CHAPTER 4 MOTION IN TWO AND THREE DIMENSIONS This chapter presents a combination or synthesis of the concepts developed in Chapters 2 and 3. We continue to describe the motion of a particle in terms of its position, velocity, and acceleration, just as we did in Chapter 2. However, here we remove the restriction imposed in Chapter 2 that the particle move only in a straight line. Now we allow the particle to move throughout an ordinary three-dimensional coordinate system. Keeping track of the x,y, and z, components of the motion is greatly simplified if we use a notation based on vectors. We see that the kinematic equations of Chapter 2 can be applied in the general case by merely replacing the one-dimensional variable with a corresponding vector. Two familiar examples of motion are considered as applications of the vector techniques: a projectile launched with both horizontal and vertical velocity components in the Earth's gravity, and an object moving in a circular path. 4-1 POSITION, VELOCITY, AND. ACCELERATION Figure | shows a particle at time ¢ moving along a curved path in three dimensions. Its position, or displacement from the origin, is measured by the vectorr. The velocityis indicated by the vector v which, as we shall show below, Figure 1 Position, velocity, and acceleration vectors for a particle moving along an arbitrary path. The relative lengths of the three vectors are independent of one another, as are their relative directions. ‘must be tangent to the path of the particle. The accelera- tion is indicated by the vector a, whose direction, as we shall see more explicitly later, does not in general bear any unique relationship to the position of the particle or the direction of v. In Cartesian coordinates, the particle is located by x,y, and z, which are the components of the vector that gives the position of the particle: r=xityj+ck. a ‘Suppose the particle moves from a position r, at time f, to position r, at time f,, asshown in Fig, 2a. Itsdisplacement (change in position) in the interval Ar =f, — 1; is the vee- tor Ar=1,—r,, and the average velocity ¥ in the in- terval Avis Ar ar" In Eq. 2, the vector Ar is multiplied by the scalar 1/A1to sive the vector ¥. Thus ¥must have the same direction as Ar. Note that the three vectors, r,, Ar, and r, have the same relationship as the three vectors a, b, and s in Fig. 3 of Chapter 3. That is, using the graphical head-to-tail addi- tion method, Ar added to r, gives the resultant rp. Thus = Ar+n, and so Ar=n— As the interval At is reduced, the vector Ar approaches the actual path (as in Fig. 26), and it becomes tangent to @ 5354 > Chapter 4 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions we Figure 2 (@) In the interval At from ¢, tof, the particle ‘moves from postion r, to positon ra Its displacement in that interval is Ar =r, —¥,. (B) As the interval grows smaller, the displacement vector approaches the actual path of the particle ‘the path in the limit Ar — 0, in which case the average velocity approaches the instantaneous velocity v: uy, A v= ina ® By a reasonable extension of our earlier definition of a derivative (see Eq. 8 of Chapter 2), we write the quantity on the right side of Eq. 3 as the derivative of the vector r with respect to tims 2. “ Like the vector Ar in the limit At—>0, the vector v is tangent to the path of the particle at every point in the ‘motion. Equation 4, lke all vector equations, is equivalent to three scalar equations. To explore this, let us write v in terms of its components and let us substitute into Eq. 4 for 1 from Eq, 1: a+ +o = Zo + 9h +28) a dy. dz a DH aaa Because two vectors can be equal to each other only if their corresponding components are equal, we see from comparing the left and right sides of Eq. 5 that © ‘Tosummarize, the single vector elation of Eq. 4is totally equivalent to the three scalar relations of Ea. 6. It is now straightforward to extend these concepts to acceleration, just as we did in Section 2-5. The average acceleration is -%, o and the instantaneous acceleration is obtained from the limit as the time interval vanishes: a= lim SY. ®) ‘Once again, the quantity on the right can be expressed asa derivative with respect to time, and so aw a ® ‘where, again equating like components, dr, a, do, des dey at Ge Gn ana do Notice that vector equations serve both to simplify nota- tion (Eq. 9, for example, represents the three relationships given as Eq. 10) as well as to separate the components (a,, for example, has no effect on v, oF v,). ‘Also, note from Eq. 9 that, because v is a vector having both direction and magnitude, a change in the direction of the velocity can produce an acceleration, even ifthe mag- nitude of the velocity does not change. Motion at constant speed can be accelerated motion. That i, since 0? = v2 + v}-+ 02, the components can change in such a way that the magnitude of v remains constant. The most familiar example ofthis case is uniform