Classical Mechanics

Classical Mechanics: A Computational Approach with Examples Using Mathematica and Python
provides a unique, contemporary introduction to classical mechanics, with a focus on computational meth-
ods. In addition to providing clear and thorough coverage of key topics, this textbook includes integrated
instructions and treatments of computation.
This newly updated and revised second edition includes two new appendices instructing the reader in both
the Python and Mathematica languages. All worked example problems in the second edition contain both
Python and Mathematica code. New end-of-chapter problems explore the application of computational
methods to classical mechanics problems.
Full of pedagogy, it contains both analytical and computational example problems within the body of each
chapter. The example problems teach readers both analytical methods and how to use computer algebra
systems and computer programming to solve problems in classical mechanics. End-of-chapter problems
allow students to hone their skills in problem solving with and without the use of a computer. The methods
presented in this book can then be used by students when solving problems in other fields both within and
outside of physics.
It is an ideal textbook for undergraduate students in physics, mathematics, and engineering studying clas-
sical mechanics.

Key Features:
• Gives readers the “big picture” of classical mechanics and the importance of computation in the
solution of problems in physics
• Numerous example problems using both analytical and computational methods, as well as explana-
tions as to how and why specific techniques were used
• Online resources containing specific example codes to help students learn computational methods
and write their own algorithms

A solutions manual is available via the Routledge Instructor Hub and all example codes in the book are
available via the Support Material tab, and at the book’s GitHub page: [Link]
sical_Mechanics_2nd_Edition
Christopher W. Kulp received his PhD in Physics from the College of William and Mary in 2004 and
is currently a Professor of Physics at Lycoming College, where he teaches physics at all levels. Dr. Kulp’s
research interests focus on the fields of nonlinear dynamics and complex systems. He has published more
than 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings and has written two book
chapters. More than 10 of his publications have undergraduate co-authors. Much of his work focuses on
distinguishing between chaotic and stochastic behaviour in time series data. His current research interests
focus on using machine learning to analyse time series and model complex systems.
Vasilis Pagonis is Professor of Physics Emeritus at McDaniel College, Maryland, where he taught undergraduate
courses and did research for 36 years. He is currently a Senior Associate Editor of the international journal “Radia-
tion Measurements”. His research areas of interest is luminescence dosimetry, and applications of thermally and
optically stimulated luminescence (TL and OSL). He has taught courses in classical and quantum mechanics, ana-
log and digital electronics and mathematical physics, as well as numerous general science courses. Dr. Pagonis’
resume lists more than 200 peer-reviewed publications in international journals. He is the co-author with Dr Kulp
of the textbook “Mathematical methods using Python” (CRC, 2024). He has also co-authored five graduate level
books in the field of luminescence dosimetry.
 Classical Mechanics
A Computational Approach with Examples
Using Mathematica and Python
Second Edition

Christopher W. Kulp and Vasilis Pagonis

Designed cover image: © Shutterstock

Second edition published 2026

by CRC Press
2385 NW Executive Center Drive, Suite 320, Boca Raton FL 33431

and by CRC Press

4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

© 2026 Christopher Kulp and Vasilis Pagonis

First edition published by CRC Press 2021

Second edition published by CRC Press 2026

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kulp, Christopher W., author. | Pagonis, Vasilis, author.
Title: Classical mechanics : a computational approach with examples using
Python and Mathematica / Christopher Kulp and Vasilis Pagonis.
Description: Second edition. | Boca Raton, FL : CRC Press, 2026. | Includes
bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2025005960 | ISBN 9781032594750 (hbk) | ISBN
9781032590516 (pbk) | ISBN 9781003454854 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Mechanics--Mathematics. | Mechanics--Data processing. |
Python (Computer program language) | Mathematica (Computer file)
Classification: LCC QC127 .K85 2025 | DDC 531.0285/53--dc23/eng/20250220
LC record available at [Link]

ISBN: 978-1-032-59475-0 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-032-59051-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-45485-4 (ebk)

DOI: 10.1201/9781003454854

Typeset in LM Roman
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.

Publisher’s note: This book has been prepared from camera-ready copy provided by the authors.
 Dedication

Chris dedicates this book to his wife Gail, mother Linda, and his late father
Chester; without their support, this book would not have been possible.

Vasilis dedicates this book to his wife, Mary Jo Boylan, and to his students at
McDaniel College.
Contents

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION ...................................................................... xiii

Chapter 1 Foundations of Motion and Computation ................................................... 1

1.1 Basics of classical mechanics .............................................................. 1
1.2 Basic descriptors of motion ................................................................ 2
1.2.1 Position and displacement ...................................................... 2
1.2.2 Velocity................................................................................... 6
1.2.3 Acceleration ............................................................................ 6
1.2.4 Mass ....................................................................................... 9
1.2.5 Force....................................................................................... 9
1.3 Newton’s laws of motion .................................................................. 10
1.3.1 Newton’s first law................................................................. 10
1.3.2 Newton’s second law............................................................. 11
1.3.3 Newton’s third law ............................................................... 13
1.4 Reference frames .............................................................................. 14
1.5 Computation in physics ................................................................... 16
1.5.1 The use of computation in physics ....................................... 16
1.5.2 Symbolic computations......................................................... 17
1.5.3 Numerical computations with python and mathematica...... 19
1.5.4 Some warnings...................................................................... 23
1.6 Chapter summary ............................................................................ 24
1.7 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................. 25

Chapter 2 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension ................................................. 29

2.1 Equations of motion......................................................................... 29
2.2 Ordinary differential equations ........................................................ 30
2.3 Constant forces ................................................................................ 32
2.4 Time-dependent forces ..................................................................... 38
2.5 Air resistance and velocity-dependent forces ................................... 42
2.6 Position-dependent forces ................................................................ 50
2.7 Euler’s method of numerically solving ODEs ................................. 53
2.8 Numerical ODE solvers in mathematica and python ....................... 57
2.9 Evaluation of integrals with numerical integration functions........... 59
2.10 Simpson’s rules for numerical evaluation of integrals ..................... 61
2.11 Chapter summary ............................................................................ 63
2.12 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................. 64

Chapter 3 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions ...................................................... 73

3.1 Position, velocity, and acceleration in cartesian coordinate systems 73
3.2 Vector products................................................................................ 82
3.2.1 Dot product.......................................................................... 82
3.2.2 Cross product ....................................................................... 85
3.3 Position, velocity, and acceleration in non-cartesian coordinate
systems............................................................................................. 91

vii
viii Contents

3.3.1 Polar coordinates.................................................................. 91

3.3.2 Position, velocity, and acceleration in cylindrical
coordinates ........................................................................... 98
3.3.3 Position, velocity, and acceleration in spherical
coordinates ..........................................................................100
3.4 Gradient, divergence, and curl ........................................................102
3.4.1 Gradient ..............................................................................102
3.4.2 Divergence ...........................................................................114
3.4.3 Curl .....................................................................................116
3.4.4 Second derivatives with the del operator.............................118
3.5 Chapter summary ...........................................................................119
3.6 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................121

Chapter 4 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems .................129

4.1 Conservation of momentum and Newton’s third law ......................129
4.2 Rockets............................................................................................134
4.3 Center of mass ................................................................................136
4.4 Momentum of a system of multiple particles ..................................144
4.5 Angular momentum of a single particle ..........................................146
4.6 Angular momentum of multiple particles........................................147
4.7 Chapter summary ...........................................................................152
4.8 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................153

Chapter 5 Energy......................................................................................................159
5.1 Work and energy in one-dimensional systems.................................159
5.2 Potential energy and equilibrium points .........................................163
5.3 Work and line integrals ...................................................................173
5.4 Work-kinetic energy theorem, revisited...........................................180
5.5 Conservative forces and potential energy........................................180
5.6 Energy and multiparticle system ....................................................186
5.7 Chapter summary ...........................................................................188
5.8 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................189

Chapter 6 Harmonic Oscillations ..............................................................................195

6.1 Differential equations ......................................................................195
6.2 Simple harmonic oscillator ..............................................................196
6.2.1 Equation of motion of the simple harmonic oscillator .........196
6.2.2 Potential and kinetic energy in simple harmonic motion ....201
6.2.3 The simple plane pendulum as an example of a harmonic
oscillator ..............................................................................202
6.3 Numerical solutions of the simple pendulum ..................................204
6.4 Damped harmonic oscillator ...........................................................206
6.4.1 Comparison of overdamped, underdamped and critically
damped oscillations .............................................................209
6.5 Energy in damped harmonic motion...............................................213
6.6 Forced harmonic oscillator ..............................................................214
6.7 Energy resonance and the quality factor for driven oscillations......223
6.8 Electrical circuits ............................................................................227
6.9 Principle of superposition and Fourier series ..................................229
6.9.1 Principle of superposition ....................................................230
Contents ix

6.9.2 Fourier series .......................................................................231

6.9.3 Example of superposition principle and Fourier series ........235
6.10 Phase space .....................................................................................237
6.11 Chapter summary ...........................................................................241
6.12 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................242

Chapter 7 Calculus of Variations ..............................................................................251

7.1 Motivation for learning the calculus of variations...........................251
7.2 Shortest distance between two points—setting up the calculus of
variations ........................................................................................252
7.3 First form of the euler equation ......................................................253
7.4 Second form of the euler equation ..................................................258
7.5 Some examples of problems solved using the calculus of variations259
7.5.1 The brachistochrone problem ..............................................259
7.5.2 Geodesics .............................................................................264
7.5.3 Minimum surface of revolution............................................266
7.6 Multiple dependent variables ..........................................................270
7.7 Chapter summary ...........................................................................272
7.8 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................273

Chapter 8 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics...................................................277

8.1 Introduction to the lagrangian ........................................................277
8.2 Generalized coordinates and degrees of freedom.............................279
8.3 Hamilton’s principle........................................................................281
8.4 Examples of lagrangian dynamics ...................................................282
8.5 Constraint forces and lagrange’s equation with undetermined
multipliers .......................................................................................297
8.6 Conservation theorems and the lagrangian .....................................302
8.6.1 Conservation of momentum.................................................302
8.6.2 Conservation of energy ........................................................304
8.7 Hamiltonian dynamics ....................................................................306
8.8 Additional explorations into the hamiltonian .................................312
8.9 Chapter summary ...........................................................................316
8.10 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................317

Chapter 9 Central Forces and Planetary Motion ......................................................323

9.1 Central forces ..................................................................................323
9.1.1 Central forces and the conservation of energy .....................324
9.1.2 Central forces and the conservation of angular momentum.325
9.2 The two-body problem....................................................................325
9.3 Equations of motion for the two-body problem ..............................329
9.4 Planetary motion and kepler’s first law ..........................................338
9.5 Orbits in a central force field ..........................................................339
9.6 Kepler’s laws of planetary motion...................................................342
9.6.1 Kepler’s first law..................................................................342
9.6.2 Kepler’s second law .............................................................350
9.6.3 Kepler’s third law ................................................................352
9.7 Planar circular restricted three-body problem ................................356
9.8 Chapter summary ...........................................................................362
9.9 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................363
x Contents

Chapter 10 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames..................................................371

10.1 Motion in a nonrotating accelerating reference frame.....................371
10.2 Angular velocity as a vector............................................................373
10.3 Time derivatives of vectors in rotating coordinate frames ..............376
10.4 Newton’s second law in a rotating frame ........................................378
10.4.1 Centrifugal force ..................................................................380
10.4.2 Coriolis force........................................................................383
10.5 Foucault pendulum .........................................................................387
10.6 Projectile motion in a noninertial frame .........................................392
10.7 Chapter summary ...........................................................................396
10.8 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................396

Chapter 11 Rigid Body Motion ..................................................................................401

11.1 Rotational motion of particles around a fixed axis .........................401
11.2 Review of rotational properties for a system of particles ................407
11.2.1 Center of mass.....................................................................407
11.2.2 Momentum of a system of particles.....................................408
11.2.3 Angular momentum of a system of particles .......................408
11.2.4 Work and kinetic energy for a system of particles...............408
11.3 Moment of inertia tensor ................................................................409
11.4 Kinetic energy and the inertia tensor .............................................420
11.5 Inertia tensor in different coordinate systems − the parallel axis
theorem ...........................................................................................423
11.6 Principal axes of rotation................................................................426
11.7 Precession of a symmetric spinning top with one point fixed and
experiencing a weak torque .............................................................434
11.8 Rigid body motion in 3D and euler’s equations..............................436
11.9 Force-free symmetric top.................................................................438
11.10 Chapter summary ...........................................................................441
11.11 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................442

Chapter 12 Coupled Oscillations ................................................................................453

12.1 Coupled oscillations of a two-mass, three-spring system.................453
12.1.1 Equations of motion ...........................................................453
12.1.2 Numerical solution of the equations of motion ...................454
12.1.3 Equal masses and identical springs: the normal modes .......456
12.1.4 General case: linear combination of normal modes..............461
12.2 Normal mode analysis of the two-mass, three-spring system ..........465
12.2.1 Equal masses and identical springs − analytical solution ...465
12.2.2 Solving the two-mass and three-spring system as an eigen-
value problem ......................................................................469
12.3 Double pendulum............................................................................474
12.3.1 Lagrangian and equations of motion − numerical
solutions ..............................................................................475
12.3.2 Identical masses and lengths - analytical solutions..............476
12.3.3 Double pendulum as an eigenvector/eigenvalue problem ....480
12.4 General theory of small oscillations and normal coordinates ..........480
12.4.1 Lagrangian for small oscillations around an equilibrium
position................................................................................480
Contents xi

12.4.2 Equations of motion for small oscillations around an

equilibrium point .................................................................483
12.4.3 Normal coordinates .............................................................485
12.5 Chapter summary ...........................................................................486
12.6 End−of−chapter problems..............................................................487

Chapter 13 Nonlinear Systems....................................................................................497

13.1 Linear vs. nonlinear systems...........................................................497
13.2 Damped harmonic oscillator, revisited............................................498
13.3 Fixed points and phase portraits ....................................................500
13.3.1 Simple plane pendulum, revisited........................................510
13.3.2 Double-well potential, revisited ...........................................512
13.3.3 Damped double-well ............................................................515
13.3.4 Bifurcations of fixed points..................................................519
13.4 Limit cycles.....................................................................................520
13.4.1 Duffing equation ..................................................................520
13.4.2 Limit cycles and period-doubling bifurcations.....................521
13.5 Chaos ..............................................................................................524
13.5.1 Chaos and initial conditions ................................................527
13.5.2 Lyapunov exponents ............................................................529
13.6 A final word on nonlinear systems ..................................................530
13.7 Chapter summary ...........................................................................530
13.8 End-of-chapter problems .................................................................531

Appendix A Introduction to Python ............................................................................539

A.1 Data types and variables in python ................................................539
A.2 Sequences in python........................................................................541
A.2.1 Lists.....................................................................................541
A.2.2 Range sequences and list comprehensions ...........................544
A.2.3 Tuple sequences ...................................................................545
A.2.4 Functions on sequences........................................................545
A.3 Functions, for loops and conditional statements .............................546
A.4 Importing python libraries and packages ........................................549
A.5 The NumPy library.........................................................................550
A.5.1 Creating NumPy arrays.......................................................550
A.5.2 Array functions, attributes, and methods............................552
A.5.3 Arithmetic operations with NumPy arrays .........................553
A.5.4 Indexing and slicing of NumPy arrays ................................555
A.6 The matplotlib module ...................................................................556
A.6.1 2D plots using matplotlib ....................................................556
A.6.2 3D plots using matplotlib ....................................................559
A.7 Symbolic computation with SymPy................................................561
A.8 Lambdify() and diff() functions in python ......................................562
A.9 Overview of integration methods in python....................................563
A.10 Dsolve() command in SymPy ........................................................565
A.11 Numerical integration: the odeint() command in SciPy .................566
A.12 Vector representation in SymPy .....................................................568
xii Contents

Appendix B Introduction to Mathematica...................................................................569

B.1 Variables in Mathematica ...............................................................569
B.2 Lists in Mathematica ......................................................................571
B.3 Functions, loops, and conditional statements .................................572
B.4 Vectors and matrices in Mathematica.............................................575
B.5 Creating plots in Mathematica .......................................................576
B.6 Basic symbolic calculations in Mathematica...................................579
B.7 Numerical solutions to integrals and differential equations in
Mathematica ...................................................................................581

Bibliography ....................................................................................................................585

Index ..............................................................................................................................587
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
We believe that computation should be front and center in a science education. Program-
ming is a core skill for scientists and engineers, that should be taught alongside traditional
physics instruction. It is in this spirit that we created this textbook, which merges instruc-
tion in Classical Mechanics and programming, into a single presentation. In our approach,
computer programming and computer algebra systems are treated as simply one more tool
for problem-solving.

WHAT IS NEW IN THIS SECOND EDITION

Since the publication of the first edition of Classical Mechanics four years ago, we have re-
ceived excellent feedback from students and instructors using the book. This second, greatly
expanded edition is an attempt to address as many of their suggestions and comments as
possible.
Thanks to all the suggestions from our readers, we substantially improved on the first
edition by making several important improvements and additions:
• The number of coded examples has been expanded from 98 to 139 solved examples,
with all codes now provided in both Python and Mathematica in all examples.
• The example problems continue to have a mix of analytical and computational solu-
tions. In many cases, we expanded the discussion in the example problem to include
additional instruction on how to use each language.
• Strong emphasis is now placed throughout the book in solving differential equations
using the symbolic capabilities of Symbolic Python (SymPy).
• We have added new End-of-Chapter problems and removed some old ones.
• A computer icon now clearly identifies problems whose solution requires a computer.
• We have improved significantly the instructor’s solution manual, which now includes
codes for both Python and Mathematica.
• Two new appendices were added, to give the reader an introduction to Python and
Mathematica. This resource was requested by several instructors, so that students can
have easy access to this reference material as they work through the book.
• All codes from this textbook are now available for free download. The Python codes
are available in the form of Jupyter notebooks, so they can be easily downloaded and
run, for example, at the Google Colab. Both Python and Mathematica notebooks can
be found at the book’s GitHub website:
[Link]
• In order to keep the book at a reasonable length, we removed discussions on numerical
techniques such as the 4th -order Runge Kutta method for solving ODEs. Readers
interested in how these numerical techniques work can consult the many available
good books on these topics.

xiii
xiv Contents

WHY PYTHON AND MATHEMATICA?

Physicists need many different computational tools to solve problems. Python is a powerful,
easy-to-use language which has become a mainstay in science.
We also include Mathematica, since it is a world-class computer algebra system. Like
Python, it is easy to learn, but Mathematica can often handle complex algebraic manipu-
lations better than Python. Furthermore, Mathematica often requires fewer lines of coding
than Python, because of its rich set of commands. By presenting a variety of tools, we are
hoping that the student will be able to choose the best tool for solving a particular problem.
The prerequisites for this book are two semesters of introductory physics and two
semesters of calculus. The codes in this textbook tend to favor clarity over efficiency. Expe-
rienced programmers will certainly find more efficient ways of solving the various example
problems in this book. However, we believe that it is much more beneficial for the student
to include a few more lines of code for the purpose of clarity, rather than to try to combine
multiple lines for a more elegant algorithm. Solving the problems with algorithms that they
develop themselves is a beneficial exercise for students, and it is highly recommended.

A NOTE TO THE STUDENTS

One of the goals of this book is to teach you how to use computational tools to solve
problems in Classical Mechanics, and physics problems in general. This is an important
transferable skill, useful regardless of your career path.
Programming will change the way you think about problems, since writing a program
requires you to think procedurally. This will certainly improve your problem-solving skills
in your other physics and math classes. Don’t hesitate to look online for help. Websites like
[Link] and generative AI will become your best friend. However, it is important
to keep in mind that code posted online or produced by generative AI may contain errors.
Debugging those errors is a valuable learning experience. As you solve more programming
problems, you will be learning an invaluable skill that will serve you in many ways in your
development as a scientist!

A NOTE TO INSTRUCTORS
One of our motivations for writing this book was to better prepare our students for the large
variety of careers students pursue after graduating from a physics program. We have found
that after graduation, our students are increasingly taking on careers where computation is
a critical element. While in college, our students often take at least one computer science
course. However, we found they were not always making the connection of how to apply the
programming skills they learned in computer science for the purpose of solving problems in
physics. Part of the reason is because traditional physics courses are still focused on closed-
form solutions and, when computation is used, it is generally focused on using computer
algebra systems to perform complicated integrals, with the occasional numerical solution of
a differential equation thrown in for good measure.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Danny Kielty at CRC Press for working with us to significantly increase the
length of the book, in order to accommodate important additions to this textbook.

Chris Kulp and Vasilis Pagonis

January 2025
 1 Foundations of Motion and
Computation
So, you have decided to—or are required to—learn the subject of classical mechanics. But,
what is classical mechanics? Is it fixing old cars? No, but a knowledge of classical mechanics
will help you understand how your car works! To understand the term, classical mechanics
let us first understand the term classical physics. Classical physics is the field of physics
that doesn’t involve either quantum theory or the theory of relativity. Mechanics is the
branch of physics that deals with the actions of forces on an object that involve motion. So,
classical mechanics involves the study of forces on objects that are well-described without
using quantum theory and whose motion is nonrelativistic (i.e., cases where relativity is not
needed to correctly model the motion). In other words, classical mechanics is the physics of
your day-to-day world! An understanding of classical mechanics will help you understand
how to build roller coasters, merry-go-rounds, and airplanes. Our knowledge of classical
mechanics also allows us to make predictions on the motion of objects like comets and
punted footballs. The world you interact with on a daily basis is generally the world of
classical mechanics.
At first it might seem that classical mechanics is a dusty old subject that you need
to learn in order to get to the “interesting stuff” like quantum mechanics. While the field
of classical mechanics is one of the older subjects in physics, it is certainly not dusty! In
fact, there is a lot of intriguing current research done in classical systems. For example,
in Chapter 13 we will explore the field of nonlinear systems, which occur in many of the
natural and social sciences, not only in physics, and we will display interesting types of
behaviors including chaos.
In this chapter we introduce the basic descriptors of motion in classical mechanics, i.e.,
position, velocity and acceleration of particles, and show how Mathematica and Python can
represent these vector quantities. This is followed by descriptions of the concepts of mass and
force and Newton’s laws of motion, and by a general description of reference frames. This
introductory chapter concludes with an introduction to two important techniques used in
computational physics, namely the symbolic and numerical solution of ordinary differential
equations (ODEs) in one dimension. A detailed presentation of the solution of such ODEs
is found in later chapters.

1.1 BASICS OF CLASSICAL MECHANICS

It is common for classical mechanics to take a central role in many physics problems because
of the question it addresses.

The “Fundamental Question” of Classical Mechanics

Given the forces acting on an object and its initial state, what is the resulting motion
of that object?

In the rest of this chapter, we will lay down the important foundations for classical
mechanics, starting with the next section where we will explore the basic assumptions of
classical mechanics.

1
2 Foundations of Motion and Computation

When thinking about any discipline of science, first ask what are the basic foundations
of the field? Sometimes, these foundations are assumptions. For classical mechanics we can
start with space and time:
• Space serves as a background in which physical processes occur. Unlike in the theory
of general relativity, space has no effect on the behavior of physical systems.
• Time progresses at the same rate for every observer (unlike in the theories of special
and general relativity).
Classical mechanics addresses the problem of predicting an object’s motion given the forces
acting on the object. For now, we will consider the object to be a point particle. The advan-
tage of working with point particles is that they have no size and no internal dynamics. In
addition, point particles do not rotate nor do they deform, further simplifying their dynam-
ics. It turns out that treating objects as point particles can be a very good approximation
for describing translational motion. In later chapters, we will study the physics of extended
bodies and rotational dynamics, where we will no longer restrict ourselves to working with
point particles.

1.2 BASIC DESCRIPTORS OF MOTION

In order to describe the translational motion of a particle, we need three quantities that we
will call the basic descriptors of motion: position, velocity, and acceleration. For rotational
motion, we will need three additional quantities: angular position, angular velocity, and
angular acceleration, and we will return to those later in the book.

1.2.1 POSITION AND DISPLACEMENT

The position of a particle is the location of the particle with respect to an origin, and is
measured in meters. The meter is defined as the distance light travels in 1/299,792,458
seconds. Note that the second was defined in 1967 at the 13th meeting of the International
Committee on Weights and Measures. At that meeting the following definition was adopted:
“The second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the
transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom.”
The position of the particle is typically described by using a vector, whose components
consist of the particle’s distance from the origin along three perpendicular axes. For example,
in Cartesian coordinates the location of a particle can be described using:

r = x î + y ĵ + z k̂ (1.2.1)

where î, ĵ, and k̂ are the Cartesian unit vectors along the x, y, and z axes, respectively.
The variables x, y, and z in (1.2.1) give the distance between the particle and the origin
along each axis and are called the components of the vector. Also note that in (1.2.1) each
component is a function of time: r = r(t), x = x(t), y = y(t), and z = z(t). In this book,
vectors are denoted by boldface font. In Chapter 3, we will discuss vector quantities in more
detail.
The vector in (1.2.1) tells us that in order to get to the location of the particle, r,
one needs to move a distance x parallel to the x-axis (as denoted by î), turn and move a
distance y along the y-axis (as denoted by ĵ), and then turn and move a distance z parallel
to the z-axis (as denoted by k̂). The notation used in this book is that a hat (the ^ symbol)
represents a unit vector, a vector of length 1. Hence, we can think of r as the sum of three
vectors: x î, y ĵ, and z k̂, each representing a displacement from the origin along one of the
axes.
Basic descriptors of motion 3

The displacement of the particle, ∆r = r − r0 , is the change of the particle’s position

from the position, r0 , to the position r. The displacement is found by subtracting the two
vectors r0 and r, component by component,

∆r = r − r0 = (x − x0 )î + (y − y0 )ĵ + (z − z0 )k̂ (1.2.2)

A vector quantity contains information about both magnitude (amount) and direction.
In this case, the vector ∆r tells us how far (magnitude) and in which direction the particle
traveled. Example 1.1 shows how to represent graphically position vectors in a Cartesian
coordinate system using Python and Mathematica.

Example 1.1: Graphical representation of vectors in Python and Mathemat-

ica
Consider the vector r = î + ĵ + k̂. Plot this vector on a 3D Cartesian coordinate
system in Python and Mathematica.

Python Code
In the first line of the code, we import the [Link] library and use the
alias plt to refer to it in the rest of the code. The next two lines use the commands
[Link]() and add_subplot(projection='3d') to set up a 3D plot.
We define the values of the coordinates of the vector r to be plotted as Ax=Ay=Az=1
and plot the arrows for the vectors r, î, ĵ, k̂ using the quiver command. For example,
to plot the unit vector î we use the command [Link](0,0,0,1,0,0) to plot the
arrow from the origin (0, 0, 0) to the point (1, 0, 0).
The commands ax.set_xlabel and ax.set_xlimit set the labels and the limits of
the x-axis. The command [Link] places appropriate text near the tips of the arrows.
The final plot is shown in Figure 1.1a.
4 Foundations of Motion and Computation

import [Link] as plt

fig = [Link]()
ax = fig.add_subplot(projection='3d') # set up 3D plot

# plot vector from (0,0,0) to (1,1,1) using quiver()

[Link](0,0,0,1,1,1,color='k',length=1,arrow_length_ratio=.1)

# plot unit vectors i, j, k

[Link](0,0,0,1,0,0,color='r',length=1,arrow_length_ratio=.2)
[Link](0,0,0,0,1,0,color='b',length=1,arrow_length_ratio=.2)
[Link](0,0,0,0,0,1,color='g',length=1,arrow_length_ratio=.2)

ax.set_xlabel('X') # label,set limits on x,y,z axes

ax.set_ylabel('Y')
ax.set_zlabel('Z')
ax.set_xlim(0,1.2);
ax.set_ylim(0,1.2);
ax.set_zlim(0,1.2);

[Link](1,1,1.1,'A',color='black') # add text A for vector

[Link](1,0.1,0,'i',color='black') # add text for vector i
[Link](0.05,1,0,'j',color='black') # add text for vector j
[Link](0,0,1.1,'k',color='black') # add text for vector k
[Link]()

Mathematica Code
We use the commands Graphics3D and Arrow to create four separate 3D plots for
the vectors r, î, ĵ, k̂ . These four plots are combined using the Show command. Note the
semicolons after each of the four plots, which suppress the graphical output each time.
To create for example the vector r we draw the arrow from the origin (0, 0, 0) to the
point (1, 1, 1). The text next to each arrow is shown with its own color and with a large
font size 22, using for example the options Red,22. The final plot is shown in Figure
1.1b.
Basic descriptors of motion 5

gr1 = Graphics3D[{Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, {1, 1, 1}}],

Text[Style[”A”, 22], {.9, .9, 1}]}];

gr2 = Graphics3D[{Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, {1, 0, 0}}],

Text[Style[”i”, Red, 22], {.9, 0.1, 0}]}];

gr3 = Graphics3D[{Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, {0, 1, 0}}],

Text[Style[”j”, Green, 22], {0.1, .9, 0.05}]}];

gr4 = Graphics3D[{Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, {0, 0, 1}}],

Text[Style[”k”, Blue, 22], {0.05, 0.05, .9}]}];

Show[{gr1, gr2, gr3, gr4}]

(a) (b)

Figure 1.1: Plot of the vector r = î + ĵ + k̂ and the unit vectors î, ĵ, k̂ for Example 1.1,
using (a) Python and (b) Mathematica.

You may also see the unit vectors in the form x̂, ŷ, and ẑ, sometimes used to clarify
that one is working in the Cartesian coordinate system. In addition, occasionally it will be
easier to use a more generic notation for vectors where r1 , r2 , and r3 are used instead of
the components x, y, and z and the unit vectors ê1 , ê2 , and ê3 are used instead of î, ĵ, and
k̂. This generic notation allows for a more compact method of writing vectors:
X
3
r = r1 ê1 + r2 ê2 + r3 ê3 = ri êi (1.2.3)
i=1

There are other coordinate systems which we will explore later in this book. Each co-
ordinate system will have its own components and unit vectors; however, the basic idea of
position and displacement will be the same.
6 Foundations of Motion and Computation

1.2.2 VELOCITY
The velocity v of a particle is the particle’s displacement (change of position) per unit
time and is measured in meters per second (m/s). The instantaneous velocity is found by
computing the time derivative of the position vector:
dr ∆r
v= = lim (1.2.4)
dt ∆t→0 ∆t

where ∆r = r(t + ∆t) − r(t). All the vectors we typically come across in physics are
differentiable, and the limits will exist. Furthermore, the derivative in (1.2.4) will behave
like derivatives you have encountered before. Therefore, we can use the standard derivative
rules:
d dr1 dr2
(r1 + r2 ) = + (1.2.5)
dt dt dt
d dc dr
(cr) =r + c (1.2.6)
dt dt dt
where c is a scalar function of time. The rules in (1.2.5) and (1.2.6) allow us to distribute
the derivative to each vector component. In addition, if the unit vectors are constant, like
they are in Cartesian coordinates (but not in other systems!), then we can compute the
velocity using (1.2.5):
dr
v= (1.2.7)
dt
d  
= xî + y ĵ + z k̂ (1.2.8)
dt
dx dy dz
= î + ĵ + k̂ (1.2.9)
dt dt dt
or: v = vx î + vy ĵ + vz k̂ where vx = dx/dt, and so on. Note that there are only three terms
(and not six) in (1.2.9) because the Cartesian unit vectors are constant. The speed of a
particle is the magnitude of its velocity vector. We will discuss how to calculate vector
properties in Chapter 3.
Finally, we can further simplify the notation by using dots to denote differentiation with
respect to time (i.e., ẋ = dx/dt). Hence:

v =ṙ =ẋî + ẏ ĵ + ż k̂ (1.2.10)

We will find the dot notation to be very useful in the chapters to come.

1.2.3 ACCELERATION
Acceleration, a, is the change of velocity per unit time and is measured in meters per second
squared (m/s2 ). The acceleration of an object is computed similarly to velocity:
dv
a= (1.2.11)
dt
d  
= vx î + vy ĵ + vz k̂ (1.2.12)
dt
dvx dvy dvz
= î + ĵ + k̂ (1.2.13)
dt dt dt
=v̇x î + v̇y ĵ + v̇z k̂ (1.2.14)
Basic descriptors of motion 7

which, like velocity, can be rewritten as a = ax î + ay ĵ + az k̂. The acceleration is also the
second derivative of the position vector and using the dot notation we can write:
d2 r
a= (1.2.15)
dt2
= ẍî + ÿ ĵ + z̈ k̂ (1.2.16)
As we will see in future chapters, the acceleration is very important in classical mechan-
ics. Much of what is discussed in this book is about how to develop an equation for the
acceleration, which can then be integrated to get the motion of the system. All measure-
ments of position, velocity, and acceleration, are relative to the frame of reference (choice of
origin and axes) from which the measurements are made. We will return to the important
idea of reference frames in Section 1.5.
Example 1.2 demonstrates how to obtain the velocity and acceleration vectors v and a,
when the position vector r is known.

Example 1.2: Evaluating the derivatives of time-dependent vectors

The position of a particle of mass m at time t is given by r = a î + b sin (a t) ĵ + c t2 k̂
where a, b, c are constants. Evaluate both analytically and using symbolic algebra the
velocity v of the particle, and the acceleration a at time t.
Solution
The velocity v of the particle is found from the time derivative of the position:
dr dx dy dz
v= = î + ĵ + k̂
dt dt dt dt

v = b a cos (a t) ĵ + 2c t k̂
The acceleration a of the particle is found from the time derivative of the velocity:
dv dvx dvy dvz
a= = î + ĵ + k̂
dt dt dt dt

a = −b a2 sin (a t) ĵ + 2 c k̂

Python Code
In the beginning of any Python code, we must specify the symbols. In this example
we use the symbols command to define a,b,c,t as real variables.
In the next line we import the library the command CoordSys3D from the Symbolic
Python (SymPy) library. This command allows us to describe vectors in a Cartesian
system.
Here we define a coordinate system R = CoordSys3D('R') in which the Cartesian
coordinates (x, y, z) are represented internally as the symbols R.x, R.y, R.z. The
corresponding unit vectors î, ĵ, k̂, are represented by R.i, R.j, R.k. Note that there
is nothing special about choosing the letter R, any other letter could have been chosen
instead.
The vector r = a î + b sin (a t) ĵ + t2 k̂ is represented in this coordinate system
symbolically as r = a*R.i + b*sin(a*t)*R.j +c*t**2*R.k. We evaluate the time
derivative of this vector r using the command diff(r,t). Similarly the acceleration is
evaluated from the time derivative of v using the command diff(v,t).
8 Foundations of Motion and Computation

The output of the Python program is included below the words CODE OUTPUT.
You will notice the line print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29) in many of the Python
codes in this book, it is used to separate the code from the output generated by the
code.

from [Link] import CoordSys3D

from sympy import symbols, diff, sin

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

# define symbols
a, b, c, t = symbols('a, b, c, t ', real=True)

R = CoordSys3D('R') # define coordinate system R with

# unit vectors R.i, R.j, R.k

# define position vector r

r = a*R.i + b*sin(a*t)*R.j +c*t**2*R.k

v = diff(r,t) # find v=dr/dt

print('velocity v = ', v)

a = diff(v,t) # find a=dv/dt

print('\nacceleration a = ', a)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

velocity v = (a*b*cos(a*t))*R.j + 2*c*t*R.k

acceleration a = (-a**2*b*sin(a*t))*R.j + 2*c*R.k

Mathematica Code
The first line in the code Clear["`*"] clears all previously defined variables in
Mathematica, and you will see this command in many of the codes in this book. The
position r is defined as a Mathematica list and its time derivative is evaluated using
the command D[r,t]. Similarly the acceleration is evaluated by taking the derivative
of the velocity parameter v using D[v,t].
The Print command is used to output the results of the code in a manner that is
easy to read.
Basic descriptors of motion 9

Clear[“`* ”]

r = {a, b ∗ Sin[a ∗ t], c ∗ t∧ 2};

v = D[r, t];

acc = D[v, t];

Print[“Position = ”, r]

Print[“Velocity = ”, v]

Print[“Acceleration = ”, acc]

Position = a, b Sin[a t], c t2
Velocity = {0, a b Cos[a t], 2ct}
Acceleration = 0, −a2 b Sin[a t], 2c

The basic descriptors of motion simply provide a means of describing how an object
is moving. If we want to understand why an object moves as it does, then we need to
understand the concepts of mass and force.

1.2.4 MASS
The mass of an object is a measure of the object’s inertia, how strongly the object resists
acceleration. For example, a loaded shopping cart is more difficult to accelerate than an
empty one. Recall from your introductory physics course that mass is a scalar quantity
because in order to describe mass, only a magnitude is needed.
To compare the mass of objects, one could use a beam balance. In order to speak
quantitatively about mass, it is helpful to have a standard mass to which all other masses
could be compared. Other physical quantities, such as the meter and second, are based on
fundamental constants. As mentioned earlier, the meter is based on the speed of light, and
the second is based on the ground state hyperfine splitting frequency of cesium-133 atoms,
respectively. The definition of the kilogram has recently changed in order to be based on a
fundamental constant.
As of May 2019, the kilogram was redefined by setting the Planck constant to be
6.62607015 × 10 -34 kg m2 s-1 .
Regardless of how the kilogram is defined, you might be wondering why we can use a
beam balance to compare masses. We can use a beam balance because weight is proportional
to mass according to the weak equivalence principle, which says that gravitational mass
is equal to inertial mass. Gravitational mass is the mass that determines gravitational
forces between objects, whereas the inertial mass determines the acceleration of an object
experiencing a given force. At the time of this writing, experiments show that the two
masses are equivalent to about one part in 1012 , and future experiments are planned for
even more precise testing.

1.2.5 FORCE
Like mass, the concept of force is one with which we are intuitively familiar. A force is a
push or a pull in a particular direction. You push forward on a shopping cart to move it in
the direction you wish to go. However, if someone steps in front of your cart as it is moving,
10 Foundations of Motion and Computation

you would pull back on the cart to make it stop. From our everyday experience, we know
that forces cause motion and that multiple forces can be acting on an object. For example,
if you are in the gym lifting weights, then you are exerting a force to raise a dumbbell. If you
let go of the dumbbell, it will fall, demonstrating that the force of gravity is also acting on
the dumbbell. Hence, we see that in order to understand the motion of an object, we need
to know about all of the forces acting on the object. When accounting for all of the forces,
we need to know both the magnitude (or amount) and direction of each force. Similar to
displacement, velocity, and acceleration, force is a vector quantity.
The unit of force is the Newton (abbreviated N) and 1 N is the total amount of force
needed to provide an acceleration of 1 m/s2 to a 1 kg mass. We know from everyday
experiences that there is a direct linear relationship between force and acceleration. For
example, a 4 N net force will cause a 1 kg object to accelerate 4 m/s2 . Of course, the
acceleration is caused by the vector sum of the forces. When you hold your cell phone, you
are exerting a force upwards that matches the downward force of gravity; hence the two
forces are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction, and therefore, their sum is zero.
Hence, the cell phone does not accelerate.
We have now laid out all of the tools needed to describe and explain an object’s motion.
Next, we will discuss the core topic of classical mechanics, Newton’s Laws of Motion, which
will explain the role of force and mass in determining the motion of an object.

1.3 NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION

Isaac Newton (1642–1727) developed both calculus and the foundations for classical mechan-
ics. Newton’s book, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles
of Natural Philosophy) was published in 1687 and is considered to be one of the most im-
portant works in the history of modern science. In the Principia, Newton stated his three
laws of motion. Newton’s laws of motion are vital tools that allow us not only to explain
why objects move the way that they do, but they also provide us with a means of predict-
ing an object’s motion. In classical mechanics, the importance of Newton’s laws cannot be
overstated; they are worth committing to memory. As you solve problems in this book, ask
yourself how Newton’s laws are involved in the setup and solution to each problem. In this
section, we will go through each of the three laws in detail.

1.3.1 NEWTON’S FIRST LAW

Newton’s first law of motion is often remembered by students using the phrase, “An object
in motion remains in motion, and an object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by
an unbalanced force.” The problem with this phrasing is, what is meant by motion? Does
motion mean position, velocity, acceleration, or something else? The proper phrasing of
physical laws is critical for developing a good understanding of what the law says. The
phrasing of the law should use proper physics terminology, not to be confusing, but rather
to be clear!

Newton’s First Law

A particle’s velocity remains constant if the net force acting on the particle is
equal to zero.

Let us look carefully at what the first law says. The first law says that a particle’s
velocity remains constant if the vector sum of the forces (net force) is zero. The term “net
force” is important because there can be forces acting on the particle, but if all of those
Newton’s laws of motion 11

forces sum to zero, then the particle’s velocity doesn’t change. The first law is sometimes
referred to as the law of inertia because it says that an object will continue moving with a
constant velocity forever, if there are no net forces acting on it. Inertia is, simply put, an
object’s resistance to acceleration. Hence, the particle’s inertia will ensure that the particle
will continue moving in a straight line with a constant velocity or remain at rest (zero
velocity), until it experiences a force that will change the particle’s speed, direction, or
both.
We know that acceleration is the change of velocity and hence, the first law states that
a non-zero net force is needed to cause an acceleration.
Finally, the first law provides a definition for the term equilibrium. A particle is in
equilibrium if the acceleration of the particle is equal to zero. Hence, one condition for
equilibrium is that the net force acting on a particle must be zero. We will later see that
when we study rotational dynamics, we will also need the net torque to be equal to zero as
an additional condition for equilibrium.

1.3.2 NEWTON’S SECOND LAW

Newton’s second law of motion is used to find a particle’s equations of motion, which are
equations that give the particle’s position, velocity, or acceleration at any point in time.
We will be using Newton’s second law as the central tool for mathematically describing the
motion of a particle throughout this book.

