Classical Mechanics - Homework Assigment 1

Alejandro Gmez Espinosa o September 19, 2012

Goldstein, Ch.1, 12 The escape velocity of a particle on Earth is the minimum velocity required at Earths surface in order that the particle can escape from Earths gravitational eld. Neglecting the resistance of the atmosphere, the system is conservative. From the conservation theorem for potential plus kinetic energy, show that the escape velocity for Earth, ignoring the presence of the Moon, is 11.2 km/s. From the conservation of energy: Ebef ore = Eaf ter . At the beggining, the particle has only potential energy. Once this particle escapes from Earth, it cannot feel Earths gravitational eld and its potential energy is zero, having only kinetic energy. Then, Vb = Ta mM 1 G = mv 2 r 2 GM v2 = r 2 where, G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the Earth, m is the mass of the particle, r is the distance between the Earth and the particle, and v is the velocity of the particle. Solving for v and replacing with the values: v2 = 2GM 2(6.67 1011 )(6 1024 ) = r 6 106 v = 1118 m/s From we can conrm that the escape velocity from Earth is 11.2 km/s.

gomez@physics.rutgers.edu

Goldstein, Ch.1, 14 Two points of mass m are joined by a rigid weightless rod of lenght l, the center of which is constrained to move on a circle of radius a. Express the kinetic energy in generalized coordinates. A graphical description of this problem is sketch in Figure 1. Here, we can split the kinetic energy in two: a circular motion of a point in the plane x y and the tridimensional motion of the rigid weightless rod with two masses in the plane x y z .

Figure 1: Sketch of the problem 14. Here, two points of mass are joined by a rigid rod and the center is constrained to move on a circle. For the rst part of the kinetic energy, the total mass of the system is the sum of the two point masses. In additon, we dene the angle between the position r and x as : 1 1 2 T1 = M vcm = (2m)(a)2 = ma2 2 2 2 Then, for the second part of the kinetic energy we used the other coordinates system where the rod is divided in the middle. We set the position of one of the point masses in spherical coordinates: L sin cos 2 L sin sin y = 2 L x = cos 2 where is the angle in the plane x y and is the angle azimuthal. Here, when we dene the position of one of the particles the other is xed. Therefore, to calculate the velocity v 2 = x2 + y 2 + z 2 we nd the temporal derivative of each variable: x = x = L (cos cos sin sin ) 2 L (sin cos + sin cos ) y = 2 L z = sin 2 2

x2 = y2 = z =

L2 (cos2 cos2 2 2 sin sin cos cos + sin2 sin2 2 ) 4 L2 (sin2 cos2 2 + 2 sin cos sin cos + sin2 cos2 2 ) 4 L2 sin2 2 4

Then, the total velocity is: v 2 = x2 + y 2 + z 2 2 L = (cos2 cos2 2 + sin2 sin2 2 + sin2 cos2 2 + sin2 cos2 2 + sin2 2 ) 4 L2 2 = ( + sin2 2 ) 4 And the second part of the kinetic energy, for the two masses: T2 = 2 1 mv 2 2 =m L2 2 ( + sin2 2 ) 4

Finally, the total kinetic energy in generalized coordinates is: T = T1 + T2 = ma2 2 + mL2 2 ( + sin2 2 ) 4

Goldstein, Ch.1, 21 Two mass points of mass m1 and m2 are connected by a string passing through a hole in a smooth table so that m1 rests on the table surface and m2 hangs suspended. Assuming m2 moves only in a vertical line, what are the generalized coordinates for the system?. Write the Lagrange equations for the system and, if possible, discuss the physical signicance any of them might have. Reduce the problem to a single second-order dierential equation and obtain a rst integral of the equation. What is its physical signicance? (Consider the motion only until m1 reaches the hole.) The mass m1 on the table surface can move only in that plane. Therefore, we can describe the position of this mass with the distance r and the angle , since: x = r cos and y = r sin . The kinetic energy is: 1 T1 = m1 (r2 + r2 2 ) 2 For the mass m2 , the motion is constrained in the vertical line. Its position is z = Lr where L is the total length of the string. Then, the kinetic and potential energy are: 1 1 T2 = m2 z 2 = m2 r2 2 2 V2 = m2 g(z) = m2 g(L r)

Hence, the generalized coordinates for this system are r and , and the Lagrangian is: 1 L = T V = [(m1 + m2 )r2 + m1 r2 2 ] + m2 g(L r) 2 Then, we have to solve the Euler-Lagrange equation: L x t L x =0

for each generalized coordinate. First for : L L = 0 = m1 r2 t

m1 r2 = 0 m1 r2 = k (constant) t For the other generalized coordinate: L r L r = m1 r2 m2 g = ((m1 + m2 )r) = (m1 + m2 ) r t

m1 r2 m2 g (m1 + m2 ) = 0 r from the previous equation: = k/(m1 r2 ), then: if we replace the value of m1 r k m1 r2
2

m2 g (m1 + m2 ) = 0 r k2 + m2 g = 0 m1 r3

(m1 + m2 ) r

Goldstein, Ch.1, 23 Obtain the equation of motion for a particle falling vertical under the inuence of gravity when frictional forces obtainable from a dissipation function 1 2 2 kv are present. Integrate the equation to obtain the velocity as a function of time and show that the maximum possible velocity for a fall from rest is v = mg/k. If we consider the motion in the z-axis, our Lagrangian has the usual form: 1 L = mz 2 mgz 2
1 According to the problem the frictional force is F = 1 kv 2 = 2 k z 2 . Then the Euler 2 Lagrange equation, including dissipative forces is:

t Solving this equation:

L z

L F + =0 z z

m mg + k z = 0 z

m = mg k z z

From this equation, we can conclude that when the total force goes to zero: mg = k z. It means that the maximum possible velocity is reach when the total force goes to zero, and has the form: z = mg . z