Classical Mechanics - Homework Assignment 2

Alejandro Gomez Espinosa

October 4, 2012
Goldstein, Ch.3, 13 .
(a) Show that if a particle describes a circular orbit under the inuence of an attrac-
tive central force directed toward a point on the circle, then the force varies as
the inverse-fth power of the distance.
Figure 1 sketches a particle describing a circular orbit under the inuence of an
attractive central force.
Figure 1: Sketch of a particle moving in a circular orbit under the inuence of an attractive
central force directed toward a point on the circle
Considering Figure 1, then we can describe some relations:
r sin = Rsin r cos = R + Rcos
If we square both equations and add them:
r
2
sin
2
+ r
2
cos
2
2rRcos + R
2
= R
2
r = 2Rcos (1)
From the two body problem solve in the book, we found that:
mr
2

= l (2)

gomez@physics.rutgers.edu
1
1
2
m r
2
+
1
2
l
2
mr
2
+ V = E (3)
From (3) we can found the potential, but rst lets take the time derivative of
(2):
dr
dt
= r = 2R

sin =
2Rl
mr
2
sin
Replacing this result in (3) and solving for V:
V = E
1
2
m r
2

1
2
l
2
mr
2
= E
1
2
m
_

2Rl
mr
2
sin
_
2

1
2
l
2
mr
2
= E
2R
2
l
2
mr
4
sin
2

1
2
l
2
mr
2
= E
2R
2
l
2
mr
4
(1 cos
2
)
1
2
l
2
mr
2
= E
2R
2
l
2
mr
4
_
1
r
2
4R
2
_

1
2
l
2
mr
2
= E
2R
2
l
2
mr
4
Finally, to calculate the force:
F = V =
V
r
r =
8R
2
l
2
mr
5
r
(b) Show that for the orbit described the total energy of the particle is zero.
The total energy is T +V , as we found the potential energy in (a) lets calculate
the potential energy:
T =
1
2
( r
2
+ r
2

2
)
=
1
2
_
4r
2
l
2
m
2
r
4
sin
2
+
r
2
l
2
m
2
r
4
_
=
1
2
_
4r
2
l
2
m
2
r
4

l
2
mr
2
+
l
2
m
2
r
2
_
=
2R
2
l
2
m
2
r
4
E = T + V =
2R
2
l
2
m
2
r
4

2R
2
l
2
m
2
r
4
= 0
(c) Find the period of the motion.
We know that the period is:
=
1
f
= 2
dt
d
then, lets calculate the period over the range of = [0, ] (according to the
Figure 1):
= 2
_

0
dt
d
d = 2
_

0
d

=
_

0
mr
2
l
d = 2
m
l
_

0
4R
2
cos
2
d =
4
2
R
2
m
l
2
(d) Find x, y and v as a function of angle around the circle and show that all the
three quantities are innite as the particle goes through the center of force.
We can parametrize our variables as x = r cos and y = r sin , then calculate
the derivatives:
x = r cos r

sin = 2R

sin cos r

sin =
Rl
mr
2
sin(2)
l
mr
sin
y = r sin r

cos = 2R

sin
2
+ r

cos =
2Rl
mr
2
sin
2
+
l
mr
cos
v
2
= r
2
+ r
2

= 4R
2

2
sin
2
+ 4R
2
cos
2

2
= 4R
2

2
=
4R
2
l
2
m
2
r
4
From our results, we found that x, y, v are related with the inverse of the distance
r. When the particle is approaching the value of r = 0, this quantities blows to
innity.
Goldstein, Ch.3, 19 A particle moves in a force eld described by
F(r) =
k
r
2
exp
_

r
a
_
where k and a are positive.
(a) Write the equations of motion and reduce them to the equivalent one-dimensional
problem. Use the eective potential to discuss the qualitative nature of the orbits
for dierent values of the energy and the angular momentum.
From the force described in this exercise, we can know that the potential is:
V =
k
r
exp
_

r
a
_
For a particle moving in a central potential, we know that the kinetic energy is:
T =
1
2
m( r
2
+ r
2

