate the spring constant in units of eV / A2 for the hydro- (
that all of the work ends up as arrow kinetic energy, determine the gen (H 2 ) molecule from the potential energy curve shown below,
maximum range R of the arrow. (The actual range is about 430 m.)
(
where r is the distance between protons. From the spring constant
Compare with the range for a bow that acts like a simple spring and the "reduced mass" m = tmproton, compute t he vibrational (
force with the same Fmax and d. frequency v. This frequency corresponds to infrared light. (
(

{
 80 Chapter f2 ENERGY CONSERVATION Problems 81

b) F ind the potential energy V(r) assuming V(O) = 0.

c) Calculate VV(r) to verify that it gives F correctly.

2-12. For a central force F (r) = F(r)r show directly that V x F = 0 for
2 r !Al r ¥= 0.

2-13. Determine whether or not the force F = r x a (where a is a constant

J
vector) leads to a conservative potential energy. Compute F · dr
around a circle of radius R in the x, y plane centered at r = O.
o.74A-j 2-14. Show that a force consisting of a superposition of N central forces
r
with centers at r = rk, k = 1 to N, is also a conservative force.
Hint: the rk are constant vectors so V r = V r - rk. Use problem
2.4 Three Dimensional Motion: Vector Notation
2-1 2.
2-9. Given the vectors
r 2-15. Show that the V operator can be expressed in spherical coordinates
A= 2x+3Y'+4z B = 3x+ 2y- 22 as
r find
.8 08 <i> 8
a) A = IAI and B = IBI, V=r-+--+ - - -
r 81· r 88 1· si n B 8¢>
r
b) A· B and the angle B between A and B,
c) A X B and the angle B between A and B. where (r, 0, cf,) are perpendicular unit vectors in the direction of
From b) and c) deduce the consistent choice of the angle B. increasing (r, B, </>, ). (Hint: Use df = dr · V f where dr is given
2-10. A force field is given by
by dr = rdr + OrdB + cf,r sin Bd</> and f is an arbitrary scalar func-
tion. Express df in terms of partial derivatives.) Show that the V
Fx = kyz sin kxy operator in cylindrical coordinates (p, </>, z) is
Fy = kxz sin kxy
,.
Fz = -coskxy
r

,. a) Evaluate V xF to show that F is conservative.

,. = =
b) If the reference potential energy at (x ~ 0, y 0 , ~ O) is zero,
compute the potenti al energy at the point (x = 1.0, y = 1.0, z = 2.6 Motion in a Plane
1.0). Use any convenient path, such as along t he axes.
2-16. The bob of a pendulum moves in
r c) Using a different path, compute the potential energy at the same a horizontal circle as illustrated.
point to check path indepe~dence.
r Find the angular frequency of the
2-11. Consider the following force: circular motion in terms of t he
r

F = -I<(x - z)2(x - z)
angle e e
and the length of the
string. This is known as a coni-
a) Show that it is conservative. cal pendulum
82 Chapter 2 ENERGY CONSERVATION (
Proble ms 83
(
2.7 Simple Pendulum (
2.8 Coupled Harmonic Oscillators
(
2-17. A hemispherical thin glass goblet of radius R = 5 cm will withstand 2-21. A m ass 2m is suspended from a fixed sup-
a perpendicular force of up to 2 N. If a 100-g st eel ball is released (
port by a spring with spring constant 2k.
from rest at the lip of the goblet and allowed to slide down the A second mass m is suspended from t he (
inside, at what point on the goblet will the ball break through? first mass by a spring of constant k. Find
(
. Neglect the radius of the ball. t he equation of motion for this coupled
system and determine the frequencies of (
2-18. A mass m is attached at one end I oscillation of normal modes. Neglect the (
of a m assless rigid rod of length e, I m masses of the springs. Hint: It is easi-

!. ~
and the rod is suspended at its (
est to choose the coordinates of the two
other end by a friction less pivot, masses at their equilibrium positions. (
as illustrated. The rod is released
(
! ~'
from rest at an angle ao < 7r /2
2-22. A mass mis suspended from a support by (
with t he vertical. At what angle
a does t he force in the rod change
a spring with spring constantmwr: A sec-
(
ond mass m is suspended from the first by
from compression to tension?
a spring with spring constant mw~. Aver- (
tical harmonic force Fo cos wt is applied
2-19. A ball of mass m is suspended by a string of length £. For what (
to the upper mass. Fin~ tfte steady-state
ranges of the total energy will the string remain taut when the ball motion for each mass. Examine what hap- (
swings in an arc in a vertical plane? Choose the lowest point on pens when w = W2. (
the arc as the reference point for the potential energy.
(
2-20 . A physics professor holds a bowling ball suspended as a pendulum .
(
The ball is initially 1.9 m above the floor , the pendulum wire is
7 m in length and the ceiling height is 7 .5 m. The bowling ball has (
diameter 0.15 m, mass 15 kg; the drag parameter is Co = 0.4 and (
the air density is 1 kg/m3 . The professor gently releases the ball
(
just in front of her nose and confidently expects that it will return
short of its original position. (
(
a) Estimate the work done by friction over one period, using (1.17)
for t he drag coefficient. Approximate the motion by t hat of a (
·simple pendulum and use (2.140) in your calculation of this work. (
b) Using the work-energy theorem, estimate the change in height (
when t he ball swings back to the professor and by t he given ge- (
ometry find how close the pendulum returns to its release point.
(
(
(
(

(

Chapter 3
LAGRANGIAN METHOD
The form that Newton's equations of motion take depend s on the coor-
dinate system used. For instance, the equations in a polar system are
different from those in a cartesian system. The Lagrangian method is
a reformulation which makes it simple to write t he equations of motion
in any coordinate system. In additio n, it provides a straightforward and
systematic way to handle constraints and to identify conserved quantities.
The Lagrangian method allows an attack on many problems whose equa-
tions of motion would not otherwise be easy to find. Lagrange's equations.
(and the related Hamilton's equations) are of fundamental importance in
classical mechanics and quantum mechanics.
3.1 Lagrange Equations
For a system consisting of N particles moving in three dimensions a
total of 3N cartesian coordinates are required. The first particle's co-
ordinates are labeled r 1, t he second r2, and so on up to rN. There is
a Newton's equation for each of these coordi nates. As a first step in
r
the Lagrange approach we choose a new set of coordinates q1 , q2 , .. . q3 N
call ed general coordinates, collectively denoted by {qi}, to describe the
configuration of the system. These coordinates do not necessarily have
r
the dimensions of distance; in fact they are often angles. Newton's equa-
tions can be exp ressed in terms of the new coordinates by 'everywhere
substituting for each cartesian coordinate its expression in terms of the
new coordinates. These expressions relate the values of the new coor-
,.
dinates to the corresponding cartesian coordinate values which describe
the same configuration of th e system.
r 1 = r1(q1,q2,. .. q3N; t)
r2 = r2(q1, q2, · · .q3N; t)
(3.1)
l'N = l'N(ql, q2, · · · q3N; t)
Note that the expressions (or coordinate transformations) may be differ-
84
3.2 Lagrange's Equations in One Dimension 85
ent at different times. We use the common physics shorthand notation
that the same symbol r is used for the fun ction r(q) and its value r. A
simple specific example of the transformation (3.1) might be the choice
of spherical polar coordinates (r, 8, ¢) as general coordinates. For one
particle, (3.1) becomes
x = rsin 8cos¢
y = r sin ()sin ¢ (3.2)
z = rcos ()
e
If the particle moves on the surface of a sphere of radius centered at the
origin we may set r = f, in (3.2) and only two of the general coordinates,
() and ¢, will vary in time. A relation of this type is called a constraint.
The equations of motion which res ult directly from the substitutions
·o f (3.1) in Newton's equations are usually a mess. A much nicer set
of equations, both because they exhibit explicitly the simplifications of
symmetries and constraints, and because they are easier to write down,
are Lagrange's equations. They are not the same as Newton's but are
equivalent; in fact, each Lagrange equation is a linear combination of
Newton's equations, and vice versa.
3.2 Lagrange's Equations in One Dimension
We will first derive the Lagrange equation for one particle moving in one
dimension. With t his as a g uide we can then extend the derivation to a
system with an arbitrary number of degrees of freedom. The derivation
is pure!y mathematical and involves formal manipulations with partial
and total derivatives.
We introduce a general coordinate q(t) expressed in terms of x by
q(t) = q[x(t), t] (3.3)
or inversely, as in (3.1),
x(t) = x[q(t), t] (3.4)
An explicit dependence on tin the transformation allows for the possibil-
ity that the q- and x-coordinates are related differently at different times.
The velocity x = dx/dt can be expressed in terms of the general velocity
 (
86 Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD
3.2 Lagrange's Equations in One Dimension 87
(
(
q by chain differentiation We briefly digress to justify the result in (3.13). Proceeding just as
(
in Eq . (3.5), the total t ime derivative of 8x/8q is
OX. ox (
:i: = -q+-
oq at
(3.5)
d (ox) 8 (ax) . a (ox) (3.14) (
where oxjoq and 8x/8t are by (3.4) functions of q and t. dt aq = aq aq q+ at aq
(
The momentum p = m:i: of t he particle can be written in terms of the
An important point must now be add ressed. In the Lagrangian for- (
kinetic energy J< (:i:) = tmx
2
as
malism we regard q and q as independent variables in t he sense t hat
dJ( =
8q/8q 0. Other quantities such as the general momentum defined in (
(3.6)
p= d:i: (3.7) are derived sin ce they ultimately depend on q, q and t. Differenti- (
We introduce a new momentum p(t) called the geneml momentum by a ating (3.5) with respect to q (and treating q as an independent variable)
(
formu la analogous to (3.6) we obtain
(
p(t) =
BI<(.
aq q, q, t ) (3.7) (3.15)
(
(
where I<(q, q, t) means tmx
2 with x expressed by (3.5). By chain differ- Since the right-hand sides of (3.14) and (3 .15) a.re identical, (3.13) follows.
entiation the general momentum pis related to the ordinary momentum P Retu rning to the derivation, we multiply (3.13) by p and replace p on (
the right-hand side by t he expression (3.6) to obtain
dI< ox ox (3.8)
(
'P = dx aq = P aq (
p-
d (ox) =dI<-ox
- =81<
- (3.16)
By use of (3.4) a.nd (3.5), the partial derivative 8x/8q (q held fixed) dt -aq dx aq aq (
simplifies to
The substitution of (3.11) and (3.16) into (3.12) yields the following equa- (
(3.9)
tion of motion in the q-coordinate system (
Therefore we have (
ox . =FOX+ /)J(
(3.17)
'P = p- (3.10) 'P aq aq (
oq
(
Newton's equation of motion is The first term on t he right-hand side is called the general force
(
p = F(x, :i:, t) (3.11) . ox (
Q(q, q, t) = F oq (3.18)
The corresponding Lagrange equation of motion has P instead of p on (
the left-hand side; it is derived by differentiating both sides of (3.10)
.T hen t he equ.ation of motion (
wit h respect to t
(3 .12) . 81< (
p=Q+- (3.19)
oq (
To simplify the second term, we interchange the order of differentiation,
is of universal form for an arbitrary choice of coordinate q. The term (
d (ox) _ ox (3 .13) 8I</8.q in this equation represents a "fictitious" force which appears (
dt aq - aq whenever the coefficients 8x/8q or 8x/8t in (3.5) vary with q.
(

(
(
 88 Ch apter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD 3.3 Lagrange's Equations in Seueral Dimensions 89

If the force Fis separated into a part -dV(x)/dx which is derived 3.3 Lagrange' s Equations in Several D ime nsions
from a potential energy, and a part pt which cannot be expressed (or
which we do not choose to express) in terms of a potential energy, t he The derivation of t he Lagrange equation in § 3.2 was for the motion of one
general force can be separated into corresponding parts. particle in one dimension. The generalization to the.motion of N particles
in three dimensions is made by repeating, st ep by step, th e derivation in
Q = - dV(x) OX+ F,ox = - oV(q) + q' (3.20)
t he one-dirnenensional case.
dx aq aq aq There are now 3N cartesian com ponents xk and likewise 3N general
coordinates qi" In analogy to (3.6) t he k th cartesian momentum is Pk =
What we mean by V ( q) is the quant ity at each point that is the same
fJJ(/fJxk, and from (3.8) and (3.10) the general momentum can be written
as V(x) , that is, V [x(q)). For simplicity, we use the notation V(q), as
although it. is not the same f unction as V ( x) . Notice that the potential
(conservative) part of the general force has t he same form, - 8V/ 8q, as (3.25)
the conservative cartesian force - oV/ox .
If (3 .20) for Q is substituted into (3 .19) t he terms oI</fJq and -fJV/oq where the generalization of (3.9), t he identity fJxk/aqj = oxk/aqi, has
r
can be combined, givi ng the Lagrange equation of m otion been used. In (3 .25) and subsequent equations a s ummation over repeated
r indices (in t his case k) is implied. As in (3.12) the time derivative of the
. BL I
(3.21)
general momentum is
p=-+Q
,. fJq

,. (3.26)
where
L(q , q, t) =I< (q, q, t) - V(q) (3 .22) In parallel to the derivation in one dimension we find
,. is the Lagrangian function . Since
,. p. J -_ ( - -axk
fJV F') fJxk
+ k -
aqj
f)J( axk
+axk
-aqj-
(3.23)
f}1f I f} J(
= - - +Q1· + -
.aq; aq;
follows from (3 .7) and fJV(q)/aq = 0, the Lagrange equation of motion f) (3.27)
r
(3.21) can also be written = -(!(
8qj
- V ) + Q'·
J
r
f)
r (3.24) = - L+Q'·
aqj '

The general force Q ' must includ_e all forces F' on the particle which are where L is the Lagrangian
not included in the potential energy.
r L ( { q} I { q}; t) = [( ({q} I { q} it) - v ({q}) (3.28)
,.
The ger1eral forces derived from a potential are

(3.29)
 (
90 Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD 3.4 Constraints 91 (
(
and JS
(
, F,ax; (3.30)
Q; = i 8q; (3.38) (
In this case there are no constraint forces or non-conservative forces so (
are t he other general forces. It follows from (3.25) and 8V/8q; = 0 that that Q~ = Q~ = O. Using this in the Lagrange equations of motion
the general momentum can be written as (
(3.32), with Qj = 0

p.=-.
J
8L
8qj
(3.31) d
dt
(8L)
81~
8L
= 81·
(
(

and so (3 .27) becomes

d
dt
(8L)
80 = {)()
8L
(3.39)
(
(
we find
(
(3 .32) .. .
mr-mr 8 2 = - -
av
or (3.40)
(
d 2 . - .
dt(mr 8) = r(m1·8+2mr8) = O (
As an elementary application of Lagrangian tech niques, we det ermine
(
t he r a nd (} equations of motion for a particle moving in a pla ne .under These correspond to (2. 130), obtained from d irect application of Newton's
the influence of a central potentia l e nergy V(r). As general coordmates Laws, with Fr= -8V/8r and Fo = 0. (
we take Since L does not depend on 8, Po = 0 from (3.39); hence the general (
(3.33)
momentum Po is constant, (
in terms of which the cartesian coordi nates are (
p0 = -8L. = ·
mi· 2 0 = constant (3.41)
x = r cos(} (3.34)
{)(} (
y = rsin (} This conserved quantity is the a ng ular momentum L •. (
This conservation law is an example of a general prin ciple that can (
The kinetic energy
be ded uced from the Lagrange equation (3.32): if a general coord inate
(
I< = tm(x 2 + il) (3 .35)
=
qi does not appear in the Lagrangian and Qj 0, t he corresponding
general momentum pi = 8L/8qi is constant in time - it is a constant of (
is easily expressed in pola r coord inates by taking the time derivative of
the motion (a conserved quantity). (
(3.34) to get the cartesian velocities
{
3 .4 Constraints
x = r cos 8 - r<i sin 8 (3.36) (
iJ = rsi n~+r<icos8 As a simple example of a constrained system we return to t he simple
"(
pendulum. A mass m moves in a vertical plane as illustrated in Fig. 3-1,
and therefore subject to gravitational force and to the tension force of an attached (
(3.37) e
string of length which constrains t he mass to always be at a distance e (
from the other end of t he string. To begin with, we shall suppose that
This result fo r ]( also follows from (2. 126) with f( = tm(v~ + v~). We th is other end of t he st ring is held at a fixed posit ion ; later it will be (
note that [( is a functio n of q1 , q1 , and q2 but not of q2 • The Lagrangia n allowed to move arbit rarily. The essence of t he p roblem is that we are to (
(
(
(
92 Chapter 3 LAGRANGJAN METHOD 3.4 Cons traints 93

find t he motion of the mass according to Newton's equations, but we are solution for ihe motion were desired, this step would be unnecessary. The
not given all t he forces; instead , we are given partial information about above procedure was carried out already for the pendulum in § 2.7. By
the motion, namely the constraint(s). The unknown force, in this case expressing Newton's laws in polar coordinates we found (2. 133) that the
the tension, is called the constraint force, and is whatever it has to be B equation did not contain t he string tension. We solved t his equation
f9r the given motion to obey the constraint(s). Note t hat the number for iJ as a function of() and then substituted back into the radial equation
of the unknown components of constraint force must be the same as the (2.132) to find the tension, the constraint force.
number of constraints on the motion, otherwise the motion will be over- We now proceed with the simple pendulum using t he Lagrangian
or under-determined. method. As in Fig. 3-1, let x (horizontal) and y (vertically downward)
be cartesian coordinates of t he mass and let the origin be at t he other
(fixed) end of the string, so that the constraint is .e:: r = .jx 2 + y 2 • We
first do the calculation in an awkward but informative way. Consider the
following Lagrangian in polar coordinates
I
I
I (3.42)
I
I I
I IY where V(r, B) = -mgr cos B is the gravitational potential energy -mgy
I I and vconstraint (r) is a potential energy that will enforce the constraint
I I r = f by having a deep and narrow minimum at r = .e. It is understood
l1 I I here t hat only motions with low energies are being considered so that
I I vibrations about the constraint (here r = £) are of negligible amplitude.
I I
I In the real world a little friction rapidly damps these high frequency
r- -- - --x - --- motions.
1 .
The radial Lagrange equation for the pendulum is
I
~s=QO

I dt
d(aL') aL'
81~ - a; = 0 (3.43)
I
I or
. dVconstraint
FIGURE 3-1. Simple pendulum
mr - mre2 - mgcosB + dr
= 0 (3.44)

How can we systematically treat a mechanical system with constraints? Due to the deep and narrow mm1mum of v constraint(r) only r = .e is
The first step is to find combinations of the Newton equations in which allowed. Thus the constraint force necessary to keep r = .e is
As
the const raint forces are absent. we shall more-or-less demonstrate be-
dVconstraint .
low, these are precisely Lagrange equations, for an appropriate choice of
coordinates. One has enough information to solve these equations (while
nconstraint
"'Cr
=
- dr = -m eo2 - mg cos e (3.45)

assuming the constraints to hold), and the solutions to these determine

the motion. The remaining equations, into which one substitutes the This constraint force is directed inward if the string is taut and is the
solution to the motion, then determine the constraint forces; if only the negative of the string tension Tr. One sees from (3.43) and (3.44) that
 (
94 Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD 3.4 Constraints 95
(
(
aL' aL
t he condition for r =co nstant is -a;:- = 0, i.e. a,: -
av co n lit rai nt
ar = 0 or has a d eep and narrow minimum at q1 = q2 = qc = O; the La-
grangian is (

Q~onstraint = - aL I (3.46) L' = J( _ V _ vconstraint = L _ yc.onstraint (3.52)

(
8r r=l
r
The angular Lagrange equation for t he pendulu m is with L =
J( - V. Then the combinations of Newton's equations in which (
no constraint forces appear, and which therefore determine the inotion , (

:t (~~) - ~~
are the Lagrange equations for the "non-constraint" coordinates,
(
= 0
(3.47)
:t (r 0)
2
+gr sine= 0
d (8L) 8L
dt aqj = aqj
j = C + 1, C + 2, ... , 3N (3.53)
(
(
Imposing the constraint r = i here leads to t he us ual pendulum equation (
where L = J( - V and the "constraint" coordinates qi are taken to obey
(3.51). Consequently to determine the motion J( and V need only be (
(3.48)
known for constrained configurations of the system. As in the pendulu m (
example, the constraint forces are given by O = 1t ( 8 ~') = ~Lq'. = gqL, - (
aq; ,
The result of the above excercise is that: avconstra. int •
1. We can impose constraints directly in the Lagrangian and d etermine aq; ' i.e. (
the correct equations of motion without ever explicitly referring to the (
constraint forces. = _ f)L ·
2. If we wish to find the force required to enforce a constraint, we choose
constraint
Q J
aqj J = l , 2' ... ,C (3.54) (
an additional general coordinate (in this case r) so that when it is held to (
be a particular constant (r = i here) the constraint is maintained. The As in (3.53) L =
I< - V and the qj are a ll zero .. (Note that Qjonstraint is (
constraint force then follows as in (3.46). a general force, so for example it will be a torque if qi is an angle.) (
We can now describe the general case: let the system, with 3N degrees
The type of constraint f j ({xk}, t) = 0 is called a holonomic con- (
of freedom, have C constraints, that is, t he motion xk(t), k = 1, 2, ... , 3N
straint. An important holonomic constraint is the rigid body constraint,
is to satisfy (
in which the distances between every point in the body remain constant.
fj({xk(t)}, t) = 0, j = 1,2, ... ,c (3.49) The rigid body constraint can be expressed as (
Choose general coordinates so that C of them are (
(3.55)
(
qi= f j({xk(t)}, t) j=1,2, ... ,c (3.50)
where d;j is the constant distance between particles i and j. As we will (
so that the constraint conditions re"ad discuss in C hapter 6, the result of the rigid body constraints is that the
(
configuration of ~ rigid body is described by six general coordinate~ -
three angles and the three coordinates of the center of mass. (
j=1,2, ... ,c (3.51)
For completeness we should mention that some mechanical systems (
In our pendulum case this would mean q1 = r - i. The constraint forces have constraints which cannot be expressed as relations among the coor- (
can be imagined to be from a potential yconstraint ( q , q , ... , qc; t) which dinates; these are called non-holonomic constraints. An important class
1 2
(
(
(
(
96 Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD 3.5 Pendulum With Oscillating Support 97

of t hese are expressed as constraints on the velocities

(3.56)
ysft)
(the aij a nd bi may depend on the qi 's) where the equations cannot be
integrated. If s uch a set of relations could be integrated, the result would
be relations between coordinates and the constraints would actually be
holonom ic. Consider t he exam ple of a ball rolling without slipping on a
s urface. There are two types of constraints here. One is t hat the ball
touches t he surface; this is holonomic and can be expressed by saying
I
t hat the distance of the center of the ball above the surface is always I
I e y
equa l to the radius of the ball. The ot her is t he "rolling without slip- I
I
I
ping" constraint which can be expressed by saying that the ball at t he I
I
point of contact must be at rest relative to the plane. This constraint is I
/
I
/
non-holonomic because it cannot be integrated to a relation among the I
I
/
/
coordinates. This is evident from t he fact that t he ball can be rolled to I X
r--------------- m
anY. position and orientation (note that the ball can rotate around t he : , /'
point of contact). :I __....,....,,.,,. ,/'

An example of another class of non-holonomic constraints is given by 1------

1
I
a pendulum bob on a flexible string; t he distance r between the bob and I mg
t he other end of t he string cannot exceed t he length eof the string. For I

some in itial conditions the string may not' remain taut and the bob will
F IGURE 3-2. Simple pendulu m with a moving support. The direction of positive y,
then fall inward (i.e., r < i). When this happens the string no longer
and y is downwards.
exerts any force on the bob and the bob moves as a projectile until the
string becomes taut once more. The precise transition from constrained the bob has position (x+x.,y+y.) with respect to a fi xed system, where
to unconstrained motion and back to constrained motion requires the Xs (t) and Ys(t ) are given functions of time representing the ho rizontal
solution of the equations of motion at each step and cannot be cast in and vertically downward coordinates of the su pport and
the usual holonomic form.
x = esin ()
{3.57)
3.5 Pendulum· W ith Oscillating S upport y = icos()

You may have wondered if the Lagrangian method is actually advanta- T he bob's kinetic energy is
geous, since the examples we have solved are just as easy to do by New-
ton 's second law. To illustrate the merits of the Lagrangian approach, we
K = t m [(x + 2
±,) + (iJ + f;.)2] = tm(± 2 + i/ + 2.i±. + 2iJfJ. + x; + y;)
(3.58)
shall treat the mot ion of a pendulum with an oscillating support. T his a nd its potential energy is
example also provides a simple demonstration of t he forced harmonic
oscillator. = -mgi cos() -
V mgy, (3.59)
The point of suspension (x., Ys) of a simple pendulum is moved as a Thus the Lagrangian L = ]( - V is
specified function of time, as shown in F ig. 3-2. We take as coordinates
x, y t he relative coordinates of t he bob to the point of suspension; t hus L ~ tm(£2 e 2 + 2ee±.cos e+2£B±.sin e+x;+i;i;)+mgicos O+mgy. (3 .60)
 r
98 Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD 3.6 Hamilton's Pri riciple and Lagrange's Equations 99
(
(
For the general coord inate B, the derivatives appearin g in t he Lagrange 3.6 Hamilton's Principle and Lagrange's Equations
equation are (
An elegant method known as Hamilton's Principle provides an instru c- (
tive demonstratio n that Lagrange's equations are equivalent to Newton's
(
equations. Given the Lagrangian L({q}, {q}, t), one defines for a given
motion qj(t) of the system between the times t 1 and t 2 the qu antity S (
8
d ( ~) = mf. 0 + mex. cos B+ mf.iis sin B + mf.BiJs cos B - mf.Bx. sin B
2 called the action of the motion (
dt aB
t2 (
~~ = mf.BiJs cos B - meBx. sin B - mgisin B S= J L({q}, { q}, t)dt (3.65) (
(3.61) l1
(
The res ulting equation of motion is
We will be interested in how S changes when t he mo tion is changed to (
" (g- + Y
B+ - s) sin B = - -Xs cos B (3.62)
another motion. More specifically, we will be in terested only in a slight ly
e e .e restricted class of motions, namely those which have a specified initial
point, qi (t1) = q~ni tial, and likewise a specified final point, q.(t2) = q~nal, (
as illustrated in Fig. 3-3. As the motion is varied , subject to t he fi~ed­
3
(Note. t he cancellation of Bxs and BiJs terms.) For small angu lar displace- (
ments (B ~ 1) and a horizontal sinusoidal motion of the support, end-point conditions just stated, the value of S varies (in general). We
can now state Hamilton's principle as t he following theorem : If any small (
x. = x 0 cos wt Ys =0 variation (satisfying the fixed-end-poin t conditions) of a motion produces (
(3.63) no variation of S (to first order) then t he motion satisfies Lagr ange's
Xs = - w2 xocoswt
equations and vice versa. c
(
the equation of motion (3.62) becomes
(
" Xo 2
8 + w5B = -w cos wt (3 .64) (
e ~n~ - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(
where w0 = Vi[i is the nat ural frequency. This equation is mathe- qj(t) +\ j(t) (
matically identical with that of a forced harmonic oscillator [see (1.115)].
Because of this similarity a pendulum with a horizontally oscillating s up- (
port can be used to demonstrate the properties of a driven harmonic
oscillator.
We stress that t he advantage of using Lagrangian methods is the
" q;(t) (
(
(
methodical and straightforward procedure. Once a Lagrangian function is
constructed from the kinetic and potential energies, the task of obtaining
I. (
the equations of motion is simply a matter of differentiation. In complex (
problems there is less chance of error using t his method .
(

FIGURE 3-3. Two nearby trajectories having the same initial and fin al values, for the (
case of one coordinate.
(
(
100 Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD 3.6 Ham ilton's Principle and Lagrange 's Equations 101

In other words, t he action S is stationary at just t hose motions which square-bracketed expression vanishes for all t between ti and t2 and fo r all
satisfy Lagrange's equations. [Often , a stationary value of Sis a minimum values of the coordinate index j. This vanishing is Lagrange's equations
value, th at is, all variations of the motion raise t he value of S. For (3.32) I .

:t(:t) -;~ =
this reason, Hamilton's principle is often (misleadingly) called t he Least
Action P rinciple.] 0 (3.70)
The demonstration is as follows. We consider a particular motion
qi (t) and a slightly different motion qi (t) = qi(t) + oqi(t), where the and so Hamilton 's Principle has been s hown. We remar k that Hamilton's
difference of motio ns, c5qi(t), is small. To satisfy the fi xed-end-point P rinciple is a n example of a variational principle, and o ur treat ment of
conditions, oqi must vanish at ti and t 2 • The variatio n of the action it is an example of the calculus of variations.
when the motion is varied from qj(t) to qi(t) is It is now easy to see that Lagrange's eq uations have the same fo rm in
any coordinate syst em. According to Hamilton's Principle, th e statement
t2 t2 t2 that a motion q(t) satisfies Lagrange's equations (3.32) is eq uivalent to
c5S = j dtL({q}, {q} , t) - j dtL({q}, {q}, t) = j dtc5L /
the stat ement that the action of the motion is stationary. The latter
stat ement is independent of the choice of coordin ates, and so the former
t1 t1 t1
(3 .66) statement must be as well. To be .more explicit, if we chan ge coordinates
from q to q [cf. Eq. (3.1)] then the reex pression of the action in terms of
t he new description q(t) of the orbit goes as follows:
t2
where s ums over j are implied. The fin al step used chain differentiation,
i.e. of(x, y, .. .) = ~ox+ *c5y + ·· ·. Clearly, for c5S to vanish it is suffi-
S = J dtL({q (t)}, {q (t)}, t)
t1
cient that 8L/8qi = 0 and 8L/8qi = O; however, this is not a necessary
!2
condition because the functions c5qi and c5qi are not independent. This is
dealt with as follows. Note that = j dtL({q(q(t))}, {q(q(t), q(t), t)}, t) (3.71)

. c5q j(t + dt) - c5qj(t) d t2

=j
c5q . = = -(c5q) (3.67)
J dt dt J dtL({q(t)} , {q(t)}, t)
Thus th e terms in c5qi can be integrated by parts t1

qi
where the last step defines L to be the function of the qi, and t which

J aL .
dt aqj oqi = J aL d
dt aqj dt oqi
aL
= aqj c5qj -
J d (BL)
dt dt aqj oqj (3.68) res ults from substit uting into L ( { q} , { q}, t) t he expressions of the old
coordinates and velocities q, qin terms of the new,

and (3 .66) becomes

(3.72)

(3.69)
The last term vanishes by the fixed-end-poin t condition, c5qj = 0 at t = t 2
and t = ti. Thus c5S vanishes for arbitrary small c5qj(t) if and only if the
Thus Hamilton 's Principle tells us that if the motion q(t) satisfies La-
grange's equations with Lagrangian L ({q} , {q}, t) then its description in
terms of t he new coordinates, q(t), satisfies Lagrange's equations with
Lagrang.ian L ({q} , {q}, t).
 (
102 Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD
3. 7 Hamilton's Equations 103
(

Now that we have shown that Lagrange's equations have the same (
of the general coordinates, momenta, and time as in (3.75). From (3.76)
form in any coordinates, it follows that t hey are equivalent to Newton's the total differential of H is (
equations if L = J( - V because if the {q} and {q} are chosen to be
(
t
cartesian coordinates, t hen [( = 2.:k mkx~ and Lagrange's equations dH . d d. fJL fJL · . aL
(3.70) become = qi Pi + Pi qi - aqj dqj - aq1 dqj - Ft dt (
(3. 77) (
Pk = a(K - V) = - av = Fk . aL aL
axk axk = q.1
dp1. - -dq,· - - dt (
(3.73) aqj at
aL aK .
Pk=-. = - . =mxk (
axk axk
where in the second line we have used p. = aL/aq .. Since the indepen- (
A final remark is that if the motion is to satisfy holonomic constraints, dent differentials are now dp i' dqi and di, we see th~t the replacement of
(
the equations which determine the motion of the system result from using the qi by the pi as the fundamental variables is achieved by t he definition
in Hamilton's Principle only motions which satisfy the constraints . H = piqi - L. This cancellation of the coefficient of dq is an example (
of a Legendre transformation. Such variable changes are encountered
frequently in the study of thermodynamics.
3.7 Hamilton's Equations (
To derive Hamilton's equations of motion we compare (3.77) with the
total differential (
The Lagrange equations of motion, which are equivalent to Newton's
equations, are a set of second-order differential eq uations. An alterna- (
aH aH aH
tive formulation of Newton's law consists ·of twice as many first-order dH =-a dp . + -dq. + - d t (3.78) (
pj i aqj , at
differential equations known as Hamilton's equations.
(
In Lagrangian mechanics the independent variables are qi, qi, and t, and use (3.32) to find (
and the general momentum pi is given in terms of these by (3.31).
aH . (
apj = qj (
(3.74)
(
aH aL . I
aq =- aq = -pi+ '2; (3.79) (
In Hamiltonian mechanics, qi, pjl and t are chosen as independent vari- 1 1
ables and qi is a dependent quantity. (
aH fJL
at= -Ft (
(3.75)
(
To establish the physical significance of the Hamiltonian we relate the
(
The Hamiltonian function H is defined as quantities on the right-hand side of (3.76) to the kinetic and potential
energies of the system. In cartesian coordinates the kinetic energy is (
(3.76) (
(3.80) (
where a summation over the repeated index j on the right-hand side is
implied. In this definition the variables qi are understood to be functions ( \

By use of the chain rule expression fo r xk t he kinetic energy can be

(
( I

(
104 Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD 3. 7 Hamilton's Equations 105

rewritten in the form As an elementary example of the Ham iltonian method, we consider
the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator, for which
1 (OXk. OX k) 1. 1 OXk
[( = 2Pk oq; qi + Bt = 2 piqi + 2Pk at (3 .81)
. l .?
1( = 2 mx-

Solving for P;q; from (3.81), V = tkx 2 (3.88)

L = }(. - V = 21 mx· 2 - Ik 2
2 x
. T.( OXk
P;q; = 2r - Pk at (3.82)
In this case q = x and q' = 0. The momentum is found by differentiation
and substituting the result into (3.76), we obtain accord ing to (3.74),
f)J( .
OXk p=-=mx (3.89)
H = 2l< - Pk ot - L ox
(3.83) The Hamiltonian from (3.76) is

Hence if the transformation between the cartesian and general coordinates (3.90)
in (3 .1) has no explicit time dependence,

OXk =0 where (3.89) has been used to eliminate x in favor of p. This Hamiltonian
(3.84)
at is immediately recognizable as the total energy of the oscillator.
the Hamiltonian is the total ene rgy of the system, Hamilton's equations of motion from (3.79),

H=I<+V (3 .85) off . oH .

-
op--x. -=-p (3.9 1)
OX
Of course t his equation holds only in cases where t he potential energy
exists. yield
p .
To find the conditions under which the Hamiltonian is a conserved - = x kx = -p (3.92)
quantity, we compute the total time derivative. m
When p is eliminated between these two first-order equations, we obtain
(3.86) the usual second~order differential fo rm of Newton's second la.w:

Upon use of (3.79), this reduces to (3.93)

dH 1 • oH
dt = Q;q; + dt (3.87) Because of the similar role that coordinate and momentum play in
Hamilton's equations they provide the jumping off point for the fo rmula-
Th us, if the forces are derivable from a potent ial energy ( Qj = 0) a nd tion of abstract mechanics, celestial mechanics, and quantum mechanics.
H has no explicit time dependence (oH/ot = 0), the Hamiltonian is a In the latter the generalization to subatomic mechanics begins with the
constant of the motion. This constant is the total energy of the system classical Hamilto nian. The coord inates and momenta are now operators;
if (3.84) holds: for exam ple, in coordinate space Xop = x and Pxop = -intx'
where is n
 (
106 Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD Problems 107
(

(
t he reduced Planck's constant 1i = h/2rr. In quantum mechanics all in- c) Give genera.I solutions to the equations of motion. Note that an
formation on a. physical system resides in th e wa.vefunction 1/;(r , t) which equation of motion with a zero angular frequency is not simple (
satisfies the Schrodinger equation harmonic. (
d) For the initial conditions x 1 (0) = 0, :i; 1 (0) = v0 , x 2(0) = 0, (
H 1/; = i1i o'f/;
at (3.94) :i:2(0) = 0, find the s ubsequent motion. (
Since r and p have opera.tor forms this amounts to a partial differential e) Using the solution from part d), evaluate the center of mass co- .(
equation for the wa.vefunction. The introduction of quantum mechanics, ordinate xcM = [m1x1 + m2(x2 + e)]/(m 1 + m 2) and the relative
(
when combined with special relativity, has extended the range of experi- coordinate x 2 - x 1 as a function of time.
mental validity of Hamiltonian mecha.n.ics down to at least 10 - 18 m. (
3-6. A bead of mass m is constrained to move without friction on a
hoop of radius R. The hoop rotates with constant angular velocity (
PROBLEMS w a.round a vertical diameter of the hoop. Use a polar angle 8 and (
3-1. Two equal masses m1 = m2 = m with coordinates x 1 and x 2 in an azimuthal angle ¢ to describe the position of the bead on the (
one dimension are connected by a spring of s pring constant k. Use hoop, with w = ¢. Take 8 = 0 at the bottom of the hoop.
La.gra.ngia.n methods to find the equations of motion . What is the (
a) Set up the Lagrangian and obtain the equation of motion on the
a ngular frequency of simple harmonic motion for the relative dis- (
placement x 1 - x 2 of the two masses? bead.
(
3-2. Two eq ual masses are constrained by b) Find the critical angular velocity w = n below which the bottom
the spring-and-pulley system shown in
(
of the hoop provides a stable equilibrium position for the bead.
the accompanying sketch . Assume a (
massless pulley and a fri tionless sur- c) Find the stable equilibrium position for w > n.
(
face. Let x be the xtension of the
s pring from its rel ed length. Derive 3-7. A double pendulum consists of (
th e equations of m tion by Lagrangian two weightless rods connected to
(
methods. Solve or x as a. function ea.ch other and a point of sup-
port, as ill ustrated. The masses (
of time wit h th e b undary conditions
x = 0, x = 0 at t = m 1 and m2 a.re not equal, but (
the lengths of the rods are. The
3-3. Use Lagrangian methods to find the equations of motion for Prob- (
pendulums a.re free to swing only
lem 2-21. in one vertical plane. (
3-4. Use Lagrangian methods to find the equations of motion for Prob- (
a) Set up the Lagrangian of t he system for arbit rary displacements
lem 2-22.
and derive the equations of motion from it. (
3-5. Two masses m1 and m 2 are connected by a spring of rest length
b) Find the normal-mode frequencies of the system when both angles (
f. and s pring constant k. The system slides without friction on a
horizontal surface in the d irection of the spring's length. of oscillation are small. (
a.) Set up the Lagrangian for the motion. c) Show that the frequencies become approximately equal if m 1 ~ (
b) Find the normal modes of this system and the corresponding fre- m2; interpret this. For m2 ~ m 1 inter pret the normal-mode
(
q uencies. frequencies and descri be the motion of each mass.
(
(
108 Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD
Problems 109

3-8. A model of a rin g molecule consists Use Lagrange's equations to fi nd the equations of motion.
of th ree equal masses m which slide
without friction on a fixed circular 3.4 Constraints
wire of radius R. T he masses are con- 3-10. A bead slides without friction on a parabolic wire of shape y = ax 2
nected by identical springs of spring with t he force of gravity in the negative y direction. Write down
cons tant mw5.The angular positions the Lagrangia n in terms of x and y coordinates. Then use the
of the three masses, 81, 82 and 83 , are /--- constraint equation to express t he Lagrangian solely in terms of x.
measured from a rest position. 93
Find the equ ation of motion and t hen sim plify it for the case of
a) Write down the Lagrangian and show that t he equations of motion s mall oscillations.
are .. 2
81 +WO (281 - 82 - 83) =0 3.6 Hamilton's Principle and Lagrange's Equat ions
•• 2
82 + Wo (282 - 81 - 83) = 0 3-11. A particle of mass m falls vertically in a constant gravity field 9 .
••2
83 + WO ( 283 - 81 - 82) = 0 Assume that the position as a function of time is
b) Show that the mode in which 81 = 82 = 83 corresponds to con-
3
stant total angular momentum L = L: p8 ,.
i=l ' where y increases upward and the {ck} are constant coefficients to
c) Ass ume the total angular momentum is zero and t hat 81 +82 +83 = be determined.
0. F ind two degenerate oscillatory modes and their frequency.
a) Evaluate the action S between t = 0, where y(O) = 0, and t =T
3-9. A triangular molecule
where y(T) = e. As a function of C2) C3) T and e show that
has t hree identical atoms

(!)6 c~
I
with rest separations a
gT + (fl.)
I

_§_ =-f,4 (i - 2
c2 +
I
as s hown. The molecule I )
I
I mT 3 2T 6
is represented as a me- I
2
+ (gT)
I
2
+ ( 2T ) 4 C3 + ( S
2T
I
chanical system of masses I
C2C3
)
C3
I
a nd sprin gs with the I
I
I a
sp rings representing the
chemical bonds. For
e
b) For fixed T and show that the action is an extremum for C2 =

small mot ions in the x, y

pla11e about the equilib-
,, """,Jf_
iI 2
- g/2 and c3 .= 0.
c) What kind of extremum does S have at t his point?
rium configuration, the 3-12. Using the met hods of the calculus of variations show that the curve
kinetic and potential en- of shortest length connecting the two points (x1,Y1) and (x2,Y2) in
the x, y plane is a straight line.

*, *r.
ergies are

= J:
1 3
K = 2mI:(x7 +1m Hint: the length is s 1
2
L ( y, x ) dx where L = · 1+ (
i= l
3-13. A bead slides without friction on a wire in the vertical x, y plane
V = ~k[(x2 - xi)
2
+ ~ (v'3ya - v'3y1+x3 - x1)2 as shown. The elapsed t ime for the trip between t he origin (0,0)

J(~~~)Yo)
2

+ ~ (v13y3 - v13y2 + X2 - X3)

2
]
and the point (xo, Yo) is t = dvs, where ds = dx (*) 1+
is ·. t he element of arc length and vis the velocity (v = V29Y from
 (
110 Chapter 3 LAGRANGIAN METHOD

energy conservation). Assuming that t he bead is released at rest ,

) (
(

t he s hape of the wire y(x) is to be found for which the elapsed Chapter 4 (
time is minimum. This famous brachistochrone problem (or curve (
of quickest descent), first proposed and solved by John Bernoulli in MOMENTUM CONSERVATION (
1696, led to the development of the calculus of variations.
(
(O,O)l
- ------------------------x (
ju The conservation of linear mom entum is a. universal law for all of physics. (
v In cl assical mechanics this conservation law is a direct consequence of
Newton's laws. In the absence of external forces, the equation of motion (
(
(xo.Yo)
dp =F =0 (4.1)
dt (
y
implies that p is independent of time. In ot her words, a particle with d efi- (
a) Show that the differential equation defining the wire shape is nite mass moves with constant velocity v in a. force-free region. The most
(
interesting ramifications of momentum conservation concern systems of
more t han one particle. (
d2y (dy) 2
2y dx2 + dx + 1 =0 For a two-particle system, internal forces Fint between t he particles (
and external forces Fext on the particles can be present. The laws of (
b) Demonstrate that the solution is a cycloid motion for particles 1 and 2 are
(
x=a(¢-sin ¢) dp1 = F inl + Fext (
dt 1 l
(4.2)
y = a(l - cos¢) dpz = Finl + Fexl (
dt 2 2
How are the paramete r a and the values of ¢ at the endpoints (
The to tal momentum of the system
determined? (
3.7 Hamilton's Equations P = P1 + P2 (4.3) (
3-14. For a particle moving in a plane under the influence of a central obeys a.n equation given by the s um of (4.2) (
potential energy V (r), find t he Hamiltonian as a. function of r, 8, Pri (
and p9. Find the four Hamilton equations of motion. Show th at dP = (F~"t + F~"t) + (Fix1 + F'.r) (4.4)
the results a.re equivalent to Eqs. (3.40). dt (

3-15. In a 2N-dime nsional phase space with coordinates (qi, p) show t h at If the total external force is zero, (

t he "flow velocity" (qi' p;) in this space satisfies ~ + ~ = 0, as- (4.5) (

s uming t h at the general forces appear only in H. This indicates (
a nd t he internal forces cancel,
that t he "flow" in this space is incompressible. This result is fun- (
dame ntal to st a tistical mechanics. F inl_
1 - -
F inl
2 (4.6)
(
as implied by Newton's t hird law, then the moment um is conserved

111 (
(
112 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 4.1 Rocket Motion 113

is associated with a conservation law, conservation of momentum,

dP
-= 0 (4.7) N
dt
P =L Pi = constant vector. (4.13)
The preceding argument can be generalized in a straightforward way to i=l
demonstrate the conservation of total momentum for a system consisting
of an arbitrary n umber of particles. where the sum is over the momenta. of all particles in the system .

From the above we see that Newton's third law was "cooked up" to
4.1 Rocket Motion
keep isolated systems from spontaneously accelerating. There is a deeper
and more ge neral way of expressing t his idea . For simplicity consider two As an illustration of momentum-conservation methods, we apply (4.13)
particles moving in one dimension which in teract by a potential energy to t he following p roblem with a. time-varying mass. An op en gondola.
depending only on t he difference of t heir coordinates. The Lagrangian is freight car of mass mo coasts along a level· straight friction less track wit h
t hen
initial velocity v0 . Rain star ts falling straight down at ti me to = 0, and
L = 21m1x·21 + 21 m2x·22 - V (x 1 - x1
)
(4.8) water accumulates in the gondola at the rate (mass per unit time) a. The
problem is to find the velocity of t he gondola.
The resulting equations of motion are Since the falling rain has no horizontal component of velocity, it has
no component of momentum along the t rack. Hence the momentum along
. 8V(x2 - xi) the track of the gondola is unchanged by the accumulating rain
PI= -
OX1
(4.9)
8V(x2 - xi) P = mv = constant = movo (4.14)
fl2 =
Here m is the mass of the total system, gondola and accumu lated rain.
Adding the above equations gives Since t he t ime rate of cha nge of m is given by

d dm
dt (p 1 + P2) . = 0 (4.10) - = (J (4.15)
dt
P = p1 + p 2 = constant (4.11)
we have
The generalization to t hree dimensions a nd many particles proceeds along m =mo+ at (4.16)
similar lines.
From (4.14) and (4.16), we find the velocity of the gondola at time t to
The big step here is the assu mption that the potential energy depends
be
only on differences in coordinates. The Lagrangian is t hen independent mo
or' the choice of t he origin of t he coordinate system. To formally express v=v0 - - - (4.17)
mo +at
this: adding a constant vector a tb every particle coordin ate does not
change the Lagrangian More commonly, situations involving a time-varying mass are encoun-
tered in conjunction with an externally applied force. Rocket motion is
L({r;+a}) = L({r;}) (4.12) such an example. The time variation of the mass in rocket motion is
due to t he expulsion of t he exhaust . The external forces are primarily
This is called translational invariance. This invariance of th e Lagrangian due to gravity and air resist a nce. To derive the fundamental eq uation for
 (
114 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 4.1! Frames of Reference 115
(
(
linear rocket motion, we treat the rocket as a system of a large number rocket motion is usually written
of particles. The generalized form of (4.4) and (4.6) is (
m dv = pe:t:t - u dm (4.23) (
dP = pcxt (4.18) dt dt
dt (
The term u(-dm/dt) increases t he velocity v of the rocket and is ca.lied (
where P is the total momentum and pext is the net external force. the thrnst of the rocket. In the case of a jet plane, the exiting a.ir a.nd
(
At time t , the rocket of mass m is moving with a. velocity v relative burned fuel contribute positively to t he thrust while the a.ir entering the
to a. fixed coordinate system, as illustrated in Fig. 4-1. The exhaust is engines contributes negatively (since dm/dt > 0 and u > 0 for t he enter- (
ejected with a. constant velocity u opposite to the rocket velocity. In· an ing air). (
infinitesimal time interval dt a. mass - dm is ejected as exhaust. Note In the absence of external forces (4.23) ca.n be readily solved. Multi-
t hat the change in the rocket mass dm will be negative for the normal (
plying through by dt and rearranging factors we have
burn of a rocket. The residual rocket mass m + dm has velocity v + dv (
a.nd the exhaust mass - dm has velocity v- u in the fixed reference frame. dm
dv= - u - (4.24) (
The momentum P + dP of the system at time t + dt is thus m
(
P + dP = (m + dm)(v + dv) + (-dm)(v - u) (4.19) The result of integration is
(
m· (
To first order in the differentials v J - v; = u In - ' ( 4.25)
m1
(
P + dP = mv + m(dv) + u(dm) (4.20)
where the i a.nd f subscripts la.be! init ial and final values. The ex haust (
The momentum of t he system a.t the time t = 0 was P = mv. Thus the velocity u depends on the type of rocket fuel that is burned. Fuels wit h
(
change in momentum of the rocket-plus-exhaust system is low molecular weights generally have higher exhaust velocities, and thus
yield high rocket velocities. Present rocket technology gives exhaust ve- (
dP = m(dv) + u(dm) (4.21) locities close to the thermodynamic limit fo r chemical fuels. The result (
in (4.25) places a. limit on the velocities which ca.n be reached with a.
single-stage rocket. Velocities several orders of magnitude greater than (

h ~-c
u cannot be achieved. The mass m1 of the payload plus empty rocket (
is a.n important factor in determining the final velocity tha.t the rocket
::>--x (
Relative ~ reaches.
o rocket 11 (
4.2 Frames of Reference (
FIGURE 4-1. Motion of a rocket witl-i velocity 11 relative to a fixed coordinate system .
The velocity of the exhaust relative to the rocket is - u. _Newton's law stipulates that the eq uation of motion applies only in an (
inertial frame. Since a. frame moving with a. constant velocity relative to (
The time rate of change of momentum is an inertial frame is also inertial, considerable latitude exists in choosing
(
a. reference coordinate frame. Frequently, the solution 'to a problem can
dP = m dv + u dm = p e:1:t (4 .22) be simplified by a suitable choice of coordinate frame.
dt dt dt
I The Ga.lilea.n transformation of classica.l mechanics relates positions of (
where we ha.ve used (4.18) a.nd (4.21). T his fundamental equation of a point as measured from two coordinate systems in relative translational
(

l
116 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 4.2 Frames of Reference 117

motion. We take S' to denote a coordinate frame whose origin moves with mass of a particle is a constant (in pa rt icular, it is independent of the
constant velocity V 0 relative to t he origin of a fixed coordinate frame S, velocity), m is unchanged under a Galilean transformation. Combining
as illustrated in F ig. 4-2. If r' is the location of a point in s pace as t he invariance of the mass wit h the invariance of acceleration [( 4.28)], we
measured in S', and r is the location of the same point as measured in see that the ma term of Newton's second law is invariant under Galilean
S, the Galilean transformation is transformations. The force F '(r ', v ', t) on the particle in t he S' frame
is the same as t he force F(r, v, t) in the S frame if t he force is velocity-
r = r' + Vot (4.26)
independent :
F'(r', t) = F (r, t) (4.29)
z'
z This follows from t he fact that r and r' denote the same physical location
in space. Thus, if t he force is independent of velocity, t he equation of
motion is Galilean-invariant. All consequences of Newton's law, s uch as
conservation of energy and moment um, must hold in all inertial frames.
E ven though th e G alilean transformation of (4.26) and (4.27) seems
self-evident , it must be regarded as a postulate. In fact, for a velocity
y' v comparable with the speed of light, the equations of motion are not
invaria nt to a Galilean t ra nsform ation. The Lore ntz transformation of
Einstein's s pecial relativity theory, to wh ich the equations of motion are
always invariant, reduces to the Galilean transformation in t he limit of
s mall velocity.
To s how the advantage of a judicious choice of coordinate frame, we
I discuss t he lift experienced by seagulls rising in a uniform wind. On a
I windy day along t he beach, seagulls on the ground are often observed to
I extend their wings and to be carried aloft without t he need of flapping.
x'
Since the seagull does no work in the ascent, energy-conservation methods
should apply. However, in a coordinate frame which is at rest with respect
x to t he gro und, the gull gains energy, both kinetic a nd potential!

FIGURE 4-2. Galilean transforma tion between two coordinate frames S and S' in The energy gained by the gull is given up by t he wind but it is diffi-
relative translational motion. cult to ac~ ieve a quantitative estimate. However, if we ma ke a G a lilean
transformation to a frame which moves ·with t he air, the situation be-
When we differentiate (4.26) with respect to t, we get the velocity- comes clearer. In t his frame the air has no kinetic energy initially but
addition law the seagull's initial mechanical energy is
v = v' +Vo (4.27)
1
A second differentiation gives
K;(gull) =
2mv! (4 .30)

d2 r d2 r' where Vw is the wind speed. If t he wind is sufficie ntly strong when t he
(4.28)
dt 2 = dt 2 gull extends its wings the aerodynamic lift force on the gull will exceed
due to the constancy of V 0, both in magnitude and direction. Since the its weight and the ~ull will rise. Energy conservation in the air rest fra me
 (
4.3 Elastic Collisions: Lab and CM Systems 119 (
118 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION
(
Two colliding particles can approach each other from any direction. (
then yields
We have our choice however (at lea.st theoretically) of viewing the colli-
(
~mv~ = mgx + K 1(gull ) + K1(air) (4 .31) sion from any convenient Galilean reference frame. All such frames are
equivalent in the sense that momentum is conserved in each. (
where at height x t he gull's initial kinetic energy now appears partly
as the gull's potential energy plus its remaining kinetic energy plus the In the description of two-particle collisions, the most common choices (
kinetic energy of the air which has been deflected by its wings. When of coordinate frames of reference are the laboratory (lab) frame an d t he (
the gull has nearly come to rest relative to the wind J( 1(gull) ~ 0 and center-of-mass (CM) fra~e. Hereafter, we label the lab coordinate system
by S and the CM coordinate system by S'. In the lab system the target (
assuming it has made only a small disturbance to the motion of the air,
J( (air) ~ O, the initial kinetic energy is converted largely into potential particle m2 is initially at rest, v2; = 0, and the incident particle m 1 (
1
energy and the gull reaches a limiting height x = h given by has velocity Yli· This system is so named because most experiments
(
in the laboratory are performed with these initial conditions. After the
2 ( 4.32) (
- lmv
mgh- 2 w collision, when the forces are no longer acting, the final lab velocities a.re
v11 and v 21· Conservation of total momentum in the lab frame implies (
or
v2 (
h =~ (4.33) ( 4.35)
2g (
In a bris k wind of 40 km/h an ideal seagull can glide up to a height of where we assume that the masses are unchanged by the collision. (
2
_ (40(1,000/3,600)] = 6 .3 m.
The center-of-mass frame is the system of coordin ates fo r which the (
(4.34)
h- 2(9.8) total moment um of the two particles is zero.
( ·

4.3 Elastic Collisions: Lab and CM Systems

P' = P!i + P2; = 0 = P11 + P21
I I I I ( 4.36) (
(
Collisions provide some especially interesting examples of momentum- In this frame the CM is at rest; the CM frame is also sometimes called t he
center-of-momentum frame. To determine the Galilean transformation
(
conservation metho<ls. In collisions where no external forces are involved
and t he internal forces satisfy the third law, the total momentum of velocity Vo between i he lab and CM frames, we use (4 .27) to relate t he (
t he collidin g objects is conserved, as in (4.7). The following discussion, initial velocities. (
which is based on momentum conservation, applies to all collisions, no v~i = v11 - Vo
(
(4.37)
matter what the detailed interactions are, so long as the interactions are V~i = V2; - VO = - VO
sufficiently short- r.a nged so that the bodies can be treated as free before (
and after t he collision. Of course if there are non-contact forces acting When we impose the P' = 0 requirement of (4.36) for the initial velocities
(
it is not necessary that the surfaces of the colliding particles actually in (4.37),
touch for a collision to take place. Even in cases "where external forces (
(4.38)
a.re present the collision approxima.~ion may still be valid. If ihe collision (
takes place over a. short enough time the collision force will be much the transformation velocity is obtained as
(
larger than the external fo rce during the collision and ihe motion can
be separated into t hree time segments: before and after t he collision the (
(4.39)
particles move independently under the action of the external forces and (
during the collision the particles collide as if they were acted upon only
Of course Vo is the velocity of the CM in the lab frame. From (4.37) and (
by thei r interparticle forces.
(
120 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 4.3 Elastic Co//isions: Lab and CM Svstems 121

(4.39), we find

(4.40) Attractive ~cattcring in l:ib

I m1
V2i = - V!i
m1 +m2 I

for the initial velocities of the particles in the CM frame. A kinematical

diagram of the initial and final velocities in the lab and CM frames is
I
--,;;(-----------,,- ------{--- ~------ -- - --------- -- --
given in Figs. 4-3. •11

I
I
I

/ Repulsive scattering in ) Ab
I
I
I
I
I
I

_.....
1111
v~1~1. . .,_.,. .~=--=-=-::'"'.'.----~~~----------------
----------- b ~
------------ - -~,,:::,~----- ------ --- --

;!>...~;:... m1
Attractive scattering in CM

I ----------------- v~i
\
\
lll t b
I
\
\I
\
\
Repulsive scattering in CM
\
\

\ \
\
\

-Cm>-1-~v.~;i, -,,_ "T" _~~-~-~:s::s_______________

__
b
_ \ 0, m2
FIGURE 4-3(b) . Attractive scattering of two particles in lab and CM frames.
- -- - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - ---;::.::"'"'\'-, - -- - I
CM \ \~ V21

Collisions ht which kinetic e~ergy as well a.s momentum is conserved

\
\I
\ are called elastic collisions. In an elastic collision of two particles, the
\ momentum-conservation condition in (4.35) ot (4.36) is supplemented by
\
\
\
\
the energy conservation condition,
\
I
I
(4.41)
FlGURE 4-3(a). Repulsive scattering of two particles as viewed from the laboratory
and center-of-mass coordinat e frames. in t he lab, or equivalently,
 (
122 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATI ON
4.3 Elastic Collisions: Lab and CM Systems 123
r
(4.42) (
The angle between the final and initial velocities of particle 1 is de-
fined to be t he scattering angle, as illustrated in Fig. 4-3. The scattering (
in t he CM. Ti)e momentum- and energy-conservation conditions lead to a ngle O' in t he CM system can be related to the lab scattering angle O (
simple relations between the velocities in the CM system . From the through the velocity-transformation eq uation
(
momentum-conservation condition of (4.36), we have
(4.45) (
(
of (4.27). When we take components of this eq uation along directions
(4.43) perpendicular and parallel to the initial velocities as shown in F ig. 4-4, (
we obtain (
V1j Sill
. 0= I
V 11
• O'
sm (
(4.46)
By s ubstitution of this result into the energy-conservation relation of V11cos0 = v~ 1 cos O' + V0 (
(4.42), we obtain
T he ratio of these equations is (
(4.44) (
sin O'
tan B = - - - - - - (4.47)
cosB' +V0 /v; 1 (
for the magnitudes of the velocity vectors. Viewed in the CM frame, the
energy of each particle is unchanged by an elastic collision. (
From (4.37), (4.43), and (4.44) t he velocity ratio V0 /v~ is given by
1 (
The significance of the CM frame for theoretical analyses of collision
problems can be summ arized as follows: (
(4.48)
1. The motion both before and after the collision is collinear in the CM (
frame, and thus simpler to discuss.
With this substitution in (4.47) we arrive at the desired relatio n between (
2. For elastic collisions, the magnitude of the velocity and the energy of the lab and CM scattering angles.
(
each par ticle are the same before and after the collision in the CM fram e.
sin O' (
3. For inelastic collisions, all the initial energy in t he CM frame is avail- tan 0 = -- - - -- ( 4.49)
able for· inelastic processes, as discussed in § 4.5. cosO' + mifm2 (
Together, t he moment um- and energy-conservation conditions pro- For a fixed- target particle (t hat is, m 2 = oo), the lab and CM scattering {
vide fou r relations between the init ial a nd fin al velocities. Thus two out angles are equal. For equal masses the application of standard trigono- (
of the six final velocity components are unspecified by the initial veloci- metric identities. [sin O' = 2 sin to'
cos to', cos B' = 2 cos2 to' -
1] to ( 4.49)
(
ties . This indeterminacy is easily visualized in the CM system. By (4.43) s hows that the lab angle is half the CM angle, B = 0' /2. For most mass
the two final velocities must be opposite in direction , with magnitudes in ratios (4.49) must be solved numerically. (
ratio v~ 1 /~~f = mifm2. Thus morrientum conservation leaves only o ne As the CM scattering O' varies from 0 torr, the vector v; traces out (
v;
independent final-velocity vector, say 1 . The mag nitude of this veloc- 1
the dashed circles in the velocity diagrams of Fig. 4-4. If m 1 < m 2 , the
ity vector is specified by the energy-conservation condition. The angles (
lab angle also varies from 0 to rr , as can be deduced from Fig. 4-4(a) or
(O' , ¢/) of this velocity are undetermined by energy and momentum con- from (4.49) . For m1 > m2, illust rated in Fig. 4-4(b), 0 increases from Oto (
servation but are det ermined by the solutions to the eq uation of motion a maximu m value Bmax and t hen decreases back to 0 as 01 goes from Ot o (
for specified initial conditions. v;
rr. The maximum lab angle occurs when v 11 and 1 are perpendicular
(
124 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 4 .4 Collisions of Billiard Balls 125

In the lab system the kinetic energy transferred to the target particle
' ....
'' is give n by
r,· I 2 1 ( )2
\
\
\
J.\.2/ = 2m2V21 = 2m2 V21 -
I I
V2;
(4.51)
= m 2 v22'(1
; - cos B') = 2m 2 v2i
21 • 2B'
s111
2
' VJ/
Here we have ma.de use of v21 = v~ 1 + V 0 in (4 .27) and Vo= -v~i in
(a) m1 <mi
(4.37). This energy transfer is a maximum for B' = rr, corresponding to
backward scatteri11g in the CM system. The ratio of the final energy of
the target particle I<21 to the incident energy /(li of the projectile is
---- -- ......... .... I<21 2m2viisin (B'/2)
2
.... (4.52)
J(li = tm1 Vf;

Using (4.40), this ratio simplifies to

(4.53)
· vu .
(b) m1 > m2
Thus t he greatest energy transfer in the lab frame occurs when target. and
projectile have equal mass. This fa.ct is of great importance in nuclear
physics where hydrogen rich materials such as paraffin are used in slowing
neutrons.