circular motion, which we discuss in Section 4-4. ‘Sample Problem 1 A particle moves in an xy plane in such a ‘way that its x and y coordinates vary with time according to x(t) =P ~ 32¢ and y(0) = Si? + 12, Here xand yare in units of ‘meters when fis in units of seconds. Find the position, velocity, and acceleration of the particle when 1= 3sSolution The position is given by Eq. 1, and inserting the ex- pressions given for x(¢) and y{¢), we obtain rea tof (0 32014 SF + 12), Evaluating this expression at ¢ = 3s gives == 691-457), where the components are in units of meters. ‘The velocity components are found from Eq. 6: 4 is _ 39) =32— Gil 32) = 3° — 32, 4 sya - G,0P + 12)= 101, Using Eq. 5, we obtain ni +0) = GBP — 32+ 105, and at (= 3 swe find Si+ 30) in units of m/s. ‘The components of the acceleration are 4 ap goes ‘The acceleration at ¢=3 sis an 181+ 10) in units of m/s? Figure 3 shows the path of the particle from = 0 104= 4s. The position, velocity, and acceleration vectors at ¢= 3 s are drawn, Notice that vis tangent to the path at ¢= 3s, and also Figure 3 Sample Problem 1. The path of the moving particle is shown, and its positions at ¢= 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 s are indi- cated. At r= 3, the vectors representing its position, veloc- ity, and acceleration are shown. Note that there is no particu- lar relationship between the directions ofr, v, and a. ‘Section 4-2 Motion with Constant Acceleration 55. notice that the direction of a has no particular relationship tothe direction of either r or ¥. 4-2, MOTION WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION ‘We now consider the special case of motion with constant acceleration. As the particle moves, the acceleration a does not vary either in magnitude or in direction. Hence the components of a also do not vary. We then have a situation that can be described as the sum of three compo- nent motions occurring simultaneously with constant ac- celeration along each of three perpendicular directions. ‘The particle moves, in general, along. curved path. This ‘may be so even if one component of the acceleration, say 4, is zero, for then the corresponding component of the velocity, say 2,, has a constant value that may not be zero. An example of this latter situation is the motion of a projectile that follows a curved path in a vertical plane and, neglecting the effects of air resistance, is subject toa constant acceleration g directed down along the vertical axis only. We can obtain the general equations for motion with constant a simply by setting @,= constant, a,—constant, and a, = constant. ‘The particle begins at ¢= 0 with an initial position r, Agi + Yoi + Zak and an initial velocity vp = Doh + Ojo) + gk. We now proceed as we did in Section 2-6 and de- velop, in analogy with Eq. 15 of Chapter 2, three scalar equations: v= dy9 + at, B= Bo t dt, and 0, = do + 4,t, which we write as the single vector equation Vota ay ‘When using this or any other vector equation, remember that it represents three independent scalar equations. The second term on the right side of Eq. 11 involves the multiplication of a vector by a scalar. As we discussed in Section 3-5, this gives a vector of length af that points in the same direction as the original vector a Continuing as we did in Section 2-6, we can develop five equations that describe motion in three dimensions with constant acceleration. These five equations are dis- played in Table 1, which you should compare with the five corresponding one-dimensional equations in Table 2 of Chapter 2. With the exception of Eq. 13, which in- cludes vectors but is a scalar equation, each equation of Table 1 represents three independent scalar equations. ‘The x components of Eqs. 11, 12, 14, and 15 are just the corresponding equations listed in Table 2 of Chapter 2. Because Eq. 13 is a scalar equation, it has no x (or any other) component.56 Chapter 4 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions TABLE 1 VECTOR EQUATIONS FOR MOTION WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION ‘Equation Ee Contains ‘Number Equation r 0 v a t 1 ve vot ar x ¥ v v 2 ratot + dar 4 x Y ’ 13 Ya" Yo 2a* (er) y Y ‘ x 14 Fatt Hy + Y ’ x ’ 15 rentv— dar ‘ ‘ “ ‘ ‘This equation involves the scalar or dot product of two vectors, which we: ‘Sample Problem 2 _A skier is moving down a fat slope on a ‘mountainside. The downslope (north-south) makes an angle of 10° with the horizontal. A wind blowing from the west gives the skiera lateral acceleration of0.54 m/s? (see Fig. 4). Atthe north= ‘west corner of the slope, the skier pushes off with a downhill ‘component of velocity of 9.0 m/s and a lateral component of zero. The frictionless slope is 125 m long and 25 m wide (a) ‘Where does the skier leave the slope? (4) What is the skier’s, velocity at that point? (Hint: The gravitational acceleration along a plane that slopes at an angle @ is g sin 6.) Solution (a) Choose the origin at the