oun LO Motion in a Noninertial Reference Frame 10.1 Introduction The advantage of choosing an inertial reference frame to describe dynamic processes was made evident in the discussions in Chapters 2 and 7. It is always possi- ble to express the equations of motion for a system in an inertial frame. But there are types of problems for which these equations would be extremely complex, and it becomes easier to treat the motion of the system in a noninertial frame of reference. To describe, for example, the motion of a particle on or near the surface of Earth, it is tempting to do so by choosing a coordinate system fixed with respect to Earth, We know, however, that Earth undergoes a complicated motion, com- pounded of many different rotations (and hence accelerations) with respect to an inertial reference frame identified with the “fixed” stars. Earth’s coordinate system is, therefore, a noninertial frame of reference; and, although the solutions to many problems can be obtained to the desired degree of accuracy by ignoring this distinction, many important effects result from the noninertial nature of the Earth coordinate system. In fact, we have already studied noninertial systems when we studied ocean tides (Section 5.5). Tidal forces due to Earth-Moon and Sun-Earth orbits are observed on Earth’s surface, which is a noninertial system. Space does not allow us further study in this chapter of this interesting subject, but quite reasonable accounts can be found elsewhere.* See, for example, Knudsen and Hjorth (Kn00, Chapter 6) and M. S. Tiersten and H. Soodak, Am. J Phys. 68, 129 (2000). 387388 10 / MOTION IN A NONINERTIAL REFERENCE FRAME, i FIGURE 10-1. The «/ are coordinates in the fixed system, and x, are coordinates in the rotating system. The vector R locates the origin of the rotating system in the fixed system. In analyzing the motion of rigid bodies in the following chapter, we also find it convenient to use noninertial reference frames and therefore make use of much of the development presented here. 10.2 Rotating Coordinate Systems Let us consider two sets of coordinate axes. Let one set be the “fixed” or inertial axes, and let the other be an arbitrary set that may be in motion with respect to the inertial system. We designate these axes as the “fixed” and “rotating” axes, re- spectively. We use x! as coordinates in the fixed system and x, as coordinates in the rotating system. If we choose some point P, as in Figure 10-1, we have r=Rir (10.1) where r’ is the radius vector of Pin the fixed system and r is the radius vector of Pin the rotating system. The vector R locates the origin of the rotating system in the fixed system. We may always represent an arbitrary infinitesimal displacement by a pure rotation about some axis called the instantaneous axis of rotation. For example, the instantaneous motion of a disk rolling down an inclined plane can be de- scribed as a rotation about the point of contact between the disk and the plane. Therefore, if the x; system undergoes an infinitesimal rotation 68, correspon- ding to some arbitrary infinitesimal displacement, the motion of P (which, for the moment, we consider to be at rest in the x, system) can be described in terms of Equation 1.106 as (dr) gxeq = 40 X F (10.2) where the designation “fixed” is explicitly included to indicate that the quantity dr is measured in the x}, or fixed, coordinate system. Dividing this equation by dt, the time interval during which the infinitesimal rotation takes place, we obtain the time of rate change of r as measured in the fixed coordinate system: ar 40 (2), = axe (10.3)10.2 ROTATING COORDINATE SYSTEMS. 389 or, because the angular velocity of the rotation is a) o=F (10.4) We have dr + («) = Xr (for Pfixed in x; system) (10.5) At) sea This same result was determined in Section 1.16. If we allow the point P to have a velocity (dr/d#) outing With respect to the x; system, this velocity must be added to @ X r to obtain the time rate of change of rin the fixed system: dr dr (Fac - (Sion Foxe (10-6) kz @&5#&#€84#§©—C~ti‘SN Consider a vector r = xe) + xy¢y + xyes in the rotating system. Let the fixed and rotating systems have the same origin. Find #’ in the fixed system by direct differentiation if the angular velocity of the rotating system is « in the fixed system. Solution, We begin by taking the time derivative directly (2)..°22*«) = Dee + x8) (10.7) The first term is simply #, in the rotating system, but what are the é? (10.8) Look at Figure 10-2 and examine which components of , tend to rotate e, We see that w, tends to rotate e, toward the ~e, direction and that ws tends to rotate e; toward the +e, direction. We therefore have (10.9)