4.4 Collisions of Billiaxd Balls

As an ill ustration of scatterin g, we consider the collisions of billiard balls

on a smooth table. The initial conditions simulate the lab frame since
the target ball is at rest and the cue ball in motion with velocity vli. For
(cl m1 > 1112 {maximum 8)
a head-on col\ision the velocity of the cue ball is directed at the center
of t he target ball. To analyze the su bsequent collision we transform to
FIGURE 4-4. Velocity diagram illustr;iting ~he lab and CM quantities for elastic t he CM frame. In a frame moving with velocity Vo relative to the lab
scattering. system, the velocities of t he balls are

(v 1 1 · v~ 1 = 0), a_s indicated in Fig. 4-4(c). T his orthogonality ~ondition v~; = vli - Vo
(4.54)
lea~s to the following expression for Om ax: v~i =-Vo

For the CM frame the vanishing of the total momentum requires

(4.50)
V~i = -V~i (4 .55)
For example, the maximum laboratory sclj.ttering angle of a. proton inci-
because of the equality of the masses. By comparison of (4.54) and (4.55)
dent on a.n electron is 0.03° .
 (
126 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 4 .4 Collisions of Billiard Balls 127
(
(
we obtain Lab frame CM frame
V1i I I (
V0 = 2 =Vi;= - v 2i (4.56)
dft._ vii -
Before ~ (
After the collision, the balls are moving away from each other with equal
velocities in the CM frame ·
(
After (
(4.57) (
FIGURE 4-5. Head-on collisions of billiard balls in the lab and CM frames.
Billiard balls have both linear and rotational kinetic energy (
Of course, we could have solved this collision problem di rectly in the lab
frame, but the physical interpretation is mo re transparent in the CM (
(4.58) frame.
(
where I is the moment of inertia and w is the angular velocity of rotation In noncentral collisions, as any good billiard player knows, the balls
leave the point of impact at right angles. We can prove th is fact di-
(
(i.e., the spin). Since the balls are assumed to be smooth, no spin transfer
occurs in the collision, and the rotational energies of the individual balls rectly by momentum and energy conservation in the lab system. From (
momentum conservation, (
remain unchanged by the collision . Because the ratio of translational ve-
locity to spin has been altered by the collisions the balls will slip instead 2 2 2
(P11) = (P11
2
+ P21) = (P 11) + (P21) + 2p;/ · P2/ (4.62) (
of roll on the table and friction forces will come into play. Some of these
effects will be discussed in Chapter 6, but we will ignore t hese compli- and from energy conservation, (
cations for now. Assuming that t he collision is elastic, the translational (
(4.63)
kinetic energies must satisfy the conservation condition
(
We obtain
(4.59) (
P1/ · P2/ =0 (4.64)
(
from the difference of (4.62) and (4.63). This establishes that t he final
From (4.55), (4.57), and (4.59), the magnitudes of t he initial and ·fin al
velocit ies are at right angles if neither velocity is zero. A velocity diagram (
velocities must be eq ual; thus t he balls must reverse direction in the CM
for the collision is given in Fig. 4-6 . . (
frame and the velocity vectors are

I I Vli
(
V I / = Vii= -2 (
I I Vli
(4.60)
V2/ = - Vz; = 2 (
(
To express t his result in terms of what is observed on t he billiard table I
we transform back to t he lab frame, using (4.27), (4.56) and (4.60) (
(
V1/ = v~ 1 +Vo = 0 (4.61) (
v21 = v~ 1 + V 0 = vli FIGURE 4-6. Velocity diagram for elastic scattering of two equal-mass particles. Since (
VlJ and v2~ form the sides of a triangle inscribed in a semicircle, these two vectors
The cue ball stops, and the target ball moves forward with t he init ial are perpendicular by geometry. (
velocity of the cue ball as a result of t his head-on collision; see F ig. 4-5.
{
(

(
128 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION
4. 5 Inelastic Collisions 129

4.5 Inelastic Collis ions and the kinetic energy is given by

In many instances mechanical energy is not conserved in the collision

and t he individual masses of the final particles may be different from the (4.7Q)
masses of the initial particles. In th is more complex situation we can write
an energy-balance equation for the colliding system and surroundings of By direct substitution it is easy to see that (4.68)-(4.70) imply the iden-
the form tity .
(4.65) (4.71)
in the lab system, or
In a collision P 2 is ahv:ays conserved. Hence if the particle masses are
unchanged in t he collision the energy released by the collision is
(4.66)

in t he CM system . In these equations I< designates particle kinetic energy

and Q is the energy released (if Q > 0) or absorbed (if Q < 0) by the
collision in the form of heat (or changes in rest energy of the particles {4.72)
in nuclear collisions). The value of Q is independent of reference frame.
Collisions in which energy is transferred (Q f 0), or the fin al masses are
different from the initial masses, are called inelastic. In elastic processes
Q = 0, and t he masses are not changed by the collision. Thus kinetic energy is conserved if e =
1. Note that the Q value is
A common method of describing an inelastic collision is with the independent of coordinate frame since the relative velocities are frame
coefficient of restitution e defined by independent. From (4.71) if both P 2 and I< ar~ conserved in a collision.
the relative velocity u just reverses sign in any coordin ate frame.
UJ (relative velocity after) lv v I
21 - 11
e =u; (relative velocity before) = v2 ; - Y1;
(4.67) As an example we consider an inelastic collision between two equal
mass putty balls. In the lab system the projectile putty ball has velocity
This coefficient has the same value in any coordinate system. If e = 0 vli and the target putty ball is at rest. In the cent~r-of-m ass system the
initial velocities are
there is no final relative velocity and the final particles are at rest in the
CM system (i.e., they stick together). This corresponds to a completely I Yli
Yli= 2
inelastic collision. If e = 1 the relative velocity remains the same which {4.73)
I Yli
implies conservation of kinetic energy if the masses do not change in the Yu= - -
2
collision. For e between zero and one the collision is partially inelastic.
To make these statements more quantitative we consider two free Upon impact the two putty balls stick together to form a mass 2m, as
particles. These could be either the init ial pair or the final pair of part icles · shown in Fig. 4-7. The final velocity of the aggregate putty ball is zero
in a collision. The total momentum is in t he CM frame. The energy released by the collision is deduced to be

(4.68) Q= Kf + I<~ - [(~

= tm[(v~Y + (v~;)2] - 0 (4.74)
Their relative velocity is 2
= tm(v1;)
(4.69)
 r
130 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION Problems 131 '
(

CM frame (
Lab frame 4-3. A forest-fire-fighting airplane gliding horizontally at 200 km/hr low-
ers a scoop to load water from a lake. It con tinuously picks up 1~ (

•
Ill Ill of t he airplane's init ial mass in water every 10 s . Neglect ing friction (
Before -~ fi nd an expression for the airplane's speed as a function of time.
What is its speed after 10 s? With a frictional fo rce F = -bv and a (
constant time rate of loading, find and solve the equation of motion (

•
2m 2111
of the airplane during the p rocess .

~
(
Afler 4-4. During a rocket burn in free space, at what residual mass is t he
(
momentum a maximum if the rocket starts from rest? At wh at
FIGURE 4-7. Putty-ball inelastic collision in lab and CM frames. (
residual mass is the rocket kinetic energy maximum? Determine
the rocket velocity in ea.ch case. (
Since there is no final kinetic e nergy in the CM system, all the initial
kinetic energy in t he CM frame has been converted to heat, a nd the 4-5. At cruising velocity of 1,000 km/ h, each of the four fan jet en- (
collision is called completely inelastic. This resu lt also follows from (4.72) gines on a Boeing 747 plane bu rns fuel at a rate of 0.3 kg/s, which
with e= O. The final velocity of the aggregate putty ball in the la b system is ejected through t he engine turbines. T he airflow through each (
is engine turbi ne of 50 kg/s has a n exhaust velocity of 2,100 km/h. (
vi; The airflow of 250 kg/s through the fans around each t urbin e is
V J/= 0+ Z (4.75)
exhausted with a velocity of 1,300 km / h. Calculate t he net forward
(
t hrust on the plane. (
To achieve t he maximal possible available e nergy in collisions of par-
4-6. It is difficult to construct a. rocket which, even if it carries no pay- (
ticles, accelerators a.re constructed to use colliding beams with nearly
equal and opposite momenta . In such colliders the laboratory frame is load , has a mass rat io r = minitia1/mlinal as la rge as 10. The final (
in fact the center of mass frame, since the sum of the momenta of the velocity in free space for a single-stage rocket is t hen v1 S u In 10 =
2.3 u. Since the exhaust velocity u for che mical rockets is less t han
(
colliding particles is nearly zero.
about 5 km/s, it is difficult to send a payload to the moon using a (
single rocket. Fortunately, t he device of "staging" circumvents this
PROBLEMS (
difficulty. If a large rocket carries as its payload a smaller rocket
which fires after the first burns out, a considerable increase in final (
4.1 Rocket Motion
velocity can be achieved; explain. Show that if n rockets are staged (
4-1. Material drops from a hopper at a constant rate dm/dt = <r onto
so that each has the same exhaust velocity u and t he same mass
a conveyor belt moving with constant velocity v parallel to the (
ratio r (where the masses include all t he upper stages), t he final
g round. What power motor would be needed to drive the belt? (
velocity of the last stage is nu In r.
Note: Power is the time rate of doing work: P = ddi' = F ~~ .
Show that half of the required power equals the time rate of change 4-7. For a rocket fired upward from the surface of t he earth, t he rocket (
of mechanical energy (the rest of the input power is converted to equation (4.23) is
(
heat). dv dm
m - = -mg-u- (
4-2. A vertical drain in the floor of the gondola car exam ple in § 4.1 dt dt
is open to keep rainwater from accumulating in the car. Find the (
provided that air resistance is neglected and t he earth is regarded
velocity of the gondola at time tin terms of the initial velocity v 0 , as an inertial frame. To a.chive lift-off t he t h rust must exceed t he (
the m ass of the car m 0 , and the rate <r a t which rain mass enters weight of t he rocket. For a constant rate of burn (i. e., dm/ dt = (
a nd leaves the gondola. -ami with a a constant) show that the velocity at t he instant of
(
(
(
 132 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION
I1 • Problems 133
I
burnout is
I 4- 13. A light sphere of mass m and a heavy
1 sphere of mass M fall vertically at the
-VJu = --(m;
T
- m1)9
m;
+ ln -m1 same velocity with the light sphere a
small distance above the heavy sphere
where the thrust T = uam;. as shown. Just before t hey strike the
floor, their common velocity is v0 .
4-8. Using the results from the preceding problem show that the max-
Consider what happens just after
imum altitude which can be attained by a rocket shot vertically
t hey strike the floor. What is the ve-
from the surface of the earth is
locity of the lighter mass m just after
the bounce? Assume that all colli-
h = -u2g2 Jn 2 (
m;
m1
u
- ) - - [ In
a
(
m;
- ) -
m1
(
m1
1- -
m;
)]
sions are perfectly elastic and that the
two spheres remain aligned vertically.
Hint: Analyze as a sequence of two
in t he approximation that the gravitational acceleration is con- closely-spaced impulsive collisions.
stant. Take into account the height reached at fuel burnout and
the additional distance coasting above that height. Calculate the 4-14. A group of n 1 identical smooth billiard balls moving along a line
numerical value of h for the first stage of the .Apollo moon rocket. in contact collide elastically with a group of n2 stationary balls
Compare the result with that which could be reached if the entire also lined up in contact. How many masses wi ll come out? As-
fuel burn occurred instantaneously (that is, a = oo). The initial sume that the collision forces propagate with finite speed and treat
mass of t he Apollo rocket is m; = 2.94 x 106 kg, t he final mass is the collisions successively. Analyze as a sequence of closely-spaced
,..
0.79 X 106 kg, the exhaust velocity is u = 2.8 km/s, and the thrust impulsive collisions.
is T = 37.2 x 106 Newtons.
4.5 Inelastic Collisions
4.3 Elastic Collisions: Lab and CM Systems
4-15. A mass m moving horizontally with velocity v0 strikes a pendul um
4-9. A proton of energy 4 MeV scatters off a second proton at rest. One
of mass m as s hown.
proton comes off at an angle of 30° in the lab system . What is
its energy? What is. the energy and scattering angle of the second a) If two masses stick together, find
proton? the maximum height reached by
the pendulum .
4-10. In a collision wit h a nucleus of unknown mass, ·an a particle scatters
b) lf the masses scatter elastically
directly backward and loses 75 percent of its energy. What is the
along the line of the initial mo-
mass 9f the nucleus, assuming that the scattering is elastic?
tion, find the resulting maximum
4-11. Two balls of unequal mass moving with equal velocities in opposite height.
directions collide. One ball i~ stationary after the collision. If the 4-16 . A steel ball- bearing is dropped from a height h onto a flat steel
collision is elastic, what is t he ratio of the masses? plate. The coefficient of restitution is e. Find the total distance
4-12. In a 'head-on elastic collision of two masses m 1 and m 2 with initial traveled by the ball- bearing until it comes to rest and how long it
velocities V1; and V2; 1 show t hat the relative velocity after collision is bounces. Hint: first analyze the case of one bounce to show that
opposite in sign to the relative velocity before collision: v 11 -v21 = the new height is h1 = e2 h and the time up is t 1 = e.j2h/g. Then
- (vu - V2;). apply this result successively.
 (
134 Chapter 4 MOMENTUM CONSERVATION
(
(
4-17. A mass 3m moves with velocity 2v0 z and overtakes a mass m mov- C h a pter 5
ing with velocity v0 z. The masses collide with a coefficient of resti- (
tution e = 1/2 and in t he CM frame both leave the collision ·in ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION (
t he x direction. Make a Galilean transformation to determine the
velocities in the CM frame before and after the collision. Find t he A conservation law pertaining to angular motion can also be derived from (
final velocity of 3m in the original coordinate system. Newton's law. As is the case for t he momentum- and energy-conservation (
laws, the validity of angular-momentum conservation extends beyond the
4-18. A beam of hydrogen molecules moves along the z direction with a (
domain of classical mechanics.
kinetic energy of 1 electron volt (eV) per molecule. The molecules
(
are in an excited state, from which they can decay and dissociate
5 .1 Central Fo rces (
into two hyd rogen atoms. When the velocity of a dissociation atom
z
is perpendicular t o the direction, its energy is always 0.8 eV. Cal- For a single particle of mass m at a distance r from the origin of an (
culate the energy per molecule released in the dissociative reactio n. inertial coordinate system, t he law of angular-momentum conservation (
4-19. A mass m moving horizontally with velocity v strikes and sticks to can be derived by taking t he cross product of r with the equation ~f
a horizontal spring system of length l and spring constant k wit h motion (
masses m at each end, as s hown. D ur ing the su bsequent motion, rxF=r X p (5.1) (
what is the maximum com pression of t he spring?
T he left-hand side of this equation is known as the torque,
(
m v m k m (
o-----) ~
N=rxF (5.2)
(

4-20. Show that the drag force on a satellite moving with velocity v in For illustration, see Fig. 5-l(a). The right-hand side of (5.1) can be (
the earth's upper atmosphere is approximately f D = pAv 2 where p written (
is the atmospheric density and A is the cross-sectional area perpen- r x p• = dt
d (r x p ) - r. x p
(
dicular to t he direction of motion . Assume t hat t he air molecules
are moving slowly compared wit h v a nd that t heir collisions with d (
= dt (r x p) - mv xv (5.3)
the satellite are com pletely inelastic. (
d
4-21. Two pucks, each of mass m, are = dt (r x p) (
connected by a massless string of
length 21. The pucks lie on a ho ri- T he quantity (
zontal friction less sheet of ice. The L= r xp (5.4) (
string is initially straight (i.e., () =
is called the angular momentum about the origin, as shown in Fig. 5-l(b). (
90°). A const ant horizontal force
F is applied in a direction perpen- Equations (5.1) to (5.4) relate the angular moment um and t he torque. (
dicular to t he string. When t he (
pucks collide they stick together. N= dL (5.5)
dt (
How much mechanical energy is
lost in the collision? If N = O, then L is constant in time. From (5.2), the angu lar momentum (
is conserved if either r = 0 or F = 0 or F is proportional tor. The latter (
case is of particular interest since it corresponds to a central fo rce, and
(
135
(
(
136 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5.1 Central Forces 137

= mr x v with either r or v vanishes.

N p
r ·L =0 (5.10)
v·L =0
Inasmuch as L is constant, its direction is fixed. The position and velocity
F of the particle t~us remain perpendicular to the d irection of L in the
course of the motion. The trajectory is therefore confined to a. plane
passing through the origin a.nd perpendicular to L.
Expressing iJ in terms of L with (5.9) and then substituting into t he
(a) (b) radial equation of motion (2.130) gives
FIGURE 5-1. Diagrams illustrating two relations of (a) r, F, N and (b) r, p, L for
a particle at position r.
(5.11)
many fundamental forces of classical mechanics a.re central. A central
force is one with direction para.Ile! to r with a. functional dependence on
The solution to th is equation give 1·(t). Then the angu lar dependence
the magnitude of r only.
B(t) ca.n be obtained fr~m integration of (5.9).
The angular momentum for motion in a. plane is
(5.12)
L = mrvoz = mr 2 Bz (5.6)

where zis perpendicular to the (r, B) directions in a. right-hand sense. The angular momentum L is specified by the initial conditions on r a.nd
The time rate of change of Lz is determined by the torque Nz a.bout the v, a.nd th us ca.n be used in place of one of the initial conditions.
origin . The radial equation is sometimes written in analogy t o a. one dimen-
dLz d 2•
sional equation of motion as
- = -(mr B) = Nz = rFs (5.7)
dt dt
•• 1:' L2
This equation is identical with (2.130). For central forces F is a.long r, mr = l·' r +1m·3
-- (5 .13)
so Fs =: 0 and
d 2. Since (5. 13) can be written in the form of Newton's law in one d imension,
- (mr B)
dt
=0 (5.8) t he techniques introduced in Chaps. 1 a.nd 2 can be employed to find the
radial solution.
Thus the angular moment um L is conserved
In a one-dimensional interpretation of the radial motion , the quantity

L = ILi = mr
2
B=constant (5 .9)
L2 • mv~
Fe! = --
mr3
= mr0 2 = --
r
(5.14)
From the conservation of angular momentum, we can prove that the
motion of a particle under a central force occurs in a. plane. From the is a. so-ca.lied fictitious centrifugal for.ce that must be added to Fr. Just
properties of the mixed vector product in (2.63), the dot product of L as the real force can be derived from a potential energy, Fr = - d~~r) ,
 (
138 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5.1 Central Forces 139
(
(
the fictitious force can be derived from the fictitious potential energy, As an example of a system in wh ich angul ar-momentum conservation
F.cf -- - dVct
dr >WI
"t h plays an important role, we consider two equal point masses connected by (
£2 a string which passes thro ugh a small hole o n a frictionless mass on the (
Vc1(r) = - - (5.15) table for vertical up-and-dow n motion of the suspended mass, as shown
2mr2 (
in F ig. 5-3. T he eq uations are most sim ply for mulated in a cyli ndrical
Since the centrifugal force is repulsive and large at small radial distances,
coordinate system (r, B, z) with t he o rigin at the hole in the table and the (
it repels the particle from the vicinity of r = 0. Consequently t he t erm
posit ive z axis upward. Because t he length £ of t he string is fixed, the (
centrifugal barrier is often used in reference to t his potential energy. The
variables r and z are related
equivalent one-dimensional representation of the radi al motion can be (
expressed in terms of an effective potential energy
r-z=f (5. 18) (
E= tmr 2
+ V.rr (r) (5. 16) (
We shall choose r and () as the independent variables. The gravitational
where (
£2 potential energy associated with the mass o n the table is co!1stant; t hat
Verr (r ) = V(r) + - (5. 17) of the suspended mass is (
2mr2
(
In Fig. 5-2 we illustrate the effective potential with V(r) = -et/r. v = mgz = mg(r - e) (5. 19) (
I (
I Since t he potential energy depends only o n r, the force is central a nd t he
I angu lar momentum is conserved. T he kinetic energy of the suspended (
I
I
mass is J( = tmz tmr
2
= 2 . From {3.38) and (5 .19), the Lagrangian for (
I the two-mass system is
\
(
I (
I (5.20)
\ (
\ _!L
£o \ 2mr2 (
~ \
]Ii
- ', ...... ............. __
z
1'
I
(
(
,£ 1----"1 - - - - - - -------=-:..:-=-=="-""''-'='- - -- ~ 111
'~ ~9----- (
---
V off (r)
/
.,,. .... --- (
(
1"" (
lv<r> = - ~
I . '
I (
I (
I
(
FIGURE 5-2. Effective potential energy for V(r} = -a/r. FIGU RE 5-3. Central-force example.
(
(
 140 Chapter 5 ANGULA R-MOMENTU M CONSERVATION
5.1 Central Forces 141

With t his expression for L, Lagrange's equations (3.39) give t he radial find
equation
2mo.. - - £2 ( 1 - -38) +mg =O (5.28)
2mr - mriP + mg = 0 (5.21) mr~ ro
and the angular equation After we insert the circular-orbit condition from (5.25), the equation of
motion fo r small radial deviations reduces to
d .
-(mr 2 B) =0 (5.22) 3
dt 8+ 2 g 0 = 0 (5.29)
ro
The angular equation expresses t he conservation of angular momentum:
This describes simple harmonic motion in owith angular frequency
(5 .23)
,. w- f3i -
-v ~ -v 2
!F.n (5.30)
In terms of L the radial equation is
Thus the particle undergoes small radial oscillations, indicating a stable
.. L2 0
2mr---+mg=
3 (5.24) configuration. Motion of this sort could be initiated fro m a circu lar orbit
mr
by a small radial impulsive blow . The general solution to (5.29) for the
This corresponds to (5.10) with Fr = -mg and a radially accelerated radial-displacement parameter o is
r mass 2m. Equation (5 .24) is valid only for r ::; f..
o(t) = Acoswt +B sinwt (5.31)
The radial eq uation admits a solution with a circular orbit at r = r 0 :
so t hat
(5.25)
r(t) = r 0 + A cos wt + B sin wt (5.32)
A circu la r orbit of radius r 0 will be realized if the initial velocities satisfy When we impose the initial conditions
the conditions

r=O r(O) = ro
(5.26) (5.33)
,.. r(O) =Vo
r In a circular qrbit the centrifugal force mr0 02 exactly balances the tension
mg in t he string. at t = O, the solution becomes

By considering orbits having the same L but which deviate slightly Vo .

0 (t ) = - Slll wt
from a circular orbit, we can determine whether or not the motion is w (5.34)
stable. We substitute r (t ) = r 0 + Vo
-w srn. wt
r(t) = ro + o(t) (5 .27)
where we assume that vo/wro ~ 1.
o
where ~ ro in (5.24), and make a power series expansion in c5/r0 . In The angular motion for circular orbits with small radial oscillations
the approximation t hat we retain only const ant and linear terms in we o, can be calculated from the angular-moment um-conservation relation in
 (
142 Chapters ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONS ERVATION 5. 1 Central Forces 143 (
(
(5.12). Expanding the 1/ r 2 factor in powers of vo/ wr0 , we have The allowed physical region for motion is determined by (

1 lt it
8 (
dB= --L dt~ o(t)]
- L 2 [1 - 2 - dt (5.35) (5.42)
80 0 mr(t) 2 0 mr0 r0 (
When we substitute o(t) from (5.34), t he integration can be carried out . For the energy given by the dashed line in Fig. 5-4, the radial motio n of (
We find the particle is bounded by maximum and minimum radii at the turning (
points, where E = Veff. For an energy E 2:: L 2 /2me 2 , the maximum
B(t) = Bo+ - L 2 [ t - -2vo
- (1 - cos wt) ] (5 .36) (
mr0 row 2 radius is unbounded and both masses end up on the table when r equals
As initial conditions on the angular coordinate, we choose 8 = 0 at t = 0
e. T he original Lagrangian must be modified for r 2:: e . (

and L =
mr6n. Wit h t his choice, L is the angular momentum in a (
circular orbit with radius r 0 and angular freque ncy n. The solution for I (
the angular position of the particle becomes I
I (
I
B(t) = n [t - -2vo2 (1 - cos wt) ] (5.37) I
r0 w I
I (
I
We have t hus far considered only a limited class of possible solut io ns I (
to (5.24). The complete solution t o t he rad ial equation can be discussed I
\ (
qualitatively in terms of t he effective one-dimensional potential energy, \
using the methods of§ 2.1. From (5.16), (5.17) and (5.19), the effective \ (
\
one-dimensional potential energy for this system is \ (
\
£2 i \ Ll (
Vecr(r) = mg(r - f) + -2mr 2 (5.38) V(r) ' 2mr
2

' ..... ........... (

A sket~h of Verr(r) and its two components in the physical range

01--- - - -\--- -- -- -- - - - - - , ,,...._,.,,--
--- (
0 ::; r ::; e is given in Fig. 5-4. A typical energy E is denoted by the Allowcd motion ,/"'
(
dashed line in the figure. Since t he system is conservative, the total '\~-~~---3~ -,,.:"- - t:
/ (
energy E is given by (5.19), (5.20), and (5.23) as /
/

/
/ (
2 ro /
/
(
E = K + V = mr 2 + tmr2 02 + V(r) = m1;2 + 2mr
L 2 + V(r) (5.39)
/
/
/

/
/ (
/
or /
//V(r) = mg(r - 2) (
E = mr 2 + V.tr (r) (5.40) /
/
(
/
The radial velocity r is /
/

(
r=O r=R

r= ±V ~ [E- Verr(r)] (5.41)

FIGURE 5-4. Effective potential energy for the two-mass system in Fig. 5-3.
(
(
(
(
144 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5.2 Planetary Motion 145

The effective potential energy in Fig. 5-4 has a minimum at (5 .16) gives

2
~m (dr)2= __£___2 + ~ + E (5.48)
dVcrr ) = 0 =mg _ L 2 dt 2mr r
( dr 3
(5.43)
r=ro mro
and t he angular momentum equation (5.9) gives

( d() )
or 2
mrz dt = L2 (5 .49)
(5.44)

For E = V.rr (ro), r = 0 and the rotating mass moves in a circle, as Dividing (5.48) by (5.49) to elimiate dt, we obtain the differential equation
deduced previously from (5.24). For E slightly larger than V.rr(r0 ) t he for t he o rbit
mass o n the table undergoes small radial oscillations in the Verr(1·) poten- 1 dr) 2
1
= - r2 +
2ma
+ -V
2mE (5.50)
tial well about r = 1·0 . The frequency of these oscillations can be found ( r 2 d() L2r
from a series expansion as in (5.20). The spring constant k is
The solution for r(O) can be fo und straightforwardly by separation of
variables and integration. However a simpler method is to substitute
k= (d drVetr)
2

2
3mg
ro
(5.45) dr = -r2 d (~) and complete the square in 1/r on the right-hand side of
r=ro (5.50) to obtain

Since the total mass in the rad ial-kinetic-energy term is 2m, the frequency
of radial oscillation is
d
[ d()
l
(~) 2 = _ (~ _ ~)
r 2
+ (ma)z
2
(i + 2EL2 )
L
2

L ma
2
(5.51)

(5.46) The solution to this equation is of the form

ma
in agreement with the result given in (5.30). -1r = -ma
£2
+ - E cos(O -
L2
Bo) (5.52)

5.2 P la netary Motion where Bo is arbit rary. By substit u tion we determine E to be

2E L2
The most fundamental applications of classical mechanics involve the € = 1+ma2
-- ' (5.53)
gravitational a nd Co ulom b fo rces. The potential energy for t hese conser-
vative forces can be wri tten T he orbit equation (5.52) is written in t he standard form as

>.(1 + e)..:.....---.,...
V(r) = - -O!r (5.47) r ( 0) - ---->--
- 1 + Ecos(B- Oo)
(5.54)

where a = Gm 1 m 2 for the gravitational force and a = - e1 e2f(4n0 ) w here >. is defined by
for the static Coulomb force. The angular momentum L = r x p is con- L2 1
(5.55)
>. = - -
served , since t he force is central. ma l +e
The orbit equation relating r and () can be found from the conserva- T he orbit is symmetric around the an gle Oo. For convenience t he coordi-
tion equations for angular momentum and energy. T he energy equation nate axes are often chosen in such a way that Oo = 0.
 (
146 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5.2 Planetary Motion 147 (
(
With some effort the orbit equation (5.54) with B0 = 0 can be cast in
terms of Cartesian coordinates (x = r cos B, y = 1· sin B) in the forms \ (

( X
----=2-
+ l~EA r +
y2
2 =1 (5.56)
\
\
\
\
(
(

c~e) (AV§) \
\
(
= 2 (
y
2
+ 4Ax = 4.\ 2 £ =1 (5.57)
\ f

\ >.<o
\ (
(x - _ E
E-1
A) 2 y2 \
----.,,.2 =1 (>1 (5.58) \ (
(Av@) \
\ (
\
(
Equation (5.54) represents conic sections with a focus a t r = 0. The I
I (
type of conic section depends on the val ues of the parameters £ and A as
follows:
(
ellipse (£ =0 is a circle) (
E = 1 A>0 parabola (5.59) (
£ >1 A < 0 or ,\ > 0 hyperbola
(
Sketches of these orbits with Bo = 0 are shown in Fig. 5-5. The A > 0 'if I (
requirement for the elliptical and parabolic orbits follows from the posi- 'CI
~/ (
tivity requirement on r in (5.54). For A> 0, the angle B=Bo corresponds :i:/
to the turning point of minimum r, with 1'min =A. For A< 0, this turning I (
I
point occurs at B =Bo+ 7r, as shown in the hyperbolic orbits of Fig. 5-5, I
with 1'miu = A[(l + E)/(1 - E)]. I (
I
From (5.55) we observe that A is positive for an attractive potential I (
I
ene rgy (a > 0) and negative for a repulsive potential energy (a < 0) . By (
reference to (5.53) and (5.59), we conclude that the a and energy ranges
(
for t he three types of orbits are F IGURE 5-5. Sketches of representative conic-section orbits.
(
Ellipse a> 0 E< 0 For an elliptic orbit, the semimajor axis a and seiniminor axis b are (
Parabola a >0 E=O (5.60) commonly specified in place of,\ and i:. From (5.56) the lengths of t hese
(
Hyperbola a > 0 or a < 0 E >0 axes are related to A and i: by
(
with V = 0 at r = oo. A
a = -- (
The motion about the sun of the planets in our solar system is gov- 1-E
erned by the gravitational potential energy, which has a > 0. Of the (5.61)
(
conic sections only the ellipse is an orbit of finite extent. Thus, from (
(5.60), all planetary orbits have E < 0.

(
(
148 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5.3 /(epl er's Laws 149

T he ratio of b to a is dete rmined by the eccentricity E decreases. Since the atmosphere is quite thin at this altitude, the satellite
makes many orbits before its o rbital height is appreciably changed, and
(5.62) the orbit remains nearly circular. The decrease in E must be accompanied
by an increase in [( by (5.65). Since the kinetic · energy increases, the
Using (5.61) and (5.62), along with (5.53) an d (5.46), the semimajor and satellite speeds up.
semiminor axes of the ellipse are given in terms of the energy a nd angular In Coulomb scattering of charged particles from a fixed scattering
momentum, center, E > 0, and so the particl~ trajectories are hyperbolic orbits. For
hype rbolic orbits the r--+ oo asymptotes of (5.54) with Bo = 0 a re given
>. >.(l + E) (L 2 /met) et et by
a= 1 - E = 1- E2 = (-2EL 2 /ma 2 ) = 2E = 2IEI
.o;.Y = ± arccos (- ~) (5 .66)

(-a)
2 1 2
( - 2E L L
- ~-
b - a 1 - E2 - ) / -
-
2E met2 - FmTEf
T hus the energy of the orbit is fixed by t he length of t he semi major axis,
independent ly of t he value of L
Q
E= - -
2a
In the special case E = 0, a n elliptical orbit reduces to a circle. The
eccent ricity of the moon's or bit about t he earth is E = 0.055. T he eccen-
t ricity of t he earth's orbit about t he sun is E = 0.017. Both orbits are
therefore very nearly circular. In a circular orbit t he semimajor axis is
just the radius of t he circle. From (5.64) and (5.47) we then find
E = t v (a) =-I<
where t he second eq uality follows fro m I< = E - V .
If material orbiting t he sun were in noncircu lar orbits t here would
be a much higher pro ba bility of collisions of material in different orbits.
O ver t he five or so billion years since the sola r system for med t here may
have bee.n ma ny such collisions result ing in nearly circular orbits.
We can use t he circular-orbit "relation of (5.65) to resolve the so-
called satellite paradox: The effect of t he slight atmospheric d rag on a
satellite in a circular orbit at a height of several hundred kilometers above
the eart h is to increase t he speed of t he satellite, contrary to int uition.
T he atmospheric drag converts mechanical energy into heat . Hence the
energy E of t he satellite decreases and by (5 .64) t he rad ius a of the orbit
(5.63)
5.3 K epler 's L aws
The observed data on planetary motion were red uced by Kepler in t he
early seventeenth century to t hree empirical laws. These laws played an
(5.64) important role in Newton's discovery of the gravitational-force law . The
first law states that the or bit of a planet is an ellipse with the sun at
one foc us. We have established this law in § 5.2 from the inverse-square
nature of the gravitational force. T he result neglects perturbations due
to the presence of t he other planets.
T he second law of Kepler states t hat t he time rate of change of area
swept out by t he radius fro m t he sun to a planet is a constant, as il-
lustrated in Fig. 5-6. For t his to happen the planet must have hig her
(5.65) tangential velocities at smaller radial distances from the sun. The second
law is not hi ng but angular-momentum conservation as we now demon-
strate. F rom Fig. 5-7 the element of area swept o ut in dt is
(5.67)
so that by (5.10)
-dA
dt
L
= -2m = constant (5 .68)
Kepler's third law st ates that the square of the period of revolution
about the s un is proportional t o t he cube of t he semimajor axis of the
elliptical orbit. To derive the t hird law we use t he const ancy of t he

l
 150 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5 .3 Kepler's Laws 151

t he semimajor and semiminor axes by

(5.70)

where (5.62), (5.53) and (5.64) have been used. S ubstitution into (5 .69)
Vmin
com pletes the derivation of Kepler's third law.

Vmax
(5 .71)

Since a= GmM0 , where M0 is the mass of the su n, th e ratio

FIGURE 5-6. Areas swept by radius from the sun to a planet in equal time intervals. T2 4rr 2
a3 = GM0 (5.72)

is independent of th e mass of the planet, in the approximation that the

position of the s un is unaffected by the planet.
In Table 5-1 we use the observed semimajor axes and periods of the
planets and of the moons of Jupiter to test Kepler's third law . For each
orbiting body we compute a3 /r 2 , which s hould be proportional to the
mass of the central body. We observe from t he t able that the ratio of the
sun 's mass to Jupiter's is M 0 /MJ = 2.51 x l0 19 / 2.40 x l0 16 = 1045
Kepler's· laws neglect the motion of the sun. A correction term to
(5.72) due to the s un 's motion will be derived in § 6.1. The correction
term is proportional to m/M0 , and is t hus very s mall.
TABLE 5-1

FIGURE 5-7. Element of area s wept out by a radius vector in an infinitesimal t ime Planet T (d) a (km) a3/r2 (km 3 /d 2 )
interval dt.
Mercury 87.97 0.5791 x 108 2.510 x 1019
angu lar momentum and integrate (5.68) over a c.omplete revolution. Venus 224.7 1.082 2.509
Earth 365.3 1.496 2.509
1" dt = 1; j dA
2 Mars
Jupiter
687.0
4333
2.279
7.783
2.508
2.511
(5.69) Saturn 10760 14.27 2.510
2mA
T =-- Ura nus 30685 28.69 2.508
£ Nuptune 60190 44.98 2.512
P luto 90700 59.0 2.497
where A is the area of the elliptical orbit. This area is given in terms of
152 Chapter 5 ANGULA R- MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5.4 Satellites and Spacecraft 153

Moons of Table 5-2. If h « Re, r is given to a good approximation by

Ju piter r (d) a (km) a3 /r2 (km3 / d 2 )
Me tis 0.294 0. 1280 x 106 2.43 x 10 16 r ~ 27T {R; ~ 27Tv6, 371 x 103
Adrastea 0.297 0.1290 2.43 y-g 9.8 (5. 75)
Amal thea 0.498 0.180 2.35 ~ 5,100 s ~ 1.4 h
Thebe 0.674 0.222 2.41
*Io 1.769 0.422 2.40 The velocity of the satellite in a low-altitude circular orbit about the
*Europa 3.551 0.671 2.40 earth is
*Ganymede 7.155 1.070 2.39
*Callisto 16.69 1.885 2.40 Ve= (Re+ h)w ~RE ( -27T) 27T
~ (6, 371)-- ~ 7.9 km /s (5 .76)
r 5,100
Leda 240 11.11 2.38
Himalia 251 11.47 2.40 This velocity is necessarily less t han the escape velocity of 11.2 km /s,
Lysithea 260 11.71 2.38 discussed in § 2.2.
E lara 260 11.74 2.39
Ananke 631 21.20 2.39
Carr me 692 22.85 2.33 TABLE 5-2 EARTH SATELLITE PERIODS
Pasiphac 735 23.33 2.35 Altitude h Period r
Sinope 758 23.37 2.22 (km above surface of earth) (h)

*Galilean moons 0 1.41

200 1.47
500 1.58
5.4 Satellites a nd Spacecraft 1,680 2.00
35,850 24.00
T he orbits of satelli tes a nd spacecraft are interesting problems in celestial
mechanics. For a satellite in a circular orbit at a distance h above the To study storm systems, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space ·
earth, the period of revolution is foun d from adaptation of (5 .72) to be Administration (NASA) launched a weather satellite into a polar orbit
which goes out to 6545 km from the earth's surface and swings in to 200
r = 27T (R + h)3/2 km . T hus t he major axis of the orbit is 2a = 2Re + 200 km+ 6545 km =
(5.73)
./GMe e 19 ,487 km . W it h a circular satellite orbit at an altitude of h ~ 200 km
as a refe rence, we can calculate the period of t his weather sat ellite from
where ME is t he mass of the ear.th and RE is its radius. From (1.7) we Kepler's third law in (5 .71) .
can write the quantity GMe in terms of th e gravitational acceleratio n at
the s urface of t he eart h r' = r ( ~a')3/2 = (1.47 hr) ( 6,9744
571
) 3/2
= 2.65 h ~ 249 h (5.77)
GME =gRk (5.74)
The satellite makes nine orbits in 24 h, and therefore as t he earth rotates
Earth satellite periods for circular orbits at various heights are given in perigee (point of closest approach) occurs over the same nine points on

i
 (
154 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5.5 Grand Tours of the Outer Planets 155 (
(
the earth each day. The velocity at any point on the elliptical orbit of the
\ (
weather satellite (or for t hat matter any other satellite) can be calculated
"",
by comparing two expressions for satellite energy (5.64) (

1 a a (
E=K+V=-mv2 --= - - (5.78)
(
2 r 2a

The escape velocity from the s urface of the earth is obtained with E = 0, (
(
(5.79) Splashdown (
(
Eliminating a/m in t he above two equations we can express the velocity
FIGURE 5-8. Schematic trajectory of the Apollo moon missions from earth launch to (
of t he satellite at any point of its orbit as
splashdown. (

V = Vesc ( ~r - ~)Re
2a
(5.80)
Recall from (2-15) that the escape velocity from t he earth is
Vesc = J2gRE = 11.2 km/s (5.81)
At perigee the velocity reaches its maximum value, and at apogee (far-
t hest distan.ce) the velocity reaches its minimum value. For the weather
satellite discussed above the velocity at perigee (rp = 6571 km) is Vp =
9.12 km/s, and the velocity at apogee (ra = 12,920 km) is Va= 4.57 km/s.
A spacecraft .in a circular orbit of radius Re around the earth can
be most economically inserted into an elliptical orbit at a d istance of
closest approach Re by firing rockets at perigee. A rocket burn at perigee
increases the velocity perpendicular to t he radius vector, without change
in the v . r = O condition as a turning point on the orbit . The increase in
velocity is accompanied by an increase in energy and angular momentum.
From (5.53) and (5.59) the orbit is thereby changed from circular to
elliptical. The procedure can be used in reverse to convert an elliptical
orbit to a circular one by firi.ng retrorockets at the distance of closest
approach. This technique was followed in the lunar orbit insertion for
the Apollo lunar landings of 1969 to 1971. T he Apollo spacecraft was
first inserted in an elliptical lunar orbit, as illustrated in Fig. 5-8. After
two orbits a retrograde burn was used to circularize the orbit prior to the
landing on the lunar surface.
5.5 Grand Tours of the Outer Planets (
(
Several direct spacecraft missions have been made to the two nearest
(
planetary neighbors of Earth- Venus and Mars. A great difficulty in
outer-planet exploration is the long time duration of direct flights. For- (
t unately, the flight times for outer-planet missions can be considerably (
shortened by means of gravitational assists as the spacecraft swings by
t he planets en route. In the late 1970s t he outer planets lined up in (
a favorable configuration that permitted a single spacecraft to make a (
Grand Tour of th e planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; see
(
Fig. 5-9. T he possibility of this four-planet mission occurs only at 175-
year intervals. By utilizing the gravitational energy boost obtained from (
a Jupiter swingby, the Grand Tour of these four planets was made in (
12 years. In comparison , the flight time for a direct mission to Neptune
(
wit h eq uivalent launch energy would take 30 years. The essential aspects
of the gravity-assistance t rajectory for the Grand Tour can be developed (
from the planetary-orbit equations derived in preceding sections. By a (
similar mechanism a planetary swingby can act as a brake. The Mercury
Mariner voyage of 1974 used the planet Venus to reduce energy allowing (
a subsequent close approach to the planet Mercury. (
The earth's orbital velocity represents a s ubstantial fraction of the (
minimum launch velocity needed to send a spacecraft to t he outer parts
(
of our solar system. T hus in sending a spacecraft to t he outer planets,
th!'! launch s hould be made in the direction of t he earth's orbital. velocity (
about the sun, as illustrated in Fig. 5-10. T his velocity of the earth , in a (
(
156 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5.5 Grand Tours of the Outer Planets 157

Uranus
Uranus at launch
/
I
I
I
I
I
r
I
I
\
I
\

'' \

Earth

FIG URE 5-10. Elliptical orbit from Earth Lo Uranus.

This relation between the escape velocity at a distance r from a gravi-

tational source and t he velocity in a circular orbit at radius r is always
true; t hat is, Vesc(r) = ./2 Ve(r). By making the launch from t he moving
! ,• ''· . ( • ; . • '1 ,:

FIGURE 5,9. Tr.ajectqries of two gravitationally-assisted Grand Tours of the outer earth, the initial velocity required for escape from t he gravitational pull
planets. {Photo provid.ed courtesy of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Insti- of t he sun can be reduced to
tute of Technolo!fy.} ·
(h - l )Ve = 12 km/s (5.86)
nearly circular orbit of radius aE and period TE about the sun, is
The spacecraft must have additional initial velocity to escape from the
271' (27r)(l.5 x 108 km)
VE = wEaE = TE aE = (365 X 24 X 3, 600s) = 30 km/s (5.82) gravitational attraction of the earth.
Direct Uran us Mission
For a spacecraft of mass m at an initial distance aE from the sun to
completely escape the gravitational pull of the su n, the minimum initial To send a direct mission to the planet Uranus with a minimum amount
velocity necessary is determined by of propulsion energy, t he spacecraft should be launched in the direction
of the earth's orbital motion into an elliptical orbit about t he sun with
E = 0 = !.2 m (vesc
0 )2 - GmM0 (5.83) perihelion at the earth's orbit and ap helion at the orbit of Uran us, as
aE shown in Fig. 5-10. The launch must be made at the proper t ime in
On the other hand , for t he circular orbit of the earth about t he sun, order that Uran us and the spacecraft arrive toget her at the aphelion ·of
the spacecraft's orbit. The minimum and maximum values of the distance
me(V~) 2
GmeM0
--'---'-- = ----"- (5.84) r from the sun on this spacecraft orbit are
aE

From (5.82) tQ (5.84) we find rmin = lAU (at Earth)

rmax = 19.2 AU (at Uranus)
0
vesc = v2GM0 In Ve= 42krn I s
- - - = v2 (5.85)
aE where AU stands for the astronomical unit of length, namely, the sun to
 (
158 Chapte r 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSER\IATION 5.5 Grand Tours of the Outer Planets 159
r
(
earth distance of aE ~ 1.5 x 108 km. The parameters .A and E of the orbit Gravity Boost Mission to Uranus
(
equation (5.54) can be determined from the minimum and maximum
For t he same launch energy as needed for the elliptical orbit, t he duration
values of 1·, (
of flight to Uranus can be cut from 16 years to about 5 years on a gravity-
assistance orbit wh ich swings by Jupiter, as we will now demonstrate. (
The spacecraft is initially launched from Earth into an elliptical orbit (
(5.87)
about the sun. For our Grand Tour comparison the first portion of the
(
gravity boost orbit is taken to be the same as the direct mission to Uranus.
The launch time is chosen such that the spacecraft will make a close (
giving encounter with Jupiter, as illustrated in Fig. 5-11. As a result of the
(
>. = lAU encounter the heliocentric velocity of the spacecraft is changed. In our
(5.88) discussion, we can neglect the slight change in the direction of Jupiter's (
E = 0.9 velocity during the encounter, since the ·t ime duration of the encounter is (
Thus the spacecraft orbit from Earth to Uranus is short compared with Jupiter's period of revolution around the sun. Until
(
the spacecraft reaches the immediate vicinity of Jupi ter, the spacecraft's
1.9 orbit is governed by the strong gravititational field of the sun. In the (
r=----- (5.89) vicinity of Jupiter t he su n's gravitational force on the spacecraft changes
1+0.9cos 0 (
slowly compared to Jupiter's gravitational force so the spacecraft 's orbit
relative to Jupiter is essentially determined by Jupiter's gravitational (
The semimajor axis of the orbit is
field. (The equation of motion for the relative coordinate will be discussed (
in § 6.1.)
a = t(rmin + rmax) = 10.1 AU (5 .90) (
If we Jet v; and v J denote the spacecraft momenta in the heliocen-
tric (sun-centered) inertial frame just before and just after the Jovian
(
The velocity of the spacecraft at any point on the orbit can be found encounter, we can write the Galilean transformation (
by adapting (5.80) to this case. The perihelion velocity necessary for
insertion of the spacecraft at r = aE into the elliptical orbit to Uranus as Vi = U; +VJ (
calculated from (5.80), taking r =RE and substituting (5.85) and (5.90), (5.93) (
v1=u 1 +VJ
·jg
(
where VJ is the velocity of Jupiter about the sun and u; and u 1 are
vp = vesc
0
frd =
-9.2
-
20.2 41 km I s (5.91) t he spacecraft velocities relative to Jupiter (i.e., in the reference frame in
which Jupiter is at rest) . From (5.93) the change in velocity during the
(
(
The time af~er earth launch at which the spacecraft reaches Uranus is just encounter,
(
the half period r /2 of the elliptical ·orbit. We can use Kepler's third law 6.v:=v1 -vi (5.94)
in (5.72) to calculate the time duration of this mission from the radius (
aE and period TE of the earth's orbit about the sun. is the same in both frames
(
6.v = 6.u (5.95)
(
-T2=T2E(·aaE)3f2 _ 21( 10.1)3/2 ~ 16 years (5.92) and for an elastic collision in the CM (Jupiter fixed) frame
(
Uj = Uj (5.96) (
(
(
160 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5.5 Grand Tours of the Outer Planets 161

situations are ill ustrated in Fig. 5-12 by the actual cases of the Voyager
~,

\ mission with a gravitational boost from Jupiter, and the Mercury Marin er
' \
\ mission, wh ich used Venus as a brake.
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
Jupiter gravity boos t Venus gravity brake
I

y'
I
Jupiter at swingby
heliocentric frame

~ Jupiter at launch

'' \
\

'\
\

\
\
\\
\\
.,.____,,....-...:.---------~
\ '•
\
\
-o
\
\ --v,- - - - Vv

FIGURE 5-11. Orbit to Uranus on a gravity-assistance trajectory whjch swings past q.-_ _v_v___ 6v = 6u
Jupiter.

T he change in sq ua red heliocentric velocity measures t he "gravity boost"

in kinetic energy t:..K = tm(v} - vl) . By squaring t he two equations
(5.93)
uf planet rest frame
v} = u} + 2u J . v J + v] 4 - - -- ---,
(5.97)
v; = u; + 2u; . v J + v] @~
and then subtracting we obtain ju;
v} - vt = 26. u · VJ = 2t:.. v · VJ (5.98) FIGURE 5-12. Velocity diagrams illustrating spacecraft velocities for a gravity boost
trajectory around Jupiter a nd a gravity brake trajectory around Venus.
The magnitude of the heliocentric velocity increases (or decreases) de-
pending on whether the projection of L\u on Vis positive (or negative) .
It is easiest t o a ppreciate the implications of (5.98) in the planet rest For a given v ; the maximum gravity boost is achieved with v I parallel
frame. If t he spacecraft crosses the planet's o rbit behind the planet, to VJ, as can be seen from the velocity diagram in Fig. 5-12. Since
then L\ u · V will be positive and a graviational boost will res ult. If, on v I = u1 +VJ, u 1 is also parallel to VJ and
the other hand, the spacecraft crosses the planet's path in front, L\u · V
will be negative and the effect will be to brake the spacecraft. The two (5.99)
 (
162 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5.5 Grand Tours of the Outer Planets 163
(

From = VJ the value of u is (

u; v; - syst em at J upiter's orbit is
(

u = JvJ + vl - 2v 1 · VJ (5.100) vesc = J211J

0 (5.105)
(
the new orbit of the spacecraft is related to the velocity vJ as follows: (
The magnitude of Jupiter's nearly circula r orbit is
(
VJ < hVJ ellipse
(
(5.101) VJ= v'2VJ parabola (5 .106)
(
VJ> 0VJ hyp'erbola
where TJ = 11.9 years is Jupiter's period. The velocity v; of t he spacecraft (
For t he encounter considered above,
as it nears Jupiter is (
VJ (
.J2VJ = 1.5 (5.107)
(5.102)
(
a nd the new orbit is hyperbolic, as illustrated in Fig. 5-11.
The value of v ; · VJ = v;o can be found from t he conserved angular (
momentum of t he spacecraft orbit, equating L at t he Jupiter encounter T he preceding analysis shows how gravity assisted dynamics works.
(
with its perihelion value at earth launch It remains to be shown t hat the distance of closest approach to Jupiter
exceeds its radius. In fact rmin = 1.85RJ fo r t his slingshot orbit. Once (
L we have worked out t he orbit parameters , t he time of flight in any portion (
-m = v;oaJ = v.,,aE (5.103) of the orbit can be computed . In our example t hese times are
(
t (eart h to Jupiter) ~ 1.3 years .(
with v.,, given by (5.91) . (5.108)
t (Ju piter to Uran us)~ 3.7years
With a E = 1 AU, aJ = 5.2 AU the numerical values of the above (
quant ities are (
yieldin g a total t rip time to Uranus of about 5 years compared with the
VJ= 13 km/s 16 years required for a direct mission. Of course, t hese numbers are ap- (
v; = 16 km/s proximate, since t he gravitational influence of Jupiter and the sun on t he
spacecraft were treated independently. Numerical methods can be used
(
v;0 = v ; ·VJ= 8km/s (5.104)
to make precise calculations of t he orbit without such an approximation . (
u = 14.7km/s
In t he lat e 1970s two Grand Tour missions by NASA were la unched, (
v J = VJ+ u = 27.7 km/s Voyagers 1 and 2 in 1979, which have provided vast amoun ts of new
(
information on Jupiter, Saturn , Uranus, Neptune and their associated
The spacecraft leaves t he region of Jupiter's influence with its exit moons and rings. Voyager 1 left the earth September 5, 1977; visited (
velocity v f parallel to Jupiter's velocity. T he outgoing orbit of the space- Jupiter March 5, 1979; Saturn November 12, 1980; t hen left t he solar (
craft around the sun is another conic section with a turning point at the system. Voyager 2 left t he earth August 20, 1977; visited Jupiter July 9,
location of the encounter with Jupiter (that is, 1; = 0 at r = aJ since v J 1979; Saturn August 2,51981; Uranus January 24, 1986; then Nept une on (
is parallel to t he circular orbit of Jupiter). The type of new heliocentric August 24, 1989, before leaving t he solar system. Other spacecraft to use (
conic section of the spacecraft orbit depends on t he amount of velocity gravi.tational boosts from Jupiter were the Pioneer 10 and 11, launched (
boost in the encounter. Since the escape velocity VcPc from the solar in 1973 and 1974, which flew by Jupiter and Saturn . The trajectories
(
(
(
164 Chapter 5 ANGULAR- MOMENTUM CO NSERVATION 5.6 R utherford Scattering 165

for th ese Grand Tour missions are illustrated in Fig. 5-13. After the last
pl a netary e ncounter, the spacecraft on these missions continued to travel
away from the sun, escaping the solar gravitational fi eld and entering
interstellar space.
We need to find the relation between t he impact parameter and t he
laboratory scattering a ngle in order to calculate the nu mber of particles
scattered into a given angular range. From (5.66) t he asymptotes (r -t
oo) of the trajectory occur at angles B~y =
±arcc;os(- 1/£) . From t he
geometry of Fig. 5-14, the angle of scattering Bs of the particle from t he
incident d irection is

B, = 2arc cos(-~) - 7r (5.110)

for both attractive and repulsive potentials. The result can be written

0
cos ( •
2
+ ~)
2
= _!E (5.111)

or
. o.
sm-= -
1 (5.112)
2 £

Since E = .J1 + 2EL

mO' 2
2
we can ex press Bs in terms of band vo as

. Bs 1
sm - = ---;===:;;==:::::;: (5.113)
2 -.jl + (mv5b/a) 2

FIGURE 5-13. Flight paths of the Pioneer and Voyage!' spacecraft among the outer Solving t his equation, t he impact parameter b and scat t ering angle Bs of
planets. of a single incident particle are related by

5.6 Rutherford Scattering 8

b= M cot • (5 .114)
An important physical example in which hy perbolic orbits are realized mvJ 2
is t he Coulomb scattering of charged particles. For t he scattering of a
Smaller values of b correspond to larger values of B•.
light particle with charge e1 and mass m by a heavy particle of charge
e2 and mass M, the location of the scattering center can be regarded as All incident particles with impact parameters less than or equal to
essentially fixed at at the position of M at r =
0. T he potential energy of some part icular impact parameter b will have scattering angles g reater
the interaction is t hen given by (5.47), with a= -e 1e2f4rrE0 .· For e 1 and than or equal to B. given by (5 .113) with a maximum B, = 7r when b = 0.
e2 of the same (opposite) sign, the interactio n is repulsive (a ttractive). The incident inte nsity (particles per second per 'target area) is
The initial conditions can be specified in various ways, as for example by
t he energy E and the angu lar momentum L, or by t he initia l velocity v0 No (5.115)
Io = -
a nd impact parameter b. A
E = tmv5 (5.109)
where No is the number of incident part icles per second and A is t he area
L = mvob of t he beam ; see Fig. 5-15. T he number per second t hat a re scattered
 (
166 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION 5.6 Rutherford Scattering 167 (
(
Repulsive Attractive
f = 2, >.. = - 2 ~ f = 2, >.. = + 2
(
~
~
~ (
\ <P
\~ (
\ ~ I
\~ I
\ n I (
'~
\ '\ I
I (
\-;:'..- /
\~ I (
\ I
\ I
\ I I (
e, 1/ ', e, 1I \ ,/
(
/~ n
--------- --¥--~~~-
/ I
-~~--~~~-
I
FIGURE 5-15. Particle flux in a scattering experiment. T he beam h as are a A and (
I~ I / No particles per second enter the target. (
I~ I I
/.!_ I /
(
'a" I /
l.<.J I~
/~ rat her than the number of scattered particles. We have assumed that the
I_§' I I I incident particles are uniformly distributed over the target area A. (
/ / I I"-
I I/ / /# Under normal experimental conditions t here are multiple scattering (
/$ I I.[;
centers of atomic dimensions. In these circumstances it is not possible
'/ Cl:> I I/"
I
""'-
b,~/
I Z
'II: to make measurements of the im pact parameters of individu al particles (
I ~b r<:t>,;o
'/ I '/ a nd the cross section concept is essential. For a foil of t hick ness t and n (
'/ I 'I
'/ I V nuclei per unit volume, t he total number of nuclei .is nAt. Then if the foil
'/ I V (
V I / is sufficiently t hin that the nuclei do not overlap, the number of scatters
I v t hrough angles greater than Bs is (
FIGURE 5-14. Hyperbolic orbits for scattering from a n attractive- or repulsive-force (
center at r = 0.
(5.118)
(
into angles greater t han Bs is The number of incident particles is N 0 = J0 A , so the fraction of particles (
scattered at angles greater than () 3 is
(5.116) (
(5.119) (
T he quantity rrb 2 , with units of area, is called t he cross section
(
The particles that are incident in a range oi impact paramete rs be-
a = rrb
2
= N/Io (5.117)
tween band b - db are scattering into t he angular range Bs to () 9 + dBs,
(
as shown in Fig. 5-16. The differential area of t his annu lus is (
For more than one scattering center, t he cross section is defined as the
(
number scattered per target particle per second divided by t he incident da = 2rrbjdbl (5.120)
intensity. The incident intensity or flux is a property of the experimental (
conditions and not of the force laws between the particles. For this reason, Here the absolute value of t he db differential is used to ins ure that the (
comparisons of theory and experiment are made for the cross section area da is positive. From the relation between b and () 3 in (5.114) , the
(
(

(
168 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION
5.6 Rutherford Scattering 169

expression for da in terms of B, is mental resul ts of Geiger and Marsden on the scattering of a particles by
2 heavy nu clei. In the derivation of t he Rut herford form ul a, t he assum p-
da = 7r ( -a-) sinB, d(}
• (5.121)
2mv5 sin 4 ( (} s/2) tion was made t hat no i11cident particle interacted with more than one
target nucleus, which is valid if the target is thin and the scattering angle
The quantity da is called the differential cross section. is not too small.

b
~
..
NC
scattering ...
center ...
~

6
II

i...
.::> 2
.s
c:
..,~
FIGURE 5-16. Repulsive scattering of particles with impact parameters between b
and b- db.