northwest corner, with the xaxis downslope and the y axis lateral. The components of the acceleration are a,=gsin 10° 40.54 m/s, ‘Note that these components are evaluated independently. The component a, is the downhill acceleration that would result ven if there were no lateral wind, and similarly a isthe lateral acceleration that would result from the wind even ifthere were ‘no downhill slope. Handling these two components indepen- dently is the essence of vector arithmetic. We take 1 = 0 tobe the time thatthe skier pushes off, and we are given that 49 = 9.0 m/s and 2,9 0. Thus 70 mst, My = 43m oe 225 mis Figure 4 Sample Problem 2. = 29+ ast 9.0 s+ (1.10 mis, = 059+ a t= 0+ (0.54 m/s'y, Ft Dal Hal = 0+ 0.0 m/Nt+ 085 m/e, Vt of + 4a? = 0-404 (0.27 misty ‘We assume for now tha the skier reaches the bottom of the slope before leaving the lateral edge. (We can check this assumption later.) We first must find the time at which this occurs (tha i, ‘when x= 125m): 125 m= (9.0 m/sy+ (0.85 m/s)", Solving quadratically, we obiain 1= 7.94 s or ~18.5s. Con- sidering for the moment only the positive root, we evaluate the ‘corresponding y coordinate: (0.27 mjs?\e* = (0.27 mjs?\(7.94 8° = 17.0 m. ‘The lateral displacement of 17.0 mis indeed less than the width, of the slope (25 m),aswe assumed. The skier thereforeleaves the bottom of the slope at a point 17.0 m from the western edge. (b) The velocity components can be found directly at ¢— 794: 0, 9.0 m/s + (1.70 m/s?\7.94 8) = 22.5 m/s, », = (0.54 m/#V7.948) = 4.3 m/s. Note that in solving this problem, we have chosen the x andy xcs to lie in the plane ofthe slope, thereby reducing a three- dimensional problem to two dimensions. I we had chosen to ‘work ina coordinate sjstem in which the xy plane was that of level ground andthe 2 axis was vertical, the acceleration would have had three components and the problem would have been more complicated. In solving problems, we ae usualy free to choose the direction ofthe coordinate axes and the location of the origin for our convenience, a long as we keep our choice fixed throughout the entire solution of the problem. ‘What about the negative root, ‘= 18.5 8? We wrote our orignal equations of motion starting at time 0, so postive times ae those that desrie the sker’s subsequent motion down the slope, and negative times therefore must describe the skiers motion before passing through the corner of the slope that we defined asthe orgin. The negative solution reminds usthat there ‘ight have been a previous path thatthe skier could have fol lowed to passthrough the origin at ¢= 0 with the correct speed. During this previous part of the motion, the skier must have passed through x = 125 m (presumably sking uphill) at 18.5 s before arriving at the northwest corner. Calculate the velocity components at =~ 18.5 s and find out about the sker’s mo- tion at that time, What would the corresponding y coordinatehhave been at ¢=—18.5 Is this reasonable? What would have been the minimum xand y coordinates reached during the time between ¢=— 18.5 sand /= ‘The mathematical solution of a physical problem often yields ‘an unexpected result, such as the negative time in this sample problem. If we assume in this problem that the skier’s motion began at =O, the negative r00t is of no interest to us, but itis ‘good practice to examine the physical meaning fsuch solutions ‘when they appear. 4-3, PROJECTILE MOTION ‘An example of motion with constant acceleration is pro- Jjectile motion. This is the two-dimensional motion of a particle thrown obliquely into the air. The ideal motion of a baseball ora golf ball isan example of projectile motion. ‘Weassume for now that we can neglect the effect ofthe air on this motion. In Chapter 6 we consider the (often con- siderable) effect of air resistance on projectile motion. The motion of a projectile is one of constant accelera- tion g, directed downward. Although there may bea hori= zontal component of velocity, there is no horizontal com- ponent of acceleration. If we choose a coordinate system with the positive y axis vertically upward, we may put ,=—g (as in Chapter 2, g is always a positive number) and a, = 0. Furthermore, we assume that vg is in the xy plane, so that vo = 0. Since a, is also 0, the z component of Eq, 11 tells us that 0, is zero at all times, and we can ‘therefore confine our attention to what happens in the xy plane. Let us further choose the origin of our coordinate sys- tem to be the point at which the projectile begins its fight (see Fig. 5). Hence the origin is the point at which the ball leaves the thrower's hand, for example. This choice of origin implies that x9 = yp ™ 0. The velocity at ¢= 0, the instant the projectile begins its light, is yo, which makes an angle $y with the positive x direction. The x and y components of vo (see Fig. 5) are then ro= C08) and Ho= Hsing. (16) Because there is no horizontal component of accelera- tion, the horizontal component