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\shorttitle{#amped $uantum %scillator}
\shortauthors{&lendenning \' (ac(illan}
\begin{document}
\title{)ssignment * "alling &hain}
\author{+icholas ,uhagiar, ,rian "rendo-&umbo, .arren !ies and /um0a +usrat}
\affil{"acult1 of 2cience, 3ni4ersit1 of %ntario 5nstitute of 6echnolog1, %sha7a, %ntario, &anada}
\section{5+68%#3&65%+}
6he approach to sol4ing falling bodies is 7ell kno7n in our current understanding of ph1sics for the
ma9orit1 of cases %n occasion, ho7e4er, 7e come across some examples 7hich are 4er1 hard to
interpret in the con4entional anal1tical approach, and must be sol4ed using computational and
numerical methods 6he falling chain problem is an example of a situation 7here it is extremel1 hard to
describe its motion 7ithout in4oking some reasonable assumptions regarding initial conditions and
boundar1 conditions so that the problem can be more easil1 sol4ed 6his problem has been studied
from 4arious angles 7hich range from free falling chains, chains in a large heap falling from the side of
a table, the falling chain tip :%ur topic of stud1;, and man1 more
\begin{figure}[<h]
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=02]{figure>?pdf}
\caption{"igure 1 @ AA(ass of a falling chainBB 6he diagram sho7s a chain falling onto a scale
%bser4ations ha4e sho7n that the falling chain 7ill register a mass of ? times the mass of the chain
7hen the chain falls to its entire length \citep{chain1} }
\label{figure>?}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}[<h]
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=0?]{figure>Cpdf}
\caption{"igure 2 @ &hain in a large confined heap falling from the side of a table 5t has been sho7n
that the chain seems to def1 gra4it1 b1 extending itself up into an ele4ated arc as sho7n in the figure
\citep{gra4} }
\label{figure>C}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}[<h]
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=02D]{figure>Dpdf}
\caption{"igure ? @ AA"alling chain tipBB 2tages a; to f; in the figure sho7 the seEuence of the
experiment setup that 7as used for our anal1sis +otice that the length of the chain is folded in half
initiall1, 7ith 4er1 little hori0ontal distance bet7een the chain end points "or simplicit1 7e call the left
end point of the chain AAend )BB and the right end point of the chainAAFend ,B \citep{chain2}B }
\label{figure>D}
\end{figure}
6he set up that 7e ha4e chosen to explain is the Ffalling chain tipG :as seen in "igure \ref{figure>?};
2e4eral assumptions 7ere made in order to reduce the difficult1 of the problem "or example, 7e can
disregard friction bet7een the links of the chain as 7ell as set up the chain so that it begins its falling
motion in such a 7a1 that the chain is folded in half, and the t7o ends of the chain start at the exact
same 4ertical position "or simplicit1, letHs call the ends of the chain end ) and end , .e can also
make the argument that the length of the chain is much larger than the hori0ontal displacement bet7een
end points ) and , 6his allo7s us to eliminate a dimension to this problem b1 reducing 2 dimensions
:4ertical and hori0ontal motion; into onl1 1 dimension :4ertical motion; .e can also fix the end point
) to a ceiling so that during the motion of the falling chain the destination of point ) ne4er mo4es
