Section

1.2 Summary
Section 1.2 discusses how most of the equations such as energy and force need slight variations
if you try to analyze a system of particles instead one particle or object. This is best summed up
below.

" ji+Fi

(e)

#$
#% $

( ( ( =i Eq(1)

The above equation is the total force acting on system of particles Fji is the force each particle
enacts on the other (force particle j enacts on particle i), while Fi(e) is the external force acting
on the whole system. Now looking at Eq 1 we can make some assumptions mainly that the term
jFji vanishes due to the weak law of action and reaction (not all forces obey this however). Now
if we define vector R as a center of mass of the system or

R=

- . /.

(4)

(4) Eq(3)

Eq(2)

we can rewrite Eq 1 as:

#$
#%

$ = (

In laymens terms this equation states that for a system of particles you only need to look at
and analyze the center of mass to determine its momentum and such. The easiest reference is
rocket although the rocket might fragment into several pierces you need only care about where
the center of mass is and its movement to understand momentum and force of the rocket as a
whole. Eq(3) also shows the conservation theorem for linear momentum of a system of
particles namely that if the total external force is 0 then linear momentum is conserved.
Results for angular momentum can also be shown (pp 6-7) to be analogous with momentums
treatment mainly that.

#7
#%

= 4 Eq(4)

The Conservation Theorem for Total Angular momentum: L is constant (in time) if the applies
external torque is 0.

Angular Momentum however is a bit more complicated, namely that the total angular
momentum around some point is the angular momentum of motion at the center of mass plus
the angular momentum of motion about the center of mass. This means that not only does the
systems total angular momentum matter but so does the individual movement of the particles
around its center of mass to the total angular momentum. This is shown in the equation below.
(With a more detailed walkthrough given in the book pp 8-9)

L=R x MV+

( (
( Eq(5)

Kinetic energy is likewise treated meaning that to find the kinetic energy of a system you need
to find the KE if all were at the center of mass plus the KE of the motion around the center of
mass. This is shown in the equation below. (pp 9-10)

<

<

T= M = +

@=
( ( ( Eq(6)

Also potential energy has the same treatment and is shown to be the external potential energy
of the system as a whole plus the internal potential energy. (pp10-11)

V=

( ( +

<

(B" (" Eq(7)

This sections main focus was the center of mass and how systems of particle problems are
simplified and much more manageable when using the center of mass as a reference point
mainly due to the fact that the math becomes more intuitive as opposed to trying to add in
forces without a center of mass reference point.

Section 1.3
This section reminds us that mechanics is not as simple as finding a set of differential equations
and solving for the variables, it is in fact harder when adding the constraints. Constraints can be
classified in various ways. A holonomic constraints are in the form
# , % , & , . , = 0 1.37
Examples of this type of constraints are rigid bodies or where a particle must move on a path or surface.
Constraints that cant be expressed in this manner are nonholomoic constraints. An example of this
would be a container or a particle on the surface of a sphere. This is due to the constraint being in the
form of an inequality.

Constraints are also classified on whether or not they involve time as an explicit variable, or if
the constraint is dependent on time. If the constraints do they are rheonomous if not they are
scleronomous. An example would be a bead sliding down a wire, this would be a scleronomous
constraint but if the wire was to move it would be rheonomous. However if the wire was to move due to
the motion of the bead then the constraints would be scleronomous again for time is part of the
systems coordinates.

Constraints provide two major obstacles in solutions for mechanical problems.

1. ri are no longer independent.
2. The forces of the constraint are not known and must be determined from the solution.

If the constraints are holonomic the first problem is solved by general coordinates. For Cartesian
coordinates a particle has 3N degrees of freedom with the constraints it would be 3N-k.
= # # , % , . &123 ,
.
.
.
1 = 1 # , % , . &123 ,

These are the transformation equations from ri to qi or the parametric representations of the ri variables.
Different quantities may be used to describe generalized coordinates. The amplitudes of a Fourier
expansion of rj may be used as generalized coordinates. If the constraint is nonholonomic, the equations
used to describe the constraint cannot be used to eliminate the dependent coordinates. An example
would be a disk rolling in a xy-plane. The combined conditions would produce two differential equations
of constraint:
= 0
+ = 0
These cannot be integrated without solving the problem. But for the majority assume that the constraint
is holonomic. This assumption doesnt limit the theory too greatly.

2.3 Derivation of Lagranges Equations from Hamiltons Principle

To generalizing the fundamental problem of the calculus of variations one must first state a
function f that is dependent of many independent variables y and their derivatives. Lets call this
variation of the integral J
2

= 1 (1 (); 2 (), . . , 1 (); 2 (), , )

(2.14)

Next we consider J as a function of the parameter , which labels a possible set of curves yi(x,) and the
arbitrary value . The s are independent functions that are continuous through the second derivative.
y1(x,0), y2(x,0), etc. are the solutions of the extremum problem
1 (, ) = 1 (, 0) + 1 (), 2 (, ) = 2 (, 0) + 2 (), .