Newton’s Second Law

A particle’s time rate of change of linear momentum, p, is equal to the net force, F,
applied to the particle:

F = ṗ (1.3.1)

where the linear momentum of a particle with a mass m and velocity v is defined to be:

Linear Momentum of a Single Particle

p = mv (1.3.2)

Equation (1.3.1) might not be the way you are used to seeing Newton’s second law. If we
consider a system with constant mass m, such as a single particle experiencing a non-zero
net force, then we have:
dp d
F= = (mv) (1.3.3)
dt dt
F = ma (1.3.4)
and we recover the more familiar form of the second law. However, when studying the
motion of an object whose mass m is changing with time, such as in the case of a rocket,
the form of the second law presented in (1.3.1) will be the one needed in order to derive the
object’s equations of motion.
Although we will use the form of Newton’s second law F = ma most often for calcula-
tional purposes in this book, we find it helpful to think of the second law in the form:
12 Foundations of Motion and Computation

F
a= (1.3.5)
m

We find this form to be more useful when understanding the concepts behind Newton’s
second law. Equation (1.3.5) tells us:

• Acceleration is in the same direction as the net force. There is no minus sign in front
of F to denote an acceleration in the opposite direction, nor is there any mathematical
transformation done to the vector F to rotate it.
• The magnitude of the acceleration is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net
force. In other words, net forces with a large magnitude produce larger magnitude
accelerations than net forces with small magnitudes. Mathematically, this can be seen
because F appears in the numerator of the fraction in the right-hand side of (1.3.5)
and by thinking of the equation as: |a| = |F|/m.
• Mass “resists” acceleration. The mass m appears in the denominator of the fraction in
the right-hand side of (1.3.5). Large denominators result in smaller overall fractions
when compared to a small denominator with the same numerator (i.e., 1/4 < 1/2).
In other words, with the same given force, objects with a larger mass experience a
smaller acceleration, and smaller mass objects experience a larger acceleration.
All three of the above bullet points are contained in the one simple equation (1.3.5)! This is
one of the reasons why physicists prefer math as the language for describing the universe.
A lot can be said in one simple equation. As a physicist, you should learn how to “read
equations” like we did above.
Notice the consistency between the first and second laws. If F = 0, i.e., a zero net force
is acting on the particle, then a = 0, and the particle’s velocity is not changing, just as
stated in the first law. Likewise, we could have restated Newton’s first law as: “A particle’s
momentum remains constant if no external net force acts on the particle.”
As we mentioned, the second law will be used to produce differential equations which
describe the motion of a particle. As a simple example, we will consider a particle moving
in one dimension (along a line) under the influence of a constant force, where a = ẍî and
F = F î. Recall that the dots above the x denote a second derivative with respect to time.
We can use (1.3.5) to write:
ẍ = F/m = a (1.3.6)
Equation (1.3.6) says that the solution x(t) is a function such that its second derivative
is equal to the constant, a. The second-order differential equation (1.3.6) is similar to an
algebra problem, except instead of finding a number, you are asked to find a function.
Differential equations are the mathematical language used by physicists to describe the
motion of a particle. We will solve them both in closed form (analytically) and numerically.
Just to whet your appetite, if a is constant, the solution to (1.3.6) is:
1
x(t) = x0 + v0 t + at2 (1.3.7)
2
where x0 = x(0) and v0 = v(0) are the initial position and velocity, respectively. You can
check this for yourself by taking two derivatives of (1.3.7) and showing that it satisfies
(1.3.6) in the case of a constant a. In Chapter 2, we will go through the steps to derive
(1.3.7) and other solutions to differential equations.
Newton’s laws of motion 13

Finally, we can return to the weak equivalence principle. Suppose a particle is near the
surface of the Earth and experiences only the force of gravity (weight W ):
F =W
mi a =mg g (1.3.8)
where mi , mg are the inertial and gravitational masses. Here we have dropped the vector
notation, assumed “downward” is the positive direction, and used g for the acceleration due
to gravity (9.8 m/s2 ). The inertial mass mi in this equation is the m from Newton’s second
law, i.e., it is the mass that “resists” acceleration, and was defined as the inertial mass.
The mass mg is the mass that is affected by gravity and was defined as the gravitational
mass. As discussed previously in this chapter, the weak principle of equivalence says that
mi = mg , and therefore the masses cancel, hence a = g for a freely falling body near the
surface of the Earth. If the weak equivalence principle were not true, then the mass of an
object would affect its acceleration due to gravity. So far, physicists have not been able to
detect any mass dependence (outside experimental error) on an object’s acceleration due to
gravity, even in the most sensitive of experiments.

1.3.3 NEWTON’S THIRD LAW

Newton’s third law is a statement that discusses the nature of interactions between two
particles. In order to state Newton’s third law, we need to consider two objects interacting
by exerting a force on each other. Let us define F12 to be the force on object 1 exerted by
object 2, and F21 is the force on object 2 exerted by object 1. Newton’s third law is then
stated:

Newton’s Third Law

If object 2 exerts a force F12 on object 1, then object 1 exerts a force F21 on object 2
such that:

F21 = −F12 (1.3.9)

Notice that the minus sign and lack of a scalar multiple in (1.3.9) says that the force
exerted by object 2 on object 1 is equal in magnitude (shown by the lack of a scalar multiple
which, if present, would change the magnitude), but opposite in direction (denoted by the
minus sign) to the force object 1 applies on 2. Many of the interaction forces we will study
in this book will be central forces. Central forces are forces that act along the line that joins
the centers of the two interacting objects, such as gravity and electrostatic forces, and obey
Newton’s third law. Velocity-dependent forces are not central, and the third law may not
apply. An example is the force between two moving electric charges; the Lorentz force is
velocity-dependent, and the magnetic force vectors between the two charged particles do
not lie along the same line, hence the resulting net forces do not obey Newton’s third law.
Let us take (1.3.9) a little further:
F21 = − F12 (1.3.10)
m1 a1 = m2 (−a2 ) (1.3.11)
Not surprisingly, we see that the accelerations of each object are in opposite directions. If
we continue manipulating (1.3.11), we find:
m1 a2
=− (1.3.12)
m2 a1
14 Foundations of Motion and Computation

where we have taken the magnitude of the acceleration vectors. Notice that the ratio of the
accelerations is inverse to the ratio of the masses. In other words, if m1 > m2 then a1 < a2 ,
in order for the right-hand side of (1.3.12) to be a fraction greater than one. As an example,
consider the classic scenario of a mosquito hitting the windshield of a moving automobile.
Let the mosquito be object 2 and the car be object 1. Clearly, the automobile has more mass
than the mosquito, m1 > m2 , and according to (1.3.12), the acceleration of the mosquito is
greater than that of the automobile, a2 > a1 . It is a bad day for the mosquito. Another way
to interpret (1.3.12) is that an object cannot accelerate without another object accelerating
in the opposite direction.
Next, we need to address one other important fundamental concept for classical me-
chanics: reference frames. Once we have a working understanding of reference frames, we
will have finished laying out the foundations of classical mechanics, and we will be ready to
do some physics!

1.4 REFERENCE FRAMES

All of the basic descriptors of motion are measured with respect to a reference frame. A
reference frame is a choice of origin, spatial and temporal, as well as a set of axes with respect
to which all measurements are made. For example, if you are holding your cell phone in a car
moving at a constant speed of 60 MPH while your friend is driving, then you observe your
phone to be at rest. However, a bystander on the side of the road will observe your phone
to be moving at 60 MPH. Who is correct? Both are, because the measurement of velocity
depends on the reference frame. In this case, your frame is moving with the car, while the
bystander’s is at rest on the side of the road (ignoring Earth’s motion). By choosing the
right reference frame, you may be able to simplify a particular physics problem, in this case
a moving phone versus one at rest. For another example, in introductory physics you no
doubt worked on problems involving inclined planes. It is well known that choosing one axis
to be parallel to the incline greatly simplifies the free-body diagram for the problem. Other
changes of reference frame may simply involve changing the time for which t = 0.
Another important point to mention about our first example is that the two reference
frames are moving relative to one another with a constant velocity. This will make the
accelerations measured in each frame the same. Consider the following example, shown in
Figure 1.2, with two reference frames S and S ′ , where S ′ is moving with respect to S with
a velocity u = d, ˙ where d(t) is the distance between the two reference frames at a time,
t. Note that in this case, primed variables denote the reference frame they belong to, not
differentiation. In each frame, an observer is measuring the location of the black dot. The
observer in S measures the black dot to be located at xS . Likewise, the observer in S ′
measures the black dot to be at xS ′ .
Now suppose the observers in each frame want to communicate to each other the motion
of the black dot. To keep things simple, we will consider motion only along the x-direction.
The coordinate transformation between the two reference frames:

xS = xS ′ + d (1.4.1)

allows the two frames to consistently describe the motion in each frame. First, we will
consider the case where S ′ is moving at a constant speed relative to S, in other words, u = d˙
is constant. Differentiating (1.4.1) with respect to time will give us the transformations of
the velocity between coordinate systems:

ẋS =ẋS ′ + u (1.4.2)

vS =vS ′ + u (1.4.3)
Reference frames 15

Figure 1.2: The frame S ′ is moving at a constant velocity with respect to the fixed frame,
S. The particle (black dot) is measured to have a position xS in the reference frame S and
xS ′ in the reference frame S ′ . The distance between the references frames is d.

where vS is the velocity measured in S.

Hence, if the observers in each frame wanted to determine if they are consistently mea-
suring the velocity of the particle, then they can insert their measured velocities into (1.4.3)
in order to check the other’s result. Next, we compute the acceleration transformation:

ẍS =ẍS ′ + u̇ (1.4.4)

aS =aS ′ (1.4.5)

where we used the fact that u (the relative velocity between frames) is constant. Note that
(1.4.5) says that the measured accelerations in the two frames are the same, thus (1.4.5)
also tells us that the forces measured on the particle in each reference frame are the same
and therefore Newton’s laws hold in their typical form in each frame. In other words, if we
measured the acceleration of the particle in each reference frame, we would find that the
measured acceleration can be accounted for by considering all of the forces acting on the
particle. The reference frame S ′ is called an inertial reference frame because it is moving
with a constant velocity. Newton’s second law holds in inertial reference frames.
Let us now contrast that with the case of S ′ accelerating with respect to S. In this case,
(1.4.3) doesn’t change, and (1.4.5) becomes:

aS = aS ′ + u̇ (1.4.6)

̸ 0. Now the two measured accelerations are not the same, and therefore the measured
and u̇ =
forces in each frame are different. In particular, the acceleration of a particle in a noninertial
reference frame cannot be accounted for by summing all of the forces acting on the particle.
For example, on certain carnival rides that involve rotation, you will experience an apparent
outward force which is not caused by any forces acting on you from the ride itself. This is
an example of a noninertial reference frame where Newton’s laws no longer hold in their
standard form, because there is an acceleration measured in S that is not apparent in S ′ .
16 Foundations of Motion and Computation

As we will see in a later chapter, we can modify Newton’s laws in order to address the case
of noninertial frames. Such modifications involve treating the acceleration u̇ as coming from
an inertial force, a force that is not created by physical interactions, but rather is due to an
accelerating frame. While the surface of the Earth typically approximates an inertial frame,
the Earth does rotate and revolve around the Sun; hence, the velocity of a reference frame
“glued” to the Earth’s surface is not constant. There are cases where the noninertial nature
of the “glued” frame needs to be accounted for. Such cases include long-distance motion
such as missile trajectories and the motion of wind and water currents.

1.5 COMPUTATION IN PHYSICS

An important part of this book is the inclusion of computation in solving problems. When we
say “computation” in this book, we mean using a computer to solve physics and mathematics
problems, either analytically or numerically. Physicists use computers in a variety of ways
to solve problems. In addition to providing instruction in classical mechanics, this book will
also provide you instruction on how to use computers to solve physics problems.
Extensive experience in coding is not necessary in order to begin reading this book.
In fact, we will mainly rely on commands that are already a part of software packages.
That said, you will pick up the coding that you need along the way. In this section, we will
provide a motivation for how computing is used in physics and why it is important. Coding
has become a fundamental skill for a physicist. We believe that all students should have
coding experience before graduating with an undergraduate degree in physics. Hopefully,
by the time you have finished this book, you will have a thorough understanding of both
classical mechanics and how to use computers to solve physics problems. Think of it as a
two-for-one deal!

1.5.1 THE USE OF COMPUTATION IN PHYSICS

To understand how computation is used in physics, we will demonstrate the solution to some
problems analytically (also known as “by hand”) and using computation. At this time, it
is not important to understand all of the physics in the problems, nor is it necessary to
understand the computational methods used to solve the problems; we will cover those
topics in detail later in this book. The important thing to take away from this section is an
appreciation of how computing is used and why it is important.
Let us start with a simple physics problem that can be “solved by hand.”

Example 1.3: Solving a simple differential equation

Consider a particle that is moving along a line with a constant acceleration, a. If at
time t = 0 the particle’s velocity is v0 , find the formula for the particle’s velocity as a
function of time.
Solution:
We know from (1.2.11) that acceleration is the first derivative of velocity with respect
to time:
dv
=a (1.5.1)
dt
Next, we separate variables and integrate both sides of the equation. Think of sep-
aration of variables as multiplying by dt in order to get all of the v ′ s on one side and
the t′ s on the other. After separation of variables, (1.5.1) becomes:
Z v(t) Z t
′
dv = adt′ (1.5.2)
v0 0
Computation in physics 17

where we matched the lower and upper limits on each side. Notice that the lower-limit
on the right-hand side is t = 0, and the lower limit on the left-hand side is the value of v
at t = 0, similar for the upper limits. In addition, we included a prime on our variables
of integration, to distinguish them from the limits of integration. Finally we integrate,
noting that a is constant:
v(t) = v0 + at (1.5.3)
The result shows that the velocity is a linear function of time, as expected for motion
with a constant acceleration.

Example 1.3 is an example of a problem that is “done by hand”, meaning that we were
able to perform the necessary mathematical manipulations to solve the differential equation
(1.5.1) without the aid of a computer. Equation (1.5.3) is called a “closed-form” solution to
the differential equation (1.5.1) because it gives a specific solution consisting of functions
and mathematical operations. What is considered as “closed-form” is somewhat arbitrary
because, for example, a solution in the form of an infinite sum may not be considered in
“closed-form.”
As you will see in this book, solving physics problems very often involves finding the
solution to differential equations. Some of these equations have no closed-form solution,
while others are very difficult to find. In those cases, computation can be extremely helpful.
For the purposes of this book, we consider two forms of computation:
• Symbolic Computation: involves using a computer to help find closed-form solutions
to differential equations, integrals, eigenvalues, and more. You enter the equation or
integral you want solved, and the computer program returns a closed-form solution.
Recall tables of derivatives and integrals; symbolic computation is a much more so-
phisticated version of those.
• Numerical Computation: provides a list of numerical values representing a solution.
For example, a numerical solution to (1.5.1) can be thought of as a table of values with
two columns, t and v(t), where each row contains a specific time t, and the value of v
at time t. Numerical solutions are often best represented as a graph of ordered pairs
(and sometimes triplets, depending on the dimension of the problem being solved).
In the next two subsections we demonstrate symbolic and numerical computation, by solving
Example 1.3 using Python and Mathematica.

1.5.2 SYMBOLIC COMPUTATIONS

In this section we present an example of symbolic computation, where we use Python and
Mathematica to solve Example 1.3 symbolically. Since these are the first examples of this
type in this book, we provide detailed explanations of what is going on in the code.
In Python we obtain symbolic general solutions of a differential equation using the
Symbolic Python (SymPy) command dsolve. This command has typically three arguments:
the differential equation that we are trying to solve, the function for which the differential
equation is being solved, and the initial conditions of the problem. Let’s look at the details
of the Python code.
18 Foundations of Motion and Computation

Python Code for Example 1.3

The Python code for solving the differential equation dv/dt = a from Example 1.3
is shown below.
The first line tells Python to import several commands from the Symbolic Python
(SymPy) library. Libraries are written by experienced programmers, and they include
functions which can be used by any code that imports the library. In this case, the
SymPy library includes functions like dsolve , which solve differential equations in
closed form.
All of the symbols need to be specified in Python. We use Symbol('t', real=True,
positive=True) to indicate that t is a real and positive variable. Similarly, symbols is
used to indicate that a,v0 are real variables. We use the Function command to indicate
to Python that v[t] is a function.
The general solution of the differential equation is obtained with the SymPy com-
mand dsolve, whose arguments are the differential equation, the function for which
the differential equation is being solved, and the initial conditions of the problem. In
this example, the structure of this command is
dsolve(diff(v(t),t)-a,v(t),ics=initconds).
Notice that in Python, the differential equation is written such that the right-hand side
is equal to zero, in this example diff(v(t),t)-a represents the equation dv/dt = a,
and only the left-hand side of the differential equation is entered. Here v(t) is the
desired solution, and ics=initconds specifies the initial conditions of the problem.
These conditions are specified in the line initconds = {v(0):v0} which represents
the given initial condition v(0) = v0 .

from sympy import Symbol, symbols, Function, dsolve, diff

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

# define symbols and the function v

v = Function('v')
t = Symbol('t', real=True, positive=True)
a, v0 = symbols('a, v0', real=True)

# initial conditions for the ODE

initconds = {v(0):v0}

# use dsolve to obtain solution of ODE dv/dt=a

solution = dsolve(diff(v(t),t)-a,v(t),ics=initconds).rhs

print('The solution is v(t) = ',solution)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The solution is v(t) = a*t + v0

In Mathematica we obtain symbolic general solutions of a differential equation using the

command DSolve. This command has typically three arguments: the differential equation
that we are trying to solve together with the initial conditions of the problem, the function
for which the differential equation is being solved, and the independent variable in the
solution. Let’s look at the details of the Mathematica code.
Computation in physics 19

Mathematica Code for Example 1.3

The Mathematica code for solving the differential equation dv/dt = a from Example
1.3 is shown below. The solution is obtained using the command DSolve:
solution=DSolve[{v'[t] == a, v[0] == v0}, v, t];.
Notice that the differential equation and its initial condition appear as the first argument
of the command (in between the curly brackets). Notice also the use of a double equal
sign ==, as opposed to = in the equation. Often in programming languages, the single
equal sign is used for variable assignment, whereas the double-equal sign is used for
logical equivalence.
The code stores the solution generated by DSolve in the variable solution (notice
now the use of a single equal sign). The second argument v in DSolve tells Mathematica
that v is the function for which we are solving, and the third argument identifies t as
the independent variable.
The line of code speed=v[t]/.solution[[1]] selects the desired part of the solu-
tion of the differential equation, by using the replacement rule /.solution.
The Print line in the code outputs the solution. As expected, Mathematica’s solu-
tion is the same as the one we derived in Example 1.1 and in the Python code.
Also note that Mathematica automatically recognizes v0,t as symbols to be manip-
ulated. In addition, the Mathematica syntax v[t] allows Mathematica to automatically
recognize v as a function of time t. This is a much simpler situation than Python, in
which we had to define carefully all the symbols used in the code.
Clear[“`* ”]

solution = DSolve[{v′ [t]==a, v[0]==v0}, v, t];

speed = v[t]/.solution[[1]];

Print[“The solution of the ODE is v[t] = ”, speed]

The solution of the ODE is v[t] = at + v0

In Example 1.3 we see that Mathematica requires a much shorter code to solve this
problem than Python. This is because Mathematica is designed, in part, for symbolic ma-
nipulations. Computer algebra systems (CAS) like Mathematica are very convenient and
easy to use when performing symbolic computations. The disadvantage is that it is propri-
etary and much more expensive than other options.
Next, we will look at an example of a numeric computation and compare the two lan-
guages in that context.

1.5.3 NUMERICAL COMPUTATIONS WITH PYTHON AND MATHEMATICA

In this section we use Python and Mathematica to solve Example 1.3 numerically.
In Python we obtain numerical general solutions of a differential equation using the
SymPy command odeint. This command has typically three arguments: the differential
equation that we are trying to solve, the function for which the differential equation is
being solved, and the initial conditions of the problem.
In Example 1.4 we solve the simple differential equation dv/dt = a, and we get a detailed
look at the odeint command.
20 Foundations of Motion and Computation

Example 1.4: Numerical solution of a simple differential equation

Using a = 9.8 m/s2 and an initial velocity of v(0) = v0 = 1 m/s, find and graph the
numerical solution to the differential equation from Example 1.3:
dv
=a (1.5.4)
dt

Python Code
We import three libraries, NumPy, SciPy, and the graphics library Matplotlib. From
the SciPy library we import only the function odeint, which is used to numerically
solve the differential equation (1.5.4). After the libraries are imported, we assign the
numerical values of the initial condition variable v0 and the acceleration a.
To solve the differential equation numerically, we create a new function in Python
that we called velderiv(v,t), which contains the differential equation we are solving.
In Python, function definition is done using the command def. The arguments of the
function are v and t, and they are included in parentheses following the function name.
The next few lines contain the actual calculation of the function. Notice we included
a local variable dvdt, which stays within the function and is equal to the first derivative
of v. The last line of the function is return dvdt, which returns the value of the variable
dvdt. Note also that the contents of a Python function are always indented.
We also need to tell Python for which values of t we will be computing v(t). In
this case, times is an array which contains the list [t0 , t1 , . . . , t30 ] = [0, 0.1, . . . , 3.0],
and hence we will be solving for v(0), v(0.1), . . . , v(3.0). Next, we solve the differential
equation using the command odeint, which is imported from the [Link]
library. The odeint command in this example is:
velocity = odeint(velderiv,v0,times).
This command has three arguments: the differential equation (as the user-defined func-
tion velderiv), the initial value (v0), and the list of times times. The result is an
array which we called velocity, and it contains values [v0 , v1 , . . .], where vi = v(ti ).
The last group of lines in the program set up the graph of v versus t, and the plot of
v(t) is shown in Figure 1.3.
Computation in physics 21

import numpy as np
from [Link] import odeint
import [Link] as plt

# initial condition v(0)=1, and acceleration a =9.8 m/s^2

v0 = 1
a = 9.8

# define function velderiv to be called by odeint

def velderiv(v,t):
dvdt = a
return dvdt

# times at which to evaluate the numerical solution

times = [Link](0,3,30)

# solve the ODE with initial v(0)=v0

velocity = odeint(velderiv,v0,times)

# plot v(t) and label the axes

[Link](times,velocity)
[Link]('v(t), m/s')
[Link]('Time, s')
[Link]()

Mathematica Code for Example 1.4

After clearing all previously assigned variables with the command Clear, we use the
SetOptions command to set up options for the graphics output. You will see this type
of line in most Mathematica codes in this book.
Next we specify the value of the acceleration a, and solve numerically the differential
equation in the line:
NDSolve[{v'[t]==a,v[0]==1},v,{t,0,3}];
Note that we define the initial value v[0] inside the Mathematica command
NDSolve.
Note also that the arguments for NDSolve are similar to those of DSolve, i.e. the
order of the arguments are: equation to be solved and initial values, the function for
which we are solving (v), and identification of the independent variable t. This time,
however, we needed to specify the range of t values for which v is being solved. The
numerical solution is a table of values containing columns t and v(t), so we need to
tell the computer when to start finding the solution (t = 0) and when to stop (t = 3),
with the last argument {t,0,3}.
The final line of the code produces a graph of the solution. As expected, the graph
is a line with a y-intercept of 1.0 and slope of 9.8. Everything after {t,0,3} in the final
line of the code is formatting commands which only affect the visual appearance of the
graph.
22 Foundations of Motion and Computation

Clear[“`* ”]

SetOptions[Plot, Frame->True, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16},

PlotRange->All];

a = 9.8;

solution = NDSolve[{v ′ [t]==a, v[0]==1}, v, {t, 0, 3}];

speed = v[t]/.solution[[1]];

Plot[speed, {t, 0, 3}, FrameLabel->{“time, s”, “v(t) m/s”}]

30
25
20
v(t) m/s

15
10
5
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
time, s

Figure 1.3: Plot of the solution v(t) = v0 + a t of the simple differential equation in Example
1.4.

Again, the Python code is longer than the Mathematica code. Does that make Mathe-
matica better than Python? That answer depends on what you are trying to do. If you are
interested in quick development and implementation, then Mathematica might be a very
useful tool for you. However, as we mentioned before, Mathematica is proprietary and more
expensive than Python. The proprietary nature of Mathematica means that you don’t have
access to the source code, and this can be a problem if you want to know exactly what
the commands are doing. Python is open source software, so if you want to know what is
“going on under the hood”, you can find out. The open source nature of Python is valuable
when doing research, and when you want to identify if unexpected results are due to bugs
in the code, or they are due to new science. That said, Mathematica is a language of its
own, and you can write your own programs in it. Finally, Python is free, and your budget
may dictate your choice. When working on their own research problems, the authors of this
book will often use both programs, choosing the most appropriate tool for the particular
job at hand.
It should be pointed out that sometimes, a closed-form solution to a differential equation
doesn’t exist or is difficult to find. In those cases, we rely on numerical solutions to give
us the information we need. You may think that numerical solutions are of limited value,
but as we will see throughout this book, there is a lot that can be found using numerical
Computation in physics 23

solutions (also called numerics). In Chapter 13, we will study nonlinear oscillators, and we
will learn how to obtain a lot of information from numerical solutions.
It is easy to walk away from an undergraduate physics education thinking that all physics
problems have closed-form solutions. This conclusion arises from the types of problems that
undergraduate students solve as part of their education. The truth of the matter is that
most problems physicists work on outside of the classroom require numerical solutions. The
differential equations governing real-world systems are often complex and not solvable in
closed-form. In those cases, numerics may be the only option to gaining any kind of insight
into the problem. A physicist with strong computational skills will be well-prepared to tackle
a wide variety of problems, not just in classical mechanics, but in any field of physics or
engineering.
Furthermore, physicists find themselves working on a variety of problems outside the
traditional subfields of physics. Physicists often end up working on problems in finance,
economics, biology, climate science, and materials science, just to name a few. Today’s
physicists are involved in modeling economies, disease propagation, and social networks.
These types of problems allow physicists to apply their skills, including strong computational
and modeling skills, to interesting problems. It is our hope that this book will not only
prepare you well in physics, but also set you on the path of developing strong computational
skills, so that you may tackle the exciting problems both inside and outside of physics,
wherever your career may take you.

1.5.4 SOME WARNINGS

We will end this section with some warnings. First, the availability of computational tools to
solve problems does not mean that you do not need to know how to do math by hand! There
are several reasons for this. The first reason is that computer algorithms can and do give
wrong answers. Computational algorithms have significantly improved over the decades, and
wrong answers from them are not as common as in the early days of computing. However,
you need to be able to identify a wrong answer when you see one. A proficiency with
mathematics is still needed for identifying wrong answers. Furthermore, it is not unusual
for one to perform additional algebraic manipulation to the output of a CAS, in order for
the result to be in a more convenient or insightful form. We will see some examples in this
book where the output of a CAS will be technically correct, but not as useful for describing
the physics of the situation as compared to a result that we would have obtained “by hand.”
Second, a computer will provide a solution with no context. The techniques and critical
thinking that you learn by doing mathematics will train you in how to understand and
interpret computer-generated solutions, so that you can put the solution in the proper
context. For example, does your solution have appropriate limits? Does the solution conform
to known laws of physics? A person skilled in mathematics and physics is still required to
interpret computer-generated solutions (at least for now...). In particular, when one becomes
skilled at mathematics, symbolic algorithms should be considered as a tool to help one
focus on the physics, without getting encumbered by lots of mathematics. In a sense, you
should think of symbolic algorithms as being similar to a calculator. Only after learning
arithmetic “by hand,” should one begin to use a calculator. In the same sense, mastery of
algebra, trigonometry, and calculus, should be a prerequisite for extensive use of symbolic
algorithms.
Third, who programs computers to solve math problems? The people who know how to
solve the math problems. Hence, we need people who can do math, in order to ensure that
we will have future generations of algorithms to assist us.
The final warning comes from the nature of the algorithms presented in this text. The
authors do not claim that the codes contained within are the most efficient means of solving
24 Foundations of Motion and Computation

the problems in the text. We tended to produce codes that focused on pedagogy over
efficiency. We encourage you to rewrite the programs contained within, to see if you can
improve them and make them more efficient. By playing around with the codes, you’ll get
a better understanding of the algorithms and programming in general. Have fun!

1.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY

Motion is described using the basic descriptors of motion, displacement, velocity,

and acceleration. In Cartesian coordinates the position, velocity, and acceleration of a
particle are:
r = xî + y ĵ + z k̂ (1.6.1)
v = ẋî + ẏ ĵ + ż k̂ (1.6.2)
a = ẍî + ÿ ĵ + z̈ k̂ (1.6.3)
where î, ĵ, and k̂ are the unit vectors.
When describing the motion of an object, two additional quantities become impor-
tant, the mass of the object and the net force acting on the object. The inertial mass
of an object is a measure of the object’s inertia, whereas the gravitational mass of an
object is the mass that determines the gravitational force acting on it. However, the
weak principle of equivalence says that the inertial and gravitational masses are equal.
A change in an object’s motion is caused by a non-zero net external force acting
on the object. Newton’s laws of motion describe how forces change the motion of an
object.
Newton’s first law: A particle’s velocity remains constant if the net force acting on
the object is zero.
Newton’s second law: A particle’s time rate of change of momentum, dp/dt, is equal
to the net force F applied to the particle :

F = dp/dt = ṗ (1.6.4)

Newton’s third law: If object 2 exerts a force F12 on object 1, then object 1 exerts a
force F21 on object 2 such that:
F21 = −F12 (1.6.5)
All measurements are made with respect to a reference frame. A reference frame is a
choice of origin (spatial x and temporal t), and a set of axes with respect to which all
measurements are made.
Two reference frames S, S ′ are called inertial reference frames when Newton’s laws
hold, and the forces measured in S ′ are the same forces as those measured in S.
Two reference frames S, S ′ are called noninertial reference frames when Newton’s
laws no longer hold in their standard form, because there is an acceleration measured
in S that is not apparent in S ′ .
Computation is an important tool for physicists. In this book, we will focus on
two types of computation, symbolic and numerical. Symbolic computation involves
using a computer to help find closed-form solutions to differential equations, integrals,
eigenvalues, etc. Numerical computation, or “numerics,” provides a list of numerical
values representing a solution to differential equations, integrals, eigenvalues, etc.
End-of-chapter problems 25

1.7 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, or numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 1.2: The Basics of Classical Mechanics

1. The position of a particle with mass m =0.50 kg can be described using the vector
function:
r = 3a tî − 2b t2 ĵ + 7c t−2 k̂
where a, b, c are constants.
a. What are the SI units of each of the coefficients a, b, c? Assume that time t is
measured in seconds and position is measured in meters.
b. Evaluate the velocity of the particle and the force acting on it at t = 3 seconds
and for a = b = c = 1, both analytically and using the symbolic capabilities of
Mathematica and/or Python.

2. Consider the position vector r = 3 t ρ̂, where ρ̂ = cos ϕ î + sin ϕ ĵ and ϕ = ϕ(t) is a
scalar function of time t. Compute the velocity and acceleration of the particle, both
analytically and using a CAS.

3. A particle’s position is given by r(t) = R cos (ω t) î + R sin (ω t) ĵ + (ω t) k̂, where

R and ω are constants. Describe and plot the path of this particle in a 3D Cartesian
coordinate system for the numerical values R = ω = 1 and for times t = 0 to t = 10
s. What are the particle’s velocity and acceleration as functions of time?

4. Consider the vectors A = î + 2ĵ + 2k̂ and B = î + ĵ + k̂. Plot these two vectors
and their sum A + B on a 3D Cartesian coordinate system using Python and/or
Mathematica.

5. Consider the vectors A = î + 2ĵ and B = î + ĵ. Plot these two vectors and their
sum A + B on a 2D Cartesian coordinate system using Python and/or Mathematica.
Section 1.3: Newton’s Laws of Motion
6. Consider the following applications of Newton’s laws of motion:
a. Using Newton’s third law, explain why a gun recoils when it is fired. Explain
why the gun’s recoil velocity is smaller than that of the bullet.
b. Consider a universe where the weak equivalence principle was not true. How
would Newton’s universal law of gravitation be changed?
c. Using Newton’s laws, explain what would happen to the Earth’s trajectory if the
Sun were to suddenly disappear.
7. Consider the four situations below. Qualitatively describe the velocity and acceleration
(as a function of time) of a particle of mass m experiencing each of these forces:
a. A particle starting at rest at a location x = A from the origin experiences a force
F = −kx, where x is a position coordinate which represents a displacement from
an equilibrium position (where FNet = 0) located at the origin and k is a positive
constant.
26 Foundations of Motion and Computation

c
b. A particle starting at rest at the origin experiences a force F = t2 +a2 î, where t
is time and c and a are positive constants.
c. A particle starting at the origin moving with an initial velocity v0 in the positive
x-direction experiences a force F = −bv î, where v is velocity and b is a positive
constant.
d. An object released from rest at a large height H above the Earth’s surface expe-
riences a force F = (mg − bv) ĵ, where g is the acceleration due to gravity, b is a
constant, and v is velocity. Assume the positive y-direction is toward the Earth’s
surface.
Section 1.4 Reference Frames
8. Consider a reference frame S which is at rest, and another reference frame S ′ whose
origin is at a location r0 = c t2 î relative to the origin of S, where c is a positive
constant. A particle of mass m has a position in S ′ , which described by the vector
function r′ = b t3 î, where b is a positive constant.
a. Compute the acceleration of the particle as measured in each frame.
b. Compute the force on the particle measured in each frame. Why are the two
forces different?
9. Consider a reference frame S which is at rest, and another reference frame S ′ , whose
origin is at a location r0 = a t î + b t ĵ relative to the origin in S, where a and b
are positive constants and t represents time. Compute the velocity of a particle as
measured in S, whose position in S ′ is described by r′ (t) = −c t2 î, where c is a
positive constant.
10. Consider a reference frame S which is at rest, and another reference frame S ′ , whose
origin is at a location r0 = 3t2 î−5t3 ĵ relative to the origin of frame S, and t represents
time. A particle’s position in S ′ is described by the vector function r′ (t) = −t2 î+3t2 ĵ.
Find the force measured in each frame if the mass of the particle is m.
11. Consider a reference frame S which is at rest, and another reference frame S ′ , whose
origin is at a location r0 with respect to the origin of S. Is the momentum of the particle
p = mv, as measured in each frame, the same? Show that if S and S ′ are inertial
frames, then the force on the particle, as measured in S’ is the same as that measured
in S. In other words, F′ = dp′ /dt = dp/dt = F where p (p′ ) is the momentum of a
particle of mass m in S (S ′ ). Is the angular momentum ℓ = r × p the same in each
frame? How about the torque N = r × F?
12. In the theory of special relativity, we need to alter the transformation equations
between two frames. Let S be a rest frame, and S ′ a frame moving at a speed v
relative to S. Suppose that S ′ moves in the x-direction, in other words, S ′ moves
parallel to the x-axis of the frame S. The theory of special relativity then states that
measurements made in S and S ′ are related by the formulas:

x′ = γ(x − vt)
y′ = y
z′ = z
 vx 
t′ = γ t − 2
c
End-of-chapter problems 27

p
where γ = 1 − v 2 /c2 and c is the speed of light.
a. Consider that two events in S occur at two locations x = 0 and x = a at time
t = 0. Find the times of the two events as measured in S ′ . Notice that events
that are simultaneous in S are not simultaneous in S ′ . Which event was seen
first in S ′ ?
b. Show that the space-time interval (∆s)2 = c2 t2 − x2 − y 2 − z 2 stays invariant
in the system S ′ , i.e., (∆s)2 = (∆s′ )2 = c2 (t′ ) − (x′ )2 − (y ′ )2 − (z ′ )2 . Do this
2

part of the problem both analytically and using a CAS.

Section 1.5 Computation in Physics

13. Solve the following differential equation analytically and numerically using Python
and/or Mathematica :
df
= 5 sin x − 4e−x
dx
with the initial condition f (0) = 0. Plot the solution for x = 0 to 3 with a step size of
0.1.

14. Assign the values 5 and 6 to the variables a and b, respectively. Then compute the
following expressions within two decimal points using Python and/or Mathematica:
a. (a + b) sin(0.25π)
b. a b e3 /(sinh a)
√ √
c. 7 ab /(a + b i) where i = −1

15. Define an array x (sometimes called a list) which contains the numbers 0 through
2π in steps of 0.01. Define the function f (x, m, k) = e−mx cos(2πkx) of three variables
m, k, x. Plot the function f (x, m, k) with k = 1 and m = 0.5. Label the axes and
choose a color and plotting symbol other than the default for your curve. Save the
resulting graph to a .jpg or .png file.

16. Plot f (x) = x2 and g(x) = x on the same graph, for the range x = 0 to x = 10.
Each function should have its own color, label and plotting symbol in the graph.

17. A conditional statement is an important tool for helping computers deal with
contingencies. They take the form “if-then-else.” Conditional statements allow for
computers to do different things, depending on whether or not a condition is true. In
other words, if a condition is true, then do one thing, if it is not true (else) then do
something different. For example, if a variable x is less than 5 assign the value 1 to
the variable a; otherwise, assign the value 0 to a. Write a code in which you assign a
value to the variable x and then prints “x is less than 5” if x < 5 , and prints “x is
greater than or equal to 5” if x ≥ 5.

18. Using the conditional if statement, described in Problem 17, define the piecewise
function (
0 x<5
f (x) =
x x≥5
2

evaluate f (x) for x = 0.5 and x = 2, and plot f (x) for the range x = 0 to x = 3.
28 Foundations of Motion and Computation

19. Computers are very good at repeating tasks over and over again, in a procedure
called a loop. The basic types of loops are for loops, do loops, and while loops. Using
any of these three types of loops, compute 6! (factorial) and display the result.

20. The Fibonacci series of numbers xn is defined by the recursive sequence xn =

xn−1 + xn−2 , starting with the initial values 1,1. Compute the first 17 values of the
Fibonacci sequence. You may want to use for loops, and you may also want to save
your results into an array using the append() function in Python, or Append in Math-
ematica, in order to add values to an array.

21. Use symbolic computation and the solve command in Python and Roots com-
mand in Mathematica, to solve the following equations for x. Note that you will get
complex roots for some of the solutions.

a. 7x + 5 = 0

b. x2 − 5x + 2 = 0
c. x3 + 7x − 5 = 3

22. Use symbolic computation and the solve command in Python, and Solve in
Mathematica, to solve the following system of equations for (x, y):

2x − 5y = 7
x+y =2

23. Numerically solve the system of coupled differential equations:

dx
= 0.6x − 1.2x y
dt
dy
= xy − y
dt
using the initial conditions x(0) = 40 and y(0) = 7. Plot x as a function of time, y as
a function of time, and y as a function of x.
 2 Single-Particle Motion in One
Dimension
In this chapter, we will examine one-dimensional motion, i.e., motion along a line. A careful
study of one-dimensional motion will be a useful foundation for understanding more gen-
eral motion in higher dimensions. In this chapter, we will give several examples of solving
Newton’s second law, F = ma in one dimension. We will consider several types of forces:
both constant and those which depend on time F (t), velocity F (v), and position F (x). In
addition, we will discuss and demonstrate how to use computers to solve ordinary differen-
tial equations (ODEs) using computer algebra systems and numerical methods. Finally, we
discuss various methods available for numerical evaluation of definite integrals of functions
of a single variable.

2.1 EQUATIONS OF MOTION

To begin our study of one-dimensional motion, we first need to make some assumptions
about the object whose motion we are examining. One fundamental assumption in this
chapter is that the object being studied is a point particle. In order to mathematically
describe the motion of a particle under the influence of a force, we need to find the particle’s
equations of motion. The equations of motion of a particle are the equations which describe
its position, velocity, and acceleration as functions of time. Equations of motion can be in
the form of algebraic equations, or in the form of differential equations.
As we will see, the equations of motion of a particle can be found by solving Newton’s
second law as a differential equation. In this chapter, we will focus on one-dimensional
motion, where the force vector and the particle’s displacement are along the same line (but
not necessarily in the same direction). Because all vectors in a given problem lay along the
same line, we drop the vector notation in all the equations. A negative sign between two
quantities will denote vectors that lie in opposite directions along the same line.
Newton’s second law in one dimension is:
F = ma (2.1.1)
Recall that acceleration is the first derivative of velocity v with respect to time and the
second derivative of displacement x with respect to time. To solve for the equations of
motion, we will think of (2.1.1) as a differential equation, by rewriting (2.1.1) in the following
ways:

d2 x
F =m (2.1.2)
dt2
dv
F =m (2.1.3)
dt
dv
F = mv (2.1.4)
dx

Notice that each of the above equations is a differential equation which can be solved
once the net force F acting on the particle is specified. Each of the above equations yields

29
30 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

a different equation of motion: (2.1.2) can be solved for x(t), (2.1.3) for v(t), and (2.1.4) for
v(x). Equation (2.1.4) comes from the chain rule and is used when the force is dependent
upon the particle’s position x:
dv dv dx dv
m =m = mv (2.1.5)
dt dx dt dx
Throughout the rest of this chapter, we will solve (2.1.1) for several different cases where
forces are constant (F = F0 ), time-dependent (F = F (t)), velocity-dependent (F = F (v)),
and position-dependent (F = F (x)). However, before solving (2.1.1), we will make a few
comments about differential equations in general.

2.2 ORDINARY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

Simply put, an ordinary differential equation (ODE) is an equation that contains the deriva-
tive of a function. For example,
dx
=7 (2.2.1)
dt
is a differential equation that says that the solution to the differential equation x(t) is a
function whose first derivative is equal to 7. Of course we know that x(t) = 7t is a solution
that works. However, there are an infinite number of other solutions as well, since we can
add a constant to x(t) and still have a solution to our ODE. Hence, the so-called general
solution is x(t) = 7t + c, where c is a constant. This differential equation is simple enough to
solve. However, most ODEs are not that simple, and many cannot be solved at all. Before
discussing how to solve an ODE, let’s first point out a few things about our example.
1. Equation (2.2.1) is called a first-order ODE, because the highest derivative in the
equation is a first derivative. In general, an nth -order ODE is an ODE whose highest
derivative is an nth derivative.
2. The ordinary derivative implies that x is a function of only one variable t, which is
the variable of differentiation.
3. The number of arbitrary constants in the general solution of (2.2.1) is equal to the
order of the ODE.
To solve (2.2.1), we needed to separate the variables of the equation. Colloquially speaking,
this means getting all the terms with x on one side of the equation and all the terms that are
either constant or depend on t on the other. This process is called separation of variables and
is performed by treating the derivative as a fraction and multiplying both sides of (2.2.1)
by dt,

dx =7dt (2.2.2)
Z Z
dx = 7dt (2.2.3)

x =7t + c (2.2.4)

To solve (2.2.1), we carried out the integral after separating variables. Note that both
integrals would produce constants of integration, but since both are constants, we can
combine them into one arbitrary constant. You can double-check the solution by computing
the derivative of 7t + c, to check that it satisfies (2.2.1).
Ordinary differential equations 31

What happens in the case of second-order ODEs? Second-order ODEs are common
in physics. There are many techniques to solve them, but we will demonstrate only one.
Consider the ODE,
d2 x
=7 (2.2.5)
dt2
Separation of variables does not make sense here, because we typically do not integrate
terms like d2 x. However, we can define a new variable v, such that, v = dx/dt. Then (2.2.5)
becomes,
dv
=7 (2.2.6)
dt
which we know gives the answer v(t) = 7t + c1 , where c1 is the constant of integration.
However, we want x(t), so we use v = dx/dt:

dx
=7t + c1 (2.2.7)
Z dt Z
dx = (7t + c1 ) dt (2.2.8)

x(t) =3.5t2 + c1 t + c2 (2.2.9)

where c2 is the constant of integration obtained by performing the integral in (2.2.8). Hence,
we pick up an additional constant of integration in our solution, giving two arbitrary con-
stants for the solution of the second-order ODE (2.2.5). Loosely speaking, we see that the
number of arbitrary constants in the solution of an nth -order ODE is equal to n, because
we need to do n integrations in order to solve the equation, and each integration produces
an arbitrary constant.
Next, we return to (2.2.1). Suppose (2.2.1) was an equation we wanted to use in order
to find the position of a particle as a function of time. The infinite number of solutions is
not helpful. Which solution describes the actual path taken by the particle? In order to
specify the particular solution for an ODE, we need to include initial conditions, the value
of our function at a particular time (normally at t = 0). Suppose we know that at t = 0, the
particle is at a position, x(0) = 3. Then we can solve for the arbitrary constant by inserting
the initial condition into our general solution,

x(0) = (7) (0) + c = 3 (2.2.10)

which gives c = 3. Our particular solution is then, x(t) = 7t + 3. A different initial condition
will give a different particular solution.
Now suppose we wanted to find a particular solution to (2.2.5); in that case one initial
condition will not be enough, because it will leave out one arbitrary constant. Hence, we
will need to specify both x(t) and dx/dt at a particular time (usually t = 0). Suppose that
x(0) = 3 and v(0) = 1, where v = dx/dt. Then we have:
2
x(0) = 3.5 (0) + c1 (0) + c2 =3 (2.2.11)
v(0) = 7 (0) + c1 =1 (2.2.12)

where (2.2.12) is the derivative of the general solution evaluated at t = 0. The result is
c1 = 1 and c2 = 3, and the particular solution is x(t) = 3.5t2 + t + 3.
In summary, in order to solve for the particular solution of an nth -order ODE, we need n
initial conditions. In addition, we can also specify x using knowledge of the value of x at two
different times, as opposed to knowing initial values of x and its first derivative. In classical
mechanics, it is most common to know the initial conditions of the position and velocity.
32 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

However, in other fields, such as electromagnetism and thermodynamics, it is often more

common to know the value of a function, say the temperature, at two different locations.
In this case, we have what is known as a boundary value problem, and the conditions that
provide the constants of integration are known as boundary conditions.
There are many other properties of ODEs such as linear superposition, that we will
explore in this book as we need them. For now, we know enough about ODEs to get started.
Let’s get back to the physics.