The number scattered into angles between Bs and Bs +dB. per target
nucleus is
0 30 60 90 120 I SO 180
dN = Ioda (5.122)
o,. degrees
The area subtended by a detector at a distance 7' from the nucleus t hat
FIGURE 5-17. Rutherford scattering differential cross section for lal/ E = 10- 14 m .
can measure the scat tered particles is

(5.123) In t he repulsive scattering of a particles (e 1 = 2e) by atom ic nuclei

(e2 = Ze), the distance of closest approach is found from (5 .54)to be
where drl. is the solid a ngle. Thus the number of scattered per unit area
of t he detector is
dN ! 0 da
. - >. (1 +
rmin - 1- f -
f) -
>. (l + £)2
1 - £2
(5.1.26)
(5.124)
dAs = r 2 drls From (5.53) and (5.55) we note that
where the differential cross section 'is given by
+ £)
r
2
1 - f2 = - -2EL
- 2E>.(l
(5.127)
2~v5 (-~-./-2-)
ma-2
:;. = ( -si_n..,..
4 (5. 125)
so t hat
The dependence of da / drls on the scattering angle is illustrated in Fig. 5-
17. This result was derived in 1911 by Ruth erford to explain the experi-
rmin = (-
2~) (1 + £) (5.128)
The distance of closest approach can be expressed in terms of the scat-
 (
170 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSER\IATION Problems 171
(
(
tering angle Bs by use of (5.112) gives
(
P1=Po=mvo (5.134)
lal ( 1 ) (5.129) (
1
'min = 2E l + sin(Bs/2) The square of the momentum transfer in (5 .132) t!rnn reduces to
(
The scatterer probes closest to the nucleus in the large-angle events. At q2 = 2p5(1- cosO.) = 4p~sin 2 ; (5.135) (
B. = 1T, the region down to rmin = lalf E is probed; t his minimum
In terms of t his vari able the expression fo r the Rutherford differential (
distance can also be deduced from conservation of energy. By study of
backward scattering events, R utherford found that the Coulomb potential cross section in (5.125) simplifies to (
result in (5.125) held only for energies with lal/ E > 10- 14 m. This (
established the size of the typical atomic nucleus to be 10- 14 m, instead (5.136)
of 10- 10 m (the size of the atom) as was previously believed. (
The integrated Rutherford scattering cross section The calculation of Rutherford scattering in quantum mechanics coinci- (
dentally gives the same result, though the physical principles are radically (
different.
(5.130) (
PROBLEMS (
5.1 Central Forces (
is infinite for Bmin = 0. Th is is a consequence of the infinite range of the
Coulomb force. Nuclei in ordinary matter are surrounded by an electronic 5-1. A particle of mass mis subject to two forces, a central force f 1 and (
cloud within a radius of 10- 10 m, forming an electrically neutral atom. a frictional force f 2 , with
(
Outside the atom the charge of the nucleus is screened by the electrons
f1 = F(r)r (
and the Coulomb force no longer holds. Thus Bmin is set by the atomic
size. The value of Omax is set by the nucleon size since the derivation f2 = -bv , b> 0 (
of the Rutherford formu las fails once the incid ent particle penetrates the If t he particle initially has angular momentum Lo about r = 0, find (
nucleus. the angular momentum for all subsequent times. Hint: use N = L.
(
In the scattering off a nucleus in the target, the momentum 5-2. Find t he condition for stable circular orbits for a potential energy
of the form (
q = PJ - Po (5.131) c (
V(r) = -""1'
r
is t ransferred to t he a part icle. The magnitude of q is related to t he (
where >. < 2, >. -:fi 0 and the constant c is positive (negative) if >.
scattering angle by is positive (negative). Show that the angular frequ ency for small (
radial oscillations Wr is related to the orbit angular frequency w 8 by (
q 2 -- (
P J - Po )2 = P2J +Po2 - 2P J. · Po = ~2J + Po2 - 2PJPo cos 0 (5.132)
Wr =W9~ (
For our idealization of an infinitely heavy nucleus (MN -+ oo), the energy- (
conservation condition This result implies that the orbit is closed and the motion is periodic
only if ~is a rational number. Sketch the orbits for >. = 1 (
2 2 2 (Coulomb potential energy),>.= -2 (harmonic oscillator),>. = -7,
EQ_ = !L+ _q_ (
2m 2m 2MN
(5.133) and >. = f.
(
(
(
172 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION
5-3. A particle of mass m moves under t he influence of the force
2 r
F = -c rs/2
a) Calculate the potent ial energy.
b) By means of the effective potential energy discuss the motion .
c) F ind the radius of any circular o rbit in terms of the angular mo-
mentum and calculate the period for the orbit.
d) Derive the frequency for small radial oscillations about the circu-
lar orbit of part c).
5-4. F ind t he force law for a central force which allows a particle to move
in a spiral orbit given by r = C8 2 , where C is a cons tant. Hint: use
(5 .9), (5.16) and (5.17) to find V(r ) in terms of C and the angular
momentum L.
5.2 Planetary Motion
5-5 . A planet moves in a circular orbit about a massive star with force
law given by
F(r) = - r~r
The star evolves into a supernova and blows off half its mass in a
time short compared to the planet's orbit period. (Assume that ·
t he supernova expiosion is spherically symmetric.) Show that t he
planet's orbit becomes parabolic.
5-6.a) Calculate t he orbital speed and period of revolution of the moon
ass uming the earth is fixed and the orbit is circular. The earth-
moon distance is approximately 384,000 km .
b) Com pare the orbital velocity of a satellite in a circular orbit 200
km above t he surface of the earth with the orbital velocity in a
circular orbit at a similar distance from the surface of t he moon.
The ratio of lu nar to earth mass is ML/ME ~ 1/81.6. The radii
are RL = 1741 km and RE= 6, 371 km.
5-7. By jumping, an astronaut ca~ rise vertically 50 cm on earth. Is he
in d <i- nger of not returning if he jumps while exploring a spherical
asteroid of radius 4 km and uniform density 2gm/cm 3 ? Can he by
his own exettions launch himself into any orbit? Assume that the
initial velocity of the the jump on the asteroid is the same as on
t he earth.
Problems 173
5-8. The point of a planet's closest approach to the su n is known as the
perih elion. The aphelion, which exists only fo r the bound orbits,
is t he point furthest away from the sun. Note that in general the
perihelion distance is not the same as the semiminor axis b of a n
ellipse because t he semiminor and semimajor axes are measured
from t he center of t he ellipse and t he center of force is located at
t he focus of the ellipse. For circular and parabolic orbits about t he
sun having t he same angular momentum show t hat the perihelion
dist ace of the parabola is one half t he radius of t he circular orbit,
r P -- 21 1· c·
5.3 Kepler's Laws
5-9. Suppose the earth 's orbital mot ion a bout the su n suddenly stops.
How much t ime would elapse before the earth falls into the sun?
Hint: consider a very elongated elliptical orbit with the sun at the
focus near one end and the earth on the ellipse at the othe1· end.
5-10. Consider t he motion of a particle in the central force.
F = -kr
Show that:
a) The orbit is an ellipse with the force center at the center of the
ellipse.
b) The period is independent of t he orbit parameters. Hint: use
cartesian coordinates to solve fo r the orbit equation.
5-11. A commu nications satellite always remains vertically above an ob-
server on the earth's surface. Where on t he eart h must the observer
be located? W hat dire.ction does the satellite move? What is t he
radius of the orbit?
5-12. Halley's comet has a period of revolution r = 76 years around the
sun.
a) Determine t he semimajor axis a of its orbit in A. U.
b) T he observed minimum distance r min of the comet from the center
of the s un is 0.6A.U. What is the maxim um distance !'max?
c) From !'min a nd rmax determine the eccentricity of the orbit.
5-13, T he eccentricity of the moon 's orbit about the earth is € = 0.055.
An undergraduate astronomy student takes telescopic pictures of
 (
174 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION Problems 175
(
(
the full moon six months apart. If the first image, taken when the a) A direct m1ss10n from Earth to
(
moon is closest to the earth, is two centimeters in diameter what Mercury (initiated beyond the ,,.--·--
(

·-8
is the diameter of the second picture? Would the difference be Earth's gravitational influence)
' I
obvious? might be done by firing a retro (
Earth
rocket to produce an elliptical
5.4 Satellites and Spacecraft (
transfer orbit from Earth to Mer-
5-14. For a short rocket blast show that the most efficient way to change cury as shown. Find the orbit pa- (
the energy of an orbit is to fire the rocket parallel (opposite) to rameters and the velocity change
(
the motion at perigee if the energy is to be increased (decreased). needed in the rocket burn.
Hint: the change in kinetic energy is the change in total energy.
b) In the Mariner mission a retrofire
(
5-15. Show that the close-circular-orbit period of a pebble around a boul- from an Earth orbit around the (
der is rough ly the same as the period of a low-altitude earth satellite sun produces an elliptical orbit
(
(i.e., show t hat the close-orbit period depends only on the density crossing Venus's orbit at an angle
of the large body). ()y = 110° as shown. The space- (
5-16. The first artificial earth satellite, Sputnik I, was launched in 1957 craft passes in front of Venus as (
into an orbit with a perigee (closest approach to earth) of 227 km in Fig. 5-12 giving a braking ef-
(
above the earth's surface. At perigee its speed was 8 km/s. Find its fect and enters a new orbit passing
apogee (maximum distance from the earth's center) and its period by Mercury. Find the parameters (
of revolution. of the Earth-Venus orbit and com- (
5-17. For a spacecraft launched from the surface of the earth, find the pare the retrofire velocity change
to that of part a. (
minimum velocity needed for escape from the solar system. Take
into account the gravitational attraction of the earth. Hint: first (
5 .6 Rutherford Scattering
for an initial velocity v find the velocity after escape from the earth (
1·elative to the earth, then go to a sun-fixed frame and calculate the 5-20. A parallel beam of small projectiles is fired from space toward the
moon with initial velocity v 0 . What is the collision cross section (
escape from the sun.
a for the projectiles to hit the moon? Exp ress <1' in terms of the (
5-18. For an inverse square elliptic orbit show that the time averages of
moon's radius RL, the escape velocity from the moon v~c• and vo.
the kinetic and potential energies satsify (
Neglect the motion of the moon.
(
5-21. The interaction between an atom and an ion at distances greater
t han contact is given by the potential energy V(r) = -C/r . [C =
4
This is known as the Clausius Virial theorem. The time average is (
(e2 /2)P~, w here e is the ion charge a nd Pa is the polarizability of
. defined by (F)t ~= J; F(t)dt where r is the period. Hint: rewrite
the atom.] Make a sketch of the effective potential energy versus the
(
the time average of Vas an integration over angle (). Use the inte-
rad ial coordinate. Note that if the total energy of the ion exceeds (
Jt' a+t:os
gral 0 = ...;}t_b2 for b < a. Then (1<) 1 = (E) - (V)t with the maximum value of the effective potential energy, the ion spirals
·E = -a/2a for the elliptical orbit. (
inward to the atom. Find the cross section for an ion of velocity
(
5.5 Grand Tours of the Outer Planets v0 to strike an atom. Assume that the ion is much lighter than the
5-19. The Mercury Mariner Voyage of 1974 used the planet Venus as a atom . (
14
"gravitational brake" to save fuel. The orbit of Mercury is elliptical 5-22. A typical heavy atom consists of a nucleus of rad ius 10- m sur- (
so it can most easily be approached at its aphelion of 0.47 A.U. rounded by an electronic cloud of radius 10- 10 m which neutralizes
(
(
(
 176 Chapter 5 ANGULAR-MOMENTUM CONSERVATION

the nuclear electric charge for radii larger than io- 10 m. For an Chapter 6
alpha particle (Z = 2) of 3.6 MeV kinetic energy striking a Mag-
nesium atom (Z = 12) in what range of scattering angles will the PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES
Rutherford formula be valid?
The physical systems of interest in the real' world are collections of many
5-23. a) From the conic section solution (5.54) for hyperbolic orbits(£> 1)
particles. Nevertheless, we do not need to cast away the knowledge ac-
show t hat the d istance of closest approach is
cumulated up to this point. The center of mass (often abbreviated CM)
of a system of particles moves as if the total external force were a pplied
= { ~->.) (~)
attractive force
at the CM point. When the system consists of only two particles the
rm in repulsive force rel ative motion of t he two particles often satisfies an equation of motion
analogous to that of a single particle. With rigid bodies the possible
Using the expressi~ns for >. and £2 = 1 + ¥!i:
ma
establish that motions are translation of the CM and rotations about the CM.

6.1 Center of Mass and the Two-Body Problem

r min =
2(-a)
~(t - 1) attractive force
We begin with a concept fundamental to a multipatticle system- that
{ E {E + 1) repulsive force
2 there exists a point, the CM point, which moves exactly like a point
particle under the action of the total external force. A physical attribute
b) For a hyperbolic orbit with asymptotic energy E and impact of the system, such as its energy or angula r moment um, can be thought
p~rameter b show that L 2 = 2mb 2 E ·and £ = 1. + (2~b) 2 • Then of as this attribute of the CM point plus th is same attribute relative to
usmg energy and angu lar momentum conservation show that the the CM point. For the case of a two-particle system a complete analytic
distance of closest a pproach (where r = 0) is given by the result in solution of the system is possible.
part a. For the ith particle mi, Newton's law is
5-24. In the Ju piter flyby discussed in § 5.5, the s pacecraft approaches (6.1)
Jupiter moving at 16 km/s with a component of8 km /s in Jupiter's
direction-. where the external force F1xt is the force on m ; from outside the system.
a) Jupiter moves with velocity 13 km /s . Find the velocity and di- The intern'al force F\"1 is the force on m; due to other particles in the
rection of the spacecraft relative to Jupiter. system, and is given by
Fi.nt =~Fl.ii (6.2)
b) Assuming that the spacecraft emerges in the orbital direction of i L._; I

Jupiter, fin d the eccentricity of the orbit during the Jupiter flyby. #i
Hint: use the Rutherford relation between () 3 and£. where F\il is the fore~ on m; due to particle j. Summing the equations
c) Using the fact t hat v~sc = 60 km/s, find the closest approach to of motion (6.1) for all particles yields
Jupiter in terms of Jupiter's radius. Use the result of the previous
problem. ~rxt
L._;
+ ~Fi.nt
I L._; dt2 (~m·r·)
= .!E_IL._; I I
(6.3)
i i i

The first term is the total external force acting on the system

(6.4)

177
l
 (
178 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.1 Center of Mass and tlie Two -Body Problem 179
(
(
The second term vanishes by use of Newton's third law CM point is
r
LF~nt = L (F\il + F~'l) = 0 (6.5)
(6.13)
(
i pairs
Thus the CM is eq ually the center of momentum. From t he t ime deriva- (
Alternatively, t he total internal force must vanish as a consequence of tive of (6 .9) the velocity relation Vi V = +
v~ is obtained. The system (
t ra nslational in variance, as pointed out in § 4.1. Then (6.3) can be rewrit- kinetic energy can then be expres.sed in CM coordinates as follows
ten as (

F ext =MR (6.6)

1
}( =- L 1 L 1
2 . m l ·v.l = -2 . m·v··v·=-
2
l t l
v I 12)
2 . m I· V +2 ·v I· +V·l
2 L ( (
,.. l I I
(
R = L ; m;r; = L; m;r; I' (6.14)
(6 .7) The middle term in t he right-hand side of (6.14) vanishes because of (
L;ffii M
(6.13). Thus the system kinetic energy is the kinetic energy of the CM (
where t he total syste m mass is M = L; m;. Consequently, the second plus the kinetic e nergy relative to t he CM
law of motion h?lds, not just for a part icle, but for an arbitrary body, if
(
the position of the body is interpreted to mean t he position of its center J( = ~MV
2
2 +I<' (
of mass. In continuous systems we replace the mass elements m; by
(6.15) (
dm =
p(r)dV, where p(r) is t he mass density and dV is the different ia l
volume element. Then t he CM vector is give n by K' =~L m;v:z (
i
(
R = J rp(r)dV (6.8)
f p(r)dV A similar calcu lation can be done fo r the system angular momentum, (
(
We can measu re each particle's position relative to the CM position L = Lm;r; x Vi = Lm;(R+rD x (V x vD (6.16)
as i i (

r; = R+ r~ giving (
(6.9)
If we mult iply (6.9) by m; and sum over all part icles we obtain L = M (R x V) + L' (
L' = '""r'· x v~
~
(6.17) (
L m;t\ = MR+ L m;r; (6.10) i
l I

(
The cross terms in (6.16) vanish due to the CM condition (6.11). The (
which by comparison to the CM point definition (6.7) yields the condition a ng ular momentu m about the CM plus the angular momentum of the
CM point about the origin gives the total system angu lar moment um (
(6.11) a bout t he origin of R. (
Now we return to the two-particle system a nd treat the part of the (
Time differentiation of L m;r; = MR gives the system momentum motion of t he system which is not described by (6.6). For two particles
(
t he equations of motion a re
P = Lm;r;=MR= MV (6.12)
F!xt + F~nt = m1r1 (6.18)
From time different iation of (6.11) the total momentum relative to the F~xt + F~nt = m2i:2 (6.19)
(
 180 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.1 Center of Mass and the Two-Body Problem 181

In the most important physical appl ications, the force of one particle on where /L is the reduced mass.
the other depends only on the relative-position coordinate
1 1 1
-=-+-
(6.20) µ m1 m2
(6.23)
of the two particles, as illustrated in Fig. 6-1. Hence we want to form
a combination of (6.18) and (6.19) to obtain an equation of motion for
r. This is achieved by divid ing (6.18) by m 1 and (6.19) by m 2 and then Due to the presence of the external-force term on the right-hand side !Jf
subtracting the two equations. Using Newtons's third law F~nt = - P~nt, (6.22), the motion of r is not independent of R in general, but that term
we find van ishes or is insignificant in two important cases:
,,.
,.. 1. There is no external force on either particle
(6.21)
,. (6.24)

,. z
2. The external forces are gravitational and due to distant sou rces, so
that
,. Fext
_1_~_2_
pext
(6.25)
m1 m2
If pint depends only on r = r 1 - r 2 , the equation of motion for the relative
coordinate r simplifies in t hese special cases to

(6.26)

wh ich has the same form as that for a single particle of mass µ in the
influence of a force center at r = 0. For a central fo rce of interaction,

p int= F(r)r (6.27)

and we can directly apply t he methods of Chapter 5 to the solution of

r
the two-body problem. For example, the exact form of Kepler's t hird
x law for the period of revolution of two bodies of masses m 1 , m 2 going
around one another is immediately found from (5.71) by replacing m by
FIGURE 6-1. Center-of-mass vector R and relative coordinate vector r for a two-
particle system . µ = m1mz/(m1 + m2), giving

This equation can be rewritten in the form (6.28)

pext pext) Where m appears in the gravitational force (i.e., in a), it is left alone
··_pint+
µr- l µ ( -l - - - 2 - (6.22)
m1 m2 sine~ the Newtonian gravity force does not depend on the state of motion .
182 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.1 Center of Mass and the Two-Body Problem 183 (
(
The center of mass location of a two-particle system is given by techniques, and one must make approximations or resort to a numerical (
treatment. Only in the two-body problem is the relative motion simple (
(6.29) after the CM motion is separated out. An important exception to the
(
above is the case of a rigid body. If the effect of th~ internal forces is to
The total momentum of the system keep all interparticle distances fixed, the dynamics can be described in (
terms of moments of inertia, as will be addressed later in t his chapter. (
(6.30) In the CM system the scattering angle (angle between initial and final (
directions of particle 1) is given by
is just the momentum of t he center of mass. In the center of mass coor- (
dinate system the particle locations are measured from the CM point. e = rli · rlf
l •I •I
cos (6.36) (
r~ = r i - R By (6.32) r~ always points in t he same direction as t he relative coordinate (
(6.31)
r~ =r 2 - R r = r 1 - r2 · Thus t he CM scattering angle is the same as t he scattering (
angle of the relative motion. Consequently, the CM scattering angle can
Using (6.29) the CM coordinates can be expressed in terms of the relative (
be directly deduced from the equivalent particle scattering angle found in
coordinate r = r 1 - r2 as the solution to (6.26). The scattering angle in the laboratory system can (
in turn be determined from its relation to t he CM a ngle given in ( 4.49) . (
(6.32) We can apply these tech niqu es for solving the two-body problem to
(
Rutherford scattering on a target particle of finite mass. The projectile
(6.33) mass min (5.125) gets replaced by the reduced massµ of the eq uivalent (
two-body problem. The scattering angle in the laboratory system in (
and hence the vectors r~ and r~ are colinear, as indicated in F ig. 6-1. In (5.125) is replaced by the scattering angle 8' of the relative motion (which
(6.15) and (6.17) we showed that the kinetic energy and a ngular momen- is also the CM scattering angle). The initial relative velocity v0 is the (
tum of a general system can be separated into parts associated with the same as t he initial la b velocity. With these changes the CM differential (
center-of- mass motion and the relative motion. For a two-body sytem cross section is given by
this res ult is t
2
da ( a ) _1 (
(6.37)
(6.34)
dfl.' = 2µv5 si n 4 (8'/2) (
We can use (4.49) to write da in terms of the laboratory angle . For equal (
masses for projectile and target, the conversion is particularly sim ple. (
L = m1(r1 x ri) + m2(r2 x r2) (
(6.35) O' = 28
= M(R x R) + µ(r x r) dn' = 4 cos edn
(6 .38) (
In (6.34) we use the notation i-~ = i-1 · i-1 = vr. (
The resulting differential cross-section expression in the lab system is
Although in the many-particle situation it is always possible to sepa- (
2
rate out the CM motion, as in (6.6) and (6.7), the remaining coordinates da ( 2a ) cos e (6.39) (
cannot in general be further separated . A complex system of coupled dn = mv5 sin 4 8
equations usually remains which frequently is not soluble by analytic (

(
(
 184 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.2 Rotational Equation of Motion 185

6.2 Rotational Equation of Motion
We now return to the general case of a system composed of many particles
.. and derive an equation to describe the rotational motion analogous to
(5.5) for a single particle. Jn analogy to the total momentum
A simple way to see that Nint vanishes is to consider an object which
is free to rotate about a fixed axis. Choosing t he rotation angle </>as the
general coordinate, the general force (a torque in this case) is
int _
N (6.46)
"' -

P = LPi = L:miri
i ..
(6.40) The internal potential energy is the net result of all the internal forces.
Since the value of Vint cannot depend on the orientation of the body, Vint
must be a constant and t he torque ~ue to the internal forces vanishes.
the total angular momentum about a point p (with coordinate r p) is the
This absence of a preferred or absolute angle of orientation is known as
sum of the angular momenta about p of the particles in the system .
rotational invariance.
Setting the total'internal torque to zero, (6.44) simplifies to
(6.41)
(6.47)
r
From this, we compute the ti me derivative of L to be
r
The last term in {6.47) vanishes if

(6.42) 1. rp = 0: the reference point is fixed or moving with constant velocity.

2. rp = R: the reference point is the center of mass.
3. rp - R is parallel to rp.
We have allowed for the possibility that rp is not a fixed point. If we now
use t he equations of motion The first two instances are ~f most practical importance. In any of t hese
cases the rotational equation of motion is
,.
m r·rt. -_ y~xt
i
+ y i.nt
i
.(6.43)
rp = 0 or rp = R (6.48)

,. in (6.42) we get From now on we will dispense with the label "external" on forces or
,. torq ues since the net internal forces and torques always vanish and do
L = Next + Nint + M(rp - R) x i\, (6.44) not appear in the equations of interest .
The e'q uation L = N bears a close resemblance to P = F. For an
,..
where isolated system both P and L are constants, since F = 0 and N = O.
,..
Next = L(r; - rp) x Fixt Even though the two equilibrium conditions F = 0 and N = 0 appear
similar , they exhibit some interesting diffe rences for systems in which
(6.45) internal motion is possible. The vanishing of the net force assures t hat
Nint = l:)r~ - rp) X F\"t
the center of mass once fixed will remain so, no matter what the internal
forces or internal motion. If t he net external torque is zero, t he total
are the total external and internal torques, respectively, about p. The angular momentum is constant, and if initially zero, will remain zero.
internal torque will vanish tinder a wide range o~ conditions. If it did not, However, L =0 does not preclude changes in orientation of the system
an isolated body might sponta?eously begin to rotate. by exclusive use ofinternal forces and motions . This can be demonstrated
 (
186 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES
6.3 Rigid Bodies: Static Equilibrium 187 (
(
by a person sitting on a piano stool that is free to rotate, with a dumb-
6.3 Rigid Bodies: Static Equilibrium
bell in each h and. The dumbbells are initially held close to the body. (
When the dumbbells are extended radially outward at arm's length, the Applications of mechanics to many particle systems commonly deal with (
stool remains stationary. Then, when the dumbbells are moved by the t he motion of rigid bodies. A rigid body is a system of particles whose
person in a circular arc parallel to the floor , the person is rotated on (
distances from one another are fixed . The position of every particle in
the stool in the opposite direction to the motion of the dumbbells. The a rigid body is determined by the position of any one point of the body (
angular momentum from the rotation of the person cancels the angular (such as t he CM) plus the orientation of t he body about t hat point. (
momentum due to the dumbbell motion, so that the total momentum Six coordinates are needed to specify the motion of a rigid body. The
remains zero. If t he dumbbells a.re then drawn radially back to the body, (
position of one particle in the body requires the specification of th ree
a net rotation has been achieved, with no change in the system or angular coordinates. The position of a second particle can be specified by two (
momentum. Repetition of the process enables the p·e rson to face in any angular coordinates since it lies at a fixed distance from the first. The
arbitrary direction. (
position of a third particle is determined by only one coordinate because
A dramatic illustration of the possibility of a change in orientation its distances from t he first and second particles are fixed. The positions. (
by exclusive use of internal forces is the ability of a cat to turn itself in of any other particles in the rigid body a re completely fixed by their (
midair and land upright on its feet, even when dropped vertically from distances from the first three particles. Thus 3 + 2 + 1 = 6 coordinates
(
an upside-down position. By contrast, the cat can do nothing whatever determine the positions of all particles in a rigid body. Consequently, t he
to alter its fall , that is, to change the motion of its CM. Gymnasts and motion of a rigid body is controlled by only six eq uations of motion. The (
divers also use internal motions to change their orientation in mid-air. t ranslational motion of the CM is determined by (
For an isolated system the condition that (
(6.52)
P = MR = constant (6.49) (
and t he rotational motion a bout the CM, o r a fixed point is determ ined (
leads to uniform motion of t he CM. by
(
(6.53)
(6 .50) (
These six equations, which hold for any system of particles, completely
(
describe t he motion of a rigid body.
This can be stated as a conservation law: (
The conditions under which a rigid body remains in equilibrium under
the action of a set of forces are of great practical importance in the design (
MR - Pt = constant (6.51)
of permanent structures. From (6.52) and (6.53) the six conditions for (
No corresponding result can be derived from L = constant, in general , complete equilibrium of a rigid body are
(
because there is no rotational coordinate analogous to R.
(6.54) (
(
(
(6.55)
(
· The net external force must vanish in order that the CM move with (
constant velocity. The torque about the CM point R must vanish in order (

(
(
 188 Chapter 6 PART'ICLE SYSTEMS AND R I GID BODIES 6.4 Rotations of Rigid Bodies 189

tha.t the a.ngula.r momentum a.bout the CM (a.nd thereby the rota.tiona.l
z
motion) does not change. For static equilibrium, the CM must be initially
a.t rest a.nd the total a.ngul a.r momentu m a.bout the CM must initially be
zero.
The torque a.bout an arbitrary point p can be easily related to the
Ncouple = C X F
torque a.bout the CM. If the vector distance between r,, and R is

d= r,, - R (6.56)

,. then t he torque q.bout p is

,..
(6.57)

,... or
,.. = NcM - d x F
N,, (6.58) x

For a. body in complete equilibrium, F = 0 and NcM = 0 from (6.54) a.nd FIGURE 6-2. A vector force couple.
(6.55) . In this ca.se we find from (6.58) tha.t the external torque a.bout a.n
As a sim ple application, we discuss the motion which res ults when a
a.rbitra.ry point p a.lso vanishes.
light ba.r magnet is rigid ly attached near one end of a rectangular boa.rd
,.. fl oating in a pan of water . A couple a.cts on the magnet, tending to
(6.59)
align it in a north-south direction. Since there is no net external force
on the board, t he CM of the board must remain stationary. The torque
Often, however , equilibri um is desired only fo r a subset of t he six inde-
r produced by the couple therefore acts to rotate the board a.bout its CM
pendent directions of motion. T he drag-st ri p racer of § 1. 3 is such a.n
point (not about t he end of the board where t he magnet is placed) until
,. example. T he external fo rce in the direction of the racer's motion wa.s
the magnet reaches a north-south alignment.
nonzero, but equili brium wa.s to be maintained in a.ll other directions.
For rota.tiona.l equilibriu m, t he torque about t he CM of t he racer van-
6.4 Rotations of R igid Bodies
ishes according to (6.55) . However, by (6.58) t he torque a.bout another
point p ma.y not be zero . A rotation ca.n be defined a.s t he motion of a. point p about a line such t hat
A set of two antipara.llel fo rces with equal magnitudes F and -F, the distance from p to each point on the line is constant. In an infinitesi-
separated by a. vector c a.s in Fig. 6-2, is called a couple. Since the mal rotation, the rotational displacement dr must t hus be perpend icular
net external force of a. couple is zero, by (6.58) the torque produced is to a. vector r from a point 0 on the line to the poin t p. Furthermore, dr
independent of t he poi nt of refere~ce. T he torque of t he couple is · must be perpendicular to a unit vector Ii directed along the line, as illus-·
t rated in Fig. 6-3. These two conditions can be mathematically expressed
('

Ncouple = C X F (6.60) as
dr =ii x rd¢ (6.61)
It is sometimes convenient to represent a. system of forces by a single total-
force vector on a given point plus a couple with t he equivalent torque of . Since In x rl = r sin 8 = p is the perpendicular radius of rotation a.bout
t he original forces a.bout t ha.t point. the line, and ldrl = pd¢, the quantity def> is the infinitesimal angle ·of
 (
190 Chapte r 6 PART ICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.4 Rotations of Rigid Bodies 191 (
(
rotation about t he axis ii. The velocity of the point p relative to the the vector s um of t he translational velocity v 0 of t he point 0 and t he
(
point 0 due to rotation is rotational velocity a bout 0.
(
dr
v = - = ii x r ¢
dt
·
(6 .62) I v = v o+wx r (6.65) (
I. O ver a period of time bot h t he direction and magnitude of w may c hange (
as t he body rotates. (
In a rigid body the dist ance between a ny two poin ts r A, r B stays (
constant.
d 2
(
-Ir
dt
A - ral = 0 (6.66)
(
''
'' Since (
'\\
\
-d Jr A
dt
-
2 (
ral = 2 rA - rB ) · (v A - vB ) (6.67) (
....
______ ./I
I (
the rigid-body constraint in (6.66) is satisfied by t he velocity ·field in the
{6.65), provided t ha t w is the same for all points in the body. (
(
{rA- ra) · (vA - va) = (r A-rB) ·w x (rA - r B) =0 (6.68)
(
Hence v (r) as given by (6.65) is the velocity fi eld of a rigid body. T he ve- (
locities of all particles in a rigid body can be specified by six independe nt
numbers , t he components of v 0 a nd w. (
As a n example, we consider a wheel of radius R which rolls without (
slipping o n a level surface, as illustrated in Fig. 6-4. For no slipping we (
have
(
FIGURE 6-3. Infmitesimal rotation about an axis ii. dx = RdO (6.69)
(
where dx a nd dO a re infinitesimal horizontal a nd angular displacements, (
If we introduce an angular velocity vector respectively. D ividing both sides by the ti me inte rval dt, we get
(
w = ftw = n(t)¢ (6.63) · vo = Rwx (6.70) {
(
where v 0 is t he velocity of th e center of mass which coincides in this case
for the rotation a bout ft , the rotational velocity of p can be expressed as
with the rota tion axis. The velocity of a point on the wheel relative to (
the CM is
Vrot = W Xr (6.64) (
Vo •
Vrot = wxr = R w X r (6.71)
(
If the point 0 is moving with a translational velocity v 0 rela tive to as illustrat ed in F ig . 6-5. The direction of w points into the page. With (
a fixed reference fra me, the velocity of t he point p in the fixed fra me is respect to a reference frame at rest on the level surface, the velocity of
(
(
(
 192 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.5 Gyroscope Effect 193

the point on the wheel is given by In general, the angular velocity w is not the time derivative of any
angular coordinate </J. As a consequence, angu lar displacements are quite
Vo • different in nature from translational displacements. Only in the special
v = Vo+ Vrot =Vo+ R w X r (6.72)
case of fixed axis of rotation is it possible to express w as t he time deriva-
tive of a coordinate. We can show t hat it is not possible to write w = ~
We note that v = 0 at the point of contact. No slipping means that there in general by t he following sim pie example. If such. a representation were
is no relative motion of the wheel and surface at the contact point. possible, we could com pute the coordinates </>:z:, </>y, <Pz describing the
orientation of the rigid body by integrating over the components of w .
For example,
t
</>:z:(t) - </>:z:(O) = J
0 .
W:z:(t')dt' (6.73)

This would say that the change in orientation <P(t) - </J(O) resulting from
a motion w depends only on the three numbers J;
wi(t' )dt'. That this
is not true can be seen from the following demonstration . Take a book
and choose fixed axes x, y, z. First rotate t he book by goo around the
x axis and then by goo around the y axis. Then start again from the
,. original orientation and make the same rotations in t he opposite order.
In the two cases the resulting orientations of the book are different, but
r

dx
J
the integral wdt is the same, namely,

F IGURE 6-4. Wheel rolling without slipping on a level surface. (6.74)

I.
Velocit~ relative to CM Veloci ty relative to ground
l· 6.5 G yroscope Effect

As an interesting application of the rotational equation of motion (6.48)

I we will discuss the gyroscope effect experienced by a "".heel spinning in
a vertical plane, as illustrated in Fig. 6-6. With a counterciockwise spin,
the angular-momentum vector points along the' positive x axis. When a
torque which tends to turn the wheel in a counterclockwise sense about
rrt t he positive y axis is applied, the wheel is observed to precess about t~e z
axis. We can predict this precession from (6.48) and derive an expression
for the precession frequency. According to (6.48), the change in angular
momentum in an infinitesimal time interval dt is

dL = Ndt (6.75)

FIGURE 6-5. Velocity of points on a wheel relative to the center of mass and relative The .increment dL is parallel to N and perpendicular to L , as shown in
to the ground . · F ig. 6-6. Since L and N are perpendicular, the length of L is unchanged
 (
194 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.6 The Boomerang 195
(
(
d from the plane of t he wheel along t he wheel axis. The weight of the
wheel then supplies the torque. (
(
N = (Mgd)y (6.78)
(
If the wheel has radius a and mass M and spins with angular velocity w,
the angular momentum is (
(
(6.79)
(
The resulting angular velocity of precession about the z axis is
(
gd
Wp=- (6.80) (
wa2 ·
(
where we have used (6.77) to (6.79). For a= d = 0.3m and a spin rate
of w/27r = 200 r/min, we find precession rate of (
(
Mg
Wp 9.8 x 3, 600
-27r = 200(27r) 2 (0.3)
= 15r I mm
.. (6.81)
(
y
(
FIGURE 6-6. Gyroscope effect for a wheel with massive rim. 6.6 The Boomerang
(
to first order dt. The direction of L is rotated counterclockwise, viewed An explanation of why a boomerang returns can be given in terms of the (
from above in the x, y plane, through an angled¢> given by gyroscope effect. The boomerang can take on a variety of s hapes. In its
most common form it appears as two airfoil-shaped blades meeting at (
di/>= dL = N dt (6.76) an angle near 90°, as illustrated in F ig. 6-7. However, the characteristic (
L L banana-like shape of most boomerangs has little to do with their ability
(
If N remains perpendicular to Land in the x, y plane, the a ngular velocity to return. Another version consists of two crossed blades, as shown in
of precession about the z axis is Fig. 6-8. The boomerang is thrown overhand in a nearly vertical plane (
in the manner of Fig. 6-9. As it leaves the hand, the blades are rapidly (
rotating about the CM, and the CM is moving parallel to the ground.
(6.77) Due to its spin, the boomerang has an angular momentum about the CM {
that is initially directed to the left, as shown in Fig. 6-10. (
This result known as simple precession, since we neglected the angular
momentum associated with the precession motion. Whenever the applied {
torque is small or the spin large, simple precession is a good approxima- (
tion. When the precession angular· momentum is taken into account in
(
the description of the motion, an oscillation called nutation about the
x, y plane may be present, in addition to the precessional motion.
A popular lecture demonstration experiment that illustrates simple \
precession uses a bicycle rim loaded with lead. The wheel is oriented in (
a vertical plane as in Fig. 6-6. The suspension point is located a distance FIGURE 6-7. Common boomerang.
(

(
(
(
196 Chapter 6 PARTICLE S YSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.6 The Boomerang 197

The aerodynamic "lift" forces on the airfoils act perpendicular to the

plane of rotation, as indicated in Fig. 6-11. The total aerodynamic force
on the boomer;:i.ng accelerates it perpendicular to the plane of rotation, in
t he direction of L. An upper blade of the boomerang moves more rapidly
through the air than a lower blade because the rotation and transla-
tion velociti~s add on the upper blade and subtract on the lower blade.
Since the aerodynamic force is larger for higher blade velocities, t he up-
per blade ex periences a greater force, and an external torque about the
CM is generated by t he forces on the airfoils. The torque points opposite
the CM velocity direction. Thus the initial directions of N and L are
iqentical with those for the wheel in Fig. 6-6. From the gyroscope effect
discussed in § 6.5 we predict that .the plane pf rotation precesses counter-
clockwise about the vertical axis. This precession of the rotational plane
accompanied by translational acceleration perpendicular to the rotational
pl~ne allows the boomerang to travel in a circular orbit and return to the
thrower; see the jllustration in Fig. 6-12.

FIGURE 6-9. Proper method of throwing a boomerang.

the CM motion along the negative y axis with velocity V =-Vy, as in

Fig. 6-10. Rotation occurs around the x axis in a counterclockwise sense
with angular velocity w. One of the blades with length l , mass tM, and
linear mass density µ = t(M/1) is depicted in Fig. 6-13. A point on the
blade at a distance r from the CM is specified as a function of time by

r = r(ycoswt + zsinwt) (6.82)

The aerodynamic force is dependent on the transverse component Vt of

the air velocity over the airfoil in a direction perpendicular to the long
edge of the blade. The force will be approximated by a quadratic depen-
dence on Vt · The force on an element of blade at a distance r is

dF = xcv~dr (6.83)

The perpendicular air-velocity component Vt is due to the rotational mo-

tion of the blade and to the translation motion of the boomerang CM at
FIGURE 6-8. Cross-blade boomerang.
velocity V. This tangential velocity component is given by

To discuss the flight of the boomerang in a mor~ quantitative fashion, Vt = wr + V sin wt (6.84)
we consider the crossed- blade boomerang of Fig. 6-8. In this case the
Using (6.83) and (6.84), we find
CM lies at the blade hub, which simplifies the analysis considerably. We
choose the origin of our coordinate system at the hub. Initially, we take dF(1·, t) = xc(w2 r 2 + 2wVr sin wt+ V 2 sin 2 wt)dr (6.85)
 (
198 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.6 The Boomerang 199 (
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
\ (
1-
(
L 1
I (
I
, I
"!. . . . '
(

' .......
....... \
(
'-y (
"" ---- / (
(
F IGURE 6-10. Boomerang-blade velocities. Aerodynamic
lifl rorc~ (
As the blade rotates, dF varies in magnitude. The three remaining blades (
contribute forces similar to (6.85), but with wt replaced by wt+rr /2, wt+ (
1T, and wt+ 37r /2, respectively. The net force on the boomerang from all
four blades due to the elements of length d1' at distance r is (
(
+~ )
2

dF(r) = 4xc (w 2 2
r (6.86) (
(
Adding the elements by integration over r, we find the total force normal FIGURE 6-11. Aerodynamic forces on a cross-blade boomerang.
to the plane of rotation is (
Expansion of t his result, using (6.84), gives
(
w2z2 v2)
F = 4xcl ( - 3-+ 2 (6.87) dN = cr(w r 2 2
+ 2wVr sin wt+ V 2 2
sin wt) (y sin wt - zcoswt)dr (6.89) (
We add to this the torques from the other three blades' elements to find (
From (6.82) a nd (6.83) the torque about the CM from an element on one
the net torque (
of the blades is
dN = 4cwVr 2 ydr (6.90) (
dN = r xdF = r(ycoswt+zsinwt) x xcv;dr (6.88)
The torque due to all elements is then obtained by integrating (6.90) over (
(
(
200 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.6 The Boomerang 201

Wo = Wp
"' .
9
'\.--~---R---------

~°((
------ ~w

FIGURE 6-12. Typical boomerang orbit.

t he length of a blade. FIGURE 6-13. Diagram of one b lade in a four-blade boomerang.

(6.91)
The torque in the y direction induces a precession of the L vector as
The angular momentum L about the CM of the boomerang can be given by (6.77) . The precessjon angular velocity is
computed as follows. A blade element at distance r has mass dm =
µdr = t(M/l)dr. As the blade rotates with angular velocity w, the
N 1cwVl3 4cVl
angular momentum of the element is dL = dmr 2 w, where w = xw. The w - - 3 - (6.95)
angular momentum of the whole blade is then
P - L - lM[2w -
3
M
I

L = ~w j r dr = 1~Ml 2 w
2
(6.92) The motion of the CM is influenced by the aerodynamic force normal
to the plane of rotation, gravity, and a d rag force d ue to air resistance.
0
For actual boomerangs the gravity and drag forces are not negligi ble
The complete boomerang has angular momentum but can be counterbalanced by a small tilt of t he boomerang plane from
vertical.
L = kMl 2w (6.93)
Since a boomerang is suppose9 to return to the t hrower, we il)ves-
The constant of proportionality between L and w is called the moment tigate under what condit\ons the CM will travel in a circular orbit of
of inertia. radius R with angular velocity w 0 . In a circular orbit the aerodynamic
I= ~Ml
2
(6.94) force exactly balances the cent rifugal force. In order for the aerodynamic
force to be always radial inward toward the center of a circle, the orbital
 (
202 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BO DIES 6. 7 Moments and Products of In ertia 203
(
(
angular velocity w0 must match the precession rate wp. 6 .7 Moments and Products of Inertia
(
v The dynamics of rigid-body rotations are contained in (6.48), which re-
Wo = - = Wp (6.96) lates the time rate of change of the total angu lar momentum to t he exter- (
R
nal torque. The angu lar momentum L about a point 0 can be computed (
From (6.95) and (6.96) we can determine the radius of the orbit as in terms of the angular velocity w in (6.64) . We denote the location rel-
(
ative to 0 of a point mass m ; in the rigid body by ri. Then from (6 .64)
the velocity of the mass mi relative to 0 is (
R = M=!!_ (6.97)
4lc c (
(6.100)
where µ is the linear mass density and c is the lift constant determined (
The angular momentum about 0 is
by the airfoil shape and air properties . By equating the rriagnitude of the (
lift force in (6.87) to the mass times the centripetal acceleration, L = I:m;(r;X v;) = I:m;r; x (wxr;) (6.101)
(
w2l2 y2) MV2 (
F=4cl ( -3+ -
2
=--
R
(6.98) The summation is over all mass points in the body. Using (2-44a) to
expand the triple cross product, we obtain (
we obtain (
(6.102)
V = .[iwl (6 .99) (
For a simple circular return flight the CM velocity V and spin w must be We observe that the angular-momentum vector L will not necessarily (
related as in (6.99). be parallel to the angular-velocity vector w. We can write (6.102) in (
From (6.97) we see t hat the boomerang has a flight radius which cartesian components as (
is independent of how hard it is thrown . Of course, if it is thrown very
slowly, the effects of gravity will become important, and our theory breaks
Lx = Wx L m;(Y? + zl} - Wy L m;x;y; - L m ;X;Zi
Wz (
down. If an indoor boomerang is desired , it should have an exaggerated (
airfoil shape to obtain a small orbit radius in (6.97). For !orig flights a (
boomerang made of dense material is needed, and of course the design (6 .103)
should minimize drag. It is said that some native Australians can throw
(
the boomerang 90 m and have it return to their feet. Such a record-setting (
boomerang would be useless to someone without a very strong arm since (
it could not be thrown with a smaller radius of orbit. A typical outdoor
boomerang orbit may have a diameter of about 25 m. The boomerang For the coefficients of the angular-velocity components we introduce the (
starts its flight with a CM velocity of about 25 m/s and a rotation rate notation (
of about 100 r /s . It stays in the air for about 5 s. l xx = 2:; m;(y[ + zl) Ix y = - 2:; m ;XiYi lxz = - 2:; m;XiZi (
(
(
Izz = 2:; m ;(xr + y?)
(
(6.104)
(
(

(
 204 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.8 Single-Axis Rotations 205

In terms of these quanti ties we have of the moments and products of inertia. The kinetic energy is given by

Lx = fx xWx + f xyWy + f xzWz

Ly= fy xWx + lyyWy + f yzWz
J( = tL .m;v; ·v; = t ~ m;(wxr;) · (wxr;) = tw · [~ m;r;x(wxr;)l
(6.105) t t • t

(6.112)
Lz = f zxWx + fzyWy + f zzWz
where we have interchanged dot and cross prod ucts in the final step.
The component s of angular momentum in (6.105) are then compactly Using (6.101) and (6.106), we find
written
J( = tw·L = t L IjkWjWk (6.113)
Lj = LljkWk (6.106) jk
k
In vector notation J( can be written
In this expression the superscripts j, k take on the values x, y, z. The
three quantities Iii are known as moments of inertia, and the six Ijk I<= tw ·ll · w (6.114)
with j f k are called products of inertia. From (6.104) we note that the
r products of inertia are symmetric. 6.8 Single-Axis Rotations

(6.107) The equation of motion in (6.110) simplifies considerably for the case of
rotation about a single nxed axis. For definiteness we choose the z axis as
The nine q uantities Iik form a symmetric tensor and can be written as a the axis of rotation, w = WzZ. The components of the angular momentum
3 x 3 matrix. in (6.105) are then
Lx = l xzWz
(6.108) Ly = f yzWz (6.115)
Lz = fzzW z

In vector notation (6.106) can be writteri The equations of motion from (6.110) are
r . d
L=Il·w Nx = Lx = dt(lxzWz)
(6.109)
. d
From (6.48) artd (6.106) the equation of motion for general rotations of Ny= L y = dt (IyzWz) (6.116)
a rigid body about its CM point or about a fixed point in space is . d
Nz = Lz = dt (Jzzwz)

(6.110) For a rigid body that is symmetrical about the z axis, we find from (6.104)
that

or more compactly, in vector notation, fxz = f yz = 0 (6.117)

In t his case the torques Nx and Ny in (6.116) are zero. On the other
• d hand, if one of the p_.r oducts of inertia, l xz or l yz is nonzero, the body is
N = L =-(II · w) (6.111)
dt unbalanced and the bearings must provide the torques Nx or Ny to keep
the axis of rotation from moving. For single axis rotation the principal
The kinetic energy of a rigid body can likewise be expressed in terms moment of inertia is usualiy known as the moment of inertia.
206 (
Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.9 Moments-of-Inertia Calculations 207
(

The rotational motion about the z axis is accelerated by the external (func.tion only of the angle ¢),we can define a potential energy (
torque Nz. From (6.104) we observe that the moment of inertia (

(6.118) V(¢) J
= - "' Nz(¢ )d¢ 1 1
(6.122)
(
(
<l>s
is time independent, since the perpendicular distance y'x~ + y[ from the (
rotation axis of the mass point m i is fixed in a rigid body. Thus the in correspondence with (2-6). (
equation of motion for the z component in (6.116) is
(
6.9 Moments-of-Inertia Calculations
(6.119) (
The moment of iner tia Io of a rigid body about a given axis through
The kinetic energy for rigid-body rotation about the fixed z axis is found
the point 0 is related to the moment of inertia IcM about a parallel axis
from (6.113) to be given by (
wh i~h passes the center of mass by the parallel-axis rule
(6.120) (
Io= IcM + Md 2
(6.123)
The equation for rotational motion about a fixed axis in (6.119) has
{
the same mat hematical structure as the equation for linear motion in one where dis the perpendicular distance between the two axes; see Fig. 6-14.
direction. In practice IcM is often easier to compute t han Io, making it advanta- (
geous to use the parallel-axis rule. In a ny case only one moment of inertia (
Fz = Mvz (6.121)
about a set of parallel axes needs to be computed.
In fact, the following direct correspondences can be made between the (
physical quantities of angular and linear motion: {
(
Angular motion Linear motion
(
Moment of inertia, Izz Mass, M
(
Angular acceleration, Cl'z = Wz• = dt2
d2 <I> L"mear acce Ierat'10n, az = Vz. = di'"
d1 z
(
Torque, Nz Force, Fz (
Angular velocity, Wz = !flf- L.mear ve 1oc1.ty, Vz = lit
dz
(
Angular position, </> Linear position, z (
Angular momentum, Lz = I zzWz Linear momentum, Pz = Mvz (
Kinetic energy, I( = !Iuw; Kinetic energy, J( = !Mv;
(
As a consequence, we can directly apply the techniques for solving (
one-dimensional problems in Chapters 1 and 2 to solve (6.113) for ro-
(
tations about a single axis. For example, if the torque is conservative FIGURE 6-14. Parallel-axis rule for moments of inertia.
(
(

(
208 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.9 Moments-of-Inertia Calculations 209

To prove t he parallel axis theorem we use the expression (6.17) for z

the system angular momentum about 0

L = MR x V + °L: m;ri x vi (6.124)

For the moment of inertia we just need t he component of L along w

L · w=: l ow = MR x V · w+ / cM w (6.125)

The first term on the right side simplifies to

MR x V · w = Mw ·Rx V
=MwxR·V (6.126)
= M(w x R) 2w
By referring to Fig. 6-14 we see that the length of wx R is the perpen-
dicu lar distance d between t he two parallel axes, and I 0 = M d 2 + I C M
follows. x
Another usefu l rule for moments of inertia, known as t he perpendic- F IGURE 6-15. Perpendicul ar-axis rule for a body whose mass is distributed only in
ular axis rule, applies to bodies whose mass is distributed in a single the x, y plane.
plane. For a body in t he x, y plane with mass density per unit area a,
t he moments of inert ia about the t hree axes are In the applications to be considered in t he following two sections,
we shall need the moment of inertia of a spherical body abou t an axis
l xx =J 2
y adA t hrough its center of mass. For a sphere of radius a the mass density is

l yy =J 2
x adA (6.127) p =--
M
(6.130)
!7ra3
=J
3
2
l zz (x + y 2 )adA
where M is the total mass. T he integral for the moment of inertia about
the z axis,
F rom t hese we derive the perpendicular-axis rule
(6. 131)
(6.128)
can be t arried out simply in cylindrical coordinates.
illustrated in F ig. 6-15. When t he mass distri bution is azimuthally sym-
metrical about t he z axis, the two moments in t he plane are equal and
x' = r' cos ¢'
we obtain
y' = r 1 sin ¢' (6.132)
(6.129) ,
dV' = (r'd¢')dr'dz'
 (
210 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS A ND RIGID BODIES 6.10 Impulses and Billiard Shots 211
r
After t he transformation to cylindrical variables, we fi nd 6.10 Impulses and Billiard Shots (
(
+a ~ +a For forces that act only during a very short time, it is convenient to use
l cM = _M_
17ra3
3 -a
J J dz'
0
3
r' dr' J
2,,.

