9

III. ROTATIONAL MOTION & MECHANICS OF RIGID BODY A. Fixed-axis rotation

By denition, the distance between any two points in a Rigid Body is constant. Let the axis of rotation be xed and its direction be given by the unit vector n . The rotation angle is the natural generalized coordinate. The velocity of any point of the rigid body is, r a = d (n ra ) = dt ra (67)

Here the origin of the coordinate system belongs to the axis of rotation, and the vectorial angular velocity is introduced .(can be done only in 3D). as = n Moment of inertia. Kinetic energy can be expressed as: ! 2 X ma r X In 2 a 2 ma ra T = = = 2 2 2 a a

(68)

In is called moment of inertia with respect to the given axis: h i X X 2 2 2 In = m r = m ( n r ) r . a a a a a

a a

(69)

By denition, I depends on the orientation of the axis of rotation, and its distance from the center of mass, Rcm : 2 ! (cm) (cm) 2 2 2 m R + I r M R X X a a cm n Rcm (cm) 2 ma . (70) + = = In T = = M Rcm + In 2 2 2 a a Here M = coming through the CM. Equation of motion. Generalized momentum conjugated to is the component of angular momentum parallel to n : X L L = p = ( ra ) =n L (71) r a a Since L = T U , Ln = The generalized force is called torque: f = Thus, Lagrange equation is, d (In ) = n dt
B. Fixed-point rotation

P
a

ma is the total mass, and In

(cm)

is the moment of inertia with respect to the same-orientation axis

T = In

(72)

X L L X (n ra ) =n ra fa n = () a ra a

(73)

(74)

If only one point of the body is xed, the direction of the angular velocity may be arbitrary. One can the kinetic energy in terms of vector
2

T =

X
a

h i 2 2 ma ra (n ra ) =

I 2

(75)

10 is called inertia tensor: Here M Iij = n M , and As one can see, In =n

X
a

2 ma ra ij rai raj

(76)

Let = (x , y , z ) be the vector of innitesimal rotations ( a standard manner:

i h (cm) (cm) + I(cm) I = M R(cm)2 Ri Rj

(77)

). One can obtain the equations of motion in = (78)

L = L = I X L ra fa = a d I dt
C. Euler equations

(79)

(80)

= Any vector "nailed" to the rotating reference frame is transformed by rotation as A dL dL = + L = I + I = dt Lab dt r Here (d/dt)r is the time derivative at the rotating Reference Frame. = (d /dt)r . We obtain Euler equations:, d I = dt I .

A. Therefore, (81)

Note that (d /dt)Lab = (d /dt)r +

(82)

If I is diagonalized and I1 , I2 , I3 are its eigenvalues, than this system of equations can be rewritten as: I1 1 , = 1 + I2 2 = 2 + I3 3 = 3 +
2 3

(I2 I3 ) ; (I3 I1 ) ; (I1 I2 ) .

(83) (84) (85)

Precession of a free symmetric top. If = 0 (free motion), and I1 = I2 (symmetric spinning top), we obtain 3 = const, and 1 = 2=
2; 1,

(86) (87) with frequency (in (88)

where = 3 (I3 /I1 1). The solution to these equations is precession of the angle rotating reference frame):
1

cos t,

sin t

In stationary raference frame, precession rate is diertent since 1 and 2 are dened in with respect to the principle axes 1 and 2 , and those axes are rotating about the axis 3 one with angular velocity 3 . Therefore, the projection of angular velocity of precession pr , onto the direction of the third axis, n 3 , is: n 3 pr = +
3

I3 3 n 3 L = I1 I1

hence, pr =

L I1

(89)

11 Asymmetric tops. If I1 > I2 > I3 , the character of the motion can be determined by geometrical analysis. The conservation laws can be written as:
2 2 2 L2 1 + L2 + L3 = const = L

(90)

L2 L2 L2 1 + 2 + 3 = const = 2E I1 I2 I3

(91)

The rst equation describes a sphere of radius L , the other one is an ellipsoid. If E is xed and L2 is increasing, the rst intersection of the two surfaces occurs when L2 = 2EI3 . After that, the trajectory corresponds to precession around the direction of minimal moment of inertia, I3 . At L2 = 2EI2 the orbits change the orientation, and precession occurs around the axis of maximum moment of inertia, I1 . The rotation about the intermediate axis is unstable!
D. Heavy Spinning Top