2.3 CONSTANT FORCES

Consider the case where a constant net force, F = F0 , acts on a particle with mass m
constrained to move along a line. In this case, Newton’s second law (2.1.1) gives:
dv F0
= =a (2.3.1)
dt m
where a is a constant because F0 is constant. You may recall (2.3.1) from Example 1.1,
Equation (2.3.1) is an example of a first-order differential equation. We can solve this
through the process of separation of variables and then integrating the resulting equation.
The first step in separating variables is to multiply both sides of the equation by dt:
dv = adt (2.3.2)
which can be integrated to yield,
Z
v(t) = a dt = at + c1 (2.3.3)

where c1 is the constant of integration. The constant, c1 , can be found using the initial
condition of v(t0 ) = v0 , where v0 is the initial velocity at the initial time t0 . When t0 = 0,
(2.3.3) gives v(0) = c1 or c1 = v0 . Therefore, the solution to the differential equation (2.3.1)
is:
v(t) = v0 + a t (2.3.4)
Before moving forward, we should mention that there is an alternate method for finding
(2.3.3), which can be found by explicitly inserting the initial and final conditions when
integrating (2.3.2):
Z v(t) Z t
dv ′ = adt′ (2.3.5)
v0 t0
v(t) − v0 =a(t − t0 ) (2.3.6)
where we have introduced primes to the variables of integration, in order to distinguish
them from the limits of integration. Notice that the lower limit in the left-hand side of
(2.3.5) corresponds to the value of v(t) when t = t0 , the lower limit of the right-hand side
of (2.3.5), and with similar considerations for the upper limits. It is very important that
the limits match on both sides of the equation.
Next, we can get an equation for x(t) by writing v = dx/dt :
dx
= at + v0 (2.3.7)
dt
and separating variables, we obtain:
Z x(t) Z t
dx′ = (at′ + v0 )dt′ (2.3.8)
x0 t0
Constant forces 33

Notice how all the time-dependent and constant terms are on the same side of the equation.
In this context, separation of variables always involves multiplication and division, never
addition and subtraction. Choosing t0 = 0 and performing the integral results in:
1 2
x(t) = at + v0 t + x0 (2.3.9)
2
Together, equations (2.3.4) and (2.3.9) are the only equations you need to know, in
order to solve for the position and velocity of a particle moving in one-dimension while
experiencing a constant net force.
Finally, if we want v(x), we can solve (2.1.4):
dv F0
v = (2.3.10)
dx m
vdv =adx (2.3.11)
Z v Z x
v ′ dv ′ =a dx′ (2.3.12)
v0 x0
v − v02 =2a(x − x0 )
2
(2.3.13)

where a = F0 /m was used in (2.3.11). We could have also obtained this result by eliminating
t between equations (2.3.4) and (2.3.9). The box below summarizes all of the constant force
equations, sometimes called the kinematic equations. These are equations that you should
memorize.

Kinematic Equations for Constant Acceleration a

v(t) = v0 + at (2.3.14)
1
x(t) = x0 + v0 t + at2 (2.3.15)
2
v(x)2 = v02 + 2a (x − x0 ) (2.3.16)

In the case of a freely falling particle near the surface of the Earth, we use a = −g =
−9.8 m/s2 (assuming “down” is in the negative direction), where g is the acceleration due
to gravity. The kinematic equations become:

v(t) =v0 − gt (2.3.17)

1
y(t) =y0 + v0 t − gt2 (2.3.18)
2
v 2 (y) =v02 − 2g(y − y0 ) (2.3.19)

We used y as the position variable, which is common when describing vertical motion.
Notice that these are not different equations from the kinematic equations, but simply the
kinematic equations with a specific value of a. We now look at some well-known examples
of situations in which the acceleration of the system is constant.

Example 2.1: The Atwood machine

The Atwood machine consists of two masses m1 , m2 connected by a massless, in-
extensible string that hangs over a massless, frictionless pulley as shown in Figure 2.1.
34 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

Assume that m2 > m1 . Find the acceleration a of the masses and the tension of the
string.

a a

T
m1
T
w m2
1
w
2

Figure 2.1: Free body diagrams of the two hanging masses of the Atwood machine.

Solution:
We can derive an equation for the acceleration by using force analysis. The only
forces we must consider are: tension (T ) and weight of the two masses (W1 = m1 g and
W2 = m2 g ). The tension acting on each mass will be the same, because the tension
is constant throughout the string. Because the string is inextensible, the magnitude of
the acceleration of each mass will also be the same, although they will be in opposite
directions.
To find the acceleration, we need to consider the forces affecting each individual
mass. First, we need to define a frame of reference. In this case, we will choose +y is
downwards so that the heavier mass, m2 , moves in a positive direction. Newton’s second
law can be used to derive a system of equations:

)
m1 g − T = − m1 a
(2.3.20)
m2 g − T =m2 a

where the right hand side of the top (bottom) equation of (2.3.20) is the net force acting
on m1 (m2 ). The upward motion of m1 has been made explicit by including a minus
sign on the right-hand side of the equation describing the forces affecting m1 .
We can solve the system (2.3.20) by subtracting the equations to eliminate T . We
can also use a computer algebra system (see below).
Either way, the result is
 
m2 − m1 2m1 m2
a =g T = g (2.3.21)
m1 + m2 m1 + m2
Constant forces 35

Once a has been found, we can find the position x(t) and velocity v(t) of the masses
using (2.3.15) and (2.3.14). Note that for the position and velocity of m1 , we would
need to insert −a in the kinematic equations.
We can check if these results makes physical sense, and also if the units are correct.
If the two masses are equal m1 = m2 , these equations give a = 0 and T = m1 g = m2 g.
This result makes physical sense, since equal masses mean that the system is stationary
(a = 0), and the tension T will be equal to the weights of either mass.
In addition, the fraction (m2 −m1 )/(m1 +m2 ) is dimensionless, so that the units for a
in (2.3.21) are the same as the units of g. The units for the fraction (2m1 m2 )/(m1 +m2 )
are kg, so that the units of T are kg m/s2 or Newtons.

Python Code
We solve the system of equations using the solve command, which requires that
the equations to be solved to have a zero right-hand side. After defining the necessary
symbols, we store (2.3.20) into the variables eq_1 and eq_2 and use the solve command
which outputs a Python dictionary. We can identify each solution by using square
brackets behind the variable name soln, which contains the solutions.

from sympy import symbols, solve

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

m1, m2, a, g, T = symbols('m1,m2,a,g,T')

eq_1 = m1*g - T + m1*a # define equations to solve

eq_2 = m2*g - T - m2*a

soln = solve((eq_1,eq_2),(a,T)) #solution to system of equations

print('a = ', soln[a])

print('T = ', soln[T])

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

a = (-g*m1 + g*m2)/(m1 + m2)
T = 2*g*m1*m2/(m1 + m2)

Mathematica Code
We define the equations (2.3.20) as the variables eq1 and eq2. Note the use of == to
demonstrate the equality of the equation. Next, we use the Solve command which has
two arguments, the equations to be solved and the variables for which the equations are
being solved. Notice that the result is a list of replacement rules /., which Mathematica
can use for further calculations.
36 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

eq1 = m1 ∗ g − T == − m1 ∗ a;

eq2 = m2 ∗ g − T ==m2 ∗ a;

Solve[{eq1, eq2}, {a, T }]

nn oo
a → − g m1−g m2
m1+m2 , T →
2g m1 m2
m1+m2

Example 2.2: Motion on an inclined plane

The shaded box with mass m shown in Figure 2.2 is placed on an inclined plane
with angle θ. The coefficient of friction between the mass and the plane is µ. If the mass
is released from rest, find the position x(t), velocity v(t), and acceleration a.
Solution:
We will use the standard reference frame for inclined planes that is commonly used
for this type of problem; hence we define +x as downward, along the plane. The force
of friction is written as f = µN , where N is the normal force between the mass and the
inclined plane. We will obtain the position and speed of the mass as a function of time,
both analytically and by using the symbolic capabilities of Python and Mathematica.

N
f

mgsin(θ) m
mgcos(θ)

Figure 2.2: Forces on an inclined plane.

The normal force here represents the force applied by the plane against the object
(and vice versa). The magnitude of the normal force N can be calculated from the free
body diagram, as shown in Figure 2.2, to be N = mg cos θ, where g is the acceleration
due to gravity, and θ is the angle of the inclined surface measured from the horizontal.
The component of the weight W = mg, which acts along the direction of the plane, is
again found from the force diagram to be F = mg sin θ.
The total force along the x-axis (downward direction along the plane) is:

Ftotal = ma = mg sin θ − f = mg sin θ − µmg cos θ (2.3.22)

and by dividing with the mass m we find the constant acceleration:

a = g sin θ − µg cos θ (2.3.23)

This acceleration can then be used in (2.3.15) and (2.3.14) to get x(t) and v(t):

v(t) = v0 + (g sin θ − µg cos θ) t (2.3.24)

Constant forces 37

1
x(t) = x0 + v0 t + (g sin θ − µg cos θ) t2 (2.3.25)
2

Python Code
In the code, we use dsolve to solve Newton’s law in the form:

d2 x
= a = g sin θ − µg cos θ
dt2
with the initial conditions x(0)=x0 and x'(0)=v0. We start by defining the parameters
g, θ, µ, x0, v0 as g,theta,mu,x0,v0,t using the command symbols. The parameter x
is defined as a function by using the command Function in SymPy.
The parameter initconds stores the initial conditions. Note that dsolve contains
now a third parameter ics=initconds which tells SymPy to obtain the solution of
the differential equation using the given initial conditions. The solution of the ODE is
stored in the variable solnx, and we select the right-hand side of the solution using the
method .rhs.
The speed v(t) = dx/dt is evaluated as the time derivative using diff(solnx,t).

from sympy import symbols, dsolve, Function, diff, sin, cos

import [Link] as plt
import numpy as np

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

g, theta, mu, x0, v0, t = symbols('g, theta, mu, x0, v0, t',real=True)
x = Function('x') # define position function x

a = g*sin(theta)-mu*g*cos(theta) # define acceleration a

# initial conditions x(0)=x0 and v(0)=v0

initconds = {x(0):x0, diff(x(t),t).subs(t, 0): v0}

# use dsolve to solve the ODE x''(t)=a

solnx = dsolve(diff(x(t),t,t)-a,x(t), ics=initconds).rhs

solnv = diff(solnx,t) # evaluate v = dx/dt

print(' x(t) = ', solnx) # print x(t)

print('\nv(t) = ',solnv) # print v(t)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

x(t) = g*t**2*(-mu*cos(theta) + sin(theta))/2 + t*v0 + x0

v(t) = g*t*(-mu*cos(theta) + sin(theta)) + v0

38 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

Mathematica Code
The Mathematica command DSolve is used to solve the differential equation

d2 x
= a = g sin θ − µg cos θ (2.3.26)
dt2
In DSolve the first argument is a list containing the ODE and the initial conditions,
and the result for the position x(t) is stored in the variable posx. The speed v = dx/dt
is evaluated using the derivative command D[posx,t].
a = g ∗ Sin[θ] − µ ∗ g ∗ Cos[θ];

soln = DSolve[{x”[t]==a, x[0]==x0, x′ [0]==v0}, x[t], t];

posx = x[t]/.soln[[1]];

Print[“The position x(t)=”, posx]

The position x(t)= 12 2 t v0 + 2 x0 − g t2 µ Cos[θ] + g t2 Sin[θ]

Print[“The speed v(t)=”, D[posx, t]]

The speed v(t)= 12 (2 v0 − 2 g t µ Cos[θ] + 2 g t Sin[θ])

2.4 TIME-DEPENDENT FORCES

Now consider a case where a particle constrained to move along a line is experiencing
a net force F (t), which is dependent on time. Time-dependent forces arise in a variety of
applications, one common occurrence is when a sinusoidal external force acts on the system.
In the cases where the net force F = F (t), Newton’s second law (2.1.1) gives:

dv F (t)
= (2.4.1)
dt m
and by separating variables and integrating from t′ = t0 to t we find:
Z
1 t
v(t) − v(t = 0) = F (t′ ) dt′ (2.4.2)
m t′ =t0

By using the initial conditions v(t = 0) = v0 :

Z t
1
v(t) = v0 + F (t′ ) dt′ (2.4.3)
m t′ =0

Once we know v(t), we can find x(t) by integrating v = dx/dt and using the initial
conditions x(t0 ) = x0 to obtain:

Z t
x(t) − x0 = v(t′ ) dt′ (2.4.4)
t′ =0
Time-dependent forces 39

In the next example, we demonstrate how to find the equations of motion for a particle
experiencing a time-dependent force. We will obtain the solution both by hand and using
Python and Mathematica.

Example 2.3: A decreasing force, F(t)

The force acting on a mass m =1 kg is decreasing with time according to F (t) =
c/(t2 + b2 ) where t is the elapsed time, and the constants c and b are in units such that
F is measured in Newtons. Find the position x(t) and the velocity v(t) with the initial
conditions x(0) = x0 = 0 and v(0) = v0 = 0, and with the constants c =1 N.s2 , b = 1 s.
Solution:
This is the case of a time-dependent force F = F (t), so we can use (2.4.3) with
v0 = 0: Z Z
1 t 1 t c
v(t) = v0 + F (t′ ) dt′ = dt (2.4.5)
m t′ =0 m t′ =0 t + b2
2

The integral is evaluated using the transformation t = b tan θ to obtain:

 
c −1 t
v(t) = tan (2.4.6)
mb b
Does (2.4.6) make sense? To check, we ask what happens when t → ∞? In the limit
of t → ∞, F → 0, and we would expect that v becomes constant. In our particular
case with b = 1 s, as t → ∞, tan−1 (t) → π/2, and therefore, our solution v(t) follows
our expectation of the velocity approaching a constant. Next, we find x(t) using (2.4.4)
with x0 = 0:
Z t
x(t) − x0 = v(t′ ) dt′ (2.4.7)
t′ =0
Z t  ′
c t
= tan−1 dt′ (2.4.8)
m b t′ =0 b
    
c t b b2
= t tan−1 + ln 2 (2.4.9)
mb b 2 t + b2

where we used integration by parts.

In this case, as t → ∞, we know that v → constant, and therefore we would expect
x(t) to continue to grow, which, as shown in Figure 2.3, is exactly what our solution
does! Figure 2.3 was created using Mathematica.
Notice that the arguments of the logarithm and of the inverse tangent in the solution
must be dimensionless. This is is indeed the case, since the constant b has units of time
(seconds) as we can see from the given force equation F (t) = c/(t2 + b2 ). It is always a
good idea to examine the solution of a problem, and to make sure that the units of the
various terms are correct.

Python Code
In the code we use dsolve to solve the ODE, specifying its initial conditions using
the ics option. We use the textwrap library so that the output would fit on the page of
this book. Notice that the argument for [Link] must be a string. Hence the use
of str(solnx),70) and the number 70 specifies that the output should be restricted
to 70 spaces per line.
40 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

In order to plot the symbolic result from SymPy, we use lambdify to obtain NumPy
arrays for the position and speed variables position and velocity. The Python method
.subs is used to substitute the numerical values of the parameters c,m,x0,b.
Note also that Python does not combine the logarithmic functions in the output.

from sympy import symbols, dsolve, Function, diff, simplify, lambdify

import textwrap
import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

m, c, b, t, x0 = symbols('m, c, b, t, x0',real=True)
x = Function('x')

initconds = {x(0):x0, diff(x(t),t).subs(t, 0): 0}

solnx = dsolve(m*diff(x(t),t,t)-c/(t**2+b**2),x(t), \
ics=initconds).rhs

solnv = diff(solnx,t) # v = dx/dt

print(' x(t) = ', [Link](str(solnx),70)) # print x(t)
print('\nv(t) = ',simplify(solnv)) # print v(t)

xt = [Link]({c:1,m:1,x0:0,b:1}) # substitute values of constants

vt = [Link]({c:1,m:1,x0:0,b:1}) # substitute values of constants

position = lambdify(t,xt,'numpy')
velocity = lambdify(t, vt,'numpy')
times = [Link](0,10,20) # times t=0-10

fig, ax = [Link](nrows=1,ncols=2) # use 2 subplots for x(t),v(t)

ax[0].plot(times, position(times))
ax[0].set_xlabel('time')
ax[0].set_ylabel('position')
ax[1].plot(times, velocity(times))
ax[1].set_xlabel('time')
ax[1].set_ylabel('velocity')
fig.tight_layout()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

x(t) = -c*log(b**2 + t**2)/(2*m) + (c*log(b**2) + 2*m*x0)/(2*m) +
c*t*atan(t/b)/(b*m)

v(t) = c*atan(t/b)/(b*m)

Mathematica Code
The Mathematica command DSolve is used to solve the differential equation,
Time-dependent forces 41

d2 x c
= 2 m (2.4.10)
dt2 t + b2
This code is very similar to the Mathematica code in Example 2.2. The graphics
command GraphicsGrid is used to create two side-by-side plots of x(t) and v(t).

SetOptions[Plot, Frame->True, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}, PlotRange->All];

ODEsolution = DSolve[{m ∗ x”[t]==c/(t∧ 2 + b∧ 2), x[0]==0, x′ [0]==0}, x[t], t]

 
c(2 t ArcTan[ bt ]+b Log[b2 ]−b Log[b2 +t2 ])
x[t] → 2bm

position = x[t]/.ODEsolution[[1]]

c(2 t ArcTan[ bt ]+b Log[b2 ]−b Log[b2 +t2 ])

2bm

velocity = D[position, t]//FullSimplify

c ArcTan[ bt ]
bm

c = 1; m = 1; b = 1;

GraphicsGrid[

{{Plot[position, {t, 0, 10}, FrameLabel->{“time, s”, “x, m”}],

Plot[velocity, {t, 0, 10}, FrameLabel->{“time, s”, “v, m/s”}]}}]

12 1.5

10
8 1.0
v, m/s
x, m

6
4 0.5
2
0 0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
time, s time, s
(a) (b)

Figure 2.3: Plot of (a) the position and (b) the velocity for Example 2.3. Notice the linear
nature of x(t) as t gets large and that the speed v(t) approaches a constant value.
42 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

2.5 AIR RESISTANCE AND VELOCITY-DEPENDENT FORCES

Recall that when studying the motion of a particle in free fall, air resistance is often ignored.
The force of air resistance depends on the velocity of the object moving through the air.
Hence, air resistance is a velocity-dependent force. Here we will learn how to address air
resistance when describing the motion of a particle. It should be noted, however, that
although we focus on air resistance as an example of a velocity-dependent force, most of
our comments will be applicable to any velocity-dependent force.
When speaking about an object moving through the air, two forces are often described,
drag and lift. The drag force is the component of the air resistance, which is in the opposite
direction of the object’s velocity (direction of motion). Lift forces are the component of the
air resistance that is perpendicular to the object’s motion. In this section, we will consider
cases where the lift is negligible. We will also only consider nonrotating bodies. A rotating
body moving through air will experience the Magnus effect where the spinning motion of
the object drags air faster on one side than the other. The resulting pressure difference on
either side of the object causes the object to curve away from its flight path. This is what
allows a baseball pitcher to throw a curve ball. There are many interesting videos online
which demonstrate the Magnus effect.
In general, the drag force studied in this chapter takes the mathematical form,
f = −f (v)v̂ (2.5.1)
where the unit vector v̂ = v/v is along the direction of the object’s velocity (or motion),
and the minus sign is included to explicitly show that the direction of the drag force is
opposite of the direction of the velocity. The magnitude of the drag force f (v) is a function
of velocity which generally takes the form,
f (v) = b v + c v 2 (2.5.2)
and therefore has both a linear and a quadratic component in v. For spheres in air, the
values of the constants b and c are (Taylor, [1]):

b =1.6 × 10−4 D N·s/m

2
(2.5.3)
c =0.25D N·s /m2
2

where D is the diameter of the sphere in meters. Fortunately, one usually doesn’t need to
include both the linear and quadratic terms for air resistance. In order to determine which
term, linear or quadratic, is the most important in a given situation, one can compute the
ratio:
cv 2 0.25D2 v 2
γ= = = 1.6 × 103 D v (2.5.4)
bv 1.6 × 10−4 D v
Note that v should be in meters per second, and D in meters. If γ >> 1, then the quadratic
term dominates, and the linear term can be neglected. If γ << 1, then the linear term
dominates, and the quadratic term can be neglected. However, if γ ≈ 1, then both the
linear and quadratic terms need to be included. So for a soccer ball with a diameter of 0.22
m, the quadratic term dominates for speeds approximately greater than 0.003 m/s (or 3
mm/s), while for lower speeds the linear term dominates. Both linear and quadratic terms
would need to be included in the drag force formula if the soccer ball is traveling near 3
mm/s.
To obtain equations for position and velocity as functions of time, we will consider a
generic form for F (v). Newton’s second law (2.1.1) gives:
dv F (v)
= (2.5.5)
dt m
Air resistance and velocity-dependent forces 43

Rearranging the above equation gives:

dv
dt = m (2.5.6)
F (v)
and by integrating from t′ = t0 to t , and using the initial conditions v(t0 ) = v0 we find :

Z v
dv ′
t − t0 = m (2.5.7)
v ′ =v0 F (v ′ )

By solving (2.5.7), we can find v(t), the velocity as a function of time. Once we know v(t),
we can integrate once more using (2.4.4) to find x(t) with the initial condition x(t0 ) = x0 .
We can follow a similar procedure for finding v(x). Newton’s second law gives:
dv
mv = F (v) (2.5.8)
dx
After rearranging, we obtain:

Z v
v ′ dv ′
x − x0 = m (2.5.9)
v ′ =v0 F (v ′ )

Next, we will show some examples involving velocity-dependent forces.

Example 2.4: Air resistance varying linearly with speed

The drag force acting on a mass m depends linearly on the velocity v according to
F (v) = −bv. Find x(t) and v(t) with the initial conditions v(0) = v0 and x(0) = x0 .
Plot the solutions using x0 = 0, v0 = 1, mass m = 1 and b = 1 (all physical quantities
in SI units).
Solution:
We use (2.5.7) to find x(t) with t0 = 0:
Z v Z  
dv ′ m v dv ′ m v
t=m ′
=− ′
= − ln (2.5.10)
v ′ =v0 F (v ) b v′ =v0 v b v0
Solving for v(t), we obtain:
v(t) = v0 e− m
bt
(2.5.11)
This result makes physical sense, as the time t increases, the value of the exponential
function exp (−b t/m) decreases and the speed v(t) gets smaller, until it reaches zero at
very large time.
We also find x(t) from (2.4.4):
Z t Z t
b t′
x(t) − x0 = v(t′ ) dt′ = v0 e− m dt′ (2.5.12)
t′ =t0 t′ =t0

m v0  
1 − e− m
bt
x(t) = x0 + (2.5.13)
b
As the time t increases, the second term 1 − exp (−b t/m) in x(t) increases and
approaches 1, so that x(t) at very large times reaches the constant value of x0 + m v0 /b
where the motion stops (v → 0).
44 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

Python Code
We use the method [Link](t,oo) to find the limit of the variable solnx
(representing x(t)), as t → ∞. The infinity symbol in SymPy is oo. As discussed above,
these limits are v(t) → 0 and x(t) → x0 + m v0 /b, as t → ∞.

from sympy import symbols, dsolve, Function, diff,simplify, oo

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

t, x0, v0 = symbols(' t, x0, v0')

m, b = symbols('m, b', positive=True)
x = Function('x')

inits = {x(0):x0, diff(x(t),t).subs(t, 0): v0}

solnx = dsolve(m*diff(x(t),t,t)+b*diff(x(t),t),x(t),ics=inits).rhs

print(' x(t) = ', simplify(solnx)) # print x(t)

solnv = diff(solnx,t) # v = dx/dt

print('\nv(t) = ',simplify(solnv)) # print v(t)

print('The limit of v(t) at large time t = ',[Link](t,oo))
print('The limit of x(t) at large time t = ',[Link](t,oo))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

x(t) = x0 + m*v0/b - m*v0*exp(-b*t/m)/b

v(t) = v0*exp(-b*t/m)
The limit of v(t) at large time t = 0
The limit of x(t) at large time t = (b*x0 + m*v0)/b

Mathematica Code
The Collect command gathers together terms that involve the same powers of the
objects in the curly brackets (second argument of Collect). It is a useful command for
simplifying algebraic terms and for identifying coefficients.
We find the limit of the functions velocity and position as t → ∞ using the
Mathematica Limit command with the assumptions b > 0 and m > 0.
Air resistance and velocity-dependent forces 45

ODEsolution = DSolve[{mx”[t] == −bx′ [t], x[0] == xo, x′ [0] == vo}, x[t], t];

position = Collect[x[t]/.ODEsolution[[1]], {v0, m}]

bt
 bt

e− m m −vo+e m vo
b + xo

limitx = Assuming[b > 0&&m > 0, Limit[position, t->Infinity]];

Print[“The limit of x(t) as t->Infinity = ”, limitx]

m vo
The limit of x(t) as t->Infinity = b + xo

velocity = D[position, t]
 
vo − e− m −vo + e m vo
bt bt

limitv = Assuming[b > 0&&m > 0, Limit[velocity, t->Infinity]];

Print[“The limit of v(t) as t-> ∞ = ”, limitv]

The limit of v(t) as t->Infinity = 0

vo = 1; xo = 0; m = 1; b = 1;

GraphicsGrid[{{Plot[position, {t, 0, 10}, FrameLabel → {“time”, x}],

Plot[velocity, {t, 0, 10}, FrameLabel → {“time”, v}]}}]

1.0 1.0

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6
x

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0.0 0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
time time
(a) (b)

Figure 2.4: (a) Position and (b) velocity as a function of time for Example 2.4. Notice the
position asymptotes to x = 1 m, and that the velocity decays to zero.
46 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

Example 2.5: Air resistance in the presence of gravity

Consider the case of a falling object near the surface of the Earth. Suppose in this
case, the drag force is linear. Then the net force on the falling body depends on the
velocity v according to
F (v) = −b v + m g (2.5.14)
where we have defined +y to be vertically downward so that the body’s motion is in
the positive direction. Find the displacement y(t) and the velocity v(t), with the initial
conditions v(0) = v0 and y(0) = y0 .
Solution:
From a physical point of view, we expect the mass to initially accelerate and the speed
v(t) to increase due to gravity. As the speed v increases, the force of air resistance −b v
will also increase, until it becomes equal and opposite to the gravitational force, i.e.,
until F = −b v + m g = 0. When this happens, the mass has reached the terminal
velocity equal to:
mg
vt = (2.5.15)
b
To obtain v(t) we use (2.5.7) with t0 = 0:
Z v  mg 
dv ′ m b −v
t=m ′
= − ln (2.5.16)
v ′ =v0 −b v + m g b − v0
mg
b

Note that we have factored out the constant b from the denominator of the integral
before performing the integration. Solving for v(t), we obtain:
mg  m g  −bt
v(t) = + v0 − e m (2.5.17)
b b
We also find y(t) from (2.4.4):
Z Z hm g 
t
′ ′
t
m g  − b t′ i ′
y(t) − y0 = v(t ) dt = + v0 − e m dt (2.5.18)
t′ =t0 t′ =t0 b b

which gives after integrating:

  
mg m2 g m v 0
e− m − 1
bt
y(t) = y0 + t+ − (2.5.19)
b b2 b

When t → ∞ we can substitute e− m → 0 in (2.5.17) to obtain the terminal velocity:

bt

vt = m g/b as discussed above.

Hence, our solution matches the expected physics. As the object falls, its velocity in-
creases due to the force of gravity. However, at some point, the object is moving fast
enough that the drag force equals that of the object’s weight. At that point, the net
force on the object is zero, and the velocity reaches the constant called terminal velocity
vt for the duration of its fall.

Figure 2.5 shows the plots of x(t) and v(t) found in Example 2.5. The numerical values
of the parameters are b = 0.2, m = 1, x(0) = 0, v(0) = 0, g = 9.8 (all in SI units). Notice
that the velocity of the object approaches a constant value as the object falls for a long
period of time.
Air resistance and velocity-dependent forces 47

50
1200
40
1000
800 30

v
600
x

20
400
10
200
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
time time
(a) (b)

Figure 2.5: Plots of (a) x(t), (b) v(t) from Example 2.5. The plot shows the linear increase
of x(t) after terminal velocity is reached (at v = m g/b = 49 m/s). See this book’s website
for the code used to generate this plot.

Example 2.6: Air resistance proportional to v 2

A more realistic drag force for a falling object is a force proportional to the square
of the velocity v according to F (v) = −cv 2 + mg. Find x(t) and v(t) with the initial
conditions v(0) = 0 and x(0) = 0.
Solution:
The terminal velocity vt is found in this case by setting F = −c vt2 + m g = 0:
r
mg
vt = (2.5.20)
c

Next, we use (2.5.7) to find v(t) by integrating from the initial velocity v0 to the final
velocity v: Z v Z
dv ′ m v dv ′
t=m ′2
= (2.5.21)
0 −c v + m g c 0 vt2 − v ′2
We rewrite this equation by factoring the integrand, in order to avoid the presence
of imaginary numbers in logarithmic functions in Python. However, this issue is not
present in the Mathematica code.
Z v 
m 1 1
t= + dv ′ (2.5.22)
2 vt c 0 vt + v ′ vt − v ′
 
m vt − v
t= ln
2 vt c vt + v
After some straightforward algebra, this can be simplified to:
 
m −1 v
t= tanh
c vt vt

We can now easily solve this equation for v to obtain the speed:
hc v i
t
v(t) = vt tanh t (2.5.23)
m
48 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

We also find x(t) from (2.4.4):

Z t Z t hc v i
′ ′ t ′
x(t) − x0 = v(t ) dt = vt tanh t dt′ (2.5.24)
0 0 m
Z  
t
sinh cmvt t′ m   cv 
x(t) − x0 = vt   ′
c vt ′ dt = ln cosh
t
t (2.5.25)
0 cosh m t c m
which with x0 = 0 gives:
m   cv 
t
x(t) = ln cosh t (2.5.26)
c m

Python Code
After defining the parameters in SymPy as positive using the option
real=True,positive=True in the symbols command, we use integrate to evaluate
the integral in (2.5.22), in order to obtain an expression for the time t. The answer
produced for t by SymPy is complex, and contains several logarithmic terms. These
terms are combined using the function logcombine with the option force=True, to en-
sure that they are combined regardless of the signs of the parameters. We use solve to
obtain the speed v(t), with the result agreeing with the analytical solution in (2.5.23).
Finally integrate is used to obtain the position x(t).

from sympy import symbols, integrate,logcombine,solve,cosh, sinh,log

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

v, vf, vt, t1, m, c, t= symbols('v, vf, vt, t1, m, c, t',\

real=True,positive=True)

# evaluate integral after factoring

integral = integrate(1/(v-vt),(v,0,vf))- integrate(1/(v+vt),(v,0,vf))

# combine logarithmic terms from integration

result = logcombine(integral,force=True)*(m/c)/(2*vt)
print('t = ',result )

v = solve(t+result,vf)[0] # invert equation to find speed v(t)

print('v(t) = ',v)

# integrate to find x(t)

x = integrate(vt*sinh(c*t*vt/m)/cosh(c*t*vt/m),(t,0,t1))
print('x(t) = ',x)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

t = m*log(-(vf - vt)/(vf + vt))/(2*c*vt)
v(t) = vt*tanh(c*t*vt/m)
x(t) = m*log(cosh(c*t1*vt/m))/c
Air resistance and velocity-dependent forces 49

Mathematica Code
We use the command Integrate to perform the integral. When you perform inte-
grals, you may not always think about the signs of variables. For example you know that
the terminal velocity is positive. However, Mathematica makes no such assumptions.
In order to perform the integral, and get the above analytical result, we need to tell
Mathematica that both the final velocity (vf in the code), and terminal velocity, (vt
in the code) are positive, and that vf < vt. Physically, this is making the assumptions:
m, g, k, t, v > 0 and also mg > kv 2 (i.e., the air resistance cannot exceed the weight
W = mg). The symbol && represents the logical operator AND. These assumptions are
provided in the Assuming command in the code. So by placing the command Integrate
inside the Assuming command, we are telling Mathematica to integrate with the listed
assumptions.
The numerical values of the parameters for the plot in Figure 2.6 are c = 0.2, m = 1,
x(0) = 0, v(0) = 0, g = 9.8 (all in SI units).
SetOptions[Plot, Frame->True, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}, PlotRange->All];

integral = Assuming[vt > 0&&vf > 0&&vf < vt,

Integrate[1/(vt∧ 2 − v ∧ 2), {v, 0, vf}]]

vf
ArcTanh[ vt ]
vt

Assuming[vt > 0&&t > 0&&m > 0&&c > 0, Solve[integral ∗ m/c==t, vf]];

velocity = First[vf/.%];

Print[“The velocity v[t]=”, velocity]

 t vt 
The velocity v[t]=vt Tanh c m

position = Assuming[m > 0&&c > 0&&vt > 0&&tf > t,

Integrate[velocity, {t, 0, tf}]];

Print[“The position x[t]=”, position]
m Log[Cosh[ c tf vt
m ]]
The position x[t]= c

c = 0.2; m = 1; g = 9.8; vt = Sqrt[m ∗ g/c];

Print[“Terminal velocity=”, vt, “ m/s”]

GraphicsGrid[{{Plot[position, {tf, 0, 5}, FrameLabel->{“time, s”, “x, m”}],

Plot[velocity, {t, 0, 5}, FrameLabel->{“time, s”, “v, m/s”}]}}]

Terminal velocity=7.0 m/s

50 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

7
30
6
25
5
20

v, m/s
4
x, m

15 3
10 2
5 1
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
time, s time, s
(a) (b)

Figure 2.6: (a) Position vs. time and (b) Velocity vs. time graph for Example 2.6. Notice
that after t ≃ 2 s, the displacement increases linearly with time, and the velocity approaches
a constant value of 7 m/s.

A comparison between the velocity of the falling body in the cases of linear air resistance
F (v) = −bv + mg and quadratic air resistance F (v) = −cv 2 + mg is shown in Figure 2.7,
where m = 1.0 kg, b = 0.2 Ns/m, and c = 0.2 Ns2 /m. The velocity on the y-axis has been
normalized by dividing with the corresponding terminal velocity. Notice that the quadratic
air resistance (dashed line) leads to the object obtaining terminal velocity in a significantly
shorter time than linear air resistance (solid line). This is not surprising; the magnitude of
the quadratic drag force will be higher than the linear force for a given velocity, v.

1.0

0.8

0.6
v/vt

0.4
Linear
Quadratic
0.2

0.0
0 5 10 15 20
time

Figure 2.7: Comparison of the velocity of falling body in the presence of linear and quadratic
air resistance. The two curves have been scaled by dividing the speed with the terminal
velocities, so that the plots produce the same result as t → ∞. The code used to produce
this graph can be found on this book’s website.

2.6 POSITION-DEPENDENT FORCES

In the cases where the force is a function of the position F = F (x), we can use Newton’s
second law in the form
dv
F (x) = mv (2.6.1)
dx
Position-dependent forces 51

By separating the variables v and x, and using the initial conditions x = x0 and v = v0
when t = 0 , we obtain:
Z x Z v
′ ′ 1 1
F (x ) dx = m v ′ dv ′ = m v 2 − m v02 (2.6.2)
x0 v0 2 2
Solving for the velocity v(x) as a function of the position x:

sZ
x
2 1
v (x) = F (x′ ) dx′ + m v02 (2.6.3)
m x0 2

By substituting v = dx/dt, separating the variables, and integrating with the initial
condition x = x0 when t = t0 , we obtain the relationship between position x and time t:

 
Z x ′
m  qR dx 
t − t0 = (2.6.4)
2 x0
x
F (x′ ) dx + 21 m v02
x0

After performing the integral in equation (2.6.4), one would then try to invert this
formula to find x(t), something that is not always easy or possible to do. Often, one relies
on computer methods in such cases.
The next example will involve one of the most important problems in all of classical
mechanics, simple harmonic motion (SHM). In fact, we will devote a whole chapter to it!
As we will see in Chapter 6, SHM is a common model used for small amplitude oscillations.
Although SHM is often thought of as a “mass on a spring”, it is also a useful model for
other small amplitude oscillations including pendulums, small amplitude water waves, and
loudspeakers—to name a few. Besides presenting the SHM, the next example also includes
a demonstration of using Python to find the solution to a second-order differential equation
in closed form.

Example 2.7: Simple harmonic motion

A mass m is under the influence of a position-dependent force, F = F (x) = −kx,
which is proportional to the distance x of the mass from the equilibrium position (lo-
cated at x = 0). The mathematical form of F is, of course, the well-known Hooke’s law
for springs. Find x(t) and v(t) with the initial conditions v(0) = 0 and x(0) = x0 ̸= 0
at t = 0.
Solution:
In this case (2.6.3) with v0 = 0 becomes:
s Z r
x
2 ′ ′
1 2 1
v= − 2
k x dx + m v0 = k (x20 − x2 ) (2.6.5)
m x0 2 m 2

which gives the velocity v(x) as a function of the position x. Next we will find x(t) by
using (2.6.4):
Z x r   x r    
dx′ m −1 x m x π
t= q = sin = sin−1 − (2.6.6)
x0 k
(x2 − x′2 ) k x0 k x0 2
m 0 x 0
52 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

or after some rearranging:

r ! r !
k π k
x(t) = x0 sin t+ = x0 cos t (2.6.7)
m 2 m

The result is that the mass oscillates about the equilibrium

q position x0 . Hence we
k
find that the natural frequency ω of the oscillator is ω = m .

Python Code
In the code we use the dsolve command from the SymPy library.
After importing the necessary commands, we specify that the variables m, k, t are
real and positive. The command D is used in place of diff (see the import command)
and represents the derivative of x with respect to time (two t’s in the argument means
second derivative). The parameter init contains the initial conditions for the motion.
If we did not specify that m and k are real and positive, and we had only defined
those variables as symbols, Python still solves the differential equation but produces
a hyperbolic cosine function (cosh) instead of the cosine function. It is important to
remember that it is not unusual to have to do additional algebra on results provided
by CAS algorithms, in order to get a result that is useful. This is an additional reason
not to forget your math skills and not to rely solely on the computer!

from sympy import diff as D

from sympy import symbols, Function, dsolve

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

x = Function('x')
t, x0, v0 = symbols('t, x0, v0',real=True)
k, m = symbols('k, m',real=True, positive=True)

# initial conditions
init = {x(0):x0,D(x(t),t).subs(t,0):v0}

#use dsolve to find solution of ODE

soln = dsolve(m*D(x(t),t,t) + k*x(t), simplify=True, ics=init).rhs

# substitute v(0)=0 using .subs

print('The solution is x(t) = ', [Link](v0,0))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The solution is x(t) = x0*cos(sqrt(k)*t/sqrt(m))

Mathematica Code
Using DSolve, we can find the position as a function of time. Note that in order to
isolate the solution, we had to reference the variable soln.
Euler’s method of numerically solving ODEs 53

soln = DSolve[{m ∗ x”[t]== − k ∗ x[t], x[0]==x0, x′ [0]==0}, x, t];

position = x[t]/.soln[[1]];

Print[“x(t)=”, position]
h√ i
x(t)=x0 Cos √kmt

Not all differential equations can be easily solved in closed form, and some cannot be
solved in closed form at all. In cases where closed-form solutions are not possible to obtain,
we can solve the differential equation using a numerical method. In the next section, we will
discuss a simple method of numerically solving ordinary differential equations.

2.7 EULER’S METHOD OF NUMERICALLY SOLVING ODES

Often, the differential equations derived from Newton’s second law cannot be solved in closed
form. As we will see in Chapter 13, this is particularly true when the forces are nonlinear in
position and/or velocity. However, for now, we will examine numerical methods for solving
ODEs which are useful when an ODE cannot be solved in closed form.
For simplicity, let us consider the first-order ODE
dx
= f (x) (2.7.1)
dt
A closed-form method of solving (2.7.1) involves finding an algebraic function x(t) whose
derivative is f (x). When finding such a closed form is not possible (or easy), we can rely on
numerical methods to get the solution. In this case, we find a list of values {x0 , x1 , . . . , xn−1 }
corresponding to the set of times {t0 , t1 , . . . , tn−1 } such that xi = x (ti ) where ti = idt for i =
0, 1, . . . , (n − 1). The variable dt is called the step size and will be discussed below. Although
we will not obtain a closed-form solution, numerical methods provide useful information
about the solution, and their results can be plotted.
In practice, you will often use a numerical ODE solver like odeint and NDSolve for
Python and Mathematica, respectively. These are discussed in the next section and in the
two Appendices of this book, and the underlying algorithms can be quite complicated.
However, many ODE solvers have similarities with a simple numerical method called Eu-
ler’s method, which is commonly presented in textbooks. In this method, the derivative is
rewritten using Newton’s definition of the derivative without the limit
dx x(t + dt) − x(t)
= (2.7.2)
dt dt
If the chosen step size dt is small enough, (2.7.2) can provide a good approximation of the
derivative dx/dt. We can then use (2.7.2) to rewrite (2.7.1) as

x(t + dt) = x(t) + f (x(t))dt (2.7.3)

Finally, rewriting x(t + dt) as xi

xi = xi−1 + f (xi−1 ) dt (2.7.4)

If we know x (t0 ) = x0 , then we can use (2.7.4) to find x(t) for any time ti = idt which
is an integer multiple of the step size dt.
54 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

x(t)

xi+1

xi

t
idt (i+1)dt
Figure 2.8: The slope f (xi ) (diagonal dashed line) of the true solution (curve) is used to
approximate xi+1 using the Euler method. Note the mismatch between the value of xi+1
and that of the true solution at time (i + 1)dt.

We can extend Euler’s method to second-order ODEs by introducing a new variable

v = dx/dt. The ODE

d2 x
= f (x, v) (2.7.5)
dt2
can then be rewritten as the coupled first-order system

dx 
=v 
dt (2.7.6)
dv 
= f (x, v)
dt
Using Euler’s method, we can rewrite (2.7.6) as
)
xi = xi−1 + vi−1 dt
(2.7.7)
vi = vi−1 + f (xi−1 , vi−1 ) dt
The step size dt must be small for Euler’s method to provide a good solution. Euler’s
method works by using the slope f (xi ) of the solution xi at a time idt for a linear approxi-
mation of xi+1 , the value of the solution at a time (i + 1)dt. If the step size is too large, then
the slope may not do a good job of approximating xi+1 because the true solution x(t) may
change significantly over the time interval dt. An example of a poor approximation of xi+1
is shown in Figure 2.8. Notice that in Figure 2.8, the slope (diagonal dashed line) gives a
reasonable approximation to the solution x(t) (curve) when dt is small. However, for larger
values of dt, the difference between the value extrapolated by the slope and x(t) increases.
Choosing too small of a step size will compound rounding errors made when computing
each Euler step. The best choice of dt is somewhere between these two extremes.
The Euler method is not commonly used in practice. We present it here only to show
the reader the basic concept of a numerical ODE solver. Instead, it is common to use more
Euler’s method of numerically solving ODEs 55

sophisticated algorithms such as fourth-order Runge-Kutta methods with an adaptive step

size.
In Example 2.8 we use Python to demonstrate Euler’s method. In this example we also
demonstrate the use of for loops.