0
d</>' = .!:!_
17ra3
3
J
-a
dz' (a
2
-
4
z'
2 2
) (27r)
an integrated fo rm of the laws of motion . The translational motion of
the center-of-mass point is determined by
(
(
(6.134) (
= ~Ma 2

If we multiply both sides of t his equation by dt a nd integrate over the (

(6.133)
Some other freq uently used moments of inertia of simple uniform bodies short time interval 6.t = t 1 - to, du ring which the force acts , we obtain (
are tabulated in Table 6-1. 11
(
TABLE 6-1. MOMENTS OF INERTIA OF SOME SIMPLE BODIES 6.P =P1 - po =j Fdt (6.135)
(
to
(
Body Axis t hrough CM Moment of inertia The time integral of t he force on the right is called t he impulse. Fo r
a ngular motion the integrated form of the equation of motion in (6.48) is (
Rod, length l Perpendicular to rod l cM = 1
1 2 Ml
2
(
J
t1
Rectangular p late, Parallel to side b I c M= 1\Ma 2 1
6.L = L - L = 0
Ndt (6.136) (
sides a, b Perpendicular to plate I cM = / 2 M(a 2
+b ) 2
to (
Cube, sides a Perpendicular to face l cM = ~Ma 2 The time integral of the torque is called t he angular impulse. For rigid- (
body rotations about a fixed z axis, we can use (6.119) to rewrite the
Hoop, radius a Perpendicular to plane I c M = Ma 2 angular-impulse equation (6.136) as (
2
Disk, r adius a Pe rpendicular to plane l cM = tMa (
J
11

Parallel to plane l cM = tMa2 6.Lz = f zzl1Wz = f zz(w! - w~) = Nzdt (6.137) (

Solid cylinder: to (
(
radius a Along cylinder axis IcM = tMa2 As an example of the usefulness of t he impulse form ulation of the
equations of motion, we discuss the dynamics of billiard shots. For si m-
Perpendicula r to cylinder axis l cM = 1 2
+ l 2) (
length l 12 M(3a plicity we consider only shots in wh ich the cue hits t he ball in its vertical
median pla ne in a horizontal direction . In billiard jargon these are shots (
Spherical shell,
without "English". (
radius a Any axis lcM = ~Ma 2
The cue imparts an impulse to th e stationary ball at a vertical dis- (
Sol.id sphere, t a nce h above the table, as illustra ted in Fig. 6-16. The linear im puli;?e
from (6.135) is (
l c M = ~Ma
2
radius a Any axis
(
J
11
Solid ellipsoid of
Ml1Vx = Mv; = Fxdt (6.138) (
semi-axes a, b, c Along axis a l cM = tM(b 2 + c2 ) to
{
where v; is the velocity of the CM just after impact. The angular impulse
(
of (6.137) about the z axis in Fig. 6-17 which passes through the CM of
(

(
212 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.10 Impulses and Billiard Shots 213

causes V., to increase and w! to decrease until pure rolling sets in. For

Impulse
a low shot with h < fa,the contact velocity Ve is in t he direction of
V.,1. In t his case t he friction force decreases V.,1 and increases w! until
rolling occurs. The diagram of Fig. 6-17 summarizes these results. For
a ball which is rolling uniformly, t he CM moves uniformly, and there is
/T---- ---x
therefore no static frictional fo rce in the direction of the motion.
a I
I
I Rolling shot High shot Low shot
w = V/a w > V/a w < V/a

G GG
y

FI GURE 6-16. Impulse impar ted to a billiard b all b y the cue stick.

the ball is
l1

6.Lz = lzzW! = J
to
(h - a)F.,dt . (6.139) FIGURE 6-17. Rolling, high , and low shots in bimards.

where a is the radius of the ball. By elimination of the force integral Follow shot
bet.ween (6 .138) and (6.139) and substitution of the moment of inertia Before collision After collision
from (6.133), we arrive at the following relation between the spin and w, w,
velocity of the ball immediately after the impulse: ~ ~

The velocity of t he ball at the point of contact with the table is

(6.140)

G G_
· Draw shot
I

Ve = V., - awz
1 1
= V.,1 (7a 2a
- 5h) (6.141) Before coll ision
Wz
After collision
Wz
~ 4--

G 8
If t he. ball is to roll without slipping (Ve= 0), we find that

h =fa (6.142)