&onsidering this, the understanding of the motion of the chain, e4en in the simplest situations, is
reEuired before 7e are able to explain the difference in the motion of a free falling chain 4ersus the
motion of a chain that is fixed at one end )nother important reali0ation is that the s1stem is
conser4ati4e :ie, the Iagrangian of this problem has no explicit time dependence; 6his allo7s us to
simplif1 the problem e4en further 6his reali0ation 7as first made b1 &alkin and (arch \citep{tp} .e
ha4e successfull1 condensed a 4er1 difficult problem to handle into one that is simple and 1
dimensional ) simple application of the either the Iagrange or /amiltonian methods can produce a
fool proof 7a1 to describing the motion of the falling chain tip
6here has been some debate for Euite a 7hile about the 4alue of the acceleration being eEual to JgJ or
J\frac{g}{?}J etc )n example of this can be seen in the follo7ing eEuationK
\begin{eEuation}
\ a= \frac{g} {?-s}
\end{eEuation}
6he s in the denominator of the eEuation represents a s7itching function 7here Js = 1J if 7e include
the chain tension, and Js = 0J 7ithout the chain tension ) surprising result 7hich 7as obtained using
numerical anal1sis is that the acceleration is actuall1 eEual to J:\frac{g}{2};L2J 5n other 7ords, the
eEuation for the acceleration of the chain is incorrect in man1 published papers, including one from
&hun .a .ong and Mosuke Nasui :7here the abo4e eEuation 7as taken from; 2e4eral different
textbooks approach this problem in a 4ariet1 of different 7a1s ) description of this phenomenon 7as
merel1 speculated for man1 1ears, but no7 7e belie4e that the recent breakthrough in our
understanding of falling chains can help us finall1 understand the mechanism at 7ork here )s the
chain falls, all of the mechanical energ1 is focused to the falling arm .hen the falling end of the chain
finall1 reaches 0 kg :at the end of the fall;, the falling 4elocit1 and acceleration both di4erge to infinit1
6his is due to the shock 7a4e that tra4els do7n the stationar1 end of the chain 7hich carries energ1 to
the end point ,, 7here the 4elocit1 reaches the continuum limit
\section{&lassical )pproach}
%ur first step to sol4ing the problem 7as to determine the forces acting on the falling chain, tension
and gra4it1, 7hich 7e assumed for gra4it1 is eEui4alent to J">g=pbgJ :7here JpbJ represents densit1
and length 7hich is eEual to mass; +ext, 7e used +e7tonBs second la7 J">{+et} =">g-">6J to
attempt to sol4e for tension 2ince J">{+et}J is eEui4alent to J\dot{p}J :the deri4ati4e of momentum;
the eEuation then 1ields
\begin{eEuation}
\ pbg-6=\dot{p}
\end{eEuation}
2ince the right falling side of the chain is mo4ing 1ou can assume momentum is eEui4alent to
Jp=:\frac{pb}{2}-\frac{px}{2};\dot{x}J, and the deri4ation of momentum 1ieldsK
\begin{eEuation}
\dot{p}=\frac {pb}{2}\ddot{x} - \frac{p}{2}:\dot{x};L2 -\frac{p}{2}x\ddot{x}
\end{eEuation}
2ubbing eEuation :?; into eEuation :2; and rearranging for tension and simplif1ing 1ieldsK
\begin{eEuation}
\ 6=pbg-\frac{p}{2}[:b-x;\ddot{x}-xL2]
\end{eEuation}
"rom here 7e assume that J\ddot{x}J is eEui4alent to and integrated t7ice 7ith respect to time and are
left 7ith Jx=\frac{gtL2}{2}O&>1:t;O&>2J .hen Jt=0J, Jx=0J and J\dot{x}=0J constants J&>1J and