Example 2.8: Euler’s method

A mass m =3.0 kg is dropped at rest from a height of 20 meters. If the particle
3
encounters a drag force Fd = −cv 3 where c = 2.0 Ns3 /m , use Euler’s method to find
the position and velocity of the ball as a function of time during the first second of the
particle’s fall.
Solution:
Using a coordinate system where positive displacements are vertically downward,
the ODE corresponding to the particle’s equation of motion is

d2 x
m = mg − cv 3 (2.7.8)
dt
Using v = dx/dt, we can rewrite the ODE using Euler’s method

xi = xi−1 + vi−1 dt 
 c 3  (2.7.9)
vi = vi−1 + g − vi−1 dt
m

Python Code
The Python code for Euler’s method is below. We begin the code by defining the
necessary parameters. Recall that [Link] creates a list of values that starts at the
first argument, but ends one step (third argument) before the second argument. Hence,
we use t_max + dt to ensure the list of times ends at t = 1. Notice that after defining
the necessary parameters, a for loop was used to calculate each iteration of Euler’s
method. Like [Link], for ends one step before its second argument. Hence, we
need to use num_steps + 1 as the second argument to ensure x and v are calculated
for the full time range. The plots of x and v can be found in Figure 2.9.
56 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

dt, t_max = 0.05, 1 #step size, maximum time

num_steps = int(t_max/dt) #number of Euler steps
m, g, c = 3.0, 9.8, 2.0 #parameters and coefficients

times = [Link](0,t_max + dt,dt) # times for x(t), v(t)

def f(v): #define the acceleration function

return (g - c/m*v**3)

x = [Link](num_steps+1) #define x,v arrays

v = [Link](num_steps+1)
x[0], v[0] = 0 ,0 # initial conditions

for i in range(1,num_steps+1):
x[i] = x[i-1] + v[i-1] * dt
v[i] = v[i-1] + f(v[i-1]) * dt

fig, ax = [Link](nrows=1, ncols=2)

ax[0].plot(times,x)
ax[0].set_xlabel("time, s")
ax[0].set_ylabel("x(t), m")
ax[0].set_title('(a)');
ax[1].plot(times,v)
ax[1].set_xlabel("time, s")
ax[1].set_ylabel("v(t), m/s")
ax[1].set_title('(b)');
fig.tight_layout()
[Link]()
Numerical ODE solvers in mathematica and python 57

Figure 2.9: Plots of (a) x(t), and (b) v(t) for Examples 2.8 and 2.9. Notice that the position
x(t) increases linearly with time after the velocity v(t) becomes constant.

2.8 NUMERICAL ODE SOLVERS IN MATHEMATICA AND PYTHON

In this section, we present two of the main Python and Mathematica built-in algorithms for
solving numerically ODEs. Specifically we give examples of using the odeint command for
Python, and the NDSolve command in Mathematica. The algorithms for these commands
are more complicated than the Euler method used in the previous section; however most
numerical algorithms compute values iteratively using a step size. In other words, they
estimate current values from past values, separated in space or time.
In Example 2.9, we repeat the problem of Example 2.8, using the numerical ODE solvers
in Mathematica and Python.

Example 2.9: Using Mathematica and Python to numerically solve ODEs

A 3.0 kg particle is dropped at rest from a height of 20 meters. The particle en-
3
counters a drag force Fd = −c v 3 where c = 2.0 Ns3 /m . Use Mathematica’s NDSolve
command and Python’s odeint command to find the position and velocity of the ball
as a function of time, during the first second of the particle’s fall.

Python Code
To use odeint() in this example, we need to rewrite Fd = m g − c v 3 as system of two
first-order ODEs, similar to Euler’s method in Example 2.8:

dx 
=v 
dt (2.8.1)
dv c 3
=g − v
dt m
In the code we define a function deriv(y,time) whose arguments are a vector y and the
time variable time. In our example, the first component y[0] of the vector y represents
58 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

the position x, and the second component y[1] is the speed v = dx/dt. The function
deriv evaluates and returns a vector with components (v, dv/dt).
The function odeint(deriv, yinit, t) is called with three arguments. The first ar-
gument is the function deriv which contains the information on the first-order ODE
to be solved, the second argument is the initial conditions vector yinit, and the third
argument is the time variable t.
The line t = [Link](0, 1, 20) defines the time interval over which the ODE
will be integrated, in this case between t = 0 and t = 1 s. The variable yinit = (0,0)
defines the initial conditions x(0) = 0 m, and v(0) = 0 m/s. Note that the result of
odeint is a matrix, where the first row soln[:,0] is the position x(t), and the second
row soln[:,1] is the speed v. The rows are used in the plot commands at the end of
the code, with the result shown in Figure 2.9.

from [Link] import odeint

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

m, g, c = 3.0, 9.8, 2.0 #parameters and coefficients

#define function that returns coupled ODEs

def deriv(y, time):
return (y[1], g - c/m*y[1]**3)

t = [Link](0,1,20) # time values

yinit = (0,0) #initial conditionss

soln = odeint(deriv, yinit, t) #solve the system of ODEs using odeint

fig, ax = [Link](nrows=1, ncols=2)

ax[0].plot(t,soln[:,0]) #plot position x(t)
ax[0].set_xlabel("time, s")
ax[0].set_ylabel("x(t), m")
ax[0].set_title('(a)');
ax[1].plot(t,soln[:,1]) #plot speed v(t)
ax[1].set_xlabel("time, s")
ax[1].set_ylabel("v(t), m/s")
ax[1].set_title('(b)');
fig.tight_layout()
[Link]()

Mathematica Code
The command NDSolve is used to solve the ODE
d2 x
m = m g − c v3
dt2
We store the solution found by NDSolve in the variable soln. The first argument of
NDSolve is a list which includes the ODE (note the == sign as opposed to =), and also
Evaluation of integrals with numerical integration functions 59

contains the initial conditions. Primes are used to denote derivatives in Mathematica.
The second argument of NDSolve is the function being solved for, in this case x(t). The
third and final argument is the range of times.
In this example we let Mathematica adjust automatically the integration conditions,
to ensure that the solution converges. However, if desirable, the number of integration
steps and the integration step size can be specified using the options for NDSolve listed
in Mathematica’s help files.
When creating the plots, notice that we use the “replace with” command /., in
order to specify that x[t] and x'[t] are found using the result of NDSolve stored in
soln.
SetOptions[Plot, Frame->True, Axes->False, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}];

m = 3.0; g = 9.8; c = 2.0;

tMax = 1.0;

soln = NDSolve[{m ∗ x”[t]==m ∗ g − c ∗ x′ [t]∧ 3, x[0]==0, x′ [0]==0}, x,

{t, 0, tMax}];

GraphicsGrid[{{Plot[x[t]/.soln, {t, 0, tMax}, FrameLabel->{“time”, “position”}],

Plot[x′ [t]/.soln, {t, 0, tMax}, FrameLabel->{“time”, “position”}]}}]

2.9 EVALUATION OF INTEGRALS WITH NUMERICAL INTEGRATION

FUNCTIONS
In this section we demonstrate two commands commonly used for the numerical evaluation
of integrals. These are Python’s quad and Mathematica’s NIntegrate commands.

Example 2.10: Numerical evaluation of integrals

A particle starting at rest at the origin experiences an acceleration of the form

a(t) = a0 sin2 (ωt + ϕ) (2.9.1)

2
where a0 = 0.3 m/s , ω = 1.5 rad/s, and ϕ = π/3 radians. Use Python’s quad and
Mathematica’s NIntegrate commands to find the particle’s velocity at t = 3.0 seconds.
Solution:
To solve this problem, we will need to use (2.4.3):
Z t
v(t) − v(0) = a(t′ )dt′ (2.9.2)
0
Using v(0) = 0 we obtain:
Z 3
v(3) = a0 sin2 (ωt + ϕ) dt (2.9.3)
0
60 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

Although this integral can be done analytically, we will solve it using quad and
NIntegrate.

Python Code
The command quad from SciPy’s integrate library is used for numerical calculations
of integrals. The function to be integrated F is first defined as a lambda function, using
the command lambda. Lambda functions are useful when a function needs to only be
used for a short time in the code. The quad command has three arguments, the function
to be integrated, the lower limit, and the upper limit of integration. The output is a
tuple. The tuple’s first argument is the value of the integral, and the second argument
is the estimated absolute error on the integration procedure.

from [Link] import quad

import numpy as np

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

a0, omega, phi = 0.3, 1.5, [Link]/3

F = lambda t: a0*[Link](omega * t + phi)**2

integral = quad(F,0,3)

print('The integral = ', integral[0])

print('The absolute error =', integral[1])

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The integral = 0.5430573299677108
The absolute error = 1.974040231812555e-14

Mathematica Code
In Mathematica, NIntegrate is used to evaluate the definite integral after defining
the necessary parameters.
a0 = 0.3; ω = 1.5; ϕ = π/3;

NIntegrate[a0 ∗ Sin[ω ∗ t + ϕ]∧ 2, {t, 0, 3}]

0.543057
Simpson’s rules for numerical evaluation of integrals 61

2.10 SIMPSON’S RULES FOR NUMERICAL EVALUATION OF INTEGRALS

In this section we show how integrals can be evaluated numerically using a simple method
called Simpson’s rule. Consider the following integral
Z xN
f (x′ )dx′ (2.10.1)
x0

where f (x) is a function of a single variable and x0 and xN are constant limits of integration.
Recall that integrals measure the area between the function f (x) and the x-axis.
In introductory calculus, the trapezoid rule approximates the area under f (x) by the
area of a trapezoid, whose four corners are the limits of integration on the x-axis and the
value of the function at those limits.
Z xN
xN − x0
f (x′ )dx ≈ [f (xN ) − f (x0 )] (2.10.2)
x0 2
Simpson’s rule estimates the value of the integral by breaking the region of integration
into two steps, by sampling the function f (x) at three points x0 , x1 , and xN , equally spaced
by a distance h. The formula for Simpson’s rule is:
Z xN
h
f (x′ )dx′ ≈ [f (x0 ) + 4f (x1 ) + f (xN )] (2.10.3)
x0 3
However, both the trapezoid rule and Simpson’s rule are often not accurate enough
for practical calculation. We can improve upon Simpson’s rule by breaking the interval of
integration up into even more steps, each separated by a distance h. The result is called the
extended Simpson’s rule

Z xN  
h 1
f (x′ )dx′ = (f1 +4f2 +2f3 +4f4 + · · · + 2fN −2 + 4fN −1 + fN ) + O (2.10.4)
x1
3 N4

where fi = f (xi ), xi = x1 + ih, h = (xN − x0 )/N , and N is the number of steps.

In Example 2.11 we show how to implement the extended Simpson’s rule in Python,
since this is a good example of using conditional statements.

Example 2.11: The extended Simpson’s rule

Repeat Example 2.10 using the extended Simpson’s rule, with the same parameter
values.

Python Code
In the code we calculate the integral using the extended Simpson’s rule, and also
using SymPy for an exact solution. After defining the force function F, we compute the
integral. The coefficients used in the extended Simpson’s rule depend on the index of
each term in the right-hand side of (2.10.4). The coefficient of fi is 4 when i is even, and
is 2 when i is odd, except for i = 1 and i = N . In order to handle these dependencies,
we used the if and elif conditional statements. The if statement tests whether or
not a condition is true and if so, the indented line is executed.
The first if statement tests to see if i = 1 or i = N . If so, then the term hF (x)/3 is
added to the sum. Notice that the variable extended contains the sum of the terms on
62 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

the right-hand side of (2.10.4), and that the command +- adds to and overwrites the
variable extended. If i ̸= 1 or N , then the next conditional statement is evaluated.
The next conditional statement is elif, or else-if, which tests to see if i is even by
calculating i modulo 2. In Python, the % symbol is used for the modulo calculation. The
elif statement provides an additional conditional statement to test after the first if
statement, and it is useful when there are multiple possible outcomes for a conditional
(in this case i can be even, odd, 1, or N ). Finally, if none of the above conditional
statements return True, then i must be odd. The else conditional statement tells
Python what to execute if no other prior conditionals are true; in this case, the term
4
3 hF (x) is added to the sum.

import numpy as np
from sympy import integrate, pi, sin, symbols
t = symbols('t')

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

a0, omega, phi = 0.3, 1.5, [Link]/3

a, b = 0, 3 #lower and upper limit of integration

def F(t):
return a0*[Link](omega*t + phi)**2

N = 1000 #number of steps

extended = 0 #parameter stores the result of integration

h = (b-a)/(N-1) #need N steps starting at an index of 0

for i in range(0,N):
x = a + i*h
if i==0 or i==(N-1):
extended += h*F(x)/3.0
elif i%2 == 0:
extended += 2.0*h*F(x)/3.0
else:
extended += 4.0*h*F(x)/3.0

#exact answer obtained using integrate in SymPy

exact = integrate(a0*sin(omega*t + phi)**2,(t,0,3))

print('The extended Simpson result = ', extended)

print('The exact result = ',[Link]({t:3}))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The extended Simpson result = 0.5429213205860004
The exact result = 0.543057329967711
Chapter summary 63

2.11 CHAPTER SUMMARY

Newton’s second law gives the equation of motion for a particle. This equation of
motion is a differential equation and can be written in three forms:

d2 x dv dv
F =m =m = mv
dt2 dt dx
F = m dv
dt is a first-order ODE, because the highest derivative is a first derivative.

2
F = m ddt2x is a second-order ODE, because the highest derivative is a second
derivative.

The number of arbitrary constants in the general solution of an ODE is equal to the
order of the ODE.

The method of separation of variables is performed by treating the derivative as a

fraction, and isolating terms with the dependent variable (e.g., x(t)) on one side, and
terms involving the independent variable on the other.
When the acceleration a = constant, Newton’s second law gives the kinematic equa-
tions:
1
v(t) = v0 + at x(t) = x0 + v0 t + at2 v(x)2 = v02 + 2a (x − x0 )
2
When the force is a function of time only F (t), Newton’s second law can be inte-
grated using: Z
1 t
v(t) = v0 + F (t′ ) dt′
m t′ =0
When the force is a function of speed only F (v), Newton’s second law can be inte-
grated using: Z v
dv ′
t − t0 = m ′
v ′ =0 F (v )

The magnitude of the air resistance f (v) has, in general, both a linear and a
quadratic component in v:
f (v) = bv + cv 2
We find the terminal velocity for a falling object by setting the air resistance force
to be equal to the weight of the object, f (v) = bv + cv 2 = mg.
When the force is a function of the position only, F (x), we can integrate Newton’s
second law in the form:
dv
F (x) = ma = mv
dx
to obtain the function v(x). Then integrate once more the v(x) = dx/dt equation to
obtain the position x(t).
An important system in mechanics is the mass-spring system described by Hooke’s
Law:
d2 x
F (x) = m 2 = −kx
dt
64 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

With the initial conditions v(0) = 0 and x(0) = x0 at t = 0, this equation has
solutions x(t) and v(t) given by:
r ! r !
k k
x(t) = x0 cos t v(t) = dx/dt = −ωx0 sin t
m m

and the mass oscillates about the equilibrium position x0 with the natural frequency ω
of the oscillator: r
k
ω=
m
Euler’s method is a simple numerical technique for integrating differential equations
which uses the derivative of the function to approximate future values of the differential
equation’s solution.

2.12 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, or numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 2.2: Ordinary Differential Equations

1. The number of particles, N (t), in a sample of radioactive materials varies as:

dN
= −λN (2.12.1)
dt
where λ > 0. Solve this differential equation by hand in the case where N (0) = N0 .
Plot N (t) as a function of time for various values of λ and various values of N0 . How
does the size of λ affect the solution? What happens to the solution if you change N0 ?
2. In Chapter 6, we will see the following differential equation:

d2 x
= −ω 2 x (2.12.2)
dt2
where x(t) is the position of a particle as a function of time. One method of solving
second-order differential equations is by using a trial solution. In this case, the equation
says that the second derivative of the function x(t) returns itself with a constant and
negative sign. What functions behave this way? Certainly sine and cosine however, an
exponential solution x(t) = Aeλt would also work. Insert into the differential equation
the exponential function as a trial solution. What values of λ are required in order for
Aeλt to be a solution to the differential equation?
3. Consider the linear differential equation ẍ + ẋ + x = f1 (t) + f2 (t), where f1 and f2
are smooth continuously differentiable functions of time. In this case, the ODE is
called a nonhomogeneous differential equation, because there are terms in the ODE
which explicitly depend on the independent variable, t. Suppose that you know two
functions, x1 (t), which solves the ODE ẍ1 + ẋ1 + x1 = f1 (t), and x2 (t), which solves
the ODE ẍ2 + ẋ2 + x2 = f2 (t). Show that the solution to ẍ + ẋ + x = f1 (t) + f2 (t) is
x(t) = x1 (t) + x2 (t). Generalize this proof to the solution of the ODE: ẍ + ẋ + x =
PN
i=1 fi (t), where you know all xi (t), each of which solves ẍi + ẋi + xi = fi (t).
End-of-chapter problems 65

4. Prove that the result from Problem 3 holds for any linear nonhomogeneous ODE.

5. Consider the nonhomogeneous ODE ẍ + ẋ + x = f (t), where f (t) is a smooth con-

tinuously differentiable function. If f (t) = 0, the ODE is called a homogeneous dif-
ferential equation. Using the result from Problem 3, show that the solution of the
nonhomogenous differential equation is x(t) = xc (t) + xp (t), where xc (t) is called the
complementary solution, found when f (t) = 0, and xp (t) is called the particular solu-
tion and is a solution of the nonhomogeneous ODE, ẍ + ẋ + x = f (t). Repeat for any
linear nonhomogenous ODE.

6. Using Mathematica’s DSolve or Python’s dsolve, solve the differential equation

df
= 3 sin x − 4e−2x (2.12.3)
dx

for the initial condition f (0) = 0. Plot the solution for x = 0 to x = 3.

7. Victor slides a puck with mass m up a long ramp with a coefficient of kinetic friction
µ. The ramp makes an incline θ with the horizontal. If the puck starts at the bottom
of the ramp with an initial velocity of v0 , find how far up the ramp the puck goes
before coming to a stop. Find the puck’s position and velocity as a function of time.
8. An airplane flying at an altitude H needs to drop supplies at the center of a small
village. The plane is flying horizontally with a speed v0 . Neglecting air resistance,
how far ahead of the village’s center should the pilot drop the supplies in order for
the supplies to land in the center of the village?
9. A ball with mass m is thrown up an incline plane with a speed v0 . The plane has an
incline of θ with the horizontal, and the ball is thrown at an angle ϕ with respect to
the horizontal direction. Neglecting air resistance,
a. Show that the range of the ball is

2υ02 sin (ϕ − θ) cos ϕ

R=
g cos2 θ
π
b. Show that the maximum range occurs when ϕ = 4 + θ2 .

10. Consider the double Atwood machine shown in Figure 2.10. Compute the acceler-
ation of the mass m1 in terms of g, M , and m2 . Ignore friction and assume the pulleys
are massless and the strings are massless and inextensible.
66 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

m
m 2
1
Figure 2.10: A double Atwood machine in Problem 2.10.

Section 2.4: Time-Dependent Forces

11. A particle of mass m starts at position x0 with speed v0 , and experiences the
following forces (assume all constants a, b, A and ω are positive). Find x(t) and/or
v(t), both analytically and using a CAS.
a. F = a + b t
b. F = A cos(ω t)
c. F = a t e−bt

12. A 1.0 kg particle experiences a force F = −ae−βt , where a = 0.5 N, β = 0.25 s−1 ,
and the minus sign denotes that the force opposes the particle’s velocity. If the parti-
cle’s initial position and velocity are x0 = 0 m and v0 = 10 m/s, find the position and
velocity of the particle as a function of time. Do the problem analytically and using a
CAS.
13. Lilly repeats Victor’s experiment (from Problem 7) but her ramp starts horizontal
and increases its inclination at a rate of ω rad/s. How far along the ramp has Lilly’s
puck traveled by the time the ramp has an incline of π/3 radians with respect to the
horizontal? The coefficient of friction between the puck and the ramp is µ. Give the
result in terms of ω, v0 , µ, and g.
Section 2.5: Air Resistance and Velocity-Dependent Forces

14. Find the terminal velocity of a sphere with a 0.25 meter diameter and mass m
experiencing a linear and quadratic air resistance, as well as a gravitational force,
i.e., F (v) = b v + c v 2 − m g. Using numerical methods, find and plot the particle’s
position and velocity as a function of time if the particle is released from rest at a
height y0 = H. To make the plot, use the equation for the coefficients b and c from
Section 2.5, and set m = 1 kg and H = 100 m.

15. An object of mass m experiences a force, F (v) = −cv 2 . What are the SI units of c?
If the particle starts at the origin with an initial velocity v(0) = v0 , find the particle’s
position and velocity as a function of time. Use a CAS to verify your results.
End-of-chapter problems 67

16. A ball is thrown upwards with an initial velocity of 10 m/s. The ball has a mass
m =0.10 kg and experiences a drag force F = −bv that scales linearly with the ball’s
velocity with b = 0.2:
a. What are the SI units of b?
b. How high does the ball travel? Compare your answer to the one you would get
in the case of no air resistance.

17. In Example 2.4 we saw that the position and velocity of a falling particle in the
presence of linear air resistance are:
m v0  
1 − e− m
bt
x(t) = x0 + (2.12.4)
b

v(t) = v0 e− m
bt
(2.12.5)
By taking the limits of t → 0 and t → ∞, discuss whether these equations make sense
for the position and velocity of a particle falling under the forces of gravity and linear
drag.
18. An object is thrown vertically upward with an initial velocity v0 .
a. Find the amount of time it takes for the object to reach its highest point when
there is no air resistance.

b. How much time is required for the object to reach its maximum height if there
is linear air resistance F = −b v?
c. How about the case of a quadratic air resistance F = −b v 2 ? Use a mass m = 1
kg, v0 = 10 m/s for the ball’s initial velocity, and b = 0.2 (SI units) for the
coefficients of both types of drag forces.

19. Repeat Example 2.5 in this chapter, by using a computer algebra system. The force
in this example is given by F (v) = −bv+mg. Find y(t) and v(t), and plot the solutions
for m = 1.0 kg, b = 0.2 Ns/m, x0 = 0 m, and v0 = 0 m/s. Using the CAS, take the
limit of v(t) as t → ∞. You may need to do a little extra work to manipulate the
solution provided by your CAS, so that it looks like the results found in Example 2.5.
This is not unusual, and one should expect to need to do some algebraic manipulation
of a computer-generated solution, in order to put it into a form that is more easily
readable. Another reason why one should not forego their algebra skills and rely solely
on computers!
20. Evelyn repeats Victor’s experiment from Problem 7. However, this time, the ramp
Evelyn is using exerts a force of F (v) = −cv 2 on the puck instead of the usual force of
friction, µN . If the initial velocity of the puck up the ramp is v0 , how far up the ramp
does the puck travel? How much time is required for the puck to reach its maximum
height?

21. Consider a boat of mass m moving through water experiencing a resisting force,
F (v) = −aebv . The boat starts at the origin with a velocity of v0 .
a. Find the boat’s velocity as a function of time, both analytically and using a CAS.

b. Find the time at which the boat instantaneously comes to a rest.

68 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

22. Consider a spherical raindrop with a diameter of 0.5 mm falling through the air at a
velocity of 1.0 m/s at time t = 0.
a. Which is the dominant form of air resistance acting on the raindrop, linear or
quadratic?

b. Find an equation that describes the motion of the raindrop and compute the
raindrop’s terminal velocity.

23. A mass m with an initial velocity of v0 is sliding along a horizontal surface. The mass
experiences a resistance, F (v) = −cv 3/2 . If the mass starts at the origin, what is the
maximum distance traveled by the mass?
24. Sarah, who has a mass of 55 kg, parachutes out of an airplane flying at an altitude of
3 km.
a. How long will it take her to fall if the parachute fails to open and air resistance
is ignored?

b. How long will it take her to fall if the parachute opens? Assume that the parachute
opens immediately and that the drag force on Sarah with the parachute open is
described by,
1
f = − cd ρAv 2 (2.12.6)
2
where the drag coefficient for the parachute with an area A=46 m2 is cd = 1.5.
The density of air is ρ = 1.22 kg/m3 .

25. Consider a falling object whose mass is 1 kg and experiences an air resistance force
of F (v) = −c |v| v, where c = 0.5 Ns2 /m2 .
a. Assuming the falling object starts at rest, use a computer to calculate the time
it takes the object to fall a distance of 1 km.

b. Does the velocity of the falling object ever become constant? In other words, is
there a terminal velocity for this force?

Section 2.6: Position-Dependent Forces

26. A particle of mass m has a velocity v(x) = ax−n . Find the force acting on the particle.
If at t = 0, the particle is at a position x0 and moving with a velocity v0 , find the
position and velocity of the particle as a function of time.

27. Find the velocity v(x) and position x(t) of a particle of mass m starting at rest at
the origin experiencing the force F = a + b x where a, b are constants with appropriate
SI units. For simplification, use the numerical values a = 2 , b = 2 and mass m = 2.

28. Compute the value of the acceleration due to gravity as a function of an object’s
height y above the Earth’s surface. Plot your result from y = 0 to 25 km. Hint: Use
Newton’s universal law of gravitation:
Gm1 m2
Fg = − (2.12.7)
r2
where G = 6.67 × 10−11 Nm2 /kg2 is the universal gravitation constant, m1 and m2 are
the masses of the interacting bodies, and r is the distance between the centers of m1
and m2 . Assume that the falling object is a point particle and ignore air resistance.
End-of-chapter problems 69

29. As found in Problem 28, the acceleration of a falling object is not constant with
height. It turns out that the acceleration varies as:
9.8 m/s2
g= 2 (2.12.8)
1 + Rye

where Re = 6.37 × 106 m is the radius of the Earth, y is the altitude of the object
above the Earth’s surface, and g is in m/s2 . Compute the time it takes for a m = 1
kg object with a diameter D = 1 m to fall from an altitude of 25 km and land on the
Earth’s surface, assuming quadratic air resistance. What is the object’s final velocity?
You will need a computer to solve this problem.
30. A particle of mass m experiences a force F = cvx, where c > 0 and x, v are the position
and speed. If at t = 0, the particle is passing through the origin with a velocity v = v0 ,
find the particle’s position as a function of time.
Section 2.7: Numerical Methods
31. Using Euler’s method, solve the ODE from Problem 1 with N0 = 105 particles
and λ = 0.1 s−1 for 0 ≤ t ≤ 10 seconds. Plot the Euler solution and the exact
analytical solution N = N0 exp (−λ t) on the same graph. The function N (t) should
decay exponentially. Choose a small enough value of dt such that you get the correct
functional form.

32. A particle of mass m = 0.2 kg is moving horizontally at a velocity of v0 = 10

m/s when it experiences a drag force F = −0.2v 2 (where the force is measured in N).
Solve for v(t) by hand. Using Euler’s method, find v(t) numerically and plot it. Use a
small enough value of dt to get the correct result.

33. Consider the ODE

d2 x
= −ω 2 x (2.12.9)
dt2

Rewrite the ODE as a coupled system of first-order ODEs using the variable v = dx/dt.
Use ω = 1 rad/s and Euler’s method to solve the coupled ODEs with an initial
condition of x(0) = 1.0 m and v(0) = 0 m/s for the time range 0 ≤ t ≤ 30 s. Use
dt = 0.01 s.

34. Consider Problem 33. Repeat the problem, using larger values of dt. What happens
to the solution when dt gets too large? Plot your result for different values of dt.

35. The Euler-Cromer method produces solutions that are stable for oscillatory sys-
tems. Consider an ODE in the form of Newton’s second law

d2 x
=a (2.12.10)
dt2
where a is an acceleration (not necessarily constant) and we have set the mass m = 1
(SI units). Using the variable v = dx/dt, (2.12.10) can be rewritten using the Euler-
Cromer method as
)
vn+1 =vn + an dt
(2.12.11)
xn+1 =xn + vn+1 dt
70 Single-Particle Motion in One Dimension

Note the subscript for v in the second line of (2.12.11). Using Python, write an al-
gorithm which solves (2.12.10) using the Euler-Cromer method with the same initial
conditions and parameter values as Problem 33.

36. Consider a particle of mass m experiencing a net force F = −b sin x. At t = 0, the

particle starts at rest. Using either Python or Mathematica, find the particle’s position
x(t) using a numerical differential equation solver such as odeint or NDSolve. Discuss
the particle’s motion when x(0) = π/6, x(0) = π/2, and x(0) = 7π/8. Set the values
of m=b = 1 (SI units).

37. Consider a particle of mass m experiencing a linear restoring force, F (x) = −k x,

a quadratic drag force F (v) = −c v 2 , plus a sinusoidal external driving force F (t) =
A cos (ω t), where k = 3 N/m, c = 0.5 Ns2 /m, ω = 1.0 rad/s, m = 1 kg and A = 2.0 N.
Write the ODE for the resulting equation of motion. If the particle’s initial position
and velocity are x(0) = 0 m and v(0) = 0 m/s, find the particle’s position and velocity
as a function of time using a numerical differential equation solver such as odeint or
NDSolve. Describe the motion of the particle.

38. The Midpoint Rule is another method of numerically integrating a function.

Suppose a function f (x) is defined on the interval [a, b] .We subdivide the interval into
subintervals of equal length ∆x = (b − a) /N using the points xi = a + i∆x (where
xN = b). We can then approximate the integral as
Z XN  
b
xi+1 − xi
f (x)dx = f ∆x (2.12.12)
a i=1
2

Write a program which uses the Midpoint Rule to solve Example 2.10, in which we
evaluated the integral
Z 3
v(3) = a0 sin2 (ωt + ϕ) dt (2.12.13)
0
2
where a0 = 0.3 m/s , ω = 1.5 rad/s, and ϕ = π/3 radians.
Compare the result of the Midpoint Rule with the extended Simpson’s rule (using the
same step size), and by using the quad library from SciPy.

39. The velocity of a particle (in SI units) can be described using the function

v(t) = 2.0e−λt cos (ωt)

where λ = 0.001 s−1 and ω = 1.0 rad/s. Assume the particle starts at the origin.
a. Evaluate the position of the particle x(t) analytically and using a CAS.

b. Using a numerical integration technique of your choosing, find the position of

the particle at a time t = 2.0 seconds.

40. The impulse J of a force F is defined as

Z t
J = ∆p = F (t′ ) dt (2.12.14)
t0

where p is the momentum of a particle experiencing the force F (t). Suppose a mass
End-of-chapter problems 71


m =1.0 kg experiences a force F (t) = c/ t3 + b3 where b = 1.0 s and c = 2.0 Ns3 .
Using a numerical integration technique of your choice, find the momentum of the
particle at a time t = 2.5 seconds. Assume the particle is at rest at a time t0 = 0.
 3 Motion in Two and Three
Dimensions
In the previous chapter, the kinematics and dynamics aspects of particle motion were exam-
ined in one dimension by using the scalar position parameter x. In this chapter, we will first
describe the motion of particles in two and three dimensions using Cartesian coordinates
(x, y, z). Describing motion in two and three dimensions requires the use of vectors. After
reviewing the basic properties of vectors and introducing the dot and cross products, we
will introduce vector derivatives. Vector derivatives are necessary in order to compute the
velocity and acceleration vectors. We then describe polar, cylindrical, and spherical coordi-
nates, and demonstrate how to describe a particle’s position, velocity, and acceleration in
those coordinate systems. Finally, we conclude the chapter with special vector derivatives
commonly used in all fields of physics, such as the gradient, the divergence, and the curl.

3.1 POSITION, VELOCITY, AND ACCELERATION IN CARTESIAN COOR-

DINATE SYSTEMS
In order to describe a particle’s motion in two and three dimensions, we will need to use
vectors. In this section the main properties of vectors are reviewed, and they are applied to
the description of position, velocity, and acceleration of a particle in three dimensions. In
Chapter 1, we introduced the concepts of position, velocity, and acceleration using Cartesian
coordinates. In this section, we will expand on that discussion. The expanded discussion of
the basic descriptors of motion in Cartesian coordinates will prepare us to describe those
quantities in other coordinate systems.
A point P1 in three-dimensional space can be represented by a vector A from the origin
(0, 0, 0) to point P1 as shown in Figure 3.1. Such a vector A has three components along
the x-, y-, and z-axis, and can be written in the form A = [Ax , Ay , Az ] or in Cartesian
coordinate form as:
A = Ax î + Ay ĵ + Az k̂ (3.1.1)
where î, ĵ, k̂ are the unit vectors along the x-, y-, and z- axis, respectively.
The magnitude A of the vector A is found from the Pythagorean theorem:
q
A = |A| = A2x + A2y + A2z (3.1.2)

The magnitude of a vector is often thought of as its length and would correspond to a
quantity measured from the vector. For example, suppose A represents the position of a
particle located at the point A = 3 mî + 4 mĵ. The magnitude of A is |A| = 5 m and
represents the distance between the particle and the origin.
It is often useful to know the direction in which a vector points. This is easily found
for simple vectors like A = 3î, which points along the x-axis. However, other vectors like
A = aî + bĵ do not lie along either the x- or y-axis. In that case, we need a unit vector
which points in the same direction as the vector A but has a length of 1. We can obtain a
unit vector  in the direction of any vector A, by dividing A by its magnitude:
A A
 = =q (3.1.3)
|A| Ax + A2y + A2z
2

73
74 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Example 3.1: Finding unit vectors.

Find a unit vector along the direction of the vector a=[1, 3, −1].
Solution:
We write the vector as a = ax î + ax ĵ + ax k̂ = 1î + 3ĵ − 1k̂. In order to find the unit
vector, divide the vector with its magnitude:

a 1î + 3ĵ − 1k̂ 1 3 1

â = q =√ = √ î + √ ĵ − √ k̂
2
1 +3 +1 2 2 11 11 11
a2x + a2y + a2z

Python Code
As we saw in Chapter 1, vectors in Python can be described using the CoordSys3D
command imported from the [Link] library. Within this library we define a
coordinate system C= CoordSys3D('C') in which the Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z)
are represented internally as C.x, C.y, C.z. The corresponding unit vectors î, ĵ, k̂,
are represented by C.i, C.j, C.k. There is nothing special about choosing the letter
C; any other letter could have been chosen instead.
The vector a=[1, 3, −1] is represented as a = 1*C.i +3* C.j - C.k and we use the
[Link] method √ to find the unit
√ vector â. Note that SymPy does not automatically
simplify the term 11/11 into 1/ 11.

from [Link] import CoordSys3D

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

C = CoordSys3D('C') # Cartesian system named C

# has unit vectors C.i , C.j , C.k

a = 1*C.i +3* C.j - C.k # vector a defines desired direction

n = [Link]() # n= normalized vector a

print('The normalized vector a is:\n',n)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The normalized vector a is:
(sqrt(11)/11)*C.i + (3*sqrt(11)/11)*C.j + (-sqrt(11)/11)*C.k

Mathematica Code

In the Mathematica code, the vector is represented as A={1,3,-1} and we use the
Norm(A) command to find the magnitude of the given vector. We normalize the vector
by dividing by its magnitude.
Position, velocity, and acceleration in cartesian coordinate systems 75

A = {1, 3, −1};

Print[“The normalized vector is”, A/Norm[A]]

n o
The normalized vector is √111 , √311 , − √111

If we know the coordinates of two points P1 and P2 in space, then we can find the
vector connecting these two points by subtracting their respective x-, y-, z-components. For
example, in Figure 3.1b, let r1 be the vector from the origin to P1 , and r2 the vector from
the origin to P2 . The vector r12 from P2 to P1 can be drawn by the head-to-tail method,
and is given by (see Figure 3.1b):

Vector r12 Connecting Two Points in Space

r12 = r2 − r1 (3.1.4)

Now that we have covered some of the basic concepts behind vectors, we can apply
them to the basic descriptors of motion. As discussed in Chapter 1, the position vector
function r(t) = (x(t), y(t), z(t)) for a particle in three dimensions as described by Cartesian
coordinates is written as:

Position Vector

r(t) = x(t) î + y(t) ĵ + z(t) k̂ (3.1.5)

This is a vector-valued function, and x(t), y(t), z(t) are the scalar functions representing
the position along the x-, y-, and z-axis at time t, respectively. The vector r(t) has its tail
at the origin, and its head at the position of the particle at time t. The magnitude of the
position vector is equal to the distance between the particle and the origin.

(a) (b)

Figure 3.1: (a) Cartesian components of vector A = Ax î + Ay ĵ + Az k̂; (b) The vector
r12 = r2 − r1 connecting two points P1 and P2 in space.
76 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

The derivative of the position vector is the velocity v(t) of the particle. To find the
velocity, we need to know how to differentiate vectors. Figure 3.2 illustrates the derivative
of a vector function r. Without loss of generality, r can be thought of as a position vector;
however, what follows is true for any vector. For the derivative of a vector function to
exist, the vector function must be a continuous function of the scalar variable t. The vector
function r(t) is shown as the dashed line in Figure 3.2, where the vector r is shown at
times t and t + ∆t. The vector ∆r = r(t + ∆t) − r(t) represents the change in the value of
the vector function and will decrease in magnitude as ∆t → 0. Therefore, we can find the
derivative using the standard formula:

dr ∆r r(t + ∆t) − r(t)

= lim = lim (3.1.6)
dt ∆t→0 ∆t ∆t→0 ∆t
Notice that in the limit of ∆t → 0, the vector dr/dt becomes tangent to the curve shown
in Figure 3.2.
The derivatives of vector functions obey the rules of differentiation that you already
know:
d dr ds
(r + s) = + (3.1.7)
dt dt dt
d dr
(cr) = c (3.1.8)
dt dt
where r and s are vector functions of the variable t, and c is a scalar constant.
Now that we know how to take the derivative of a vector function, we can compute the
velocity vector:

dr(t) d  
= x(t)î + y(t)ĵ + z(t)k̂ (3.1.9)
dt dt
d   d   d  
= x(t)î + y(t)ĵ + z(t)k̂ (3.1.10)
dt dt dt
However, the unit vectors in Cartesian coordinates are constant vectors. Therefore, the
velocity vector can be found as:

Velocity Vector
dr dx dy dz
v(t) = = î + ĵ + k̂ (3.1.11)
dt dt dt dt

Because the velocity vector is the derivative of the position vector, the velocity vector
is going to be always tangent to the path followed by the particle.
The magnitude v(t) of the velocity vector v(t) is called the speed:
s   2  2
2
dx dy dz
v(t) = |v(t)| = + + (3.1.12)
dt dt dt

Equation (3.1.12) can also be written in terms of the arc length s along the curve C de-
scribing the motion, as measured from some initial position along the curve. In order to use
the arc length, we need to define an infinitesimal displacement along the curve,

ds = dx î + dy ĵ + dz k̂ (3.1.13)
Position, velocity, and acceleration in cartesian coordinate systems 77

Figure 3.2: The vector function r is illustrated at times t and t + ∆t. In the limit ∆t → 0,
the vector ∆r/∆t becomes the derivative vector function dr/dt, which is tangent to the
curve.

The differential distance ds is the magnitude of the infinitesimal displacement and is given
by q
2 2 2
ds = (dx) + (dy) + (dz) (3.1.14)
Equation (3.1.12) can now be written in terms of the arc length s, as:
ds
v(t) = |v(t)| = (3.1.15)
dt
A unit tangent vector v̂ along the curve C describing the motion is obtained by dividing
the velocity vector v(t) by its magnitude v:
v(t)
v̂ = (3.1.16)
v(t)
Note that the unit tangent vector v̂ points along the direction of the velocity and is always
tangent to the curve C. An example of how to calculate the unit tangent vector is given in
Example 3.2.
Similarly, the derivative of the velocity vector dv/dt is the acceleration vector function,
which in Cartesian coordinates is:

Acceleration Vector
dv d2 r d2 x dy 2 d2 z
a(t) = = 2 = 2 î + 2 ĵ + 2 k̂ (3.1.17)
dt dt dt dt dt

Example 3.2: Finding unit tangent vectors.

The position of a particle along a curve C in 3D space is given by the parametric

equations x = sin(2t), y = t2 , z = 5, where t represents time, and x, y, z, t are in SI
units. (a) Find the magnitude of the velocity and acceleration at time t = 1 s. (b) Find
a general expression for the unit vector v̂ that is tangent to the curve C at time t.

Solution:

(a) The magnitude of the velocity vector is the speed v:

s   2  2 q
2
dx dy dz 2 2
v(t) = + + = [2 cos(2t)] + (2t)
dt dt dt
78 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

The magnitude of the acceleration vector is:

s 2  2 2  2 2 q
d2 x d y d z 2 2
a(t) = + + = [−4 sin(2t)] + (2)
dt2 dt2 dt2

At time t = 1 s, these magnitudes are:

q
2 2
v(1) = [2 cos(2)] + (2) = 2.2 m/s
q
2 2
a(1) = [4 sin(2)] + (2) = 4.2 m/s2

(b) The unit vector v̂, which is tangent to the curve C at any time t, is found from:
 
v(t) 1 dx(t) dy(t) dz(t)
v̂ = = î + ĵ + k̂
v(t) v(t) dt dt dt

By evaluating the derivatives and substituting the speed v(t) from part (a):
1   1  
v̂ = 2 cos(2t)î + 2tĵ = q 2 cos(2t)î + 2tĵ
v(t) 2 2
[2 cos(2t)] + (2t)

The next example shows how to calculate the position vector when one is given an
acceleration vector. As you might expect, the problem involves integrating the acceleration.

Example 3.3: Finding position and velocity from acceleration vector.

The acceleration of a particle moving in the Cartesian plane is given by the vector:
a(t) = sin (2 t) î + cos (2 t) ĵ
where t is the time, and all physical quantities are measured in SI units. Find the
velocity vector v(t) and the position vector r(t). Assume that the particle is
stationary and is at the origin at time t = 0.

Solution:
Since a(t) = dv(t)/dt, we can find the velocity and position by integration. Just like
differentiating a vector, integrating a vector can be done one component at a time:
Z
v(t) = a(t)dt
Z  
= sin (2t) î + cos (2t) ĵ dt
Z Z
= sin (2t) îdt + cos (2t) ĵdt

cos (2t) sin (2t)

=− î + ĵ + c
2 2
where c is a constant vector of integration, which can be found from the initial
conditions at time t = 0. Since the particle is stationary at t = 0, we must have
v(0) = 0, i.e.,
cos (0) sin (0)
v(0) = − î + ĵ + c = 0
2 2
Position, velocity, and acceleration in cartesian coordinate systems 79

1


which gives c = 2 î.

The position is found by integrating the velocity vector:

Z Z  
cos (2t) sin (2t) 1
r(t) = v(t)dt = − î + ĵ + î dt
2 2 2
1 1 1
= − sin (2t) î − cos (2t) ĵ + t î + d
4 4 2
where d is a second constant vector of integration, which can be found from the initial
position condition r(0) = 0. Substituting r(0) = 0, we find
1 1 1
r(0) = − sin (0) î − cos (0) ĵ + 0î + d = 0
4 4 2


which gives d = − 14 ĵ. Again, we have used the fact that the unit vectors î and ĵ in
Cartesian coordinates are constant, and therefore can be placed outside of each
integral.