Only if t he ball is hit exactly at this height does pure rolling take place
from the very start . For a high shot with h > fa,
Ve is opposite in
direction. to V.,1. Since t he friction at the billiard cloth opposes Ve, it
f
FIGURE 6-18. Motion of the cue ball for follow and draw shots in billiards. V1 is t he
velocity which will be ultimately acquired by t he cue b all.
 (
214 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.11 Supei·-Ba/l Bounces 215
(
(
W hen the moving cue ball makes a head-on collision with a target
W~I
ball at rest, the CM of the cue ball momentarily stops, and the target (
~~~

a
~\\
~o
ball moves forward with the CM velocity of t he cue ball, as shown earlier, (
in § 3.4. Since the balls are assumed smooth, the cue ball retains its spin
w; (
~
in the collision. Consequently, the contacting point on the cue ball
moves with velocity Ve = -aw; immediately after collision. If w;> 0 at (/ (
'~'' \
I
the moment of collision, the friction force acting opposite to the direction I
\
I
I
(
of Ve accelerates the cue· ball forward, as illustrated in Fig. 6-18. This is \
I
I
\
the so-called follow shot. If w! < 0, the friction force accelerates the cue \ 11 (
\ I
\ I
ball backward until pure rolling motion sets in. T his is the draw shot. \
\
I (
I
These s hots play an important part in t he tactics of pool or billiards . \
-'I
I z
\ I
I (
\
\ I
6.11 Super-Ball Bounces \ I (
\ I

The bizarre behavior observed in bounces of the Wham-0 Super-Ball (

(Registered trademark of Wham-0 Corporation, San Gabriel, CA.) can (
be predicted from the rigid-body equations of motion. The Super-Ball
(
is a hard spherical rubber ball. The bounces of a Super-Ball on a hard
surface are almost elastic (i.e., energy-conserving) and essentially n~msli p fy (
at the point of contact. As an idealization, we shall also neglect gravity (
in our calculations, t hough its inclusion does not change the principal
results. y (
We begin with an analysis of a single bounce from the floor. We (
FIGURE 6-19. Super-Bail bounce from a hard surface.
denote t he initial components of the CM velocity by v~ and v~ and the (
initial spin of the ball about the z axis through t he CM by w~, as pictured
By elimination of the frictional force f x from the first and t hird equations, (
in Fig. 6-19 . The frictional force f x and the normal force fy act on the ball
only for a very s hort time duration, b..t. We can determine the changes we obtain a relation between b..vx and b..wz caused by fx· (
in the velocities b..vx, b..vy from the linear-impulse equation (6.135), and (
the change in spin from the angular-im pulse equation (6.137). We obtain M(v! - v~) = - Izz (w; - w0 )
a z
(6 .1 44) (
(
The assumption that fx and fy are independent (i.e., t hat the deforma-
to tions of the superball result in stresses in the x and y directions, which (
t1 are independent of one another) requires that the energies associated with (
M b..vy· = - j fydt (6 .143) the x and y motions be separately conserved. In other words, both fx
and fy are conse1:vative forces . The conservative nature of fy leads to
(
to
(

J
t1

fz zf1Wz = a fxdt (6.145) (

to (
We conclude that the vertical component of velocity must be reversed by
(
(

{
(
216 Chapte1· 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES 6.11 Super-Ball Bounces 217

the action of the normal force fy:

v yi= -voy (6.146)

The stipulation that fx be energy-conserving (i.e., no slipping) yields t he

condition

I
l/
2 zz (w1)2
z + lM(v1)2
2 x = l/
2 zz (wo)2
z + lM(vo)2
2 x (6.147) I I
I I
I I
Equations (6. 144), (6.145), and (6.147) govern the dynamics of a I
I I
I
Super-Ball bounce. One possible solution to (6 .144) and (6.147) is
I I
I I
vix = vox I I
Wl =WOz
{6~ 148) tI I
I
z
I I
I I
This solution corresponds to zero frictional force in (6.143) and is there- I I
fore relevant only for a smooth ball. The solution appropriate for a Super- I I
I/
Ball can be obtained by division of (6.144) and (6.147). We find
W////////P//////////////////////////////////,
v! + v~ = a(w! + w~) (6. 149) FIGURE 6-20. Deflection of a Super-Ball from a vertical bounce.

or by rearrangement
As an example of the result in (6.151), a Super-Ball which approaches
the floor from a vertical direction ( v~ = 0) with initial spin w~ will leave
(v! - aw;)= -(v~ - aw~) (6.150) the floor with

The quantity (vx -awz) is just the horizontal velocity at the point on the vl
x
= 7fwOa
z
ball that makes contact with the floor. Hence the velocity at the point of wl
z
= _;i.wo
7 z (6.152)
contact is exactly reversed by a bounce. From (6.144) and (6. 150) we can vl - -Vo
y - y
solve for the spin and horizontal velocity immediately after the bounce
in terms of t he initial spin and velocity. With the moment of inertia of
as illustrated in Fig. 6-20. A smooth ball with the same initial velocity
the Super-Ball given by (6.133), we arrive at
and spin would bounce back in the vertical direction.

The unexpected behavior of a Super-Ball is even more dramatically

(6.151) exhibited in successive bounces. As indicated in Fig. 6-21, a Super-Ball
thrown to the floor in such a way that it bounces from the underside
of a table will return to the hand. We tan show this quite simply from
as the general solution for a Super-Ball bounce. repeated applications of (6.151) . If the initial spin of the ball is zero, the
218 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES
r
Problems 219 (
(
Thus the Super-Ball returns after the three bounces with a slightly
(
lowe r velocity than when it started, although the total kinetic energy
remains the same. A smooth ball would not return, but wou ld continue (
bouncing between t he flo~r and the table, as indicated by the dashed line (
in Fig. 6-21.
(
PROBLEMS (

6.1 Center of Mass and the Two-Body Problem (

6-1. Find the distance of the center of mass of the earth-moon system (
from the center of the eart h. (
6-2. For a two-particle system in a region of uniform gravitational ac- (
celeration g, show t hat the net gravitational torque about the CM
FIGURE 6-21. Return of a Super-Ball when bounced from the underside of a table. point of t he system is zero. (
6-3. A boat of mass 60 kg and length 4 m is at rest in quiet water. If a (
velocity and spin after t he first bounce from the floor are man of mass 80 kg walks from t he bow to the stern, what distance (
will the boat move? Neglect water resista nce.
vi=
x
2vO
7 x
(
0 (6.153) 6-4. Two particles on a line are mutually attracted by a force
wl = 10 vx (
z 7 a
F = - fr c
For the bounce off the underside of the table, the angular impulse is (
opposite in sign to the impulse in (6. 143). With the angular impulse where f is a constant and r is the distance of separation. At time
reversed, the appropri ate modifications of (6.151) for the second bounce (
t = 0, particle A of mass Mis located at x = 5 cm, a nd particle B
are of mass tM is located at x = 10 cm. If the particles are at rest at (
time t = 0 , at what value of x do they collide? W hat is the relative (
(6.154) velocity of the two particles at the moment the collision occurs?
(
6-5. Compare the magnitude of the gravity forces on t he moon due to
When we substitute (6.153) into (6.154), we get (
t he earth a nd sun. Despite this result show from (6.22) that the su n
is not very important in determining the moon's motion relative to (
t he earth. If the moon's distance from the earth were greater would_ (
(6.155)
your conclusion _remain valid?
(
6-6. The two atoms in a diatomic molecule (masses m 1 and m 2 ) interact
Thus the horizontal direction of motion has been reversed. For the final t hrough a potential energy (
bounce off the floor we again apply (6.151), with (6.155) as initial values.
(
We find a2 b2
V3 _ _ 333VO V(r)- - 4 - - 3
x - 343 x
(6.156) - 41· 31·
W3 _ _ 130VO
z - 343 x
where r is the separation of the atoms. (
(

(
(
220 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES Problems 221

a) Find t he eq uilibri um separation of the atoms and the frequency b) Describe the motio n qualitatively as it appears in the CM system
of small oscillat ions about the eq uilibrium assuming th at the a nd in t he la b system.
molecule does not rotate. How much e 11ergy must be s upplied
to the molecule in orqer to break it up? c) Find the distance of closest approach (mi nimum separation be-
tween t he particles) .
b) Determine the ma.ximum angular mo mentum which the molecule
can have without breaking up, assuming that t he motion is in cir- d) Find the velocity of particle 2 in the lab system a fter the collision .
cular orbits. F ind the particle separation at t he break up angular
momentum. 6-9. Two particles of masses m 1 and
c) C alculate t he velocity of each partide in the laboratory system mz collide. T he ini tia l velocity
at break up, assumi ng that t he center of mass is at rest. Hint: of particle 1 in the la b system is
break 11.p occurs when Veff no longer has a minimum.
V1, wh ile particle 2 is initially at o-~1-
V1
. .).
rest. The initial impact parame- ho
6-7. T wo point masses are connected by a sprin g with spring constant ter is bo, as shown . The particles __ _ j, _ - - --- - - - --o 2
k but a re otherwise free to move in space. T he equatio ns of motion in teract through a repulsive po-
a re tent ia l V = Vo/ lr1 - r2J4 •

a) Calculate the t otal energy and angul a r momentum in t he CM

system in terms of the particle masses a nd velocities.
w here 1 = l(r 1 - r 2)/lr 1 - rzJ. b) Derive the equation of motion for the relative coordinate r
a) Find the equilibrium separation of the masses a nd the frequency r1 - r 2 . Find the distance of closest approach .
of oscillation of the m asses about equilibrium assuming th at the
system does not rotate. c) Show how the angle (J between the fi nal velocities of the particles
in t he lab can be calculated if t he magn it ude Jvlfl of the fina l lab
b) How will t he equilibrium sep(\-ration of the masses and the fre-
velocity of particle 1 is meas ured.
quency o f small oscillations about equilibrium change as the sys-
tem rotates a bout an axis t hrough the CM perpe ndicular to the
axis of t he oscillator? 6.2 Rotational Equation of Motion
c) Show t hat t he total energy of the system is conserved. 2
6-10. If t he fo rce on m1 by m2 is F~ ] and t he force o n m 2 by m 1 is F~1 l,
6-8 . Two particles with masses m 1 a nd m 2 colHde head on. Part icle 1
has an initial velocity v1 and particle 2 is initially at rest in the lab-
the extended third law requires t hat not o nly F~ 1 F~ l = O but2
+ 1

also that t he forces act on a line connecting m 1 and m 2 . Show that

oratory system. The particles interact through a potential energy
the total .torque due to this pair offorces abou t a point pat r p is
zero, th us derp.onstrating t hat the extended t hi rd law implies zero
(~)
2

V =:= Vo total internal torque.

r 12
6-11. If the potential energy between two pa rt icles of a system depends
whe re V0 > 0 and r12 = lr1 - r21· only on their separation show that this potential energy depends
a) Compute t he total energy and angu!ar moment um of the two par- on t he angle of rotation about a fi xed axis only t hro ugh differences
ticles in the CM s;rstem. Express t he results in terms of m 1, m2, in particle an gle coordinates. Then show that the result ing int ernal
and v1. torque is zero.
222 Chapter 6 PARTICLE Sl'STEMS AND R IGID BODIES Problems 223
(

6.3 Rigid B odies : St atic E quilibrium 6.5 Gyr oscopic Effect r

6-17. A heavy axially symmetric gyro- (
6-12, A circu lar tabletop of radius 1 m and mass 3 kg is supported by
three equally spaced legs on the circumference. When a vase is scope is supported at a pivot, as (

~w
placed on the table, t he legs support 1, 2, and 3 kg, respectively. shown. The mass of the gyro- I

How heavy is the vase, and where is it located on the table? What scope is M, and the moment of I
inertia about its symmetry a.xis 10 '7' (
is the lightest vase which might upset the table?

6-13. A spool rests on a rough table

is I. The initial angular veloc-
ity about its symmetry axis is w. //////////~? (
(
as s hown . A th read wound on T G ive a suitable approximate equation of motion for the system, .
the spool is pulled wit h force T assuming that w is very large. Find the angular frequency of the (
at angle (), gyroscopic precession . Show that the above approximation is j usti- (
a) If () = 0 will t he spool move fied for
(
to the left o r right?
(
b) Show that t here is an angle () fo r which t he spool remai ns at rest.
where all moments of inertia are taken to be roughly Mf.2 • (
c) At t his crit ical angle find the maximum T for equilibriu m to be
(
maintained. Assume a coefficient of friction µ. 6 .6 The Boomer a ng
(
6-14. A cylindrical glass full of ice weighs four times as much as when 6-18. Show that if the aerodynamic force on a boomerang blade is propor-
empty. At what intermediate level offilli ng is the glass lea.st li kely to tional to Vt (notv; as in the text), the ratio of spin to CM velocity (
tip? Neglect the mass of t he bottom of the glass. Would the resu lt
change if the glass contained water (of the same density)? Hint:
must still be related as V = /'iwt for a successful return. Show (
that the rad ius of the orbit is now proportional to the velocity. (
show that the maximum angle of tip corresponds to the minimum
CM height. (
6.8 Single-Axis Rotations
6-19. A d isk of radius R is oriented in a vertical plane and spin ning about (
6.4 Rot ations of Rigid Bodies its axis wit h ang ul ar velocity w. If t he spinning disk is set dow n (
on a horizontal surface, with what translational CM velocity will
6-15. Consider again t he d rag racer of Fig. 1-1 which, whi le accelerating (
it roll away? Hint: friction accelerates the CM and slows rotation
ho rizo ntally, is in vert ical and rotation al equilibrium. In § 1.3 it was (
until rolling begins.
found that t he maximum accele ration is µg whereµ is the coefficient
of frictio n between t he rear tires and the t rack. Show that in order 6-20. A spherical asteroid of uniform density 3 g/cm 3 and radi us 100 m is (
to realize this opti mal acceleration the CM must be located such rotating once per minute. It gradually acquires meteoritic material (
that t he ratio of its height h above t he ground to the distance b2 of the same density until a few billion yea.rs later its radius has
doubled. If, on the average, t his matter has arrived radially, what (
forward of t he rear wheels satisfies b2 = µh.
is the final rate of rotation? (
6-16. A vehicle has brakes on all fou r wheels. At rest the weight supported
6-21. D ue to tidal friction t he earth's day increases in length by 4.4 x (
by each wheel is t he same. F ind t he deceleration which corresponds
10-8 s each day.
to maximu m possible braking. Calculate t he normal forces t he on (
front and back wheels when t he brakes are applied . Why are t he a) Compute the accumulated error between time based on the earth's
(
front brakes t he most important in br.aking? · rotation and absolute time (say by an atomic clock) after one
(
(
(

(
224 Chapter 6 PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND RIGID BODIES
century and after 3000 yea.rs. This accumulated error would be
evident in the observation versus prediction of eclipses. Hint:
compare the angle through which an accelerating sphere tums with
that of a sphere rotating uniformly.
b) Estimate the power dissipated assum ing a. uniform earth. Com-
pare this to a. 109 W electrical generation facility.
6 .9 Moments-of-Inertia Calculations
6-22. A t hin, uniform rod of mass M is
supported by two vertical strings,
as shown. Find t he tension in the
remaining string immediately after
one of the strings is severed.
6-23. A physical pendulum consists of a.
solid cylinder which is free to rotate
a.bout a. transverse axis displaced by
e
a. distance along the symmetry axis
from the center of mass, as illus-
trated. Find the value of i for which
the period is a minimum. Express
the result in terms of the mass M
a nd moment of inertia I a.bout a
transverse a.xis through the CM.
6-24. A pendulum consists of two masses
connected by a. very light rigid rod,
as shown . The pendulum is free to
oscillate in the vertical plane about
a. horizontal axis located a distance
a from ma at a distance b from mb.
a) Calculate the moment of inertia
of t he system about 0: Find the
location of the center of mass.
b) Set up the equation of motion for the system and derive the
potential-energy function. ·
c) Take b > a and determine the frequency of oscillation for small
a ngles of displacement from the vertical.
d) D erive an exact expression for the period of the pendulum
(IBmaxl < 11').
Problems 225
e) F ind the minimum angular velocity which must be given to the
system (starting at equilibrium) if it is to continue in rotation
instead of oscillating.
6-25. A yo-yo of mass M is composed of two disks of
radius R separated
by a. distance t by a shaft of radius r. A massless string is wound
on the shaft, and the loose end is held in the hand. Upon release
the yo-yo descends until the st ring is unwound. The string then
begins to rewind, and the yo-yo climbs. Find the string tension a nd
acceleration of the yo-yo in descent and in ascent. Neglect the mass
of the shaft a nd assume the shaft radius is sufficiently small so that
the string is essentially vertical.
6-26. F ind the inertia tensor components a bout the origin in terms of the
inertial tensor cpmponents about the CM. The position of the CM
point is R =Xx+ Yy+ Zz.
6-27. A two-dimensional object lies in the x, y plane a nd is descri bed by
the mornents of inertia lxxi l yy and the product of inertia l xy for
rotations in the x, y plane. In a coordin ate system rotated by an
angle </>the new coordinate components a re related to x and y by
x' = x cos¢+ ysin </>
y' = -x sin</>+ ycos</>
a) The tensor of inertia elements in the rotated system are l x•x•, Iy'y'
and I x'y'. Find the smallest angle ¢ 0 for which I x'y' vanishes.
Show that the other soh~tions are ¢ 0 + nf and are eq uivalent.
T he x' a nd y' axes are known as principal axes since for rotations
along these axes L is parallel to w.
=
b) If for two rotated systems (rotation angle# 7r/2) I xy l x'y' = 0,
prove that the principal moments are equal. As an example con-
sider an equilateral triangle.
c) If the principal mome nts are equ al and Ixy = 0 in some coordinate
frame show that the moments are equal in any rotated coordinate
system. As a n example consider a uniform sq uare.
d) Compute t he princi pal moments in terms of a given set l xxi fy y
and l xy of inertia ele1!1ents.
 Problems 227
r
226 Chapter 6 PA RTICLE SYSTEMS AND R IGID BODIES
(
(
6.10 Impulses and Billiard Shots 6-31. In the spo rt of bowling, if the ball is rolled straight down the middle
of the alley, pins on t he sides will often be left standing (wide splits). (
e
6-28. A pencil of lengt h and mass m lying flat on a frictionless horizontal
A good right-handed bowler will impart a spin to the ball on release, (
tabletop receives an impulse on one end at a righ t angle to the
causing it to curve to the left as it goes down the alley and strike
pencil. What is the orientation and position of the center of mass (
the pins somewhat to the side. Describe the req ui red spin and show
of the pencil at a time t after the impulse?
that the t rajecto ry of the ball is approximately parabol ic in shape. (
6-29. A rod of mass m and length f. hangs vertically from a horizontal (
frictionless wire, as shown. Attached to the end of the rod is a small 6 .11 Super-Ball Bounces
ball also of mass m. The rod is free to move along the wire. (
6-32. One of t he Su per-Ball examples discussed in the text concerned
Hook Wire a ball dropped straight down with spin. Discuss the subsequent (
motion through several bounces . (
6-33. Under what cond itions will a Super-Ball
(
bounce back and fo rt h as illustrated? How
Rod, mass m (
does the spin change?
Ball, mass m
(
a) Find t he locat ion of the center of mass for rod plus ball, taking (
the hook as the origin of the coordinate system.
(
b) Find the moment of inertia fo r rod plus ball about the hook.
(
c) Use the parallel-axis theorem and the result in part b to find the
moment of inertia about the center of mass. (
d) The rod-ball system is struck by an impulsive hammer blow a
(
distance h from the hook. Set up equations for t he linear and (
angular motion of the system. (
e) Find h such that the hook does not move a.long the wire at the (
instant of blow. This point is known as th e center of percussion.
(
6-30. A ball of radius a rolling with velocity v on a level surface col-
lides inelastically with a step of height h < a, as shown. Find the (
minimum velocity for which the ball will "trip" up over the step. (
Assume that no sli pping occurs at the impact point. Hint: compute
(
the total angular momentum about the point of impulsive contact.
This angular momentum is conserved and can be used to compute (
the energy change. (
(
(

h
f
(
(
(
(
 7.1 Transformation to Mov ing Coordinat.e Frames 229

The second term in (7.3) is due to the rotation of the coordinate

Chapter 7 system, which causes the direction of the unit vectors to change with
time. Since the coordinate system is rigid, we can directly apply the
ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS result of (6.64),
dr
-=wxr (7.5)
dt
to find the time derivatives of the u nit vectors
The simple form of Newton's second law,
dx
-=wXx
A dy
- =wXy
A dz
-=WXZ
A

(7.6)
_ d2 r1 dt dt dt
F - m dtZ (7.1)
Here w is t he angular velocity of rotation of the accelerated frame relative
for a particle of mass m holds only in inertial coordinate systems (unac- to a fixed frame. Upon substit ution of (7.4) and (7.6) into (7.3), we have
c~Jerated and not rotating with respect to the distant stars), as denoted
dA 8A (A A A A A A) (7.7)
by the I subscript above. On the other hand, physical events are some- dt = Tt+wx xx+ yY+ zZ
times more simply descriped with reference to an accelerated or rotating
coorqinate system. For example, observations of motion on the earth's or more simply,
surface are more simply expressed in terma of a coordinate system fixed dA oA
- =-+wxA (7.8)
on the rotating earth than in terms of an inertial coordinate system . For dt ot
this reason it is useful to derive the form of the second law which directly Accordingly, the time derivative dA/dt in a fixed reference frame consists
applies in accelerated reference frames. of a part oA/8t from the time rate of change of A relative to the axes
of the moving frame and a part w X A from the rotation of these axes
7.1 Transformation to Moving Coordinate Frames relative to the fixed axes. It follows from (7.8) that the time derivative
of w is independent of the coordinate frame.
To transform the law of motion to q.n accelerated reference frame, we
first need to relate the time derivatives of vector quantities in movi ng dw
-
ow
= - =w
. (7.9)
and fi xed coordinate systems. In a moving fram e, an arbitrary vector dt ot
quantity A can be written
We next apply t he result in (7 .8) to the vector l', which speci"fies the
(7.2) location of a particle with respect to the moving axes. The first time
derivative is
where the directions of the unit vectors change in time. T he time deriva- dr or
- = -+wxr (7 .10)
tive of A is dt ot
The second time derivative can likewise be evaluated with the aid of (7.8) .
(7.3)
2
ddt2r = dt
d (or ) 'o ( 8r ) (or
ot +wxr = ot ot +wxr +wx ot +wxr
)
The first term on the right-hand side of this equation is t he time rate (7.11)
of change of A with reference to the axes of the accelerated frame. We o2 r 8w or
denote this time rate of change of A in the moving frame by = -+-xr+2wx-+wx(wxr)
ot 2 ot ot
8A
Tt =dtx+ &Y+ dtz
dAx A dAy A dAz A

(7.4) To find the law of motion in the accelerated/rotating frame, we relate

the location of the particle in the accelerated and inertial frames by t he

228
230 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS (
7.2 Fictitious Farces 231
r
vector R connecting the origins of the two frames 7.2 Fictitious Forces
(
(
r1 = r +R (7.12) We can write t he equ ation of motio n (7.15) for an accelerated frame in a
(
form similar to (7.1) for an inertial frame.
as illustrated in Fig. 7-1. Then, s ubstituting the result in (7.11) into (
(7.16) (
(7.13) (
The acceleration 82 r/ot 2 observed in the moving frame is generated by
we get (
the effective force
(
(7.14) d2R]
Feff=F-m [wx(wxr)+2wxv+wxr+ dt 2
(7 .17) (
(
The form of Newton's law in the non-inertial frame now follows directly
The names associated with the so-called fictitious force terms on the (
from (7.1) and (7.14)
right- hand side of (7.17) are
(
Centrifugal force:
(7 .15) (
F cf = -mwx(wx r ) (7 .18)
(
ot
where v = or/ is velocity and o2 r / 0t 2 is the acceleration of a particle Coriolis force: (
as observed in t he moving coordinate system.
Fcor = -2mwx v (7.19)
(
A zimuthal force: (
Faz= -mwxr (7.20) (
(
Translational force:
d2 R (
Ftr = - m dt 2 (7.21)
(
T he centrifugal force of (7.18) is due to t he rotational motion of the (
coordinate system. Since w·F cf = 0, t he centrifugal force is perpendicular (
to the rotation axis w. If t he angular velocity. w is chosen to lie along t he
(
z axis of t he moving fram e, as in Fig. 7-2, th en
(
F cf = - m [w(w · r ) - rw 2 ] = mw 2 (xx + yy) (
(7.22)
= mw 2 p

FIGURE 7-1. Inertial and accelerated coordinate fram es. where p is the cylindrical-radius vector to the particle from the z axis. (
The centrifugal force is directed radi ally outward from the axis of rotation .
(
T he result in (7.22) is t he same as (5.14).
(
(
(

(
 232 Chapter 7 A CCELERATED C O ORDINA T E S YSTEMS 7.2 Fictitious Forces 233

z must, also be normal to the surface, by (7 .23) . In cylindrical coordinates,

g 0 rr is given by
(7.25)

From t he geometry of Fig. 7-3, t he normal requirement on gen can be

~
written
\\
dz w 2 p
\
\ tane = - = - (7.26)
\
\
dp g
\
\
\ Integration gives
\
\ w2
\
\
\ (JJ
z = -2gp2 + constant (7.27)
\
\
\ which is a parabolic shape. The solu tion in (7.27) can alternatively be
\
\
\
fo und from (7.25) by potential-energy methods. The potential energy
\
\ due to the force mgerr is
\
\
\
\ (7.28)

as verified by computing F = mgerr = -VV. Since there can be no

r
component of force tangential to t he surface in equilibriu m, the potential
x energy in (7.28) must be constant on the surface, and t he result in (7.27)
is thus obtained.
FIGU RE 7-2 . Centrifugal force Fe/ due to rotation with a ngular velocity w.

T he centrifugal force, along wit h gravity, accoun ts fo r the parabolic

s hape of the s urface of a spinning pail of water. Because of viscous forces
the water in a uniformly spinning pail will reach an equilibrium condition
where it rotates as if it were a rigid body (i.e., each element has t he same
angular velocity) . Using (7 .17), the equation of motion of a s mall mass
of water m on the s urface in a frame rotating with the pail is

(S2r
m ot2 = F' +mg - mwx(w xr) (7.23)

where the force F', due to the pressure gradient, is normal to the sur-
face. If the pressure gradient had· a component tangent to the surface
the pressure would vary along the surface, but t his cannot happen since
t he surface is at atmospheric pressure. Since in equilibrium o2 r/ot 2 = o,
the effective-gravity term

geff := g - W X (w X r) (7.24) FIGURE 7-3. Parabolic surface of a spinning pail of water.

 (
234 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE S >'STEMS 7.2 Fictitious Forces 235
(

There are two important aspects of this spinning pail phenomenon v · Fcor = 0, t his force is perpendicular to both w a nd v . The effects of r
which might be mentioned , one of historical and philosophical impor- the Coriolis force are important in such problems as calculations of long- (
tance and the other of current practical importance in the construction range artillery and ballistic missile trajectories and in the description of
(
of telescope mirrors. The water pail experiment was of great significance large-scale atmospheric weather phenomena.
in Isaac Newton's formul ation of mechan ics. He noted that a spinning The a.zimuthal force in (7.20) occurs only when the angular-velocity
(
water pail achieves a curved surface while one t hat is not rotating has vector changes with time. Inasmuch as r · Faz 0, th is force a lways = (
a flat surface; Newton deduced that a reference frame not rotating with points in a direction perpendi cular to r . If w is changing in magnitude
respect to the stars was fundamental. (
but constant in d irection, the azimuthal force acts toward maintaining
In the construction of the post-Palomar generat ion of large land- the rotational velocity of the particle. (
based optical telescopes short focal lengths must be utilized to minimize The translation force in (7.21) is due to the acceleration of the origin (
the weight and consequent exp ense. To construct such a mirror by the of the moving frame relative to a n inertial frame. In t he specia l case whe n (
old technology would require starting with a thick blank disk and then the motion of the accelerated coordinate system is purely translational
laboriously grinding out the concave s hape. An important innovation (that is, w = 0) , the eq uation of motion in (7.16) and (7.17) reduces to (
is to spin a molten pyrex or quartz blank inside a furnace'. It obtains (
precisely t he parabolic shape that is needed to focus a distant star into (7 .29)
a· point image and can be cast with uniform t hickness helping to reduce (
the weight. The surface is then coated with a t hi n layer of aluminum to The problem of a pendulum with a moving su pport provides a n in- (
make it reflecting. Photos of s uch a telescope mirror being made by this teresting a pplication of (7.29). We choose the origin of the moving coor- (
process are shown in Fig. 7-4. dinate system to coincide with the instantaneous location of the support,
as illustrated in Fig. 7-5. We shall restrict our discussion to angular mo- (
(a) (b) tion in t he x, y p lane defined by F and R. In terms of t he tension T a.nd (
the gravitational force mgx acting on the pendulum bob, t he equation of
(
motion in t he moving frame is
2 (
m 8ot r 2 = T + m (g - A x ) x - m A yY
A A
(7 .30) (
where A = 2 2
d R/dt is the translational acceleration . Since physical (
motion occurs along the 0 d irection, it is advantageous to write (7.30) in (
polar coordinates using (2.124),
(
o2 r •2
W = f(i; - + O(rO + 21~0)
A • • •

r0 ) (7.31) (
and the relations (
x = f cos O - Osin 0 (7.32)
(
FIGURE 7-4. A parabolic mirror for • the WJYN (Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOAO}
telescope being made by the spin-casting process. (a) The initial stage of casting y = fsin 0 + OcosO (
and (b) after spin casting. The central plug leaves a hole for light transmission after obtained from (2.125). Since Te= 0 , we find
reflection by a secondary mirror. (
mlO = - m(g - Ax) sin 0 - mAy cos 8
(7.33)
The Coriolis force in (7.19) is p resent when the particle 1s m mo- -mliP =Tr+ m(g - Ax) cos 0 - mAy sin 8
tion relative to the rotating coordinate system. Since w · Fcor = O and
(
(
(
(
 236 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COO RDIN ATE SYSTEMS 7.3 Mo tion on the Earth 237

7.3 M o t ion on the E arth

For the motion of a particle movi ng near the s urface of t he eart h, it is

convenient to choose a coordinate system that is fixed on the eart h's
surface . We consider in F ig. 7-6 first a reference frame S' rotating with a
constant a ngular velocity w relative to Sr (the inertial frame) . T he frame
S' is fi xed in the rotating earth and its origin is at t he CM of the eart h,
coinciding with the origin of Sr . The t ranslational vector R in (7.15) is
thus zero. As shown in F ig. 7-6 the location of mass m is given by r ' and
its equation of motion from (7.15) is
2
o r'2
m--=F'+mg- m [w x '(w x r ') -2wxv '] (7.36)
ot
T he net fo rce acting on m in t he inert ial system has been separated into
the gravitatio nal force mg and any other fo rces F'.

mg
,. XJ

FIGURE 7-5. Pen dulum with a support whlch moves with accelerat ion A :: R.
/
/
/
The angula r motion of the pendulum bob is therefore determined by /
z /

----
.. [g Ax(t) ] sm. 8 = - Ay(t)
8+ - - - - - - cos 8
l l l (7.34)

This is the same as obtained more laboriously by the Lagrangian method CM

Y1
in Chapter 3 (except wit h the x and y axes interchanged). For uniform I
vertical acceleration of the s upport (Ax ::::: constant and Ay = O) , t he I
I

natural frequency of small oscillations for Ax < g is I

I
I

(7.35)
When Ax = g, the pendulum undergoes free-fall mot ion and it behaves
as if t he gravi ty field has vanished. The fact that gravity can be made to
disappear (or appear) locally by a coordinate transfo rmat ion led Einstein
to a theory of gravity, the general theory of relativity, in which gravity is
linked closeiy t o geometry.
I
x, IX'
FIGU RE 7-6. Inertial reference frame S1, earth-fixed frame S' whose origin is at th e
earth CM , and ear th-fixed local frame S whose origin is on the earth's sw·face.
T he origin of a local reference frame S fixed on the eart h's surface
is given by R E. The location of m in S is specified by t he vector r and
 (
7.3 Motion on the Earth 239
238 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORD INATE SYSTEMS (
(
hence angu lar v~locity of rotation,
(
r' =RE+ r (7.37)
w - 2 1T = 2
= 0.727 x 10- 4 (7 .43)
1T rad/s (
- T 24 X 3,6QQ
Since Re is a fixed vector in S', or'/ot = or/ot from (7.37); (7.36) t hen (
becomes we find that the correction term is small,
2
(
fJ2r w 2 Re sin 8 = (0.727 x 10-4 ) 2 (6,371 x 103 ) sin 8 '.: : :'. 0.03 sin 8 m/s (7.44)
(
m ot2 = F' +mg - m(wx (wx(RE + r)) - 2wxv) (7.38)
This correction is less t han 0.3% of g, but nonetheless measurable. The (
Due to the earth's large size and its relatively slow rotation the fictitious direction of the correction is radially outward from the rotation axis, as
(
force corrections are small compared to gravity. The centrifugal force is illustrated in Fig. 7-7.
proportional to the square of the small quantity w and therefore we can (
neglect r com pared to R E in t his term. Thus to a very good approxima- (
tion the centrifugal force is constant. The Coriolis force is linear in w and
(
depend s on the state of motion relative to S. The equation of motion
relative to S is then well approximated by (

fJ2r (
m ot2 = F' +mg - mw x (w x RE) - 2mw xv (7 .39)
-wx(wxRe) (
w
If the earth were perfectly spherical and isotropic, g would be constant
(
in magnitude and di rected toward the center of the earth. In fact, local Earth (
irregularities, distortions from sphericity, and deviations from uniform (
density cause slight variations in g at different points on the earth.
(
The condition for a particle at rest on the earth (v = 0) to be in FIGURE 7-7. Effective gravitational acceleration g.rr (with the relative magnitude of
=
equilibrium (o 2 r/ot 2 0) from (7.39) is the centrifugal acceleration exaggerated for clarity). (
(
F' = -m[g -wx (wXRE)] (7.40) The differential equation (7.39) which describes the motion of a par-
(
ticle on the earth can be expressed in ter ms of g.tr in (7.41) as
For example, if mis the bob on a plumb line, the tension F' in t he string (
52r
2 = F' +mg.er - 2mwxv
is opposite to the direction determined by · m- (7.45)
ot (
=g -
g.ff wx(wxRe)

The plumb bob thus points in the direction of geff· We conclude that g.tr
(7.41) For convenience we choose the z axis of the coordinate system so t hat
(7.46) '
(
(
is the effective gravitational acceleration on the earth. The magnitude of
The y axis is taken to poin t nort h and the x axis east, as pictured in
the correction term to g is (
Fig. 7-8. The components of w along these axes are
(
(7.42) w = Ox + w si n Oy + w cos Oz (7.47)
(
where 8 is t he colatitude angle between w and RE. For t he earth 's where 8 is t he colatitude angle as measured from the north polar axis.
(
(

I (
..I...

(
 240 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 7.4 Foucault's Pendulum 241

w For motion parallel to the earth's surface (vz = 0), t he particle is

always deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left
in the Southern Hemisphere.
The trade winds and weather circulations of high- and low-pressure
areas are striking examples bf Coriolis force effects: The equat.orial regio~
of the earth generally receives more · heat frotn the sun. The warm air
rises and is replaced by a flow of air from t he temperate regions. The
I air moving south from the Northern Hemisphere is deflected westward by
I t he Coriolis effect. This accounts for the steady prevailing winds to the
\
I west and south, known as the trade winds.
I /
', I // On a smaller scale a low-pressure region in the Northern Hemisphere
'-.............., I ,...,/
---- Equator
- - -~- I
_ _,_...- on the order of 200 km across is associated with a c<;>unterclockwise cir-
I culation of the air because of the Coriolis force effect on the air flowing
I
I in. The pressure gradient is largely balanced by the Coriolis force. Under
I certain · circumstances this cyclonic motion builds .up to great intensity
I
/
and destructive power in the form of a hurricane, cyclone, or typhoon.
High-pressure areas for~e air outward. This airflow deflects to t he right
FIGURE 7-8. Coordinate frame fixed on the surface of the earth at colatitude angle O. and produces clockwise circulation in the Northern Hemisphere. Vottites
Substituting (7.47) into t he Coriolis force term, on a still smaller scale such as tornados, dust devils, water spouts, and
t he bathtub vortex are not directly influenced by Coriolis effects to any
Fcor = -2mw Xv (7.48) great extent. Nevertheless, some of these vortices often have a counter-
clockwise motion because of general counterclockwise movements which
of (7.45), we have
spawn them.
Fcor = 2mw[(vy cos 0 - Vz sin O)x - Vx cos Oy + Vx sin Oz] (7.49)
r 7.4 Foucault's Pendulum
The direction of deflection of the particle from its direction of motion
due to the Coriolis force follows directly from (7.49): In the Northern In 1851 Jean Foucault exhibited a pendulum at the Pantheon in Paris
Hemisphere, 0 ::; 0::; rr /2, we find which through Coriolis force dramatically illustrated the rotation of the
earth . Today Foucault pendulums are on exhibit in many public buiidings
Velocity direction Deflection direction and planetariums. One of the most famous hangs in the United Nations
Building in New York, as illustrated in Fig. 7-9. The Foucault pendulum
North (vy > 0) East
is a simple plane pendulum which can oscillate a long time without being
.E ast (vx > 0) South and up appreciably damped by friction. Its oscillation plane is observed to rotate
slowly with time,. confirming in a dramatic way that a reference frame
South (Vy< 0) West
in whicli the distant stars appear fixed is more fundamental t han one in
West (vx < 0) North and down which the earth is fixed and the stars rotate about the eart h.
Up (vz > O} West T he motion of the Foucault pendulum can be determined from (7.45).
We take r to represent the distance of the bob of mass m from its equilib-
Down (vz < 0) East
rium position. At rest the pendulum hangs along the direction geff, and
 (
242 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINA TE SYSTEMS 7.4 Foucault's Pendulum 243 (
(

/
/
,,,.,,,,..- ------ - ....
....
'' (

"IT /
/
/
', \ (
t= - f \
~I ~m \ (
______ L_ ___ ~'~=~::;;::;::: ....__ --'~--- \ t = 0 (

\ ~;~~~! · · · . .: :.~:· · ·············.. / ) (

\ ······... ../ precession (
' ···... / after one
', ;·/ 2n period (
'..... .... _________ .,,,,."' t =Wo
-
(
FIGURE 7-10. Deflection of Foucault pendulum bob by Coriolis force as viewed from
(
above. The preces~ion angle is greatly exaggerated in the figure.
(
A way to obtain the Foucault precession frequency is to view the
(
system from a new frame SF which rotates wit h t he angular velocity w F
of the pendulum relative to our local earth fixed frame S. Starting from (
the eq uation of motion (7.45) in S, we transform it to frame SF using (
(7.11)
(
J2 . (
m ~ = (F' + mg.rr - 2mw x v ) - mw F x (w x r) - 2mw F x v F (7 .50)
c5t2 (

He re J2 r/"fit 2 is t he second t ime derivative of r relative to the axes of the (

Sp frame . The particle velocity in the SF frame is (
(
vp = v+wFxr (7.51)
(
Subst it uting (7.51) into (7.50) gives (

J2r (
m~ =F 1
+mg.ff +mwp X (wF x r) - 2m(w +wF) xv (7.52)
FIGU RE 7-9. Foucault pendulum which hangs in th e United Nations Building in New ot 2 (
York City. ( Photo courtesy of United Nations.) (
To see t he ad vantage of viewing the Foucault pend ulu m from a frame
t he tension in t he string is F ' = -mgeff . If t he eart h did not rotate, t he ro tating wit h ang ular velocity w F we observe (
Coriolis force term in (7.45) would not be pres~nt and the motion would 1. T he Foucault pendulu m precesses about t he vertical axis. Thus we (
occur in a fixed plane. With Coriolis fo rce present the 'bob will deflect take (
to t he right, out of its plane as shown in F ig. 7- 10. On the return swi ng
wF =wpz (7.53)
the pendulum bob again deflects to t he right and afte r one period t he (
pendulum p\ane has rotated clockwise as viewed from above. where z is the vertical direction at the earth's s urface. (

(
244 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 7.5 Dynamical Balance of a Rigid Body 245

2. For small displacements the pendulum motion is nearly perpendic- angular momentum is given by
ular to z.
(7.58)
3. The wp x (wp x r) term is small compared to the already small
centrifugal term in geff· It can be neglected.
4. For small pendulum displacements Vz is negligible; using (7.47)

(w+wF) Xv = -xvy(w cos 8+wF )+yvx(wcos 8+wp) -zvx(wsin 8)

w
(7.54)
Thus the ··pendulum motion will remain in its initial plane in this
I'
/
-- -~-

frame if \

Wp = -w cos8 (7.55) ---.+

An earth-fixed observer in S thus sees the pendulum plane precess-

ing siowly clockwise (in the northern hemisphere) with angular frequency
wp = -w cos 8. We note that in the southern hemisphere cos 8 is neg-
ative and wp automatically adjusts in sign. The time required for the
pendulum plane to precess by 27r is
27r (1 day)
Tp=-= (7 .56)
Wp cos8
The precession vanishes at the equator and is a maximum at the north
poie, where the pendulum precesses clockwise through a complete rev-
olution every 24 h. From the viewpoint of an observer in space, the
oscillation plane at the north pole remains fixed, while the earth turns
counterclockwise beneath it.

7 .5 Dynamical Balance of a Rigid Body

The formulation of the equations of motion in a rotating reference system

is also quite valuable in the description of rigid-body motion. As an
in troduction to the general treatment of rigid-body rotational motion,
we discuss a simple example of a dumbbell fo rmed by two point masses FIGURE 7-11. Dumbbell rot ating about a pivot at center of the rod at a fixed
m at the ends of a massless rod of length l. T he dumbbell rotates at a inclination angle 9.
fixed inclination 8 with constant angular velocity w about a pivot at the
center of the rod, as shown in F ig. ·7-11. The equation of motion (6.48) Since r 2 = -r 1 and V1 = w X r1 and V2 = w X r2 we have
in a fixed reference frame for rotation about the pivot of the rod is
(7 .59)
N= dL (7.57)
dt Thus L can be expressed in terms of w and r 1 as

where N is the external torque on t he rod applied at the pivot. The (7.60)
 !· (
246 Chapter 7 A CCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 7.5 Dynamical Balance of a Rigid Body 247 (
(
Since L is perpendicular to r1 and lies in the plane determined by r 1 and In t er ms of the angle 0 between w and r 1 , the angular momentum
w, it also rotates with a ng ular velocity w. From (7 .8), we then have (
a nd torque in (7.60) and (7.62) of t he rotating dumbbell can be w ritten
(
dL (7.67) (
- = wXL (7.61)
dt
(
N = kml 2w sin 0 cos On (7 .68)
The external torque from (7.57), (7.60), and (7.61) necessary to maint ain (
the rotat ion is where ft= rixw /l r1 Xwl. For 0 = 7r/2, we find
(
N = wxL = 2m(r1 xw)(r 1 · w) (7 .62) L = (tml )w
2
(
(7.69)
N=O (
We can alternatively d erive the result in (7.62) in a coordinate frame
In this orientation t he motion does not require a n imposed torque. (
which rotates with the dumbbell. In a rotating reference frame the follow-
ing rigid-body equation of motion can be derived from (7.16) to (7.21): From (7.67) and (7.68), we see that t orques on the rod are present (
whenever the angular momentum L does not lie alon g the axis of rotation (
w . This res ult is generally true for rigid- body rotations.
(7.63) ('
A practical application in which it is important that L and w are
parallel is the dynamic balance of automobile tires. If a wheel is not (
balanced , noise and vibratio n result in the car and excessive wear occurs (
In a coordinate frame rotating wit h the dumbbell, oL/ot = 0 and F~or =
on the tire. T here are two criteria for complete balance of a wheel:
F~z = F~r = 0. Hence, to maintain t he rotation, the torque applied at (
the pivot must balance t he torque due to t he centrifugal forces. (1) Static balance: Unless the CM of t he wheel lies on the rotation axis,
a time-varying centrifugal force is present . This acts to make the
(
axle oscillate and imparts vibration to t he car. In a st atic balance (
(7. 64) t he wheel is removed from the car and mounted on a vertica l axis. (
Weights are attached around the rim of the wheel until the wheel
From (7.18) the centrifugal forces a re given by is in equilibrium in a horizontal plane. (
(2) Dynamic balance: Even when the CM lies on the wheel axis, it is (
F~ 1 = -mw X (w xr 1 ) possible that in rotation the angular momentum does not lie a long (
F~ 1 = - mwx(wxr2) (7.65) the axis. If we specify the x axis as the ro tation axis, w = wx,
the
angular-momentum vector from (6.105) is
(
(
Using r1 = - r 2 , the torque reduces to
(7.70) (
N = 2mr1 x [w·x (wxr1 )] Unless the products of inertia f yx and l zx vanish , L does not lie (
= 2mr 1 X [w(w · r 1) - r 1w 2J (7.66) along w. The time variation of L then leads to a t ime-varying (
torque, causing the wheel to wobble. A dynamic balance consists
= 2m(r1 xw)(r1 · w) of the application of weights until the w heel spins smoothly with no (
wobble. Since modern tires are usually very nearly symmetrical, a (
in agreement with t he result in (7.62). static balance alone is often s ufficient to ensu re good driving results.
(
(
(
 248 Chapter· 7 ACCELERATED COORD INA TE SYSTEMS 7.6 Principal Axes and Euler's Equations 249

7.6 Principa l Axes and Euler's Equations appearing above refer to the w and N vectors of the inertial system pro-
jected onto the principal body axes. The Euler eq uations are a convenient
For a rigid body of arbitrary shape, the rotational equation of motion
starting point for many discussions of rigid body rotations.
(6.48) in a fixed coordinate system or with origin at the center-of-mass
point is To illustrate the application of Euler's equations, we return to the
r
rotating rod of the preceding section. The principal axes of the body lie
(7. 71) along and perpendicular to the rod, as Illustrated in Fig. 7-12. With the
where a sum over the index k is implied . Since the moments and products z axis along the rod and the x axis in the plane of t he rod and w , the
components of w are
,. of inertia Ijk relative to the fixed coordinate system change as a function
of time as the body rotates, the description of t he moti~n through (7.71) w1 = wsin B
,. can be cumbersome and difficult. The analysis of the motion can often be I, W2 = 0 (7.76)
,.. greatly simplified by choosing instead a body-fixed coordinate system t hat W3 = wcosB
rotates with the body. In this reference frame the moments and products
,.. of inertia are time-independent. Using (7.8) and (7.71), the equation of where B is the angle between w and the rod. The principal moments of
,. motion with respect to the moving body axes is · inertia are
,..
,..
Ni=
OL ·
-gf + (w xL)i (7.72) 11 = /2 = m (fl 2+ m (fl 2 = tm£2
(7.77)
,.. A further simplification can be made by a judicious choice of t he orien- [3 =0
tations of the rotating axes wit!~ respect to the rigid body. As we shall
Using (7.76) and (7.77) in (7.75), we find
shortly prove, it is always possible to make a choice of axes in the body
,. for which all the products of inertia vanish.
N 1 =0
l ;j = 0 for i f j (7.73) N 2 = (tm£2) w 2 sin Bcos B (7.78)
,.. The axes for which (7.73) holds a.re ca.lied the principal axes of t he rigid N3 = 0
body. For these axes the angular-momentum components in (6.105) re-
duce to w
where = 0 has beeh used. This result obtained from Euler's equations
L1 = l11W1 = l1W1 is the same as (7.68).

L2 = I22 w2 = I2w2 (7.74)
£3 = [ 33W3 :::::: fJw3
where 11 ,12 ,IJ denote the principal moments of inertia.. From (7.72),
expressing the cross product in cartesian coordinates, we obtain Euler's
equations of motion for a rigid body in t erms of the coordinate system
aligned with the principal axes of the body.
In the derivation of (7.75) we have used the diagonal property in
(7.73) of the inertia tensor in the principal-axes coordinate system . We
will now establish this property. Suppose that there exists a direction in
space w for which L is parallel to w
L= Jw (7.79)

N1 = + (IJ -
I1w1 h)w3w2 If such a direction can be found it will by definition be a principal axis
N2 = hw2 + (Ii -
since the products of inertia vanish and the principal moment is I. In
' h)w1w3 (7.75)
' the original coordinate system, w wlll in general have three components:
(
l
NJ = f 3w3 + (!2 - Ii)w2w1
It should be emphasized that the angular velocity and torque components (7.80)

l
 (
250 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 7.6 Principal Axes and Euler's Equations 251
(
(
I Li = l11w1 + l 12w2 + l 13W3 (
i
I I L2 = l21w1 + l 22w2 + l 23w3 (7.82)
I I (
- ~-1-- - L3 = fa1w1 + fa 2w2 + l33w3
(
,,,-
" .....
I
rw
-- - m

Equating the components in (7.81) and (7.82), we find

(

--- -~
(/11 - J)wi + li2w2 + f13W3 = 0
(
r
I21Wi + (!22 - I)w2 + f 23w3 = 0 (7.83) (
f31W1 + fa2w2 + (l33 - J)w3 = 0 (
which in vector notation is (
(
3
I: l ;jWj = I Wj (7.84) (
j= l
or (
I
[ IT·w = lw (7.85) (
I·
I (
I For w 'f. 0, this system of homogeneous equations for (w 1 , w2 , w 3 ) has (
I solutions only if the determinant of the coefficients of t hew components
I vanishes. (
I (
--<E--r -- . . .
_. ....l "/ ) =0 (7.86) (
m

f
---1- -r
-- I
~- (
I I This leads to a cubic equ ation in 11 of the form (
FIGURE 7-12. Principal axes x1,x2,x3 of the dumbbell. (
I
3
+ a/2 + bl+ c = 0 (7.87)
(
where a, b, c are products of t he inertia tensor elements / ;; . There are (
From (7.79) t he components of L along t he inertial axes are three real solutions for I from (7.87), any is appropriate to (7.79). T he
other two solutions refer to the principal moments about two other or- (
thogonal principal axes. T he detailed proofs are outlined in the exercises. (
Li = l wi By construction we have t herefore shown t hat it is always possible t o
L2 = lw2 (7.81) (
find a principal-axis system for any rigid body. In many applications t he
L 3 = lw3 choice of principal axes is obvious from the symmetry of the body. If two (
of t he principal moments are equal the body is called rotation symmetric (
These components of L must be equivalent to t he expression for L given about the third axis in t hat plane. If all t hree principal moments are
in (6.105), namely, equal the body is rotation isotropic.
(
 252 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 7. 7 The Tennis Racket Theorem 253

7 .7 The Tennis Racket Theorem T hese equations can be written as

r
The solution of Euler's equations fo r a rigid body with unequal principal
moments of inertia can be beautifully illustrated with a tennis or bad- (7.89)
minton racket. The three principal axes of a tennis racket are readily
identified to be (1) along the handle, (2) perpendicular to the handle in (7.90)
the plane of the stri ngs, and (3) perpendicular to the handle and strings.
When a tennis racket is tossed into the air with a spin about one of the (7.91)
principal axes, a curious phenomenon is observed. If the' initial spin is
about either axis (1) or axis (3), the racket continµ,es to spi n uniformly If we assume the ordering
about the initial axis and can easily be recaught. On t he other hand, if
t he initial spin is about axis (2), the motion qµickly becomes irregular, (7 .92)
with spin developing about all t hree principal ~xes, w)1ich makes it diffi-
cult to catch the falli ng racket. The explanation of the observed behavior we consequently have all the ri positive. We note the sign asymmetry in
follows from Euler's equations. To apply Euler's equations to the tennis the three Euler equations (7.89)-(7.91).
racket, we choose the origiµ of t he principal-axes coordinate system at The tennis racket theorem concerns stability of spin about the princi-
tqe CM of the racket, as illustrated in Fig. 7-13. pal axes. We assume that the racket is initially spun nearly about one of
( I)
the principal axes and we will determine if this spin state is stable. As-
I sume -first that the spin is initially nearly along the intermediate axis (2)
I
I or
,.. I
(7 .93)

• I
·1
CM
I
(2)---Q-- - CM-----(2) (3)----- CM·( j---(3)
If wi and w 3 are small
(7.90) implies that
~ hypothesized their product is negligible a nd

w2 ~constant

Eq uations (7 .89) a nd (7.91) then comprise a set of coupled linear equa-

(7.94)

I . tions in w 1 and W3
w1 + (r 1w2)w3 = 0 (7.95)
I w3· + (r3w2)w1 = 0
I
())
For the trial exponential solution
FIGURE 7-13. Principal axes of the te!lnis racket .
w1 = a 1e>.t
,. Siµce gravity is a uniform force in the vicinity of the earth's surface, (7.96)
there are no gravitational torques about t he CM of t he racket. Jf we ne- w3 = a3 e>.t
glect torql!eS d ue to wind resistance, Euler's eq uat ions (7.75) simplify to
two algebraic equations must be satisfied
I1w1 + (h - I2)w3w2 =o
I2w2 + (11 - ~3)w1w3 = o (7.88) a1.A. + r1w2a3 =0 (7.97)
J3w3 + (! 2 - I1 )w2w1 = O aJA + 7'3w2a1 =0

f
I.
 (
254 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 7. 7 The Tennis Racket Theorem 255
(
(
Solving bot h eq uations for t he ratio a 3 /a 1 , we obtain (7.96) must satisfy (7.104) except that in this case
(
>. = ±w1 J-1·2r3 = ±iw1 vr;r3 (
(7.98) (7.105)
a3 = ±a2 v:;:;r;:; (
The second equality determines >. to be The solutions now a re oscillatory and can be written in the form (

(7 .99) (
(7.106)
(
Then from (7.98) the ratio of amplitudes (
where a and a are constants determ ined by the init ial conditions. Thus
(
(7.100) if w 2 and w 3 are initially small, they will remain small. Rotation about
axis (1) is thus stable. (
For an initial spin about axis (3) the solution to Euler's equations is (
The general solution is a. superposition of these two solutions
similar to the case of axis (1) . The exponential factor >. is again purely
(
Wi (t) = aew2,/r1r3t + be-w2ftl1'3t imaginary and the solutions are oscillatory. We conclude that rotations
along extreme axes are stable while the intermediate axis is unstable. (
w3(t) =If!; [-aew2ftl1'3t + be -w2fttr3t]
(7.101)
For spin about axis (1) the angular velocity vector w = wix w2y +
w 3 z precesses in a small cone about principal axis (1) as s hown in
+ (
(
Fig. 7-14. A similar picture applies to the largest principal axis (3).
where a and b a.re constants determined by the initial conditions. Since For rotation along principal axis (2) the angular velocities about axes (1) (
r 1 and r 3 are positive the solution is a superposition of increasing and and (3) grow rapidly with time and the racket tumbles. (
decreasing exponentials in t ime. The increasing exponential term will
To calculate the principal moments of inertia for our specific case of (
make w 1 and w3 large even if they started small and hence rotation abou.t
the tennis racket we use a grossly simplified model for the racket. We
the intermediate axis (2) is unstable. O ur solution for axis (2) is of course (
represent the mass distribution of the racket by a circular hoop of radius
strictly valid o nly at times for which t he product w1w3 is small .
a and mass ma con nected to a t hin rod of length £ a nd mass mt. T he (
Next take the initial angu lar velocity nearly along one of the extreme total mass of the racket is M =ma +mt. The CM of the racket is located (
principal moment axes, say axis (1) on principal axis (1) at a distance R from the center of the hoop, where
(
w = W1X, (7.102) MR= m a(O) +mt (a +~) (7.107) (

By (7.89) we obtain or (

w1 ~constan t (7.103) (
(7. 108)
(
and W2 and w3 satisfy
The moment of inertia of the racket about principal axis (1) comes en- (
w2 - r2w1W3 = 0 tirely from the hoop. We use the perpendicular-axis rule in (6.128) to
(7.104) (
W3 + 7'3W1W2 = 0 obtain
(7 .109) (
Proceeding as before, we know the exponential solutions analogous to
(
(
l (

(
 256 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 7. 7 The Tennis Racket Th eorem 257

since R is the perpendicular distance between the two parallel axes. The
moment of inertia of the handle about an axis parallel to principal axis
(2) passing through t he CM of the handle is {2 mee2. Again using (6.123),
we find that the contribution of the handle to h is.

_ I m e2
! 2handle -rr e + 771t ( a + 2-
f n) 2
(7.111)

,.. where a+f/2- R is the distance between these pa rallel axes. Combining
(7.110) and (7.111) and substituting for R from (7.108), we obtain
,..
,.. CM
,..
This can be further simplified to

(I) (7.112)
F IGURE 7-14. Stable precession of the angular velocity W about principal axis (1) of
the tennis racket. Finally, for principal axis (3), the racket lies in a plane perpendicular to
,.. the axis, and we can use the perpendicular-axis rule of (6.128) to obtain
,.
,.. (7.113)

By comparison of (7.109), (7.112), and (7.113), we see that the principal

moments of inertia are ordered as / 1 < h < / 3 . Characteristic parameters
for ou r tennis racket model are
CM
,. a=0.13m e= 0.38 m
R=0.18m M = 0.33kg (7 .114)
,.
me = 0.18 kg ma = 0.15 kg

,.. The principal moments of inertia from (7.109), (7.112), (7. 113), and
F IGURE 7-15. Dimensions of tennis racket model. (7.114) are
,..
To compute t he moment of inertia about principal axis (2), we will make Ii = 0.13 x 10- 2 kg · m2
use of the parallel-axis rule of (6.123). The moment of inertia of the hoop /2= 1.24 x 10-2 kg · m2 (7 .115)
about an axis through its CM and parallel to prinCipal axis (2) is tmaa2 •
h = 1.37 x 10- 2 kg · m2
By (6.123) , the hoop makes a contribution to h of
T he condition of stability of the motion about a principal axis which
(7.110) has either the largest or the smallest moment of inertia and the instability

l
 (
258 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 1.8 The Earth as a Free Symmetric Top 259
r
(
a.bout the other pri ncipal a.xis is often called the tennis racket theorem. The magn itude of the angular-velocity vector w is
The conclusions of this theorem ca.n be readily demonst rated by t hrowing (
th is book (with a. rubber band a.round it) or other oblong object into the w = Jwi +wi +w~ = Ja2 +w§ (7.121)
(
a.ir with a spin a.bout one of the principal axes. The detailed nature of the
Since the com ponents w 1 and w2 in (7 .119) trace out a ci rcle of radius a (
s pin a.bo ut the stable axes is similar to the free sym met ric top discussed
. while w 3 a.nd w remain constant, an observer on the earth sees t he angula.r-
in the next section. (
velocity vector precesses uniform ly about the symmetry axis with angular
7.8 The Earth as a Free Symmetric Top velocity n, a.s shown in Fig. 7-16. (
I (
Since the earth is nearly s pherical in s hape, the gra.vita.tiona.l torques ~ T-,

<a~) (
exerted on t he earth by t he sun and the moon a.re quite small. To a. I
good approximation th e rotational motion can therefore be described by I . (
w ISymmetry ax>S
Euler's equations with no external torques. Since the earth is nearly
(
axially symmetric, the principal moments of inertia. for the two axes in
the equatorial plane a.re equal. (
(
(7. 116)
(
The third principal axis with moment of inertia. h is along th e polar
(
symmetry a.xis. From (7.88) the differential eq uations for the eart h's
motion in an earth-based coordinate frame are (
. /3 - I (
W1 +- 1
-w3W2 =0 (
. !3 - I (7.117)
W2 - - - W1W3
I
=0 (
w3 = 0 FIGURE 7-16. Precession of the earLh's spin about the symmetr y axis.
(

Any rigid body which obeys this set of torque-free equations is called (
a. free axially symmetric top. The exact solu tion to this coupled set of The period of precession of w a.bout the earth's symmetry a.xis is (
equ ations is easily obtained. The la.st equ ation above implies that w3 is
. T=~ =(fa~ J) :
(
constant . (7.122)
(
w3 (t ) = w3(0) = W3 (7 .118)
For t he earth, since 27r /w 3 =
1 d ay, t he period of precession in days (
The equations (7.117) can be solved using the method of (7.97)- (7.101) . is determined by t he moment-of-inert ia ratio. Fo r a.n earth of u ni fo rm
The solu tion is density a.nd oblate spheroidal shape, t he value of t his ratio , calculated (
w1 (t) = a'cos(nt +a) from the measured radii of t he earth, is (
(7.119)
w 2 (t) = asin(~U +a) I (
--~300 (7.123)
where h-I (
Although t he earth becomes more dense toward its center, the moment-of-
(7.120) (
inert ia. ratio is not appreciably changed from the uniform-density result.
(
(
 260 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COO RDINATE SYSTEMS
Thus the expected precessional period is abou t 300 days. T he precession
of w a bout the symmetry axis of t he earth is known as the Chandler
wobble.
~ .
,
F IGURE 7-17. Star trails in the night sky above the Mauna I<ea Observa tory in
Hawaii , photographed with a nine hour exposure camera. The stars appear as circular
arcs due to the earth's rotation. The smallest bright arc is that of Polaris.
The direction of the earth's axis of rotation (i.e., t he direction of w)
can be experimentally determined by location of t he point in t he night
sky which appears to remai n stationary as the earth rotates, as illustrated
in Fig. 7-17. The direction of t he earth's rotational axis is observed to
-'- •
7.9 The Free Symmetric Top: External Observer 261
precess about t he symmetry axis with a period of about 440 days. T he
angle between w and t he symmetry axis is quite small. In fact, at the
north pole, w never moves more than about 10 m from the symmetry
axis. T he actual motion of w is rather irregular, being strongly affected
by earthquakes and seasonal changes. In fact, it is only du e to these
effects that· t he motion has a non vanishing amplitude. On a quiet earth ,
viscous effects would damp out such a motion, and w would soon lie along
the symmetry axis (this minimizes energy for fixed L). The discrepancy
between the expected period of 300 days and the observed value of about
440 days is primarily due to the nonrigidity of the earth.
7.9 The Free Symmetric Top: External Observer
The description of the earth's rotational motion as a free symmetric top
in § 7 .8 was appropriate for an observer at rest in the rotating reference
frame. In this section we concentrate on the motion of a free symmetric
top as viewed by an external observer in an inertial frame. Since any
object tossed into the air is basically a free top, t he inertial description
has a wide range of applications.
For a sym metric top the angular momentum and angular velocity
projected onto the principal axes (x, y, z) in the top are
= I(wi:X: + w2y) + /3w3 z
L
(7 .124)
w = (w1:X: + W2Y) +W 3Z
where z is in the direction of the symmetry axis. By eliminating (w1:X: +
w2 y) in these eq uations, the angular-velocity vector w can be expressed
in terms of L and asz
(7.125)
where
as before, in (7 .120). Since (7.125) is a linear relation among w, L, and
z, these three vectors must lie in a plane. The absence of torques on the
top implies that L is constant in the inertial system. Thus thew, z plane
rotates (precesses) around the direction of L. According to (7.125), the
 ('
262 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 7.9 The Free Symmetric Top: External Observer 263
(
(
motion of the top as viewed from the inertial frame can be resolved into constant. The magnitude of win (7.124),
non-orthogonal components WL along i and w3 along z as (
w= Jw~ +w~ (
WL = -LI (7.126) (
is then also constant. From the geometry of Fig: 7-18, the angles of
W3 = -Q interest a.re determined by (
Since z is a vector fixed in the body (i.e., it rotates with the body), we tan a= -
Wn
(
have from (7.6) and (7.125) · W3
(7.131) (
tan () = Ln = I Wn
(7.127) L3 l3w3 (
Hence the symmetry axis z rotates (or precesses) with fixed angular ve- (
locity WLL about the fixed inertial axis L. If we were riding on the top L (
what would we experience? The angular velocity w• of the top as ob-
served from t he precessing frame which rotates with angular velocity wLL \
\
(
\
IS
\ (
\
w* =w - WLL = -nz \
\ (
\
The motion of t he top as seen from this body-fixed frame is a. rotation \ ln = lwn (
a.bo ut the symmetry axis z at the angular rate -n. Since this is the rate \\
that the top rotates with respect to w (which is a. fixed vector in the
\
\ w
(
\
precessing frame), we conclude that +n is the rate that w rotates with \ (
respect to the body, in agreement with the . result (7.120) found from .X" ,"'
W).,,...,,"'"' \ (
,,.
Euler's equations. ,'
,' (
z
In the motion of the top, the angles that the symmetry a.xis makes
with t he vectors Land w remain constant, as can be shown from (7.125) (
and (7. 127) or from energy- and angular-momentum conservation. Since (
there a.re no torques, both t he angular moment um L and the rotational
kinetic energy J( are constant. From (7.124) we can write L as (
(
(7.128) FIGURE 7-18. Components of angular velocity and angular momentum along the
symmetry axis z of the top and an axis fl perpendicular to the symmetry axis in the (
where p lane of w and L.

(7 .129) The fixed relative orientation of L, w, and z follows immediately from (

is orthogonal to z. In terms of the ~om ponents wn and w3 , we have these results. If we eliminate wn/w3 in (7.131), we obtain
(
£2 _ + 132w23
12w2n [3
I (7.132)
.-
(7.130) tan a = tan () l
2[( = L · w = I w~ + f3w~
(
For an oblate top (pancake or coinlike), fa > I, and the angle a is larger
where we used the expression (6.113) for the rotational kinetic energy. than B. For a prolate top (football or cigar-shape), a< B, which is the (
The constancy of L 2 and J( in (7.130) requires in turn that Wn and w3 be case illustrated in Fig. 7-18.
(
264 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDI NATE SYSTEMS 7. 10 The JI eavy Symmetric Top 265

A simple geometric construction can be made to illustrate symmet-
rical free- top motion in an inertial reference frame. This construction is
based on t he co nstancy of the angles 8 and a. As the plane containing
t he vectors w and z precesses about L, t he vector w sweeps o ut a cone
(th e space cone) of half-angle (8 - a) about the fixed direction L. In
t he coordinate system fixed in the top, the vector w sweeps ou t a cone
(t he body cone) of half-angle a . Since w sweeps out both the space and
body cones, the line of contact between the two cones is simply t he vector
w . T he points on the body cone which lie on the vector w are instan-
taneously at rest with respect to the fixed-s.pace cone because w is the
instantaneous axis of rotation of the top. As a consequence, the body
cone must roll on the fixed-space cone without slipping . Thus we have
a qualitative picture of the top's motion a.s the body cone rolling on t he
space cone. This is illustrated in Fig. 7-19(a) fo r a prolate top, and in
Fig. 7- 19 (b) for an oblate top.
L
in which the point of contact of the top with supporting s urface, the
pivo t, is fixed.
To analyze the motion of the top it is convenient to introduce the
Euler angle coordinates </>, 8, 1/J shown in Fig. 7-20. In this figure th e
origin of the inertial coordinate system x 1, y1 , z 1 is at t he fixed point of
contact of t he top. A coordinate system x, y, z is obtained by the rotation
through an angle </>about zr, followed by a rqtation t hrough 8 about x.
T he x axis is called the line of nodes. Then a coordinate system x', y', z'
z
is obtained by a rotation t hrough an angle 1/J about the axis. The angles
</>, 8., 1/J uniquely specify the x' , y', z' system relative to x 1, y1, ZJ and are
usefu l in describin g t he orientation of a symmetric to p as ill ustrat ed in
Fig. 7-21, where x', y', z' are t aken to be the body-fixed axes of t he top.
Z1

I
i symmelry axis
I
I

I
I
I

e-a

x
CM FIGURE 7-20. Euler ang!e coordinates describing rotations.
(a) Prolate top (b) Oblate lop
The angular velocity of t he top is given in terms of t he Euler angles
FIGURE 7-19. Space and body cones for (a) prolate top, (b) oblate top. by
w = ef,z( +Bx+ ~z (7.133)
Using the geometry of Fig. 7-20
7 .10 The Heavy Symmetric Top
zr =cos Oz+ sin Oy {7.134)
Untold generations of children have been fascin ated by t he precessing,
and thus
rising, sleeping, and dying of spi nning tops. The t heory of spinning tops
plays a n important role in a wide variety of disciplines ranging from w =Bx+ ¢sin By+ (~¢cos B)z (7.l35)
astronomy to applied mechanics to nuclear p hysics. In this section we Because the top is symmetric, the moments of inertia Ixx = 11111 I are =
. discuss t he motion of a symmetric top in a gravity field for a special case the same about any set of orthogonal axes in the x, y plane. Thus t he

1
 266 (
Chapter 7 A CCELERATED COO RDINATE SYSTEMS 7.10 The Heavy Symmetric Top 267
(
(
z, where f is t he distance from the point of contact t o t he CM of t he top.
I
I The Lagrangian L = ]( - V for t he top is a fun ction of B, iJ, ¢, ~. (
Z 8 I
Since there is no dependence on </> or 'ljJ there are two co nserved ge ne ral (
/"l
/ --------:
,, momenta. The first is (
8L · ·
p"' = - . = !3('1/J +</>cos B)
8'1/J (7.139)
(
= / 3w3
(
Thus the angul ar velocity w3 along t he symmetry (z) axis is constant.
The second conserved momentum is (
8L · (
p_..,, = -8¢. =/¢sin 2 B+ J3 w3 cos B (7.140)
(
y
The</> equation of motion is then P,p = 0 which gives (

I ¢sin B = B(fJw3 - 21 ¢) (7.141) (

(
The Lagra nge equation zie = ~~ gives the other equation of mot ion
- Mgz1 (
- - ----------------- ~ (7.142)
(
Motion in </> corresponds to precession a nd variations in B are known as
(
nutation .
We now use this last equation of motion to investigate t he conditions r
under which the motion is pure precession . For pu re precession t he angle (
X' Bis constant. For co nstant</> B the right-hand side of (7 .141) must va,nish (
x a nd we can solve for ¢ in terms of B.
(
F IGURE 7-21. Spinning heavy top coordinat es. ¢ = f3W3
21 cos B
(l ± (7 .143) (
(
angular mome ntum about the origin is
For physical solutions, t he quantity und er the radical sign must not be
L =!Bx+ I ¢sin By+ IJ(?j; +¢cos B)z (7 .136) negative. Since cos B > 0 for a top on a table, the s pin w3 must satisfy <
{
where l zz = fJ. Using t hese expressions for w and L a nd (6.113), the 4MgeJcos B
(7.144) (
kinetic e nergy of the top is !J (
1 1 ·2 . 2 1 . . Only if the top has at least t his minimum value of s pin is pure precession
K=2w·L=2l(B +</>sin B)+2.I3('1/J+</>cos8) 2 (7.137) (
possible. For a spin which is much greater than this minimum value, we
The gravitational potential energy is can a pproximate the squ a re root in (7 .143) by t he first two t erms in a (
binomial expansion. We t hen find two possible a pproximate solutions for (
V = Mg fcosB (7.138) the precessional rate ¢ .

l
(
(
(
(
 268 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 7.10 The Heavy Symmetric Top 269

Slow precession:
immediately write down the solution to this equation for ¢.
(7.145) (7.152)
Fast precession:
For the initial cond itions ef> = Wo, ii = 0, B = B0 at t = 0, we find ¢0 = 0
J> = faw3
(7.146) from (7.149) and
I cosB
<i>(t) = Wp - (wp - wo) COSW£t (7.153)
For the first solution, ef> « w3, and the angular momentum vector L lies
nearly along the z axis. This solution corresponds to slow gyroscopic The solution for ¢(t) follows by integration.
precession, as discussed in § 6.5. For the second solution, ef> ~ w3 , and
L lies nearly along the z axis. In this case, L cos B ~ faw 3 and ef> ~ ¢(t) = Wpt - w -wo) sin WLt
pWL (7.154)
(
L/I, which is just the angular frequency WL in the force-free-top limit of
(7.126). This solution with rapid precession about the vertical direction
To solve for B, we plug (7.153) into (7.149). This gives
is independent of gravity in the limit w 3 ~ (w3 )~in·
For a rapidly spinning top, slow precession and small nutation are (7.155)
frequently observed. To find an approximate solution for the motion
with this condition, the quadratic terms in ef> and ii in the differential Since wp and w0 are small quantities, we can make the approximation
equations (7.141) and (7.142) can be neglected. We then obtain sin B ~sin B0 on the right-hand side of this equation. The solution for B
,.. is t hen found by integration .
,..
B(t) =Bo+ w -wo) sin Bo(l - coswLt)
PWL {7.156)
(7.147) (
. (Mge
B=
[3W3 ·)
- - - --¢ .
sin B
I I This completes t he formal solution of the equations of motion in the
approximation of slow precession and small nutation.
In terms of wP from (7.145) and WL defined as
The solution for B(t) in (7.150) exhibits nutation of the top between
t he angular limits Bo and Bo +2[(wp-wo)/wL] sin Bo. The sign of (wp -wo)
(7.148) determines which is the upper and which is the lower bound on B. The
precession ¢(t) in (7. 154) has a sinusoidal motion associated with the
t hese equations can be written
nutation which is superimposed on the steady precession. When the
initial precession w 0 equals Wp, t he top undergoes steady precessional
(7.149) motion with no nutation. In Fig. 7-22 the curves traced out by the
symmetry axis of the top are shown for various initial values wo.
B= wL(wp - ¢)sin B (7.150)
The nutation frequency of t he top from (7.156) is W£. We see from
If we t ime-differentiate (7.149) a nd s ubstitute (7.150), we find (7.145) and (7.148) that as the spin w3 of the top increases, the nuta-
tion frequency WL increases, while the precession frequency w'P decreases.
d2ef> 2. 2 Furthermore, the nutation amplitude is inversely proportional to WL, so
dt2 +wL</J = WLWP (7.i51)
that nutation of a fast top is not so visible. When a fast top is sp un
on a hollow surface, however , a buzzing tone can often be heard with a
where again we have dropped a quadratic term (of order ¢ii) . We can frequency corresponding to the nutation frequency.
270 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS (
7.11 Slipping Tops: Rising and Sleeping 271
(

found by equating (
dL . • (
dt =N = -Mgf.srn Bx
(
to
(
~~ = WvXL = WpL(z1Xz) (
Wo = Q Since z1Xz = -xsin (}and L ~ l 3w3, we obtain the expected result (
Mgf. (
w ~ --
· (7 .158)
P IJw3
(
for the a ngula r frequency of steady precession about t he vertical z 1 axis.
(
For w3 very large, the precession rate Wj> is quite slow and t he sym-
0 (
metry axis is neaily stationary. If the top is now given a slight push,
l it instantaneously acquires a small angular-momentum component .6.L (
perpendicul a r to z. The resulting total angular momentum f, L + .6.L = (
points in a direction slightly different from the sym metry axis z.
The en-
suing motion is like that of a free top with the symmetry axis precessing (
w 0 = 2wp arou nd f, in a small circle. The angular frequency of this circular motion
(
is found from (7 .136) to be
(
1 faw3
WL =-~ -- (7.159) (
[ I
w0 = 3wp (
The complete motion of the symmetry axis is a su perposi ti on of this ra pid
free-top circular motion about the direction L on the slow precession of (
L about t he vertical direction. (
FIGURE 7-22. Nutation curves traced out by the symmetry axis of the top for various 7.11 Slipping Tops: Rising and Sleeping (
initial conditions. The top is started at the same value of 0 in each case and the
resulting curves are trochoids.
(
When a spinning top similar to that in F ig. 7-21 is set down on a rough
su rface, the top us ually slips initially. A frictional force directed opposite (
The phenomenon of nutation exhibited by our formal solution above to the instantaneous s kidding velocity acts to accelerate the CM of the top (
can be understood from a more elementary viewpoint. For a top which is until t he velocity of slipping is reduced to zero a nd pure rolling motion
spinning rapidly, the a ngular momentum L is nearly along the symmetry sets in. If the top is spinning rapidly when it is set dow n, it tends to (
z
axis of the top. The gravitational torque is obtained from (7.138) maintain a fixed angle B with the vertical, since t he nutation is small. (
The normal force at the . point of contact is then essentially the entire
(
dV - weight of the top, and so the frictional force is
N = -diiO = Mgf.sin Bx (7.157) (
jfj ~µMg (7.160)
(
N is perpendicular to the z 1 axis and causes the precession a bout the
wh ere µ is the coefficient of friction. This friction force will cause the top
vertical direction. The angular velocity of precession wv = WvZJ can be (
to move in the direction of the force but that effect will not be considered
(

(
272 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 7.11 Slipping Tops: Rising and Sleeping 273

here. T he friction force will also cause a torque
INI ~ µMgl
about t he CM of the top which is roughly perpendicular to the peg for
a t h in peg, as illustrated in Fig. 7-23. For a rapidly spin ning to p, L lies
nearly along t he symmetry axis. Since the frictional torque is perpendic-
ul a r t o t he symmet ry axis, L precesses t oward the vertical. The a ngular
velocity of t his precession is
or
(7.161)
As the to p rises, kin etic energy is converted into potential energy a nd
the spin of t he top decreases. In addition, some of the energy is dissipated
by friction. The ra t e of frictional dissipation of energy,
dE
- = -fv (7.162)
dt
where f is the frictional force and v is the velocit y at t he point of contact,
can be quite small for a thin peg. Nevert heless, the effects of friction in
causing t he top to rise are dramat ic.
Once the top has risen to a vertical position, the point of contact is
the symmetry axis, a nd the frictional fo rce is much smaller. From (7. 142),
t he equat ion of motion for very small 8 is t hen approximately

by (7.158). The angular velocity of the rising motion is just t he product .. .

of the precessiona l angular velocity and the coefficient of skidding friction.

18 - (Mgf. - ] 3w3<f> + l </'>2 )8 = 0 (7 .163)

provided t hat the dissi pation of energy by friction is neglected . In terms

of the quantities wp and WL defined in (7.1 45) and (7. 148), this equation
can be written as

(7.164)

For a given ¢, t he motion in 8 will be stable a bout 8 = 0 if

. 1 ·2
-w + </> - - ¢ >0 (7.165)
P WL

The corresponding requirement on ¢ is

WL (
2 1-yl~)
---;;;; <¢<2
· WL (
l +y~)
1---;;;; (7. 166)
I
I
I For a high value of the spin W3,
I
I
I
/!fl =µMg
I (7.167)
x

F IGU RE 7-23. Forces on a rising top. and the condit ion in (7 .166) is satisfied . The spin ning top sleeps in t he
274 (
Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORD INATE SYSTEMS
7.12 The Tippie-Top 275
(

vertical position until friction slows down the spin to t he value

In this length of time the axis of the top has made
r
(
wt 1(5) .
(7.168) 2
: = .
6 28
= 0.8 revolution (7. 174) (

about the vertical and

fo r which (
W3t 300(5) .
WL = 4Wp -27r = - - = 240 revolut10ns
6.28
(7.175) (

and (7.166) becomes unphysical (i.e., complex). At th is point, the B about the symmetry axis. From (7.168), the condition for the motion at (
motion of t he top becomes unstable a nd the top wobbles a nd goes down B = 0 to be stable is (
as B increases from zero .

ff
(
To develop a feeling for the motion of a typical top, we consid er as W3 > = (7. 176)
3
an example a top made of a thin disk of radius a and mass M which
is supported by a narrow peg of length f = a/2 a nd negligible mass, From t he parameters of our top, we find (
as illustrated in Fig. 7-23. The moments of inertia about the point of (
contact of the peg with the table are

2
/¥ = V(~ 0) =
4 3
36 rad/s (7.177) (
/3 = tMa (
I = tMa
2
+ Mf2 = tMa 2
(7.169) Since t he ineq uality w 3 > ./4i1ll
is satisfied for the initial spin w3 =
300 rad/s, the top will sleep in its vertical position. (
If t he top has a radius a = 3 cm and is set down wit h an initial spin of (
7.12 The Tippie-Top
w3 = 300 rad/s (about 50 r/s), the angular velocity of precession from (
(7.145) is When a tippie-top is spun on a smooth table, it turns itself upside-down,
(
Mg(a/2) g 980 as pictured in Fig. 7-24. The usual high school and college rings likewise
Wp = I 2 = -aw3 = 3(300) ::::= 1 rad /s (7.170) flip over to spin with their heavy ends upward. This fascinating behavior (
2 Ma w3
is due to a small friction al force at the point of contact with t he table. (
For a coefficient of friction µ = 1/1 0, the angular velocity from (7.161)
The frictional force is parallel to the table, opposing the velocity of (
of t he top's rise toward the vert ical is
slipping, as illustrated in Fig. 7-25. Since the horizontal direction of this
(
fo rce rotates rapidly with the a ngular frequency w of t he top, t he time
iJ = - µwp = - 0.1 rad /s (7.171)
average of the force is zero, resulting in little effect on the motion of t he (
CM.
If t he top is started at its maximum angle of inclination, (
T he CM of a tippie-top is located close to t he center of curvature,
(
a/2 as indicated in Fig. 7-25. The gravitational torque can therefore be ne-
B = arctan -· - = 0.46 rad (7.172) (
a glected. Furthermore, the frictional torque is nearly horizontal. T his
horizontal torque also rotates with angular frequency w and time aver-
the t ime to rise to the vertical is ages to zero. As a result, dL/dt ~ 0, on t he average, and the a ngular
momentum of the top is nearly conserved. If t he tippie-top is initially (
B 0.46
t= -:- = -::::= 5s (7. 173) spu n with the spin upward, as in Fig. 7-24, the 11-pproximately fixed di- (
JBI 0.1
rection of L is vertical with respect to the table.
(
(

(
(
276 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 7.12 The Tippie-Top 277

T he tipping motion is readily analyzed in a coordinate system which

rotates with the top. In t his reference frame the time average of the
torque N is nonzero. The equation of motion (7.72) is

oL (7. 178)
N=Tt+wxL

As a simplifying approximation, we take the t hree principal moments

of inertia about the CM as equal (the shape of the tippie-top is nearly
spherical). Then
L~Iw (7.179)
Before After
and t he w XL term in (7 .178) vanishes. L remains vertical and N hor-
FIGURE 7-24. Flipping of a tippie-top. izontal throughout the motion. Since L and N are perpendicular, the
torque causes the angular momentum to precess uniformly in the body
w
frame, according to (7.178). Taking t he com ponent of (7.178) along the
2 symmetry axis z, we find
,!
,/
/ z. N = z. c5L = o(z . L) (7.180)
c5t ot
where B is the angle between L and z. From (7. 179) and (7 .180), we
obt ain
(7.181)
L

where R is the radius of the top. Thus B increases with t ime, and the
tippie-top fl ips over . Once t he stem scrapes the table, the s ubsequent rise
CM
N to t he vertical is almost the same as an ordinary rising top, as treated in
§ 7.11. We can estimate the time required for the tippie-top to flip over by
use of (7.181). A spin of w = 300 rad/sis easily imparted to a t ippie-top
of radius R = 1.5 cm and moment of inertia I~ ~MR 2 (hollow sphere).
For a coefficient of friction µ = 1/10, we obtain
I
I
I
I iJ = 3µg = 3(0.1)(980) = 0. 3 rad/ (7 .182)
I 2Rw 2(1.5)(300) s
I
I
I
I
I T he flip time is, rou ghly,
I
I

x'
I •
B 7r
t= -;- ~-::::::lOs (7.183)
8 0.3
FIGURE 7-25. Frictional force and torque on a tippie-top.
 (
278 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORDINATE SYSTEMS Problems 279
(
(
PROBLEMS c) Interpret th is cons traint fo rce in terms of the Coriolis force.
(
7-6. A bead of mass mis constrained to move frictionlessly on a hoop of
7.2 Fictitious Forces
radius R. The hoop rotates with constant angular velocity w about r
7-1. A particle of mass m moves in a smooth straight horizontal tube a vertical axis which coincides with a diameter of the hoop. (
which rotates with constant velocity w about a vertical axis which
a.) Obtain the equation of motion by applying Newton's law in the r
intersects the tube. Set up the equations of motion in polar coordi-
rest frame of the hoop.
nates and derive an expression for the distance of the particle from (
the rotation axis. If t he particle is at r = ro at t = 0, what velocity b) Find the critical angular velocity n below which the bottom of
the hoop provides a. stable-equilibrium position for t he bead. (
must it have a.long the tube in order that it will be very close to
the rotation a.xis after a very long time? c) Find t he stable-equilibrium position for w > n. (
7-2. The WIYN telescope mirror blank wa.s cast on a spinning platform (
7 .3 Motion on the Earth
in an oven. By this spin-casting technique the desired parabolic (
shape can be achieved without having to remove much glass by 7-7. A spherical planet of radius R rotates with a constant angular veloc-
grinding. Light rays parallel to t he symmetry axis of the mirror a.re ity w. The effective gravitational acceleration 9eff is some constant,
focused to a. point on the axis. This focal distance f is one-half the g, at the poles and 0.8 g at the equator. Find 9eff as a function of
(
radius of curvature of the mirror. t he polar angle () and g. With what velocity must a rocket be fired
vertically upward from the equator to escape completely from the (
a.) If the mirror spins with angular velocity w show that the focal planet?
distance is f = g /2w 2 •
(
7-8. A particle of mass m is constrained to move in a vertical plane (
b) The mirror is to have a. f /diameter ratio of 1.75 and a diameter which rotates with constant angular velocity w. Find the equations
of 3.5 m. Find the required spin in revolutions/min. of motion of the particle, including t he force of gravity. (
7-3 . A bug of mass 1 g crawls out a.long a radius of a phonograph record 7-9. A particle moves with velocity v on a smooth horizontal plane. (
turning at 33k r/ min. If the bug is 6cm from the center and Show that t he particle will move in a circle due to t he rotation of (
traveling at the rate of 1 cm/s, what a.re the forces on the bug? t he earth; find t he radius of the circle.
What added torque must the motor supply because of the bug? (
7-10. A ball is thrown vertically upward with velocity v0 on the earth's
7-4. When ice skaters s pin in place while pulling in their arms and legs, surface. If air resistance is neglected, show that the ball lands a (
the striking increase in angular velocity is a consequence of angular distance (4w sin Ov3/3g 2 ) to the west, where w is the angular velocity (
momentum conservation. The fictit ious forces which act to spin the of the earth's rotation and () is the colatitude angle.
skater are the Coriolis and azimuthal forces. For simplicity assume (
the spinning skater holds dumbbells initially a.t arm's length and by 7.4 Foucault's Pendulum (
internal body forces draws them toward the rotation axis. Neglect 7-11. Show using (7.45) that the Foucault pendulum equations of motion (
any mass other than that of the dumbbells. Analyze the situation in cartesian coordinates are
from the point of view of a rotating coordinate system in which (