Consider a symmetric spinning top (I1 = I2 6= I3 ) under the inuence of a uniform gravitational force, mg . Our generalized coordinates will be Euler angles (, , ). Here and are the azimuthal and polar angles which dene the orientation of certain axis z 0 of the rigid body, in regular spherical coordinates. For the symmetric top, we choose z 0 to be the axis of symmetry. The third Euler angle parameterizes the axial rotation around z 0 . The Lagrangian can be written as L= 2 I 2 2 sin2 + Ik + cos mgl cos + 2 2 (92)

, and corresponds to rotation, Here l is the distance between the xed point of the body and the center of mass. precession and nutation , respectively. Since L/ = L/ = 0, we can identify two conservation laws: L + cos = const, = Lk = Ik (93)

L = L Lk cos = p0 cos , sin2 + Lk cos = const = L = I = I sin2 sin2 where = Lk /I = Ik /I k , and p0 = L /Lk . One more conserved quantity, as usual, is energy: # " 2 L2 I 2 k 2 (p0 cos ) E= + mgl cos . + + 2 2Ik sin2

(94)

(95)

It is convenient to describe nutation in terms of variable p = cos : 2 1 p2 (pE p) 2 (p0 p)2 . (96) p 2 = 20 p Here pE = E L2 / 2 I /mgl, and 0 = mgl/I is the frequency of small oscillations for = 0, i.e. when the top k k becomes a regular physical pendulum. In a typical case, the right hand side has two roots in the physical interval of p: 1 p1 p2 +1. The period of nutation can be found as: T =2
p2 Z

p1

= (p0 p) / 1 p2 . Note that it changes sign at p = p0 . In The corresponding precession rate can be found as general, the above result can be expressed in terms of an elliptic integral.

dp q , 2 (1 p2 ) (p p) 2 (p p)2 20 E 0

(97)

12 Example 1. Determine the minimal at which the potential energy maximum (p = +1) is a stable point. Since p = 0 at p = 1, we obtain p0 = 1. All the kinetic energy at p = 1 is only due to spinning, therefore pE = E L2 / 2 I k /mgl = mgl/mgl = 1. Hence, k p =
2 2 20

2 2 1 + p 2 (p 1) . 20

(98)

2 0, i.e. for c = 20 . After that, a One can see the point p = 1 gets unstable when p + 1 2 /20 2 2 periodic nutation occurs between p = 1 and p = /20 1

Example 2. Consider a motion of a fast spinning top ( 0 ), whose axis is released with no initial nutation = = 0 initially, we conclude that = = 0) from the original position cos = p . Since or precession ( pE = p0 = p . This gives: h i 2 p 2 = (p0 p) 20 (99) 1 p2 2 (p0 p) ' 2 (p0 p) (p p0 + 2) = 2 2 (p p0 + )2 , where = (0 /)2 1 p2 0 . Upon our favorite substitution, p = p0 + [cos 1], we obtain: Z dp = + const t= p Given the initial condition (p = p ), = t. Therefore, cos (t) = p (t) = p0 +
2 0 1 p2 0 [cos t 1] . 2

(100)

(101)

= (p0 p) ' mgl [cos t 1] 1 p2 Lk

E. Non-inertial Reference Frames

D E mgl = 2Lk

(102)

A non-inertial reference frame can be characterized by velocity of its origin, v0 (t), and the angular velocity (t). Its local motion is, v (r,t) = v0 (t) + (t) r. If r (t) is the position of a particle in this reference frame, L= mr 2 mv2 m (r + v (r)) U (r) = + mr v+ U (r) 2 2 2
2

d L ; =m r+ (v0 (t) + (t) r) + (t) r dt r t L (r ) r m ( r)2 U (r) m2 r2 =m + = mr U (r) r r 2 r r r 2 Lagrange equation gives: m r = ma + 2mr +m2 r F Here a = v (r) /t, the second term in r.h.s. is called Coriolis force, the third term is centrifugal one, and F is a regular mechanical force.