The three vector functions r(t), v(t), and a(t) depend on the single parameter t, rep-
resenting time. If we are given the explicit functions x(t), y(t), z(t) then the path of the
moving particle can be plotted in a so-called parametric plot in three dimensions using a
computer; see Examples 3.4 and 3.5 that follow. A parametric plot uses the functions x(t),
y(t), and z(t) to graph a curve that represents the path taken by a particle. Each point in
the curve corresponds to the x-, y-, and z-coordinates for various times t.
In the case of two-dimensional motion, if we are given explicit functions x(t) and y(t), one
may be able to eliminate the variable t from the simultaneous equations x = x(t), y = y(t).
If one of these equations can be solved for t, the expression obtained can be substituted
into the other equation to obtain an expression for y(x). In some cases, there is no single
equation in closed form that is equivalent to the parametric equations. A similar process
can be used in three dimensions in order to get z(x, y). Examples 3.4 and 3.5 show how to
create parametric plots in two and three dimensions in Mathematica and Python.

Example 3.4: Parametric equations for motion of a particle in 2D.

Use the appropriate parametric plot commands in Python and in Mathematica to plot
the motion of a particle in two dimensions when the (x, y) position is given by the
parametric equations:
x = cos(t) y = cos(2 t)
where the parameter t is in the range from 0 to 2π.
Solution:
The time parameter t can be eliminated from the x(t) and y(t) equations using
cos(2 t) = 2 cos2 ( t) − 1 to obtain:

y = cos(2 t) = 2x2 − 1

This equation is the equation of parabola on the xy-plane.

80 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Python Code
We import Matplotlib and use linspace in NumPy to define the time values t. Both
the Python and Mathematica codes produce the same plot, and the result of the Math-
ematica code is shown in Figure 3.3.

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

t = [Link](0,2*[Link],200) # define parameter t

[Link]([Link](t),[Link](2*t)) # parametric plot x=cos(t), cos(t)

[Link]("x")
[Link]("y")
[Link]()

Mathematica Code

The equivalent code in Mathematica uses the command ParametricPlot.

SetOptions[ParametricPlot, BaseStyle->FontSize->16, Frame->True];

ParametricPlot[{Cos[t], Cos[2 ∗ t]}, {t, 0, 2 ∗ Pi}, AxesLabel->{x, y}]

1.0

0.5

0.0 x

-0.5

-1.0
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
Figure 3.3: Parametric plot of function (x(t), y(t)) in two dimensions, produced by the codes
in Example 3.4.
Position, velocity, and acceleration in cartesian coordinate systems 81

Example 3.5: Parametric equations for motion of particle in 3D.

Plot the motion of a particle in three dimensions when the (x, y, z) positions are
given by the parametric equations:

x = d + a cos(2 t) y = e + b sin(2 t) z = ct

where the time parameter t is in the range 0 to T . Plot the motion using the numerical
values a = 2, b = 4, c = 1, d = 1, e = 2, T = 12 (all quantities in SI units).
Solution:
The time parameter t can be eliminated from the x(t), y(t) equations by solving the
equations for cos(t) and sin(t) and substituting in the identity cos2 (u) + sin2 (u) = 1:
 2  2
x−d y−e
+ = cos2 (2 t) + sin2 (2 t) = 1
a b

This is the equation of an ellipse on the xy-plane with center at (d, e). Since z = ct,
one then expects the motion to be in the form of an elliptical helix moving along the
z-axis with a uniform speed c.

Python Code
The code creates a parametric plot of these (x, y, z) equations in three dimensions.
Both the Python code and the Mathematica code produce the same plot, shown as
Figure 3.4.

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

t = [Link](0,4,50) # time values from t=0 to t=12 s

x = 1+2*[Link](2*t)
y = 2+4*[Link](2*t) # define x(t), y(t), z(t)
z = t

fig = [Link]() # set up 3D plot and plot

ax = fig.add_subplot(projection='3d')

ax.plot3D(x,y,z) # plot parametric curve x(t),y(t),z(t)

ax.set_xlabel('x') # label x,y,z axes
ax.set_ylabel('y')
ax.set_zlabel('z')
[Link]()

Mathematica Code
The code in Mathematica uses the ParametricPlot3D command, and the graphics
options are set up using SetOptions[ParametricPlot3D].
82 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

(a) (b)

Figure 3.4: Parametric plot of function (x(t), y(t), z(t)) in three dimensions, produced by
(a) Python and (b) Mathematica codes in Example 3.5.

SetOptions[ParametricPlot3D, BaseStyle->FontSize->20];

ParametricPlot3D[{1 + 2 ∗ Cos[2 ∗ t], 2 + 4 ∗ Sin[2 ∗ t], t}, {t, 0, 4},

AxesLabel->{x, y, z}]

3.2 VECTOR PRODUCTS

There are two methods of multiplying vectors together, the dot product and the cross
product. Both methods are very useful in physics.

3.2.1 DOT PRODUCT

Consider two vectors A = [Ax , Ay , Az ] and B = [Bx , By , Bz ]. The dot product or scalar
product A · B between them is defined as:

A · B = Ax Bx + Ay By + Az Bz (3.2.1)

and produces a scalar. An alternative definition of the dot product is:

A · B = AB cos θ (3.2.2)

where A and B are the magnitude of the vectors A and B, respectively, and θ is the angle
between the two vectors as shown in Figure 3.5. Notice that the dot product is multiplying
the magnitude of B by the component of A, which is parallel to B. A physical example
involving the dot product is the definition of work. The work done by a constant force can be
computed as W = F · r, where a force F is applied to a particle along a displacement r. The
component of the force doing work on the particle is parallel to the particle’s displacement.
Vector products 83

The dot product is used to compute the work because we need the component of F parallel
to r.
Equation (3.2.2) can be used to obtain the angle between two vectors:
A·B Ax Bx + Ay By + Az Bz
cos θ = = q  q . (3.2.3)
AB Ax + A2y + A2z
2 Bx2 + By2 + Bz2

The dot product can also be interpreted geometrically as the scalar projection of vector
A on the direction of vector B, as shown in Figure 3.5. This is useful if you want to know
the component of the vector A along the direction of the vector B. First, we create the
unit vector B̂ =B/ |B| pointing in the direction of B. The scalar projection is equal to
AB = A · B̂ = |A| cos θ. The vector projection of A onto B is, projB A = AB B̂.

Figure 3.5: The scalar projection of vector A on the direction of vector B, is A·B̂ = |A| cos θ,
where B̂ is the unit vector in the direction of B.

There are several algebraic relationships for the dot products of two vectors A and B,
and most of them are intuitive. The following properties hold if A, B, and C are real vectors
and c is a scalar.
The dot product is commutative:

A·B=B·A (3.2.4)

The dot product is distributive over vector addition:

A · (B + C) = A · B + A · C (3.2.5)

Likewise, with a scalar c we can show:

A · (cB) = c (A · B) (3.2.6)

Two non-zero vectors A and B are orthogonal if and only if

A·B=0 (3.2.7)

The geometric interpretation of the orthogonality of vectors is that they are perpendicular,
i.e., the angle between them θ = π/2. Finally, the product rule applies to the dot product:
d dA dB
(A · B) = ·B+A· (3.2.8)
dt dt dt
84 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Example 3.6: Calculating the dot product.

Find the dot product of the vectors A = 3î + 4ĵ − k̂ and B = î − ĵ − k̂ analytically,
and also by using appropriate codes in Python and Mathematica.
Solution:
The scalar dot product is found by multiplying and adding the coefficients of the
unit vectors î, ĵ, k̂:

A · B = (3î + 4ĵ − k̂) · (î − ĵ − k̂)

= (3)(1) + (4)(−1) + (−1)(−1) = 0

Python Code
In the Python code, the command CoordSys3D is imported from the [Link]
library, and we define a coordinate system C= CoordSys3D('N') in which the Carte-
sian coordinates (x, y, z) are represented internally as N.x, N.y, N.z. The [Link](B)
method is used to evaluate the dot product of the two vectors.

from [Link] import CoordSys3D

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

N = CoordSys3D('N') # Define the reference frame N

A = 3*N.i+4*N.j-1*N.k # Define vectors A, B in N

B = 1*N.i-1*N.j-1*N.k

dotprod = [Link](B)

print('The dot product A.B = ',dotprod)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The dot product A.B = 0

Mathematica Code
The Mathematica code uses the command Dot[A,B], and the vectors A, B are
entered in the form of lists of their Cartesian components.

A = {3, 4, −1};

B = {1, −1, −1};

Print[“The dot product of A.B = ”, Dot[A, B]]

The dot product of A.B = 0

Vector products 85

Example 3.7: Finding unit vectors using dot products.

The position of a particle along a curve C in three-dimensional space is given by the
parametric equations x = t2 , y = t, z = 5, where t represents time and all quantities
are in SI units. The velocity of the particles is v(t)
(a) Find a unit vector tangent to the curve C at any time t.
(b) Show that the vector dv̂/dt is perpendicular to the unit vector v̂ at any time t.
(c) Find a unit vector N perpendicular to the unit vector v̂ at time t = 1 s.
Solution:
(a) The velocity vector is:
dx(t) dy(t) dz(t)
v(t) = î + ĵ + k̂ = (2t) î + (1) ĵ = 2t î + ĵ
dt dt dt
and the unit vector v̂ tangent to the curve C at any time t is found as in Example 3.2:
v(t) 2tî + ĵ 2tî + ĵ
v̂ = =q =√
v(t) 2 2 4t2 + 1
(2t) + (1)
  √
At t = 1 s we find the unit tangent vector v̂ = 2î + ĵ / 5.
(b) Since v̂ is a unit vector with a magnitude of 1, the dot product |v̂|2 = v̂ · v̂ = 1.
2
By differentiating |v̂| with respect to time t, we obtain:
dv̂ dv̂ dv̂
v̂ · + · v̂ = 2v̂· =0
dt dt dt
Therefore, the vector dv̂/dt is perpendicular to the tangent unit vector v̂ at any
time t, and is found from:
" #
dv̂ d 2tî + ĵ (2) î + (−4t) ĵ
= √ = 3/2
dt dt 2
4t + 1 (4t2 + 1)
 
(c) From part (b) we obtain at t = 1 s: dv̂
dt = 5−3/2 2î − 4ĵ , and its magnitude is:
v !2 !2
u √
u −4
dv̂
= t 2
+ =
20
dt 3/2 3/2 3/2
(5) (5) (5)

The desired unit vector N in this perpendicular direction is obtained by dividing dv̂/dt
by its magnitude:
2î−4ĵ
dv̂
(5)3/2 2î − 4ĵ
N= dt
= √ = √
| dv̂
dt |
20 20
(5)3/2

3.2.2 CROSS PRODUCT

The cross product or vector product of two vectors A and B is denoted by A × B, and it
is defined as a vector C that is perpendicular to both vectors A and B as shown in Figure
3.6(a). The direction of the cross product vector A×B is given by the right-hand rule shown
in Figure 3.6(b). The magnitude of this vector is equal to the area of the parallelogram
formed by vectors A and B, as shown in Figure 3.6(c).
86 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Figure 3.6: (a) The cross product in respect to a right-handed coordinate system; (b) finding
the direction of the cross product by the right-hand rule; (c) the area of a parallelogram
formed by two vectors A and B, is equal to the magnitude of the cross product of these
two vectors.

The magnitude of the cross product is defined by the formula

A × B = a b sin θ n̂ (3.2.9)
where θ is the angle between A and B (0 ≤ θ ≤ π), a = |A| and b = |B| are the magnitudes
of vectors A and B, and n̂ is a unit vector perpendicular to the plane containing A and
B in the direction given by the right-hand rule as in Figure 3.6(a). If the vectors A and B
are parallel (i.e., the angle θ between them is either 0 radians or π radians), then the cross
product of A and B is the zero vector 0.
The magnitude of the cross product is the product of the magnitude of the vector A,
and the component of B perpendicular to A. We can compute the torque applied to a door
by using the formula N = r × F, where N is the torque applied by the force F, and r is the
vector which points from the axis of rotation to the point where the force is applied. For
a door, the vector r lies along the door, pointing from the hinges to the edge of the door,
where the force to open it is applied. We know that the component of the force responsible
for the rotation of the door is perpendicular to the door, and that the component of the
force parallel to the door is not causing the rotation. Therefore, the cross product is used
to compute the torque, because we need the component of the force perpendicular to r.
The cross product of two vectors a = [a1 , a2 , a3 ] and b = [b1 , b2 , b3 ] can also be
represented by the determinant of a formal matrix:

î ĵ k̂
a × b = a1 a2 a3 (3.2.10)
b1 b2 b3
This determinant can be expanded by using cofactor expansion along the first row to yield:

a2 a3 a a3 a a2
a×b= î − 1 ĵ + 1 k̂ (3.2.11)
b2 b3 b1 b3 b1 b2
Vector products 87

which gives the components of the resulting cross product vector directly:
a × b = (a2 b3 − a3 b2 )î + (a3 b1 − a1 b3 )ĵ + (a1 b2 − a2 b1 )k̂ (3.2.12)
Like the dot product, the cross product has some familiar algebraic identities. The cross
product is distributive with addition:
a × (b + c) = a × b + a × c (3.2.13)
Likewise, with a scalar c, we can show:
(ca) × b = a × (cb) = c (a × b) (3.2.14)
Unlike the dot product, the cross product is anti-commutative, i.e.,
b×a = −(a × b) (3.2.15)
This property is easily concluded by considering the right-hand rule; when the two vectors
are interchanged, the sign of the cross-product vector is reversed. The product rule for
derivatives also applies to the cross product:
d da db
(a × b) = ×b+a× (3.2.16)
dt dt dt

Example 3.8: Example of cross product with Python and Mathematica.

Find the cross product of the vectors A = 3î+4ĵ− k̂ and B = î − ĵ − k analytically,
and also by using appropriate codes in Python and Mathematica.
Solution:
The cross product is found by using the determinant:

î ĵ k̂
4 −1 3 −1 3 4
A×B= 3 4 −1 = î − ĵ + k̂ = −5î + 2ĵ − 7k̂
−1 −1 1 −1 1 −1
1 −1 −1

Python Code
We define the reference frame N using CoordSys3D('N'). The [Link](B) method
is used to evaluate the dot product of the two vectors.

from [Link] import CoordSys3D

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

N = CoordSys3D('N') # Define the coordinate system N

A = 3*N.i+4*N.j-1*N.k # Define vectors A, B in N

B = 1*N.i-1*N.j-1*N.k

crossprod = [Link](B)

print('The cross product A.B = ',crossprod)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The cross product A.B = (-5)*N.i + 2*N.j + (-7)*N.k
88 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Mathematica Code
The Mathematica code uses the command Cross[A,B], and the vectors A, B are
entered in the form of lists of their Cartesian components.

A = {3, 4, −1};

B = {1, −1, −1};

Print[“The cross product of A.B = ”, Cross[A, B]]

The cross product of A.B = {−5, 2, −7}

Example 3.9: Finding unit vectors using cross products.

Find a unit vector perpendicular to both vectors a = [1, 3, −1] and b = [4, −2, 1].
Solution:
We first calculate the cross product of the two vectors since we know that it will be
perpendicular to both vectors. The cross product is:

î ĵ k̂
3 −1 1 −1 1 3
c=a×b= 1 3 −1 = î − ĵ + k̂ = 1î − 5ĵ − 14k̂.
−2 1 4 1 4 −2
4 −2 1

To find the unit vector, divide this vector by its magnitude. The magnitude of a × b
is: p √
|a × b| = 12 + 52 + (−14)2 = 222
The desired unit vector is

c 1î − 5ĵ − 14k̂ 1 5 14

ĉ = q = √ =√ î − √ ĵ − √ k̂
2 2 2
cx + cy + cz 222 222 222 222

Python Code
In the Python code, we define a coordinate system C= CoordSys3D('N') and the
[Link](B) method is used to evaluate the cross product of the two vectors. The
.normalize method is used to find the unit vector along the direction of the cross
product.
Vector products 89

from [Link] import CoordSys3D

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

N = CoordSys3D('N') # Define the reference frame N

A = 1*N.i+3*N.j-1*N.k # Define vectors A, B in N

B = 4*N.i-2*N.j+1*N.k

crossprod = [Link](B)

answer = [Link]()
print('The normalized vector is = \n',answer)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The normalized vector is =
(sqrt(222)/222)*N.i + (-5*sqrt(222)/222)*N.j + (-7*sqrt(222)/111)*N.k

Mathematica Code
In the Mathematica code below, we use the Cross[A,B] command to find the cross
product, and we use the Norm(c) command to find the magnitude of the given vector.

A = {1, 3, −1};

B = {4, −2, 1};

c = Cross[A, B];

Print[“The cross product of A.B = ”, c]

Print[“The normalized vector is”, c/Norm[c]]

The cross product of [Link]= {1, −5, −14} q o

1
The normalized vector is √222 , − √222
5
, −7 111
2

A useful mathematical construction involving the cross product is the triple product,
which is used in two different forms.
The scalar triple product of three vectors is defined as

a · (b × c) (3.2.17)

Notice that this expression means that we first calculate the cross product of vectors b
and c, followed by the dot product between the vectors a and b × c. The magnitude of the
triple scalar product represents the volume V of the parallelopiped with edges a, b, and
c. Since these three vectors a, b, c can be interchanged, the following three scalar triple
products are equal to each other and to the volume V :

a · (b × c) = b · (c × a) = c · (a × b) = V (3.2.18)
90 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

The vector triple product is the cross product of a vector with the result of another cross
product and is related to the dot product by the following identity:

a × (b × c) = b(a · c) − c(a · b) (3.2.19)

The mnemonic “BAC minus CAB” is often used to remember the order of the vectors
in the right-hand side of this equation. This formula is used in physics to simplify vector
calculations. Another useful identity relates the cross product to the scalar triple product:

(a × b) × (a × c) = (a · (b × c))a (3.2.20)

Example 3.10: Evaluation of triple products

Use Mathematica and SymPy to demonstrate the triple product identity:

a · (b × c) = b · (c × a)

for any vectors a, b, and c.

Python Code
In the coordinate system N the vector ax î + ay ĵ + az k̂ is written as
ax*N.i+ay*N.j+az*N.k. The [Link](B) and [Link](B) method are used to evalu-
ate the cross and dot product of the two vectors. The identity is tested by using the
double equal logical sign ==, which evaluates here as True.

from [Link] import CoordSys3D

from sympy import symbols
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

N = CoordSys3D('N') # Define the Cartesian frame N

ax, ay, az = symbols('ax, ay, az') # Components of vectors a, b, c
bx, by, bz = symbols('bx, by, bz')
cx, cy, cz = symbols('ax, ay, cz')

a = ax*N.i+ay*N.j+az*N.k # Define vectors a, b, c

b = bx*N.i+by*N.j+bz*N.k
c = cx*N.i+cy*N.j+cz*N.k

product1 = [Link]([Link](c)) # Evaluate a.(bxc)

product2 = [Link]([Link](a)) # Evaluate b.(cxa)

check=([Link]()==[Link]()) # test with ==

print('\nThe identity a.(bxc) = b.(cxa) is: ',check)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The identity a.(bxc) = b.(cxa) is: True

Position, velocity, and acceleration in non-cartesian coordinate systems 91

Mathematica Code
By combining the Dot and Cross commands, the identities are verified in the code
below. The two sides of the identities are set equal, by using the Boolean equality sign
== and Mathematica returns True for the logical statements.

a = {ax, ay, az};

b = {bx, by, bz};

c = {cx, cy, cz};

Print[“The triple product of a.(bxc) = ”]

Print[Dot[a, Cross[b, c]]]

The triple product of a.(bxc) =

az(−by cx + bx cy) + ay(bz cx − bx cz) + ax(−bz cy + by cz)

check = (Dot[a, Cross[b, c]]==Dot[b, Cross[c, a]]//Simplify);

Print[“The identity a.(bxc)= b.(cxa) is: ”, check]

The identity a.(bxc)= b.(cxa) is: True

3.3 POSITION, VELOCITY, AND ACCELERATION IN NON-CARTESIAN

COORDINATE SYSTEMS
In this section, we discuss how to describe a particle’s motion in coordinate systems other
than Cartesian coordinates. The new coordinate systems often exploit symmetries in the
problem, making the non-Cartesian coordinate systems a more natural means of describing
the motion of the particle. For example, the motion of a particle constrained to move along
a circle can be more easily described in polar coordinates than it is in Cartesian coordinates.

3.3.1 POLAR COORDINATES

Figure 3.7 shows the position (x,y) of a particle located at the point P on the xy-plane.
Using polar coordinates, the position can also be described by the angle θ with the x-axis
and the radius r representing the distance from the origin.
The relationship between Cartesian (x,y) coordinates and the polar coordinates r, θ is:

From Polar to Cartesian Coordinates

x = r cos θ (3.3.1)

y = r sin θ (3.3.2)

From Cartesian to Polar Coordinates

p
r = x2 + y 2 (3.3.3)

θ = tan−1 (y/x) (3.3.4)

92 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

We can also write the position vector as a complex number in the following form by
using Euler’s equations:
z = x + iy = r(cos θ + i sin θ) = reiθ (3.3.5)
and the complex conjugate of this complex number is:
z̄ = r(cos θ − i sin θ) = re−iθ (3.3.6)

Figure 3.7: The radius r and angle θ locate a particle in polar coordinates, and they also
represent a complex number: z = x + iy = r(cos θ + i sin θ) = r eiθ . The two unit vectors
r̂ and θ̂ (in blue in the e-book) in polar coordinates change direction as the particle moves
in the xy-plane along a curved path (in red in the e-book).

By adding and subtracting the last two equations, we obtain Euler’s formulas for sine
and cosine functions. These equations provide a powerful connection between analysis and
trigonometry and should be memorized.

Euler’s Identities
eiθ + e−iθ
cos θ = (3.3.7)
2
eiθ − e−iθ
sin θ = (3.3.8)
2i
eiθ = cos θ + i sin θ (3.3.9)
e−iθ = cos θ − i sin θ (3.3.10)

While polar coordinates can be convenient for describing the position of a particle,
especially a particle constrained to move along an arc or a circle, the unit vectors require
special attention. In Cartesian coordinates, the unit vectors î and ĵ always point along the
x- and y-axis respectively, regardless of the particle’s location. However, the directions of
the unit polar vectors r̂ and θ̂ change with the location of the particle. This can be clearly
seen in Figure 3.7.
The unit vector r̂ always points in the radially outward direction. The position vector
of the particle moving in the xy-plane can be written in terms of the unit vector r̂ as:
r = rr̂ (3.3.11)
Position, velocity, and acceleration in non-cartesian coordinate systems 93

In order to find the velocity and acceleration in polar coordinates, we first need to write
the unit vectors r̂ and θ̂ in terms of î and ĵ. Using the geometry shown in Figure 3.7, we
can write:
r̂ = cos θ î + sin θ ĵ (3.3.12)
θ̂ = − sin θ î + θ̂ cos θ ĵ (3.3.13)

where as expected |θ̂| = |r̂| = 1, and the two unit vectors are perpendicular to each other,
i.e., θ̂·r̂ = 0.
The unit vectors r̂ and θ̂ vary in direction with time, and we can calculate their time
derivatives by using the chain rule:
d d h i dθ dθ dθ h i
r̂ = cos θî + sin θĵ = − sin θ î + cos θ ĵ = − sin θî + cos θĵ (3.3.14)
dt dt dt dt dt
By combining the previous two equations, we obtain:
dr̂ dθ
= θ̂ (3.3.15)
dt dt
By working in a similar manner, we obtain the time derivative of the unit vector θ̂:

dθ̂ dθ
= − r̂ (3.3.16)
dt dt
We can now calculate the velocity vector in polar coordinates by taking the first time
derivative of the position vector r:
dr d dr dr̂
v= = (rr̂) = r̂ + r (3.3.17)
dt dt dt dt
By substituting (3.3.15) into (3.3.17), we obtain the velocity vector in polar coordinates:
dr dr dθ
v= = r̂ + r θ̂ (3.3.18)
dt dt dt
The two components of the velocity in this equation have distinct physical meanings.
The first term vr = dr
dt r̂ represents the radial component of the velocity, which points along
the radius r. The second term vθ = r dθ dt θ̂ = rω θ̂ is proportional to the angular velocity
ω = dθ/dt, and represents the velocity of the particle along the θ̂ direction. This second
component also represents the velocity of uniform circular motion.
From (3.3.18), we obtain the infinitesimal displacement ds between two points in space
in polar coordinates by canceling the differential time dt from both sides of this equation:
ds = drr̂ + rdθθ̂ (3.3.19)
Based on this expression, the infinitesimal area element dA in polar coordinates can then
be written as:
dA = dxdy = rdθdr (3.3.20)
and we can calculate double integrals of any function f (x, y) in polar coordinates by using
the transformation:
Z Z Z Z
f (x, y) dxdy = f (r cos θ, r sin θ) r dr dθ (3.3.21)

In summary, the unit vectors in polar coordinates and their derivatives are given by:
94 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Unit Vectors in Polar Coordinates

θ̂ = − sin θî + cos θĵ (3.3.22)

r̂ = cos θî + sin θĵ (3.3.23)

d dθ d dθ
r̂ = θ̂ θ̂ = − r̂ (3.3.24)
dt dt dt dt

The following example shows how to create polar plots in Python and Mathematica.

Example 3.11: Polar plots using Python and Mathematica.

Create a polar plot of the equation: r(θ) = θ/2π.
Solution:
The following are the Python and Mathematica codes for creating the polar plot.
As the angle θ increases from 0 to 4π , the radius increases from 0 to 2.

Python Code
The Python code defines the range of the radius using linspace and the polar plot
is set up using subplot(111,projection='polar') from the matplotlib graphics
library.

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

r = [Link](0,2,200) # define range of values for radius r

# evaluate values of angle theta as function of the radius r

theta = 2*[Link] *r

ax =[Link](111,projection='polar')

[Link](theta,r)
ax.set_rticks([0.5, 1, 1.5, 2]) # set values of radial ticks

[Link]()

Mathematica Code
The polar plot is created using the PolarPlot command, and the graphics options
are set up using SetOptions[PolarPlot].

SetOptions[PolarPlot, BaseStyle->FontSize->16, Frame->True];

PolarPlot[θ/(2 ∗ Pi), {θ, 0, 4 ∗ Pi}, AxesLabel->{x, y}]

Polar coordinates are very useful in describing the motion of celestial bodies around
each other, as we will explore in detail in a later chapter. The following example shows
how polar coordinates can simplify the mathematical description of the elliptical motion of
planets around the Sun.
Position, velocity, and acceleration in non-cartesian coordinate systems 95

1.0

0.5

0.0 x

-0.5

-1.0

-1.5

-1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0

(a) (b)

Figure 3.8: Polar plot of function r = θ/2π produced by (a) Python, and (b) Mathematica,
in Example 3.11.

Example 3.12: Ellipses in polar coordinates.

The equation of an ellipse with semi-major axes a, b in Cartesian coordinates is:
2 2
(x/a) + (y/b) = 1

or in parametric form
x = a cos θ y = b sin θ.
(a) Use the symbolic capabilities of Mathematica to show that the general equation for
this ellipse in polar coordinates is:
ab
r= √ (3.3.25)
a2 − c2 cos2 θ
√
where c = a2 − b2 (with a > b). √
(b) Show that by shifting the x-axis by the quantity c = a2 − b2 , the equation of
the ellipse in polar coordinates simplifies to:


b2 /a a 1 − e2
r= = (3.3.26)
1 + (c/a) cos θ 1 + e cos θ
p
where e = c/a = 1 − b2 /a2 (with a > b) is the eccentricity of the ellipse.
As we will see in Chapter 9, this expression is fundamental in the mathematical
description of planetary motion, with the Sun located at one of the foci of this ellipse.
(c) Plot the above expressions of the two ellipses and in Mathematica using the
PolarPlot command.

Mathematica Code
96 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

(a) The code performs the necessary algebraic steps for deriving (3.3.25), and then
it plots the ellipse with parameters a √= 2.2, b = 1.1. After defining the parametric
forms x = a cos θ and y = b sin θ = b 1 − cos2 θ, the code uses the Solve command
to find the distance r as a function of cos θ. The command “replace with” /. is used
to define a parameter rellipse for the desired equation r = r(θ). Since there are two
solutions obtained from the Solve command, we chose the positive solution by selecting
the second (positive) square root.

SetOptions[PolarPlot, BaseStyle->FontSize->16];

x = r ∗ Cos[θ];

y = r ∗ Sqrt[1 − Cos[θ]∧2];

sol = Solve[(x/a)∧2 + (y/b)∧2==1, r]

   
   
r → −q 1
, r→ q 1
 1
+
Cos[θ]2
−
Cos[θ]2   1 Cos[θ]2
+ a2 −
Cos[θ]2 
b2 a2 b2 b2 b2

rellipse = r/.sol[[2]]

q 1
Cos[θ]2 Cos[θ]2
1
b2
+ a2
− b2

PolarPlot[rellipse/.{a->2.2, b->1.1}, {θ, 0, 2 ∗ Pi}, AxesLabel->{x, y}]

(b) The following code carries out the algebra for deriving (3.3.26), and it plots the
ellipse. As the √
polar plot shows,
√ the resulting √ ellipse from (3.3.26) is shifted along the
x-axis by c = a2 − b2 = 2.22 − 1.12 = 1.9 . After some simple manipulation of
the Mathematica output, we obtain (3.3.26), which is the commonly used equation for
an ellipse in polar coordinates.

SetOptions[PolarPlot, BaseStyle->FontSize->16];

c = Sqrt[a∧ 2 − b∧ 2];

x = r ∗ Cos[θ]; y = r ∗ Sqrt[(1 − Cos[θ]∧ 2)];

sol2 = Solve[((x + c)/a)∧ 2 + (y/b)∧ 2==1, r]//FullSimplify;

rellipse2 = r/.sol2[[1]]//FullSimplify;

Print[“The equation of the new ellipse is:”]

Print[rellipse2]

The equation of the new ellipse is:

√ b2
a+ (a−b)(a+b)Cos[θ]

PolarPlot[rellipse2/.{a->2.2, b->1.1}, {θ, 0, 2 ∗ Pi}, AxesLabel->{x, y}]

d d
Using the derivatives of the unit vectors dt θ̂ and dt r̂, we can now also calculate the
acceleration vector as the second derivative of the position in polar coordinates (see the
Position, velocity, and acceleration in non-cartesian coordinate systems 97

y y
1.0 1.0

0.5 0.5

x x
-2 -1 1 2 -4 -3 -2 -1
-0.5 -0.5

-1.0 -1.0
(a) (b)

Figure 3.9: Plots of the ellipses produced by Mathematica, for (a) the original ellipse and
(b) for the shifted ellipse, in Example 3.12.

End-of-Chapter problems for this section):

"  2 #  2 
dv d2 r dθ d θ dr dθ
a= = − r r̂ + r + 2 θ̂ (3.3.27)
dt dt2 dt dt2 dt dt

h The two terms in (3.3.27) again have distinct physical meanings. The first term ar =
d2 r

i
dθ 2
− r dt
dt2 r̂ represents the radial component of the acceleration, which points along the
h 2 i
radius r. The first part of this radial term is ddt2r r̂ and represents the rate of change of the

2
radial velocity dr/dt. The second part of this radial term is −r dθ dt = −rω 2 , and points
2
in the opposite direction from the ddt2r term, and represents the centripetal acceleration
ac = v 2 /r.
The second term in (3.3.27)
 2 
d θ dr dθ
aθ = r 2 + 2 θ̂ (3.3.28)
dt dt dt
2
also contains two terms; the first term r ddt2θ = r dω
dt = rα is the angular acceleration along
the θ̂ direction. The last term represents the Coriolis force and will be discussed in Chapter
10.
In summary, the position, velocity, and acceleration vectors in polar coordinates are
given by:

Position, Velocity, and Acceleration in Polar Coordinates

r = rr̂ (3.3.29)

dr dr dθ
v= = r̂ + r θ̂ (3.3.30)
dt dt dt
"   #  
2
dv d2 r dθ d2 θ dr dθ
a= = − r r̂ + r + 2 θ̂ (3.3.31)
dt dt2 dt dt2 dt dt
98 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

3.3.2 POSITION, VELOCITY, AND ACCELERATION IN CYLINDRICAL

COORDINATES
A point (x, y, z) in space can be expressed in cylindrical coordinates (ρ, θ, z) as shown in
Figure 3.10. Cylindrical coordinates are most useful when the problem to be solved has a
cylindrical symmetry. It is useful to remember that cylindrical coordinates (ρ, θ, z) are a
direct extension of polar coordinates (r, θ) from two to three dimensions, by adding the
z-coordinate.
The transformation from Cartesian to polar coordinates is made by the following rela-
tions:

From Cylindrical to Cartesian Coordinates

x = ρ cos θ (3.3.32)

y = ρ sin θ (3.3.33)
z=z (3.3.34)

From Cartesian to Cylindrical Coordinates

p
ρ = x2 + y 2 (3.3.35)

tan θ = y/x (3.3.36)

z=z (3.3.37)

Figure 3.10: Cylindrical coordinates (ρ, θ, z) and the corresponding unit vectors ρ̂, θ̂, ẑ.

We can define three unit vectors ρ̂, θ̂, ẑ in cylindrical coordinates, which are shown in
Figure 3.10. Since cylindrical coordinates are essentially an extension of polar coordinates in
three dimensions, we can write the unit vectors immediately by analogy with the equations
in the previous section:
Position, velocity, and acceleration in non-cartesian coordinate systems 99

Unit Vectors in Cylindrical Coordinates

ρ̂ = cos θ î + sin θ ĵ (3.3.38)

θ̂ = − sin θ î + cos θ ĵ (3.3.39)

ẑ = k̂ (3.3.40)

Similar to the unit vectors in polar coordinates, the unit vectors in cylindrical coordinates
change direction with the location of the particle, with the exception of ẑ, which is identical
to k̂ and does not change direction. Note also that the cylindrical unit vectors are related
to the Cartesian unit vectors by a rotation matrix of the form:
    
ρ̂ cos θ sin θ 0 î
θ̂  = − sin θ cos θ 0  ĵ  (3.3.41)
ẑ 0 0 1 k̂

We can compute the position and velocity vectors in cylindrical coordinates in a manner
similar to that used for polar coordinates. The difference is that for cylindrical coordinates
there is an additional direction, ẑ. However, ẑ does not change direction with position and
is therefore constant. Hence, the position, velocity, and acceleration vectors in cylindrical
coordinates are given by:

Position, Velocity, and Acceleration Vectors in Cylindrical Coordinates

r = ρ cos θ î + ρ sin θ ĵ + z k̂ (3.3.42)

dr dρ dθ dz
v== ρ̂ + ρ θ̂ + ẑ (3.3.43)
dt dt dt dt
"  2 #  2 
2
dv d ρ dθ d θ dρ dθ d2 z
a= = − ρ ρ̂ + ρ + 2 θ̂ + ẑ (3.3.44)
dt dt2 dt dt2 dt dt dt2

This section concludes with some additional useful expressions. By analogy to (3.3.19),
which was derived for polar coordinates, the infinitesimal displacement ds between two
points in space in cylindrical coordinates can be written as:

ds = dρ ρ̂ + ρ dθ θ̂ + dz ẑ (3.3.45)

When computing infinitesimal areas, it is important to keep in mind the specific area on
the cylinder that is relevant to your problem. For example, it is common to work with the
infinitesimal area element that is on the surface of the body of the cylinder. The infinitesimal
area element dA on the surface of a cylinder of radius ρ, can be written as:

dA = ρ dθ dz (3.3.46)

Keep in mind, however, that if one is interested in the top or bottom of the cylinder,
then the polar infinitesimal area element is written as dA = ρdρdθ. An infinitesimal volume
element in cylindrical coordinates is given by:

dV = dx dy dz = ρ dρ dθ dz (3.3.47)
100 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

and we can calculate triple integrals of any function f (x, y, z) by using the transformation
into cylindrical coordinates:
ZZZ ZZZ
f (x, y, z) dx dy dz = f (ρ cos θ, ρ sin θ, z) ρ dρ dθ dz (3.3.48)

These triple integrals will become useful in calculating, for example, the center of mass and
moment of inertia of an object using cylindrical coordinates.

3.3.3 POSITION, VELOCITY, AND ACCELERATION IN SPHERICAL

COORDINATES
In spherical coordinates, we specify the coordinates of every point in space by two angles
(θ , ϕ) and by the radial distance r from the origin, as shown in Figure 3.11. It is important
to remember that the polar angle θ can range between 0 and π, while the azimuthal angle
ϕ can vary from 0 to 2π. Spherical coordinates are useful for problems involving spherical
symmetry, a common occurrence in classical mechanics.

Figure 3.11: Spherical coordinates (r, θ, ϕ) and the corresponding unit vectors. The angle
ϕ is defined on the xy-plane and can vary between 0 to 2π, while the azimuthal angle θ can
vary between 0 to π only.

The Cartesian coordinates x, y, z are related to the spherical coordinates (r , θ , ϕ ) by:

From Spherical to Cartesian Coordinates

x = r sin θ cos ϕ (3.3.49)

y = r sin θ sin ϕ (3.3.50)

z = r cos θ (3.3.51)
Position, velocity, and acceleration in non-cartesian coordinate systems 101

From Cartesian to Spherical Coordinates

p
r = x2 + y 2 + z 2 (3.3.52)

tan ϕ = y/x (3.3.53)

z z
cos θ = = p (3.3.54)
r x + y2 + z2
2

Similar to the unit vectors in cylindrical coordinates, the orientation of the spherical
coordinate unit vectors r̂, θ̂, ϕ̂ depends on the position of the particle. We define these
three unit vectors as shown in Figure 3.11.
These unit vectors r̂, θ̂, ϕ̂ for spherical coordinates are related to the Cartesian unit
vectors by the following equations:

Unit Vectors in Spherical Coordinates

r̂ = sin θ cos ϕ î + sin θ sin ϕ ĵ + cos θ k̂ (3.3.55)

θ̂ = cos θ cos ϕ î + cos θ sin ϕ ĵ − sin θ k̂ (3.3.56)
ϕ̂ = − sin ϕ î + cos ϕ ĵ (3.3.57)

Like the cylindrical coordinate unit vectors, the spherical unit vectors are related to the
Cartesian unit vectors by a rotation matrix:
    
r̂ sin θ cos ϕ sin θ sin ϕ cos θ î
 θ̂  = cos θ cos ϕ cos θ sin ϕ − sin θ  ĵ  (3.3.58)
ϕ̂ − sin ϕ cos ϕ 0 k̂
In order to calculate velocity and acceleration in spherical coordinates, we need the time
derivatives of the unit vectors. They are given by (see End-of-Chapter problems for this
section):

r̂˙ = θ̇ θ̂ + ϕ̇ sin θ ϕ̂ (3.3.59)

˙
θ̂ = −θ̇ r̂ + ϕ̇ cos θ ϕ̂ (3.3.60)
˙
ϕ̂ = −ϕ̇ sin θ r̂ − ϕ̇ cos θ θ̂ (3.3.61)

By using these equations, it can be shown that the velocity vector in spherical coordinates
is given by:
v = ṙ r̂ + r θ̇ θ̂ + r ϕ̇ sin θ ϕ̂ (3.3.62)
Multiplying both sides of this equation by dt, we obtain the infinitesimal displacement ds
between two points in spherical coordinates:

ds = dr r̂ + r dθ θ̂ + r dϕ sin θϕ̂ (3.3.63)

By multiplying the coefficients of the unit vectors in this equation, the infinitesimal volume
element dV in spherical coordinates is found to be:

dV = dx dy dz = r2 sin θ dr dθ dϕ (3.3.64)
102 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

We can also calculate triple integrals in spherical coordinates by using the transformation
equation:
ZZZ ZZZ
f (x, y, z) dx dy dz = f (r sin θ cos ϕ, r sin θ sin ϕ, r cos θ)r2 sin θ dr dθ dϕ (3.3.65)

Finally, the acceleration vector in spherical coordinates is given by (see End-of-Chapter

problems for this section):


˙
a = r̈ − rϕ̇2 sin2 θ − rθ̇2 r̂ + rθ̈ + 2ṙθ̇ − rϕ̇2 sin θ cos θ θ̂


+ rϕ̈ sin θ + 2ṙϕ̇ sin θ + 2rθ̇ϕ̇ cos θ ϕ̂ (3.3.66)

Position, Velocity, and Acceleration Vectors in Spherical Coordinates

r = rr̂ (3.3.67)

v = ṙr̂ + rθ̇θ̂ + rϕ̇ sin θϕ̂ (3.3.68)

a = r̈ − rϕ̇2 sin2 θ − rθ̇2 r̂ + rθ̈ + 2ṙθ̇ − rϕ̇2 sin θ cos θ θ̂


+ rϕ̈ sin θ + 2ṙϕ̇ sin θ + 2rθ̇ϕ̇ cos θ ϕ̂ (3.3.69)

3.4 GRADIENT, DIVERGENCE, AND CURL

There are several important spatial derivatives (i.e., derivatives that are taken with respect
to a spatial coordinate) that occur in physics. These are called the gradient, divergence, and
curl. In this section we will present these derivatives, along with physical interpretations.

3.4.1 GRADIENT
Consider a scalar function f (x). Suppose we want to know how much the function f (x)
changes when we change its argument x by a small amount, say from x to x + dx. A Taylor
series expansion of f (x) gives:

df
f (x + dx) = f (x) + dx + · · · (3.4.1)
dx
We can ignore terms of dx2 and higher, because dx is very small. Next, we define the
differential df = f (x + dx) − f (x) and interpret it as the change of the value of f when we
change x by a small amount dx. Then from (3.4.1) we find:

df
df = dx (3.4.2)
dx
Equation (3.4.2) can be interpreted as follows. The amount df by which f changes when
x is changed (by a small amount), is equal to the product of the rate of change of f with
respect to x, and the amount by which x is changed (dx). This is similar to the familiar
equation d = vt, which says the distance traveled by a particle is the product of how fast it
is traveling (i.e., the rate v at which the distance changes with time), and of the length of
time t traveled.
Next, we can extend (3.4.2) to scalar functions in three dimensions. Let us consider a
scalar function f (x, y, z) in Cartesian coordinates. We would like to know how f (x, y, z)
Gradient, divergence, and curl 103

changes when we change each of its variables by a small amount. A multi-variable Taylor
series expansion gives:
∂f ∂f ∂f
f (x + dx, y + dy, z + dz) = f (x, y, z) + dx + dy + dz + · · · (3.4.3)
∂x ∂y ∂z

In this expression, ∂f ∂f ∂f
∂x , ∂y , ∂z are the partial derivatives of f with respect to (x, y, z)
respectively. Similar to the one-dimensional case, we define the differential as df = f (x +
dx, y + dy, z + dz) − f (x, y, z) and interpret it as the change of f as we change all of its
variables. Using (3.4.3), we can write the differential in dot product form:

∂f ∂f ∂f
df = dx + dy + dz (3.4.4)
∂x ∂y ∂z
   
∂f ∂f ∂f
= î + ĵ + k̂ · dxî + dy ĵ + dz k̂ (3.4.5)
∂x ∂y ∂z
Again, we get an equation similar to d = vt, where the first term is similar to a rate of
change, and the second term is a change in the coordinates. The first term in (3.4.5) can
be rewritten as:  
∂ ∂ ∂
î + ĵ + k̂ f (3.4.6)
∂x ∂y ∂z
and it describes the rate of change of f in each direction. The operator appearing in (3.4.6)
is very important in physics and is called the del or gradient operator denoted by ∇:

The Gradient Operator

 
∂ ∂ ∂
∇ = î + ĵ + k̂ (3.4.7)
∂x ∂y ∂z

The symbol ∇ is also called nabla. The del operator is a vector operator and in (3.4.7),
it is written in Cartesian coordinates. As you might expect, the del operator takes different
forms in cylindrical and spherical coordinates. We will present the del operator in other
coordinates later in this section, but for now we will consider only Cartesian coordinates.
When the del operator is applied to a scalar function f , then ∇f is called the gradient
of f and the result is a vector function.