the dumbbells are at rest except for radial motion. Show that the ••
X + WO X -
2 o· = o
2w COS y (
resultant forces imply that angular momentum is conserved. y+w5y+2wcos0i = 0 (
7-5. For problem 7-1 use the Lagrangian method to
where w is t he earth's angular velocity and () is the colatitude angle. (
a) F ind the radial equation of motion of t he mass m. Solve this system of cou pled equations retaining only the leading
(
b) F ind the general constraint force Q~. order in w/wo using the trial solutions x = Cxemt and y = c11 eiflt.
(
(
(
(
280 Chapter 7 ACCELERATED COORD INATE SYSTEMS
Show that the two allowed a ngular frequencies are n± = w0±w cos B
and that (cy/cz)± = ±i. Impose the initial values x(O) =a, x(O) =
0, y(O) = 0, y(O) = 0. Use the trigonometric identity in (2.168)
to find the Foucault rotation in t he x, y plane and determine the
period of the rotation.
7.6 Principal Axes and E uler's Equations
7-12. P r ove that if I 1 :/; h :/; I3 t he principal axes are orthogonal. Hint:
start with (7.85) for w<al and Ia and dot with w <bl. Then do the
same with w(b) and h and dot with w<al. Subtract the two equations
and use the fact that JI is a symmetric tensor.
7-13. Show that the principal moments of inertia are real. Hint: starting
with (7.85) dot with w• (the complex conjugate) and subtract the
resulting equation from its complex conjugate. Then use the fact
that II is real and sym metric.
7-14. A flat rectangular plate of mass M and
sides a and 2a rotates with angular velocity
~
w a bout an axle through two diagonal cor-
ners, as shown. The bearings s uppo rting - -~-
t he plate are mounted jus t at the corners.
Find the force on each bearing.
7-15 . A point part icle of mass m = 1 kg is located at the point (xo, Yo, O)
a) Calculate the tensor of inertia.
b) Find the princi pal axes and interpret the result.
7-16. For a prism mass distribution show that if any two axes perpendic-
ular to the axis of the prism have equal moments of inertia, then
all the axes in this plane are principal axes . Hint: consider the
expression f or kinetic energy [( in the w 1 , w2 plane where w 1 and
w2 lie in the plane perpendicular to the prism axes. The curve of
constant [( is an ellipse. The result fallows f rom the geometry of
the ellipse.
7.7 T he Tennis Racket Theorem
7-17. Show that the tennis racket in § 7.7 is properly designed so that a
hard stroke to the ball at the center of t he racket head does not jar .
the player's hand by causing.impulsive torques.
7-18. A tennis racket is swung underhand and released so that it rises
ve rtically with an initial spin about the unstable principal axis. At
Problems 281
the instant of release t he end of the handle is at rest. The racket
subsequently rises to a height of 5 m.
a) Determine the ti me of rise to maximum height.
b) Find the initial angular velocity w 2 (0) about the CM.
c) For an initial spin axis w3 (0) that is 1 percent of w 2 (0), compu te
the time at which the racket begins to tum ble.
7-19. Write 2K and £ 2 for a general rigid body, in terms of the principal-
axis components of w. Frorn this, demonstrate the tennis racket
theorem for a free rigid body using conservation of [( and £ 2 •
7.9 The Free Symmetric Top: External Observer
7-20. A coin in a horizontal pla ne is tossed irtto t he air with angular
velocity components w 1 about a diameter t hrough the coin and
w3 about the principal axis perpendicula r to t he coin. If w3 were
equal to zero, t he coin would simply spin around its diameter. For
w 3 nonzero, t he coin will precess. What is the minimum value of
w3/w 1 for which t he wobble is such that t he same face of t he coin
is always exposed to an observer looking from above? With a little
practice, this is a clever way to arrange t he outcome of a coin fl ip!
7-21. A satellite with th ree distinct principal axes tu mbles as it orbits
t he eart h. A flexible antenna is deployed which slowly dissipates
energy as t he spacecraft t umbles. Eventually t he spacecraft stabi-
lizes without further action. Find the fi nal regular rotational state
of the satellite. Hint: consider what happens to the energy and
angular momentum in the principal axes coordinate system.
7.10 The Heavy Symmetric To p
7-22. Why is it difficult to s pin a pencil on its point? Illustrat e quanti-
tatively with a pencil of length 10 cm and diameter 0.5 cm.
7-23. Give an expression, in terms of rotations about the CM, for the
kinetic energy of a heavy top whose point is fixed but pivots freely.
When the kinetic energy of t he CM motion is included show ex-
plicitly that t he total kinetic energy is the same as when calculated
relative to the pivot point.
7-24. A spin ning heavy to p is placed on a smooth horizontal table. The
top point will now trace out a complex curve and the CM will
repeatedly rise and fall. F ind the Lagrangian and discuss how it
differs from the fixed-point case.
282 Chapter 7 A CCELERATED COORD INATE SYSTEMS
f
Problems 283
(
(
7-25. A hollow conical segment of ha lf I
\~ b) Show that t he precession of the line of nodes ¢ is given by ¢ =
an gle a, mass M a nd side length (
I I w0 /,,/SfTlO, where w0 = 2j9/a. The wobble rate thus increases as
f, s pins on a sharp pivot at its \ I
\ I the disk lies down. Hint: Use part a) to establish that L lies along (
apex as s hown. The cone is made I I

from a uniform thi n sheet and has

\1 they axis. The torque lies along the x axis. Use N i = = J> x L. (

~R
an open base. c) Show t hat t he com ponent of spin a long the vertical x-axis is given

'
(
a) T he cone is initia lly rapidly
by Wvert = w 0 (sin 0) 3 12 • Thus even t hough the wobble rat e in-
creases without limit as the disk lies down, the spin as seen from (
s pun clockwise as viewed from
above with a ngular velocity W3 \:'t~ ----- above actually comes to a stop. T his effect can be impressively
demonstrated using a heavy disk, with a mark on top , spinning
(
about the symmetry axis. F ind
t he direction and rate of t he
slow precession in terms of
--
CM ----
\
\
\
on a ceme~t floor .
7-27. Apply Euler's equations to obtain th e equations of motion for the
(
(
Mg .
M, g, [ 3 a nd the distance Zo symmetric heavy top. Use the x, y, z coo rdin ate syst em of F ig. 7- (
of the CM from t he apex. I
\
x
20, where is t he line of nodes. Because of the symmetry of the
(
' top these coordi nat es for m a principa l system even though t he top
b) Calculate the principal mo- ' (
is not at rest. Show that t he equations of motion are equivalent to
ments, the location of t he CM
t hose of§ 7 .10. Hint: The x, y, z system has angular velocity w - ~z (
and the rate of slow precession.
relative to the inertial system.
(
7-26. A disk is spun about a vertical diameter. As it looses energy
7.11 Slipping Tops: Rising and Sleeping (
through friction it begins to wobble with slowly decreasing angle B.
Assume that the only motion of the CM is to fall slowly a nd that 7-28. For a top with a spherical peg end, show that the effective peg (
the disk rolls without slipping. radius is § = §0 si n B, where B is the inclination a ngle. Wo uld you
(
expect t his top to rise higher than a similar top with a c ut-off peg?
symmetry (
axis 7.12 The Tippie-Top
(
7-29. Analyze the mot ion of a tippie-top using an inertial fra me on t he
table. Hint: F ind the implications for w of the precession of L
(
about the vertical ·direction. (
y (

r- ----
(
/
/
/ (
/
,, ,, point of (
,,,, contact '---"'.---
(
x (
line of
(
nodes
(
a) Show that the rolling condition is w3 = 0.
.(

(
(
 8.J Attmction of a Spherical Body: Newton's Theorem · 285

The corresponding force on m due to M is given by

Chapter 8
F d
= -V'V(r) = GMm-
dr
(1).
-
r
= r
GMm.
- --
2r
r = -GMm
- -r
r3
(8.2)
GRAVITATION
where r = rm - rM. It is convenient to define the gravitational force on
m as F = mg, where g is the acceleration of gravity at the position of
m, independent of the value of m. (The fact that any mass at a given
According to Newton's law of universal gravitation each pair of parti- position in a gravitational field has the same acceleration g is known as
cles in the universe is mutually attracted with a fo rce proportional to t he equivalence principle.) Correspondingly the gravitational potential
the product of their masses, inversely proportional to t he square of the energy is defined as V = m<I>, where <I> is the gravitational potential, so
distance between them, and directed alo!lg the line joining t hem. T he
proportionality constant G in the gravitatio!'lal force law is known as
g = - V'<I> (8.3)
Newton's coristant. Although G is the least precisely measured funda-· From {8.2) the gravitational potential due to a mass M at a distance r is
mental constant, known only to.one part in 10 4 , its constancy is very well GM
checked by careful analyses of solar· system motions to better than one <I>(r ) = - - {8.4)
r
part in 1012 per year, which corresponds to a variation of qo more than
one percent over the age of the universe. Newtonian physics provides a We first calculate the gravitational potential due to a uniform spher-
nearly complete understanding of the. motions of the planets, satellites, ical s hell of mass M at a distance R from t he center of t he shell, as
stars, galaxies and the universe as a whole. Indeed, it has ~rnly been ih illustrated in Fig. 8-1. To begin, we evaluate the potential energy of a
this century tl)at a few t iny discrepancies have been uncovered whose circular ring element of mass dM shown in Fig. 8-1. If the radius of the
explanation requires the more complete theory of gravity provided by shell is a , the s urface mass density is
Einstei n's general relativity. M
<7= - - (8.5)
47ra2
8.1 Attraction of a Spherical Body: Newton's Theorem T he circu lar rin g element has d ifferential area dA = 27r(asin O)(adB) and
mass
The statement of Newton's law of gravity applies to the attraction
dM = (27ra2 sin OdB)a
between two point masses, whereas celestial bodies are rough ly spher-
ical collections of particles. The theorem, first shown by Newton, that = j\; sin BdB (8.6)
a spherically symmetric body acts as if its mass is concentrated at its
center, is an essential step in the application of the law of gravitation to The distance r from dM to the point where the potential is being eval u-
celestial mechanics. A corollary is that a particle located in a spherical ated is given by t he law of cosines
mass distribution at a radius r from the center of the distributi0 n ex- r2 = a2 + R 2 - 2aRcos B (8.7)
periences a net gravitational for~e orily from the mass M(r) within t he
radius rand t he net j orce is as if M{r) were.locat ed at r = 0. We give a By differentiation we obtain
proof of Newton's t heorem using the concept of potential energy.
rdr = aRsin BdB = 2aRd::
The gravitational potential energy between two point masses m and
M separated by a d istance r is so that dM can be expressed as

V(r) = _ GMm
dM = Mrdr (8 .8)
(8.1) 2aR
r

284
 (
286 Chapter 8 GRAVITA T ION 8.2 The Tides 287
(
(
r is outside the shell
(
1'max - rmi n = (R +a) - (R - a) = 2a (8.11) r
(
tn whereas when m is inside the shell,
(
rmax - rmin = (R +a) - (a - R) = 2R (8. 12) (
(
Thus t he potential is
(

~(R)
GM
(a) R >a (8.13)
R
= { (
GM (8.14)
R<a
a r
Since <I>(r) is constant inside the shell , g vanishes there. When r is outside (
t he shell, t he potential in (8.13) is as if t he mass M of the shell were (
concentrated at the center of the shell. Since a spherically symmetric solid
(
body can be represented as a collection of concentric spherical shells, t he
gravitational force on m due to a spherical body is as if the total mass M (
were concentrated at the center of the sphere. Newton's theorem follows: (
the gravitational force of any spherically symmetric distribution of matter
at a distance R from t he center is the same as if all the mass within the (
sphere of radius R were concentrated at t he center. (
(b)
(
8.2 The T ides
FIGURE 8-1. Gravitational attraction of a point mass m and a differential ring (
element dM on a spherical shell of mass M, with (a) m outside the shell and (b) m
When a body moves in a non-uniform gravitational field, it is subjected
inside the shell. (
to tide-generating forces. T hese shearing forces may even tear the body
The potential due to the ring mass dM is a part-this is a possible origin of the rings of Saturn. (
The acceleration of the body aB is t he total gravitational force on its (
d<I>(r) = -GdM
-r - = -GM
-dr
2aR
(8.9) component masses divided by its total mass. (If the body is spherically (
symmetric, then the result of Newton's theorem and the "action equals
The contributions of all ring elements on the shell are obtained by inte- reaction" principle is t hat aa is simply the value of g(r) at the center of (
gration over r the body.) If we use coordinates centered on t he body (i.e., "falling with (
the body") t he gravitational field becomes g(r) - aB. If we separate g
rjmu GM into t he part due to the body itself gself (which vanishes at the center of
(
<I>(r) = d<I>(r) = - - - (rmax - rmin)
2aR
(8.10)
(
t he body) and to the part due to external masses gext, then the gravi-
tational field in the frame fixed on the body is gsclf + (gexL - aB). The {
We see from Fig. 8-1 that rmax = R +a and Tmin = !R - a! and thus ':"hen second t~rm , (gext - aB), is the tidal field.
(
(
(
(
288 Chapter 8 GRAVITATION 8.2 The Tides 289

Tid al forces on a planet are maximum along a line to the external

force center and give two high tides on opposite sides of t he pla net. For
a planet in a circular orbit about the s un the origin of t he double tide
is easily explained by t he following argument. The forces acting on a
mass m are t he att ractive gravitational force GmM/r 2 and the repulsive
centrifu gal fo rce mw 2 1· due to the revolu t ion of the planet about the sun.
At the CM of the planet the gravity force exactly balances the cent rifugal
force since t here is no radial acceleration in a ci rcu lar orbit. At t he point
closest to the sun, t he sun's gravitational att raction is larger than at t he
CM and the centrifugal force is smaller, giving a net tidal force in t he
direction of the s un. At the farthest point on the planet from t he sun the
centrifugal force exceeds that of gravity and there is a tidal force directed
away from the sun.
The ocean tides on earth are caused by the variation from place to
place of the gravitational attraction due to the moon and the sun. The
atmosphere, the ocean, and the solid earth all experience tid al forces,
but only the effects on the ocean are commonly observed. To estimate
the gross featu res of the midocean tides, we begin with a static thl:'.ory
in which t he rotat ion of the earth about its axis is neglected. The daily
rotation of the earth will be invoked later to explain t he propagation of
the tides.
To calculate the t ide-generating force, we consid er the acceleration of
a sm all mass m on t he ocean's surface under the combined i1rfluence of
t he gravitational attraction of i he earth and a distant mass M , as shown
x
ip Fig. 8-2. The coordinates of the masses m, Me, M in an inertial frame
are represented by t he vectors r1, r2, r3, respectively. For convenience, FIGURE 8-2. Location of a point on the earth's surface and a distant mass M in an
we denote t he relative coordinates of the masses by inertial frame and an earth-centered frame.

r = r1 - r2 subtracting, we find t he equation of motion for the relative coordinate r.

R = r2 - r3
d = r1 - r3 = R +r
(8.15)
r=-GMei:
r2
-GM(a - fl)
d2 R2 (8.18)

With this notation , the motion of m and Me due to gravitational forces

is determined by This result could have been directly obtained from (6.22). The fi rst term
on the right-hand side of (8. 18) is t he central gravity force of the ea rt h on
.. GmMer GmMdA
m r1= - --- (8 .16) a particle of unit mass. The second term is the tide-generating force per
r2 d2
unit mass due to the presence of the distant mass M. The t ide-generating
fo rce is t he difference between t he forces on the surface of the earth and
(8.17)
at the center of the earth . The direction. and relative magnitude of the
By dividing t he first equation by. m, t he second equation by M e, and then tide-generating fo rce d ue to M are plotted in F ig. 8-3 for points around
 (
290 Chapter 8 GRAVITATION 8.2 The Tides 291
(
(
the earth's equator. The effect of this force is to produce the two tidal The qu antity d- 3 in (8.19) can be a pproximated by
(
bulges which, as the earth rotates, are observed twice daily as high t ides.
1
d3 ~ R3
1 (
1 ---W
3R · r) r
(8.22)
3R. r
1 (
= R3 -If! (
where the binomial expansion with n = -3 has been applied. To fi rst (
order in r (8 .19) becomes
(
~
To distant
attracting mass M
a
d2 - R2 = R
:R (1d3 - R31) + R3 r (
(
3(R·r) r (8.23)
R4+ R3 (
~ ~3 [-3R (R · r) + r] (

FIGURE 8-3. Tide-generating force on the surface of the earth at the equator due to In our choice of coordinate system in Fig. 8-2, R = - x and thus
a distant mass.
(
a _ R2:R ~ _]:__
d2 R3
(-3xx + r ) (8.24) (
If the tidal forces are s mall compared to the gravitational force on In this approximat ion the tidal acceleration of (8 .18) is (
t he CM· and the distance to the external force center is large compared (
.. ~
to the planetary radius we can approximate (8. 18) as follows . By (8.15) r = - -GMEI: GM
r 2-- + R 3 (3xx - r) (8.25)
(
we can express the second factor of (8.18) as
Since gravita tional forces a.re conservative this force per unit mass (
a d R R+r R can be derived from a potential and we may write
(
d2 - R2 = d3 - R3 = --;p- - R3
(8.19) (8.26) (
=R ( :3 - ~3) + :3 where Vr means t he gradient with respect to the vector r = xx+ yy + zz (
whose origin is at the center of the earth. It is easy to guess that the
(
We form the square of d potential whose negative g rad ient is the right side of (8.25) is
(
<P = _ GMs _GM
r R3
(~x2
2
_~r2)
2
(8.27)
(
(8.20)
Since x = r sin Bcos</>, we have (

Then fo r R ~ r we apply the binomial expansion (1 + {3)n ~ 1 + n{3 + · · ·, <P =--r

GM ( -r )
- - --
GME
r R
3
(3- .
2
sm 2 ()cos
2 1)
</> - -
2
(8.28)
(
(
with {3 = R · r / R 2 and n = 1/2, and retain only leading terms
For equilibrium of the ocean surface, the net ta.ngent.ial force on m (
must vanish. Equivalently, the potential at any point on the ocean's sur- (
(8.21)
face must be constant. We choose t he constant to be <P (r) = -GMs/ RE,
(

(
(
 292 Chapter 8 GRAVITATION 8.2 The Tides 293

where RE is the undistorted spherical radius of the earth (i.e., when the The p receding discussion applies to t he tidal forces induced by a single
d istant Mis a bsent) . Using this condition in (8.28) gives astronomic body. If there are two tide-producing bodies the net tide is the

r - RE = -M -
r Re
3
- ( -sm 2 Bcos2 ¢- -
ME R 3 2 2
3. 1) (8.29)
superposit ion of the separate tides. (If the bodies are not collinear with
the planet, the total tidal shape is not axially symmetric but a. triaxial
ellipsoid instead.) From (8.31) the ratio of the maximum heights of the
Since the height of t he tidal displacement lu nar (L) and solar (0) tides on earth is
3
h(B, ¢) = 1' - RE (8.30) hL ML ae (8.33)
is quite small compared with RE, (8.29) gives
h0 = (M0) ( aL)
where aL is the earth-moon distance and ae is the earth-sun distance.
h(B ¢)~MR!3 (~ sin 2 B cos 2 ¢-~) (8.31) The numerical value of this ratio is
' Me R 2 2 8 3
hL = (1/81.5)ME (1.5 X 10 km) = 2.2 (8.34)
For a given colatitude angle Bin (8.31), the high· tides occur at¢= 0 h0 (~ x 106 ) Me 3.8 x 105 km
and¢= rr, and low tides occur at¢= rr/2 and¢= 3rr/2. The difference Thus the sun's tidal effect is smaller than the moon's , but it is not neg-
in height between high and low tide, known as the tidal range, is ligible. When t he su n and moon are lined up (new or full moon), an
Ah = -3 -M -
R!sm
. 2B especially large tide results (spring tide), and when they are at right an-
u (8.32) gles (first or last quarter moon), their tidal effects partially cancel (neap
2 ME R3
tide). The diagram in Fig. 8-5 illustrates these orientations of the moon
The tid al displacement h is largest at B = 90° (on the equator). The
relative to the earth and sun.
tidal distortion is illustrated in Fig. 8-4. The tide for an ocean devoid
of continents has a prolate spheroid shape (football-like), with the major I/
" axis in t he direction of the distant mass. The calculation of such an ideal
tide was first made by Newton in 1687.
-/B--
I "·
Spherical Sprlrig
shape J> !Ide
New moon

D a
i.OSI
f-Jrst quutcr
11uarter

8
lid al
dislmtion Earth
-
To moon
Neap
tide
Earth
Neap
1idc

Spring
0 lid~

-- ---- -- Full rnoon

FIGURE 8-4. Tidal distortion at the earth's equator on an exaggerated scale. FIGURE 8-5. Relation of the phases of I.he moon to the tid~s on earth.
 294 Chapter 8 GRAVITATION f
8.3 Tidal Evolution of a Planet-Moon System 295
(

T he tidal range due to the moon at a point on t he earth-moon axis (

The tides are in reality more com plicated than described above. Along
can be calculated from (8.32) . We get (
coastal regions t he configuration of the land masses and the ocean bot-
3 tom ca.use considerable am plification or suppression of the tidal range. (
D..h (o = 1!..) _ ~ (-1) ( 6, 371 ) (6 ,371 x 103 ) -_ 0.56 m Over the world, tidal ranges vary as much as twenty meters.
2 - 2 8 1. 5 3841000
The friction of the moving tidal waves against ocean bottoms a nd the
continental s horelines dissipates energy at a rate estimated at 7 billion (
This figure agrees roughly with the measured tidal difference in midocea.n.
As the eart h rotates a.bout its own axis, the tidal maxima, which lie horsepower. To supply this energy, t he eart h's rotation a.bout its axis (
on the earth-moon axis, will pass a given point on the earth's s urface slows dow n at the rate of 4.4 x 10-s s per day. The cumulative time over
(
a pproximately two times a day. More precisely, since t he orbital ~ota.tion a century is a.bout 28 s. This gradual lengthening of the day is confirmed
(
of t he moon about the earth (with period of 27 days) is in the same ! by the observation that various astronomical events such as eclipses seem
sense as t he eart h's own rotation (with period 24 h), two tidal maxima to run systematically a.head of calculations based on observations over (
!)
pass a given spot on earth every (24 + 24/27 h. Thus high tide occurs preceding centuries.
(
every 12 h and 26.5 mi n, and high tide is observed a.bout 53 min later
each day. 8.3 T ida l Evolution of a Planet-Moon System (

The two high tides are not of the same height because of t he inclina- The earth-moon system has very little external torque acting upon it on (
tion of the earth's a.xis to the normal of the moon's orbital plane a.bout t he average. The total angular momentum of the system is thus nearly (
the earth . In the Northern Hemisphere the high tide which occurs closest constant. The consequence of angular momentum conservation is that
to t he moon is higher, as illustrated in F ig. 8-6.
(
the moon spirals outward a.bout a ha.If a centimeter ea.ch month as the
earth's rotation is slowed by tidal friction. Ultimately t he moon's distance (
Nor mal to will increase by over forty percent of its present value and our day will (
moon's orbit
lengthen by a factor of a.bout 50. T he moon will then remain stationary
·W
above one spot on the earth.
(
To see this, we make the following simplifications, which a.re suffi- (
ciently accurate to represent t he physical situation . (
1. The spin angular momentum S = Jw of the earth is parallel to the (
orbital angula r momentum L of the moon about the earth . (The
(
earth's spin precesses a.bout t he normal to the ecliptic pla ne with
a period of 26,000 years and the plane of the moon 's orbit about (
Lari:e high tide t he eart h precesses similarly with a period of about 19 yea.rs, so the (
'average values of both S and L a.re perpendicular to the ecliptic
plane- the plane of earth's orbit around the sun).
2. T he total angular momentum (
(
J = L + S = (L + S)L (8.35)
(
FIGURE 8-6. Effect of the inclination angle f3 of the earth's ax.is to the moon's orbital is cons t ant (we are neglecting the solar tidal drag). (
p lan e on the h eights of tides. f3 varies from 17° to 29° as the moon's elliptical orbit 3. The moon's orbit a.bout the earth is circular a nd lies in the ecliptic
precesses slowly ab out the normal. to the plane of the earth 's heliocentric orbit. (
plane (point 1 above).
(
(
(
(
 '.

296 Chapter 8 GRA VJTATION 8.3 Tida l Evolution of a Planet-Moon System 297

4 . The moon is m uch less massive than the earth and the moon 's spin energy at fi xed total angular momentum is simply co1'0tation
angular mo ment um is negligible.
(8.42)
In a reference frame with the earth at rest at t he origin , the e nergy of
t he earth- moon syst em is
In general, for fi xed total angular momentum J about the CM, the state
1 CT 1 of minimum energy of a n isolated syst em is rigid rotation. (A nother
E =-mv 2 - - + -l w 2 (8.36)
2 r 2 example is the state of water in an isolated spinning bucket. Event ually
where m is the m ass of the moon, v is its velocity, r is its d istance from the water rotates as a rigid body with the same angular velocity as the
the earth, CT= GmME, a nd I is the moment of inertia of the earth about bucket.)
its spin axis . It is useful to express E in t erms of t he angular mom!!nta. At present n < w for the earth- moon system. In Fig. 8-7 we plot 0
The last term in (8.36) is t he spin energy of t he earth S 2 / (21), where and w as a function of 1·. There are t wo solutions for corotat ion.
S = Jw. The first two terms in (8.36) are the orbital energy of the moon,
which can b e expressed in terms of L = mvr by usi ng the ci rcular-orbit 6
/ corotation (a)
b alance of gravitation al and centrifugal forces 5

v2 CT
m- = -
2
(8.37)
r r

We obtain

(8.38)

Because the total angu lar momentum J L + S is conserved, we can

=
express S as J - L and thus get E expressed in t erms of one independe nt
variable quantity, L F IG URE 8-7. T he spin angular velocity w and the orbital angular velocity n for
the earth-moon system as a function of orbital angular momentum . T he subscript 0
(8. 39) denotes present value.

If t idal fric t ion is present the energy E (kinetic plus potential) of the In Fig. 8-8 the energy of the earth- moon-system is plotted versus r.
system as well as L and S are not constant . The ultimate state of this The two extrema correspond to the corotation points of Fig. 8-7. Case (a)
system will be t he sta t e of lowest energy. The extreme values of E with is an unstable equilibrium ; t he bulk of the angul a r momentum is in the
J held fixed are dete rmined by spin of t he earth. Case (b) is a stable equilibrium; the bulk of the angul ar
momentum is in the orbit of the moon. In Fig. 8-9 a more detailed
(8.40) plot of the energy is shown for the more immedi ate past and future.
In the past the spin a ngular momentum S was larger a nd the orbital
Using (8.38) and S =J - L this condition can be expressed as angular moment um L was smaller, corresponding to a higher ene rgy for
the system.
L S
MLr 2
=I (8.41) The eart h's day is lengthening by 4.4 x 10- s s/day, which corresponds
to an a ngula r acceleration of
The left-hand side is the orbital angular velocity n
and t he right-h and
side is the s pin angular velocity w so the condition (8.41). of extreme w = -0.85 X 10 - 21 rad/s
2
(8.43)
298 Chapter 8 GRA VJTATION 8.3 Tidal Evolution of a Planet-Moon System 299
r
(
(
(•) T he torq ue between t he earth and the moon t hat transfers S to L is
25 / (
caused by t he tidal friction. The earth's rotation acts to drag the tidal
20 bulge ahead of the line between t he earth and moon, as shown in Fig. 8- (
10. The lea.cl angle!:::.. can be calculated by equating the torque applied by
15
EIE0 the moon to the tidal bulge (which depends on !:::..; it o bviously vanishes
10 for !:::.. = 0° or 90°) to the torque implied by w, (
(
(b)
N = lw (8.46)
(
0.5 l. 5
The t idal torque on a volume element of wate r is (
rlr0
FIGURE 8-8. T he ener gy of the earth-moon system versus the moon's orbital angular (
(8.4 7)
momentum for constant total angular momentum J. Here Eo and ro are the present (
values. The labels (a) and (b) refer to the corotation points of Fig. 8-7.
where PH,O is the density of water and - 8 ~~d· is the torque per unit (
mass. From (8.31) for a. tide displaced by a.n angle!:::.. a.s in Fig. 8-10, (

E!Eo h (8I <P) = ::;c (R: r 2

Re [3 sin 8 cos
2
( <P - !:::.. ) - 1] (8.48)
(
(
(
We then integrate (8.47) over the su rface of the earth to obt ain
(
0 .8
(8.49) (
r/r0 endpoint
(
FIG URE 8-9. A blow-up of Fig. 8-8 near the present time. As t he energy of the Eq uating the two torq ues (8.46) and (8.49) using (8.43) gives the angle (
earth-moon system decreases due to tidal drag the moon's dist ance r increases. !:::.. t hat the tide leads the direction to t he moon
(
Using (8.38), L + S constant, and S = I w, we obtain !:::.. ~ 10 degrees (8 .50) (

r 2i
=L
2s 2w s
(8.44)
(
1· L w L M~ --- (
bulge _ - - - - -

~ ==~~~~~)~ ----~
T hen using the present values we find (
(
r ~ 0.4 c~/month (8.45)
moon (
Thus the moon is spiraling outward roughly one-ha.If centimeter per rev-
(
olut ion. This process will continue until t he energy reaches minimum at earth
r = l.44ro, where ro is the present earth-moon separation. At this point (
corotation is achieved and lunar t idal drag vanis hes. (From t hen on, solar FIGURE 8-10. Earth- moon system as seen from above the north pole. Friction drags
t he tidal bulge ahead of the moon. This drag is opposed by a torque due Lo the moon's {
tidal drag evolves the system.)
attraction. (
(
(
(
 300 Chapter 8 GRAV/TA TION
8.4 General Relativity: The Theory of Gravity 301

In t he past the moon was closer to the earth. At the present recession B. Gravitational Frequency Shift
rate of 0.4 cm per month, two billion years ago the moon would have been
at a bout t hree quarters of its present distance. The tidal height would One of the most direct implications of the principle of equivalence is that
have been double t hat at present and t he increased tidal bulge would have "higher clocks run faster'.' According to Einstein's. theory, if waves are
caused larger tidal friction. On the other hand, differences in continental emitted on the earth with frequency v as in Fig. 8-ll(a) they arrive a
configurations and ocean levels mig ht have decreased tidal drag in the distance h below with frequency v' where
distant past.
The moon could never have been closer than the Roche limit. Ac-
cording to t his limit a moon having t he same density a.s the planet will (8.51)
be pulled apart by t idal forces at distances closer t han R :::: 2.44Re.
!'1ost astronomical bodies are held together by t heir self-gravity, which
is stronger for large bodies than the chemical forces that hold rocks to-
gether. As a satellite comes within the Roche iimit tidal forces overcome
the self-gravity and the satelli te falls apart.
II~~ fa=g
8.4 General Relativity: The Theory of Gravity

Einstein's theory of general relativity is a t heory of gravity. At this level

we do not have the mathematical tools to completely discuss the t heory
It
because it is expressed most naturally in the language of metric differ-
ential geom\etry. We can however illustrate some of the physical ideas
which underlie general relativity and explore a few instances in which it
differs from Newtonian gravity. These differe nces can be dramatic in very
intense gravity fields.
,/ + ta=g

A. The Principle of Equivaience

(a) (b)
There are two aspects of mass: inert ia as it appears in the second law
and a, proportionality constant in the gravity. force. T he equivalence of
the ~wo has t he important consequence t hat all objects fall equally in a FIGURE 8- 11. Gravitational frequency shift. Jn (a) the lower observer receives
gravity field . Newton tested this hypothesis by verifying that pendulum waves at higher frequency. In (b) the equivalence principle relates this shift to a
Doppler shift. The clocks are supported against gravity in (a), and accelerated in (b) ,
~obs made of different materials have the same period to roughly 1 part by strings.
In a t housand. Modern tests of t he equi valence principle have improved
this limit to one part in 101 2 . _

This remarkable equivalence led Albert Einstein to propose that lo-
cally (i.e., at any given point) one cannot distinguish between t he accel-
eration of a reference frame (e.g., in an elevator) and gravitational force.
F ree fall is indistinguishable from being located in a gravity-free region .
T he value of g = -V' <P is a frame-dependent quantity. The general prin-
ciple of relativity requires that in free fall all physical laws reduce to those
in a n inertial frame.
To see how t his comes about we invoke t he princi ple of equivalence. The
same frequency shift will occur in the situation of Fig. 8-ll(b), where both
emitter and receiver are being accelerated upward with a= g in a region
far from the earth. Consider waves emitted at t = 0 wit h frequency v.
When t hese waves reach t he receiver a time h/c later, the receiver is
moving faster by velocity 6.v = g(h/c) than the emitter at t he t ime
of emission . T he waves will therefore be Doppler shifted to a higher
 (
302 Chapter 8 GRAVITA TION 8.4 Geneml Relativity: The TfieonJ of Gravity 303 (
(
frequency by the familiar formula (a) (b) (c)
(
(

which is the desired result (8.51) . On the earth , for h = 100 m, the (
Doppler velocity is
(

D.v = gh/c ~ 9.8(100)/(3 x 108 ) m/s (

(8.53)
~ 1 cm/hour (
(
This very small gravitational frequency shift has been verified to 13
acc~racy. If v and v' a re thought of as the rate of t he ticking of a clock, FIGURE 8-12. Bending of light in uniform non-inertial fields. In (a) the rocket ship (
a higher clock runs faster and a lower clock runs slower. rests on the earth and a deflection d due to gravity is observed. In (b) t he ship is
(
moving a t constant velocity with n o gravity present and no deflection is seen. W hen
C. Gravitational Bending of Light the rockets are fired in (c) the acceleration g of th e ship results in the same d eflection d. ('

Lig ht appears to travel in straig ht lines, but this is only because we live just eq ual. T he result for a light ray passing a spherical mass M at an (
in a region of fairly weak gravity. The gravitational deflection of light impact parameter b [see F ig. 8-13] is a deflection angle (
propagating parallel to the earth's s urface can be com puted using the
principle of equivalence. </> = 2rs/b (8.55) (
if b » rs, where rs is the Schwarzschild radius
Referring to F ig. 8-12(a), we imagine a la boratory set up in a rocket
ship. While the rocket is on the earth, Einstein 's theory predicts that a rs = 2GM/c2 (8.56) (
light beam traveling a distance l across the ship is deflected by a distance (
One of the original empirical successes of t he general relat ivity theory
was the observation of t he deflection of starlight by the sun ·during a (
(8.54)
total sola r eclipse. In t his case t he maximum defl ection angle (for light
(
just grazing the s un) is 1.8 arc seconds.
Now we imagin e the rocket ship to be far from the earth, as in Fig. 8-
(
12(b); in the a bsence of gravity the deflection is zero. If the rockets are
---~ ------------)~-­
then fired to give an acceleration a = g, the ship, during the light-transit (
time l/c, moves forward by a distance t g(l/c) 2 compared to where it (C (
would have been in free fall, so the light hits the other side of the ship at M
a distanced= tg(l/c) 2 below the receiving point of (b). This is just the (
F IGURE 8-13. Light ray passin g a mass M at impact parameter b. The light is
result (8.54). deflected by the angle ¢. (
In a non-uniform gravity field the equivalence principle implies a de- (
flection of light which can be straightforwardly found by integ rating up As the impact parameter b of the incident light is decreased to a
critical value (
. the contributions to the deflection from each part of the lig ht's path.
However, there is an additional contribution, not predict a ble from the
equivalence principle, from the curvature of space. In Einstein's t heory,
bcrit = {¥-r S (8.57)
(
(
for light passing a massive body these two contributions happen to be the deflection angle increases without limit. The lig ht spirals into an (
(
(
( l
 304 Chapter 8 GRAVITATION
8.1 General Relativity: The Theory of Gravity 305

unstable circular orbit around the mass . For b < bcrit the light goes in
but never comes back out. I b
I
I
At distances r approaching rs the gravitational acceleration becomes to I
source I
infinite and t he gravitational redshift becomes infinite. If the radius of ·-----------1-
an object of mass M decreases to the Schwarzschild radius, nothing can
prevent its further gravitational collapse to a point singularity (a black A
galaxy \
hole). We cannot directly observe the si ngularity because t he gravita- \ ,_,, I
tional attraction is so strong that nothing, not even light, can emerge
FIGURE 8-14. A light ray from a very distant source, usually a quasar, passes near
from it. Table 1 gives rs for some familiar astronomical objects. a distant galaxy and is deflected to an observer on earth. T he scale of the transverse
dimension in t his drawing is greatly exaggerated.
Table 1: Schwarzschild radius of ou r earth, sun and galaxy
earth sun ou r galaxy If t he sou rce lies directly behind t he lensing galaxy an Einstein 1·ing of
rs 0.9 cm 3 km 3 x 1011 km angu Jar radius 'I'
,i,. would be observed. On ly a few such .rings have been
. . seen.

(2000 AU or 1/ 100 ly) ·If the source is near to being collinear with the lensmg gala~y, i~s image
forms a partial arc. An example of an Einstei n ring is show n m Fig. 8-15.
Once a blac_k hole has formed it is a one way street-things can go in If t he mass of lensing object is small the ring will not be resolvable but
but nothing can come out. Black holes can in principle be of any mass but a brightening of the source will be seen as t he l e~sin g object, the e~rt h
t he most obvious mecha nism for producing them starts with a sufficiently and the source become collinear. This microlensmg effect has provided
massive star. The gravity of a spent star of sufficient core mass (.<. 3M ) direct evide nce for dark matter in our galaxy in the fo rm of small stars
0
is so strong that nothing can prevent collapse to a point. Super-massive called brown dwarfs.
black holes apparently form at t he centers of galaxies (including our own)
as a normal by-product of galactic formation. The high velocity of stars
near the center of many galaxies and a hot gas disk are evidence for black
holes containing millions of solar masses.
D . Gravitational Lenses

Massive poin t sources of gravity deflect light a nd can act as lenses that
distort t he appearance of objects behind them and produce characteristic
images. The simplest effect occurs when light rays (or rad io waves) from
a very distant point source pass near a galaxy and continue toward t he
earth as shown in F ig. 8-14. From the geometry of t his figure a nd the
deflection (8.55) we obtain

¢> = ~ = 2rs
d· ¢>d (8.58)

Thus ¢> is given by

FIGURE 8-15. Einstein ring produced by a galaxy ser ving as a gravitational !en~ (not

ef>=f!i- (8.59)
· 1'bl ) The obJ'ect MG 113+0456 consists of a hot core and produces two lumm.ous
v1s eon· either side. The lens images one lobe into an E'mste~n
lobes · .rmg
· an d the core mto
two bright spots. T he other lobe is far enough away that 1t JS not affected by t~e
lens. ·This picture is taken with 15 GHz (2 cm) waves by the Very Large Array radio
telescope.
 ( .
306 Chapter 8 GRAVITATION 8.5 Planetary Mo tion- Perihelion Advance 307
(
(
8.5 P la netary Motion-Perihelion Advance u between (8.62) and (8.63) we obtain
(
The o rbits of planets as predicted from general relativity are almost iden- 1
U1 +u2 + U3 = - (
tical to t he Newtonian orbits discussed in Chapter 5. The effective po- rs
tential energy in general relativity t hat governs t he shape of the orbit of 2mo- (
a. small mass m in the presence of a large mass M is
u1u2 + U1U3 + UzU3 = -£2
rs
(8 .64)
(
2mE
o- L2 rsL2 U1U2U3 = -£ 2- rs
(
V.tr(r) = --r + - -- - -
2mr 2 2mr 3
(8.60) (
In t he Newtonian limit rs= 0 the largest root u3 beco mes infi nite.
The last two terms of (8.60) can be written as (
As the planet orbits, u varies between u 1 a nd 1i2 and by integrat-
ing (8.62) using the factored form (8.63) the angle swept out during a (
2
1/c/ = -2mr
L-
2
( 1- -rs)
r (8.61) complete revolu tion is (

" 2
du
(
Under normal circumstances rs/r is ve!'y small. For example, for t he
planet Mercury rs/r ~ 5 x 10- s. Extraordinary lengths must t herefore
be taken to test genera.I relativity using planetary motion . On the other
(} - 2
- !
u1
Jrs(u - ui)(u - u2)(u - u3)
(8.65) (
(
hand, w hen matter is so co mpressed that r can be comparable to rs, This is an elliptic integral but for small rs we can approximate the in te- (
orbits can be very different from Newtonian. gral since u <t:: u 3 . Using binomial expansion and retaining the leading
(
One of the original tests of the genera.I theory was t he advance of the correction of order rs t he turning angle after one radial period is by (8.65)
orbit of Mercury. In Newtonian theory a. planet moves in a. fixed elliptical (
orbit. The extra 1·s term in (8.60) causes the major a.xis of an elliptical (
orbit to precess in the direction of motion, or advance. T he effect is (8.66)
(
cu mulative so that observations of Mercury over centuries allowed even
t his small effect to be seen . In what follows we briefly indicate how this (
Using
advance is calculated. (
Referring to § 5.2 we repeat the same steps using the potential energy " 2
du
tt2
udu (
! J
· 7r
(8.60) to find the relativistic orbit equation
J(u - u1)(u2 - u) = 7r' --::=====
J(u - u1)(u - u)
= -(u1
2
+ u2)
2 (
2 "' UJ

du 2mo- 2mE (8.67) (

( -d(} ) = f (u) = - u 2 +--u
£2 + -
L2
- +1'su3 (8.62) (8.66) becomes
(
(} _ _27r_ ( l + _u_1_+_u_2) (8.68)
where u = 1/r. Except for the rsu 3 term, t his equation is the same as -~ 4u3 (
(5.50) . We note that f (u) is cu bic in u and by a. fundamental theorem of (
algeb ra. can be factored as In t he Newtonian limit rs= 0, the roots of f(u) in (8.62) are
(
f(u) = rs(u - u1)(u - u2)(u - u3) (8.69) (
(8 .63)
(
We assu me the roots are ordered as u 1 < Uz < u3. Comparing powers of where € Jl + 2EL 2 /mo-2 . For small rs, the roots u 1 and u2 are
(
(
(
(
308 Chapter 8 GRAVITATION 8.6 Self-Gravitating Bodies: Stars 309

approximately given by (8.69) and similar mass with a separation not much greater than the Sun's diameter.
A pulsar is a rotating neutron star that emits radiation which arrives as
(8. 70) periodic pulses. It is thought that the pulsi ng is due to the radiation be-
ing emitted in a narrow beam which rotates with t he star and so sweeps
and by the first equation of (8.64) we have past us periodically like a lighthouse beacon. Because the pulsar's radio
pulses are a very good (stable) clock, measurement of the time varia-
2mars tion of its Doppler shift yields t he orbital parameters to a precision of at
rsu.3 = 1 - ----0- + O(rs) (8.71) least 1 part in 106 . For exam ple, the eccentricity is f = 0.6171308. This
system of two orbiting neutron stars is a laboratory for testing general
The orbit turning angle formu la (8.68) becomes relativity under conditions of much stronger gravity fields than occur in
our solar system. For example, the advance of the orbit in t his system is
37rma
(} - 271" = --1·s
£2 (8. 72) 4.22662 degrees/yr, due entirely to general relativity.
Because the mass components of the system are accelerating, gen-
Since B exceed s 271" t he orbit "advances'.' In terms of the orbit major axis eral relativity predicts that energy is lost in the form of gravitational
radiation, with the consequence that the orbit period decreases. The
observation of this is in excellent agreement with the prediction and pro-
(8.73) vides the first evidence (albeit indirect) of gravity waves. The ultimate
£2 2
fate of PSR 1913+16 is that in roughly one billion years the two neutron
stars will coalesce (possibly into a black hole), emitting a burst of gravity
waves. In this process about 3% of a solar mass will be converted into
the orbital advance formula (8.72) becomes
gravitational radiation.
371' rs
B - 271' =- --
1-1:2 a
rad/orbit (8.74) 8.6 Self-Gravitating Bodies: Stars

The sun and other stars are isolated bodies in which self-gravity (the
=
For Mercury E 0.2056, a= 0.579 x 108 km, a nd the orbit period is mutual gravitational attraction of t heir parts) is important. For a de-
0.241 yr. With rs = 2.95 km for the sun, the advance in arc seconds per tailed description of their internal equilibrium, gravitational force must
century is then be everywhere balanced by the pressure gradient. But the virial theorem
(derived in § 9.3) can give a simple overall view. This theorem states
(} - 271' '.'.::= 43.0 arc seconds/century (8.75) that for a11 isolated body in mechanical equilibrium (neither collapsing
nor expanding) in which gravity is the on ly important force, t he total
The observed advance of Mercury's orbit is 5597.7 arc-sec/century but kinetic energy J( =:EA tmAv~ of its parts and its total gravitational
almost all is due to perturbations of the other planets, leaving 43.1±0.21 energy V = - I:pairs Gm A mB/r AB are related by
arc seconds unaccounted for by Newtonian physics . T he correct explana-
tion for the extra observed perihelion advance was the first confirmation K = -tv (8.76)
of Einstein's general relativity theory.
Its total energy E = I<+ V can then be expressed as
An astonishing astronomical object (PSR 1913+16), which was dis-
covered in 1974 by Hulse and Taylor, has significant general relativistic -E= I<= -tV (8.77)
effects. This system consists of a neutron star pulsar of mass l.4M0 Note that E < 0. If the material of the body were widely separated a nd
orbiting with a period of roughly 8 hours about another neutron star of at rest, it would have V =
0 and [( =
0, so the quantity - E is the
 (
310 Chapter 8 GRAVl1'ATION 8.6 Self-Gravitating Bodies: S tars 311
(

binding energy of the body. According to (8.77), if the body loses energy higher than the surface tem peratu re is t hat the heat energy radiated (
6 (e.g., by radiation), then its internal kinetic energy f( increases by an away from the surface must be supplied by conduction (or convection) (
equal amount . T hese energies are s upplied from the potential energy V from within, which means that the temperature must rise inwards from (
which changes by -26 (by the body shrinking in size). the surface. The energy loss from the surface is supplied by the release
We next show how (8.76) can be used to give an estimate of the of energy by nuclear fusion (hydrogen to helium) in the core of the sun.
temperatu re inside a star. In thermal equilibrium, the kinetic energy of a The history of the sun (like other stars) is t hat it started as a gas cloud (
particle is ~kaT where kB is Boltzmann's constant and Tis the absolute which lost energy by radiation, and so by (8 .77) became continuously (
temperature, so the left-hand side of (8.76) is hotter (larger I< ) and denser (smaller R, so that-Vis larger) until the
core temperature was high enough t hat the rate of energy release from (
(8. 78) nuclear fusion balanced the rate of energy loss from the surface. Since (
that t ime t he sun has been in a quite steady state, as it will continue t o be
(
where N is the number of particles composing the star and T now means until the hydrogen (protons) in its core gets used up. It will then shrink
an average temperature in the star. The factor ~ has been dropped since and heat up, to maintain the fusion rate of hydrogen outside the core. (
from now on in this section we make only a semiquantitative discussion . (Mo re precisely, although the bulk of the sun's mass, in the inner 1/10 (
. The number N can be written or so of its volume, will shrink and heat up, the outer part will expand
and cool. This is not easy to explain in simple terms.) Event ually the (
N=M/m (8.79) core temperature will rise to the point where fusion of helium to carbon (
releases energy at a significant rate. To explain what happens next, and
(
where M is the mass of the star and m is t he average mass per particle. what happens to stars either less or more massive t han the sun, a new
phenomenon must be included in the virial theorem, namely the so-called (
An ordinary star like the sun is mostly made of protons and electrons
(ionized hydrogen) and so m is the order of the proton mass. On the degeneracy press ure. (
right-hand side of (8.77) we can write According to the Pauli principle in quantum mechanics, each elec- (
tron must occupy at least a volume in phase space (space volume times
(8.80) momentum volume) of magnitude h3 , where h is Planck's constant. Thus (
the N electrons in a star, in a space volume ~ R 3 , must occu py a mo- (
where R is t he radius of t he star. T hen (8.76) takes t he for m mentum volume of at least Nh2 / R 3 • If the tem perature is low, then the
(
electrons will be in the volume of momentum space which has the lowest
(8.81) energy, namely a sphere centered on the origin, with radius PF (the Fermi (
momentum) given by (
or, written as an equality of dimensionless ratios, (8.83) (
Such a cold gas of electrons is said to be Fermi degenerate. (An example (
(8.82)
is the cond uctio n electrons in a metal. Another example, t hough compli-
cated by a spatially varying electrostatic potential, is t he electrons in an (
where rs is t he Schwarzschild rad ius of t he mass M, defined in (8:56) . atom.) T hus the total kinetic energy of the electrons of a cold star is of (
For t he sun rs/ R ~ 10- 6 , and so its mean temperature is given by kaT ~ the order of Np}/m 0 • On the other hand , the Pauli principle is unimpor-
10- 6 mc 2 ~ 10 - 6 x10 9 eV~10 3 eV , i.e. T ~ °i07 K. This is much higher (
tant at a high temperature, kaT ~ p}/m •. Roughly, the kinetic energy
t han its surface temperature, 6000 K. (According to (8.81), if the 6000 K of the electrons can be written as simply as the sum (
surface temperature held th roughout, the sun would be a t housand t imes
(8.84) (
larger t han its act ual size.) The reason why the mean temperature is
(
(

(
(
 312 Chapter 8 GRA VJTATION 8.6 Self-Gravitoting Bodies: Stars 313

with PF given by (8.83), which has the right low and high temperat ure the term p}/me in (8.84) should be replaced by PFC, with the result that
li mits. Using this in the virial eq uation we find that (8.81) is a ltered to for s ufficient ly small R the first term in (8.85) and (8.86) stops growing
like R- 1 and becomes independent of R.
(8.85)
This has twd consequences. One is t hat no T ~· o equilibrium is pos-
Th is has the form sible if Mis t oo large. A proper calculation concludes that a wh ite dwarf
composed of helium, carbon or oxygen cannot have a mass greater than
AR- 1 +RT=B (8.86) 1.4M0 ; this is called the Chandrasekhar limit. The other consequence
(where A and B are constant fo r a given star) and so the dependence of is t hat when a sufficiently massive star shrinks, the first term in (8.85)
Ton R is never gets ci..s large as the right-hand side, and so the star's tem peratu re
rises without limit as its radius shrinks to zero.
(8.87)
As the temperature of a massive star rises, eventually twci energy
This says that T has a maximum value
,.. processes which absorb energy from its core become im portant, namely
dissociation of th~ heavy nuclei back into lighter ones and radiation of
Tmax = B2 / A , at R = 2A/ B (8.88) neutrinos. The consequence is an essentially free-fall coliapse of the core.
If the star is not too massive (M < 15M0 , it is estimated) the coilapse is
Thus as the star loses energy and shrinks it stops heating up when R ~
,.. 2A/ B; as it shrin ks further it cools. The result is called a white dwarf.
stopped by the short-range ('hard-core') repulsion between nuclei. Some
of t he gravitational energy released in the collapse is t ransferred to t he
,. Accord ing to (8.85) wit h T ~ 0, its radius decreases with increasing mass
like Rex: M- 113 . outer part of t he star, making a s upernova. T he collapsed core becomes a
,... neutron star. A neutron star has a radius of t he order of thousand times
The expression for Tmax given in (8.88) can be conveniently written smaller than a. w hite d warf of the same mass (and has a. correspondingly:
as
larger binding energy) because the degenerate fermions which support it
against gravity a re neutrons rather t han electrons. [R eplace me by mn
kBTm ax ,. . .,_ (M/'-ro)4f3,
1v11 w here M 0 = (!ic/G)3/2m - 2 =6 x 1031 kg in (8.85) .] It is believed t hat if the star is too massive, the 'hard-core'
mec 2
,. (8.89) repulsio n of t he nuclei will be unable to stop t he collapse of t he core and
(It is not a coincidence t hat Mo roughly equals t he mass of the s un , but result will be a black hole.
we can not explain this here.) Thus, the more massive a. s tar is, the higher The supernova is one of the most spectacular of a.II cosmic events
mean temperatu re it achieves. A sufficiently light star never heats up to and yet it is a natural stage in t he evolution of heavy stars. For a few
the point where n uclear fusion becomes a significant energy source; a days or weeks a. single star's light output rivals the combined output of
proper calculatio n s hows this happens for M ;S 0.01M0 .
the ten billion stars of a large galaxy; the energy comes from gravity.
Tbe rough formula. (8.85) fails for M too small or too large. If M ;S The outer pa.rt of the progenitor star which is blown off in a supernova.
O.OOlM0, PF given by (8 .83) is smaller than the mean momentum of event fo rms a. cloud or nebula, ca.lied a s upernova remnant. A n example
electTo ns in a.toms. T he consequence is t hat the white dwarf is made of is the "Crab" nebul a shown in F ig. 8-16. A n important by-product of
packed atoms, t hat is, it is a n ordinary liquid or solid. On the other ha nd, supernovae explosions is that t hey are t he o rigin of elements heavier· than
if M ~ M0 then PF is larger t han me, which means that the electrons are helium. (Altho ug h e lements up to iro n are made in the cores of the less
relativistic, that is, their velocities are close to the velocity of light c. If massive stars which become white dwarfs, most of this material remains
relativistic mechan ics is used in t he derivation of the virial theorem, the buried foreve r in the white d warfs.) T he oldest stars in o ur galaxy have
• " total kinetic energy I< = L; 2
tmv t
= L; p 2 /m gets replaced by L; p t ·v, little of the heavier elements whereas our solar system condensed more
where p is particle momentum, p =
m1v [see (10.57)]. So when PF > me recently from a gas cloud enriched by supernovae.
 (
314 Chapter 8 GRAVITATION
Problems 315
(
(
After a su pernova ex plosion much of the magnetic field and a ng ular
momentum of t he progenitor star remains in the neutron star wh ich has (
a very large magnetic moment and is spinning very rapidly. The rota- (
t ion period can be as short as a few milliseconds. The rotating magnetic
(
moment rad iates low frequency waves at r- 1 Hz, where T is t he rotation
period . These waves accelerate electrons in the star's atmosp here to rela- (
t ivistic speeds and these electrons in turn radiate over a broad frequency (
spectrum. The pulsar in t he Crab Nebula is indicated in Fig. 8-17.
(
PROBLEMS (

8 .1 Attraction of a Spherical Body: Newton's T heorem (

8-1. The density of a sp herical planet of radius R with a molten core of (
radius tR is given by p for tr < r < Rand 5p for r < tR, where (
p is a constant. Find:
(
a) the total mass M in terms of p and R,
(
b) the enclosed mass M(r) in terms of Mand R,
(
FIGURE 8-16. The Crab Nebula. The star indicated by the arrow became a super- c) t he force per unit mass inside or outside t he planet,
nova, which was observed in China in the year 1054. Its outer layers were blown off (
and a pulsar (spinning neutron star) was left. The Crab pulsar spins 30 times per d) t he gravitational potential for any distance from the planet's cen-
second. Photo courtesy of Lick Observatory. ter. Why must the potential match at the boun daries between (
density changes?
(
8-2 . Find the 1· dependence of t he mass density p(r) of a planet for
(
whi ch t he g ravitational fo rce has constant magnitude t hroughout
its interior. (
8-3. If a narrow tu nnel were dug t hrough t he earth along a diameter, (
show that the motion of a particle in the tunnel would be sim ple (
harmonic. Compare the period to the orbital period of a satellite
in a circular 'orbit close to t he earth. Assume t hat the density of (
the earth is uniform and neglect the earth's rotation. (
8-4. The gravitational attraction due to a nearby mountain range might (
be expected to cause a plumb bob to hang at an angle slight ly dif-
ferent fro m vertical. If a mountain range could be represented by (
an infinite half-cy linder of radius a a nd density PM lying on a flat (
F IGURE 8-17. An optical light picture of the Crab pulsar on and off. Although most
plane, show that a plumb bob at a distance r 0 from the cylinder
pulsars have been discovered by the.i r radio emission the above photo of the Crab (
pulsar is taken in visible light at maximum and minimu m intensity. T he Crab pulsar axis wou ld be deflected by an angle (} ~ 7ra2GpM/(10g) . In ac-
has a lso been seen via very energetic gamma rays ("-' 1 TeV). Photo courtesy of Lick tual measurements of this effect, the observed defl ection is much (
Observatory. smaller. Next assume that the mountain range can be represented (
by a cylinder of radius a. and density PM which is floating in a fluid
(
(
(
(
 316 Chapter 8 GRAVITATION Problems 317

of density 2pM, as illustrated. Show that the plumb-bob deflection
due to the mountain range is zero in this model. Since the latter re-
sult is in much better agreement with observations, it is postulated
that mountains, and also co~tinents, are in isostatic equilibrium
with the underlying mantle-rock.
8.3 Tidal Evolution of a Planet-Moon System
8-10. Find the critical total angular momentum J 0 below which corota-
. tion does not occur. Hint: al the critical point the maximum and
minimum coalesce so 8 2 E/8L 2 = 0.
8-11 . At the present time for the earth-moo n system

271"
wo =- - = 0.727 x 10-4 s- 1
1 day
no = 27.3271"days = 2.66 x 10-6 s- 1
8-5. Show explicitly that the torque due to any gravitational force act- Lo= M Lnor5 = 2.87 x 1034 kg m2 /s
ing on a spherically symmetric body vanish.es. Hint: an arbitrary So= l wo = 0.586 x 103 4 kgm 2 /s
r
gravity field is produced by a superposition of point sources. ro = 1.495 x 108 km
=
8-6. T.h e center of gravity of a system of particles is defined by N RG X
F where F = 2:: m;g; is the extern'!-! forces on the system and The moment of inertia of the earth is given by I~ kMER~, where
,. N = 2::; mil\ 'x g is the torq ue about the coordinate origi'n. For a the factor of} reflects the actual mass distribution within the earth.
uniform external field gi = g show that the center of gravity and Show t hat:
the center of mass are th e same point. a) The orbital angular velocity is [; = (~ )312 and I.he spin angular
,.. 0

~ = 5.86 -
112
8.2 The Tides velocity is given by wo
4.86 (.!:...)
ro
.
8-7. The moon and sun both appear to have nearly the same angular
b) The present energy is
size as viewed from earth. From this fact and the observed tidal
maximum ratio what is the implied ratio of average densities? Use
the data in the Appendices to check this.
Eo = 1.75 x 1029 J

8-8. Pulsars are thought to be rapidly rotating neutron stars. The Crab and the ratio elfJO is
nebula pulsar has a radius of about 10 km, a mass of a bout one
solar mass, and revolves a t a rate of 30 times per second. Find 2
r + 29.22 ( 1.206 - ~-· )
0
t he nearest distance that a man 2 m tall could approach the pulsar -E = -0.218-
~ r ~
without being pulled apart. Assume that his body mass is Ufliformly
distributed along his height, his feet point toward the pulsar, and
8-12. Repeat the analysis of§ 8.3 for the two moons of Mars. The neces-
dism~mberment begins wlu,m the force that e.a ch half of his body
sary dat.a are
exerts on the othe r exceeds ten times his body weight on earth.
Mars Phobos Deimos
What is the period of revolutipn in a circular orbit about the p ulsar
mass 0.108Me 1.8 X 10- 7 ML 2..4 X 10- 8 ML
at this minimum distance?
period 1.03 d 0.319 cl 1.263 d
8-9. The Crab pulsar mentioned in the previous exercise has a period radius/distance 0.52Re 9.4 x 106 m 2.35 x 10 7 m
which increases by 36.526 ns/day. Compute the power loss in rota-
Both moons rotate in the same sense as the spin of Mars. Show
t ional kinetic energy in Watts. This power is converted to electro-
that t he moons are near the unstable corotation sol ution. What is
magnetic energy which illuminates the entire nebula.
the eventual fate .of each?
 (
318 Chapter 8 GRAVITATION Problems 319 (
(
8.4 General Relativity: The Theory of Gravity In the following ignore dimensionless numerical factors. (
8-13. Rederive the equivalence principle result for the gravitational fre- c) For a fully i~nized plasma the electron number density ne is re-
(
quency sh ift and light deflection in a uniform gravity field by con- lated to the number of ions by n+ = ne/Z where Z is the charge
sidering a frame at rest on the earth's surface and a frame in free of the ion. Show that t he electron degeneracy pressure can be (
fall near the earth's surface. expressed in terms of t he rad ius and mass of a dwarf star by (
8-14. An object 0 is lensed by a galaxy G having Schwarzschild radius rs. (
The observer, object and galaxy are collinear and at the distances
shown. Using a small angle approximation, find an expression for (
o
the angular size of the Einstein ring in terms of rs, d1 , and d2. (
where A is the number of nucleons in the ion, mN is the nucleon
---1~ (

~p
mass, M the mass of the star and R the radius of the star.
<l) The gravitational pressure is roughly (
0 d1 G-<'2- (
(
8.6 Self-Gravitating Bodies: Stars
(
8-15. Show that the gravitation al energy -U released in the collapse of
For pressure balance in a degenerate dwarf star show that (
a large cloud of mass M into a sphere of radius R and uniform
density is (
2
M R3 = constant
I
3 GM
U=----
5 R
c
and that the density is proportional to M 2 • Thus doubling the (
where U is the resulting gravitational potential energy. Hint: bring mass of such a star causes its volume to reduce by a factor of two.
in a shell of mass dm from infinity and distribute it uniformly on (
e) A wh ite dwarf is mostly carbon and oxygen (A = 2Z) when it
the surface of a sphere of radius r where dm = p(41Tr 2 dr). Integrate
up to radius R.
collapses whereas in a neutron star all the protons convert to c
neutrons (A = Z). Show that the radius of a neutron star is (
8-16. A gas has n particles per unit volume. smaller t han a white dwarf of the same mass by a factor
(
a) Assume the particles move along the x axis with velocity v. Show
that the pressure against a wall would be (
(
P=nvp
(
f) Repeat the arguments leading to part c) except now assu me t hat
where p is the particle's momentum . (
the degenerate electron gas is relativistic (v ~ c). Equate this
b) Show that if the particles obey the Pauli principle the degeneracy relativistic degeneracy pressure as in d) to obtain a crude estimate (
pressure is of the order of of the Chandrasekhar limit on the larges.t possible mass of a white (
dwarf.
h2 5/3 (
Pd= -(n) g) Find the ratio of Chandrasekhar limits for neutron and white
m
dwarf stars, neglecting nuclear forces and general relativistic ef- (
where m is the mass of a particle and h is Planck's constant. fects.

(
(
 320 Chapter 8 GRAVITATION

8-17. Consider a plot of mass density as a function of mass for ordinary

matter [density independent of mass], degenerate matter [using part
d) of the preceding problem], and an object whose radius is its Chapter 9
Schwarzschild radius. As mass increases discuss the evolution on
this graph a nd the inevitability of gravitational collapse. With the NEWTONIAN COSMOLOGY
aid of this graph , discuss the consequences of increasing the mass.
Does a limit to the maximum mass appear?

Newton's laws of motio n have been applied in previous chapters to physi-

cal problems involving dynamical systems ranging in size from molecules
to the solar system . In this chapter we consider the dynamics and the
nature of the observable universe. While Einstein's theory of general rel-
ativity is needed to fully accou nt for physics at t hese large scales, New-
tonian mechanics still explains many aspects of the phenomena. Also
discussed in this chapter is the existence of dark matter. There is com-
pelling evidence that most of the mass of the universe is invisible. Its
,.. presence is inferred through its gravitational effects on ordinary matter.

9.1 The Expansion of the Universe

,. A seminal observation was made in 1928 by Hubble and Slipher that the
spectrum of the light from distant galaxies is shifted towards the red by
an amount proportional to t he distance to the galaxy. They interpreted
this redshift as a Doppler shift due to t he galaxies receding from us with
speeds proportional to their distance. If light emitted by an atom at
rest is observed to have wavelength Ao, when the atom is moving away
r
with a velocity v the light will be observed to have a longer wavelength
r A = >. 0 + tl.X, where approximately

tl.X v
_,....,_
>. - c (9.1)
r
if v «: c. According to the empirical Hubble law, the relation between
r
t he radial distance. and the radial velocity of galaxies is

v = Hor or r = vH0 1 (9.2)

where Ho is the Hubble constant at the present. (As we shall see, the
value of H = v/r had larger values in the past.) The value of Ho is

(
321
 322 Chapter 9 NEWTONIAN COSMOLOG Y (
9.1 The Expansion of t/1e Universe 323
(

conven tionally expressed as (

The Hubble law has the following interpretation. Suppose t hat at
some tim e in the past, t = 0, a ll the matter of the universe (or at least of (
Ho = lOOh km/s (9 .3) the part of the universe we can see) was at very nearly the same location
Mpc (
r = 0 (at very high density) and that from then on all t he pieces of
where h parametrizes the experimental uncertainty; the observational matter moved freely, with constant velocities. At a later time t, matter (
limits on h are with velocity v would be at location r = vt. This has t he form of t he (
0.3 :::; h:::; 1.0 (9.4) Hubble law (using a frame in which we a re at rest at the origin) but now
(
extended to a vector form
Here Mpc means megaparsec =
106 pc. The parsec (pc) is a traditional (
astronom ical unit of distance, defined as follows. The position of a com- v = Hr (9.10)
paratively nearby star in the sky will seem to move relative to distant (
with H- 1 = t, t he le ngth of tim e since the density was infinite. It is
stars (parallax) as the earth moves on its orbit around the sun . A star (
believed that (9.10) is true; the average 'flow' velocity of galaxies trans-
is said to be at a distance of one parsec if this relative motion has an
verse to the line of sight (which is not directly observable) is negligible (
amplitude equal to one arc second (4.85 x 10-6 rad) . Since the radius of
compared to the line of sight velocity.
the orbit of the earth is R =
1.5 x 1011 m, (
It is important to realize that whatever H (t) is, the flow (9.10) is
1 pc= 3.09 x 10 16 m (
(9.5) a uniform expansion (or com pressio n if H were negative); the same law
would be o bserved from any galaxy. For example, galaxy A at location rA (
Physicists often express astronomical distances in terms of the distance
t hat light travels in a -year, has velocity v A =Hr A according to (9.10); s ubtraction of this equation (
from (9.10) gives
1 ligh t-year = c(l yr) = (3 x 108 m/s) x (3.16 x 107 s) ~ 10 13 km (9.6) (
(9.11)
in terms of which
(
which is just (9.10) again, but now for velocity and position in the frame
(
1 pc~ 3.26 ly (9 .7) centered on galaxy A. Another way to see the uniformity is to remark
that if at a given time the location of galaxies 1,2, . .. are r1, r2, .. ., then (
The Hubble constant (9.3) can be alternatively expressed as
+
according to (9.10) their locations al a time dt later are (1 H dt)r 1 , (1 + (
1
H 0 = 10 10 1
h- y r , the Hubble time (9.8) +
H dt)r 2 , .. ., that is, all change by t he same facto r 1 H dl. ·
(
or as Gravity is the o nly force which seriously violates t he assumption that
(
cH0-
1
= 3000 h - 1 Mpc, the Hubble distance (9.9) the pieces of matter of t he universe move freely. (Shor t range forces
merely scatter, which does not change an already un iform distribution; (
The size of the observable universe at present is of the order of cH0- 1 ~ electric forces are effectively s hort range because of charge cancell ation,
10 {
10 ly. The universe may actually be infinite, with infinitely more matter known as shieldin g.) The universe appears to be unifo rm in density
whose light has not yet reached us. averaged over large scales (of order 100 Mpc), which gives rise lo t he (
The Hubble law holds for individual galaxies only to a precision of cosmological principle that t he universe is in fact uniform on large scales. (
a few hundred km/s, which is the velocity range of galaxies in the same We now show that if the mass distribution of the gas of galaxies is uniform
(
region of space; this is a measure of the 'temperature' of t he gas of galaxies at one time, Newtonian g ravity leaves uniform both the expansion and
that constitutes the visible part of the universe. The law holds much the mass density p. That is, t he flow (9.10) remains of that form; t he (
better for the average velocity of the galaxies in a region, t hat is, it only effect of g ravity is to change t he time dependence of H. (
describes the mean flow of t he gas of galaxies. A point moving with the We start by choosing the origin of coordinates at an arbitrary galaxy. (
mean flow is said to be comoving. Assuming that no force except gravity acts on the galaxy, this coord inate

(
(
(
324 Chapter 9 NEWTONIAN C OSMOLOGY 9.1 The Expansion of !he Universe 325

frame is an inertial frame. Now consider the gravitational acceleration of This is the Hubble law with fl given by
some other galaxy with coordinate r. (We will refer to t his as the 'test
galaxy'.) Since the assumed mass distribution of the uni verse is uniform,
it is spherically symmetric around the origin and we can apply Newton's
H= J81r~p (9.18)
theorem from § 8.1. The gravitational acceleration of the galaxy at r is
2
produced by t he mass M inside the sphere of radius r Thus the density is proportional to H

M = ~7rr p
3
(9.12) 3H 2 (9.19)
P = 81l'G
where p is the spatially uniform mass density. The equation of motion of The time dependence of r can be determined by integrating (9.16)
the galaxy is
..
= - GM . G41rp
r = - - -r
r t
r --
r3 3
(9 .13)
j 1 2
r 1 dr = J2GM j dt (9.20)
Thus r is of the fo rm J(t)r; this preserves the Hubble law. 0 0

The mass M, Eq. (9.12), is a constant of the motion, because all the
giving
galaxies inside the sphere of radius r on which our test galaxy is located 2/3
stay inside, according to the Hubble flow (uniform expansion) . Since the r= ( ~v'2GM ) t 2l 3 (9.21)
motion is radial (v "' r), (9.13) becomes
Computing r/r from (9.21), the Hubble constant is
GM
7: = --2-,
r
M =constant (9.14) (9.22)

which is identical to the motion of a mass moving radially in the gravi-
tational field of a point mass M at the origin. The energy integral is
(9.15)
T he integration constant C has the dime,1sions of velocity squared; if it
is non- negative it has t he interpretation that f -t ±VG as r -t oo (free
expansion or contraction).
First we consider expansion in the case C = 0, for which
(9.16)
and the mass density from (9.19) becomes
1
(9.23)
P = 61l'Gt2
Note that the final results (9.~2) and (9.23) do not depend on r; they are
independent of t he choice of test galaxy.
In the t heory of general relativity this C = 0 case corresponds to
a spatially flat (Euclidean) space-time and is known as the Einstei~­
de Sitter universe. The mass density of this universe, given by (9.19), is
called the critical mass density Pc· For C = 0 the mass density of the
universe would be

Expressing M in terms of p,
3
Pc = HGJ
81!'
= 1.88 x 10-25 h~ kg/m
3 (9.24)

The mass of a hydrogen atom is 1.67 x 10- 21 kg so the critical density is

(9.17) a few hydrogen atoms per cubic meter. From (9.22), if C = 0 the present
 (
326 Chapter 9 NEWTONIAN COSMOLOG Y 9.1 The Expansion of the Unive rse 327 (
(
age of the universe would be T he present value of kR/ Rs can be measured in two ways. The first
(
is to measure the ratio of t he density p to the critical density Pc of a flat
(9.25) universe (
n- P P (9.29) (
where 1 Gyr = 109 yr; for the observationally preferred value h ~ 0.5 , = Pc = (3 H 2 /8rrG)
the age is to = 13.7 Gyr. In comparison, the age of the sun and earth is
(
about 5 Gyr and t he age of the oldest stars in our galaxy is of the order This can be related to kR/ R s by using (9 .27) to get (
of 10-15 Gyr . (
In the case C -:/= 0, it is aw kward that for a given universe, the value
(9.30) (
of C depends on the choice of test galaxy. That is, if another is chosen
whose distance at a given time is a factor ~ times the original galaxy's (
distance, r = (r' then = c ec is required in order that r(t) = (r(t) for
and then (9.12) a nd (9.28) to get (
all t . The convenient thing is to choose the test galaxy so that the velocity
JiCT is t he fundamental velocity c, the velocity of light. Denoting this
(
test galaxy's distance r as R, (9.15) becomes D= 1 (9 .31) (
1 - kR/Rs
(
R,2 = 2GM - kc2 (9.26)
R T he other is t o measure the deceleration - R by finding H at earlier t imes, (
by observing more distant galaxies. A convenient dimensionless measure (
where M = ~,,. R3 p and k = + 1 or - 1. This is written more simply as is the deceleration parameter defined by
c
(9.27) qo =--.-
RR
R2
(9.32)
(
(
where (
From (9.26) , RR = - GM/Rand thus
Rs = 2GMc- 2 (9.28) (

[Compare (8.56).] It is convenient to use (9.26) and (9.27) with k = 0 for (

(9.33)
the C =0 case as well; but it must be remembered t hat in that case the (
choite of scale of R is arbitrary.
Consequently n and q0 measure the same t hing. (
In general relativity it turns out that R is the radius of curvature
of space, positively curved like a sphere (closed , Riemannian s pace) if For k = -1 (open universe), t he solution to (9.27) with R = 0 at (
k = +1, and negatively curved like a potato chip (open, Loba.chevskian t = 0 can be expressed parametrically as (
space) if k = - 1. For the Euclidean universe with k = 0 the radius of (
curvature is infinite. R = t(cos h a - l )Rs (9.34)
(
The constant of the motion M, or equivalently Rs, has the following ct= t(sinh a - a)Rs (9.35)
significance: when R <%'.'. Rs the term - kc2 in (9.27) is unimportant and (
t he motion of R(t) is the same as if k = 0, but it begins to deviate as R as can be verified by differentiation, using R = (dr /da)/(dt/da). (One (
(and ct) become comparable to Rs. would like to eliminate the parameter a to get r as a function of t; t his (
(
(

(
 328 Chapter 9 NEWTONIAN COSMOLOGY
9.1 T h e Expansion of the Universe 329

cannot be done algebraically but can be don e numerically.) The observ-

able quantity n, Eqs. (9 :29) and (9.31), is given by

D= 2 (9.36) 1.25
cosh a+ 1
Fork = +l (closed universe), the parametric solution to (9.27) is similarly
, 1.00

R = t(l - cos(3)Rs (9.37)

....·.........- ....··········· (closed)
ct= t(f3- sin(3)Rs (9.38) R 0.15 .. ,.,...., ....
.•••·•• / ,<,,.,.
and n is given by .. /
r
2 0.50 ...(~~-/
,. D= (9.39) ,• /
1 + cos(3 .: /
·~
The dependence of Rand n on time which results from these parametric 0.25
equations is shown in Figs. 9-1 and 9-2. At small times, ct « Rs, the
radius is small , R « Rs and the R s/ R gravity term dominates the right-
oL----'-----''-----''-----'----'--~
hand side of (9.27). The expansion is similar to the k = O case 0 0.25 0.5Q 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50

R ,. . ., t 2 13 , n~ 1 (9.40)
F IGURE 9-1. The raclius of the universe versus time (the .Big Bang occurs at t = 0)
The nature of the expansion changes for ct "' Rs. For k = - 1, free fork= - 1 (ope~ universe), k = 0 (Euclidean universe), and k = +l (closed universe);
expansion occurs when ct » Rs and R » Rs with the R scale is in units of Rs and the t scale is in units of Rs/c.

R ~ct, n« 1 (9.41) l.50 ~--,...--~,...---,---,---,-----..,

For k = +l, the radius R reaches a maximum at (3 =

R = Rs , ct=
11"

2 Rs, n = oo
and the radius returns to zero at ct = ?r R s (the Big Crunch). The time
?r, with

(9.42)
l.25

1.00
k=+lI
/ (closed)
I
evolution of the universe in the three cases is illustrated in Fig . 9-1 and
, Fig. 9-2. /
0.75 /
The present observational limits on the deceleration parameter and
the mass density of the universe are ///
k=O
,. 0.1 ~ n~ 2
0.50
I
o 0 o o o • O O O• O OOO Oo0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 0 · • 0 • • o O O H • O OO O• ooOoO O HOO o • oo oo o Oo OO • • • • • O OOOOO O O O • o o o o o o o o o o ooo

(9.43)
,. k= - l
This is consistent with the value D· = 1 of the Euclidean
universe. Al- 0.25
,. (open)
though values of n # 1 are allowed by observation, they are theoretically
unnatural because they require as an initial condition at t = 0, the value
of t he constant of the motion GM c- 2 to be of the order of 1010 years, OLo- - -
o.L25_ _ _0L.5o_ _ _ .00_ _ _1~
uL1s_ _ _1L . 25---:'1.5o

which is huge compared to the very short natural time scale of the Big
Bang.
F IGURE 9-2. The time evolution of fl = Pf Pc fork = - 1 (open universe ), k = 0
(Euclidean ~verse), and k = +l (closed universe). The units are the same as in
Fig. 9-1.
 (
330 Chapter 9 NEWTONIAN COSMOLOGY 9.2 Cosmic Redshift 331
(
(
The above cosmology based on Newton ian mechanics is valid during
(
the time that the bulk of t he energy content of the universe is in the
rest masses of particles, the so-called matter dominated era. At earlier r (
times, in t he radiation dominated era, general relativity must be used.
The consequence is t hat (9.26) still holds, but with M eq ualling the total
energy in a comoving volume; if t he pressure P is not zero, t hen M is
not constant.
.. .•

'.
-
·· v= Hr. (
(
(
In later sections we discuss t he important question of the value of the (
present m ass density of the universe. Here Newtonian dynamics plays a
(
crucial role in determ ining t hat most of the matter in t he universe is dark,
that is, it is not detectable by the electr~magnetic processes by which we (
normally observe matter. (
FIGURE 9-3. Cosmic red-shift due to scale increase.
(
9.2 Cosmic Redshift
as (
In looking at distant objects we are looking back in time. One cannot see (9.46) (
all the way back to the time t = 0 of the Big Bang because at early times
the universe, at high temperatures, was opaque. It was a plasma (free where 6.r = 1~6.t is the amount that the distance r increased during t he (
charges) so light was strongly scat tered. Both radiation and matter cool time 6.t; hence (
down as the universe expands according to the Cosmic R edshift Theorem >- oc r (9.47)
(
which we derive in the next paragraph. T he radiation present when the
T he wavelength of freely propagating radiation as seen by comoving (
un iverse became transparent at the plasma-to-gas transition at the age of
observers (e.g., on the galaxies) thus increases in proportion to r, the
300,000 years is observed today as the 2.7° K cosm ic black-body radiation. (
distance between t he two comoving galaxies. As a consequence, A is
. Consider a light wave propagating past two galaxies separated by a proportional to R . The same argument applied to any moving particle (
distance r as shown in F ig. 9-3. As seen by galaxy 0), t he lig ht passing says t hat its momentum, as seen by comoving observers, varies inversely (
by has wavelength A. At a t ime 6.t = r/c later this light passes galaxy with R(t).
® · According to t he Hubble law, galaxies <D and ® are moving apart (
at the velocity v = Hr, so the light as seen by galaxy ® is redshifted to In 1990 the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite observed
(
wavelength A', where the background radiation very precisely. As illustrated in Fig. 9-4, a n ex-
cellent description of the intensity of the radiation for wavelengths from (
A' - >- 6..A 1 cm down to 0.5 mm is given by the Planck blackbody spectrum with (
-- = -
>- >-
= -vc = H 6.t (9.44) temperature T = 2.73±0.006 I<. The radiation coming from various direc-
tions is observed to be remarkably uniform. This means that t he universe (
was very uniform a.t the time t hat it became transparent, resulting in the (
Since the Hubble constant is rel ~ted to t he. expa nsion by
uniform and isotropic blackbody radiation . In fact , blackbody radiation
(
r defines t he Hubble flow much better than do the galaxies. The biggest
H =- (9.45) observed non-uniformity is a small (±0.002) variation in the blackbody (
r
temperature depending on direction, which is explainable as the Doppler (
where r is the distance between any two galaxies, (9.44) can be written shift resulting from t he motion of t he earth (and t he entire local group of
(
(
(
(
 332 Chapter 9 NEWTONIAN COSMOLOGY
9.3 Viria/ Theorem 333

Consider a system of N particles. The CM is assumed to be fixed and

1.2 the constituent parts of t he system are assumed to be bound or enclosed
~

7 so that t heir coordinate positions remain finite. We define t he virial G

§ 1.0
as
I::
~
N
) 0.8
G=:Lp; ·r; (9.49)
~
"'oo 0.6
i =l
ti
bc Time differentiation yields
0.4
"'!'$
B 0.2
.Q
00
·c (9.50)
..0
=LF;·r;+2K
0
2 6 8 JO 12 14 16 18 20
A,-1 (cycles/cm) since F ; = Pi = mi-;. Here F; is the force acting on the ith particle.
FIGURE 9-4. MeasW'ed blackbody sp ectrum of cosmic background. The curve is the Re-integrating (9.50) from t =
0 tor, dividing t he result by T and taking
Planck blackbody spectrum for temperature 2.73 K. the limit T -t oo we obtain

galaxies) relative to a uniform Htibbie expansion . Much smalle r fluctua-

(9.51)
tions on the order of a few parts in 105 are observed by COBE and more
recent experiments. These tiny temperature fluctuations reflect density
,. fluctuations which are thought to be the "seeds" from which the galaxies By assumption the virial is finite so the factor of +causes the left-hand
condensed. side to van ish in the T ---+ oo limit and thus
,.
9.3 Virial Theorem (9.52)

fo chapte rs 6 a nd 7 Newton's laws were applied to systems of particles.

The most extensive applications concerned the dynamics of rigid body This result is known as t he virial theorem.
motion . There the constraint that interparticle distances remain constant If the forces F; are due to pair-wise central forces which go like a power
allowed the behavior of the system to be described by CM motion plus of the distance, the right-hand side of (9.52) can be put in a much more
~otations about the CM:. For non-rigid systems whose constituent parts useful form. The force on the i 1h P.article due to two-body interactions
mteract by a known force we can still draw some gehera l conclusions but with the rest of the system is
?n ly as a s~atistical average. However a statement a.bout average energies
is all t h at is needed for many astronomical purposes. The virial theorem F; = LF;; (9.53)
of Clausius, which we will now derive, concerns time-averaged quantities #i
such as kinetic ene rgy
The quantity 2:; F; · r; appearing in (9.52) can be written as

J
T

(K)t::::: Jim
T-400
~T K(t) dt (9.48)
i #i
0 (9.54)
where ( )t is used to denote the time average. =LL [F;; · r; + F;; · r;]
i i<i

'
 334 Chapter 9 NEWTONIAN COSMOLOGY (
9.4 Dark Ma tter 335
(

Newton's third law F ji =- F ;j then leads to the result 9.4 Dark Matter
(
(
LF; · = LLFij ·r; r;j (9 .55) Knowledge about the universe is largely based on t he detection of electro- (
j i j<i
magnetic radiation (radio waves to gamma rays) from luminous matter in
(
outer space. The existence of dark matter in the universe, which does not
where r;j =r; - rj and the double summation includes all pairs once.
sign ificantly emit or absorb elect romagnetic radiation, is inferred from its (
Now we further assume t hat t he particles interact t hrough an a t trac- gravitational effects. Possible dark matter candid ates include low-mass (
tive central force 'of the power-law form stars in which thermonuclear reactions barely or never sta rted, black
holes, and exotic elementary particles. The presence of an, astoundingly (
(9.56) large amount of dark matter, at least fi ve to ten times t he amount of (
luminous matter , is inferred from the rotations of spiral galaxies and the
This F ii can be derived from a potential energy (
dynamics of groups of galaxies.
(
V.·· _ _ _c_ 1.n+ L A. Galactic Rotation Curves
'1 - n+1 ij (9.57) (
Ou r sun is one of about lOLL stars of the Milky Way galaxy, which is a (
Noting that
typical large spiral galaxy. About 10% of the mass of our galaxy is in
(
-(n + l)V.SJ· -- F IJ· · · r·IJ· (9.58) the form of hydrogen gas. The s un lies about 28 kly (1 kly = 103 light-
years) from the center of the galactic disk. Abou t seventy percent of (
(9.55) takes the form
the galaxy's lig ht emanates from within this rad ius . Ou r sun moves in a (
roughly circula r orbit with a speed of about 200 km/s; in the 1011 years
LF; ·r; = - (n+ 1) L V;j since our galaxy formed , our su n has made about 40 revolutions.
(
i pairs (9.59) (
= -(n + l )V Other spiral galaxies a re actually easier to study since then the whole
(
galaxy is often visible and a ll of the stars in t he galaxy are at nearly the
where V is t he sum of all the pair-wise potential energies and thus is the same distance from us. Using Doppler shifts of visible light and radio (
total potential energy. Using t his in (9.52) gives the virial theorem for a emissions, t he circula r orbital velocity, or rotation curve of galaxies, can
(
self-i nteracting system be measured. In Fig. 9-5 the rotation velocity v8 is plotted as a fu nction of
distance for several spiral galaxies. The visible light falls off exponent ially (
2(K)t = (n + l)(V)t (9.60) with increasing radius but by observing atomic radio spectral lines from (
gas surrounding a galaxy the rotation cu rve can be measured to large
radii. A flat rotation curve is observed extending beyond the luminous (
For h armonic oscillator interactions n =
1 and the virial t heorem gives
(K )t = (V)1. For gravitational forces the inverse sq uare law dependence region out to t he limits of observation. Although the observations at (
with n = -2 gives large radii are of radio emission from hydrogen atoms, this hydrogen
(
and the estimated accompanying stars contribute a negligible fraction of
(9.61) the inferred total mass in t he outer region. By the following argument (
Newtonian mechanics implies a preponderance of dark matter in spiral (
This relation is used in § 9.4B to deduce t he presence of dark matter in galaxies.
groups of galaxies. (
For simplicity we assume a spherical mass distribution, which is the
(
expected distri bution of t he dominant dark matter componen t . By New-
(
(
(
(
 336 Chapter 9 NEWTONIAN COSMOLOGY
9.,f Dark Matter 337

value of v outside the visible part of the galaxy implies that a large dar k
6 d .
halo envelopes the galaxy. Representative luminosity an rotation curve
. '
·~

i,.,
300r