2
)
Then, our lagrangian is:
L =
1
2
m( r
2
+ r
2

2
) +
k
r
exp
_

r
a
_
Solving Euler-Lagrange equations for we found that: mr
2

= l. For r:
L
r
= mr

2
+
k
r
2
exp
_

r
a
_
+
k
ar
exp
_

r
a
_
d
dt
_
L
r
_
= m r
m r mr

k
r
2
exp
_

r
a
_
+
k
ar
exp
_

r
a
_
= 0
Replacing the condition for

, we found the equation of motion in 1D:
m r
l
2
mr
2

k
r
2
exp
_

r
a
_
+
k
ar
exp
_

r
a
_
= 0
3
For the eective potential, we found from equation (3.22) in the textbook that:
V
eff
=
l
2
2mr
2
+ V (r) =
l
2
2mr
2

k
r
exp
_

r
a
_
A careful choose of the values of a and l give us the regular shape of the eective
potential where: if E > 0 the particle is in the region of a parabolic motion; if
E > 0 (in the range of V) the orbit is closed, i.e., elliptical before the particle
reaches the global minimum where the particle is in a circular motion.
(b) Show that if the orbit is nearly circular, the apsides will advance approximately
by /a per revolution, where is the radius of the circular orbit.
From Bertrands Theorem for closed orbits we found that the condition for small
deviation from the circularity conditions is:
u = u
0
+ a cos()
where u = 1/r, a is an amplitude, and is a quantity from an expansion in
Taylor series. The expression for is:

2
= 3 +
r
f
df
dr

r=r
0
where f is the force in the central potential. In this problem the force is f =

k
r
2
exp
_

r
a
_
, thus the factor is calculated:
dF
dr
= 2
k
r
2
exp
_

r
a
_
+
k
ar
2
exp
_

r
a
_
=
k
r
2
exp
_

r
a
_
_
2
r
+
1
a
_

2
= 3 +
r

k
r
2
exp
_

r
a
_
_
k
r
2
exp
_

r
a
_
_
2
r
+
1
a
__
r=
= 3 2 +

a
= 1

a
=
_
1

a
= 1
1
2

a
+
1
8
_

a
_
2
+ ...
Finally, from the condition for small deviations in a circular motion, we can
derivate that the turning points are when cos() = 0. This is satisfy only
when = 2/, then:
=
2

=
2
1
1
2

a
+ ...
2
_
1 +
1
2

a
+ ...
_
= 2 +

a
+ ...
where we can see that the orbit will precessed by

a
.
Goldstein, Ch.3, 21 Show that the motion of a particle in the potential eld
V (r) =
k
r
+
h
r
2
4
is the same as that of the motion under the Kepler potential alone when expressed in
terms of a coordinate system rotating or precessing around the center of force.
For negative total energy, show that if the additional potential term is very small
compared to the Kepler potential, then the angular speed of precession of the elliptical
orbit is

=
2mh
l
2

The perihelion of Mercury is observed to precess (after correction for known planetary
perturbations) at the rate of about 40

of are per century. Show that this precession

could be accounted for classically if the dimensionless quantity
=
h
ka
(which is a measure of the perturbing inverse-square potential relative to the gravita-
tional potential) were as small as 7 10
18
. (The eccentricity of Mercurys orbit is
0.206, and its period is 0.24 year).
First, lets write down the Lagrangian of our system:
L =
1
2
m( r
2
+ r
2