The Gradient of a Scalar Function f (x, y, z)

 
∂f ∂f ∂f
∇f = î + ĵ + k̂ (3.4.8)
∂x ∂y ∂z

We can then write the differential df as a dot product of ∇f and dr:

df = ∇f · dr (3.4.9)

To better understand the gradient of a scalar field, we will introduce the concept of level
sets of the function f . The level set of a scalar function f is a curve in two dimensions, or
a surface in three dimensions, on which the value of f is constant. Hence, along the curve
of a level set we would have df = 0. If dr is a displacement along a level set of f , then:

df = ∇f · dr = 0 (3.4.10)
104 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

and therefore the two vectors ∇f and dr are perpendicular to each other, i.e., ∇f ⊥ dr. We
conclude that the gradient of f is perpendicular to the level sets of f .

Example 3.13: The gradient of a scalar field.

Consider the scalar field:
f (x, y) = e−(x +y )
2 2

(a) Compute and plot the gradient vector of f .

(b) Plot the level sets of this function by using a contour plot to show curves of
constant f .
Solution:
The gradient of f can be found by computing:
 
∂ ∂
e−(x +y )
2 2
∇f = î + ĵ
∂x ∂y
−(x2 +y 2 )
î − 2ye−(x +y ) ĵ
2 2
= − 2xe

Python Code
We define the coordinate system R with the unit vectors in this reference frame
denoted by R.i,R.j,R.k and the Cartesian coordinates x, y, and z denoted by
R.x,R.y,R.z respectively. The gradient is calculated with the command gradient(f)
where f = exp(−x2 − y 2 ) is the given scalar function.
In part (b) we use the command contour(x,y,T,5) to plot five contours for the
function, and quiver(x,y,x_grad,y_grad) to draw the arrows for the gradient at
points (x,y) on the Cartesian plane. The result is shown in Figure 3.12a.

# Code for part (a)

from [Link] import CoordSys3D, gradient
from sympy import exp

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

R = CoordSys3D('R') # Define the Cartesian frame R

f = exp(-R.x**2-R.y**2) # scalar function f(x,y) with x=R.x, y=R.y

gradf = gradient(f) # evaluate gradient using gradient function

print('The gradient of f(x,y) is:\n', gradf)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The gradient of f(x,y) is:
(-2*R.x*exp(-R.x**2 - R.y**2))*R.i + (-2*R.y*exp(-R.x**2 - R.y**2))*R.j
Gradient, divergence, and curl 105

# Code for part (b)

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

xyrange = [Link](-1,1,20) # range of x,y values

x, y = [Link](xyrange,xyrange)

T = [Link](- (x**2 + y**2)) # scalar function f(x,y)

x_grad = -2*x*[Link](-(x**2 + y**2)) # x,y components of gradient(f)

y_grad = -2*y*[Link](- (x**2 + y**2))

[Link](x,y,T,5) # use contour to plot 5 contours

[Link](x,y,x_grad,y_grad) # use quiver to plot the arrows

[Link]('x coordinate')
[Link]('y coordinate')
[Link]()

Mathematica Code
Notice that Mathematica outputs the gradient as a list, where the first element of the
list is the x-component, the second element is the y-component, and the third element
is the z-component. Additionally, the command Grad(f,x,y) is used to compute the
gradient, and Mathematica needs to know what variables are needed for differentiation.
Note also that by default, Mathematica computes the gradient in Cartesian coordinates.
As we will see below, the gradient is different in cylindrical and spherical coordinates.
Mathematica can compute symbolically the gradient in those coordinates as well, when
the user specifies which coordinate system to use.
The commands ContourPlot and VectorPlot are used to create the two sets of
plots.
The contour curves shown in Figure 3.12b are the level sets of f , with lighter colors
corresponding to greater values of f . The vectors represent the gradient vector field.
The size of the arrows corresponds to the magnitude of the gradient at that point.
Notice that the vectors are perpendicular to the level sets.
106 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

1.0

0.5

0.0

-0.5

-1.0
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
(a) (b)

Figure 3.12: Plots of the gradient and the contours of a scalar function produced by (a)
Python and (b) Mathematica, in Example 3.13.

SetOptions[ContourPlot, BaseStyle->FontSize->16];

f = Exp[−(x∧ 2 + y ∧ 2)];

gradf = Grad[f, {x, y}]

n o
−2e−x −y x, −2e−x −y y
2 2 2 2

gr1 = ContourPlot[f, {x, −1, 1}, {y, −1, 1}, ColorFunction->GrayLevel];

gr2 = VectorPlot[gradf, {x, −1, 1}, {y, −1, 1}, VectorStyle->Red, VectorPoints->10];
Show[gr1, gr2]

The gradient plays a very important role in classical mechanics. For example, as we will
show in Chapter 5, for a particle with potential energy V (x, y, z), the force vector F (x, y, z)
acting on the particle is given by the negative gradient of the potential energy:
∂V ∂V ∂V
F (x, y, z) = −∇V (x, y, z) = − î − ĵ − k̂ (3.4.11)
∂x ∂y ∂z
Although we will discuss the relationship between force, energy, and equilibrium states of a
mechanical system in more detail in Chapter 5, it is worth noting that the above equation
says that forces point in the direction of most rapidly decreasing potential energy (because
of the minus sign).
In order to get a complete picture of the gradient, we next need to discuss the concept
of the directional derivative.
The directional derivative df /dn of a scalar field f gives the rate of change of f (x, y, z)
in the direction of the unit vector n̂ = nx î + ny ĵ + nz k̂, and is defined as the dot product:
df ∂f ∂f ∂f
= n̂ · ∇f = nx + ny + nz (3.4.12)
dn ∂x ∂y ∂z
Gradient, divergence, and curl 107

Now we ask the question, in what direction does the scalar field f change most rapidly?
We can compute the dot product as:
df
= n̂ · ∇f = |n̂| |∇f | cos θ (3.4.13)
dn
where θ is the angle between n̂ and ∇f . The direction in which the directional derivative is
greatest would occur when n̂ · ∇f is maximal, i.e., when the angle θ equals zero. Therefore,
∇f points in the direction of the most rapid increase of f . Likewise, the direction of greatest
decrease in the scalar field is −∇f . As an example, consider a surface whose height above
sea level at a point (x, y) is H(x, y). The gradient of H at a point (x, y) is a vector pointing
in the direction of the steepest slope, or steepest grade at that point. The steepness of the
slope at that point is given by the magnitude of the gradient vector.

Example 3.14: The directional derivative.

Find the directional derivative of a scalar field f = x2 y + xz at the point (1, 2, −1)
and in the direction of the vector a = 2î − 2ĵ + k̂.
Solution:
We first obtain the unit vector â in the given direction by dividing a by its magni-
tude:
a 2î − 2ĵ + k̂ 2 2 1
â = q =p = î − ĵ + k̂
a2x + a2y + a2z
2 2
2 + 2 + (1) 2 3 3 3

Next find the gradient of f :

∂f ∂f ∂f
∇f = î + ĵ + k̂ = (2xy + z)î + x2 ĵ + xk̂
∂x ∂y ∂z
Finally we find the directional derivative from its definition as the dot product of
the unit vector â and the gradient ∇:

df 2 2 1
= â · ∇f = (2xy + z) + x2 (− ) + x
da 3 3 3
In the final step we substitute the given point (1, 2, −1):

df 5
= â · ∇f =
da 3

Python Code
In this example we show two different libraries which can evaluate the directional deriva-
tive.
In the codes we import the CoordSys3D command from the [Link] library.
Within this library we define a coordinate system C= CoordSys3D('C').
In the first method we first evaluate the normalized vector n̂, by using the method
[Link]() in SymPy. We evaluate the gradient using gradient(f), and then find
the dot product of n̂ and ∇f using the method [Link](gradient(f)).
The method .subs is used to substitute the given point (1, 2, −1) ,i.e., x = 1, y = 2,
z = −1.
108 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

In the second method, we use the dedicated function directional_derivative(f).

The result from the two Python methods in this example is the same as the analytical
result obtained above.

from sympy import simplify

from [Link] import CoordSys3D, gradient, directional_derivative

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')
C = CoordSys3D('C') # Cartesian system named C
# has unit vectors C.i , C.j , C.k

f = C.x**2 * C.y + C.x * C.z # scalar field f(x, y, z)=xyz

a = 2*C.i -2* C.j + C.k # vector a defines desired direction

n = [Link]() # n= normalized vector a

u = [Link](gradient(f)) # Find the dot product of n and gradient(f)

print('The directional derivative function is:\n',u)

print('\nAt point (1,2,-1) the directional derivative is = ',\

[Link]({C.x:1,C.y:2,C.z:-1}))

# Shortcut method using the dedicated function directional_derivative

v = simplify(directional_derivative( f, n)) # using dedicated function

print('\nWith method #2, the directional derivative is = ',\

[Link]({C.x:1,C.y:2,C.z:-1}))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The directional derivative function is:
-2*C.x**2/3 + 4*C.x*C.y/3 + C.x/3 + 2*C.z/3

At point (1,2,-1) the directional derivative is = 5/3

With method #2, the directional derivative is = 5/3

Mathematica Code
In this code we define the vector a as a list, and we normalize it by dividing by
its magnitude Norm(a). The command ResourceFunction[“DirectionalD”] is used
to evaluate the directional derivative function. Finally we use the replacement rule
dirderiv/.{x->1,y->2, z->−1} to substitute the values of the given point (1, 2, −1),
i.e., x = 1, y = 2, z = −1.
Gradient, divergence, and curl 109

a = {2, −2, 1};

n = a/Norm[a];

Print[“The normalized vector a is :”, n]


The normalized vector a is : 23 , − 23 , 13

dirderiv = ResourceFunction[“DirectionalD”][x∧ 2 ∗ y + x ∗ z, n, {x, y, z}];

Print[“The directional derivative function is :”]

Print[dirderiv]

The directional derivative function is :

2x2
3 − 3 + 3 (2xy + z)
x 2

result = dirderiv/.{x->1, y->2, z-> − 1};

Print[“The directional derivative at point(1,2,-1) is : ”, result]

5
The directional derivative at point(1,2,-1) is : 3

In order to get the form of the gradient in other coordinate systems, we return to the
fact that the total differential df of the scalar function is given by:

∂f ∂f ∂f ∂f ∂f ∂f
df = dx + dy + dz = dρ + dθ + dz = ∇f · ds (3.4.14)
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂ρ ∂θ ∂z

where in Cartesian coordinates ds = dx î + dy ĵ + dz k̂, and we used the chain rule for
f (ρ, θ, z). We can use this equation to obtain expressions for the gradient in cylindrical and
spherical coordinates, as follows.
The gradient of any scalar function f in cylindrical coordinates (ρ, θ, z) will be of the
general form:
∇f (x, y, z) = (∇f )ρ ρ̂ + (∇f )θ θ̂ + (∇f )z k̂ (3.4.15)
where (∇f )ρ , (∇f )θ , (∇f )z are the components of the gradient along the unit vectors
ρ̂, θ̂, ẑ in cylindrical coordinates. From the previous section we recall that ds in cylindrical
coordinates is given by:
ds = dρ ρ̂ + ρ dθ θ̂ + dz ẑ (3.4.16)
By evaluating the dot product of (3.4.15) and (3.4.16), and substituting into (3.4.14), we
obtain:
∂f ∂f ∂f
dρ + dθ + dz = (∇f )ρ dρ + (∇f )θ ρ dθ + (∇f )z dz (3.4.17)
∂ρ ∂θ ∂z
By equating the corresponding coefficients of (dρ, dθ, dz) on the two sides of (3.4.17), we
find:
∂f 1 ∂f ∂f
(∇f )ρ = (∇f )θ = (∇f )z =
∂ρ ρ ∂θ ∂z
Therefore by using (3.4.15), the expression of the gradient in cylindrical coordinates is:

∂f 1 ∂f ∂f
∇f (ρ, θ, z) = ρ̂ + θ̂ + ẑ (3.4.18)
∂ρ ρ ∂θ ∂z
110 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

The gradient in spherical coordinates can also be obtained with the same method, and is
of the form:
∂f 1 ∂f 1 ∂f
∇f (, θ, ϕ) = r̂ + θ̂ + ϕ̂ (3.4.19)
∂r r ∂θ r sin θ ∂ϕ
Note that our work above has also given us the del operator in various coordinate systems:

The Gradient in Different Coordinate Systems

∂ ∂ ∂
∇ =î + ĵ + k̂ Cartesian Coordinates (3.4.20)
∂x ∂y ∂z
∂ 1 ∂ ∂
∇ =ρ̂ + θ̂ + ẑ Cylindrical Coordinates (3.4.21)
∂ρ ρ ∂θ ∂z
∂ 1 ∂ 1 ∂
∇ =r̂ + θ̂ + ϕ̂ Spherical Coordinates (3.4.22)
∂r r ∂θ r sin θ ∂ϕ

The next example shows how to evaluate the gradient of a scalar function in cylindrical
coordinates using a CAS.

Example 3.15: Evaluating the gradient in cylindrical coordinates.

Evaluate the gradient of the scalar function f (ρ, θ, z) = ρ sin θ cos z in cylindrical co-
ordinates (ρ, θ, z), both analytically and using Mathematica and the Python functions
available in [Link].
Solution:
Using (3.4.21) for cylindrical coordinates:

∂f 1 ∂f ∂f
∇f = ρ̂ + θ̂ + ẑ = ρ̂ sin θ cos z + θ̂ cos θ cos z + ẑ (−ρ sin θ sin z)
∂ρ ρ ∂θ ∂z

Python Code
In the Python code we import the CoordSys3D command from the [Link] li-
brary. Within this library we define a coordinate system c and transform it into cylindri-
cal coordinates, by using transformation='cylindrical'. This transformed system
incorporates the cylindrical coordinate parameters (ρ, θ, z) which are represented in-
ternally as c.r, c.t, c.z. The corresponding unit vectors ρ̂, θ̂, ẑ are represented by
c.R, c.T, c.Z respectively.
The gradient within this library is evaluated using gr = gradient(f), and we use
[Link]() to find the coefficients of the unit vectors in the cylindrical system.
Gradient, divergence, and curl 111

# Gradient of a vector in cylindrical coordinates

from sympy import sin, cos
from [Link] import CoordSys3D, gradient

import textwrap

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

# define Cartesian system named c, with unit vectors c.i, c.j, c.k
# Transform it to system with cylindrical coordinates (rho, theta, z)

# variables are c.r, c.t, c.z for rho, theta, z

# unit vectors c.R, c.T, c.Z
c = CoordSys3D('c', transformation='cylindrical',\
variable_names = list("rtz"),vector_names=list("RTZ") )

scalar = c.r*sin(c.t)*cos(c.z)

print('scalar =',scalar)

gr = gradient(scalar)
print('\nThe gradient of this scalar in cylindrical is:')
print([Link](str(gr),63))

print('\nThe rho-component of the gradient is:', [Link](c.R))

print('The theta-component of the gradient is:', [Link](c.T))
print('The z-component of the gradient is:', [Link](c.Z))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

scalar = c.r*sin(c.t)*cos(c.z)

The gradient of this scalar in cylindrical is:

(sin(c.t)*cos(c.z))*c.R + (cos(c.t)*cos(c.z))*c.T +
(-c.r*sin(c.t)*sin(c.z))*c.Z

The rho-component of the gradient is: sin(c.t)*cos(c.z)

The theta-component of the gradient is: cos(c.t)*cos(c.z)
The z-component of the gradient is: -c.r*sin(c.t)*sin(c.z)

Mathematica Code
The first line in the Mathematica code defines the function f (ρ, θ, z) = ρ sin θ cos z,
and the command Grad[f,{rho,theta,z},''Cylindrical''] is used to compute the
gradient in cylindrical coordinates.
112 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

f [rho, theta, z] = rho ∗ Sin[theta] ∗ Cos[z];

Print[“The gradient of the function f in cylindrical coordinates is:”];

Grad[f [rho, theta, z], {rho, theta, z}, “Cylindrical”]

The gradient of the f in cylindrical coordinates is:

{Cos[z] Sin[theta], Cos[theta] Cos[z], −rho Sin[theta] Sin[z]}

The “derivative” properties of the gradient are shown in the following identity, which is
similar to the derivative product rule:

∇(f g) = f ∇g + g∇f (3.4.23)

where f, g are scalar functions of (x, y, z).

Example 3.16 demonstrates this identity using symbolic algebra methods.

Example 3.16: The gradient of a product of scalar functions.

Prove the following general property of the gradient, for any scalar functions f (x, y, z)
and g(x, y, z), by hand and demonstrate using a CAS.

∇ (f g) = f (∇g) + g (∇f ) (3.4.24)

Solution:

∂ (f g) ∂ (f g) ∂ (f g)
∇ (f g) = î + ĵ + k̂
∂x ∂y ∂z
∂g ∂f ∂g ∂f ∂g ∂f
=f î + g î + f ĵ + g ĵ + f k̂ + g k̂
∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂z ∂z
   
∂g ∂g ∂g ∂f ∂f ∂f
=f î + ĵ + k̂ + g î + ĵ + k̂
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x ∂y ∂z
= f (∇g) + g (∇f )

Python Code
In the Python code we define the coordinate system C within [Link], with unit
vectors C.i, C.j, C.k. We define the symbols f, g to be functions of the coordinate
parameters C.x, C.y, C.z, and we evaluate the left-hand side (LHS) and right-hand
side (RHS) of (3.4.24) using the gradient() function.
We verify that the two sides of (3.4.24) are identical by using the logical statement
LHS==RHS, which returns a True value for the equation.
Gradient, divergence, and curl 113

from [Link] import CoordSys3D, gradient

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

C = CoordSys3D('C') # define Cartesian system, named here C

# The scalar field f(x,y,z) is a function of the Cartesian

# coordinate variables C.x, C.y, C.z

from sympy import symbols, Function

f, g = symbols('f, g', cls=Function)

# Define the scalar fields as fscalar(x,y,z), gscalar(x,y,z),

fscalar = f(C.x, C.y, C.z)
gscalar = g(C.x, C.y, C.z)

# Construct the expression for the LHS: grad(f.g)

lhs = gradient(fscalar*gscalar)

# Construct the expression for the rhs: grad(f).g+grad(g).f

rhs = gradient(fscalar)*gscalar+gradient(gscalar)*fscalar

# Compare the two sides

print('The equation grad(f.g)=grad(f).g+grad(g).f is ',lhs==rhs)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The equation grad(f.g)=grad(f).g+grad(g).f is True

Mathematica Code
We use the command Grad[f[x_,y_,z_]*g[x_,y_,z_]] to evaluate the ∇ (f g),
and Grad[f[x_,y_,z_]*g[x_,y_,z_]], Grad[g[x_,y_,z_]*f[x_,y_,z_]] to repre-
sent the ∇ (f ) g and f ∇ (g), respectively. The double equal sign == is used to test
whether the identity is True or False.

LHS = Grad[f [x_, y_, z_] ∗ g[x_, y_, z_], {x, y, z}];

RHS = Grad[f [x_, y_, z_], {x, y, z}] ∗ g[x_, y_, z_]+

Grad[g[x_, y_, z_], {x, y, z}] ∗ f [x_, y_, z_];

Print[“The identity is :”, LHS==RHS]

The identity is :True

In vector calculus, the del operator is a vector differential operator. As we have seen,
when applied to a scalar field, the del operator produces the gradient of a scalar field ∇f .
However, when applied to a vector field, the del operator can produce two quantities, the
divergence of a vector field ∇·v, and the curl of a vector field ∇×v. In the next subsections,
we will illustrate these new quantities.
114 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

3.4.2 DIVERGENCE
The divergence of a vector field v = vx î + vy ĵ + vz k̂ is a scalar function that can be
represented as:
∂vx ∂vy ∂vz
∇·v= + + (3.4.25)
∂x ∂y ∂z
The divergence is obtained by taking a dot product between the del operator and a vector
field. The divergence of a vector field is not frequently encountered in classical mechan-
ics, but it does appear prominently in fluid dynamics and in electromagnetism. In this
subsection, we provide only a brief overview of the divergence.
The divergence is roughly a measure of a vector field’s change in magnitude along the
direction in which it points. More accurately, it is a measure of that field’s tendency to
converge toward or repel from a point, and is sometimes referred to as the “net outward
flow rate” of a vector field. For example, consider air as it is heated or cooled. The relevant
vector field for this example is the velocity of the moving air at a point is pace. If air is
heated in a region, it will expand in all directions such that the velocity field points outward
from that region and towards regions with lower temperature. Therefore, the divergence of
the velocity field in that region would have a positive value, and the region is called a source.
If the air cools and contracts, the divergence is negative and the region is called a sink. In
vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that measures the magnitude of a vector
field’s source or sink at a given point, in terms of a signed scalar.
In physical terms, the divergence of a three-dimensional vector field is the extent to which
the vector field flow behaves like a source or a sink at a given point. It is a local measure
of its “outgoingness”–the extent to which there is more “material” exiting an infinitesimal
region of space than entering it. If the divergence is non-zero at some point, then there must
be a source or sink at that position. Note that when we use the terms source and sink, we
are imagining a vector like the velocity vector field of a fluid in motion.
If the divergence of a vector field A(x, y, z) is zero everywhere in space, this vector field
is called solenoidal.

Solenoidal Vector Fields A(x,y,z)

∇ · A = 0 ←→ A(x, y, z) is a solenoidal vector field (3.4.26)

If u, v are any vector functions and f is any scalar function, the divergence obeys the
following product rule:
∇ · (f v) = f (∇ · v) + v · ∇f (3.4.27)
However, note that the divergence of a cross-vector product is less intuitive:
∇ · (u × v) = v · (∇ × u) − u · (∇ × v) (3.4.28)

Example 3.17: The divergence of a vector field.

Find the divergence of the vector function v = xyz î + xyz ĵ + xyz k̂ analytically and
also by using appropriate codes in Python and Mathematica.
Solution:
The divergence is a scalar, found by adding the partial derivatives:

∂(x y z) ∂(x y z) ∂(x y z)

∇·v= + + = yz + xz + xy
∂x ∂y ∂z
Gradient, divergence, and curl 115

The following are the Python and Mathematica codes for the gradient.

Python Code
The command CoordSys3D('R') defines the coordinate system R, the unit vectors
in this reference frame are denoted by R.i,R.j,R.k.
We use the package [Link] from SymPy.
The divergence is calculated with the command divergence(v) where v = x y z î +
x y z ĵ + x y z k̂ is the given vector field. We test whether the vector field is solenoidal
by using the command is_solenoidal. In this example, the function returns the value
False in Python, so that this field is not solenoidal.

from [Link] import CoordSys3D, divergence, is_solenoidal

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

R = CoordSys3D('R') # define reference frame R

v = R.x*R.y*R.z*(R.i+R.j+R.k) # scalar f with x=R.x, y=R.y,z=R.z

divv = divergence(v) # evaluate divergence using function

print('The divergence of v(x,y,z) is:\n', divv)

test = is_solenoidal(v)
print('\nThe statement The vector field is solenoidal is:', test)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The divergence of v(x,y,z) is:
R.x*R.y + R.x*R.z + R.y*R.z

The statement The vector field is solenoidal is: False

Mathematica Code
Notice that Mathematica outputs the divergence as a scalar function, and the vector
field is entered as a list. The command Div[f,x,y] is used to compute the divergence,
and Mathematica needs to know what variables are needed for differentiation. By de-
fault, Mathematica computes the divergence in Cartesian coordinates.

v = {x ∗ y ∗ z, x ∗ y ∗ z, x ∗ y ∗ z};

Print[“The divergence of the vector field is: ”, Div[v, {x, y, z}]]

The divergence of the vector field is: x y + x z + y z

Note that the divergence takes on a different form in cylindrical and spherical coordi-
nates. To compute the divergence in these coordinate systems, choose the appropriate form
of the del operator, and compute the dot product of the appropriate form of the del operator
from (3.4.20), (3.4.21), and (3.4.22), and the vector of interest. The results are (see also the
problems at the end of this chapter):
116 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

The Divergence in Cartesian, Cylindrical, and Spherical Coordinates

∂vx ∂vy ∂vz
∇·v= + + (3.4.29)
∂x ∂y ∂z
1 ∂ (ρ vρ ) 1 ∂ (vθ ) ∂vz
∇·v= + + (3.4.30)
ρ ∂ρ ρ ∂θ ∂z


1 ∂ r 2 vr 1 ∂ 1 ∂ (vϕ )
∇·v= 2 + (vθ sin θ) + (3.4.31)
r ∂r r sin θ ∂θ r sin θ ∂ϕ

3.4.3 CURL
The divergence uses the del operator to measure the outflow rate of a vector field. We can
also use a form of the del operator to measure the rotational properties of a vector field,
called the curl. The curl of a vector field v(x, y, z) = vx î + vy ĵ + vz k̂ is a vector function
that can be represented as:
     
∂vz ∂vy ∂vx ∂vz ∂vy ∂vx
∇×v= − î + − ĵ + − k̂ (3.4.32)
∂y ∂z ∂z ∂x ∂x ∂y
From a physical point of view, the curl at a point (x, y, z) is proportional to the on-axis
torque to which a tiny pinwheel would be subjected, if it were centered at that point.
The cross-product operation can be written as a pseudo-determinant in Cartesian coor-
dinates:
î ĵ k̂
∇ × v = ∂x ∂y ∂z
∂ ∂ ∂ (3.4.33)
vx vy vz
If u and v are any vector functions and f is any scalar function, the curl also follows a
product rule:
∇ × (f v) = (∇f ) × v + f ∇ × v (3.4.34)
However, the curl of a cross product is more complex:
∇ × (u × v) = (u ∇ · v) − (v ∇ · u) + (v · ∇)u − (u · ∇)v (3.4.35)
The curl takes a different form in cylindrical and spherical coordinates. To compute the curl
in spherical and cylindrical coordinates, choose the appropriate form of the del operator from
(3.4.20), (3.4.21), and (3.4.22) and evaluate the cross product between del and the vector
of interest. The results are:

The Curl in Cartesian, Cylindrical, and Spherical Coordinates

     
∂vz ∂vy ∂vx ∂vz ∂vy ∂vx
∇×v= − î + − ĵ + − k̂ (3.4.36)
∂y ∂z ∂z ∂x ∂x ∂y
     
1 ∂vz ∂vθ ∂vρ ∂vz 1 ∂ (ρ vθ ) ∂vρ
∇×v= − ρ̂ + − θ̂ + − ẑ (3.4.37)
ρ ∂θ ∂z ∂z ∂ρ ρ ∂ρ ∂θ

   
1 ∂ ∂vθ 1 1 ∂vr ∂
∇×v= (vϕ sin θ) − r̂ + − (rvϕ ) θ̂+
r sin θ ∂θ ∂ϕ r sin θ ∂ϕ ∂r
 
1 ∂ (rvθ ) ∂vr
+ − ϕ̂ (3.4.38)
r ∂r ∂θ
Gradient, divergence, and curl 117

The curl has many uses in physics. For example, as we will study in more detail in
Chapter 5, the necessary and sufficient condition for a force F (x, y, z) to be conservative is
that its curl equals zero:

Conservative force field F(x,y,z)

∇ × F = 0 ←→ F(x, y, z) is a conservative force field (3.4.39)

Example 3.18: Calculating the curl using Python and Mathematica.

Find the curl of the vector function v = (y 2 z)î + (xz) ĵ + (xy) k̂ analytically, and
also by using appropriate codes in Python and Mathematica.
Solution:
The curl is found by finding the pseudo-determinant:

î ĵ k̂    
∂(x y) ∂(x z) ∂(y 2 z) ∂(x y)
∇×v= ∂
∂x
∂
∂y
∂
∂z
= − î + − ĵ
2
∂y ∂z ∂z ∂x
y z xz xy
 
∂(x z) ∂(y 2 z)
+ − k̂
∂x ∂y



∇ × v = (x − x) î + y 2 − y ĵ + (z − 2y z) k̂ = (0) î + y 2 − y ĵ + (z − 2y z) k̂

Python Code
We define the coordinate system CoordSys3D('R') and compute the curl using the
function curl(v) and note that the curl is non-zero, so that this field is not conservative.
To check if a vector field is conservative, we can also use the function
is_conservative . In this example, the function returns the value False.

from [Link] import CoordSys3D, curl, is_conservative

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

R = CoordSys3D('R') # define reference frame R

v = R.y**2*R.z*R.i+R.x*R.z*R.j+R.x*R.y*R.k

curlv = curl(v) # evaluate curl using curl function

print('The curl of v(x,y,z) is:\n', curlv)

test = is_conservative(v)
print('\nThe statement The vector field is conservative is:', test)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The curl of v(x,y,z) is:
(R.y**2 - R.y)*R.j + (-2*R.y*R.z + R.z)*R.k

The statement The vector field is conservative is: False

118 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

Mathematica Code
The command Curl[v,x,y,z] is used to compute the curl, and we must specify
the variables for differentiation. The output is in the form of a list, where the three
elements of the list correspond to the x-, y- and z-components of the curl, respectively.
The curl is computed in Cartesian coordinates and it is non-zero, which means that the
vector field is not conservative.
v = {y ∧ 2 ∗ z, x ∗ z, x ∗ y};

curlv = Curl[v, {x, y, z}];

Print[“The curl of the vector field is: ”, curlv]


The curl of the vector field is: 0, −y + y 2 , z − 2yz

3.4.4 SECOND DERIVATIVES WITH THE DEL OPERATOR

The Laplace operator or Laplacian ∇2 is a scalar operator that can be applied to either
vector or scalar fields. The Laplacian is defined as:

∂2 ∂2 ∂2
∇2 = ∇ · ∇ = 2
+ 2+ 2 (3.4.40)
∂x ∂y ∂z
The Laplacian is ubiquitous throughout modern mathematical physics, appearing in
Laplace’s equation, Poisson’s equation, the heat equation, the wave equation, and the
Schrödinger equation, to name a few.
When the del operator acts on the gradient, divergence, and curl of a vector, it produces
five possible second derivatives; the use of the scalar Laplacian and vector Laplacian gives
two more. Here are these second derivatives created by applying the del operator:

∇ · (∇f ) ∇ × (∇f ) ∇2 f ∇(∇ · v) ∇ · (∇ × v) ∇ × (∇ × v)

These second derivatives are of interest, principally because they are not always unique or
independent of each other. As long as the functions v and f are well-behaved, two of these
identities are always zero:

Two Important Vector Identities

∇ × (∇f ) = 0 (3.4.41)
∇ · (∇ × v) = 0 (3.4.42)

The first identity states that the curl of the gradient of any scalar field is always equal to
zero, and the second one states that the divergence of the curl of any vector field is always
equal to zero.
Two of the above second derivatives are always equal:

∇ · (∇f ) = ∇2 f (3.4.43)

The remaining three vector derivatives are related by the equation:

∇ × (∇ × v) = ∇(∇ · v) − ∇2 v (3.4.44)
Chapter summary 119

Example 3.19: Second derivatives

Consider the function V (x, y, z) = x + yz + z 2 in three dimensions. Calculate the
gradient, the divergence of the gradient, the curl of the gradient, and the Laplacian of
this function.
Solution:
The gradient is
∂V ∂V ∂V
∇V = î + ĵ + k̂ = (1)î + (z)ĵ + (y + 2z)k̂
∂x ∂y ∂z
The divergence of the gradient is the dot product of the gradient and the del oper-
ator:
     
∂ ∂V ∂ ∂V ∂ ∂V ∂2V ∂2V ∂2V
∇ · (∇V ) = + + = + +
∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂z ∂z ∂x2 ∂y 2 ∂z 2

Calculating the second derivatives we obtain: ∇ · (∇V ) = 2

This also represents the Laplacian of V , since

∂2 ∂2 ∂2
2
+ 2 + 2 = ∇ · ∇ = ∇2
∂x ∂y ∂z

To find the curl of the gradient, we calculate the cross product, (∇ × ∇V ). This
quantity is always zero, as seen in (3.4.41) for the curl of a gradient.

3.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY

Motion in two and three dimensions is described using vectors. In this book, we use
the following conventions for a vector, its magnitude, and a unit vector:
p
A = Ax î + Ay ĵ + Az k̂ A = |A| = A2x + A2y + A2z
A A
 = = p
|A| contourA2x curves + A2y + A2z

The dot product between two vectors A and B and its derivative are found from
the following relationships:
d dA dB
A · B = Ax Bx + Ay By + Az Bz = AB cos θ (A · B) = B+A
dt dt dt
The cross product between two vectors A and B and its derivative are found from:

A × B = |A||B| sin θ n̂

î ĵ k̂
A2 A3 A A3 A A2
A × B = A1 A2 A3 = î − 1 ĵ + 1 k̂
B2 B3 B1 B3 B1 B2
B1 B2 B3
d dA dB
A × B = −B × A (A × B) = × B + A×
dt dt dt
There are several relationships that can simplify expressions with multiple dot or
cross products. They are:
120 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

The vector triple product: A × (B × C) = B(A · C) − C(A · B)

The scalar triple product: A · (B × C) = B · (C × A) = C · (A × B) = V
In addition, we often need to perform derivatives of vectors with respect to spatial
coordinates. Those derivatives are the gradient, divergence, and curl, written here in
Cartesian coordinates:

∂f ∂f ∂f
∇f (x, y, z) = î + ĵ + k̂
∂x ∂y ∂z

∂vx ∂vy ∂vz

∇·v= + +
∂x ∂y ∂z

î ĵ k̂      
∂vz ∂vy ∂vx ∂vz ∂vy ∂vx
∇×v = ∂
∂x
∂
∂y
∂
∂z
= − î + − ĵ + − k̂
∂y ∂z ∂z ∂x ∂x ∂y
vx vy vz

The gradient gives the direction of most rapid change in a scalar field. The divergence
measures the magnitude of a vector field’s source or sink at a given point. The curl at
a point is proportional to the on-axis torque to which a tiny pinwheel is subjected.
The directional derivative df /dn in the direction n̂ = nx î + ny ĵ + nz k̂ is:

df ∂f ∂f ∂f
= n̂ · ∇f = nx + ny + nz
dn ∂x ∂y ∂z
A force F will be conservative if and only if its curl is zero: ∇×F=0
Second derivatives of vector and scalar fields are also important in mechanics. The
Laplacian ∇2 is a scalar operator that can be applied to either vector or scalar fields:

∂2 ∂2 ∂2
∇2 = 2
+ 2+ 2
∂x ∂y ∂z

∇ × (∇f ) = 0

∇ · (∇ × v) = 0

Motion in two and three dimensions can sometimes be best described by non-Cartesian
coordinates. Euler’s important identities are:

eiθ + e−iθ eiθ − e−iθ

cos θ = sin θ =
2 2i

eiθ = cos θ + i sin θ e−iθ = cos θ − i sin θ

Polar coordinates are related to Cartesian coordinates using:

x = r cos θ y = r sin θ
p
r = x2 + y 2 θ = tan−1 (y/x)
The unit vectors in polar coordinates are:

r̂ = cos θ î + sin θ ĵ θ̂ = − sin θ î + cos θ ĵ r = rr̂

End-of-chapter problems 121

The velocity vector in polar coordinates is:

dr dr dθ
v= = r̂ + r θ̂
dt dt dt
The cylindrical coordinates ρ, θ, z are related to the Cartesian coordinate by:

x = ρ cos θ y = ρ sin θ z=z

Unit vectors ρ̂, θ̂, ẑ in cylindrical coordinates change direction with the moving
particle, and are related to the Cartesian unit vectors by:
    
ρ̂ cos θ sin θ 0 î
θ̂  = − sin θ cos θ 0  ĵ 
ẑ 0 0 1 k̂

Spherical coordinates r, θ, ϕ are related to Cartesian coordinates by:

x = r cos ϕ sin θ y = r sin ϕ sin θ z = r cos θ

with unit vectors:
    
r̂ sin θ cos ϕ sin θ sin ϕ cos θ î
 θ̂  = cos θ cos ϕ cos θ sin ϕ − sin θ  ĵ 
ϕ̂ − sin ϕ cos ϕ 0 k̂

3.6 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, or numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 3.1: Position, Velocity, and Acceleration in Cartesian Coordinates

1. An object with mass m = 1 kg has a position vector on the xy-plane given by

r = (3 + 5 cos t)î + (2 + 4 sin t)ĵ, where t is time and all quantities are measured in SI
units.
a. Show analytically that the motion on the xy-plane is an ellipse, and find the
equation of the ellipse in Cartesian coordinates (x, y).
b. Plot the ellipse using Mathematica and/or Python.
c. On the same plot, show the unit vector tangent to the elliptical path at time
t = π/2 as an arrow.
d. Repeat (c) for a unit vector perpendicular to the elliptical path at t = π/2.
2. A particle is moving in space along the curve (a cos(ωt), b sin(ωt), ct2 ) where t is the
time, and a, b, c are constants. All physical quantities are in SI units.

a. Find expressions for the magnitude of the velocity and acceleration at any point
in space.
b. Find an expression for the unit tangent vector at any point along the motion.
122 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

3. The acceleration of a mass moving in two dimensions is given by a = (3î − 4ĵ) m/s2 .
At time t = 0 the body is located at the origin and is moving with a speed of 1 m/s.
a. Find the velocity vector v(t).
b. Find the position vector r(t).
4. Find the tangent vector at any point of the curve (x, y, z) = (t3 , 3t2 − 1, 2t − 5) ,
where t represents time, and physical quantities are in SI units.
5. A particle moves along the curve (x, y, z) = (t2 , t3 , sin t). Find the tangential and
normal component of the velocity and acceleration vectors at time t = 1 s.

6. Consider the 3D curve (x, y, z) = (t3 , 3t2 − 1, 2t − 5) where t is time, and all
physical quantities are in SI units.
a. Plot the 3D curve and the tangent vector at t = 2.

b. Plot the angle between the position and velocity vectors as a function of time.

7. Create three-dimensional plots of the following objects, using parametric equations.

In each case, label the axes and the plots.
a. A sphere of radius R =1.

b. A cone of radius R = 1 and height H =1 .

c. A cylinder of radius R = 1 and height H =1 .
d. An ellipsoid with semi-major axes a = 1, b = 0.6 and c = 0.3.

Section 3.2: Vector Products

8. If the force on a particle is given by F = f (r)r̂ where r is magnitude of the position
vector, r̂ is the unit vector along the position vector r, and f (r) is a scalar function
of r, then F is known as a central force. Show that in such cases the vector r × v does
not change with time. What is the physical meaning of this result?
9. Identify the cross product and/or dot product equations for the following quantities.
In each case identify all the symbols involved in clear sentences.
a. Mechanical Work
b. Magnetic Flux
c. Electric Flux
d. Lorentz Force
e. Torque
f. Angular Momentum

10. Consider the vectors A = (1, 1, 2) and B = (1, 1, 1).

a. Plot the vectors A, B and their cross product vector A × B on a 3D Cartesian
coordinate system.
b. Plot the plane surface function z = 1 − x − y and a vector perpendicular to this
plane on a 3D Cartesian coordinate system.
End-of-chapter problems 123

11. Find the area of the triangle defined by the points A (1, 1, 1), B (2, 3, 0), and C
(1, −1, 0).
12. If the magnitude of a vector A is constant, then show that A and dA/dt are perpen-
dicular vectors.

13. The force on a particle of mass m is given by F = 3r, where r is the position vector
(x, y, z). Show analytically and using symbolic algebra that the angular momentum
L = m (r × v) of the body is conserved, i.e., that the derivative dL/dt = 0. Here v is
the velocity of the particle.

14. By using the derivative properties of the dot and cross product, show analytically
and using Mathematica and/or Sympy that for any vector v the following identity is
true:
    
d dv d2 v dv d3 v
v. × 2 = v. × 3
dt dt dt dt dt

15. If the position of a particle on the xy-plane is given by r = cos(ωt)î + sin(ωt)ĵ, show
that the vector r × v is a constant vector. What is the physical meaning of this result?

16. Use the symbolic capabilities of Mathematica and SymPy to demonstrate the
following identities for any vectors A, B, C:

A × (B × C) + B × (C × A) + C × (A × B) = 0
2
(A × B) · [(B × C) × (C × A)] = (A · [B × C])

17. An object with mass
m = 2 has a position vector given by r =

3t2 i − 5 sin t j + 5 cos t k where all quantities are measured in SI units and t
represents the time. Use the symbolic capabilities of Mathematica and/or SymPy to
evaluate the following:

a. Find the magnitude of the angular momentum vector L = r × p at t = π, where

p is the linear momentum of the body.
b. Find the angle of the position and velocity vectors at time t = π.
c. Find the torque τ = r × F on the body at t = π, where F is the force acting on
the body.
18. The equation of motion of a particle P with a mass m is given by

d2 r
m = f (r) r̂
dt2
where r is the position vector of P measured from an origin O, r̂ is a unit vector in
the direction r, and f (r) is a function of the distance of P from the origin O.
a. Show that
dr
r× =c
dt
where c is a constant vector.
b. Interpret physically the cases f (r) < 0 and f (r) > 0.
124 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

c. What is the physical meaning of the result in (a)? Note that the angular momen-
tum vector of the particle is defined as the cross product L = m (r × v), where
v is the velocity of the particle.
d. Describe how the results obtained in (a)-(c) relate to the motion of the planets
in our solar system.
19. In this chapter the dot and cross products were evaluated using SymPy in Python. An
alternative method of evaluating dot and cross products in NumPy is using functions
of the form dot(A,B) and cross(A,B). Write a Python code to implement the dot
and cross product of two vectors in NumPy using functions of this type.

Section 3.3: Position, Velocity, and Acceleration in Non-Cartesian Coordinates

20. A mass m hangs from a string of length L, so that it moves on a horizontal circle.
The string makes an angle Θ with the vertical line. Calculate the period T of the
rotational motion.

Figure 3.13: A hanging mass moves on a horizontal circle, in Problem 20.

21. Show that the acceleration vector in polar coordinates is given by:
"  2 #  2 
dv d2 r dθ d θ dr dθ
a= = −r r̂ + r 2 + 2 θ̂
dt dt2 dt dt dt dt

One possible method is by taking the time derivative of the velocity vector

dr dr dθ
v= = r̂ + r θ̂
dt dt dt
d d
and then using the derivatives of the unit vectors dt θ̂ and dt r̂ derived in this chapter.
22. A point mass m is placed at the top of the frictionless surface of a sphere of radius
R, and slides down the surface of the sphere. At what point does the mass leave the
spherical surface?