J&>2=0J 7hich 1ieldsK
\begin{eEuation}
\ddot{x}=g
\end{eEuation}
\begin{eEuation}
\dot{x}=gt
\end{eEuation}
\begin{eEuation}
\ x=\frac{gtL2}{2}
\end{eEuation}
2ubbing eEuations :D;, :*; and :P; into eEuation :C; and simplif1ing 1ieldsK
\begin{eEuation}
\ 6=\frac{pgb}{2}O\frac{?}{C}p:gtL2;
\end{eEuation}
\begin{figure}[<h]
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=02P]{figure>Ppdf}
\caption{"igure C @ F6ensionG 6he diagram sho7s that the assumption of J\ddot{x}J as simpl1 gra4it1
is not 9ustifiable }
\label{figure>2}
\end{figure}
\section{Iagrangian )pproach}
6he Iagrangian approach 7as next selected to tr1 and find the true 4alue for J\ddot{x}J 6o sol4e for
the Iagrangian 7e first set 4alues for the kinetic energ1 JMJ, and the potential energ1 J3J since the
eEuation for the Iagrangian is JI=M-3J 2ince JM=\frac{1}{2}p\dot{x}L2J 7e can use the mass
pre4iousl1 discussed to getK
\begin{eEuation}
\ M=\frac{p}{C}:b-x;\dot{x}L2
\end{eEuation}
"or the potential 7e must take both ends of the chain into consideration, so starting 7ith J3=-
p:\frac{bOx}{2};g:\frac{bOx}{C};-p:\frac{b-x}{2};g:\frac{b-x}{C};J it is then simplified into the
eEuationK
\begin{eEuation}
\ 3=-\frac{pg}{C}:bL2O2bx-xL2;
\end{eEuation}
2ubtracting eEuation :10; from eEuation :Q; 1ields the eEuation of the Iagrangian
\begin{eEuation}
\ I=\frac{p}{C}:b-x;\dot{x}L2O\frac{pg}{C}:bL2O2bx-xL2;
\end{eEuation}
6he next step to finding the true J\ddot{x}J 7as to take the partial deri4ati4es of the Iagrangian 7ith
respect to JxJ and J\dot{x}J, as 7ell as the deri4ati4e of the partial deri4ati4e of the Iagrangian 7ith
respect to J\dot{x}J 6he1 7ere determined and simplified as follo7sK
\begin{eEuation}
\frac{\partial I}{\partial x}=-\frac{p}{C}\dot{x}L2O\frac{pg}{C}:2b-2x;
\end{eEuation}
\begin{eEuation}
\frac{\partial I}{\partial \dot{x}}=\frac{p}{2}\dot{x}b-\frac{p}{2}\dot{x}x
\end{eEuation}
\begin{eEuation}
\frac{d}{dt}\frac{\partial I}{\partial \dot{x}}=\frac{p}{2}:\dot{x}b-\dot{x}x-\dot{x}L2;
\end{eEuation}
2ubbing eEuations :12; and :1C; into the Ruler-Iagrange eEuation J\frac{\partial I}{\partial
x}-\frac{d}{dt}\frac{\partial I}{\partial \dot{x}}=0J 7ith simplification then 1ielded J\frac{p}{2}
:-\frac{\dot{x}L2}{2}Ogb-gx-\ddot{x}bO\ddot{x}xO\dot{x}L2=0J 2ince the eEuation is eEual to 0ero
the J\frac{p}{2}J can be ignored 6he eEuation 7as then further simplified and then rearrange to sol4e
for the aforementioned J\dot{x}J belo7K
\begin{eEuation}
\dot{x}=\frac{g:2bx-xL2;}{2:b-x;L2}
\end{eEuation}
6aking the deri4ati4e of eEuation :1D; 1ieldsK
\begin{eEuation}
\ \ddot{x}=gO \frac{g:2bx-xL2;}{2:b-x;L2}
\end{eEuation}
\section{Sroof of 6ension 7ith respect to x}
5n the case of free fall the onl1 forces acting on the s1stem are tension and the gra4itational force, the
momemtum of the center of mass reacts to these forces gi4ing us the eEuation J\dot{p}=mg-6J and
rearranging for tension then 1ieldsK
\begin{eEuation}
\ 6=mg-\dot{p}
\end{eEuation}
2ince the right side of the chain has a mass of J\rho\frac{:b-x;}{2}J and a speed of J\dot{x}J the
momentum and deri4ati4e of the momentum areK
\begin{eEuation}
\ S=\rho:\frac{b-x}{2};\dot{x}
\end{eEuation}
\begin{eEuation}
\ \dot{S}=\frac{\rho}{2}[-\dot{x}L2 O \ddot{x}:b-x;]
\end{eEuation}
2ubbing in the J\dot{x}J from eEuation :1D; and the J\ddot{x}J from eEuation :1*; into eEutation