2
) +
k
r

h
r
2
Then, the Euler-Lagrange equations are:
L
r
= mr

k
r
2
+
2h
r
3
d
dt
L
r
= m r
Replacing mr
2

= l, we found the equation of motion:
m r
l
2
mr
3
+
k
r
2

2h
r
3
= m r
l
2
2hm
mr
3

k
r
2
= 0
Working in the numerator of the second term:
l
2
2hm = l
2
2hm +
h
2
m
2
l
2

h
2
m
2
l
2
=
_
l
hm
l
_
2

_
hm
l
_
2
where if h
2
m
2
<< l
2
the last term vanishes. Replacing in the equation of motion we
found:
m r
_
l
hm
l
_
2
mr
3

k
r
2
= 0
If we replace L = l
hm
l
this equation is the same as the Keplers equation. L
can be interpreted as a total angular momentum, where the rst part is the regular
momentum due to the change in and the second term would be a rotation of all
the system. Then,
l = mr
2

2
l
_
1 +
mh
l
2
_
= mr
2

_
1 +
mh
l
2
_
l +
mh
l
= mr
2

+
m
2
hr
2

l
2
L = mr
2

+ mr
2

where

=
mh
l
2

5
Finally, from the text book we know that

=

2
. Replacing this expression in the
last result:

=
mh
l
2

=
2mh
l
2

Taken the expression (3.63) from the book, l

2
= mka(1 e
2
), and replacing in the
last equation we found:

=
2mh
mka(1 e
2
)
=
2
(1 e
2
)
where = h/ka, according to the exercise. Then, lets calculate the value of . The
perihelion of Mercury is observed to precess by 43 arc-seconds per century, it means
that the frequency of precession is

= 2.1 10
6
rad/yr:
=

(1 e
2
)
2
=
2.1 10
6
rad/yr(1 (0.205)
2
)(0.24yr)
2
= 7.6 10
8
that is small than the value given.
Goldstein, Ch.3, 22 The additional term in the potential behaving as r
2
in Ex. 21
looks very much like the centrifugal barrier term in the equivalent one-dimensional
potential. Why is it then that the additional force term causes a precession of the
orbit, while an addition to the barrier, through a change in l, does not?
From the solution of Ex. 21 above, we found that the additional term in the force
introduce a second term in the total angular momentum L. Since the rst term is
the regular angular momentum for the central force problem, the second describes a
change in another angular variable due to the rotation in the axis.
Goldstein, Ch.3, 33 A particle of mass m is constrained to move under gravity without
friction on the inside of a paraboloid of revolution whose axis is vertical. Find the one-
dimensional problem equivalent to its motion. What is the condition on the particles
initial velocity to produce circular motion?. Find the period of small oscillations about
this circular motion.
The condition for a particle of mass m moving inside a paraboloid of revolution in the
z axis is z = ar
2
where a is a constant and r
2
= x
2
+ y
2
. The choose of coordinates
for this problem is:
x = r cos y = r sin z = ar
2
Using this coordinates, the kinetic energy is:
T =
1
2
m( r
2
+ r
2

2
+ z
2
) =
m
2
( r
2
+ r
2

2
+ 4a
2
r
2
r
2
)
Due to the gravitational eld, the potential is: V = mgz = mgar
2
. Therefore, the
Lagrangian of this system is:
L =
m
2
( r
2
+ r
2

2
+ 4a
2
r
2
r
2
) mgar
2
6
As is a cyclic coordinate, we know that mr

= l. Solving the Euler-Lagrange
equations for r:
L
r
= mr

2
+ 4ma
2
r r
2
2mgar
d
dt
_
L
r
_
=
d
dt
_
m r + 4ma
2
r
2
r
_
= m r + 4ma
2
r
2
r + 8ma
2
r r
2
Thus, the one-dimensional equation equivalent to the system is:
m r + 4ma
2
r
2
r + 8ma
2
r r
2
mr

2
4ma
2
r r
2
+ 2mgar = 0
m r + 4ma
2
r
2
r + 4ma
2
r r
2

l
mr
3
+ 2mgar = 0
The condition for a circular motion is constant r. Therefore the terms with r, and r
vanish from the former equation of motion. Applying this we found:

l
mr
3
+ 2mgar = 0
mr

2
= 2mgar

=
_
2ag
Finally, the period for a motion is = 2/

. Replacing with the last result:

=
2

=
2

2ag
7