23. Consider a mass m moving in the xy-plane under the influence of a force whose
polar components are given by the expression Fθ = mṙθ̇ and Fr = 0, where (r, θ) are
polar coordinates. Show that
r = C θ̇−1
√
ṙ = A ln r + B
where A, B, C are constants. You may want to use a CAS for some of the steps in this
problem.
24. A wheel of radius R is rolling without slipping on a flat frictionless surface.
End-of-chapter problems 125

a. Show that the path of a point on the circumference of the wheel is a cycloid
curve:
x = Rθ + R sin θ y = R + R cos θ
where θ is the angle of rotation of the wheel around its center of mass.
b. Find the velocity and acceleration of this point on the circumference of the rolling
wheel.
c. The curvature k at a point of a curve is defined as
|a × v|
k= 3
|v|
where a and v are the acceleration and velocity vectors of the wheel. Find the
curvature k at a point located at the top of the cycloid.
25. Find the curvature at the top of the parabolic path of a projectile by assuming no air
resistance. The curvature k at a point of a curve is defined as
|a × v|
k= 3
|v|
where a, v are the acceleration and velocity vectors of the object.
26. Find expressions for the velocity and the acceleration vectors in spherical coordinates.

27. Use SymPy and/or Mathematica to show that for any vectors A, B, C, D the
following identities are true:
a. A × [B × (C × D)] = B [A · (C × D)] − (A · B) (C × D)
b. (A × B) · (C × D) = (A · C) (B · D) − (A · D) (B · C)

28. Show symbolically and analytically that for any two vectors A, B:
   
d dA dB
(A · B) = ·B + A·
dt dt dt

where A and B are time-dependent vectors.

29. Starting from the relationships between the spherical and Cartesian coordinates
x = r sin θ cos ϕ, y = r sin θ sin ϕ and z = r cos θ, show that the arc length in spherical
coordinates is given by:
ds2 = dr2 + r2 dθ2 + r2 sin2 θ dϕ2 (3.6.1)
Do this problem both analytically and with the use of a symbolic algebra system.

30. Use Mathematica and/or SymPy to solve the following system of equations for
the unit vectors r̂, θ̂ in polar coordinates:
r̂ = cos θ î + sin θ ĵ (3.6.2)
θ̂ = − sin θ î + cos θ ĵ (3.6.3)
to obtain the Cartesian unit vectors î, ĵ in terms of r̂, θ̂.
126 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

31. Use Mathematica and/or SymPy to differentiate the following expressions for the
polar unit vectors r̂ and θ̂ with respect to time t,

r̂ = cos θ î + sin θ ĵ
θ̂ = − sin θ î + cos θ ĵ
and show that

dr̂ dθ dθ̂ dθ
= θ̂ =− r̂ (3.6.4)
dt dt dt dt

Section 3.4: Gradient, Divergence, and Curl

32. A particle is located at r = − î + 3ĵ − 4k̂; find the values of r, θ, ϕ for this vector and
the spherical coordinates unit vectors r̂, θ̂, ϕ̂ at the position r. In addition, find its
components Ar , Aθ and Aϕ in spherical coordinates, such that r = Ar r̂ + Aθ θ̂ + Aϕ ϕ̂.
33. Cylindrical and spherical coordinates are examples of orthogonal curvilinear systems.
In such coordinate systems, we can obtain expressions for the gradient, divergence
and curl by using the following general procedure. Let r be some point in space and qi
represent the coordinate system, we can define three vectors ei which are orthogonal
to each other by evaluating the partial derivatives:
∂r
ei = ei · ej = 0 (i = 1, 2, 3 i ̸= j)
∂qi
These ei vectors can be normalized by dividing by their length, and the normalized
basis vectors are then:
ei ei
êi = =
hi |ei |
The lengths hi of the basis vectors êi are very useful functions known as scale factors
of the coordinates. In the case of Cartesian coordinates, qi = x, y, z and
   
∂r ∂r ∂r
êi = , , = î, ĵ, k̂
∂x ∂y ∂z

and it is easy to verify that hi = [Link] infinitesimal length in this orthogonal coordi-
nate system is found from:
√ q
ds = dr · dr = h21 dq12 + h22 dq22 + h23 dq32

The corresponding infinitesimal volume elements are calculated from:

dV = h1 h2 h3 dq1 dq2 dq3

a. Find expressions for the unit vectors êi in cylindrical coordinates, and determine
the corresponding scale factors.
b. Find expressions for the infinitesimal arc length ds2 and infinitesimal volume dV
in cylindrical coordinates.

34. Repeat Problem 33 for spherical coordinates, i.e., find the unit vectors êi , the square
of the element of arc length ds2 , the corresponding scale factors and the infinitesimal
volume dV for spherical coordinates.
End-of-chapter problems 127

35. The gradient of a scalar field f , the divergence and curl of a vector field
F = (F1 , F2 , F3 ), and the Laplacian of a scalar field f can be found using the
following general expressions:

ê1 ∂f ê2 ∂f ê3 ∂f

∇f = + +
h1 ∂q1 h2 ∂q2 h3 ∂q3
 
1 ∂ ∂ ∂
∇·F= (F1 h2 h3 ) + (F2 h3 h1 ) + (F3 h1 h2 )
h1 h2 h3 ∂q1 ∂q2 ∂q3
   
ê1 ∂ ∂ ê2 ∂ ∂
∇×F= (h3 F3 ) − (h2 F2 ) + (h1 F1 ) − (h3 F3 )
h2 h3 ∂q2 ∂q3 h3 h1 ∂q3 ∂q1
 
ê3 ∂ ∂
+ (h2 F2 ) − (h1 F1 )
h1 h2 ∂q1 ∂q2
h1 ê1 h2 ê2 h3 ê3
1 ∂ ∂ ∂
=
h1 h2 h3 ∂q1 ∂q2 ∂q3
h1 F 1 h2 F 2 h3 F 3
      
1 ∂ h2 h3 ∂f ∂ h3 h1 ∂f ∂ h1 h2 ∂f
∇2 f = + +
h1 h2 h3 ∂q1 h1 ∂q1 ∂q2 h2 ∂q2 ∂q3 h3 ∂q3

where the hi are the scale factors of the basis vectors, êi , which were defined in
Problem 33.
a. Use the expressions above to obtain the gradient, divergence, and curl in cylin-
drical coordinates.

b. Obtain the divergence for spherical coordinates.

36. Consider the function V (x, y, z) = x4 + y 5 + z 6 in three dimensions. Calculate the

following quantities both analytically and using a CAS, and indicate which of these
is a vector and which is a scalar.


a. ∇ ∇2 V

b. (∇V × ∇V ) · (∇V )
  
c. ∇ × ∇ × V î where î is the unit vector in the x-direction.
d. ∇2 (∇V )
e. ∇ (∇V · ∇V )

37. Given the function f = y 2 + x3 find the following quantities both analytically and
using Mathematica and/or SymPy:
a. Curl of the gradient of f

b. Laplacian of f
c. Divergence of the gradient of f

38. Consider the function V (x, y) = x2 + y 2 in two dimensions.

a. Graph the equipotential lines V (x, y) = 1, V (x, y) = 4, and V (x, y) = 9 on the
xy−plane.
128 Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

b. Graph the gradient of V (x, y) on the xy-plane.

c. If V (x, y) is the electric potential on the xy-plane, what does this gradient rep-
resent physically?

39. Graph the vector fields and contours of constant value for the functions:
a. V (x, y) = y î + x ĵ
b. V (x, y) = −x î − y ĵ
c. V (x, y) = y î + x ĵ + z k̂


40. Prove that ∇2 1r = 0 where r is the magnitude of the position vector r.

41. Prove analytically and using Mathematica and/or Python that:

∇ · (ϕA) = (∇ϕ) · A + ϕ (∇ · A)

where ϕ(x, y, z) is a scalar function, and A(x, y, z) is a vector function.

42. Prove ∇ · r/r3 = 0, where r is the magnitude of the position vector r.
43. If v = ω × r, prove ω = 1
2 curl v where ω is a constant vector, and r is the position
vector.

44. Find the ∇f if (a) f = ln |r|, (b) f = 1r . Here r is the magnitude of the position
vector r. Solve this problem both analytically and with a symbolic algebra system.

45. Show that ∇rn = nrn−2 r where r is the magnitude of the position vector r.
46. Maxwell’s famous equations concern the magnetic field vector B and the electric field
vector E. If these vectors satisfy the equations:
∂B ∂E
∇·E=0 ∇ · B=0 ∇×E=− ∇×B=
dt dt
then show that E and B satisfy the generalized wave equation:

∂2E ∂2B
∇2 E = ∇2 B =
∂t2 ∂t2

47. Demonstrate using a symbolic algebra system that for any vector field A(x, y, z),
the following is true:

∇ × (∇ × A) = −∇2 A + ∇ (∇ · A)
 4 Momentum, Angular
Momentum, and
Multiparticle Systems
In this chapter, we focus on two important physical quantities: linear momentum and an-
gular momentum. Under certain conditions, as explained in this chapter, momentum and
angular momentum are conserved quantities, meaning that their values are constant dur-
ing a physical process. The conservation of momentum or angular momentum can then be
used to solve problems by comparing the state of a system before a physical process to the
state of that same system after this process. In this chapter, we will also study multiparti-
cle systems, continuous mass distributions (i.e., systems that are not point particles), and
the center of mass. We develop relationships between the total momentum of a system of
particles to the momentum of the system’s center of mass. We also develop a relationship
between the angular momentum of a system of particles and the angular momentum of the
system’s center of mass. We show that these relationships also hold for continuous mass
distributions. Finally, we discuss numerical integration techniques which will be useful when
finding a system’s center of mass.

4.1 CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM AND NEWTON’S THIRD LAW

Recall that Newton’s third law states that if Particle 1 exerts a force F21 on Particle 2,
then Particle 2 exerts a force F12 on Particle 1 such that:

F12 = −F21 (4.1.1)

Newton’s third law will lead us to an interesting result. Consider two particles interacting via
a force, which we will refer to as an “internal force.” For example, if our two objects are the
Earth and Moon, their gravitational interaction would be the internal force. Furthermore,
assume that each particle is experiencing an external force due to other bodies outside of
the system. In the case of the Earth and the Moon, that could be the Sun’s gravitational
force, a body outside the Earth-Moon system. The net force F1 on Particle 1 is then:

F1 = F12 + Fext
1 (4.1.2)

where F12 is the force on Particle 1 exerted by Particle 2 (the “internal force”), and Fext
1 is
the net external force acting on Particle 1. Similarly, Particle 2 experiences a net force:

F2 = F21 + Fext
2 (4.1.3)

Let p1 and p2 represent the linear momenta of the two particles, then Newton’s second law
states that
ṗ1 = F1 = F12 + Fext
1 (4.1.4)
and
ṗ2 = F2 = F21 + Fext
2 (4.1.5)
Now, we define the total momentum vector as P = p1 + p2 , to be the sum of the momenta
of each particle. Then,
Ṗ = ṗ1 + ṗ2 = Fext ext
1 + F2 =F
ext
(4.1.6)

129
130 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

Hence, we see that if there are no total net external forces Fext = Fext ext
1 + F2 then Ṗ = 0,
or to put it another way:

The Law of Conservation of Linear Momentum

If Fext = 0, then P = constant.

The total momentum of a system is conserved if no external forces act on that system.
This is an important law in physics, one that we will use to solve problems in cases where
the external forces add to zero.

Example 4.1: Inelastic collision between two bodies.

Consider two objects with masses m1 and m2 moving with velocities v1 and v2 ,
respectively. The two masses collide and stick together, moving away from the collision
as one object with a velocity v. Ignoring external forces occurring during the collision,
find the velocity of the objects immediately after the collision.
Solution:
This type of collision is called a perfectly inelastic collision because the two bodies
are stuck together after the collision. Because we can ignore the external forces during
the collision, we can use conservation of momentum to solve this problem. The total
momentum before the collision is:

Pinitial = m1 v1 + m2 v2

and the total momentum after the collision is:

Pfinal = (m1 + m2 ) v

Note that because the two objects stick together after the collision, both masses have
the same velocity, hence the right-hand side of Pfinal above. Conservation of momentum
tells us that Pinitial = Pfinal and therefore:
m1 v1 + m2 v2
v=
m1 + m2
Notice that the final velocity is the weighted average of the initial velocities, where the
masses of each object serve as the weights for the average. While this problem may seem
to be simple, it is an important application of the conservation of momentum; it is used
to solve problems in nuclear physics, astrophysics, and accident reconstruction–to name
a few.

Example 4.2: Elastic collision between two bodies.

A particle of mass m1 = 0.10 kg moving with a velocity of v0 = 10.0 m/s î collides
with another particle that is at rest and has a mass m2 = 0.20 kg. After the collision,
each particle moves as shown in Figure 4.1, where θ = π/6 rad. The collision is elastic,
meaning that the kinetic energy of each particle is conserved. Find the speed v1 of mass
m1 , and the speed v2 and angle ϕ for mass m2 after the collision.
Conservation of momentum and Newton’s third law 131

m1 v1

v0 θ
m1 φ
m2
m2
v2
Figure 4.1: Before and after the collision in Example 4.2.

Solution:
Recall that in an elastic collision both the total momentum mv and total kinetic
energy 1/2mv 2 are conserved. We will discuss kinetic energy more in depth in the next
chapter.
Only mass m1 is moving before the collision, and the problem states that the velocity
is in the x-direction. Therefore,

pinitial = m1 v0 î

The momentum after the collision involves both particles. By analyzing the velocity
vectors v1 and v2 into their x and y components, we can write:

pfinal = (m1 v1 cos θ + m2 v2 cos ϕ) î + (m1 v1 sin θ − m2 v2 sin ϕ) ĵ

Using conservation of momentum, we equate pinitial = pfinal . In addition, because

the collision is elastic, we also equate the initial and final kinetic energies. Together,
the two conservation laws lead to three equations:

m1 v0 = m1 v1 cos θ + m2 v2 cos ϕ
0 = m1 v1 sin θ − m2 v2 sin ϕ
1 1 1
m1 v02 = m1 v12 + m2 v22
2 2 2
The first two equations represent the total momentum in the x and y directions
respectively, and the third equation represents the conservation of kinetic energy. In
addition, we know that v0 = 10.0 m/s, m1 = 0.10 kg, and m2 = 0.20 kg. As you might
imagine, this problem can involve a lot of algebra. However, a CAS will be able to assist
us with that algebra.

Python Code
We use fsolve from the SciPy library to solve for v1 , v2 and ϕ. The fsolve command
takes a vector function as its input. The components of the vector function f are the
equations to be solved (with the right-hand side set to zero). We need to give fsolve
a guess to begin with. We choose 10 and 0 as the initial guesses for v1 and v2 , because
these were the initial velocities of m1 and m2 . We choose 1 as an initial guess for
ϕ because the nearly equal masses would imply the particle would move in similar
132 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

directions. However, it should be noted that the answer for ϕ given by fsolve is very
sensitive to the initial guess.

import numpy as np
from [Link] import fsolve

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

m1, m2, v0, theta = 0.1, 0.2, 10, [Link]/6

# we use initial guess values of [v1,v2,phi]=[10,0,1]

def f(x):
#let x[0] = v1, x[1] = v2, x[3] = phi
return [m1*v0 - m1*x[0]*[Link](theta) - m2*x[1]*[Link](x[2]),
m1*x[0]*[Link](theta) - m2*x[1]*[Link](x[2]),
0.5*m1*v0**2 - 0.5*m1*x[0]**2 - 0.5*m2*x[1]**2]

roots = fsolve(f,[10,0,1])

print('v1 = ', roots[0])

print('v2 = ', roots[1])
print('phi = ', roots[2])

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

v1 = 9.34172358964264
v2 = 2.5231131936226365
phi = 1.182656811357155

Mathematica Code
We begin the program by defining our known variables, the final direction θ of mass
m1 , the initial velocity of m1 (v0), and the values of the masses m1 and m2 . If you run
this code from this book’s website, the Solve command gives a warning (shown here
as a comment line) that some solutions may not be found by Mathematica. This is not
uncommon when using a CAS to solve transcendental equations.
However, four solutions are found. The first three solutions include negative values
for v1 and v2 . These are non-physical results because v1 and v2 are speeds, and speed is
the positive magnitude of the velocity vector. The fourth solution found by Mathematica
contains all positive values, which is in agreement with the problem’s diagram. Finally,
we need to remember that Mathematica, like any calculator, is not respecting significant
figures. Therefore, our final answer is: v1 = 9.3 m/s, v2 = 2.5 m/s, and ϕ = 1.2 rad. As
we have said before, the availability of CAS programs is not a substitute for knowing
how to do algebra. The reader should verify the solution by hand and by checking the
physical meaning of the analytical results.
Conservation of momentum and Newton’s third law 133

θ = π/6; v0 = 10; m1 = 0.1; m2 = 0.2;

soln = Solve[{m1 ∗ v0 == m1 ∗ v1 ∗ Cos[θ] + m2 ∗ v2 ∗ Cos[ϕ],

m1 ∗ v1 ∗ Sin[θ] == m2 ∗ v2 ∗ Sin[ϕ],

0.5 ∗ m1 ∗ v0∧ 2 == 0.5 ∗ m1 ∗ v1∧ 2 + 0.5 ∗ m2 ∗ v2∧ 2}, {v1, v2, ϕ}];

Print[“The four possible solutions are:”]

Do[Print[soln[[i]]], {i, 1, 4}]

(* Solve::ifun : Inverse functions are being used by Solve,

so some solutions may not be found;

use Reduce for complete solution information. *)

The four possible solutions are:

{v1 → −3.56822, v2 → −6.6056, ϕ → 3.00613}
{v1 → −3.56822, v2 → 6.6056, ϕ → −0.135459}
{v1 → 9.34172, v2 → −2.52311, ϕ → −1.95894}
{v1 → 9.34172, v2 → 2.52311, ϕ → 1.18266}

Next, we study the case where three or more particles are involved. The question arises:
Do we still expect momentum to be conserved when there are many interacting particles?
Let’s begin by examining the net force acting on a collection of N interacting particles. The
net force on the ith particle is: X
Fi = Fext
i + Fij (4.1.7)
j̸=i

where as previously stated Fext

i is the net external force acting on the ith particle, and Fij
is the force of interaction between particle j and particle i. The summation term in the
equation above denotes the net internal force acting on the particle. The net force acting on
the system would then be obtained by summing the above equation over the N particles:

X
N X
N X
N X
F= Fi = Fext
i + Fij (4.1.8)
i=1 i=1 i=1 j̸=i

Equation (4.1.8) can be rewritten as:

X
N X
N X
F= Fext
i + (Fij + Fji ) (4.1.9)
i=1 i=1 j>i

If this rewriting is not clear to you, set N = 3 and write out the terms in (4.1.8); you
will find that you can rewrite the sum as a collection of two terms, as shown previously.
Newton’s third law tells us that Fji = −Fij , and therefore the second term in the previous
equation is zero leading to:
XN
Ṗ = F = Fext
i (4.1.10)
i=1
134 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

The Law of Conservation of Linear Momentum for a System of N Particles

X
N
If Fext
i =0 then P = constant (4.1.11)
i=1

In other words, the momentum of the system of particles is conserved if there are no
external forces acting on the system, like in the case of two-particle systems.

4.2 ROCKETS
A practical example of conservation of momentum is rocket propulsion. The rocket has a
challenge of moving forward without pushing against something. For example, an automobile
moves forward by turning its wheels so that it pushes against the ground. However, a rocket
in space has nothing to push against. Instead, the rocket solves this problem by ejecting
mass, similar to the recoil of a gun. Before a gun is fired, the bullet and the gun are at rest.
However, once the bullet is fired, it is propelled forward. In order for the total momentum
to be conserved, the gun has to move in the direction opposite to that of the bullet. The
velocities of the gun and the bullet are, of course, very different because the gun has more
mass than the bullet does.
We begin by considering a rocket flying horizontally and assume that the rocket is not
experiencing any external forces. The rocket has momentum p(t) = mv at time t, where m
and v are the mass and velocity of the rocket. The momentum of the rocket is measured
by an observer in a reference frame that is at rest relative to the rocket. A short time later
denoted by t + dt, the rocket has expelled a small amount of mass dm′ , which is moving
at a speed u relative to the rocket, as illustrated in Figure 4.2. The speed u is sometimes
called the exhaust speed. The ejection of mass leads to an increase in the rocket’s speed by
a small amount dv, as measured in the rest frame. Therefore, the momentum of the system
immediately after the mass was ejected is:
p(t + dt) = (m − dm′ )(v + dv) + dm′ (v − u) (4.2.1)
where the second term above is the momentum of the ejected mass relative to the rest
frame.

dm' v+dv
m-dm'
u
Figure 4.2: A rocket after ejecting a small amount of mass dm′ at a speed u relative to the
rocket.

Applying conservation of momentum:

p(t) = p(t + dt) (4.2.2)

mv = (m − dm′ )(v + dv) + dm′ (v − u) (4.2.3)
m dv = u dm′ (4.2.4)
m dv = − u dm (4.2.5)
Rockets 135

where the last line was obtained by noting that the change in mass of the rocket is
dm = −dm′ . Furthermore, we ignored the term dm′ dv because both dm′ and dv are
small; therefore their product is negligible. Dividing both sides by dt we obtain:

m v̇ = −u ṁ (4.2.6)

The left-hand side of (4.2.6) is Newton’s second law (F = ma), and therefore we see that
the net force acting on the rocket is equal to −u ṁ, which is sometimes called the thrust.
Note that ṁ < 0, so the thrust is positive (and points to the right in Figure 4.2). We can
also write (4.2.6) as:
dm
dv = −u (4.2.7)
m
This equation can be integrated by assuming a constant u. If at t = 0 the rocket’s speed is
v0 and its mass is m0 , we obtain:
m 
0
v − v0 = u ln (4.2.8)
m
which gives the velocity of the rocket as a function of its mass m. Equation (4.2.8) tells us
that in order to make a rocket go as fast as possible, engineers need to create rockets with
large exhaust speed u, and with a large initial to final mass ratio m0 /m. The final speed of
the rocket will be obtained once all of the fuel is burned. Rockets with multiple stages that
are ejected can help maximize m0 /m, so that the rocket can achieve even greater speeds.
Next, we study the case of a rocket moving vertically, experiencing the force of gravity.
Our goal is to find an equation which describes the velocity of the rocket. We will use a
coordinate system where the positive y-direction is upward, in the opposite direction of the
force of gravity. In this case, gravity is an external force acting on the rocket, and therefore:

dp
= − mg (4.2.9)
dt
dp = − mgdt (4.2.10)
p(t + dt) − p(t) = − mgdt (4.2.11)
mdv + udm = − mgdt (4.2.12)
dv dm
m +u = − mg (4.2.13)
dt dt
In order to obtain an equation for v, we assume a constant burn rate α:
dm
α=− (4.2.14)
dt
Using our definition of burn rate, (4.2.13) becomes:

dv α
=−g+ u (4.2.15)
dt  m 
αu
dv = −g + dt (4.2.16)
g m
u
dv = − dm (4.2.17)
α m
Integrating the above equation using v(0) = v0 and m(0) = m0 produces:
g m 
0
v − v0 = (m − m0 ) + u ln (4.2.18)
α m
136 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

This equation gives the velocity of the rocket as a function of mass m when the burn rate α
is constant. Sometimes (4.2.18) is rewritten by integrating the definition of the burn rate:
m − m0 = −αt. In that case, (4.2.18) becomes:
m 
0
v − v0 = −gt + u ln (4.2.19)
m
The advantage of using (4.2.19) is that one can see two terms which affect the rocket’s
motion. The first term, −gt, is the standard kinematics term for a particle in free fall, and
represents the effect of gravity on the velocity. The second term, u ln(m0 /m), is the same
term we obtained for the horizontal motion of the rocket and represents the effect of thrust
on the rocket’s velocity.

4.3 CENTER OF MASS

Problems involving momentum often involve multiple objects, such as in the case of colli-
sions. In situations where the system of interest involves multiple particles, or the object
under study is not a point particle, the concept of center of mass becomes useful. Let us
begin by considering a system of N point particles. The location R of the center of mass
for a system of particles is defined as:

Center of Mass for a System of Discrete Particles

1 X
N
R= mi ri (4.3.1)
M i=1

1 X 1 X 1 X
N N N
X= m i xi Y = mi yi Z= m i zi (4.3.2)
M i=1 M i=1 M i=1

where riP is the position of the ith particle, which has mass mi . The total mass of the system
is M = mi . Equation (4.3.1) is actually three equations, one for each coordinate of R.
For example, in Cartesian coordinates the position of the ith particle is ri = xi î + yi ĵ + zi k̂
and we can write R = X î + Y ĵ + Z k̂.
The center of mass is the weighted average location of the mass in the system, with the
weights being the masses mi . The location of the center of mass will be closer to the heavier
particles. The next example illustrates this point.

Example 4.3: Center of mass of the Earth-Sun system.

Compute the location of the center of mass of the Earth-Sun system.
Solution:
We choose a coordinate system such that the center of the Sun is at the origin. We
will also approximate the Earth’s orbit as circular and assume that the plane of the
Earth’s orbit is constant. Therefore, we can work in polar coordinates and only need
to find the distance of the center of mass of the system from the Sun’s center. The
distance between the Earth and the Sun is approximately 1.5 × 1011 m, and the masses
of the Earth and Sun are 5.9 × 1024 kg and 2.0 × 1030 kg, respectively. Therefore, in our
Center of mass 137

coordinate system, rSun = 0 and rEarth = 1.5 × 1011 m. Inserting these numbers into
(4.3.1) gives:



(mEarth ) (rEarth ) 5.9 × 1024 kg 1.5 × 1011 m
= = 4.6 × 105 m.
mSun + mEarth 5.9 × 1024 kg + 2.0 × 1030 kg
The radius of the Sun is approximately 7.0 × 108 m. Therefore, the center of mass of
the Earth-Sun system is well inside the Sun, and it practically coincides with the center
of the Sun.

If we want to extend (4.3.1) to continuous distributions of mass, i.e., objects that are not
well-described as point particles, then we need to make some changes. One way to approach
a continuous mass distribution is by thinking of it as a collection of infinitesimal masses
dm. Then the sum over discrete particles in (4.3.1) becomes an integral over infinitesimal
mass elements dm. The center of mass equations then become:

Center of Mass for a Continuous Mass Distribution

Z Z
1
R= rdm M = dm (4.3.3)
M
Z Z Z
1 1 1
X= xdm Y = ydm Z = zdm (4.3.4)
M M M

R
In the equations above, the total mass is found from M = dm, and like (4.3.1), equation
(4.3.3) actually consists of three equations, one for each coordinate. Typically, one does not
integrate (4.3.3) using the mass. Most often the integration is done over the length, area,
or volume of the object, when the object does not have a uniform density.
The following box summarizes how to calculate the total mass M by using the density
of the object in one-, two-, and three-dimensional situations. In the case of one-dimensional
objects, we use a linear mass density λ (mass per unit length in units of kg/m). In the
case of two-dimensional objects, we use a surface density σ (mass per unit area in units of
kg/m2 ), and for three-dimensional objects, we use the familiar volume density ρ (mass per
unit volume in units of kg/m3 ).

Evaluating the Mass dm for 1D, 2D and 3D Objects

Z
dm = λdx M = λdx (4.3.5)
Z
dm = σdA M= σdA (4.3.6)
Z
dm = ρdV M= ρdV (4.3.7)

The next two examples demonstrate how to apply (4.3.3) to a continuous mass distri-
bution.
138 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

Example 4.4: Center of mass of an isosceles triangle.

A lamina of uniform mass per unit area, σ, is shaped into an isosceles √
triangle shown
below. The triangle has two sides of length a and the base has length 2a. Find the
center of mass of this triangular lamina.
y

a a
dm
dy
dx
x
2a
Solution:
First note that due to the symmetry of the triangle, the center of mass lies along
the y-axis. Computing the center of mass of a mass distribution involves identifying
two components. The first component to identify is the mass element dm, shown in the
diagram of the triangle. Cartesian coordinates are a natural choice of coordinates for
this problem. Therefore, dm = σdxdy will be used for the mass element.
The second component needed to find the center of mass is the limits of the integral
in (4.3.3). The limits of the integral range over the size of the object. We included a
horizontal gray strip near the top of the triangle to illustrate that the width of the
triangle varies with the height, with the strip becoming narrower√ as it moves up the
triangle. The right side of the
√ strip is bound by the line y = a/ 2 − x, and
√ the left side
is bound by the line y = a/ 2 + x, because the triangle has a√height a/ 2. Therefore,
√ the left end of the strip to be at x = y − a/ 2, and the right end to
we can consider
be at x = a/ 2 − y.
TheR y-coordinate of the center of mass can then be found by computing Y =
(1/M ) ydm:
Z √
y=a/ 2 Z √
a/ 2−y
1
Y = √
yσdxdy
M y=0 x=y−a/ 2
√
Z √
a/ 2
a/ 2−y
σ
= yx dy
M 0 √
y−a/ 2
Z √
a/ 2  
σ a
= 2y √ −y dy
M 0 2
√
  a/ 2
σ ay 2 2y 3
= √ −
M 2 3
0
a3 σ
= √
6 2M

To finish the problem, we need to find the total mass M .

Center of mass 139

Z Z √
y=a/ 2 Z √
a/ 2−y Z √
a/ 2  
a σa2
M= dm = √
σdxdy = σ 2 √ −y dy =
y=0 x=y−a/ 2 0 2 2
By using the value for M found above, we find that:
a
Y = √
3 2
We can use a CAS to evaluate the integrals, even if the limits are not constant.

Python Code
We can use the integrate command from SymPy to perform both integrals. Notice
that in Python unlike Mathematica, the limits of the integral to be done first appears
as the second argument (after the function being integrated).

from sympy import symbols, integrate, sqrt

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

x, y, a, sigma = symbols('x, y, a, sigma',real=True)

Y_fcn = y*sigma # Y component of CM

M_fcn = sigma # mass

Y_int = integrate(Y_fcn, (x, y - a/sqrt(2), a/sqrt(2) - y), \

(y,0,a/sqrt(2))) # vary y first

M = integrate(M_fcn, (x, y - a/sqrt(2), a/sqrt(2) - y), \

(y,0,a/sqrt(2)))

print('The mass = ', M)

print('The CM is located at y = ',Y_int/M)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The mass = a**2*sigma/2
The CM is located at y = sqrt(2)*a/6

Mathematica Code
Note the order of appearance of the coordinates x, y inside the Integrate command.
140 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

h n o n oi
Y = Integrate σ ∗ y/m, y, 0, √a2 , x, y − √a2 , √a2 − y ;

Print[“The Y-coordinate for the CM is: Y = ”, Y ]

3
a σ
The Y-coordinate for the CM is: Y = 6√
h n o n 2m
oi
M = Integrate σ, y, 0, 2 , x, y − 2 , 2 − y ;
√a a √a
√

Print[“The mass M, M = ”, M ]
a2 σ
The mass M, M = 2

Y2 = Y /.m → M ;

Print[“Substituting the mass M, Y = ”, Y2]

a
Substituting the mass M: Y = √
3 2

Example 4.5: The center of mass of a solid cone.

A cone of uniform density ρ is shown in the below figure. The cone has a radius a
at the top and a height h. Compute the center of mass of the cone.
z
a

x
Solution:
To solve this problem, we first need to identify a coordinate system. A cone can be
naturally described in cylindrical coordinates. Therefore we use dm = ρdV = ρrdrdθdz.
By symmetry, the center of mass is along the z-axis. The θ-coordinate ranges from 0 to
2π, and the z-coordinate ranges from 0 to h.
However, the radius changes with the z-coordinate. The equation of the edge of the
cone in the yz-plane in the figure is r = az/h, so that the radius r ranges from 0 to
az/h. Putting all of this together,
Z h Z 2π Z az/h
1
Z= zρrdrdθdz
M z=0 θ=0 r=0
Z az/h
2πρ h r2
= z dz
M 0 2
0
Z
2πρa2 h 3 πρa2 h2
= 2 z dz =
2h M 0 4M
Center of mass 141

Solving for the total mass M :

Z h Z 2π Z az/h
M= ρrdrdθdz
0 0 0
Z h
az/h
r2
= 2πρ dz
0 2
0
Z h
πρa2 πρa2 h
= z 2 dz =
h2 0 3

Finally, inserting M into the result for Z, we get:

3
h Z=
4
Again, we can perform the triple integration using CAS.

Python Code
The triple integral is done the same way as the double integral which was evaluated in
Example 4.4. Note again the order of integrations, and compare with the Mathematica
code. Note again the order of the limits of integration in the integrate command.

from sympy import symbols, integrate, sqrt, pi

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

r, theta, z , rho, h = symbols('r,theta,z,rho,h', real=True)

Z_fcn = z*rho*r # Y component of CM

M_fcn = rho*r # mass

Z_int = integrate(Z_fcn, (r, 0, a*z/h), \

(theta,0,2*pi), (z,0,h)) # vary y first

M = integrate(M_fcn, (r, 0, a*z/h), \

(theta,0,2*pi), (z,0,h))

print('The mass = ', M)

print('The CM is located at z = ', Z_int/M)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The mass = pi*a**2*h*rho/3
The CM is located at z = 3*h/4
142 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

Mathematica Code
Notice that in order to perform the triple integral in cylindrical coordinates, we
needed to explicitly include the equation for r = az/h in the argument of the Integrate
command.  
Z = Integrate ρ∗z∗r
m
, {θ, 0, 2π}, {z, 0, h}, {r, 0, az/h} ;

Print[“The Z-coordinate for the CM is: Z = ”, Z]

a2 h2 πρ
The Z-coordinate for the CM is: Z = 4m

M = Integrate[ρ ∗ r, {θ, 0, 2π}, {z, 0, h}, {r, 0, az/h}];

Print[“The mass M, M = ”, M ]

The mass M, M = 13 a2 hπρ

Z2 = Z/.m → M ;

Print[“Substituting the mass M, Z = ”, Z2]

3h
Substituting the mass M: Z = 4

In the next example, we will use numerical methods to find the center of mass of a
non-uniform isosceles triangle. Recall that in Chapter 2, we discussed numerical integration
techniques.

Example 4.6: The center of mass of a non-uniform isosceles triangle.

Consider the triangle in Example 4.4, but now with a non-uniform density σ = 2y
(all physical quantities in SI units). Compute the center of mass for the triangle when
a = 1 m.
Solution:
In this case, the solution is very similar to that of Example 4.4, but now the triangle
has a non-uniform density. The limits of integration are the same, with a = 1. However,
dm is changed due to the non-uniform density. In this case, dm = σdxdy = 2ydxdy.
Because the density changes only in the y-direction, we still expect that the x-coordinate
of the center of mass is zero. The integrals we need to solve are:
Z y=a/√2 Z a/√2−y
1 2
Y = √ 2y dxdy
M y=0 x=y−a/ 2
Z y=a/√2 Z a/√2−y
M= √ 2ydxdy
y=0 x=y−a/ 2

We will use Mathematica’s and Python’s numerical integration commands to solve

these integrals.
Center of mass 143

Python Code
We use [Link] from the SciPy library. Notice that we can include the
bounds as a function; this allows us to use the non-constant limits of integration nec-
essary to describe the sides of the triangle. In addition to finding Y , we also calculated
X to show that X = 0, as expected.
Note the square brackets inside the [Link] command.

from scipy import integrate

import numpy as np

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

a = 1.0

def sigma(x,y):
return 2.0*y

def fx(x,y):
return x*sigma(x,y)

def fy(x,y):
return y*sigma(x,y)

def y_bounds():
return [0,1/[Link](2.0)]

def x_bounds(y):
return [y-1/[Link](2.0),1/[Link](2.0)-y]

Y = [Link](fy,[x_bounds,y_bounds])[0]
X = [Link](fx,[x_bounds,y_bounds])[0]
mass = [Link](sigma,[x_bounds,y_bounds])[0]

print('The x-coordinate is: '+str(X/mass))

print('The y-coordinate is: '+str(Y/mass))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The x-coordinate is: 0.0
The y-coordinate is: 0.35355339059327384

Mathematica Code
We use NIntegrate to numerically evaluate the integrals. We included the result
for X to show that it is zero.
144 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

a = 1.0;
  √  √ √ 
mass = NIntegrate 2 ∗ y, y, 0, a 2 , x, y − a 2 ,a 2 −y ;
  √  √ √ 
Y = NIntegrate 2 ∗ y ∧ 2, y, 0, a 2 , x, y − a 2 ,a 2 −y mass;

Print[“The Y-coordinate for the CM is: Y = ”, Y ]

The Y-coordinate for the CM is: Y = 0.353553

  √  √ √ 
X = NIntegrate 2 ∗ y ∗ x, y, 0, a 2 , x, y − a 2 ,a 2 −y mass;

Print[“The X-coordinate for the CM is: X = ”, X]

The X-coordinate for the CM is: X = 0.

4.4 MOMENTUM OF A SYSTEM OF MULTIPLE PARTICLES

Next, consider a system of N point particles with a total mass M . We begin by calculating
the net force acting on the whole system. We know from Section 4.1 that the internal forces
between particles cancel out, and that the net force acting on the system is the sum of
external forces. The net force F acting on the particles is:

X
N
d2 X
N
d2
F= mi r̈i = 2
mi ri = 2 M R = M R̈ (4.4.1)
i=1
dt i=1 dt

where we used the definition of the center of mass from (4.3.1). Therefore, the system of
particles moves like a single particle of mass M , acted upon by the external forces. We can
also compute the net momentum of the system of particles:

X
N X
N
d X
N
d
P= pi = mi ṙi = mi ri = M R = M Ṙ (4.4.2)
i=1 i=1
dt i=1
dt

The total momentum of the system is equal to the momentum of the system’s center of
mass. Again, we can think of the system as a single particle of mass M located at the
system’s center of mass. The time derivative of the total momentum gives:

Ṗ = M R̈ = F (4.4.3)

This also tells us that the total linear momentum of the system is conserved if there are no
net external forces acting on the system.
In summary, we can think of the net external forces as acting on the center of mass of
the system. The results of this section also hold for continuous mass distributions, but the
summations would need to be replaced by integrals.
When it comes to translational motion, the above result allows us to think of the object
or system of particles as a point particle located at the object’s center of mass. The mass of
the point particle would equal the total mass of the object, or the total mass of the system
of particles. Since the external forces act on the center of mass, we can simply follow the
motion of the object’s center of mass. For example, an American football is not a point
particle. However, if the football is punted, its center of mass would follow a parabolic
Momentum of a system of multiple particles 145

trajectory because the center of mass is being acted upon by the force of gravity, and obeys
the equations established for projectile motion in Chapter 3.

Example 4.7: A falling chain.

Consider a chain of length a and uniform density ρ, hanging from one end above a
table at time t = 0, as shown by the dashed line in the below figure. At time t = 0, the
end of the chain is released from a height a above the table, and the chain is allowed
to fall onto the table. Find the force the table exerts on the chain as a function of the
distance x from the originally fixed end.

x
a

Solution:
The chain can be thought of as a system of particles. The force on the center of
mass of the chain is:
Fnet = M g − FN
where M g is the weight of the chain and FN is the force exerted by the table on the
chain. We have chosen a coordinate system where +x is in the downward direction, so
that the speed of the falling chain is ẋ > 0. The mass of the falling part of the chain is
ρ(a − x), because the length of the chain that has yet to fall is (a − x). The momentum
of the falling part of the chain is then:

P = mv = ρ(a − x)ẋ

We know that Ṗ = Fnet ; therefore, the time derivative of the momentum is:

Ṗ = ρ(a − x)ẍ − ρẋ2

√
For free fall, we know that ẋ = 2gx and ẍ = g. By substituting ẋ and ẍ in the last
equation and collecting terms, we obtain:

Ṗ = ρg(a − 3x)

Finally substituting Ṗ = Fnet = M g−FN and using the total mass of the chain M = ρa,
we find:

ρg(a − 3x) = ρag − FN

FN = 3ρgx
As the distance x increases, the force the table exerts on the chain varies from
FN = 0 at time t = 0, up to FN = 3ρga when the chain has fallen completely on the
table.
146 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

r ℓ

O x
Figure 4.3: A particle of mass m at a location r relative to the origin O is moving with
momentum p, and has an angular momentum ℓ = r × p relative to the origin. In this case,
the angular momentum of the particle is pointing into the page.

4.5 ANGULAR MOMENTUM OF A SINGLE PARTICLE

Consider a particle of mass m moving with momentum p = mv as shown in Figure 4.3.
The angular momentum of the particle is defined by:

Angular Momentum

ℓ=r×p (4.5.1)

Because the position r of the particle is measured relative to the origin, the angular
momentum ℓ is also relative to the origin. The linear momentum p does not depend on the
origin, while by contrast the angular momentum vector ℓ depends on the choice of origin.
The angular momenta of multiple particles can only be compared (and added) if all angular
momenta are measured with respect to the same origin. Further, note that the particle does
not need to be revolving around the point O, in order for the particle to have an angular
momentum relative to O.
The cross product relationship between r and p tells us that the direction of angular
momentum is found using the right-hand rule. In this case, we can imagine taking the
fingers of our right hand and pointing them in the direction of r. Next, we can sweep (or
curl) our fingers in the direction N
of p resulting in the thumb, which points in the direction
of ℓ, pointing into the page. The symbol in Figure 4.3 represents the angular momentum
vector pointing into the page. If ℓ pointed out of the page, we would use a circle with a dot
inside to represent the direction of the vector.
If we compute the time derivative of the angular momentum, we obtain:

ℓ̇ = ṙ × p + r × ṗ = m (ṙ × ṙ) + r × ṗ = r × ṗ (4.5.2)

By using Newton’s second law ṗ = F we find:

Angular momentum of multiple particles 147

ri'=ri-R

mi
R

ri

x
Figure 4.4: A collection of N particles. Each particle mi is at a location ri relative to the
origin and a position r′i relative to the center of mass. The empty circle is the center of mass
of the system.

Newton’s Second Law of Rotation

ℓ̇ = r × F = N (4.5.3)

Therefore, the time rate of change of the angular momentum is the torque, N = r × F.
Like the angular momentum, the torque is also measured relative to the same origin as the
angular momentum. Equation (4.5.3) is sometimes referred to as Newton’s second law for
rotation, even though rotational motion is not needed in order for the particle to experience
a torque, or to have angular momentum.