:1Q;, then collecting terms, simplif1ing and sol4ing for tension 1ieldsK
\begin{eEuation}
\ 6=\frac{mg}{Cb} \frac{1}{:b-x;} :2bL2 O 2bx - ?xL2;
\end{eEuation}
\section{&%+&I325%+}
6he tension of a falling chain is undoubtedl1 a 4er1 interesting problem, and one that cannot be easil1
sol4ed 5n 1QTQ, &alkin and (arch 7ere also intrigued b1 this Euestion, conducting an experiment to
find the ans7er, using a chain 7ith a length of J1QQ? mJ and a mass of J0TPP kgJ .e attempted to
sol4e this problem anal1ticall1 5n order to sol4e this problem, 7e first assumed that the acceleration of
the falling chain 7as simpl1 eEual to g, the acceleration due to gra4it1 3sing this assumption, 7e 7ere
able to find the tension in the chain 7ith respect to time, 7hich 7e found to beK J6:t;=\frac{\rho bg}
{2} O \frac{?}{C}\rho gL2tL2J
\begin{figure}[<h]
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=02P]{figure>*pdf}
\caption{"igure D @ AA6ension 4ersus SositionBB}
\label{figure>D}
\end{figure}
3sing this function, 7e 7ere able to produce a plot of J:\xi = 6U6max;J 4s J:\tau = tUtend;J
&omparing this to a J\xi J 4s J\tau J plot of &alkin and (archHs data, 7e made an interesting
disco4er1 %ur theoretical plot re4ealed that J\xi J and J\tau J 7ere directl1 proportional, producing a
linear relationship /o7e4er, for our plot of &alkin and (archHs experimental data, 7e found that the
4alue of J\xi J exploded near the end of the chainHs motion, rising rapidl1 to form an almost
exponential cur4e on the graph 6his dramatic difference bet7een our experimental and theoretical data
pointed to an error in our calculations, 7ith the onl1 logical solution being that our assumption of the
chainHs acceleration 7as incorrect, it 7as not eEual in 4alue to the acceleration due to gra4it1
5mplementing Iagrangian mechanics, 7e thus attempted to find the eEuation of motion of the falling
chain, and therefore, the acceleration 3sing this method, 7e 7ere able to find the true of acceleration
of the falling chain, 7hich is sho7n to beK J \ddot{x} = gO:\frac {\dot{x}L2}{2:b-x;};J
\begin{figure}[<h]
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=02P]{figure>Tpdf}
\caption{"igure * @ AA&omparing )ssumptionsBB}
\label{figure>*}
\end{figure}
.ith this kno7ledge, 7e 7ere also able to find the 4elocit1 of the falling chain using the Ia7 of the
&onser4ation of Rnerg1, J\dot{x}=:\frac{g:2bx-xL2;}{b-x};L:1U2;;J 2ol4ing this numericall1 using
(aple6(, 7e 7ere able to find the eEuation of motion of the chain in the x-direction &omparing this
to our pre4ious assumption that Jx = \frac{1}{2}gtL2J, 7e found a slight difference in the shape of the
graphs 3sing this information, as 7ell as the correct eEuation for the tension in the stringK
J6:x;=\frac{pgb}{C}:\frac{2bL2 O 2bx - ?xL2}{b-x};J .e 7ere able to plot our theoretical data in an
J:\xi =6U6max;J 4s J:\tau =tUtend;J plot &omparing our theoretical plot to &alkin and (archHs
experimental data, 7e 7ere pleased to find that both graphs 7ere almost exactl1 the same
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)stronom1, 3ni4ersit1 of &alifornia, Ios )ngeles, &alifornia Q00QD-1DCP}
\bibitem[Rarth 3nplugged :201?;]{gra4} )ma0ing bead chain experiment in slo7 motion
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\end{document}