(2.15)

Now the variation of J is given by

= 1 (

(2.16)

By integrating the second term of the summation by parts, the first term vanishes since all curves will
2
( ) .

pass through fixed points leaving only 1

By substituting in this equation to 2.16 J

now becomes
2

= 1 ( )

)
0

In analogy with equation 2.12 the variation = (

(2.17)

.Since the y variables are independent, the

variations yi would be independent. Using an extension of the fundamental lemma equation 2.10, J
will equal 0 when yi vanish separately.

= 0

= 1,2, .

(2.18)

This is the generalization of equation 2.11 and the equations are known as the Euler-Lagrange
differential equations. The solutions represent curves for which the variation of an integral of the form
in equation 2.14. This suffices for the integral in Hamiltons Principle. We assumed that the yi variables
to be independent this leads to the Euler-Lagrange equations for the integral I to become the Lagrange
equations of motion.

Home Work
Group 1:
Zach Taylor
Valeria Guadalupe
Long Britt
Venkata Challa
October 6, 2015

problems in chapter 2
2.5
Suppose that it was known experimentally that a particle fell from rest a given distance y0 in a time
p
t0 = 2y0 /g
,but that the time of fall for distances other than y0 were not known. Suppose further that you did not
know the theoritical equation for y as a function of y as a function of t,but guessed it might have form
y = at + bt 2
If constants a and b are adjusted always so that the time to fall y0 is correctly given by t0 ,shoe directly that
integral is
Z
ldt
0

is an extremum for real values of coefficients only when a = 0 and b =

g
2

Answer:
Lagrangian
l=

mv 2
my 2
+ mgy =
+ mgy
2
2

Euler Lagrangian Equation:

d l
l
d

= my mg = m
y mg = 0
dt y
y
dt
y = g

As
y = at + bt 2
2b = g
g
b=
2
As the particle is starting from rest,v0 =0. substituting in the above Equation 1 leads to,
y0 = at0 + bt20
It is given that
r
t0 =

2y0
g

substituting leads a t=0 which implies that a=0.

Hence, for the given integral to be extremum only when a=0 and b=g/2

2.6
When forces act only during a short interval of time , as in collision , they are describes as impulsiveforces.
The term impulse is given to the quantity:
Z
f dt

where integral is evaluated only over infinitesimal time t during which the impulse acts. Show that if
impulsive forces are present Lagranges equations may be transformed into
l
l

= sij
qj f
qj i
where subscipts i and j refer to the state of system before and after impulse,si j is impulse of generalised
impulsive force corresponding qj , and l is Lagrangian including all nonimpulsive velocity-independent forces.
Answer:
Given integral is the workdone when certain acts on , in an given amount of time. From Euler Lagrangian
Equation, we deduce the fundamental equations of motion . But,we consider each case separately
1. Before collision
2. After collision
Case 1:
l
l

=0
qj i q
l
l
=
qj i
q
2

Case 2: Impulse being an nonconservative force, certain amount of work will be done which is given by
X
qij qij
j

So,After the collision, the equation will take a form which looks like:
X
l
l

=
qj qj
qj f
q
j

Now,Substituting Eq from case 1 in Eq above gives,

l
l

=
qj f
qj i

Z X

qj qj

which gives the amount of work done by the impulsive force relating to qj .

Chapter 1 Exercises 13, 15, and 17

Zachary Taylor, Britt Long,

Venkata Challa, and Valeria Guadalupe

Department of Physics, Texas A&M University-Commerce

September 16, 2015

Exercise 13:
Rockets are propelled by the momentum of the exhaust gases expelled from the tail. Since the gasses
arise from the reaction of the fuels carried in the rocket the mass of the rocket is not constant but
decreases as the fuel is expended. Show that the equation of motion for a rocket projected vertically
upward in a uniform gravitational field, neglecting atmospheric friction is
m
Where mr is the mass of the rocket and v is the velocity of the escaping gasses relative to the rocket.
Integrate the equation to solve for v as a function of m, assuming a constant time rate of loss of mass.
Show for a rocket initially starting at rest with v=2.1km/s and a mass loss per second equal to 1/60th the
initial mass that in order to reach escape velocity the ratio of the weight of the fuel to the weight of the
empty rocket must be almost 300!
Solution
To prove the equation of motion lets start with a free body diagram. With weight going down and a
force pushing it up mainly Fup

Looking at this we can see the total force is Ftot=Fup-mg. However we know from
the problem that Fup is coming from the rocket fuel and is pointing down in a negative direction so
replacing Fup with
and realizing that in this case v is constant but our m is changing we have
Fup=-v

and thus our free body diagram looks like this.