ofthe velocity is constant. In the x component of Eq. 11 we set a,=0 and u, 1, 608 dy, obtaining Ue Po + del = Vy C08 Hy: any The horizontal velocity component retains its initial value throughout the flight. ‘The vertical component of the velocity changes with time due to the constant downward acceleration. In Ea, 11, we take the y components and set a, = —gand Dy = vy sin do, so that (8) Section 43 Projectile Motion 7 Figure § The trajectory ofa projectile, showing the intial ‘velocity vp and its components and also the velocity vand its components at five later times. Note that 2, = tg throughout theflght. The horizontal distance Ris therange of the projectile. The vertical velocity component is that of free fall. (In- deed, if we view the motion of Fig. 5 from a reference frame that moves to the right witha speed 2.0, the motion is that ofan object thrown vertically upward with an i tial speed up sin by.) ‘The magnitude of the resultant velocity vector at any instant is v= WoT ER. 1) ‘The angle ¢ that the velocity vector makes with the hori- zontal at that instant is given by tang= 2, (20) ‘The velocity vector is tangent to the path of the particle at every point, as shown in Fig. 5. ‘The x coordinate of the particle's position at any time, obtained from the x component of Eq. 12 (see Table 1) with Xo = 0, a, = 0, and vo = to 00S do, is Kot Hef FHP =(mcos ht. (21) ‘The y coordinate, obtained from the y component of Ea, 12 with yy=0, a, =—g, and tyo = 09 sin dy, is Y= Yo+ tot + 4a = (0p sin Gy fer’. (22) Equations 21 and 22 give us.x and yas functions of the ‘common parameter {, the time of light. By combining and eliminating ¢ from them, we obtain (tan go)x — 7 @3) & Up 608 bo) which relates yto x and is the equation of the srajectory of58 Chapter 4 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions the projectile. Since a fp, and g are constants, this equa- tion has the form y= be— ex, the equation ofa parabola. Hence the trajectory of a pro- jectile is parabolic, as shown in Fig. 5. ‘The horizontal range R of the projectile, as shown in Fig. 5, is defined as the distance along the horizontal ‘where the projectile returns to the level from which it was launched. We can find the range by putting y = 0 into Eq. 23, One solution immediately arises at x= 0; the other fives the range: R 2s 228 sin fy c08 by = 2 sin 24, 24 sin e% using the trigonometric identity sin 26=2 sin 8 cos 8. Note that, for a given initial speed, we get the maximum range for $y = 45°, such that sin 2¢ = 1 ‘The solutions we have obtained represent an idealized view of projectile motion. We have considered one im- portanteffect, namely, gravity; but there is another factor in projectile motion that is often important —air resist- ance. Airresistance isan example ofa velocity-dependent force; the greater the velocity, the greater the decelerating, effect of air resistance. At low speed, the effect of air resist- ance is usually negligible, but at high speed the path of a projectile will no longer be described by a parabola, as in Eq. 23, and the range may be considerably less than that given by Eq. 24. In Chapter 6, we consider the effects of air resistance; for now we assume that the equations derived in this section adequately describe the motion of projee- tiles. Figure 6 shows an example of the path of a projectile that is not severely affected by air resistance. The path certainly appears parabolic in its shape. Figure 7 shows a comparison of the motions of a projectile fired horizon- tally and one simultaneously dropped into free fall. Here you can see directly the predictions of Eqs. 21 and 22 when ¢ = 0. Note that (1) the horizontal motion of the first projectile does indeed follow Eq, 21: its x coordinate increases by equal amounts in equal intervals of time, independent ofthe y motion; and (2) the y motions of the ‘two projectiles are identical: the vertical increments of the position of the two projectiles are the same, independent of the horizontal motion of one of them. Shooting a Falling Target Ina favorite lecture demonstration an air gun is sighted at an elevated target, which is released in free fall by a trip, ‘mechanism as the “bullet” leaves the muzzle, No matter ‘what the initial speed of the bullet, it always hits the falling target. Figure 6 A strobe photo ofa golf ball (which enters the photo from the let) bouncing off a hard surface. Between i pacts, the ball shows the parabolic path characteristic of pro- jectile motion. Why do you suppose the height of successive bounces is decreasing? (Chapters 8 and 10 may provide the answer.) Figure 7 Ball lis released from rest at the same instant that ball Il is fired to the right. Note that both balls fall at exactly the same rate; the horizontal motion of ball II does not affect its vertical rate of fall. The exposures in this strobe photo were taken at intervals of 1/30 s. Does the horizontal velocity of ball I appear to be constant?