Solved Problems in Classical Mechanics

Roberto A. Rodrguez Torres

Introduction
These notes are primarily a selection of various problems in classical mechanics I was assigned when I
took that course. They are intended to help elucidate the dierent physical concepts and mathematical
methods which may prove challenging for students to apply eectively. Since these are still an extremely
rough draft (I started typing them up on September 13, 2013) any and all suggestions and/or corrections
are actively encouraged.
Finally, problems labelled MT X.Y refer to problem #Y, chapter X from Marion & Thorntons book,
Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems, 5th ed.
1
Solved Problems
MT 2.3
Figure 1: Problem MT 2.3
The problem asks for the time it takes an object moving under the inuence of the surface of the Earths
gravitational eld (neglecting any friction or air resistance) to intersect a line at a given angle. The only
adjustable parameters in the problem are the initial angle of the objects velocity and the initial angle
of the line . Its really as simple as guring out at which time (call it t
A
) will the two objects be at the
same position, as shown in Fig. 1. As usual, the motion of the object can be parametrized by a vector
r(t):
r(t) = x(t) x +y(t) y
From Newtons Second Law:

F(t) = mr(t)
g y = m x(t) x +m y(t) y
m x(t) = 0 and m y(t) = g
Solving the equations (with initial conditions x(0) = y(0) = 0 and V
y
(0) = V
0y
, V
x
(0) = V
0x
) yields:
x(t) = V
0x
t
y(t) =
1
2
gt
2
+V
0y
t
We can also use the fact that (see Fig. 1) V
0x
= V
0
cos() and V
0y
= V
0
sin() to write
x(t) = V
0
cos()t
y(t) =
1
2
gt
2
+V
0
sin()t
2
Its clear from Fig. 1 that at time t
A
the object has travelled a distance of Acos in the horizontal
direction, thus x(t
A
) = V
0
cos()t
A
= Acos . This means that
A =
V
0
cos()t
A
cos
(1)
The vertical distance, on the other hand, is Asin . Thus y(t
A
) =
1
2
gt
2
A
+V
0
sin()t
A
= Asin . Using
the result from (1) we nd:
2
1
2
gt
2
A
+V
0
sin()t
A
=
V
0
cos()t
A
cos
sin

1
2
gt
2
A
+V
0
sin()t
A
= V
0
cos() tan()t
A

1
2
gt
2
A
+V
0
sin()t
A
V
0
cos() tan()t
A
= 0
t
A
_

1
2
gt
A
+V
0
sin() V
0
cos() tan()
_
= 0
t
A
=
V
0
cos() tan() V
0
sin()

1
2
g
Finally we obtain the solution t
A
= 2
_
V
0
sin() V
0
cos() tan()
g
_
Note that there is obviously another solution (t
A
= 0) but this just corresponds to the initial point at the
origin.
3
MT 2.8
Figure 2: Problem MT 2.8
By the way this problem is worded one might be led to think that there is something special about those
two distances h which are equidistant from the vertical, but dont be fooled! Theres actually innite
points which satisfy x(t
1
) = x(t
2
) = h (its a parabola, after all). The start and end points would
be another good example. Anyway, the problem species that the initial angle is set for maximum
(horizontal) range. This is easy to calculate, although its slightly obvious, intuitively (the answer is

4
,
or 45

). Consider the time t

max
it takes the object to fall back to the ground. We can nd this by setting
y(t) = 0 and solving for t
max
(ignoring the t = 0 solution for obvious reasons):
y(t
max
) = t
max
_

1
2
gt
max
+V
0
sin
_
= 0
t
max
=
2V
0
sin
g
Now, that gives how much time it takes the object to return to the ground. We now have to gure out
how far it went (what distance the object travelled horizontally). This is as simple as evaluating x(t) at
t
max
. We nd:
x(t
max
) = V
0
cos()
2V
0
sin()
g
=
2 sin() cos()V
2
0
g
=
V
2
0
sin(2)
g
I used some trigonometric trickery in that last line (2 sin() cos() = sin(2)). It can be easily proven
from other trigonometric identities (the sum of angles formula for the sine function, for example) but if
you ever need to prove a trigonometric identity for some reason you can always just expand both sides of
the identity into their respective Taylor series and show that they are identical (its a nice trick to know,
you never know when you might need it).
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In any case, we can investigate what value of will maximize x(t) (the range). Since the highest value
that the sine function outputs is 1, whichever value of produces that will be the maximizing angle (any
other value will be from -1 to 1, which will be lower in total). As promised, this angle is =

4
(because
sine is 1 at

2
). If the angle is

2
the range will be zero, as expected (youre just throwing the object
vertically in that case, so it will fall on your head).
So we can nally gure out at which time it will be at a height of y(t) = h. We should get two solutions
(t
1
and t
2
in Fig. 2). Afterwards, we should substitute these two solutions in x(t) to get x
1
and x
2
.
Finally, it can be seen from the gure that the distance we want d is simply |x
1
x
2
| (remember that the
absolute value function has a geometrical interpretation - the distance between two points, regardless of
sign). Setting y(t) = h yields:

1
2
gt
2
+V
0
sin
_

4
_
t = h

1
2
gt
2
+V
0
sin
_

4
_
t h = 0
(t
1
, t
2
) =

V
0

2

_
V
2
0
2
4
_

1
2
g
_
(h)
2
_

1
2
g
_
(t
1
, t
2
) =
V
0

2g

_
V
2
0
4gh
2
g
(t
1
, t
2
) =
V
0

2g

_
V
2
0
4gh

2g
(t
1
, t
2
) =
_
V
0

_
V
2
0
4gh

2g
,
V
0
+
_
V
2
0
4gh

2g
_
Thus:
x
2
= x(t
2
) =
V
0

2
_
V
0
+
_
V
2
0
4gh

2g
_
=
V
2
0
2g
+
V
0
_
V
2
0
4gh
2g
Likewise we nd
x
1
= x(t
1
) =
V
2
0
2g

V
0
_
V
2
0
4gh
2g
Finally:
d = |x
1
x
2
|
=

V
2
0
2g

V
0
_
V
2
0
4gh
2g

V
2
0
2g

V
0
_
V
2
0
4gh
2g

=
V
0
_
V
2
0
4gh
g
Notice that, for h = 0 (the starting and end points) d =
V
2
0
g
, exactly as predicted by the maximum range
equation.
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