MP350 Classical Mechanics Solutions Problem set 2

1. (a) We use the general expression for the kinetic energy in spherical coordinates, 1 2 + r2 sin2 2 2 + r2 T = m r 2 (1.1)

In the case of a pendulum, the radial coordinate is xed, r = , so we have 1 2 + sin2 2 ) + mg cos . L = T V = m2 ( 2 The canonical momenta are L = m2 L p = = m2 sin2 p = (1.3) (1.4) (1.2)

(b) Since the lagrangian does not depend on the coordinate , the corresponding canonical momentum p is conserved, d L L dp = = 0. = dt dt (c) The two EulerLagrange equations for and are d L 2 mg sin = L = m2 sin cos = m2 dt = 2 sin cos g sin . = d L + 2m2 sin cos = L = 0 = m2 sin2 dt + 2 cos = 0 . = sin (1.6) (1.7) (1.8) (1.9) (1.5)

2. (a) A uniform distribution in the plane x = 0 can not generate any dependence on the second and third coordinates y, z . Therefore the momenta py , pz in the y z directions are conserved. The distribution is also rotationally symmetric about the x-axis, so the angular momentum Lx = py z pz y is also conserved. (b) A uniform distribution in the half-plane x = 0, y 0 can not generate any dependence on the third coordinate z . Therefore the momentum pz in the z -direction is conserved. There are no other manifest symmetries in the problem, so this is the only conserved quantity.

(c) This system is rotationally symmetric about the z -axis, so Lz (the z -component of the angular momentum) is conserved. There is no translational symmetry in any direction, so no linear momentum is conserved, nor are the two other angular momentum components. (d) This system has no translation symmetry in the x, y or z direction, but it is translationally symmetric in the (1, 1, 0) direction. Therefore, the linear momentum in this direction, p (1, 1, 0) = px + py is conserved. The system is also rotationally symmetric about the (1, 1, 0) axis, so the angular momentum about this axis is conserved. This angular momentum is proportional to Lx + Ly , so Lx + Ly is conserved. 3. (a) First we need to express r1 and r2 in terms of the new coordinates R , r. We have r = r1 r2 r1 = r + r2 (3.1) m 1 r1 + m 2 r2 m 1 ( r + r2 ) + m 2 r2 m1 R = r , (3.2) = = r2 + m1 + m2 m1 + m2 m1 + m2 which gives m1 r m1 + m2 m2 r r1 = r + r2 = R + m1 + m2 r2 = R We now plug (3.3), (3.4) into the expression for the kinetic energy,
2 2 1 1 T = m1 r1 + m2 r2 2 2 2 2 1 m2 m1 1 = m1 R + r r + m2 R 2 m1 + m2 2 m1 + m2 2 2 m 2 m 1 2 2 + 2 R r r = m1 R + 2 m1 + m2 (m1 + m2 )2 1 m2 2m1 2 1 + 2 + m2 R R r r 2 m1 + m2 (m1 + m2 )2 m2 m1 m2 1 2 1 1 m2 2 2 r + = (m1 + m2 ) R + 2 2 2 2 (m1 + m2 ) (m1 + m2 ) 2 1 1 2. = M R + r 2 2 The total lagrangian is therefore

(3.3) (3.4)

(3.5)

1 2 1 2 V ( L = T V = M R + r R, r ). 2 2 (b) The canonical momentum conjugate to R is Pi = L i = MR i R = P =MR .

(3.6)

(3.7)

This is just the total momentum of the system: m1 r1 + m2 r2 P = M R = (m1 + m2 ) = m1 r1 + m2 r2 . m1 + m2 (3.8)

For an isolated system, there are no external forces, which means that the potential energy only depends on the relative position on the particles, not the absolute (centre-of-mass) position. This means that R does not appear in the potential energy, and therefore not in the lagrangian, ie it is a cyclic coordinate. Then the momentum conjugate to R , ie the total momentum P , is conserved. (c) We consider only one-dimensional movement; three dimensions just adds an extra index without changing the argument. The centre-of-mass coordinate X is N N m i xi 1 m i xi (3.9) X = i=1 N M m i i=1 i=1 We now rewrite the coordinate of each particle in terms of X and N 1 relative coordinates. We do not actually care what the relative coordinates are, so we do not write them explicitly: xi = X X + xi = X The kinetic energy is 1 T = 2 1 = 2
N

1 M

m j xj +

xi M

mj = X +

1 M

mj (xi xj )
j

(3.10)
N N

mi x 2 i
i=1 N

1 = 2

i=1

+ 1 mi X M
N

mj (x i x j)
j =1

i=1

2+ X mi X M

(3.11)

mi mj (x i x j ) + (. . .) ,
i,j =1

where (. . .) denotes terms that only depend on the relative coordinates. The second term on the last line of (3.11) vanishes since every x i x j is cancelled 1 2 MX by the equal and opposite x j x i term. So the kinetic energy is simply 2 plus terms which only depend on the relative coordinates. The canonical momentum conjugate to X is (as above, assuming V does not depend on velocities) T =M 1 P = = MX M X
N N

m i xi =
i=1 i=1

pi ,

(3.12)

which is just the total momentum of the system. Conservation of total momentum for an isolated system follows as before.