Meaning Ftot=m

.Which is what we set out to prove.

Now for the second part we want to prove that

where mr is the mass of the rocket by itself

and mf is the mass of the fuel by itself. First lets write down what we know for this particular instance.
-total rocket mass M=mr+mf or mass of fuel plus mass of rocket
- Here v=2.1 km/s
- Also
- Escapevelocity v=11.2 km/s
We start out with our equation we found in part a.
m
2

Now we use a small calculus trick we want dv by itself and a dm on the other side so of we instead of
so we now have.
Leaving dv where it is at and bringing all other terms on the left over to the right and seeing that
cancels out

on the right we get

dv= dm+
Now before we get ahead of ourselves and cancel the dms out we want to look back at our known
variables and realize that =
dv= dm+
Now we integrate both sides for the dm side we integrate from M which is the mass of a fully fueled
rocket to mr which is the mass of an empty rocket
=

- v=-vln

Now remembering that we are looking for

so we use the fact that M=mr+mf we plug it back in to get

the following equation

v=-vln
Simplifying a bit we get
v=vln(
Multiplying both sides by

we have
v*(

Now since we are looking for

)-60g(

)= v*(

)*ln(

)-60g

let

V(
)=v*(1+ )*ln(1+x)-60g
Now plugging in the constants for v,g, and v into Wolfram-Alpha we have what follows
Multiplying both sides by

we have
v*(

Now since we are looking for

)= v*(

)*ln(

)-60g

let

V(
)=v*(1+ )*ln(1+x)-60g
Now plugging in the constants for v,g, and v into Wolfram-Alpha we have what follows

This gives us two values of x one of -.96 and another of 272.776 now the ratio cant be negative so -.96 is
out. This leaves x= =272.776
. Which is what was to be proven.

Exercise 15
A point particle moves in space under the influence of a force derivable from a generalized potential of
the form
Where r is the radius vector from a fixed point, L is the angular momentum about that point, and is a
fixed vector is space.

a. Find the components of the force on the particle in both Cartesian and spherical
polar coordinates, on the basis of Eq. 1.58
b. Show that the components in the two coordinate system are related to each other
as in Eq. 1.49
c. Obtain the equation of motion in spherical polar coordinates
For part a, find the components of the force in Cartesian coordinates and convert U(r,v).
)+
Then plug it in the Lagrange-Euler Equation (Eq. 1.58)

Where
Solve for each component

repeat for y and z

To find the components in spherical coordinates, we should set up the coordinate system so that is
along the z-axis . Thus the dot product simplifies and L is only the z-component.
Solve for

The and

terms drop out and

becomes

Thus
Plugging this into the Lagrange equation, we get

For part b, we have to show the components of the two coordinate systems are related to each other
via

Lets use ,

Since in both coordinates we have pointing in the z direction, then the x and y s disappear
Pull out the V terms and plug in x and y

Plug in

and

This matches the derivation in part a for . It shows that the components in the two coordinate
systems are related to each other. Any of the other components could be equally compared in the same
procedure.
For part c, we first need to find the generalized kinetic energy. In spherical coordinates v is
The kinetic energy in spherical coordinates is then
From this well use the Lagrange equation to solve for the generalized potential and the components
derived from the kinetic energy, they will be set equal to each other. For the r component:

From part a,
Set them equal:

For the component,

From part a,
Set them equal:

For the last component , repeat the same process

From part a,
Set the equal to each other:

Exercise 17:
Problem: A nucleus, originally at rest, decays radioactively by emitting an electron of momentum 1.73
MeV/c, and at right angles to the direction of the electron a neutrino with momentum 1.00 MeV/c. (The
MeV, million electron volt, is a unit of energy used in modern physics, equal to 1.60 x 10-13 J.
Correspondingly, MeV/c is a unit of linear momentum equal to 5.34 x 10-22 kgm/s.) In what direction
does the nucleus recoil? What is its momentum in MeV/c? if the mass of the residual nucleus is 3.90 x
10-25 kg what is its kinetic energy, in electron volts?
Given parameters: pe=1.73 MeV/c and at 90o p= 1.00 MeV/c
Note 1MeV = 1.60x10-13 J, MeV/c =5.34x10-22 kgm/s, and m=3.90x10-25kg
Solution:
The nucleus should recoil in the opposite direction of the magnitude of the resulting vectors from the
electron and neutrino

PN=2.00 MeV/c
To get the resulting angle of the recoil

Seeing as the angle should be in the opposite direction add 180o

=240o

To solve for Kinetic Energy, T, remember:

Plugging in the calculated momentum

T=1.46x10-18kgm2/s2
Conversion:

T=9.13 eV