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BSc and MSci Examination

6CCM231B Intermediate Dynamics

Summer 2010

Time Allowed: Two Hours

This paper consists of two sections, Section A and Section B.

Section A contributes half the total marks for the paper.
Answer all questions in Section A.
All questions in Section B carry equal marks, but if more than two are
attempted, then only the best two will count.

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 -2- 6CCM231B

Section A

A 1. A particle of constant mass m moving in three dimensions has momentum p

given by:
p(t) ≡ (−m sin t)êx + (m cos t)êy − (mgt)êz
Where êx , êy and êz are unit vectors in the x, y and z directions respectively, g
is a constant and t represents time.

(a.) State Newton’s second law of motion and calculate the force, F , that the
particle is acting under.

(b.) Integrate the momentum to compute the position, r(t), of the particle,
given that at t = 0 the particle’s position is:

r(0) = êx

(c.) Compute the torque of the particle about the origin due to the force F
and using your result, or otherwise, show that z-component of the angular
momentum of the particle is conserved.

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A 2. (a.) State Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion.

(b.) An asteroid of mass, m, orbiting the Sun, whose mass is denoted M , is

subject to a central force,
GM m
F (r) = − r
r3
Where G is Newton’s gravitational constant. Suppose the asteroid orbits
the Sun in an elliptical orbit whose perihelion is at 1 astronomical unit
(A.U.) and aphelion at 7A.U.’s from the Sun. Calculate:

(i.) The period of the asteroid’s orbit (in Earth years)

(ii.) The semi-major axis of a second asteroid whose period is eight times
that of part (b.)(i.).
N.B. 1 A.U. is the length of the Earth’s semi-major axis about the Sun.

A 3. A particle of mass, m, is constrained to move under gravity on the surface of a

cone defined by the equation x2 + y 2 = z 2 for z ≥ 0.

(a.) State, with explanation, whether it is a holonomic constraint or a non-

holonomic constraint. How many generalised coordinates are required to
completely describe the dynamics of the particle?

(b.) Express the Cartesian coordinates of the particle in terms of polar coor-
dinates in the xy-plane denoted by r and θ.

(c.) Find the Lagrangian for this dynamical system.

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A 4. A dynamical system with generalised coordinates r and θ has the Lagrangian

1
L = m(θ̇2 + ṙ2 ) − cos θ
2
(a.) Find the Hamiltonian.

(b.) Find Hamilton’s equations.

(c.) Prove for an arbitrary function on phase space, f (r, θ, pr , pθ ; t), and for a
general Hamiltonian, H, that:
df ∂f
= {f, H} +
dt ∂t

A 5. (a.) State Noether’s theorem in terms of the Lagrangian associated to a dy-

namical system.

(b.) Use Lagrange’s equations to prove that for each ignorable coordinate, qi ,
in a Lagrangian, L, the associated conjugate momentum, pi , is a conserved
quantity.

(c.) The Lagrangian for a three-dimensional pendulum consisting of a light,

inextensible rod of length l which attaches a bob of mass m to a fixed
point and swings under the influence of gravity. is:
1
L = ml2 (θ̇2 + φ̇2 sin2 θ) + mgl cos θ
2
Which coordinate is ignorable? Describe the physical symmetry of the
system that it gives rise to and and compute the associated conserved
quantity.

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Section B

B 1. Consider a compound pendulum: particle 1, of mass 4m, is connected to the

origin by a light, inextensible rod, and particle 2, of mass 2m, to particle 1 by
a second identical rod. Both rods have length l and the compound pendulum
moves in the vertical plane subject to the force of gravity.

(a.) Express the Cartesian coordinates of both particles in terms of the angles
to the vertical of the two pendulum rods. (Use θ to denote the angle to
the vertical for the rod between the origin and particle 1 and φ to denote
the angle to the vertical for the rod connecting particle 1 to particle 2.)

(b.) Show that the Lagrangian for the compound pendulum is:

L = 3ml2 θ̇2 + ml2 φ̇2 + 2ml2 θ̇φ̇ cos(θ − φ) + 6mgl cos θ + 2mgl cos φ

(c.) Calculate the energy function for the system.

(d.) The pendulum’s generalised coordinates and velocities at an initial time

t0 are √
π
θ(t0 ) = 0, φ(t0 ) = , θ̇(t0 ) = 2, φ̇(t0 ) = 2
2
Suppose that at some later time t1 > t0 :

θ(t1 ) = φ(t1 ) = pφ (t1 ) = 0

By considering the energy function of the compound pendulum show that:

g
θ̇2 (t1 ) = 7 +
l

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B 2. A particle of mass m, with Cartesian coordinates x,y,z, moves under the influ-
ence of gravity on the surface:
1
z= ln (x2 + y 2 )
2
(a.) Assuming that the z-axis points vertically upwards and gravity acts ver-
tically downwards, use polar coordinates {r, θ} in the xy plane to show
that the Lagrangian for this system is
m 1
L= ((1 + 2 )ṙ2 + r2 θ̇2 ) − mg ln (r)
2 r

(b.) Find:

(i.) the conjugate momenta pr and pθ ,

(ii.) Lagrange’s equations,
(iii.) the energy function, h, and
(iv.) the Hamiltonian, H.

(c.) Show that if H = 2mg then r ≤ e2 .

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B 3. A particle of mass, m, moves in three dimensions subject to a central force, F ,

derived from a potential V (r).

(a.) Show that:

r dV
F =−
r dr
(b.) Show that any such central force conserves angular momentum l about
the origin.

(c.) Newtonian gravity is a central force. Consider a planet moving in an

elliptical orbit about the Sun of semi-major axis ρa and eccentricity .

(i.) Calculate the perihelion distance rP and the aphelion distance rA in

terms of the elliptical data, ρa and .
(ii.) Calculate the planet’s velocities, vP and vA , at the perihelion and
aphelion respectively in terms of the constant total angular momen-
tum, l, the reduced mass µ of the Sun-planet system and the elliptical
data. You may assume that the centre of mass of the two-body sys-
tem has zero velocity.

The energy, E, of a planet moving in an elliptical orbit is given by

1 k
E = µv 2 −
2 r
Where k is a constant.

(d.) Derive an expression for the angular momentum l in terms of µ, k and

elliptical data only.

(e.) By deriving an exact expression for the energy of the orbit, E, or otherwise,
prove that it is independent of the angular momentum and depends only
on the constant k and the semi-major axis of the orbit.

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B 4. Consider a coordinate transformation on a two-dimensional phase space given

by:
q̂ = Aq cos α − Bp sin α, p̂ = Cq sin α + Dp cos α
Where A, B, C and D are constants and α is a continuous parameter.

(a.) What is the most general condition on A, B, C, D and α such that the
transformation is canonical?

(b.) Write down the finite coordinate transformation when α = π4 , what is the
condition on A, B, C and D such that the transformation is canonical?

(c.) Write down the infinitesimal coordinate transformations for infinitesimally

small values of α (you may neglect terms of order α2 ). Find a function,
f (q, p) which generates this infinitesimal canonical transformation when
A = B = C = D = 1.

(d.) A Hamiltonian describing the motion of a particle with one degree of

freedom is
1
H = (q 4 − 2q 2 p2 + p4 )
4
By using a canonical transformation with α = π4 such that A = B =
C = D = 1 show that q̂ p̂ ≡ λ is a conserved quantity for the transformed
Hamiltonian.

(e.) Find the equations of motion for q̂ and p̂ and hence, or otherwise, show
that
q(t) = 2 cosh (4t), p(t) = −2 sinh (4t)
for all t ≥ 0, given that q = 2 and p = 0 at t = 0.

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