~~~t~.
observations for a spiral galaxy are shown in F ig. 9-6 and compared with
t he rotation curve expected from the luminous matter .
)(

..•
~lG C 801
ii 16

...• .. . 0
...
NGC 3198
..•
c
'u 20
~
v
....
;~~h~.
ii (I)

~ 22
' •,.
uoc
~ o 1 o 20 30 •o 60 1oo
bf)

"'
El
24 ...
2885 ,· > Dl alanoo from nucleua (kpc)
26 ..
PIGURE 9-5. Photographs a nd rotation curves for two spiral galaxies. T he same 200
horizontal scale applies to the left and right sides of the figure.
..
ton's t heorem of § 8.1 and force balance for circu lar orbits we have
"""
-;
.. ...............,
(I)

]
.._,
100

or
(9.62)
<:::>
..
(9.63) 0
0 10 20 30 40
where M(r) is the total mass within a sphere of radius r. Thus fo r the radius (kpc)
inner region of constant density p ,
PIGU RE 9-6. Light profile and rotation curve of the spira l galaxy NGC3198. Top: .lu-
minosity profile. Bottom: observed rotation curve (dots with error bars) and rntat1on
{9.64) curve predicted from Light and neutra l hydrogen gas distributions.

Outside the mass distribution, where M(r) = constant (the so-called In some cases t he rotation curve has been measured about five times
Keplerian region) , we expect fu rther out t han the bulk of the visible mass. Since the total mass is
proportional to the radius (for v8 constant), t he total mass is at least five
1 times larger t han the visible mass.
M(r) =co nstant, so v6 ex: y'r (9.65)
B. G roups of Galaxies
A constan t rotation curve, v6 '.'.::::'. cons~an t, implies
T here are many examples of groups of galaxies bound by gravitational
1 interactions. The "local group" consists of about 30 galaxies of va rious
M(r) ex: r, p(1·) ex: -2 (9.66)
1' sizes, dominated by our galaxy and t he Andromeda galaxy. The Coma
cluster is an example of a grou p containing thousands of galaxies. The
In the observed rotation curves in Fig. 9-5 t he lack of a Keplerian fall-off
dark matter wit hin groups of galaxies can be determined from an appli-
of v6 beyond t he visible region· is evidence fo r unseen mass. T he constant
cation of the vi rial t heorem.
 (
338 Chapter 9 NEWTONIAN COSMOLOGY Problems 339
(
(
From (9.61) the viri al t heorem for a system of galaxies is Using (9.68) and (9.69) the virial theorem of (9.67) becomes
(
(
(9.67) (9. 70)
(

Although the galaxies of a group may vary in size one expects that the ra- (
where we can drop the time average because of the large number of mem-
bers of the group. Since we observe only velocities projected onto the line tio of mass to luminosity will be about the same fo r each galaxy. Defining (
of sight (the direction from us to the astronomical object) and distances a mass-to-luminosity ratio
(
projected perpendicular to t he line of sight, we need to rewrite (9.67) in Y:= m; (9.71)
terms of the actual observables. Li (

If the grou p is spherically symmetric, t he velocity component u; of a and substituting m; = Y L; in (9.70) we find (
galaxy along the line-of-sigh t is related on the average to the full velocity (
V; by l:L;vi.
y = 31T i '
(9.72) (
2
=
1 2 2G L L;Lj/ R;j
(
U· - V· (9.68) pairs
' 3 '
(
From Fig. 9-7 t he projection of a galactic coordinate r on the perpendic- For analyses of several groups of galaxies the value
ular plane averaged over solid angle dfl = sinB dB cl</> is (
Ygroup ~ 30Yiocal (9. 73) (
i
R=\ ~ n
; i ) i
= 47r
j r sindn B = 41Tr j" dB j def>
i
2
.,,. is deduced, where Y 1ocal is the average value for this ratio for a local (
(9.69) portion of our galaxy, taking into account only directly detectable mass. (
0 0
Thus there must exist about thirty times more dark matter than visible
= 2r matter on t he scale of a group of galaxies . (
If all t he inferred dark matter is included t hen fl= (see (9.29)) exceeds (
0.2 but whether enough dark matter is present to realize n = 1 for the (
i111 galaxy Einstein-de Sitter universe is not settled. Searches for supernovae in dis-
(
tant galaxies show promise for establishing a more accurate experimental
determination of n. (
(
PROBLEMS
(
9.1 The Expansion of the Universe (
9-1. Olber's Paradox: Assume a static uniform universe consisting of (
sun-like stars ·averaging 5 ly separation.
~--- (
a) Find the number of stars in a spherical shell of radius r and
thickness t:J.. « r. (

FIGURE 9-7. Line of sight coordinates of a galaxy moving in a group of galaxies. b) Each star has surface area A. Find the fraction of the s hell s urface (
in a) covered by stars . (
(
(
340 Chapter 9 NEWTONIAN COSMOLOG Y
c) Find the largest such universe for which the fraction in b) does
not exceed one. Comment on your result.
9-2. Convert the value of the Hubble constant Ho = 50 ~P~ to a valu e
1
of H 0 in years.
9-3.a) Diffe renti ate the Hubble law (9. 10) with respect to time and show
that the result is consistent with the equation of motion (9.13).
Verify that the following equation for time dependence of H is
obtained
iI = - H2 - 47rGp
3 9.4 Dark Matter
With gravity turn ed off, find the free-expansion solution to t his
equation.
b) The volume occupied by a group of galaxies changes in a time
+
interval dt by the factor (1 H dt) 3 . Using this result show t hat
the mass density p of the volume changes at the rate
p = - 3Hp
This equation for p combined with the equation for H in part
a) are the equations of motion for the expansion. However it is
easier to use (9. 13) directly.
9-4. Assuming t hat n= =
1 and H (J 1 2 x 10 10 yr compute the average
mass density at the time of radiat ion decoupling w hich occurred
at a cos mic time of 300,000 yr. Express your result in hydrogen
atoms p er c ubic meter. Assume Newtonian cosmology is valid for
all times .
9-5. Estimate the average visible mass density of
a) the sola r system. Assume a radius of 50 AU.
b) the galaxy. Assume 10 11 s un-like stars a nd a radius of 5 kpc.
c) the local galactic grou p. Assume a total visible mass of 2 x
10 11 M 0 and a radius of 500 kpc.
Compare these densities to the critical density of (9.24). One solar
m ass is M0 -:::= 2 x 1030 kg.
9-6. On dimen.sional grounds one can argue t hat the "natural" time scale
of t he universe is the unit constru cted from the fundamental con-
stants G, c and h (reduced Planck's constant) . This time unit is
known as the Planck time. Construct a n expression for the Planck
Problems 341
time a nd evaluate it numericall y. T his is relevant to the "natural-
ness" a rgument t h at n = 1 (end of§ 9 .1). F ind t he corresponding
Planck length.
9.3 Virial Theorem
9-7. Show th at the virial theorem of (9.52) is valid if t he sum of the
principa l moments of inertia of t he system increases less rapidly
then quadrat ically with time. Hint: express the virial as a time
derivative.
9-8. Assu ming t he following s pherical dist ribut ion of mass in a galaxy
visible mass
Mv(1·/1·0) 3, r < r0
Mv(r) ={
Mv, r > ro
dark mass
NMv(r/ro) 3 , r < r0
Mv(r) = {
N Mv (r/ro) , r > r0
Use the data from Fig. 9-6 t o roughly estimate vs at large t', the
size of the light matter distribution r 0 , and the vs due t o t he v isible
matter. Estim ate t he ratio of dark to visible matter out to 30 kpc.
9-9. For many distant galaxies the distance is determined by usi ng the
Hu bble law.
a) If the mass of a spiral galaxy is measu red by t he rotation curve
out to a given angular radius show that the mass contained within
t hat radius is proportional to H 0 1 .
b) Show t hat the m ass-to-light ratio 1 for a group of galaxies de-
termined by t he virial theore m is proportional to Ho. In 1933
F. Zwicky first a nalyzed t he Coma cluster and concluded that
the dark matter was 400 times more massive than the visible
matter. At the t ime, the Hubble constant was t ho ught to be
560 km s- 1 MpC- 1 . What wo uld he have concluded about t he ra-
tio of dark t o visible matter using t he more current value of (9.3)?
Hint: remember that the observed luminosity decreases as the in-
verse square of the distance compared to the absolute luminosity.
 (
10.2 T he M ichelson-Morley Experiment 343
(
(
The coordinate frame in which Maxwell's equations hold was historically
Chapter 10 called the ether frame (the rest frame of a hypothetical medium, the ether, (
in which light was considered to propagate). This raises the embarrassing (
RELATIVITY question: why should the 'ether' have t he velocity · of the earth? What (
is special about the velocity of the earth? Of course it might just be
coincidence that the earth has the magic velocity at which Maxwell's (
equations hold. But even this can be ruled out, because during a year (
Understanding of the physics of space and time was changed forever with components of the earth's velocity in t he plane of its orbit around the
the introduction of the special theory of relativity by Albert Einstein in (
sun vary by ±30 km/ s, and the Michelson-Morley experiment discussed
1905. He dismissed the concept of an ether through which light propa- below showed that the velocity of light stayed constant throughout the (
gates and postulated that the speed of light is the same in any inertial year to a precision of::::::: 1 km/s . (
frame. Among the consequences of this is t hat t he rate of a clock and the
length of a ruler depend on their motion. T his theory also predicted that Subsequent experiments have continued to agree with what E instein (
mass is a form of energy. For motion with velocity near the speed of light, called the special principle of relativity, namely that no physical mea-
(
Newton's laws of classical mechanics must be modified to be consistent surement of any sort can establish an absolute time, location, orientation
with special relativity. or velocity. As described above, Newton's and Maxwell's equations to- ( ,
gether do not satisfy the principle. Einstein realized that the way to get ( '
1 0 .1 The Relativity Idea agreement with both the principle of special relativity and all existing ex-
(
perimental results was to alter Newton's equations. The clue about how
According to Newton's equations of motion, all inertial coordinate frames to do this is in the fact that Maxwell's equations by themselves satisfy (
are equivalent. T his means that the motions following these equations the principle, tfiat is, they are equally valid in inertial frames differing (
depend only on 1·elative times and on t he 1-elative positions and rela- in location, orientation and velocity, but only if t he relation between
tive velocities of masses. Thus a system of masses following Newton's the coordinates (space and time) of different frames is not t he Galilean (
equations has no behavior which would enable one to determine absolute t ransformation (4.26) but a different relation, the Lorentz transforma- (
time, location, orientation or velocity. For example, if one changes from tion. Once Newton's equations are altered into a 'relativistic' form which
(
one inertial frame to another which is moving at at different velocity as is valid in all frames related by the Lorentz transformation, then all of the
described by the Galilean transformation of (4.26), Newton's equations classical equations of motion for dynamics and electromagnetism obey the (
remain unchanged. special principle of relat ivity. In particular they imply, as desired, that (
T he situation seemed to change when electromagnetism became part to all observers (that is, in all inertial frames) the speed of light is the
(
of fundamental physics, that is, when Maxwell's equations were found same.
to describe all laboratory electric and magnetic phenomena. Altho ugh (
Maxwell's equations obey the relativity of time, location and orientation, (
10.2 The Michelson-Morley Experiment
they do not seem to obey the relativity of velocity. They say (in agreement
(
wit h experiment) that waves of electromagnetic fields ("light") propagate
at the velocity c = (µoEo)- 1/ 2 = 3 x 108 m/s. But then, in another In this experiment .an incident light beam shown in Fig. 10-1 is split by (
inertial frame wit h velocity v, according to (4.26), light will propagate at a glass plate P into two beams which reflect off mirrors M 1 and M 2 and
(
a velocity shifted by -v. T hat is, Maxwell's equations rewritten in terms are t hen compared in phase by t his interferometer. The difference of the
propagation time of light waves along the two paths can be inferred from (
of the new coordinates defined by the Galilean transformation (4.26) are
different equations; these new equations say that the velocity of light a measurement of the phase difference 6.<P = v(t1 - t2 ) between the waves, (
varies from c - v to c + v, depending on the direction of propagation. where v is the wave frequency.
(
(
342
(
(
344 Chapter JO RELATIVITY 10.3 Lorentz Transformation 345

I
FIGURE 10-2.

motion about the sun v/c ~ 10- 4 and so only the lowest order term in
v 2 / c2 need be retained giving a phase diffetence

benm s plitter (10.3)

W hen the apparatus is rotated by 90 degrees from its original ori-

observer
Fl GU RE 10-1. Schematic representation of Michelson's interferometer. The incident
light beam is split a nd a change in Lhe relative path lengths 1 and 2 is observed by a
shift in the interference pattern.
If the apparatus is moving with velocity v with respect to the ether
in the direction of path 1 the time taken along pat h 1 is
entation in the ether wind the phase difference is -ti¢; subtracting
ti¢- (-ti.¢), an overall "phase shift" of 26.¢ is predicted . Since only this
change in t he phase difference between t he paths is impo rtant, t he two
path lengths themselves do not need to be precisely measured. For the
Michelson-Morley experiment the ether prediction was 2ti¢ ,...., t·
The
experiment was sensitive to a shift forty times smaller, but no phase shift
was ever observed.
The predictions of the special t heory of relativity have been over-
whelmingly confi rmed by experiment. The nature of space, time and
dynamics when velocities a re near the speed of light is rad ically different
from the non-relativistic Newtonian theory.

e e u i 10.3 Lorentz Transformation

t1 = - - +--= - - - - - (10.1)
c- v c +v c 1 - v2 / c2
If two observers in inertial frames in uniform relative motion observe the
where c is t he light velocity in the ether rest frame. For t he beam moving same phenomenon in terms of t heir respective coordinates one can ask
along path 2 the time taken is how these coordinates are related. Consider t he two inertial coordin ate
frames S and S' in Fig. 10-3, where the coordinate axes x and x', etc.,

(10.2)
This result fo r t 2 can be unde rstood from the velocity d iagram in Fig. 10-
2; the velocity component along path 2 is ~. For the earth's
are taken to be parallel and the origin of S' moves with velocity v = vz
relative to S. A given physiCal point P at a certain time can be specified
in terms of either the coordinates r = (x,y,z) and tor r' = (x',y',z')
and t'. The questio n we a.re add ressing in this section is how r , t and r ' , t'
are related assuming the validity of the principle of special relativity.
346 Chapter 10 RELATIVITY
r
10.3 Lorentz Transformation 347 (
(
s S' concludes that the pulse satisfies the equation
(
x'z + y'2 + z'2 = c2t12 (10.7) (
x x' P(1;t)
One sees that this does not agree with the Galilean transformation be- (
cause substitution of (10.5) into the propagation equation (10.6) yields (
x'2 + y'z + (z' + vt')z = c2t12 (10.8) (

wh ich is not the same as (10:?); the Galilean transformation is inconsis-

(
tent with the principle of special relati vity. (
We now find the coordinate transformation that relates (10.6) and (
(10.7). First we can restrict consideration to linear t ransfo rmat ions since
(
this is the on ly way to ensure that t here are no special points in space or
y y' time, e.g., one origin of a coordinate system must be equivalent to any (
other up to additive constants. The trouble with t he Galilean transfor- (
FIGURE 10-3. Two inertial coordinate frames Sand S' . The latter frame moves with
mation occurred in the z and t transfo rmations and not in the x and y
velocity v relative to the former. T he point P can be specified by coordinates in S (
or S' . (transverse) parts, so we consider a t ransformation relating S' and S of
the form (
For Newton's laws to be valid in both inertial frames (see § 4.2) the
Galilean transformation x = x' (10.9) (
r = r' +vt (10.4) y = Y' . (10.10) (
must hold; in component form z = 1(z + at')
1
(10.11) (
t = t(t' + bz') (10.12) (
x =x'
y =y' where "(, t , a and b are as yet unknown constants. For small relative (
(10.5) frq,me velocities v, 'Y ---+ 1, 1 ---+ 1, a ---+ v and b ---+ 0 are needed to
z =z' + vt' (
reproduce the Galilean t ransformation (10.5). Actually, a= v just defi nes
t =t' the relative frame velocity and must hold for our general transformation. (
Although t his relationship may seem to be obvious it is not consistent To see this, consider t he origin of S as viewed by an o bserver at the origin (
with t he special relativity principle. of S' . This observer sees S moving to the left with velocity v and hence
(
As an electromagnetic example consider the propagation of a light z' = -vt1 • Comparing to (10.11) with z = 0 requ ires
(
flash which occurs at t = t 1 = 0, when t he origins of S and S' are a=v (10.13)
coincident. Observers in S see t he light propagate as a spherical shell (
with radius ct where c is the speed of light. The propagation of the light Substitution of t he transformation (10.9)- (10.13) into (10.6) gives (
pulse in S satisfies the equation
(
x 12 + y12 + 'Y 2 (z'2 + 2vz't' + t 12 ) = c t (t'2 + 2bt' z' + b2 z' 2 )
2 2
(10.14)
(10.6) (
To be consistent with (10.7), the following conditions must be met
An observer using the frame S ' also sees the light pulse expand with (
velocity c as required by the principle of special relativity. The S ' observer (10.15) (
(
(
(
348 Chapter 10 RELATIVIT Y 10.3 Lorentz Transformation 349

'YZV = c2bry2 (10.16)

;yz _ 1 2v2 /c2 =1 (10.17)

One way to solve t hese three equations for -y, t and bis to use (10.16) to
1
eliminate b in (10.15) giving 3 'Y( v) = --;::===
.jI - v2/r:.2

(10.18)

'Y(v) 2
and then use (10.17) to eliminate v~ / c2 • The resu lt is

When (10.19) is substituted back into (10.15)-(10.17) we obtai n

2
b = v/c
(10.20)
-y 2 = 1/(1- v 2 / c2)
Oo!----''-----"~--'-~--'-~-'-~-'-~-'-~-'-~,____.
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Since -y(O) = 1 we have v/r:.
FIGURE 10-4. The relativistic -y factor versus the rela tive frame velocity u.
-y(v) = 1/ Jl -v 2 /c2 (10.21)
two inertial frames. Einstein provided the physical interp retation and
demonstrated its universal application.
The transformations of (10.9)- (10.12) with a, b, and 'Y from (10.13),
(10.20.) and (10.21) are known !lS t he Lorentz transformation. The final The in verse transformation for S' coordinates in terms of S frame
result is coordin ates is
I
x:::;: x 1 x = x

y= y' y' = y
(10.22) (10. 24)
z = -y(z' + vt') z' = 1(z - vt)
t = -y(t' + vz1 / c2 ) t' = / (t - vz/c2 )

where Note that (10 .22) a nd (10.24) are related as follows: if primed a nd un-
1 primed coordinates are interchanged ·and the sign of v reversed, one set
-y(v) = Ji - vZ /cZ (10.23) is obtained from the other.
Only for velocities near that of light or for experiments of extraor-
The factor 'Y is always greater or equaJ to unity and is shown in Fig. 10-4 as din ary precision is it necessary to deal with relativistic kinematics. But
a function of velpcity v. H. A. Lorentz first proposed this transformation in many fields of science relativity is an everyday experience. For exam-
in t he context of the form invariance of Maxwell's equations between ple, at the largest particle accelerators electrons with energy of 50 GeV
 (
350 Chapter 10 RELATIVITY 10.4 Consequences of Relativity 351
(
(
are common. These electrons travel at a velocity which differs from the +273 ns. There are two effects present here: moving clocks run slow (lose
velocity of light only in the tenth decimal place. If such an electron time) and a general relativistic effect t hat higher clocks run fast (gain (
were to race lig ht around the earth's equator it would lose by only a few time) . The height effect should be nearly the same for both flights and (
millimeters. cancels t he difference of t he times lost in the two directions relative to (
t he ground clock .
10.4 Consequences of Relativity (
L\ = tEG - twG = - 59 - {+ 273) = -332 ns {10.27)
(
The Lorentz transformation contains all of the kinematic information of
special relativity. Seemi11gly paradoxical behavior s uch as shrinking rulers Here tEG denotes the trip time registered by the eastward-going clock (
and slow running clocks are predicted by (10.22). minus the t rip time registered by the ground clock and similarly twG for
(
the westward-going clock. T he uncertainty on t he -332 ns value due to
A. Time Dilation t he clock inaccuracy is ±15 ns. (
One relativistic effect concerns the rate of moving clocks . For simplicity (
consider a clock fixed in the 5 1 frame. The interval between ticks in 5 1
(
is (L\t)1 = t~ - t~. From (10.22) an observer fixed in frame S perceives
these ticks. to be separated by an interval (
(
L\t = 'Y [t; - t~ + ; (z~ - zD] (
= 'Y [(L\t) + ;
1
(0)] (10.25) (

= 1(L\t)I (
(
Since 'Y is greater than unity, the 5-frame time interval L\t between t icks
(
is larger than the 5 '-frame interval, (L\t)', that is, the clock moving at
velocity v will tick slower than when it is at rest. Conversely, a clock (
fixed in S with tick interval L\t will appear to an observer in S ' to have (
a t ick interval (using (10.24)]
(
(L\t)1 = 'Y [t2 - ti - ; (z2 - zi)] (10.26)
(
F IGURE 10-5. Direct verification of relativistic clock effect.s . An airplane containing (
= rL\t an a tomic clock flies eastward a nd then westward around the ear th. The elapsed times
are compared with a clock remaining on the ground. (
Again, t he moving clock ticks slower by the factor 'Y·
(
In 1971 a direct test of relativistic time dilation was performed We shall analyze the flying clock experiment in the approximation
(J.C. Hafele and Richard E. Keating, Science 177, 166 (1972)] in which that the reference frames on t he ground and on the airplane are inertial (
four cesium-beam atomic clocks were flown on regularly scheduled com- frames. Consider a reference clock at the north pole, a clock o n the (
mercial jet airplanes around the world twice, once eastward and once ground , and a clock on the airplane. According to (10 .25), time intervals
westward, and then compared to clocks remaining on the g round (see (
recorded on t hese three clocks are related by
Figure 10-5). The result was that the eastward-flying clock gained -59 ns (
(the minus sign indicates time loss) and the westward-·flying clock gained {10.28)
(
(
(
(
352 Chapter 10 RELATIVITY 10.4 Consequences of Relativity 353

(10.29) speed vp relative to the grou nd at a particu lar latitude is

2rrr
wher e 'YA = (1 - v1/c2 f 112
and ). 0 = (1- vUc2 . T he velocities f 112
Vp=-
to
(10.34)
VA a nd vo refer to the airborne a nd ground-based clocks, respectively,
relative to the reference frame at the north pole. Thus, by (10.28) a nd where r is the perpendicular distance to the earth's axis. T he grou nd
(10.29) tA an d to are related by velocity due t o the rotation of the earth is

tA
"(G
= to -'YA = to (1- v1/cI
1
-
2
VG C
2
2
)
112
(10.30)
Vo=-
2rrr
tday
(10.35)

where t d ay = 24 hours. Taking t he ratio of t he t wo preceding relations we

Since vA/c « 1 and vo/c « 1, we can approximate t he sq uare root by obtain
t he fi rst two terms in the binomial expansion to o btai n
VG= Vp (~)
tday
(10.36)
v2 v2 )
t A ~ to (1 + 2~2
G A (10.31) The east-west t ime difference prediction from (10.33) a nd (10.36) is t he n

The difference of t he time intervals on t he air- and ground-based clocks /;y,,=-2 ( -to ) (Vp
- )2 to (10.37)
t d ay C
is then

(10.32) The average t rip flying time was to =

45 hours. For an average jet
aircraft s peed of 220 m /s we predict a clock differe nce very close to the
measu red value in (10 .27).
We assume fo r simplicity that t he ai rpla ne maintains a constant speed
vp relative to the ground at a particular latitude. Then relative to the B. Length Contraction
inertial reference frame at the north pole, t he east-going ai rplane has Another kine mat ic effect of special relativity is an observed shorteni ng
speed VA = vo + vp. Hence from (10.32) tAo < 0 a nd the airplane of t he lengths of moving objects. A stick of .rest length Lo, at rest in
clock loses time compared to the grou nd-based clock. For the west-going t he S' frame, lying parallel to the z' axis, is measured in t he S' frame to
air plane the speed is VA =
Vo - Vp. Correspondingly tAG > 0 and have rest length L 0 . What is t he length of this stick as measured by an
t he airplane clock gains time relative to t he ground- based clock. The observer in S (cf. F ig. 10-3)? By measured we mean that the observer
predicted east-west time difference is determines the difference in z coordinates of the ends of the stick at a
fixed time t . F rom the inverse Lo rentz transformation (10.24) we have
/;y,, = tEG - two ~ ;~2 { v6 - (Vo + Vp) 2 - [ v6 + (VG - 2
Vp) ] }
(10.38)
= -2 c~~p) to (10.33)
The stick's length L = z2 - z1 as seen from S is thus
which is negative, in agreement with the sign of t he measured /;y,, in (10.27).
L=Lo h (10.39)
The expe rimenters used t he airplanes' flight records of speeds Vp
to accur ately compute the predicted time difference t;y,,, In lieu of such The moving stick thus is measured to be shorter by t he observer (S) in
detailed informatio n we make a rough estimate of /;y,,, The co nstant flight motion . Similarly, an S' observer will see a contracted length for a stick
 ( ·
354 Chapter 10 RELATIVITY J0.4 Consequences of Relativity 355
(
(
at rest in frame S. As a historical footnote, length contract.ion was first limit of velocities approaching that of light it can be s hown that if v and
proposed by G.F. Fitzgerald and independently by H.A. Lorentz over a u ' are less than or equal to c then u is also bounded by c. (
decade before relativity t heory as the explanation of t he null Michelson- We next express the velocity addition formulae in a way that will be (
Morley experiment. They s uggested that if the apparatus arm along the useful for our later discussion of relativistic momentum and energy. The (
ether wind direction contracted by a factor 'Y then t he time t 1 of (10.1) crucial step is the Lorentz transformation of c2 dt 2 - dr 2 • From (10.40)
would be· exactly equal to t 2 of (10.2) and no phase difference would be
one calculates
(
observed .
(
C. Velocity Addition c 2 dt 2 - dr 2 = c 2 dt 2 - dx 2 - dy 2 - dz 2
(
The content of the Lorentz transformation can be further illuminated
= c2 'Y 2 (dt' + vdz' / c2 ) 2 - dx' 2 - dy' 2 - ,2 (dz'+ vdt')
2

(
from the inferred relations between a particle's velocity in different frames. = c2 dt'2 - dr12
The velocity relations follow from the differentials of the Lorentz trans- (10.45) (
formation (10.22) {that is, c2 dt 2 - dr2 is an invariant of the transformation) . The .l eft-hand (
side can be rewritten as
dx = dx' (
dy = dy' (10.46) (
dz= 'Y(dz' + vdt') (10.40)
and the right-hand side si milarly; t hus (10.45) can be written (
dt = 'Y(dt'. + c~dz') (
The velocities along the direction of v are
dt 2 /,2(u) = dt'2 /''/(u') (10.47)
(
dz We can take the square root 'of both sides. The sign is fixed by observing (
Uz := dt that according to (10.40) dt 'Y(l + vu~/c 2 )dt 1 ; hence if both v and u~
=
(10.41) (
I_ dz1 are Jess than c in magnitude, t he ratio dt/ dt' is positive. So the resu lt is
uz = dt' (
dtf'Y(u) = dt' f'Y(u') (10.48)
(
and the velocities transverse to the direction of v are
dx A dy A This ratio is known as t he prope1· time in terval and has the same numerical (
u .l = dt x + dt y value fo r a ll observers. For zero velocity the proper t ime interval is t he (
(10.42)
1 dx'dy' A A time interval in t hat frame which t hen yields the time d ilation formulae
u.l = di'x + dt' y (10.25) and (10.26) . If we now divide the left and right sides of each of (

Using ratios of (10.40) along with (10.41) and (10.42), the following ve- the equations (10 .40) by the left and right side, respectively, of (10.48), (
locity add ition formu lae are obtained. we get (
_ v+u~ 'Y(u)u.L = 'Y(u') u'.i_ (10.49) (
Uz - (10.43)
1 + vu~/c 2
'Y(u)uz = 'Y(v) ['Y(u')u~ + V"'f(u') J (10.50) (
u'.l 'Y(u) = 'Y(v) ['Y(u') + V"'f(u1 )u~/c 2 ] (10.51) (
u - (10.44)
.l --:- 'Y(v) (1 + vu~/c2) (
According to this, the Lorentz transformation Jaw of the four quantities
When t he velocities are small compared to c these approach the Galilean 'Y(u)u.,, 'Y(u)uy, 'Y(u)uz, 'Y(u) is just t he same as of dx, dy, dz, dt or of x, (
velocity transformation Uz =v + u~ and u.l = ui_. If we go to the other y, z, t.
(
(

(
 356 Chapter JO RELATIVITY
10.5 Relativistic Momentum and Energy 357
...
10.5 Relativistic Momentum and Energy We will s how that the correct relativistic alteration of p ; =m;u; is
In the absence of external forces the total momentum of a system should (10.57)
remain constant in time. In the S' frame we have
This P; reduces to m;u; in the non-relativistic limit since
P' =L P;= (constant vector)' (10.52)

'
According to the principle of relativity, when this system is observed from
1(0) = 1 (10.58)

a moving frame S the total momentum will also remain fixed in time Consider the t ransverse components of the system's momentum as ob-
served in frames S and S'
P =LP;= (constant vector) (10.53)
P~ =L (mul 1(u')]; (10.59)
i

For example, t he total momentum of a jar of gas in space is zero in (10.60)

some reference frame and remains zero even though the momenta of the
constituent molecules a re constantly changing d ue to collisions with each
other and the jar. Assuming fo.r the moment that the system components Using the velocity transformation (10.49) the S frame t ransverse momen-
move with non-relativistic velocities, the total momentum in (10.52) is tum of (10.60) can be written as

(10.54) (10.61)

where the momentum of each mass is p~ = m; u:. An observer in Scan We see immediately that P J. and P'.i_ have the same form and value. Thus
also calculate the total momentum. If the relative frame velocity v ~ c t he assumed form of relativistic momentum (10.57) assures that if P J. is
the Galilean velocity law is valid then conserved as viewed from one reference frame that it will be conserved
for any observer. Moreover all observers will agree on its value.
,. U j =v+ u: (10.55) Turning to the z-component of t he system's moment um, as viewed in
and the momentum as seen in S is S'
(10.62)
P = L:::m;u; = Mv+P' (10.56)
wh ile viewed in S
where M = L; m; is t he total mass. We see that if the total momentum is (10.63)
constant in one inertial coordinate frame t hen t he momentum as observed
from a different inertial frame is also constant, in accord with the principle
Using the velocity transformation of (10.50), (10.63) becomes
of relativity.
If the particle and/or the relative frame velocities are large, the Pz = 1(v) L[m(u~ + v)T(u')]; (10.64)
Galilean velocity transformation forrp.ula is inaccurate. Using the rel-
ativistic velocity addition formulae and (10.53) and (10.54), a constant
P' no longer implies a constant P. In order to retain the principle of rel- Thus we obtain
ativity, we must give up Newton's expression for moment um P; = m;u; . (10.65)
 (
358 Chapter 10 RELATIVITY 10.5 Relativistic Momentum and Energy 359
(
(
where we have defined illustrated in Fig. 10-6. In the usual Newtonian analysis carried out in
(
the center-of-mass system the initial kinetic energy is mv 2 and the final
(10.66) kinetic energy is zero so the mechanical energy is converted into heat (
energy (
If for an observer in S' the quantity E' is constant, as well as the momen- 2
Q = mv (10.71) (
t um com ponent P~, the identity (10.65) implies that the corresponding
momentum component Pz will be constant as observed in frame S. We which warms up the final putty ball. If we conserve relat ivistic free (
t h us obtain relativistic momentum conservation in a ll inertial frames but particle energy we find (
only if E' is also conserved.
T his shows that for an observer in S' , if t he quant ity E', as well as P~, Einitial ~ 2 ( mc
2
+ tmv 2 ) = Efinal =M c
2
(10.72)
(
(
is constant, t hen t he moment um component Pz is constant as observed in
S . T hen also E is constant as observed in all fra mes, as s hown explicitly Thus t he fi n al putty ball mass is (
by its t ransfor mation law fo r E, derived in t he same way as (10.65) (
mv 2 Q
E = 1(v) [E' + vP~] (10.67)
M = 2m + - c2- = 2m + c2 (10.73) (
('
So in special relativity t he constancy of P in all frames requires also t he T he heat energy is equivalent to an increase of ma.Ss of Q/ c2 • This ad-
constancy of the new qu a ntity E, in all fr ames. E instein considered t his ditional mass Q / c2 adds to the inertia of the ba ll and in all respects is ( .
t he most significant result of his t heory of special relativity. equivalent to a "real" mass. It is in the realm of nuclear and elementary (
To interpret E, we take the non-relativistic limit for a single particle particle physics where the concept of relativistic particle energy conser-
(
vation becomes of crucial importance.
(
2
E = mc 1(u) = g1mc2
u2
~ mc
2 [ u2
1+ - 2
2c
+ · · ·] (
-~ (10.68) before collision
(
E~ me
2
+ 21 mu2 + · · · ·
(
We recog nize t hat t he term tmu 2
is the non-relativistic kinetic energy (
of t he particle. Conseq ue nt ly we associate E with t he relativistic energy (
of a particle. The value of E for zero velocity is t he rest energy of t he
particle after collision (
E(u= 0)=mc2 (10.69) (
(
The relativistic kinetic energy I< is defined in general as t he difference of
t he total energy and t he rest energy· (
(
I< = E- mc2 (10.70)
(
FIGURE 10-6. Collision of two non-relat ivistic putty balls in t he CM system. T he
To see how relativistic particle energy conservation works we con-
resulti~g single ball is warmer than before. It also is more massive than the sum of
sider t he collisio n of two slowly moving putty balls each of mass m, as the original p utty masses at rest. (
(

(
 360 Chapter 10 RELATIVITY 10.S Relativistic Momentum and Energy 361

Consider the important fusion reaction where two isotopes of hydro- single particle we have
gen conve rt to helium and a neutron

deuterium tritium Helium neu tron

atom atom atom
or
H2 + 4
He + n (10.79)

This reaction plays a central role in the energy production in stars, The rest energy of I.he particle is mc2 .
controlled fusion and the hyd rogen bomb. In the CM system t he initial As an exam ple of the use of the Lorentz invariance relation (10.78) we
energy is consider the collision of a positron (e+) with an electron (e-) resulting
in a pair of equal mass pi-mesons 7r+ and 7T -
(10.74)
The fin al energy is (10.80)

(10. 75) The pi-mesons each have CJ. mass m,,. = 273.lm. and hence the e+e-
collision must be quite energetic to cause this reaction to occu r . One way
By energy conservation Ei = E1 1 and the change in kinetic energy is to do this experiment is to collide the e+ on an elect ron at rest. In the
lab system E. = E+ + m .c2 and P = P+· The left-hanq side of (10.78) is
I<1 - K; = (MH2 + MHs - Mtte4 - n)c2
= (2.014102 + 3.016050 - 4.002603 - 1.008665) (931.5 MeV)
E2 - (pc) 2 = Ei + 2E+m. c2 + (m.c2 ) 2 - (p+c) 2
(10.81)
= 17.6 MeV = 2E+mec2 + 2(m.c2 ) 2
(10.76)
where we have used (10.79) for the positron. In the CM system P' =
Thus th is reaction releases 17.6 mimon electron volts of kinetic energy.
0 and the invariant is just the relativistic energy squared. Relativist ic
We s um marize the transformation laws of energy and momentum energy is conserved in a collision and the minimum energy of the two
resulting pi-mesons is their rest energy E' =
2mnc2 ; from (10.81) the
p.L = Pi threshold energy is
Pz = I ( P~ + ; E' ) (10.77)
(10.82)
E = / (E' + vP~)
Numerically m,,.c2 = 139.57 MeV and m.c2 = 0.511 MeV so t he threshold
Comparing with the coordinate-time Lorentz transformation (10.22) we lab positron energy is E+ = 76.24 GeV. This experiment has been carried
see that Pc transforms like r a nd E/c transforms like time. From t he out at t he Fermilab and CERN particle accelerators to probe th e electric
transformation (10.77) it follows directly t hat charge distribution of the pi-mesop.

E 2 - (Pc) 2 = E ' 2 - (P'c) 2 (10.78)

That is, this combination is frame independent. This is the momentum-

energy analog of r 2 - (ct) 2 = r' 2 - (ct') 2 • For a system consisting of a
 (
362 Chapte r JO RELATIVITY 10.6 Relativistic Dynamics 363
r
(
10.6 Relativistic Dynamics After a time l = t 0 , t he velocity is .i(to) = c/./2. For an electron in an
(
electric field of 10 6 V/m this time is
T he generalization of Newton's law of motion to relativistic velocities is (
31
_ (9.1 x 10- )(3 x 10 8
) _ i.o- 9
(10.90)
(
dp =F to - (1.6 x 10-19)(106) - 1 .7 x s
(10.83) (
dt
(
where A final integration of (10.89) yields
(
p = mv-y(v) (10.84)
(
t/to
For a ch a rged particle moving in an electromagnetic field F is the Lorentz
force
z = cto j d1 ~ = cto[J1+ (t/to) 2
-1] (10.91)
0
(
F = q(E+v x B) (10.85) (
The distance covered in time to is
where q is the charge of the pa rticle. The predicted motion has been (
accurately tested in particle accelerators a nd beams, electron lenses and (
numerous other ways.
z = cto ( V2 - 1) = 0 .21 m (10.92)
(
As an illus tration consider the motion of a charge q released from rest
at t = =
0 in a constant electric field E Ez. The equation of motion is The electron energy after t his distance will be (
(
E = (0.511 MeV)'Y (
(10.86) (10.93)
= (0.511)J2 = 0.72MeV (
(
We can directly integrate and impose t he boundary valu e i(t = 0) = O and its kin etic energy is
to obtain (

[( = E - = 0.21 MeV (
i/c
---;:=::::::::==;===;: = -t (10.87)
mec2 (10.94)
J 1- /c .i2 2 to (
where It is thus relatively easy to use electric fields to accelerate electrons to rel- (
me ativistic e nergies. The deflection of relativistic electrons by magnetic and
to=- (10.88)
(
qE electric fields provided the earliest tests of t he correctness of relativistic
dynamics. (
Solving for z gives Finally we should emphasize that a better name for t he speed of light (
i t/to would be "lim iti~g velocity" . Any body with rest mass, if accelerated
= ---;:=::::;:=:;:::=::;:;: (10.89) (
c Jl + (t/t0 ) 2 continually, approaches c arbitrarily closely. Particles having zero rest
(
mass travel exactly with the speed of light c.
Here the sign of t he squ a re root was chosen to agree with (10.87) . T he (
velocity increases from zero and rises asymptotically to t he speed of lig ht.
(
(
(
 364 Chapter 10 RELATIVITY
PROBLEMS
10.3 Lorentz Transformation
10-1. Invert the Lorentz transformation (10.22) to solve for S' coordi-
nates in terms of S coordinates as given in (10.24). Show that the
operation x' ~ x, y' ~ y, etc. and v ~ -v give the same result.
10-2. Show t hat the Lorentz transformation can be represented as a ro-
tation in the z, ict plane through an imaginary angle.
10.4 Consequences of Relativity
10-3. From § 8.4 the rates of a clock at a height h (S' frame) as seen from
the ground (S frame) is
v = v'(l + gh/c2 )
Consider the flying clocks of § 10.4A
a) The sum of the east- and west-going clock differences is
where Ev is due to clock motion and Eh is due to the height of
the clock. Show that
·
Ev= -tG ~
(Vp )2
Eh= 2tGgh/c2
b) Using. the plane velocity of (10.37) as determined from b. compute
:Ev. Assuming the plane flies at a height of 10 km estimate Eh
and compare with the measured vaiue of E = 214 ns.
10-4. Two spaceships are traveling at speeds of 0.9c but in opposite di-
rections. What is the speed of one as seen by the other?
10-5. The pseud~rapidity of a particle.moving in frame S with z-component
of velocity Uz is defined by 'T/z =:tanh- 1 (uz/c). Its pseudorapid-
ity in frame S' is tanh- (u~/c). Show that 'T/z = 'T/ + 'T/z' where
1 c2
1
'T/ = tanh- (v/c) and vis the velocity of frame S' relative to S . Use
this result to demonstrate that if v < c and u~ < c then Uz < c.
Problems 365
10.5 Relativistic Momentum and Energy
10-6. For a body of mass m and velocity u show that p / E = u/c2 •
10-7. The Tevatron at Fermilab can produce electrons of energy 0.5 TeV
(10 12 eV). Recall that the electron's rest energy is 0.511x106 eV.
Suppose a race were held from the earth to the moon between one of
these electrons and a photon. What distance would the electron lose
by? Hint: Use approximate formulae accurate for electron velocities
nearly equal to the speed of light.
10-8. A hyperon particle A has a rest mass of 1.116 GeV /c 2 and a mean
lifetime of 2.6x10- 10 s. A beam of A's can be produced at Fermilab
with energy 30 Ge V.
a) Find an approximate formula for the difference between the A's
velocity and c in terms of 'Y· Find / and v in the present case.
b) What is the mean distance t hat t he A goes before decay?
c) What would the mean decay distance be without relativistic life-
time dilation?
10-9. A relativistic particle of momentum p 1 and mass m 1 collides with
a particle of mass m 2 at rest.
a) Find the center of momentum (CM) velocity. Hint: use the in-
verse momentum/energy Lorentz transformation of (10.77).
b) Find the relativistically correct relation between the CM and Jab
angles of particle 1 after an elastic collision.
10- 10. In order to travel to the stars a spaceship must reach a significant
fraction of the speed of light. The only practical way of doing this
is to use matter-antimatter annihilation as fuel. Suppose that a
mass dm is so converted into a massless reaction product having
momentum (dm) c,
a) Following an analogous argument to that in § 4.1, show t hat the
rocket equation in free space is
2
dv
m-+c ( 1- u- ) =0
dm
where the momentum-energy Lorentz transformation provides the
exhaust momentum in the rest system to be dm 1( c - v).
 366 Chapter 10 RELATIVITY ('
(

b) If m = mo when v = 0, integrate the rocket equation and show (

t hat (
Chapter 11
(
NON-LINEAR MECHANICS:
(
APPROACH TO CHAOS
How much fuel must be burned to reach a speed of ~c? (
c) Demonstrate that if Am = mo - m « m0 the result reduces to (
the non-relativistic force-free rocket for an exhaust velocity of the
(
speed of light (u = c). There are two major reasons for studying non-linear mechanics. The first
10-11. To gain a perspective on the feasibility of interst ellar travel suppose and most basic is that t he equations of motion of almost all systems are (
we wish to travel to a star 10 light years distant in a t ime of about non-linear. The second reason is that even a relatively simple system (.
100 years. Assume the spacecraft has an antimatter drive of high which obeys a non-linear equation of motion can ex hi bit unusual and
surprisingly complex behavior for certain ranges of the system parame- (
efficiency and that mass of the fuel required is much less than the
mass of the spacecraft. ters. In a variety of non-linear systems the same features show up. Much (
of the knowledge of non-linear behavior has been obtained from numeri-
a) The spacecraft accelerates at 10 m/s 2 to a cruising velocity of 1~c, (
cal solutions. T he traditional methods of classical mechanics, which lead
coasts for most of the trip and then decelerates at the same rate. (
to analytic (explicit) expressions for motion, fail for most problems in
Find the time of acceleration.
non-linear mechanics. Numerical integration of the equations of motion (
b) What fractio n of the total mass must be fuel? is usually necessary.
(
c) If 1 gigawatt (109 W) electric generating facility were dedicated to From the time of Newton until the twentieth century, physicists and
producing anti-hydrogen at perfect efficiency for ten years, how philosophers viewed the universe as a so rt of eno rm ous clock which, once (
massive a spacecraft could be sent? wound up, behaves in a predictable manner. This conception was badly (
shaken by the discovery of quantum mechanics and its Heisenberg un-
10.6 Relativistic Dynamics (
certainty principle. However even in classical mechanics the motion of a
10-12. Show that the single-particle Lagrangian system obeying Newton's equations is sometimes very d ifficult to predict; (
the system is then said to exhibit chaos. (
'L = -mc\/1- v 2/c2 - V(r) The essential difference between a chaotic system and a non-chaotic (
one is the degree of predictability of the motion given the initial conditions
yields the equation of motion (10.83). Find the corresponding (
to some level of accuracy. We recall some fami liar examples. Suppose that
Hamiltonian and compute Hamilton's equations.
two identical linear damped oscillators with the same sinusoidal driving (
10-13. Starting with (10.83) in one dimension compute the work done force are started off with different initial co nditions. After a time long
W =J Fdx =J
ft(mvr)vdt. Derive the relativistic work-energy enough for transients to have died out, the oscillators will end up moving
theorem. Interpret the meaning of the resulting energy. (
in exact synchronism. Thus the final motion here is independent of the
initial conditions. As a. second example consider a point mass falli ng near (
t he earth's s urface. For initial height z0 and velocity v0 , the height is given
(
by the solution to Newton's laws to be z(t) = z0 +v0 t- tgt2 • If the initial
conditions were instead zo + ozo and v0 + ov0 the two trajectories would (
differ by oz(t) = OZo + (ovo)t. Thus the difference in height changes at (
most linearly in time. The dependen ce of the difference of two solutions
(
367 (
368 Chapter 11 NON-LINEAR MECHANICS: APPROACH TO CHAOS 11.J The Anharmonic Oscillator 369

on t to some power is what is normally encountered when an a nalytic Figure 11-1 illustrates the potential energy for hard and soft springs (k >
solution to Newton's law exists. 0), the double-well (k < 0, a< 0) and inverted-well (k < 0, a> 0) cases.
One of the best known examples of poor predictability is the weather. For the double-well there are three equilibrium points (F = 0) at
At one t ime it was believed that with a large num ber of atmospheric
measurements and powerful computers to integrate the ·fluid mechanics
equations it would be possible to make long term weather pred ictions . It
is now realized that this was a naive hope and that the solu tions of the
x = 0' x = ±{ifi (11.3)

weather equations are exponentially sensitive to the initial conditions.

One can imagine that the perturbation due to a butterfly flapping its
The effective ~pring constants keff = -d 2V / dx 2 at these points are
wings in Africa. may grow exponentially into a. great weather front in
North America (the butterfly effect). keff = -k 1 keff = 2k (11.4)
Even though the motion of a complex system cannot be precisely
predicted certain features can often still be relied upon. For example,
The equilibrium is unstable at x = 0 and stable at the other two points;
see Fig. 11-l(c).
the exact path of a. given molecule of water down a. white-water stretch
of the Colorado River is certainly not predict able. We can say with
high probability, however, that the molecule will trav~rse the rapids and
remain within the canyon walls. It is a real challenge to deduce such a (•)
V(a)• -t 1/Z z.
1
- l /4 :ii:•

'robust feature' of the sol utions of a given nonlin ear equation. sort.

11.1 The Anharmonic Oscillator

The driven one-dimensional non-Linear oscillator provides a. good illustra-

- I
tion of the fundamental ideas in non-linear mechanics and chaotic motion;
it also has immediate applicability to many actual physical problems. We
shall consider here a.n oscillator called the .anharmonic oscillator, which
_,
is a mass m subject to a conservative force
-·
F(x) = -k(x + ax 3 ) (11.1)
_,
(The coordinate x of the mass will often be referred to as the displacement,
since x = 0 is a point of static equ ilibrium .) If k (the spring constant
at zero displacement) is positive and the coefficient a of the cubic term
-·
vanishes, F(x) is a Hooke's law s pring force, and the motion x(t) will be -·
simple harmonic. If the a.nharmonic coefficient a is instead positive, the
restoring spring force grows faster than linear in x and the spring is said
double v e ll -· tn•erled

-·
4
V(ll)~ - 1/2 ,.• + 1/4 z' V(x) "" - 1/2 2' - l/4 s.
to be hard. If a is negative the sprin'g is called soft.
-· w..~......i...................4-'-........~...l....<.--'-'-'-'
The potential energy corresponding to the force (11.1) is ·I
-· -·
x x FiGURE 11-1. Potential energies of (11.2) with k =
= ±1. The free
±1 and a
V(x) =- j F(x) dx = k j dx (x + ax 3
) = k (tx 2 + ~ax 4 ) (1 1.2) (undriven) motion is confined in (a) and (c), unconfined in (d) , and may be either
confined or unconfined in (b). We will confine our discussion almost exclusively to the
0 0 hard spring (a).
 370
(
Chapter 11 NON-LINEAR MECHANICS: APPROACH TO CHAOS 11 .2 Approximate Analytic S teady-State Solutions 371
(

In add it ion to the an harmon ic spring force {1 1.1 ) we assume that t he (

independent, then their coefficients wou ld all have to vanish. In fact they
mass m is s ubject to a linear dam ping force Fdamp = -21m:i: and a simple a re not independ ent. The systematic proced ure is t o write t hem in terms (
harmonic {sinusoidal} time-dependent driving force Fdrive = mf cos wt . of cos m/J, n = 0, 1, 2, ... , a nd sin m/J, n =
1, 2, ... , where 1.jJ =wt - 0 (it
(
T he resulting equation of motion is =
wou ld be less convenient to choose 1.jJ wt) because we know that these
a re a complete and independent set of functions oft of period 271' /w. We (
x+ 21:i: + wJx + {3x 3 = f cos wt {11.5) use the following t rigonometric identit ies
(
where as usual wJ = k/m. This driven, da mped, anharmonic equation cos3 (wt - 0) = t cos(wt - 0) + t cos 3(wt - 0) (
of motion is known as Duffing's equation. It is convenient to reduce the
number of parameters in the equation from fi ve to three by choosing the coswt = cos Ocos(wt - 0) - sin Osin (wt - 0) {11.9) (
scales of t and x. By choice of t he scale of time t he small-am plitude (
which can be established using the complex exponential fo r ms of cosine
frequency wo can be made 1, and similarly by rescaling x th e coefficient
and sine. Then (11.8} becomes (
oft.he anh armonic {cu bic) term can be made ± 1. The equation becomes
the reduced Duffing equation (
[A (1 -± tA 2 ) - j cos O] cos(wt -
w2 0)
x + 21:i: + x ± x 3 = f cos wt {1 1.6} + [-21wA + f sin OJ sin (wt - 0) {11.10) (
± tA 3 cos3(wt - 0) =0 (
We shall restrict our attent ion to the steady-state solutions of {11.6} .
A powerful analytic tech niq ue to find these is to assume that t he steady- =
This has the form a cos ..P+bsin ..P+c cos 31.jJ 0, which is eq uivalent to the (
stat e motion is periodic {naively one would assume that its period is t he t hree equations a = 0, b = 0, c = 0. It is easy. to see t hat these conditions (
same as t he period of t he driving force, but we shall see later th.a t it may cannot be satisfied by any values of A and 0 {if f ;/:. 0) which merely tells
be a multiple of this.) T hen x(t) can be written as a Fourier series. The us that x(t) of the simple form {11.7) cannot be an exact solution. But (
equation of motion {11.6) then provides relations which determine t he t he first two of these t hree equations imply A oc f, and so if I/I ~ 1 (
amplitudes a.nd phases of t he Fourier terms. In the next section we work t he third eq uation, A3 = 0, is nearly satisfied. An alert reader might
(
I this out in the approximations of keepi ng only t he first term or t he first
two terms of the Fourier series .
complain that if the las t term of {11. 10) is going to be neglected on the
grounds that A3 is very small, then t he t hird term, ±tA 3 cos(wt- 0) , can (
II be dropped as well, since it has the same order of magnitude. However,
(
11.2 Approximate Analytic St eady-State Solutions in the next approximation, Eq. {1 1.15), t he contribution of the term
I

,1 B cos 3{wt - ¢) cancels t he last term of {11.10), while cont ributing only (
I For small f we assume a trial solu t ion of t he same function al form as the higher order terms to the first two terms. So for small f {11.10} is nearly
linear spring case of§ 1.9, namely simple harmonic at t he driver frequency (
satisfied if
II (
•I x(t) = A(w) cos[wt - O(w)] {11. 7} fcos O = A (l -w 2 ± ~A 2 ) {11.11}
(
with amplitude A(w) (A ;:=: O} a nd phase O(w) (0 :::; O < 271') to be de- f sin 0 = 21wA {11.12)
termined. Substit uting t his into t he red uced Duffing eq ua tion {11.6) we {
obtain hold. Elimin ating 0 by s umming the squares of t hese two conditions gives (
2
A(l- w ) cos(wt- 0)-21wAsin(wt- O}±A3 cos3 (wt - O) = f cos wt {11.8) {11.13) (
(
T his is to hold for all values of t. If the four functions of t in {11.8) After solving this for A , {11.11) and {11.12) t hen determine 0. Note t ha t
(namely cos(wt - 0), sin (wt - 0) , cos3 (wt - O} and coswt) were linearly in the limit A ~ 0 t he results reduce to the forced harmonic oscillator
(
(
(
(
(
(
 372 Chapter 11 NON-LINEAR MECHANICS: APPROACH TO CHAOS 11. 2 Approximate Analytic Steady-State Solutions 373

solution of (1.123) and (1.125), as one would expect, since the Duffing
equation (11.6) reduces to the driven simple harmon ic (linear) oscillator
equation when jx(t)I ~ 1. 2.5
(\
For a given frequency w, (11.13) is cubic in A 2 and gives one or linear f \
t hree real values for A 2 . Alternatively, by regarding the equation a.s response / \

determining w 2 for a given A, a quad ratic equation results which is easier < f \ spine...............
,. I ·,. ..-
to solve. In Fig. 11-2 we plot A versus w for the case of a hard spring .e"'"
Q.
1.5
/ \ , ....r
with a damping constant 'Y = 1/10 and a force constant J = 1/2. The ..
e
dashed curve is the amplitude-frequency relation for an undamped free
oscillation, that is, the limit f = =
-y 0 of (11.13) / \;7/
/ "''·
w = J1 ± ~A 2 . or A(w) = [±~ (w 2 - 1))1 / 2 (11.14)
o.s .....
=~-- ....- / ··~ ._ _
I
r 0.2 0.4 0.6 0 ,1 1 t.2 1.4 1.e 1.1 .·
This curve is ca.lied the spine of the resonance; it is the locus of the
resonance peak as f is varied, in the -y ~ 0 limit. The anharmonic
"'
FIGURE 11-2. Hard spring approximate analytic amplitude (11.13) for 'Y = 0.1 and
,. cubic term ca.uses the resonance ampli tude curve to lean over and if f f = 0.5. The linear response is shown for reference. The other dashed curve is the
is sufficiently large A and 0 become triple valued over a n interval in w. "spine" of the resonance, (11.14).
(The corresponding resonance for a soft spring leans to the left.) The
180
middle values in fact correspond to an unstable steady motion, a nd we
will see later that numerical integration never gives this for the stea.dy-
,.. 160

state motion at large t. The phase angle O(w) calculated · from (I°l.11)
140
and (11.12) is depicted in Fig. 11-3; again the phase is compared to t he
linear solution. ~ 00
u
120

The next approximation beyond (11.7) is to keep the first two terms :3. 100
a>
of the Fourier expansion of x(t), Ob
u
BO
~
x(t) = A cos(wt - 0) + B cos 3(wt - </>) (11.15) ..."
~
Cl.
60

•o
The second term is cos 3(wt - </>), not cos 2(wt - </>) because the first term
20
when cubed gives a 3wt cosine, but not a 2wt cosine. More generally, it is
consistent that x (t) have only odd harmon ics becaus~ the spring force x + 0
0 0.2 OA 0 .6 0.8 1 1.2 ... 1.8 1.B
x 3 will likewise. If this· trial solution is su bstituted into Duffing's equation (j}

(11.6) the values of A, B, 0, and</> can be chosen to satisfy all harmonics

through 3wt. Figure 11-4 shows the resulting amplitude a.s a function
of w, for the same values of -y and J as in Fig. 11-2. The numerically
calculated result is also show n (see § 11.3 below); the agreement is good.
A new feature, not seen in t he lowest a pproximat ion (Fig. 11-2), is a small
resonance peak near w ~ 0.4. This is called the third-harmonic resonance.
The coefficient B of the third harmonic (3wt t erm) of x(t) peaks there
F IGURE 11-3. Hard spring approximate analytic phase angle 0 from (11.11) and
(11.12) for the same parameters as the preceding figure. The corresponding linear
oscillator phase angle is shown by the dashed curve.
as a consequence of 3w being a little la rger than the natural frequency 1.
Similarly because of higher odd harmonics one sees in Fig. 11-5 a series
of harmonic resonances at frequencies l/N where N is odd.
 (
374 Chapter 11 NON-LINEAR MECllANJCS: APPROACH TO CHAOS 1 J .3 Numerical Solutions of Duffing 's Equation 375
(

transient motion has damped out and the motion' has become steady. (
The frequency w is then changed slightly and one waits until the motion (
damps to a steady state at the new frequency.
(
In the present case, if one starts at a low frequency, where the steady
state is unique, and sweeps up in w, one finds t hat in the triple valued (
.,,.. region the steady motion remai ns the one with the highest amplitude . (
.,;:J At the top end of the region at w = 1. 7, the amplitude drops abruptly
0.
pert urba. tl vc
as shown by t he vertical line with downward-pointing arrow. On t he (
E
" other hand, if one starts at a high frequency and sweeps down in w, (
the a mplitude remains the lowest, and at the bottom end of t he region at
(
w = 1.4 it jumps up abruptly. This dependence of the steady-state motion
on the direction of sweepi ng is called mech a nical hysteresis. The middle- (
amplitude steady motion is never found as th e steady motion at large t;
(
it is in fact unstable. (Warning: not all stable steady-state motions can
be found by sweeping in w starting with a given steady state.) (
Figure 11-5 shows t he result of numerical calculation (and also t he (
simplest analytic approximation) for a larger driving force, f = 3. In ad-
(
o.s 1.5 2. s dition to t he third-harmonic resonance there are seen other odd-harmonic
w resonances: 3,5,7 ... There is also seen somethi ng qualitatively new, an (
FIGURE 11-4. Steady-state amplitude lx(t)I during a period for r =0.1 and f =0.5.
even-harmonic resonance in which the steady state x(t) has a non- (
Hysteresis is seen at the primary resonance and one harmonic resonance is seen . The vanishing 2wt term. If xA(t) is a sol ution of the Duffing equation (11.6),
two-term ap'prox.imate analytic prediction of (11.15) is compared with the numerical then so is xa(t) = -xA(t + rr/w). This is because the equation is un- (
solution. cha nged if x is replaced by -x a nd simultaneously t is shifted by a half (
period, rr /w. For the motions with f = 0.5 these two solutions were the
11.3 Numerical Solutions of Duffing's Equation (
same, that is, the motions had the property x(t + rr/w) = -x(t), wh ich
I

r,, T he differential equation of motion can be numerically integrated to any is equivalent to saying that x(t) had only odd harmonics. In the present
case with f = 3, when W2- < w < w2+ where w 2 _ = 0.88 and w2+ = 1.05,
(
desired accuracy. The numerical algorithm we have used is t he fourth
solut ion xa is different from XA, that is to say, t he steady-state motion (
order Runge-Kutta method , which for a given desired accuracy is consid-
erably more efficient t ha n t he numerical method discussed in § 1.6. In the has even harmonics. Th is shows itself in t he fig ure by the amplitude (
numerical work in this section we examine sol utions to Duffing's eq uation being double valued; the maximum (positive) values of X A and xa are
(
(11.6) with r fixed at the value 1/10 and for various values of the driving different. (Actually there is always a steady-state motion which has only
frequency w a nd the driving amplitude f. odd harmonics, but in the range w2 _ < w < w 2 + it is unstable.) (
An important feat ure of t he n um~rical result shown in Fig. 11-4 is Yet more complicated motions occur for larger values of the driving (
mechanical hysteresis. In the frequency range 1.4 < w < 1.7, where the force. The numerical integration on a computer of the steady state equa-
tion of motion is equally straightforward (once you have a. program) for
(
steady-state amplitude is a triple-valued function of w, initial conditions
.(for example, the values of x and x at t = 0) determine wh ich of these any values of the parameters, but an intelligible description of the re- (
three motions is the actual steady state reached at large t. A practical s ulting steady-state motions is a challenge. A very useful concept is the
(
equivalent to choosing initial conditions is sweeping in frequency. One Poincare section. The motion is sampled periodically, at t he period of
starts the oscillator off at some initial conditions and waits until the the driving force (2rr /w), and the values of x and :i; at those times are (
(
(
(
(
 376 Chapter 11 NON-LINEAR MECHANICS: APPROACH TO CHAOS 11.4 Transition to Chaos: Bifurcotions and Strange Attractors 377

where the functions J and g do not depend on n. That is, the values of
Xn+1 1 'Yn+ I determine the value of Xn+2 1 Yn+2 exactly t he same way as
Xn,Yn determined Xn+ 1 1 Yn+I> because the equation of motion (11.6) is
... periodic; it is the same at t and at t + 27r /w. (The functions J a nd g
do depend on the choice of t 0 , t hat is, on t he choice of the phase of the
driving force at which the "stroboscope flashes".)
The pai r of eq uations (11. 17) is a sort of equation of motion; given x
and :i: at one time in t he sequence to + 27rn/w, it yields x and :i: at the
.."'e next t ime. In mathematical term inology, (11.17) describes a mapping of
E t he x, :i: pla ne into itself.
;;J
e A fixed point of the mapping is a point which maps to itself, i.e.
x
"
E x = f(x, y)
(11.18)
y = g(x,y)
r
This corresponds to a steady state. If there a.re points which, after more
and more repetitions of the mapping (i.e., time steps) approach closer
and closer to a fixed point, t he fixed point is called an attmctor.
w In Figures 11-6 and 11-8 a sim plified version of the attractors of the
Poinca.re section, namely just the x coordinate (called the Poincare dis-
FIGURE 11-5. Steady-state amplitude lx(t)I during a period for a n attractor with
placement), is plotted versus w. The "stroboscopic" phase has been cho-
r f = 3 and r = 0.1. Compared to Fig. 11-4 with f = 0.5 the emergence of new
harmonic resonances should be noted, especially the second harmonic resonance. A sen to be zero, i.e., at maximum driving force.
smooth sweep was made up and down in frequency. The simplest approximate analytic
(
calculation is compared with the numerical solution. 11.4 Transition to Chaos: Bifurcations and Strange Attractors

plotted as dots with coordinates x and :i:. T hat is, it is a 'stroboscopic' A new feat ure appears fo r f =20, Fig. 11-6, namely period doubling.
picture of the motion of the oscillator rn the x, :i: plane (phase space) . Whereas in previous figures the two values of the ampli tude or of the
Tilus t he n t h dot has coordinates Poincare displacement seen in some ranges of w corresponded to two at-
tractors; here the two values seen in the range 1.2 < w < 1.4 correspond
Xn = x(to + 27rn/w) to a single attractor, called a two-cycle, consisting of two points. That
,.. Yn = :i:(to + 27rn/w)
(11.16)
is, the attractor is a pair of points of period 2; calling the two points
( where to determines the fi xed phase of t he driving force at wh ich sampling XA, YA and XB, YB, the mapping sends XA, YA -+ XB, YB -+ XA, YA -+ · · ·.
' occurs. The basic property of this is t he fo llowing: a given pair of values In other words, this steady-state motion has twice the period of t he driv-
r Xn, Yn, i.e., the values of x and :i: at the t ime t 0 + 27rn/w, determines .ing force. T his is sometimes called a subharmonic motion, since the
( (by way of the eq uation of motion) the motion, and therefore, t he values fundamental freque ncy of t he motion is a subharmonic (a fraction) of
of Xn+i 1 Yn+i (that is, x and :i: at the t ime one driving period later, the driving frequency.
to+ 27r(n + 1)/w). That is to say What happens as w increases past the critical value 1.2, or decreases
( past 1.4, is that the single-point (fixed-point) "simple" attractor turns
(
Xn+i = J(x n, Yn) into a n unstable fixed point (not seen in t he figures) and a two-point
(11.17)
l
Yn+ I = g(xn, Yn) (period 2) attractor. One says the attractor bifurcates.
 (
378 Chapt er 11 NON-LINEAR MECHANJCS: APPROACH T O C HA OS 11 .5 Aspects of Chaotic B ehavior 379
(

is shown in Fig. ll-7 (a). Sweeping down in frequency tow = 1.4, t he (

attractor bifurcates to a two-point attractor. The corresponding orbit is (
r::.:20
show n in Fig. 11-7 (b) . The orbit is similar to t he previous one except
now two driver periods are needed before it closes . . (

...
~

c
/ In Fig. 11-8 is shown the a ttractor (Poincare displacement) for f = 25. (
E I
I

0 I One sees that as w varies, period-doubling (bifurcation) occurs re peatedly (

..
0
..
a.
I
/ (cascade of bifurcation), and the period of the attractor rises through t he
values 112,4,8,16 ... to oo at w = w00 ~ 1.29. This figure is a detailed
(
~

0
/
/ view of the initial pa rt of the bifu rcatio n region showing t he cascade of (
c period doublings. The similarity to the well known logistic or quadratic
..·c; 2 -
iterative map is striki ng, as discussed in § 11.5.
(
(
ld,,_
'• (
\ 111 . 62
I -
(
1. 2 t.O
w
1.0
.. (
c
FIG URE 11-6. Poincare displacement for f = 20. A period doubling bifurcation
...
0

appears b etween 1.2 < w < 1.4. Hysteresis at w = 1.8 has become prominent. Only ~ 111 . S&
(
one attractor is shown. As in Fig. 11-5, the other branch is on the other side of the
same orbit.
0
.
't:
111.S6
(
(
..
c
0

(
la.~"'

(
4. 52 (
t.26 I .26S 1.21 l.2H 1.28 1.285 1.29 (
(
l•I
FIGURE 11-8. Poincare displacement for f = 25 . In this plot th e amplitude is
recorded each time t he driving force is maximum. At the lowest driving frequencies a {
single point is found corresponding to a simple att ractor . A cascade of p eriod-doubling
bifurcations occurs and by w = 1.29 the motion has become quite chaotic. (

The full Poincare section is shown in Fig. 11-9 at w = 1.2902, which (

FIGURE 11-7. T wo examples of phase space orbits in the frequency range of Fig. 11- is beyond w = w00 ; the attractor is an infinite number of points. The (
6. In (a) at w = 1.45 a simple attractor is seen. In (b) at w = 1.4 the attractor has "steady-state" motion of the oscillator at this J and w is thus not periodic
period 2. (
at all; the motion is chaotic. An attractor of this sort is known as a strange
attractor. Its infinitude of points are arranged in a strange self-similar (
In Fig. 11-7 we see what happens to the orbit . in phase space in a (fractal) manner. An expanded view of the portion of the attractor within
period-doubling bifurcation. Referring back to Fig. 11-6 we note that at (
the rectangle in Fig. 11-9 is shown in Fig. 11- 10. In principle this mag-
w = 1.45 the attractor is simple. The corresponding phase space orbit nification can be continued but numerical limitations soon intercede. (
(
(
I .
(
(
(
 380 Chapter 11 NON- LINEAR MECHANICS: APPROACH TO CHAOS
I 1 .5 Aspects of Chaotic Behavior 381

o.s
-~ 11.5 Aspects of Chaotic Behavior

°"'"""'
ourrinc
~.·\., We conclude this chapter by touching upon some general properties com-
·~ ttran ce
att r actor
'~
' \" mon to a wide range of chaotic motion and transitions to chaos . The first
\\ .. l topic is a deceptively simple mapping which exhibits many of the aspects .
\\ encoun tered in non li near differential equations. We then define t he Haus-
\ '
dorf or fractal dimens ion which characterizes the geometry of the strange
.,

v
att ractor and illustrate wit h the two dimensional Henon map. Finally we
briefly discuss the Lyapunov exponent which is a measure of sensitivity
to initial conditions a nd characterizes chaotic motion.

