KINEMATICS OF RIGID-BODIES.

A rigid body is defined as a system consisting of a large number of point masses, called
particles, such that the distances between the pairs of point masses remain constant,
even when the body is in motion or under the action of external forces. This is an idealized
definition of a rigid body because:
there is no such thing as true point masses or particles;
no body of any physical size is strictly rigid; it becomes deformed under the action of
applied forces.
However, the concept of an idealized rigid body is useful in describing motion, and the
resulting deviations are not that significant.
Forces that maintain constant distances between different pairs of point masses are internal
forces and are called forces of constraint. Such forces come in pairs and obey Newton's
third law.
Describing the Position of a Rigid Body.
Suppose a rigid body consists of N particles. Since the position of each particle
is specified by three coordinates, we may be led to conclude that we need 3N
coordinates to describe the position of the rigid body. This would be true only
if the positions and the motions of all particles were independent.
Because the distance between any pair of particles is constant, it may be
shown that only six independent coordinates are needed to describe the
position of a rigid body.
Three coordinates are needed to specify the origin of the body set of axes and
other three must specify the orientation of the body set of axes (primed axes),
relative to the coordinate axes parallel to the space axes.
Thus, we must know the coordinates of O' with respect to O and the orientation
of X'Y'Z' axes relative to the XYZ axes.

Kinematics of a Rigid Body.

TRANSLATION.
A motion is said to be a translation if any straight line inside the
body keeps the same direction during the movement.
All the particles forming the body move along parallel paths. If
these paths are straight lines, the motion is said a rectilinear
translation; if the paths are curved lines, the motion is a
curvilinear translation motion.
ROTATION ABOUT A FIXED AXIS.
The particles forming the rigid body move in parallel planes along
circles centered on the same fixed axis. If this axis, called axis of
rotation, intersects the rigid body, the particles located on the axis
have zero velocity and zero acceleration
PLANE MOTION.
Plan motion is that in which all the particles of the body move in
parallel planes. Translation and rotation are plane motions. Any
plane motion which is neither a translation or a rotation is referred
as a general plane motion.
MOTION ABOUT A FIXED POINT. (SPHERICAL MOVEMENT)
The three-dimensional motion of a rigid body attached at a fixed
point, for example, the motion of a top on a rough floor, is known as
motion about a fixed point.
GENERAL MOTION.
Any motion of a rigid body which does not fall in any of the
categories above described.
2

Rigid--Body Motion: Translation.

Rigid
The positions of two points A and B on a translating body can be related by:
= +
where and are the absolute position vectors defined from
the fixed coordinate system, and

is the relative position

vector between B and A.

Taking the time derivative of this equation, we get: = +

Because the distance between points A and B is constant,

= 0, obtaining:

Taking the time derivative of the above equation, we also find:

=

All points in a rigid body subjected to translation move with the same velocity and
acceleration.
translation is fully described by the motion of one point !!!
In case of a rectilinear translation all particles move on a parallel straight lines, the
magnitude of velocity and acceleration changes but the direction remains the same.
In the case of curvilinear translation the magnitude and direction change during the
motion.

Rigid--Body Motion: Rotation About a Fixed Axis.

Rigid
When a body rotates about a fixed axis, any point P in the body travels along a circular path.
All points on a rigid body rotating about a fixed axis move along circles centered on the axis of
rotation.
A rigid body rotating about a fixed axis has one degree of freedom. Rotation about a fixed
axis is fully described by a single kinematic parameter, = (t), defining the angular position.
Every point of a rigid body in fixed-axis rotation moves in a circle
about the axis of rotation, so circular point kinematics may be
used to describe any given point on the rigid body.
The change in angular position, d, is called the angular displacement.
Angular velocity, , is obtained by taking the time derivative of the
angular displacement:
= =

Similarly, the angular acceleration is:

= =

= =

2
2

The velocitys direction is tangent to the circular path of P.

The magnitude of the velocity of P is :
=

We also need the vector expression for angular velocity and acceleration.

Rigid--Body Motion: Rotation About a Fixed Axis. Vector Formulation for Velocity.
Rigid
Velocity

| | =

sin

=(

The vector is a sliding one. Its point of application may be chosen anywhere on the axis
of rotation.

Rigid--Body Motion: Rotation About a Fixed Axis. Vector Formulation for Acceleration.
Rigid

Rigid--Body Motion: Rotation About a Fixed Axis. Representative Slab.

Rigid

Some Mathematical Results.

Theorem:
Time derivative of a vector of constant magnitude is a vector perpendicular to the vector itself.
Proof:
= 2 = | |2 =

We take the derivative:

( 2 ) = 2 = 0

=>

(derivative of a constant is zero)

If the vector moves through translation, its derivative is obviously zero, because it does not
undergo any variation as a module, or as direction. A vector of constant magnitude can not be
extended or shortened, it can only rotate.
It follows that it is convenient to define an instantaneous vector angular velocity of rotation as:

=
The vector is not unique determined, but we may conclude that it must be situated in a plane
perpendicular on the .

Note: In fact, we already used this result in describing rigid-body rotation about a fixed axis,
when we found that
In that case, was a vector constant in magnitude which only rotates.
8

Some Mathematical Results.

Theorem (Poisson Formula):
Time derivatives of the versors of a mobile coordinate system are:

= =

= =

= =

is a unique determined vector (generally varying) which results from an infinitesimal

rotation with instantaneous angular velocity .
We will only prove only the uniqueness of the vector :
Let consider that we have two vectors, and , satisfying the Poisson formula.
= =

=>

( ) =

=>

=(

=0

Because and are linear independent, it follows that

= 0 and
= 0.
An analogous calculation leads to
= 0 , finally obtaining that = .

Note: Rotation may be described by an antisymmetric tensor, ij = ji to which it can be

associated a dual vector:

= + +