A. The Quadratic (or Log istic) Map

·2

•.S '
it .52 • . S• •.SS
x
4.51 ... • . 12
In (11. 17) we defi ned a mapping, in which the mapping functions
g were determined by the Duffing equation but not known explicitly. We
f a nd

now consider a much simpler mapping, in fact the si mplest nontrivial

F IG.URE 11-9. The Duffing strange attractor at w = 1.2902. The plot is a Poin ·
sect10~ ~t maxi~um driving force. The plot contains ten thousand points each r~::; (nonlinear) mapping for one variable, namely t he quadratic map, a lso
one dnvmg period. ' known as the logistic equation. This map is simple enough to expla in
r
to an elementary school child and to analyze on a pocket calculator yet
,. su btle enough to capture t he essence of a wide class of real world nonlinear
phenomena. The map is

(11.19)

If
0,9._
{11.20)
r
t hen 0 $ Xn $ 1 implies 0 $ Xn+i $ 1, so we can assume t hat Xn is
0.92
always in the interval 0 to 1. The quad ratic map function >.x(l - x) is
illustrated for two values of>. in F ig. 11-11. The name ' logistic' refers to
... its origin as a simple population model.
If >. < 1 we see from (1 1.19) or Fig. 11-11 that Xn+1 < Xn for all Xn·
O. lf. u 4. 5"'2 4.S24 4.5(8 •.528 .... SJ
The ult imate result of repeated iterations is thus inevitably x = 0. Thus
x when >. < 1 th e mapping has one fixed poin t, which is an attractor. It
is easy to fi nd the fixed points of the mapping for any>.. By (11. 19) the
F IGUR E 11-10. Magnified portion within the box of Fig 11-9 T he p · · t'
show · b . · · · omcare sec ion fixed-point condition is
n is ased on 30,000 driving periods and shows some of the detail t ·
strange attractor. pr esen m a
x =h(l -x) (11.21) .
with solutions
 382 Chapter 11 NON-LINEAR MECHA N ICS: APPROACH TO CHAOS
(
11 . 5 Aspects of Chaotic Behavior 383
(
x= O (11.22) terms linear in On, we find that
(
x= 1 - >.- 1 (11.23) (
On+! = >.(l - 2x) (11.25) (
Geometrically the fi xed point is the intersection of the quadratic map on
function wit h the line Xn+l = Xni see Fig. 11-11. Note that the fixed (
point x =1 - >.- 1 is in the interval 0 to 1 only when >. ;:: 1. In obtaining this result we have used x[>.(1 - x) - 1] 0 which is the =
condi tion (11.21) th at x is a fixed point. If lon+d < Ion! then with (
repeated mappings the point (11.24) moves closer and closer to x with (
increasing n and so th is fixed point is called stable or attracting; on t he
other hand if lon+d > Ion! the point moves away from x and t he fi xed ( ,
point is called unstable or repelling. For a general map Xn+l = F(x n) it (
0 .8
is easy to show that x is an attractor if
(
>.=2.8 dFI
- <1 (11.26) (
dx :i:=!:
o.e (.
A simple but informative geometrical construction of the iteration process (:
is shown in Fig. 11-12. '
(
Stable Unstable
(
/ /
/ /

F(x) /
/
/
/
/
(
/
/
(
>.- o.8
Xn+I Xn+l (
(
0.2 0 .4 0.6 0.8
(
•.
xo XQ
(
FIGURE 11-11. The quadratic map (or logistic equa tion). The mapping of (11. 19)
with two values of ,\ is shown. FIGURE 11-12. Stable and unstable fixed points. The iteration Xn+l = F(xn) can (
be graphically constructed as shown. If the slope of the mappin g function F(x) has
an absolute value less than unity the fixed point is stable.
(
The. next question is whether the fixed points of (11.22)- (11.23) are
stable (i.e., are attractors) . To settle this we start with a point near th e
(
fixed point and see if the result of repeated mapping converges to the According to (11.25) the fixed point x = 0 is stable (it is an attractor) (
fixed point. We write Xn as when 0 < >. < 1, while the fixed point x = 1 - >.- 1 is stable when
( I
1 < >. < 3.
(11.24) Now that we have established the stability of the fixed points when (
O < >. < 3 we venture into the region 3 < >. < 4. Since we found (
where x is a fixed point a nd On is (at least initially) small in magnitude.
t hat there are no stable fixed points (simple attractors) when >. > 3, we
Substituting (11.24) into the map equation (11.19), and retaining only (
consider periodic points, that is, points which return to their original value
(
(
(

(
 384 Chapter 11 NON-L INEAR MECHANICS: APPROACH TO CHAOS I I .5 Aspect.s of Chaotic Behavior 385
,.
after some number of mappings. For instance, period-2 points satisfy
Xn+2 = Xni t hey are fixed poi nts of the once iterated mapping

0.9

Xn+2 = AXn+l (1 - Xn+i)

(11.27)
= A2 xn(l - Xn) - A 3 x~(l - Xn)
2
0 .8

-
~

This double map function is plotted in Fig. 11-13 for two values of A. For ~ 0.7

the lower value of A = 2.8 the single fixed point is stable and is in fact
0

.,,u
0.

t he fixed point of the single mapping discussed just above. For A = 3.2 ,. 0. 6
;:
there are three fixed points. The middle one is the unstable fixed point
of the single mapping at x = 1 - (3.2)- 1 = 0.6875. We can establish (see o.s
problems 11-6 and 11-7) t hat the two remaining fixed poin ts of the double
mappi ng are stable in the range 3 < A < 3.449 .. . Note that these two
... points are a single pair of period-2 points; calling them XA and XB, the
o..

mapping takes one into the other: xs = F(xA) and XA = F(xB)· T his
transition, as the value of A is raised past a critical value (3 in this case), '·ta 2.9 ~.1 3.2 3.3 3 .'I 3. S 3.6
A
from one stable fixed point to a. pair of stable period-2 points, is known
a&. a bifurcation or period doubling. As A is raised past 3.499 a second FIGURE 11-14. Quadratic map fixed points for 2.8 < A < 3.6. A cascade of bifur-
bifurcation occurs, that is, the pair of stable period-2 points t urns into a cations is seen leading to a chaotic mapping. Comparison to the Poincare section of
Fig. 11-8 shows the universal nature of bifurcation cascades.
qua rtet of period-4 points. Such bifurcations occur faster and faster until
r an infinite number of bifurcations occur a.t A (::'. 3.56994 ... This portion Denoting by Ak the critical value of A at which the bifurcation from
of the mapping is shown in Fig. 11-14.
a stable period-k set of points to a stable period-(k + 1) set occurs, it is
r
found that
. Ak - Ak-1
/
/
/
/ hm A A = 4.669201 ... (11.28)
Jl. • 2.8 /
/
Jl.=3.2 /
/ k-+ oo k+l - k
/
0.8 / 0.8
/
/ known as the Feigenbaum number. This ratio turns out to be universal
0.6 0.6 / for any ma.p with a. q uadratic maximum and is seen in a wide range of
; +
i
Xe x
c
/ / physical problems. Indications of this ratio appeared in the Poincare
,. 0.1 O. 'I
.. /
/

section plots for the Duffing equatio n attractors in Fig. 11-8. One of t he
/
/
/
/
/

0.2 0.2 / /
/
/
conclusions one can draw from the existence of the Feigenbaum number is
i
.://
/
/
t hat each bifurcation looks similar up to a magnification factor. This scale
00 0.2 0 .4 0.6 o.e 00 0.2 0,'I o.e 0.8
invariance or self similarity plays a n important role in the transition to
xn xn
chaos and, as we will see shortly, in the structure of the strange attractor.

FIGURE 11-13. Iterated map for A = 2.8 and >. = 3.2. At the larger A there are
The quadratic map for 2.8 < A < 4 is shown in Fig. 11-15. Above
three fixed points; the extreme points are stable while the middle one is unstable. The Ac = 3.56994 ... the attractor set for many (but not all) values of A shows
dot-dash curves are the single maps. no periodicity at a.IL For these values of A the quadratic map exhibits
chaos and is a strange attractor. In t he region Ac < A < 4 there are also
"windows" where attractors of small period reappear.

' '
 (
386 Cl1apter 11 NON- LIN EAR MECHANICS : APPROACI! TO C HAOS
11 .5 Aspects of Chaotic Behavior 387
(

(
."'." . ,,.9,~
~,"'~;.r.
segments of length e) required is N(e) = l/e so
(
. In l/ e . ( In l )
,,. d = hm - - = <-+O
hm 1 +- - = 1 (
•-+O In 1/e In 1/E
(
~
~- 6
3. a square or' area l 2 . Here N(e) = £2 /e2 and hence (
.:
0a.
. O.•
..,
M
....
d = Jim In e2 / e2
<-+O In 1/e
=2
(
(
The point of the above is to be able to define the dimension of something
C.2 less obvious. A nice example is provided by (

~~'.it:r 4. the Cantor Set. As s hown in Fig. 11-16 we start with a line of unit (

3.a J.;; l .< 3.& 3. 1

length. Then the middle third is removed leaving two line segments.
The process is continued by removing at each step t he middle third
(;
of each segment. To cover t his set at steps k ~ K, N(I<) 2K =
FIGURE 11-15. Fixed points of the quadratic map in the parameter region 2.8 < A< 4. cubes of side e = (1/3)K are needed and the resulting Hausdorf (
dimension of the Cantor set is
(
B. Fractal dimension, scaling, and the Henon strange attractor . 2I< In 2
d = lim K = 1-n 3 = 0.631. .. (
I< -+oo 3
One of the very interesti ng properties of the strange attractor is its di-
mensio nality. The Duffing strange attractor of F ig. 11-10 is not a simple An important aspect of this set is its scale invariance. Whatever
c urve nor does it densely fill any region of phase space. One can think the k level of the set it is similar to t he other levels up to a scale (
of it as a non-integral dimensional curve with a dimension somewhere factor. (
betwee n one and two. To describe such attractors we need to generalize
our usual conception of dimension. k=O (

The Hausdorf (or fractal) dimens ion d of a set of points in p dimen- (

sional space is defined as (
k=l
(
d = lim In N(e) (11.29)
<-+O ln ( l /e) (
(
where N(e) is t he number of p-dirriensional cubes of side e needed to
(
cover the set. Some exam ples which red uce to previous results are the
sets cons isting of (
1. a s ingle point . Only one "cube" is required so N(e) = 1 and d = 0 (
2. a line of length l in a plane. T he number of cubes of side e (;,,line FIGURE 11-16. The Cantor Set. At each iteration the middle third of each segment (
is r emoved.
(
(
(
(
(
 388 Chapter 11 NON-LINEAR MECHANICS: APPROACH TO CHAOS 11 .5 A spects of Chaotic Behavior 389

This scale invariance appears in another context when we consider

the two-dimensional Henon mapping . .. ·..~'""'"" ' 1

Xn+l = 1 - ex;+ Yn (11.30)

Yn+l = f3xn
This is the simplest nonlinear two-dimensional map. By setting f3 =0
(and rescaling x) the Henon map reduces to the quadratic map.
Fig. 11-17 the attractor is shown for c = 1.4 a nd f3 = 0.3.
In
··f..
····•,"--,~~'--~--'-~~-'-~ . ...'
:

y
,.

FIGURE 11- 18. Henon attractor with f3 = 0.3 and c = 1.4. Part a is a magnification
of the contents within the box in Fig. 11-17. Part (b) magnifies the portion in the box
in part (a) and so forth. The scale invariance of the strange attractor is seen and the
fractal nature of the curve is evident .

C. The Lyapunov exponent

An important property of chaotic motion is extreme sensitivity to initial

x
FIGURE 11- 17. The Henon map strange attractor with f3 = 0.3 and c = 1.4. Ten
thousand points are shown on this map. The similarity of the Henon map to the
Duffing strange attractor of Fig. 11-9 should be noted.
The scale invariance and fractal nature of the Henon attractor be-
comes evident in Fig. 11-18 where successive magnifications of the map
are examined. In Fig. ll-18(a) the portion of the attractor within the
box in Fig. 11-17 is shown. In each case the iteration is run long enough
that there a.re about 10,000 points in the figure. The Hausdorf dimension
of this attractor is d ~ 1.264.
conditions. To express this sensitivity quantitatively we introduce the
Lyapunov exponent. Consider two points in phase space separated by a
distance do at time t = 0. If the motion is regular (non-cliaotic) these
two points will remain rela tively close, separating at most according to a
power of time. In chaotic motion the two points separate exponentially
with time according to
(11.31)
T he parameter >..L is the Lyapunov exponent. If >..Lis positive the motion
is chaotic. A zero or negative coefficient indicates non-chaotic motion.
The exponent can vary somewhat from point to point on t he attractor
 (
390 Chapter 11 NON-LINEAR MECHANICS: APPROACH TO CHA OS Problem~ 391
(

and often an average exponent is computed. If the phase space is two that its fixed points satisfy (
dimensional there will be two Lyapunov exponents. If one is positive and (
the other is negative, a small ball of phase space will be stretched into
(
a spaghetti-like structure as the system evolves. This is typical chaotic
behavior.
One of the fixed points x = 1 - 1
.>.-
is the single cycle fixed point.
Factor this root out and show that the two remaining roots are (
PROBLEMS ('

11.2 Approximate Analytic Steady-State Solutions x=--u- ~]

- 1+.>.[1±y>.+1. (
11-1. A damped oscillator with a non-linear spring force F(x) = (
- k(x + ax 2) has a driving force mf cos wt. 11-7. The stability condition for the iterated quadratic map at a fixed (
a) Scale the space and time coordinates to obtain a reduced equation point is IF2(x)I $ 1, where F2(x) = F(F(x)). Using the values of
the preceding problem for x show that the period-2 fixed points are (
analogous to the cubic case discussed in the text.
stable when (
b) Find the lowest order approximate analytic solution.
(
11-2. An oscillator with a quadratic anharmonic force term discussed in
\he previous problem is driven by a force mfi cosw 1t+mh cosw2t . and that >. which satisfies this is >. = 3.449 ... (
Show that the steady-state motion contains terms of frequencies 11-8. If in the quadratic map Xn+i = >.xn(l - Xn) we assume that Xn (
2w1, 2w2, w1 ± w2, 2w1 ± w2 . . .. These new frequencies are called changes slowly with n we can approximate x(n + 1) ~ x(n) + ~~.
combination tones and if the oscillator were a high-fidelity speaker Show that the differential equation limit of the quadratic map takes (
it would be said to have intermodulation distortion. the form (
11-3. Show that the undamped Duffing equation x + x + = f cos wt
x3 dy
dt = y(l - y) (
can have the exact solution x(t) = Ao cos ~t. Find the conditions
under which s uch simple subharmonic solutions exist. where y is proportional to x(n) and t is proportional to n. Solve (
t he d ifferential equation and discuss the relationship of the solution (
11.3 Numerical Solutions of Duffing's Equation to the properties of the iterative map.
(
11-4. Find an expression for the Poincare section at wt = 2mr, n = 11-9. In the limit fl = 0 show that the Hen on map of section 11.58 reduces
O, 1, 2, ... for a linear oscillator (Eq. (1.115) with fl= 0) attractor. to the one-dimensional quadratic map. Relate the parameter c to (
11-5. For the lowest harmonic ~olution to the damped and forced Duff- >.. For c = 1.4 what is the significance of the corresponding >.? (
ing equation, (11.11} and (11.12), find analytic expressions for the Hint: define a new variable by Xn = b1 + b2x~.
(
maximum amplitude. Evaluate for the parameters of Fig. 11-4 and 11-10. Consider the Henon map
compare with the numerical result. (
Xn+l = 1 - ex~ + Yn (
11.5 Aspects of Chaotic Behavior Yn+L = flxn
(
=
11-6. For any mapping function Xn+l F(xn) show that a fixed point x If fl is small, then y is small compared to x so Yn can be neglected
will be stable if IF'(x)I < 1, where F'(x) = dF/dxl~· (
in the upper equation. For fl = 0.3 and c = 1.4 compare this
For the iterated quadratic map Xn+2 = F(F(xn)) = F2(xn) show approximation to the Henon attractor given in Fig. 11-7. (
(
(
(
(

t
 Appendix A TABLES OF UNITS, CONSTANTS AND DATA 393

Appendix A TABLE A-2. Conversion Factors

Multiply By To Obtain
TABLES OF UNITS, CONSTANTS AND DATA Distance: feet 0.3048 meters
meters 3.281 feet
kilometers 3281 feet
feet 3.048 x 10-1 kilometers
kilometers 0.6214 miles
miles 1.609 kilometers
miles 5280 feet
meters 100 centimeters
centimeters 10-2 meters
kilometers 1000 meters
centimeters 0.3937 inches
inches 2.540 centimeters
astronomical unit 1.495 x 108 kilometers
Velocity: feet/second 0.3048 meters/second
TABLE A-1. Abbreviations fo r Units meters/second 3.281 feet/second
meters/second 2.237 miles/hour
Length: centimeter cm miles/hour 0.4470 meters/second
m eter m feet/second 0.6818 miles/hour
miles/hour 1.609 kilometers/hour
Mass: g ram g kilometers / hour o.l;214 miles/hour
kilogram kg kilometers/second 2237 miles/hour
Time: second s miles/hour 4.470 x 10- 1 kilometers/second
hour h Mass, weight pounds (weight) 0.4536 kilograms (mass)
year y and force: kilograms (mass) 2.205 pounds {weight)
newtons 1 kg m/s 2
Velocity: m eters per second m/s newtons 105 dynes
kilometers per second km/s pounds 4.448 newtons
kilometers per hour km/h newtons 0.2248 pounds
A stronomical astromical u nit AU Liquid measure: gallons 3.785 liters
distance: light year ly liters 0.2642 gallons
liters 10-3 cubic meters
parsec pc
Volume and cubic feet 0.02832 cubic meters
Angular radians per second rad/s pressure: cubic meters 35.31 cubic feet
velocity: pounds/square inch 68950 dynes/square cm
Energy: e lectron volt eV dynes/square cm 1.450 x 10- 5 pounds/squa re inch
million e lectro n volts MeV Energy and newton meter l joule
Power: dyne centimeter l erg
Force: newton N joule 107 ergs
Charge: coulomb c electron volts 1.602 x 10- 19 joule
joule 6.242 x 1018 electron volts
electron volts w-6 million electron volts
joule 0.7376 foot pound
horsepower 746 watts
watt l joule/second
Time: mean solar
day 8.640 x 104 seconds
year 3.156 x L07 seconds
hour 3600 seconds
r/min 0.1047 radians/second
radians/second 9.549 revolutions/ mjn

392
 (
394 Appendix A TABLES OF UNITS, CONSTANTS A ND DA1ii Appendix A TABLES OF UNITS, CONSTANTS AND DATA 395
(
(
(
TABLE A-3. Some Physical Constants (
TABLE A-6. Sun and Earth Data
Gravitational constant: (
=
G 6.673 x 10- 11 N m 2/kg 2 Mean distance from sun to earth 1.495 x 10 8 km
Electron charge: Mass of sun M 0 = 1.987 x 1030 kg (
e = 1.602 x 10- 19 C Mass of earth ME= 5.97 x 10 24 kg
Proton mass: Sun-to earth mass ratio M0/ME = 332,946
mp = 1.6725 x 10- 27 kg= 938.3 MeV Mean radius of earth RE= 637 1 km
Neutron mass: Mean radius of sun R0 = 696,000 km
(
mn = 1.6748 x 10- 27 kg= 939.6 MeV Mean gravity on earth g = 9.8064 m /s 2 (
Electron mass; Equatorial earth gravity 9E = 9.7805 m/s 2
me= 9.1096 x 10 - 31 kg= 0.511 MeV Polar -e arth gravity gp = 9.8322 m/s2 (
a particle {He++) mass:
ma= 6.644 x 10- 27 kg= 3727.4 MeV (
Veloci ty of light
c = 2.998 x 108 m/s (
Planck's constant (
n(= h/ 211") = 1.05457266 x 10- 34 J s
TABLE A-7. Moon Data (
Semimajor axis of orbit 10 5
3.84 x km (
Eccentricity of orbit 0.055
Sidereal period about the earth 27.32 days (
TABLE A-4. Some Numerical Constants Inclination of orbit to ecliptic 5.15°
Radius RL = 1,741 km (
7r= 3.1415927
e= 2.7182818 Mean density 3.33 g/cm 3 (
In 2 = 0.69314718 Mass ML= Me/81.56
1 rad = 57.2957795° Surface Gravity 0.165g (
Escape velocity 2.4 km/s
Orbital velocity about the earth LO km/s (
(
TABLE A-5. Vector Identities (
Ax B =-Bx A (
=
A x (B x C) (A · C)B - (A · B)C
Differential Forms:
(
V(st) = sVt + t V s (
V · (sA) = sV ·A+ A ·Vs
V x (sA) = s(V x A) - A x (Vs) (
V x V=O
V·VxA=O (
2
V x (V x A) = V(V ·A) - V A
V · (Ax B) = B · V x A- A .· V x B (
.I
I V x (A x B ) = (B · V)A - B (V ·A)+ A(V · B) - (A · V )B
I (
I
'1
(
11
I
I (
(
(
(
 , , ,
'

<:..:>
CD
O>

.,,.,,::..
;,
"'Q,.
TABLE A-8. Properties of the Planets i;·
::..
Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
Mean distance from sun, AU* 0.39 0.72 LOO L52 5.2 9.54 19.2 30.l 39.4 ~
to
Eccentricity of orbit 0.206 0.007 0.017 0.093 0.048 0.056 0.047 0.009 0.250 t--
t>:i
Sidereal period, years 0.24 0.615 LOO 1.88 1L9 29.5 84.0 164.8 247.7 ti)

Inclination of orbit to ecliptic 7.00° 3.39° 0.0° 1.85° L31° 2.50° 0.77° 1.78° 17.15° 0
"tJ
Equatorial radius (earth= l)t 0.38 0.95 1.0 0.53 11.2 9.41 4.01 3.88 0.18 c::
Mean density, gm/cm3 5.43 5.24 5.52 3.94 1.33 0.70 1.30 1.64 2.0 '<:
Mass (earth= l)** 0.055 0.185 1.0 0.107 317.8 95.2 14.5 17.1 0.002
Rotation period, days 59 -243 1.0 1.03 0.41 0.44 0.72 0.67 0.39 -~
(')
! = (Re - Rp)/Re 1/298 1/193 1/15 1/9.2 1/45 0
Surface gravity (earth= l)t 0.38 0.91 1.0 0.38 2.54 '<:
1.08 0.91 1.18 0.05 ti)
Escape velocity, km/s 4.3 10.4 11.2 5.0 59.6 35.6 21.3 23.8 1.2 ~
Orbital velocity, km/s 48 34.9 29.8 24.l 13.0 9.6 6.8 5.4 4.7 '<:
~
*Where earth = 1.495 x 108 km ::..
twhere earth = 6378 km '<:
\:i
**Where earth = 5.975 x 1024 kg
\:i
twhere earth= 9.8 m/s 2 ::..
~

....... ~ ......... 1--' (')

I I I I ...... ....... 7"' ......
...... ......... ...... ...... ";" ";" ";"
I ~ CJ) <:11 w' ~
i:::.. c,.., t-.:1 0 <O ~
;
?' . O'J . 'O
" c:r' i» . ii " c:r' i» 2:,
Ii P> e Ii -· 3 ::0 ~
- - - -
e CQ <!
tvl. e e ow e - - - -
Ii e e II e - ~-;:;:- 11 ::i.., II II ,.....
..,
; II 1::: - II II II Ii 0 <-;)' ~ ~ ~ - ~ .,c.. It-;) >
~ ~ ...... :;;~- 11 II II II <> ;l II
f ~ t-.:> 5" . . e 11 -II II ~ II ~""a z
11 II - w ,,---..... <:11 00 ...... o o-1 " 00.
5" 0e i 3 "' g t-.:>I...... o:-;- - a
~- ... + -.:i ~:...I- a~
"1 ~ a"1 I t-.:> _...--..._ c- ......---... oq
.... , ~ 'I ()q 33 _.., 8
~ 3
·°' --
I
ele+ ....._-._-.$ "' 5" Sjo Ii ~
-.....eecn~w r> :'!10- ;3 ...... 1 "' l:rj
.... ,~ o " II
el
~ ~... .!;_ "'-·Ii g ......I ,,---..... + ,_. <»
II "' ......__,, O' O' e
I ,., 3 .:::::. """ ~
w C""'io- O-.:t;t-
II ;: ;. II :;;: " P> "I ~ +c
<:11 00.
" I 1::: 3 II e~ :?" ...____.., ~
..___... ~
~~ Oo Ii
&l .... I~
" ~ II ::;; i i 3 II II
1-3
~ II
I::
~
....
tv
::;;
1::1
-·
- "' .....
II "I ;:i
0 0
:...
"'5·
<>:>
0
>
~1 e it:Ii i-·
tv ~ ""N i Ii <:11
00.
~l;:l s .....Ii <:11 II l:rj "'='
S ,,---..... II <O "'='
s .... t'"I ~
0 II :'l
,,---.....
--.... <-;) l:rj ::::s
<:111<0 ;:i J~ ;:l
...... II Ii <>:>
II .... a 0 3 0 ~
00 + ....._ II
e ,,_. ~ ...... ~ + .... 1-3 x·
<:11 ......__,, <-;)
l:rj to
:: 3
3°1"' :...0 tj
r-;::;:--'
---
"'·
......__,,
~ II "'
10" "'d
II :... Cil 0- 1 ......
w _...--..._
Ii
"' ..... ~
to
" t'"I
~ trj
..___...
~
00.

<:..:>
<O
~
 (
398 Appe11dix B ANSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS Appendix B ANSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS 399
(

(
1 2 vij rrFmaxd
1-15.a) y = -gt
2
= 2.9 m 2-2.a) R = - = - - - = 1188 m (
g 2mg
b) sin 2a = g~ = 0.116 a= 3.33° b) The range of the Turkish bow is larger by a factor of rr/2 than that of
Vo (
a bow that acts like a linear spring.
v2 (
c) Xmax = ...Q.g = 431m 2-3. Vesc {moon) = 0.21 vesc(earth) = 2.37 km/s
(
d) x=(vocosa)t=69.4m
2_4. v = J2GML [l _ RL _ ME ( RL _ __!!:f__)]l /l (
1-19. 955 rpm RL x ML d - x d- RL
v = 0.956vesc(moon) = 2.27 km/s
1-20 . xo = f (w5 - w ) /r 2
2
vo = 21w 2 f /r 2 (
2-5. KE = 35 eV
1-21. x = !_Im ei(wt- 9 ) = £ sin(wt - 0), Fe atom Fe atom (
r r
where rand 0 are given in -Eqs. (1.122) and (1.123). (
1-22.a) L =84.4µH 2-6. k = aFo W
__
VfaFomFo
-;r;-
(
b) ')' = 2.97 x 104 2-7. xo =+a is a stable equilibrium point with w ~
= v~ (
c) Vcr;:;x = 0.106 Volts xo = -a is an unstable equilibrium point.
d) Ratio of amplifications= 0.23 (
2-8. Approximate V(r) near r = 0.74A by V(r) = !k(r - 0.74) 2 - 4.52eV
1-23.a) x=Ae 1, A=!! withk';>j47eV/A2 . (
4
b) x=At 2 e-t,
l
A=-!
llvib =~ - /2k/mproton = L5 X 104 Hz
2rr V
(
2 (
2-9.a) A = v'29 B = ,/f7
c) x(t) = !4 (t 2 - t- !)
2
f e- t + ! /e 1
8 b) A · B = 4 1:1 = 79.6° or 280.4° (
1-24. x(t) =C cos(wot +a)+ a/me-bt c) IA x Bl= 21.84 1:1 = 79.6° or 100.4°. (
2 2 Consistent solution from b) and c) is 79.6°
WO+ b
b a (
tan a=-
wo
C=-----
mwoJw5 + b2
2-11 .b) V(1·) = 3(x
[(
- z)
3
(
.
1-25. (P) = -m')'r 2 12
w
2 2-12. ~F; - ~Fj = (x;Xj - XjXi)!dd (F(i·)) = 0 (
uXj ux; r r r

1-26. On :: (2n + l)w 2-13. V x F = - 2a. Not conservative. § = F · dr = -2iraz R 2 (

r~ = (wij - 11~) + (2')'!ln) 2
2
2-16. w = Jg/lcosl:I (
2')'!ln
tan On= 2 2-17. cosl:I = ~ 1:1 = 47.l 0
measured from the bottom (
wo -nn
2
2-18. T=mg(-3cosa+2cosao)
_ ~ {) _ ~ 1 cos(!lnt - l:ln) (
X (t ) - L.JXn t - L 2 T = 0 for cos a = j cos ao
n=O n=O (2n + 1) l'n (
2-19. For 1:1$90°, 0 $ E $ mgl
Chapter 2 . For a complete circular arc the string is taut if E > !mgl. (
1
2-1. V= 12 p(bh) g = 2.4 x 10 ~N-m
2 1
2-20. Wt= ~l:lg£ gc 2
(
c = !Cv(irR2 )p
AV = 1.1 x 108 N-m AV =22000 person years Wt = -AV= -(Ah)mg (
(
(
(
(
(
400 Appendix B ANSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS Appendix B ANSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS 401

t:.h = -0.81 cm. 3-6.a) L = !mw 2R 2 sin 2 () + !mR202 + mgRcosO

Distance from release point is d = 0.81/ sin(36.9°) = 1.35 cm
0+ ( k - w2 cos 0) sin 0 = 0
2-21. 2mx 1 = -2kx1 + k(x2 - x1)
mx2 = -k(xz - x1) b) n = ./iTIL= wo
w+ = Jk/2m for the mode x1 + x2 c) Stable equil ibrium at () = Oo where cos Oo = w8/w 2 .
w_ = J2k/m for the mode 2x1 - :r2
2-22. x1 = Acoswt, x2 = Bcoswt
te te e
3-7.a) .£ = 2(m1 + m2)0 2 + 2m2¢ 2 + 2m 2¢9cos(O-<P)
+ (m1 + m2)glcos () + m2glcos <P
A- f(wi -w2)
- (wr + w~ - w2)(w~ - w2) -w~
ii+ m,'+'m [¢2 sin(O - <P) + ¢cos(O - <P)) + 1sin0 = 0
2
B- fwi
- (wr + wi - w2)(wi - w2) - w~ ¢+ [-82 sin(O -<P) +Bcos(O- <P)) + ~sin<P = O
When w = w2, m1 remains fixed.
b} wi = g/l
Chapter 3 1 ± Jm2/(m1 + m2)
3-1. mx1 - k(x2 - x1) =0 c) m1 » m2: w+ ~ w_ = ViiTl
mx2 + k(x2 - x1) =0 The system becomes two weakly coupled degenerate pendula each of
wo = J2k/m length l. m2 is light and does not affect the motion of m1.
3-2. L = m:i: 2 - !kx 2 + mgx =
m1 « m2: w ./iffJ. or oo
2mx - mg + kx = 0 The heavy mass m2 oscillates like a _simple pendulum of length 2£. In
x(t) = ~g ( 1- cos {ft) t he limi t m2/m1 -+ oo the tension in the rod due to m2 is infinitely
large compared to m1g, causing m1 to oscillate with infinite frequency.
1 .2 1 .2 1 2 1 )2 3-8.a) L -_ lmR2
2 (021 + {J22 + 032)
3-3. L = 2(2mxi) + rnx2 - 2(2k}x1 - 2k(x2 - XJ
2
- !mw5R2 [(02 - Ot} + (03 - 01) 2 + (02 - 03) 2)
3-4. L = I\, - V = 1 m(x. 21 + x. 22) - 2mw
1 2 2
1 x1 -
1
2mw 2(
2 x2 - :r 1
)2
2 b} 81 + 82 + 83 = 3l1t + Oo
Qi(t) = mf cos wt Q2(t) = 0
P1 + P2 + P3 = 2
mR (0 1+ 02 + 03) = 3mR2n
3-5 .a) L = /{, - \I = 2m1x1
1 . 2 + 2m2x2
1 . 2 - 21 k ( x2 - xi
)2
c) ii1 +3w501 = 0
b} w = 0 for the mode l'l}X l + 11)_X2 ii2 + 3w502 = 0
~ m1m2
w = V"'fµ for the mode x1 - x2, whereµ= - - - 3-10. L = ! m(:i: 2 + 1i2) - mgy
m1 +m2
L = !m:i: 2(1 +4a 2x 2) - mgax 2
c} m 1x 1 +m2x2=A+Bt
x(l + 4ax 2) + 4a:i: 2x + 2gax = 0 \
:r1 - x2 = Ccoswt + Dsin wt
m1 m2 110 •
x + (2ga)x ~ 0
d) x 1 = vot + sm wt 2 2
m1 +m2 m1 +m2 w
3-14. H = Er_+ _.EL + V(1·)
x2 = mi vot- mt 110
sin wt 2m 2mi·2
m1 +m2 m1 +m2 w
aq . ap . a2 n a2 n
e) XCM = m 1x1+m2(x2+l) = ____;:__. ; ._; . . .
m2l+m1vot 3-15. _, + - ' = - - - - - = 0
aq; ap; ap iaq; aq;aP i
m1 +m2 m1 + m2
x i - x2 = 110w sin wt
 (
402 Appendix B ANSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS Appendix B ANSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS 403
(

(
Chapter 4 2c2
5-3.a) V(r) = - .,ft
4-2. v = voe-ut/mo (
v 1 . b) Closed orbit for E < 0
4-3. - = ( / ) , where u is the rate of mass of water pickup (
vo 1 +umot Unbounded motion for E ?. 0
v(t = 10s) = 182km/hr
dv c)
ro= (!!._)2/3
mc2
(
m(t) dt = - (b + u)v (
2foi·5/4
v = vo [mo/m(t)]l+(b/u), where m(t) =mo+ ut T = c
0 (
4-4. For maximum momentum, m = mife (
Velocity at this point is v = u d) w r2 = ~w
2 8
2

For maximum kinetic energy, m = mi/e2 6CL2 L2

(
Velocity at this point is v = 2u 5-4. F(r) = - m1·4 - mr3
(
4-5. 1.451 x 105 N 5-5. [( 1 = [( V' = t \I E1 = 0
(
4-8 . For first stage of Apollo rocket, h = 329 km 5-6.a) v = 1016 m/s r = 27.4 days
For a -t =, h = 691 km b) VsE = 7786 m/s v,L = 1587 m/s
(
4-9. K1 = 3 MeV 5-7. = 4.23m/s
Vesc (
(}i = -60° Umax.(Earth) = 3. 13 m/s (
K2=1 MeV 5-9. 129 days
(
4-10. M = 3ma 5-11 . On the equator in the direction of rotation, r = 6.6Re
4-11. M/m = 3, where Mis the stationary mass after the collision. 5-12.a) a= 17.9 A.U. (
3
4-13. vs= vo ( M -
M+m
m) b) l'max.
c) c = 0.967
= 35.3 A.U. (
... (
4-15.a) h = v5/(8g) 5-13. dmin = 1.85 cm
(
b) h =v5/(2g) dE dK dv
5-14. dt = dt = mv · dt
4-17. v I = 1. 75vo (} = 4.1° (
5-16. a= 6995 km
4-18. Dissociation energy= 2.6 eV T = 1.62 hr
(
4-19. Maximum compression s = vJm/6k 5-17. v 2
= (vf.c) 2
+ v~ (
4-21. Energy lost= Ff. VJ = V~c - Vorb
(
= 16.7 km/s
v
Chapter 5 5-19.a) c = 0.360 a= 0.735 A.U. (
5-1. L = Loe-* 1 ~v = -6 km/s (
£2 \ ->.-1 b) c = 0.225 a= 0.817 A.U.
- 3 = "cro (
mr0 ~v = -3.55 km/s

r = ro + & 2 -
Wr -
>.c
m ro->.-2 (2 - >.) 5-20. u = R'i, [1 + (V~c/vo
7r f] (
( I
L2
w2 -
8 - m2r4 5-21. (]' = 471" y-;;
VO
fiC (
0
(
(
(
(
(
 404 Appendix B A NSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS
Appendix B A NSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS 405

5-22. B'.i'ax = 133 degrees

6-13.a) right
e;iin = 0.006 degrees
b) cosB=RJ/R 2
5-24.a) u = 14.7 km /s 0 = 19.8°
b) E

c) Tmin
= 1.222
= l.85RJ
c) Tmax = µMg I (~~ + /LJl - (~~r)
1
Chapter 6 6- 14 . x = -3 h

=
6-1. r cM 4651 km, where 7'CM is distance of CM from center of the earth.
6-16. a= µg. Using t he notation of Problem 6-15,
Mg(b2 + µh) N _ Mg (b1 - µh)
16
6-3. - m. Ni = bi + b2 2
- bi + b2
7
6-4. x = 6 cm, v = J l25f /M
6-17. Wp = Mg£/ Iw
6-19 . VJ= Rwo/3
6-5. FL0 = 2.18FLE 1
(ba)2 ' b6 bB 6-20 . rpm
32
6-6.a) ro = w = a s ..ffi' E = 12a6
6-21.a) For one century .6.t = -5.87 s
For 3000 years .6.t = - 14.7 h
b) Lmax = -..ffib2
-,
2a
1'max = 2(a/b). 2 b) 0.6 x 1013 w
b4 b4 1
c) v~ = ...ffi vWm1a 3 ' v~ = ..ffi vWm2a3 6-22. T = 4Mg

6-7.a) ro = £, w = /k[i. 6-23. e= VJTM ror minimum period

L2 6-24.a) I = maa 2 + mbb2
b) 1·0 =£+--, w= -k ( l +3L2)
-- mbb- m aa
µ1·ijk µ µk1·6 c) w 2 - g
- mbb2 + maa2
6-8.a) I<'=~ m1m2 vL L=O j = 2-J2 { Bmax dO
2 m1 + m2
d) w }0 -jcos Oo - cos Bmax
c) rmin = e) Bo= 2w
m1 -m2 6-25 T - Mg . Same descending or ascending
d) . - 1 + (2r 2 / R2 )
= m1 + m2
Vlj Vt
6-26. lxx = M(Y 2 + Z 2) + 1;;1
6-9.a) E' = ~µv~
lxy = -MXY + 1;YM
L' = µvib l xz = -MXZ + l~2M
b2 1 b4 + 8Vo l yx = fx y
b) r20 =- +-
2 2 µv~ lyy = M(X 2 + Z 2 ) + l~yM
fy z = -MYZ + J~2M
(m1 - m2 )jv~ - v~f
c) cos f3 = ---=="=--- f zx = fxz
2-jm1 m2 Vtj
6-12. mv =
3 kg located on a line between the legs supporting 2 and 3 kg and
l zy =l yz
l zz = M(X2 + y2) + 1;;zM
2/3 of the way toward the 3 kg leg. Table tips if mv > 3 kg located on 2lxy
edge !Jlidway between two legs. 6-27.a) tan 2.Po = _
1yy 1xx
 (
406 Appendix B ANSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS Appendix B ANSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS 407
(
(
d) 2Ix'x' = fxx + fyy + D b) w2(0) = 30.3 rad/s
2Iy'y' =
lxx + 11111 - D
c) t = 0.19 s (
D 2 = {Iyy - fxx) 2 + (2lxy) 2
7-20. w3/w 1 = 1/2 (
6-28. x = !._t
m
B= ~~t
1,.,_ 7-24. L =K- V (
6-29.a) x = fe ]( = }IcM(B2 + ¢2 sin2 B) + }Me2 B2 sin2 B+ }h(~ + ¢,cosB) 2
V = MgfcosB
(
b) I= ~m£2
Mgzo (
c) lcM = f.rm£2 7-25.a) Wp = - -
13W3
(
d) IcMB f = (fe - h) I 2
b) ZCM = 3£ cos a
e) h = ie (

ff,h Chapter 8 (
6-30. Vmin =
1 - 15 h/a 8-1.a) Mcore = -47rR-
3
3
(5 )gP (
6-33. Changes sign
Mouter = -41rR3
-
3
(7 )
gP
(
Chapter 7 (
7-1. vo = -woi·o Mtot = 4ir:3 (3;) (
7-2.b) 8.54 rpm
b) For r < }R, M(r) = ljM (1·/ R) 3
. (
7-3. N = 41.9 dyne cm (
7-5.a) mr - mrw2 =0 For }R < r < R, M(r) = ~.Af (i + (r/R) 3 ]
(
b) 2mrrw = Q~ =rF~ For r > R, M(1·) = M
7-6.a) 0 + (wfi - w2 cos B) sin B = 0, where wij = g/ R !Q,.R- 3 0 < r < lR (
F 3 2
c) -m =-GM lr-2 + 1rR
a -
3 lR <r<R (
b) n = wo { 3 2
r- 2 1·> R
c) cos Be= (wo/w) 2
~1·2 R- 3 -2R- 1 0<r < }R (
7-7. Yeff = gVl - 0.36 sin2 B d) <I>= GM
{
- t r-1 + kr2R- 3 - R-1 }R < r < R (
V = 0.949Vesc _,.-1 ,. > R
&2 z
(
02p - 8-2. p(1·) ex l/r
7-8. m ot2 = -mg m
2
ot2 - mw p --- (
7-9. R = v/2n 8-3. r = 27rVR3 /GM, which is the same as the period of a close orbit
(
7-14. FB = Maw 2 /10VS 8-7. Pmoon/Psun = 2.36
8-8. R = 872 km, = 0.44 s {
7-15.a) lxx = myij r

,, lxy = - mxoyo 8-9. Power = k = 3.7 x 1031 W (

.1 , lyy = mxfi 8-10. le = ~(3ma I) 2 1 4
Ii'
/ (
fx z = lyz = fzz = 0
I' . 21·sd1 (
b) I= 0 and I = Io= m(xfi +YB) 8-14. 0 = d2(d1 +d2)
7-18.a) t up =1 s (
(
(
(
(
(
 n
UNI VB RSIDAD TECNICA
FEDERICO SANTA MARIA
Index

Biblioteca Central
· AC circuits, 15 Calculus of variations, 101
AM radio, 34 Cantor set, 387
Accelerated coordinate systems, Cartesian coordinates, 44, 65
228 Cascade of bifurcation, 379
Acceleration, 2, 48 Cat, 186
Action, 99 Center of gravity, 316
Advance of the orbit of Mercury, Center of mass , 177
306 Center-of-mass (CM) frame, 119
Aerodynamic force, 197 Center-of-mom entum frame, 119
Age of t he universe, 326 Central forces, 63, 64, 135
Andromeda, 337 Central potential energy, 64
Angular: Centrifugal:
impulse 1 211 barrier, 138
momentum, 91, 135, 184 force, 231
velocity vector, 190 potential energy, 138.
Anharmonic oscillator, 368 Chandler wobble, 260
Apogee, 154 Chandrasekh ar limit , 313, 319
Apollo: Chaos, 367, 377
lunar landings, 154 Circular orbit, 148
moon rocket, 132 COBE satellite, 331
Archery, 12, 16, 39 Coefficient:
Asteroid, 172 of kinetic friction, 5
Astronomical unit, 157 of restitution, 128
Atomic: of static friction, 5
.. clocks, 350
nuclei, 168
Collisions:
center-of-mass {CM) frame,
Attractor, 376, 377 119
I 6 12 Axial vector, 53
Azimuthal force, 231
center-of-momentum frame,
l· 119

I Para consultar la fecha de vencimiento de este libro,

visite www.bib.utfsm.cl o llama al 654343
Beat frequency, 76
Bernoulli, John, 110
billiard balls, 125, 211
completely inelastic, 130
elastic, 118, 121
Bifurcation, 377, 384 Coulomb scattering, 149, 164
Big Bang, 328 . cross section, 166
Billiard : flux, 166
collisions, 125 noncentral, 127
shots, 211 recoil energy, 125
Black hole, 304, 313, 335 Rutherford scattering,
Boltzmann's constant, 310 164, 183
Boomerang, 195 scattering angle, 123, 183
Bowling, 227 screening, 169
Brachistochrone, 110 Super-ball bounces, 214
Brow~ dwarfs, 305 Column vector, 58
Butterfly effect, 368 Coma cluster, 337

411
 412 Index
Combination tones, 390
Comoving reference frame, 322
Component, 47
Conic sections, 146
Con ical pendulum, 81
Conservation:
of angular momentum, 136
ofenerg~ 59, 60, 64, 360
of momentum, 111
Conservative, 62, 64
Conservative forces, 38, 63
in three dimensions, 58
Conserved quantity, 91
Constraint force, 93
Constraints, 91
Coriolis force, 231, 234, 240
Corotation, 297
Cosmic Redshift Theorem, 330
Cosmology, 330
age of the universe, 326
expansion of the universe, 321
Andromeda, 337
Big Bang, 328
black hole, 304, 313, 335
brown dwarfs, 305
Chandrasekhar limit, 313, 319
Coma cluster, 337
critical mass density, 325
dark matter, 330, 335, 339
deceleration parameter, 327
galactic rotation curves, 335
light-year, 322
luminosity, 339
Megaparsec, 322
Milky Way galaxy, 335
naturalness, 328, 340, 341
Newtonian, 321
Giber's paradox, 339
parsec, 322
Planck length, 340
Planck time, 340
rotation curves, 336
Coulomb force, 4, 63, 144
Coulomb scattering, 149, 164
Couple, 188
Coupled harmonic oscillators, 71
Crab:
nebula, 314
r
Index 413
(
(
pulsar, 314, 316 of the moon in orbit, 173 translational, 231
Critical mass density, 325 Effective force, 231 Foucault, Jean , 241 (
Critically damped harmonic Effective gravitational acceleration , Foucault's pendulum, 241
oscillator, 22 238 Fourier, 28 (
Cross product, 52 Effective potential energy, 138 Fourier expansion, 372
(
Cross section, 166 Effective gravity, 232 Fractal, 379
Curl, 62, 63 Eigenvalues, 78 dimension , 386 (
Cycloid, 110 Eigenvectors, 78 Free symmetric top , 258, 261
Cylindrical coordinates, 81 Einstein, Albert, 300, 342 Friction, 295 (
Einstein ring, 305, 318 Frictional force, 5, 271
Damped harmonic motion, 19 Elastic collisions, 118, 121 Fusion reaction, 360 (
Damped harmonic oscillator, 20, 22 Electric circuits, 22
with driving force, 26
(
Ellipse, 146 G, 3
Dark matter, 330, 335, 339 Elliptic integral, 70, 307 Galactic rotation curves, 335
(
Deceleration parameter, 327 Energy conservation , 59, 60, 64, 360 Galilean:
Deflection of light, 303 total, 38, 104 transformation, (
Degeneracy pressure, 311, 319 Equation of motion, 2 115-117, 342, 346, 347
Degenerate dwarf star, 319 Equilibrium, 43 velocity law, 356 (
Deimos, 317 Equivalence principle, 285 Geiger and Marsden, 168
Del operator, 62
(
Escape velocity, 153, 162 General:
Determinant, 77 Ether, 342, 343, 345 coordinates, 84 (
Direct product, 57 Ether. frame, 343 force, 87, 89
Distance, 47 E'uler angle coordinates, 265 momentum, 86, 89, 90 (
Distance of closest approach, Euler's equations, 248 General relativity, 326
169, 176 Expansion of the universe, 321 black hole, 304, 313, 335 (
Diver, 186 Extended third law, 221 advance of the orbit of Mercury,
(
Doppler shift, 309, 321 306
Dot product, 49, 51, 57 Fast precession, 268 deflection of light, 303 (
Double map function, 384 Feigenbaum number, 385 doppler shift, 309, 321
Double pendulum, 107 Fermi degenerate, 311 Einstein ring, 305, 318 (
Drag coefficient, 5 Fictitious forces, 137 equivalence principle, 285
Drag racer, 6, 33, 222 centrifugal force, 137, 231 gravitational bending of light, (
Driving frequency, 27 Coriolis force, 231, 234, 240 302
(
Dufling's equation, 370 translational force, 231 microlensing, 305
reduced, 370 Fitzgerald, G.F., 354 orbiting neutron stars, 309 (
Dynamical balance, 244, 247 Fitzgerald contraction, 354 perihelion advance, 306
Fixed point, 377, 382, 383 principle of equivalence, 300 (
Earth: Flux, 166 pulsar, 308, 314
effective gravitational Focus, 146 Schwarzschild radius, 303 (
acceleration, 238 Forced harmonic oscillator, 96 Gondola freight car, 113, 130
(
effective gravity, 232 Forces: Gradient, 62
gravitational escape, 39 central, 63, 64, 125 Grand Tour missions, 155, 164 (
motion on, 237 centrifugal, 231 Gravitational acceleration, 4, 40
plumb bob, 238 constraint, 93 Gravitational bending of light, 302 (
rotation, 295 Coulomb, 4, 63, 144 Gravitational collapse, 320
tides, 287 Coriolis, 231, 234, 240 black hole, 304, 313, 335 (
trade winds, 241 friction, 5, 271 Crab nebula, 314 (
Eccentricity, 145, 148 gravitational, 3 Crab pulsar, 314, 316
(
(
(
(
(
 414 Index
degeneracy pressure, 311, 319
degenerate dwarf star, 319
Fermi degenerate, 311
white dwarf, 312, 319
Gravitational escape, 39
Gravitational force, 3
Gravitational frequency shift, 301
Gravitational lenses, 304
Gravitational potential, 285
Gravitational potential energy,
39, 64
Gravity boost, 159
Gravity waves, 309
Great Pyramid, 78
Groups of galaxies, 337
Gymnasts, 186
Gyroscope, 193
Hamiltonian, 102, 103
Hamilton's equations , 102
Hamilton's Principle, 99
Hard spring, 373
Harmonic resonances, 373
Harmonic oscillator, 15, 105
(see also oscillator)
Hausdorf (or fractal) dimension,
l 386, 388
Heavy symmetric top, 264
i Heliocentric, 159
Henon mapping, 388
Holonomic constraint, 95
Hooke's law, 43
Hubble and Slipher, 321
Hubble:
constant, 321, 322, 340
distance, 322
law, 322, 323, 325
time, 322
Hulse and Taylor, 308
Hydrogen molecule (H2), 79
Hyperbola, 146
Hyperbolic orbits, 149
Ice skater's spin, 278
Impact parameter, 164, 303
Impulse, 211
Inelastic:
collisions, 128
Index 415
completely, 130 Magnification factor, 29 Noncentral collisions, 127
Inertia tensor, 251 Magnitude, 47 Non-holonomic constraints, 95
Inertial frame, 1 Mapping, 377, 381 Nonlinear, 381
Initial conditions, 19 Mars, 317 Nonlinear mechanics, 367
Interactions, 3 Maximum: Normal modes, 74, 78
Interchange of energy, 74 altitude, 132 Nuclear fusion, 311
Intermodulation distortion, 390 range, 31 Nucleus, 167
Internal, 184 Maxwell's equations, 342, 348 Numerical methods, 14
Invariant, 117 Mechanical hysteresis, 374 Nutation, 269, 270
Inversion, 53 Megaparsec, 322 frequency, 269
Isochronism, 69 Mercury, 308
Mercury Mariner voyage, 155, 174 Oblate top, 263
Javelin, 30 Meteor, 79 Olber's paradox, 339
J umps, 375 Michelson-Morley experiment, Orbit:
Jupiter, 159 343, 354 circular, 148
flyby, 155, 176 Microlensing, 305 equation, 145
Milky Way galaxy, 335 Orbiting neutron stars, 309
Kepler: Modes of motion, 78 Orthogonal, 51, 78
laws, 149 Moments of inertia, 204, 207 Oscillator
third law, 151, 181 of some simple bodies, 210 anharmonic, 368
Kinetic energy, 37, 179 Momentum, 2 coupled harmonic, 71
of a rigid body, 204 conservation, 111 critically damped harmonic, 22
transfer, 170 damped harmonic, 20, 22
Lab and CM Motion: driving frequency, 27
scattering angles relation, 123 allowed and forbidden regions, Duffing's equation, 370
Laboratory (Lab) frame, 119 43 forced harmonic, 96
Laboratory scattering angle, 123, 164 in a plane, 65 natural frequency, 20, 23
Lagrange: on the Earth, 237 nonlinear, 381
equation of motion, 88 overdamped harmonic, 22
equations, 84, 90 Natural frequency, 20, 23 particular solution, 26, 28
Laplace, Pierre Simon, 1 Naturalness, 328, 340, 341 phase angle, 27, 372
Legendre transformation, 103 Neap tide, 293 phase lag, 29
Length , 47 Nebula, 313 resonance, 26
Length contraction, 353 Neutrinos, 313 resonance frequency, 27
Light year, 322 Newton, Isaac, 1, 292 resonance peak, 372
Line integral, 59, 60 first law, 1 response factor, 26
Line of nodes, 265 law in t he non-inertial frame, simple harmonic motion, 68
Linear differential equation, 19 230 simple harmonic oscillator, 15
Logistic or qua~rat ic iterative map, law of motion, 362 simple harmonic period, 70
379 law of universal gravitation, simple pendulum, 67, 91, 93
Lorentz, H.A., 354 284 small oscillations, 41, 44
Lorentz transformation, second law, 2, 44, 47 steady-state solution, 28
117, 345, 348 theorem, 284, 335 steady-state amplitude, 374
Lorentz transformation of third law, 2, 111 transient motion, 28
momentum and energy, 360 water pail experiment, 234 underdampled harmonic, 22
Luminosity, 339 Newtonian: Oscillatory motion, 15
Lyapunov exponent , 389 cosmology, 321 Outer product, 57
theory, 1 Overdamped harmonic oscillator, 22
 r
416 Index Index 417
(
(
Parabola, 146 orthogonal, 280 motion, 113 Spacecraft, 152
Parabolic: Principal moments, 225 relativistic, 365 Special principle of relativity, 343 (
mirror, 234 Principal moments of inertia, 280 Rolling, 191 Special theory of relativity, 342
ether, 342, 343, 345 (
surface of a spinning Principle of equivalence, 300 Rotation, 46i 189
pail of water, 233 Principle of relativity, 356 curves, 336 ether frame, 343 (
Parallel-axis rule, 207 Principle of superposition, 36 axis, 190, 205 Fitzgerald contraction , 354
Parsec, 322 Products of inertia, 204 isotropic, 251 fusion reaction, 360 (
Particular solu tion, 26, 28 Projectile, 30 symmetric, 251 length contraction, 353
Path independent, 60, 62 Prolate top, 263 Rotational Lorentz transformation, (
Pauli principle, 311
Payload, 115
P roper time, 355
Pseudoscalar, 56
equation of mot ion, 184
invariance, 185
117, 345, 348
Lorentz transformation of r
Pendulum Pulsar, 308, 31'1 potential energy, 207 momentum and energy, 360 (
conical, 81 Putty balls, 129 velocity, 190 Michelson-Morley experiment,
clock, 69 Row vector, 58 343, 354 (
plane, 67 Quadratic (or logistic) map, 381 Runge-Kutta method, 374 principle of relativity, 356
simple, 67, 91, 93 Quantum mechanics, 171 Rutherford, 168 proper time, 355 (
Foucault, 241 differential cross section, 170 special principle of relativity,
343
(
with moving support, 235 Radial: scattering, 164, 183
with oscillating support, 96 equation, 137 scattering cross section, 169 time dilation, 350
Perigee, 154 oscillations, 141, 144 velocity addition, 354
Perihelion, 172 Radius of the universe, 329 Satellite, 152, 281 Spherical coordinates, 81
advance, 306 Range, 30 paradox, J48 Spin-casting process, 234
Period, 16, 153 Recoil energy, 125 Sawtooth wave, 36 Spine, 372, 373 (
Period-doubling bifurcation , 378 Reduced mass, 181 Scalar, 49, 57 Spinning disk, 282
Reference point, 39 Sport parachuting, 8 (
Perpendicular axis rule, 208 Scattering:
Phase angle, 27, 372 Relative-position coordinate, 180 angle, 123, 183 Spring: (
Phase: Relativistic: cross section, 169 constant, 4, 43, 44
lag, 29 dynamics, 362 Schrodinger equation, 106 force, 4, 12, 39 (
space, 376 kinetic energy, 358 Schwarzchild radius, 303 tide, 293
Phobos, 317 Lagrangian, 366 Screening, 169 Sputnik I, 174 (
Pi mesons, 361 momentum and energy, 356 Seagulls, 117 Stability of motion, 257
Stable and unstable fixed points, 383 (
Pioneer 10 and 11 , 164 orbit equation, 306 Second-rank tensor, 58
Planck blackbody spectrum , 331 rocket equation , 365 Self similarity, 379, 385 Stable equilibrium , 42- 44 (
Planck length , 340 work-energy theorem, 366 Semimajor axis, 147 Star trails, 260
Planck time, 340 Relativity, 342 Shotput, 30 Stars, 309 (
Planck's constant, 106 (see general or special) Simple harmonic: Static:
Plane pendulum, 67 Resonance, 26 motion; 68 balance, 247 (
Planetary motion, 144 frequency, 27 oscillator, 15 equilibrium, 187 (
Plasma, 330 peak, 372 period, 70 Steady precession, 271
Plumb bob, 238 Response factor, 26 Simple pendulum, 67, 91, 93 Steady-state: (
Poincare: Rest energy, 358, 361 Simple precession, 194 solut ion, 28
displacement, 377 Rigid body, 177, 183, 187 Single-axis rotations, 205 amplitude, 374 (
section, 375, 380 constraints, 95 Skydiving, 8, 32 Stokes law, 5
Strange attractor, 377, 379, 380, 385 (
Polar coordinates, 65 Ring molecule, 108 Sleeping top, 273
Position vector, 47, 48 Rising and sleeping top, 271 Slipping top, 271 Stroboscope flashes, 377 (
Potential energy, 37, 38, 59 Roche limit, 300 Slow precession, 268 Summation convention, 56
Power, 36 Rocket: Small oscillations, 41; 44 Super-ball bounces, 214 (
Principal axes, 248, 251 equation, 131 Space and body cones, 264 Supernova, 172, 313
(
(
(
(
(
HI
418 Index
JU

JH
Superposition, 15, 28 com ponent, 47
131 Sweeping in frequency, 374 cross product, 52
Symmetric tensor, 204 curl, 62, 53
rn notation, 44
Tennis racket theorem, 252 sum of, 52
!Iii
Tension, 67 del operator, 62
Tensor: direct product, 57
of inertia, 204 distance vector , 47
of second rank, 57 dot product, 49, 51, 57
symmetric, 204 gradient, 62
Terminal velocity, 8, 11, 32 magnitude, 47
Three-dimensional motion, 44 orthogonal, 51, 78
Thrust, 115 outer product, 57
~l'i Tidal: position vector, 47, 48
friction , 223 pseudoscalar, 56
lead angle, 299 relative position coordinate, 180
range, 292 row, 58
Tides, 287 scalar, 49, 57
Time dilation, 350 summation convention
Tippie-top, 275 triple product, 55
Torque, 135, 184, 188 unit vector, 52, 54
Tones, 390 Velocity, 48
Trade winds, 241 addition, 354
Transient motion, 28 boost, 162
Translational: terminal, 8, 11,32
force, 231 Vibrations, 15
invariance, 112 Virial theorem, 174, 309, 332, 333, 337
Triangular molecule , 108 Voyagers 1 and 2, 164
Triple product, 55
~I Trochoids, 270 Wavefunction , 106
Turkish bow, 78 Weak coupling limit, 74
Turning point, 41, 42, 146 White dwarf, 312, 319
Two-body problem, 177, 183 Work-energy theorem, 37, 59, 366
Two-particle:
collisions, 119 Yo-yo, 225
system, 179

Underdamped harmonic oscillator,

22
Unique potential energy, 62
Unit vectors, 52, 54
Unstable equilibrium point, 43
Uranus, 158

Variational principle, 101

Vectors, 46, 53
axial, 53
column, 58
r
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r
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r
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r
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r.
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