4.6 ANGULAR MOMENTUM OF MULTIPLE PARTICLES

Next, we consider the total angular momentum (relative to the origin) for a system of
discrete particles. Again, the results are the same for a continuous mass distribution. Figure
4.4 illustrates a system of N particles. The mass of the ith particle in Figure 4.4 is mi , located
at a position ri relative to the origin, and at a position r′i relative to the center of mass
(empty circle in Figure 4.4). Notice that R + r′i = ri , where R is the location of the center
of mass relative to the origin.
We will calculate the total angular momentum (relative to the origin) for the system of
particles in Figure 4.4. Each particle has an angular momentum ℓi = ri × pi . Therefore, the
total angular momentum L for the system is:

X
N X
N
L= ri × pi = ri × mi ṙi (4.6.1)
i=1 i=1

By substituting ri = R + r′i , we obtain:

X
N


L= (r′i + R) × mi ṙ′i + Ṙ (4.6.2)
i=1
148 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

By expanding the cross product into four terms:

X
N



L= mi (r′i × ṙ′i ) + r′i × Ṙ + (R × ṙ′i ) + R × Ṙ (4.6.3)
i=1

Of the four terms above, two are of immediate interest:

!
X
N

X
N
mi r′i × Ṙ = mi r′i × Ṙ (4.6.4)
i=1 i=1
!
X
N
d X
N
mi (R × ṙ′i ) =R× mi r′i (4.6.5)
i=1
dt i=1
P P P P
P In each case, the term mi r′i appears. However, mi r′i = mi (ri − R) = mi ri −
mi R = M R − M R = 0 from the definition of the center of mass. Therefore, only two
terms survive in (4.6.3), and the total angular momentum is:

X
N


L= mi (r′i × ṙ′i ) + R × Ṙ
i=1
(4.6.6)
X
N X
N
= (r′i × mi ṙ′i ) + R × mi Ṙ
i=1 i=1

The final result is the following important equation:

Angular Momentum of a System of Particles

X
N
L= (r′i × p′i ) + R × P (4.6.7)
i=1

which says that the total angular momentum of the system is the sum of two terms:Pthe first
term is the sum of the angular momenta of the particles about the center of mass ( r′i × p′i
); the second term is the angular momentum of the center of mass about the origin (R × P).
If we compute the time derivative of L we find,

X
N
L̇ = ri × ṗi (4.6.8)
i=1

which is the net torque N acting on the system (recall that ṗ = F). Next, we will examine
the net torque acting on the system in detail:

X
N X
N
N= ri × ṗi = r i × Fi (4.6.9)
i=1 i=1

where ṗi = Fi is the net force acting on mass mi . This net force acting on mi is the sum of
external and internal forces; therefore:
Angular momentum of multiple particles 149

 
X
N X
N= ri × Fext
i + Fij  (4.6.10)
i=1 j̸=i

X
N

XN X
= ri × Fext
i + (ri × Fij ) (4.6.11)
i=1 i=1 j̸=i

We will now use the same identity as in working with (4.1.8):

X
N

XN X
N= ri × Fext
i + [(ri × Fij ) + (rj × Fji )] (4.6.12)
i=1 i=1 j>i

Using Newton’s third law Fji = −Fij yields:

X
N

X
N X
N= ri × Fext
i + (ri − rj ) × Fij (4.6.13)
i=1 i=1 j>i

Note that if the internal forces Fij are central forces, then the vector Fij lies along the
line joining mi and mj . Therefore, for central forces Fij lies along the vector ri − rj , and
(ri − rj ) × Fij = 0. In this case, the second term in (4.6.13) is zero, and the net torque is:

X
N

XN
N= ri × Fext
i = Next
i = Next (4.6.14)
i=1 i=1

In other words, the net torque on the system is equal to the sum of the external torques.
Similar to the net force, the sum of the internal torques is zero (if the internal forces are
central forces).
In summary, similar to the single-particle case, Newton’s second law for rotation can be
written as,

Newton’s Second Law for Rotation

L̇ = Next (4.6.15)

Hence, the net angular momentum of the system is conserved only if the net external
torques are zero. The conservation of angular momentum can then be written as:

The Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum

If Next = 0, then L = constant

150 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

Example 4.8: The total angular momentum of a system of particles.

Consider two particles each with a mass of 1 kg. At time t, Particle 1 is located at
r1 = 3î + 2ĵ and is moving at a velocity of v1 = 2 î (all physical quantities in SI units).
Particle 2 is located at r2 = −3î + 2.0ĵ and is moving at a velocity of v2 = −2.0 ĵ.
Compute the total angular momentum of this system of particles, with respect to the
origin.
Solution:
Using (4.5.1) for Particle 1:

î ĵ k̂
ℓ1 = m1 (r1 × v1 ) = 1.0 3 2 0 = −4k̂
2 0 0

where we dropped the units in the determinant to simplify the equation. Next, we follow
the same steps for Particle 2:

î ĵ k̂
ℓ2 = m2 (r2 × v2 ) = 1.0 −3 2 0 = 6.0k̂
0 −2 0

Finally we add the angular momenta:

L = ℓ1 + ℓ2 = 2.0 kg m2 /s k̂

Note that in this case we could add angular momenta, because each of the individual
angular momenta was calculated with respect to the same origin.

Python Code
Here we use NumPy to create the vectors and compute the cross products using the
cross(r1,v1) function.
Angular momentum of multiple particles 151

import numpy as np

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

m1, m2 = 1, 1

r1 = [Link]([3,2,0])
r2 = [Link]([-3,2,0])
v1 = [Link]([2,0,0])
v2 = [Link]([0,-2,0])

l1 = m1*[Link](r1,v1)
l2 = m2*[Link](r2,v2)

print('l1 = ', l1)

print('l2 = ', l2)
print('L = ', l1 + l2)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

l1 = [ 0 0 -4]
l2 = [0 0 6]
L = [0 0 2]

Mathematica Code
We use the Cross command to calculate the angular momenta. Note the use of curly
brackets to define vectors as lists.
r1 = {3, 2, 0}; v1 = {2, 0, 0}; m1 = 1.0;

r2 = {−3, 2, 0}; v2 = {0, −2, 0}; m2 = 1.0;

l1 = m1 ∗ Cross[r1, v1];

Print[“The angular momentum for particle 1 is: l1 = ”, l1]

The angular momentum for particle 1 is: l1 = {0., 0., −4.}

l2 = m2 ∗ Cross[r2, v2];

Print[“The angular momentum for particle 2 is: l2 = ”, l2]

The angular momentum for particle 2 is: l2 = {0., 0., 6.}

L = l1 + l2;

Print[“The total angular momentum is: l1+l2 = ”, L]

The total angular momentum is: l1+l2 = {0., 0., 2.}

152 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

4.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY

The law of conservation of linear momentum states:

If Fext = 0, then P = constant.
In an elastic collision, both the total momentum and total kinetic energy are conserved.
In an inelastic collision, only momentum is conserved.
The momentum of a system of N particles is conserved if there are no external forces
acting on the system:
X
N
Ṗ = F = Fext
i
i=1

If Fext = 0, then P = constant.

A system of N particles has a center of mass located at R:

1 X
N
R= mi ri
M i=1

The center of mass for a continuous mass distribution is located at:

Z
1
R= rdm
M
To evaluate the mass dm and M for one-, two-, and three-dimensional objects we use:
Z
dm = λdx M = λdx
Z
dm = σdA M= σdA
Z
dm = ρdV M= ρdV

For translational motion, we can think of a system of particles as a point particle

located at the object’s center of mass, and of the net external forces acting on the center
of mass of the system. If M is the total mass and P is the total momentum:

Ṗ = M R̈ = F

The angular momentum ℓ of a single particle is the cross product of position vector r
and linear momentum vector p:
ℓ=r×p
and the torque N is the cross product of position vector r and force vector F:

ℓ̇ = r × F = N

The angular momentum L of a system of particles is the sum of two terms, the angular
momenta of the particles about the center of mass, and that of the center of mass about
the origin (R × P):
XN
L= (r′i × p′i ) + R × P
i=1
End-of-chapter problems 153

where R is the location of the center of mass relative to the origin, and P is the total
momentum. If we differentiate L with respect to time, we find Newton’s second law for
Rotation:
L̇ = Next
From Newton’s second law for rotation, we can write the law of conservation of angular
momentum for a system of particles:

If Next = 0, then L = constant

4.8 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, or numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 4.1: Conservation of Momentum and Newton’s Third Law
1. Prove that after an elastic collision, two particles of equal mass will have velocities
that are perpendicular to each other. Assume that one particle is initially moving with
velocity v1i , and the other is initially at rest.
2. Consider a perfectly inelastic collision between a particle m1 initially moving with
velocity v0 and another particle m2 initially at rest. What fraction of the initial
kinetic energy of mass m1 is lost in the collision?

3. A projectile of mass M is launched with a speed v0 at an angle θ from the hori-

zontal. At the top of its flight, the particle explodes into three pieces. The explosion
adds an energy equal to three times the initial kinetic energy of the projectile. Im-
mediately after the explosion, one piece with mass M/3 moves vertically upward. A
second piece, with mass M/6 comes to rest. Find the velocity of each of the three
pieces immediately after the explosion. Do this problem both by hand and by using a
CAS.
4. A cannon ball with mass m is fired from level ground at a target a distance D from
the cannon. The cannon ball is launched with an initial speed v0 and at an angle of θ
with respect to the horizon, such that it has the necessary range to strike the target.
At the highest point in its trajectory, the cannon ball breaks up into two pieces of
equal mass. One piece lands a distance D/2 from the cannon. Where does the other
piece fall (as measured from the cannon)?
5. A particle with velocity v0 and mass m experiences an interaction that causes it to
split into two smaller particles with masses m1 = m/4 and m2 = 3m/4. The particle
with mass m1 is observed moving at a speed of 0.01c in a direction which is 30 degrees
counterclockwise from v0 , and c is a constant. The mass m2 is moving at a velocity
one-third as fast as m1 . Find the direction of m2 and the magnitude of v0 .
6. Consider a head-on one-dimensional perfectly elastic collision between two particles
with mass m1 and m2 , where initially m1 is moving at a speed v0 , and m2 is at rest.
Find the ratio of m2 /m1 for which the kinetic energy of m2 is maximum.
154 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

Section 4.2 Rockets

7. Consider a rocket moving horizontally such that the only force acting on the rocket
is a linear drag force of the form Fdrag = −bvv̂ where b is a positive constant. Using
Newton’s second law, write the differential equation which describes the velocity of
the rocket as a function of time, with the initial condition v(0) = 0 at time t = 0.
a. Obtain the analytical solution v(t) by hand.
b. Using a CAS, solve the differential equation to find the velocity v(t) of the
rocket as a function of time. If you use Python, you will notice that the solution
in SymPy obtained with dsolve may contain complex numbers, while the Math-
ematica solution contains only real constants. This is an example showing one
of the limitations of CAS systems, and it is therefore important that one should
compare (when possible) the analytical solutions with the CAS results.
8. A rocket needs to hover just above the surface of Mars which has a gravitational
acceleration of a = 3.8 m/s2 . The exhaust velocity of the rocket is u =2000 m/s but
only 10% of its initial fuel can be burned. How long can the rocket hover?

9. A model rocket has a constant burn rate α = −dm/dt. Using (4.2.19) derived in
this chapter, m 
0
v − v0 = −gt + u ln
m
calculate the height of the rocket as a function of time t. Find the height analytically
and by using a CAS.
10. Solve these two rocket problems.
a. A rocket has an initial mass m and burn rate α. What is the minimum exhaust
velocity u needed to allow the rocket to lift-off from the Earth’s surface immedi-
ately after its engines fire?
b. The Saturn V rocket had a mass (when fully loaded with fuel) of 2.8 million
kg. It consumed fuel at a rate of 20 tons per second. Find the exhaust velocity
needed for the Saturn V to lift off from the Earth’s surface immediately after its
engines fire. Compare your answer to the escape velocity of the Earth.
11. Consider a two-stage rocket flying horizontally far from any other object. During the
first phase of flight, the rocket with mass m0 has exhaust velocity v. At the end of
phase 1, the rocket has a mass m1 = mp + mf 1 where mp is the mass of the payload
and mf 1 is the mass of the fuel container. At burnout, the rocket ejects the mass mf 1
and begins to burn the fuel stored in the payload. At the end of the second burnout,
the rocket’s mass is m2 . The exhaust velocity during the second burnout is also u.
Find the velocity of the rocket after the second burnout.
Sections 4.3: Center of Mass

12. Consider a two-particle system consisting of masses m1 and m2 separated by a distance

r. Prove that the center of mass of the two-particle system lies along the line joining
the two particles.

13. Consider the cone in Example 4.5. Suppose it has a density of ρ = (3 + z)/2, where
the units of the constants are such that ρ is measured in SI units. Using a CAS, find
the center of mass of the cone.
End-of-chapter problems 155

14. Compute the location of the center of mass of a uniform solid hemisphere of radius
R and density ρ. Perform the calculation using a CAS.

15. Three particles are located at r1 = 2i − 2j + 5k, r2 = 5i − 2k, r3 = −i + j − k,

with masses m1 = 2 m2 = 5 m3 . Using either SymPy or Mathematica, find:
a. The center of mass of the system.
b. The moment of inertia around the z-axis.

16. Using either Mathematica or Python, calculate the center of mass of a lamina with
a density of σ = 2(1 − x)(1 − y 2 ) formed from the area defined by the curves y = x2
and y = x, between x = 0 and x = 1.

17. A uniform piece of metal is cut into the shape of the function y = sin x from x = 0
to x = π. The metal has a density of σ = 2xy. Compute the location of the center of
mass. Solve this problem with a numerical integration algorithm.

18. Compute the location of the center of mass of a lamina cut in the shape of 1/3 of
the unit circle with a density of σ = 2xy. Place one edge of the lamina on the positive
x-axis and its “center” at the origin. Solve this problem using a CAS.

19. Consider the triangular prism enclosed by the planes z = 2, x = y = z = 0, and

x + y = 2. Plot the
RRRsolid in three-dimensions by hand and using a CAS. Calculate its
total mass M = ρ dV when the volume mass density is given by ρ = x y 2 , where
all physical quantities are in SI units. Calculate the location of the center of mass
of this object along the x-, y- and z-directions, by evaluating the appropriate triple
integrals using a CAS.
Section 4.4: Momentum of a System of Multiple Particles
20. Consider a chain in a pile on the floor. The chain has a linear mass density of λ = M/L,
where M is the total mass of the chain and L is the total length of the chain. One
end of the chain is pulled horizontally with a constant force F . Assuming no friction
is present, compute the position of the end of the chain x(t) as a function of time.
21. A rope of length 2L and uniform mass density λ = M/2L (where M is the mass of the
rope) hangs in equilibrium over a peg in a wall. The rope is given a small perturbation
such that it begins to fall freely, but it never leaves the peg during the fall. Find the
velocity of the rope as it leaves the peg.

22. A chain of length L and uniform mass density λ = M/L hangs in a U shape from
the ceiling, with its two ends parallel and close together. At time t = 0, one end of
the chain is released. Find the tension T in the chain at the point of suspension, after
the released end has fallen a distance x. You may assume that the end of the chain
which is released is experiencing
p free fall. Plot the ratio of the tension to weight as a
function of t/tf , where tf = 2L/g is the time it takes for the released end to fall a
distance L.
23. A rope of mass M and length L is stretched out along a table such that a length x0
is hanging over the edge of the table. If the rope is released from rest and neglecting
friction, show that the time it takes
p for the rope to completely slide off of the table is
t = T cosh−1 (L/x0 ), where T = L/g.
156 Momentum, Angular Momentum, and Multiparticle Systems

24. Consider the rope in Problem 23 in the presence of friction. Find the time it takes
for the rope to slide off the table, if µ is the coefficient of friction between the rope
and the table. Solve the problem analytically and using a CAS.
Sections 4.5 and 4.6: Angular Momentum of a Single Particle and of Multiple
Particles
25. Evidence from ancient corals suggest that 350 million years ago, the Earth took 385
days to revolve around the Sun (Hadhazy [2]). The period of a year hasn’t changed,
but the Earth was rotating more quickly. What is the magnitude of the effective
torque slowing the Earth’s rotation over the last 350 million years? Assuming this
torque remains constant, how long will it take for the Earth to stop rotating (i.e., to
have an angular velocity equal to 0)?
26. Suppose you tie a ball of mass m to the end of a long string of length r0 and whirl the
ball around your head with an angular velocity ω0 , so that the ball travels in a circular
path whose plane is parallel to the ground. At time t = 0, the string is shortened at a
constant rate such that ṙ = −α. Find the angular velocity ω of the ball as a function
of time. Without plotting, qualitatively describe how ω changes with time. Find the
time at which the ball’s angular velocity is 16 ω0 .
27. Consider a rigid rotating object. By breaking the object up into many small pieces
of mass mi , show that the components of the object’s angular momentum parallel to
the axis of rotation can be written as L = Iω, such that:
X
I= mi ri2
where ri is the position of the mass element mi relative to the origin. Recall that I is
called the total moment of inertia of the system of particles.

28. Consider three particles m1 , m2 , m3 , located at (x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 ), and (x3 , y3 ),

respectively on the xy-plane. The system of masses rotates around an axis perpen-
dicular to the xy-plane. Find the point P on the xy-plane, about which their total
moment of inertia (see Problem 27) is minimized. Show that the result is the system’s
center of mass. Solve the problem analytically and by using a CAS.
29. Let L be the angular momentum of a system of discrete particles relative to the origin
O. Let L′ be the angular momentum of the same system with respect to another point
O′ . Find an equation for L′ in terms of L. You will need to consider the vector rO′
which represents the position of O′ relative to O.
30. Consider a system of two particles of mass m1 and m2 located at positions r1 and r2 ,
respectively. Suppose the particles are experiencing the force of interaction:
f12 = −k (r2 − r1 )
where k is a positive constant, and f12 is the force Particle 1 exerts on Particle 2.
What is the net internal torque acting on the system? Discuss your result.
31. Consider a system of two particles of mass m1 and m2 located at positions r1 and r2 ,
respectively. Suppose the particles are experiencing the force of interaction:
f12 = −k (ṙ2 − ṙ1 )
where k is a positive constant, f12 is the force Particle 1 exerts on Particle 2, and ṙ2 , ṙ1
are the velocities of the two masses, respectively. What is the net internal torque acting
on the system? Discuss your result.
End-of-chapter problems 157

32. Consider two particles each with a mass m = 1 (all physical quantities in SI
units). Particle 1 is located at r1 = 3 tî + 2 t2 ĵ + 6 k̂ and Particle 2 is located
at r2 = −3 t2 î + 2 t3 ĵ − 4 tk̂, where t represents time. Compute the total angular
momentum with respect to the origin of this system of particles. What is the net
torque acting on this system? Solve this problem by hand and by using a CAS.

33. Consider a system of three particles with masses and positions at time t: mass m1 =
1 is at r1 = 3t2 i + 2(t − 1)j − 3 cos (2t) k, mass m2 = 2 is at r2 = ti + 4t3 j − exp(−t)k,
and mass m3 = 1.5 is at r3 = i + t2 j − 3k. All physical quantities are in SI units.
Using a CAS, find:

a. The center of mass of the system.

b. The total linear momentum of the system.
c. The total angular momentum of the system.
d. The net force acting on the system.
e. The net torque acting on the system.
 5 Energy
In this chapter, we introduce the concepts of energy and conservative forces. We also discuss
how energy can be used to describe the motion of a system, and as part of that discussion,
we introduce the concept of equilibrium stability. We begin by studying one-dimensional
systems because they are easy to visualize, and then extend the concept of work and energy
to two and three-dimensional systems, including a discussion of line integrals. We conclude
the chapter with a discussion of the energy of multiparticle systems.

5.1 WORK AND ENERGY IN ONE-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS

There are multiple ways of solving physics problems. Setting up the equations using New-
ton’s second law requires one to know all of the forces acting on a system. Using Newton’s
second law leads to a second-order ODE that describes the particle’s motion. The challenge
with using forces is that forces are vectors, and, in two or three dimensions, we need to solve
two or three second-order ODEs, respectively. An alternative approach to solving physics
problems involves the concept of energy. Energy is a scalar quantity, and therefore, simpler
to work with. The concept of energy is particularly useful when so-called conservative forces
are acting on a system. In the case of conservative forces, one only needs to compare the
total energy of the system before and after an event in order to describe the system’s be-
havior. For example, to find the speed of a rock after it has fallen two meters, all one needs
to do is compare the total energy of the rock before and after the fall. In this example, the
fall is “the event.”
In general, the mathematics of energy requires concepts of vectors and multi-variable
calculus, and therefore formally involves higher-dimensional systems. In this section, we
are going to present a brief survey of energy and energy conservation for one-dimensional
systems. The mathematics for one-dimensional systems is much simpler than that for higher
dimensional systems, allowing us to focus more on the concept of energy without getting
mired in mathematics. The insights developed here will carry over to the higher-dimensional
cases, where the mathematics is more complicated.
Consider the case where the net force F (x) is position-dependent and is not explicitly
dependent upon time and velocity. Suppose that this force is exerted on a particle moving
from position x0 to position x, along a line. Furthermore, if we define the positive x-direction
to be the same as the direction of the force F (x), then the work done by the force is:
Z x
W = F (x′ ) dx′ (5.1.1)
x0

where primes are used to distinguish between variables of integration and the limits of
integration. The unit of work, the Joule is 1 J = 1 N·m. Note that work is negative if the
object’s displacement is in the opposite direction of the force. For simplicity, we will focus
only on positive work right now.
Recall from Chapter 2 that if F = F (x), then we can write:

dv
F (x) = mv (5.1.2)
dx
which can be written as:  
d 1
F (x) = mv 2 (5.1.3)
dx 2

159
160 Energy

Notice that the right-hand side of the above equation is the derivative of the quantity
T = 12 mv 2 , called the kinetic energy:

dT
F (x) = (5.1.4)
dx
Separating variables and integrating:
Z T Z x
dT ′ = F (x′ )dx′ (5.1.5)
T0 x0

and using the definition of kinetic energy, we find:

Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem

Zx
1 1
mv 2 − mv02 = F (x′ )dx′ (5.1.6)
2 2
x0

Equation (5.1.6) is called the work-kinetic energy theorem, which states that work needs
to be done by the force F (x) in order to change the kinetic energy of a system. For example,
the force of gravity does work on a falling object, and its kinetic energy increases.
Additional insight into the nature of work can be obtained from (5.1.6). If the change
of the particle’s kinetic energy ∆T is positive, then positive work is being done by F and
the system is gaining kinetic energy. If however ∆T < 0, then F (x) is doing negative work
and the particle is losing kinetic energy.
Next, we will add another restriction to F (x). If the work done by F (x) is independent
of the path taken by the particle from x0 to x, then we say that force is conservative.
In a later section, we will study forces in two and three dimensions and develop a deeper
mathematical formalism for conservative forces. However, in one dimension all forces of the
form F = F (x) are conservative. Let’s consider the force of gravity exerted by an object
near the Earth’s surface. In this case, the force is the weight w = −m g ĵ, where the negative
sign is introduced to denote that the weight points downward, in the negative y-direction.
The work done by gravity is,
Z y
W = −mgdy ′ = −mg(y − y0 ) (5.1.7)
y0

where we used y for vertical displacements. Notice that the work done by gravity depends
only on the end points of the particle’s motion.
Consider a falling rock (in a vacuum, of course!). We noted earlier that the rock will
increase its kinetic energy as it falls. Where does that kinetic energy come from? According
to (5.1.6), the force of gravity does work on the rock, and (5.1.7) tells us how much work
is done by gravity. Another way of thinking of the process is to say that during the fall,
the rock’s energy is changing from one form into another. While the kinetic energy is the
energy associated with the motion of the rock, there is an additional energy associated
with the configuration of the rock-Earth system. In this case, the important parameter
is the rock’s height above the ground. In fact, (5.1.7) supports the idea of configuration-
dependent energy. The term y − y0 in (5.1.7) says that the work done by gravity depends
on how the distance between the Earth’s surface and the rock changes during the motion.
That change of distance is a change in the configuration of the rock-Earth system. The
Work and energy in one-dimensional systems 161

energy associated with the configuration of the rock-Earth system, or any system, is called
the potential energy. The potential energy function V (x) in one-dimension is defined by:

dV (x)
F (x) = − (5.1.8)
dx
Notice that (5.1.8) says that forces act so as to decrease the potential energy along x.
Hence, in our rock-Earth example, the force of gravity is decreasing the rock’s potential
energy and increasing the rock’s kinetic energy. Furthermore, this example illustrates that
forces transfer one form of energy into another, in this case, potential energy transferring
into kinetic energy.
To find the potential energy V (x) for a given force F(x), we need to integrate the force:
Z x
V (x) − V (x0 ) = − F (x′ )dx′ (5.1.9)
x0

For example, the gravitational potential energy is:

Z y
V (y) − V (y0 ) = − −mgdy ′ = mg (y − y0 ) (5.1.10)
y0

If we choose y0 = 0 (and V (y0 ) = 0), then we recover the familiar equation, V = mgy.
Equation (5.1.9) can be rewritten as W = −∆V and tells us that potential energy also
measures the ability of the system to do work. By inserting (5.1.8) into (5.1.6) we get:
Zx  
1 1 dV (x′ )
T − T0 = mv 2 − mv02 = − dx′ = V (x0 ) − V (x) (5.1.11)
2 2 dx′
x0

or, after simplification:

Conservation of Mechanical Energy

T + V (x) = T0 + V (x0 ). (5.1.12)

This equation is known as the conservation of mechanical energy, stating that the sum
of the kinetic and potential energies, called the total mechanical energy, is always constant
if only conservative forces act on the system. Conservative forces conserve energy!
Conservative forces are very useful in physics as they allow us to work with a scalar
quantity, the mechanical energy E = T + V . Mechanical energy is a useful way of solving
physics problems because instead of needing to keep track of the magnitude and direction
of vectors, as one needs to do with forces, all one needs to do is keep track of how the value
of the different types of energies are changing as the particle moves. Looking at (5.1.12), we
see that solving problems using conservation of energy requires only that we compare one
state of the system to another. For example, suppose we drop a rock starting at rest from
a height of 5 m above the ground and we want to know the kinetic energy of the rock after
it fell 2 m. All we need to know is the initial kinetic energy (which is zero) and the initial
and final potential energies in order to obtain the final kinetic energy (and thus the speed).
We don’t need information about the state of the system during the actual fall!
Equation (5.1.12) also tells us that if the potential energy of the system decreases, its
kinetic energy must increase and vice versa, in order to maintain the equality of both sides
of the equation. The ability to interpret the meanings behind equations such as (5.1.8) and
(5.1.12) is an important skill for physicists.
162 Energy

Example 5.1: Simple harmonic motion and conservation of energy

Consider a mass m on a spring with spring constant k performing simple harmonic
motion with amplitude A. The mass is initially at the origin at rest. The force is given
by Hooke’s Law F = −kx where x is the displacement from equilibrium.
(a) Find the total mechanical energy in terms of A.
(b) Find an expression for the turning points in the motion, i.e., the points at which
the velocity v of the particle is zero and the mass turns around, as a function of the
total mechanical energy E and spring constant k.
Solution:
(a) We solve this problem using energy conservation. In order to use energy conserva-
tion, we need to first find the potential energy associated with the spring. The potential
energy associated with the force of the spring which is called the elastic potential energy
and can be found using:
Z x
1

V (x) − V (x0 ) = − (−kx′ )dx′ = k x2 − x20 (5.1.13)
x0 2

Therefore, we can write the elastic potential energy as V (x) = 1/2kx2 . When the
mass reaches the amplitude of oscillation, x0 = A, the mass has traveled as far from
equilibrium as it can, and it comes to a stop. Therefore, v0 = 0 and (5.1.12) becomes:

T0 + V (x0 ) =T + V (x)
1 1 1
0 + kA2 = mv 2 + kx2
2 2 2
Therefore, using E = T + V (x):
1 1 1
E= mv 2 + kx2 = kA2 (5.1.14)
2 2 2
we find that the total mechanical energy in terms of A is E = 12 kA2 .
(b) At the turning points xTURN the velocity vTURN = 0 so (5.1.14) gives:
1 2 1
E = 0 + k (xTURN ) = kA2
2 2
Therefore, the expression for the turning points in the motion of a simple harmonic
oscillator is: p
xTURN = ±A = 2E/k (5.1.15)
In the next section, we will discuss turning points in more detail.

What happens if F (x) is not conservative? Friction is an example of a nonconservative

force; however, we can still use (5.1.1) to find the work done by friction. Recall that the
force of friction F = µFN , where µ is the coefficient of kinetic friction and FN is the normal
force, which in this case is constant in magnitude. The work done by friction is then:
Z x
Wnc = −µFN dx′ = −µFN (x − x0 ) (5.1.16)
x0

where we used Wnc to denote that the work is done by a nonconservative force. Note that
we explicitly included the minus sign in (5.1.16) because the force of friction opposes the
direction of motion, and we consider the displacement to be in the positive direction.
Potential energy and equilibrium points 163

Consider the case of a particle, again constrained to move along a line, experiencing
multiple forces, both conservative and nonconservative. The net work Wnet is the total
work done by all of the forces. The net work can be written as Wnet = Wc + Wnc , where Wc
is the work done by the conservative forces, and Wnc is the work done by nonconservative
forces. In regards to the work in the above example, Wnet = ∆T and Wc = −∆V . Therefore,

∆T =Wnc − ∆V (5.1.17)
Wnc =∆T + ∆V (5.1.18)
Wnc =∆E (5.1.19)

or, in other words, the work done by nonconservative forces is equal to the change of the
system’s mechanical energy. So in cases where conservative forces act on the system, kinetic
energy gets exchanged for potential energy and vice versa. However, when nonconservative
forces act on the system, then mechanical energy can be lost or gained. An object falling
through air loses potential energy to both kinetic energy and work done by friction heating
the object and the surrounding air. However, if we account for the heat, we will find that
the total energy is conserved.
In the next section, we will study how to use potential energy to describe the motion of
an object.

5.2 POTENTIAL ENERGY AND EQUILIBRIUM POINTS

An equilibrium point is a point in the system’s motion where both the net force and net
torque are equal to zero. Since in this chapter we are not dealing with rotational motion, we
will focus only on the condition that Fnet = 0. Knowing the location of equilibrium points
in a system can give us insight into the system’s behavior. The location of an equilibrium
point x0 can be found using the potential energy. Equation (5.1.8) tells us that a particle
is in an equilibrium state if:
dV
=0 (5.2.1)
dx
x0

Hence, the local maxima or minima of the potential energy gives the location of the system’s
equilibrium points, x0 . As we will see, the plot of V (x) can be used to describe the motion
of a particle.
Physical systems can be in three types of equilibria: stable, unstable, and neutral. An
example of a stable equilibrium is shown at the position near x = 0.7 mm in Figure 5.1.
This corresponds to values for which the potential energy V (x) is a local minimum. In
other words, d2 V /dx2 > 0 at the equilibrium position. In the case of stable equilibrium,
the forces acting on the particle will tend to restore the equilibrium. The restoring nature
of the force can be seen in the graph of V (x), by looking at the slope of V (x) on either
side of the equilibrium point. Note that the sign of the force is opposite of the sign of the
potential energy’s slope. Hence a displacement to the right of the equilibrium, where V (x)
has a positive slope, is met with a negative (left pointing) force. Similarly, to the left of
the equilibrium, V (x) has a negative slope, and therefore a particle displaced to the left of
equilibrium experiences a positive (right pointing) force.
An unstable equilibrium is shown at x = 0 in Figure 5.1. This corresponds to values for
which the potential energy V (x) is a local maximum, or in other words, d2 V /dx2 < 0 at
the equilibrium position. This means that if the particle is displaced an arbitrarily small
distance from the equilibrium state, the force causes it to move even farther away. By
studying the slope of V (x) on either side of the equilibrium, we can see that the particle
experiences a positive (rightward) force when displaced to the right of equilibrium, and a
164 Energy

1.00

0.95

Potential V
0.90

0.85

0.80

0.75
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
position x (mm)

Figure 5.1: Graph of a potential energy function which shows stable equilibrium points near
x = 0.7 and x = −0.7 and an unstable equilibrium at the origin (x = 0).

negative (leftward) force when displaced to the left of the equilibrium position, hence the
force acts to move the particle farther from equilibrium.
A final type of equilibrium not shown in Figure 5.1 is called neutral equilibrium. A neutral
equilibrium corresponds to situations for which the potential energy V (x) is a constant, and
hence its derivative is zero. In the case of neutral equilibrium, the system will tend to remain
in equilibrium if displaced by a small amount.

Example 5.2: Classifying the equilibrium position of a system

Consider the object shown in Figure 5.2. The object consists of a hemisphere with
a cylinder on top. The center of the hemisphere is at y = R, and when the object is
upright, the center of mass of the object is located a height y = h above the point of
contact with the ground. The object is tipped an angle θ with respect to the vertical.
Find the potential energy of the object when it is tilted. Show that if h > R, then the
upright equilibrium position is unstable.
Solution:
It is helpful to include a diagram before we perform any calculations.

CM
h-R
h
H
R θ R

Figure 5.2: The object whose equilibrium is studied in Example 5.2.

The figure on the left shows the object in its equilibrium state (upright). The figure
on the right shows the object tilted an angle θ from the vertical. The vertical line
passing through the center (circle) and center of mass (square) denotes the equilibrium
Potential energy and equilibrium points 165

positions. From the second diagram, we can see that the height of the center of mass is
H = R + (h − R) cos θ. Therefore, the potential energy with respect to the ground is:

V = mg [R + (h − R) cos θ] (5.2.2)

Next, to get the stability of the equilibrium state, we take two derivatives of V :

dV
= − mg(h − R) sin θ (5.2.3)
dθ
d2 V
= − mg(h − R) cos θ (5.2.4)
dθ2
Notice that the first derivative dV /dθ correctly identifies θ = 0 as an equilibrium
condition, since sin θ = 0 at θ = 0. Furthermore, if θ = 0 is inserted into the second
derivative, we find that the second derivative is negative when h > R. Therefore, the
equilibrium at θ = 0 is unstable when h > R. Additionally, the upright position is stable
if h < R, since in that case the second derivative is positive.

Energy can be used to get a qualitative understanding of a particle’s motion. Let us

consider a particle whose potential energy V (x) is that shown in Figure 5.3. We can imagine
the particle’s motion being similar to a ball rolling along a “frictionless track” in the shape
of V (x). For example, suppose we started the particle at rest at x = x1 . This would be
similar to holding the ball on the “V (x) track” at x1 . If we released the ball, we would
expect it to roll along the track speeding up as it approaches the local minimum, then
slowing down and coming to a stop at x = x2 , where it would reach its maximum allowed
height, V (x2 ). The ball would then turn around and head back toward x1 and repeat the
motion. The points x1 and x2 are called turning points.
While the “frictionless track” described in the above paragraph is useful for visualizing
the particle’s motion, we will now examine the motion between the turning points x1 and x2
in more detail. Again, consider the case where the particle starts at rest at the point, x = x1 ,
in Figure 5.3. At x = x1 , the particle has energy E1 and all of the energy is in the form of
potential energy. When released, a force to the right (V (x) has a negative slope at x1 ) pushes
the ball to the stable equilibrium (local minimum). At the stable equilibrium near x = 0.5,
the particle would have its highest velocity because it has reached its lowest potential
energy. Past the equilibrium point, the force begins to oppose the particle’s velocity (note
that V (x) has a positive slope in this region). Because the potential energy is increasing, the
particle’s kinetic energy would decrease, in order to conserve the total mechanical energy.
At x = x2 , the particle has lost all of its kinetic energy and comes to a stop. However,
it is still experiencing a leftward force, and so the particle begins to move back towards
x1 , where it will once again come to a stop and move back towards x2 . We see that the
resulting motion is an oscillation between the turning points, x1 and x2 . Both methods of
description, the “frictionless track” and the more detailed analysis in this paragraph, tell us
that a particle with an initial position of x0 = x1 and initial velocity v0 = 0, will oscillate
about the stable equilibrium reaching an amplitude of x1 to the left of equilibrium and x2
to the right of equilibrium.
166 Energy

70

60

Potential V(x)
50

40 x3 E2
Out[ ]=

30
x1 x2
20
E1
10
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Position x
Figure 5.3: Potential energy function demonstrating turning points.

We can, of course, use mathematics to describe this motion. Using energy conservation,
E = T + V = mv 2 /2 + V (x), we can solve for the velocity as a function of position:
r
2
v=± (E − V (x)) (5.2.5)
m
For a particle with energy E = E1 , we can see from Figure 5.3 that V (x1 ) = E1 and
V (x2 ) = E1 and therefore, using (5.2.5), the velocity is zero at the turning points, x = x1
and x = x2 . Furthermore, for x > x2 and x < x1 , the velocity is a complex number because
V (x) > E in those regions. Complex velocities are not physical, and this means that the
particle does not have enough energy to access those regions. For a particle with E = E1 , the
regions x < x1 and x > x2 are called classically forbidden regions. According to the physics
of classical mechanics, the particle cannot be in classically forbidden regions, because it
doesn’t have enough energy to access those regions. However, such regions are accessible in
quantum mechanical systems.
Using v = dx/dt, we can find the position by integrating (5.2.5):
Z x
dx′
t − t0 = q (5.2.6)
x0 2
(E − V (x ′ ))
m

Equation (5.2.6) can be a difficult way to solve for x(t) in closed form, for all but the most
simple of potential energy functions.
We can repeat our qualitative analysis for the motion of a particle starting at rest at
the unstable equilibrium x3 in Figure 5.3. In that case, if the particle is perturbed to the
right, it increases its velocity as the potential decreases. The graph ends at x = 3, so we
cannot tell what will happen to the particle for x > 3. If the particle is deflected to the left,
then it will increase in speed until it passes through the stable equilibrium, after which it
will slow down until it reaches x ≈ 0.1, before turning around. Mathematically, the particle
will then reach the unstable equilibrium coming to a stop.
Notice that both Figures 5.1 and 5.3 have local minima. The motion around local min-
ima corresponds to an oscillatory motion, if the energy of the particle is low enough. Let
us understand why that is the case using mathematics. Consider a particle near a stable
equilibrium x = x0 , hence, the equilibrium position x0 needs to be a local minimum of
V (x). Next, we ask the question, what is the mathematical form of V (x) near the stable
Potential energy and equilibrium points 167

equilibrium point? We perform a Taylor expansion in terms of x around an energy mini-

mum (x = x0 ). A Taylor expansion gives a polynomial approximation of a function near a
particular point, and its general form is:
1
V (x) = V (x0 ) + (x − x0 )V ′ (x0 ) + (x − x0 )2 V (2) (x0 ) + O(x − x0 )3 (5.2.7)
2
where O(x − x0 )3 indicates terms of the order of (x − x0 )3 and higher, and the notations
V ′ (x0 ) and V (2) (x0 ) indicate the first and second derivatives of V evaluated at x = x0 ,
respectively. If we consider the case where the displacement from equilibrium is small, then
x−x0 is small and terms O(x−x0 )3 and higher are negligible. Because V (x0 ) is a minimum,
V ′ (x0 ) = 0, so the linear term drops out:
1
V (x) = V (x0 ) + (x − x0 )2 V (2) (x0 ) + O(x − x0 )3 (5.2.8)
2
The constant term V (x0 ) is arbitrary and thus may also be dropped. This is equivalent to
saying that we can set the zero point of the energy to be any value, hence we set V (x0 ) = 0.
Or to put it another way, constant energy terms do not affect the particle’s motion, because
the force acting on the particle is the derivative of the potential energy, and therefore
constant terms do not contribute to the force. With all of this taken into account, we obtain
the form of V (x) for the simple harmonic oscillator :
1 1
V (x) ≈ (x − x0 )2 V (2) (x0 ) = k(x − x0 )2 (5.2.9)
2 2
where we set k = V (2) (x0 ). Hence, we find that Hooke’s Law appears any time we are
studying small amplitude oscillations about a stable equilibrium. Thus, given an arbitrary
potential energy function V (x) with a local minimum (and a non-vanishing positive second
derivative), we can use the solution to the simple harmonic oscillator found in Example
2.7 to provide a solution for small perturbations around the equilibrium point. As the
perturbations get larger, however, we need to include higher order terms in the Taylor
expansion of V (x), and Hooke’s Law no longer applies. These so-called nonlinear oscillators
can be very difficult to solve. We will study nonlinear oscillators in Chapter 13.
It is worth mentioning that (5.2.9) gives us a method of finding the frequency of small
oscillations about the stable equilibrium. Recall thatpthe frequency of oscillations for a
particle trapped in a Hooke’s Law potential is ω = k/m. Therefore, the frequency of
small oscillations about a stable equilibrium x0 can be found from:
r r
k V (2) (x0 )
ω= = (5.2.10)
m m

Example 5.3: The Lennard-Jones potential.

The potential energy of the interaction between a pair of neutral atoms or molecules
is often described by the Lennard-Jones potential function, also referred to as the 6-12
potential:   
σ 12  σ 6
V (x) = 4ϵ − (5.2.11)
x x

where σ, ϵ, x, and V are in appropriate SI units. Setting σ = 1 and ϵ = 1/4, determine

the type of equilibrium possible in this potential, and obtain a parabolic
approximation of this potential near the equilibrium point. Solve this problem by
hand and by using Python and Mathematica.
168 Energy

Solution:
We find the equilibrium point by setting the derivative of V (x) equal to zero and
solving for x:
dV (x)
dx = 12x−13 − 6x−7 = 0

x = 21/6 = 1.122

We can easily verify that this is a stable equilibrium point by examining the second
derivative. We can also use Python and Mathematica to expand the function V (x)
around the equilibrium point:

V (x) = −0.25 + 7.143(x − x0 )2 (5.2.12)

A plot of (5.2.11) and (5.2.12) appear in Figure 5.4. The dashed line is the series
approximation near the stable equilibrium, and the solid line is the Lennard-Jones
potential. Notice that the approximation fails to provide a reliable estimate of the
potential energy the farther the particle moves from the equilibrium position.

Python Code
We begin the code by defining the Lenard-Jones potential, V. We then solve for the
equilibrium points. Notice the use of the .subs() method to get a numerical answer
from solve. There are many roots, but only one is positive and real. Next, we perform
a Taylor series expansion about the value x0 using the SymPy command series. Note
that we ask Python to compute up to the third order in the expansion. That ensures
we get the quadratic terms.
The method .removeO() removes the order term that Python includes at the end
of the series by default. Finally, we use lambdify to convert the SymPy expressions V
and expansion into functions that can be plotted, and we create the graph.
Potential energy and equilibrium points 169

from sympy import symbols, series, diff,solve, simplify,lambdify,evalf,N

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

x, s, ep = symbols('x, s, ep')

V = 4*ep*( (s/x)**12 - (s/x)**6)

#solve for equilibrium points

x0 = solve(diff(V,x).subs([(s,1),(ep,1/4)]),x)[1]

print('Equilibrium point x0 = ', N(x0,6))

expansion = simplify(series(V, x, 1.122462, 3).removeO() \

.subs([(s,1),(ep,0.25)]))

print('\nNear x0: V(x) = ', [Link]([(s,1),(ep,0.25)]).evalf(4))

expansion_plot = lambdify(x,[Link]([(s,1),(ep,1/4)]),'numpy')

V_plot = lambdify(x,[Link]([(s,1),(ep,1/4)]),'numpy')

x_values = [Link](0.95,2.0,50)

[Link](x_values,V_plot(x_values), 'k',label = "Lennard-Jones")

[Link](x_values,expansion_plot(x_values),'k--', label='Approximation')
[Link](-0.3,0.5);
[Link]('x')
[Link]('V(x)')
[Link]()
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Equilibrium point x0 = 1.12246

Near x0: V(x) = 7.143*x**2 - 16.04*x + 8.75

Mathematica Code
After defining V, we find the equilibrium position x0 using Solve and choose the
only positive real root. Next, we compute the Taylor expansion about x0 using Series.
We apply the function Normal to make the series computable (and to remove the order
term). Chop replaces real numbers in the expression that are close to zero with the exact
value of zero.
170 Energy

SetOptions[Plot, Axes->True, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16},

PlotStyle->{{Normal, Black}, {Black, Dashed}}];

σ = 1; ϵ = 1/4;

V = 4 ∗ ϵ ∗ ((σ/x)∧ 12 − (σ/x)∧ 6);

x0 = Solve[D[V, x]==0, x][[2]]//N ;

Print[“Equilibrium point x0 = ”, x/.x0]

Equilibrium point x0 = 1.12246

expansion = Series[V, {x, x/.x0, 2}]//Normal//Chop;

Print[“Near x0, the potential V(x) = ”, expansion//Expand]

Near x0, the potential V(x) = 8.75 − 16.0362x + 7.1433x2

Plot[{V, expansion}, {x, 0.95, 1.4}, PlotRange->{All, {−0.3, 0.5}},

AxesLabel->{“position,x”, “V(x)”}]

0.4

0.2
V(x)

0.0

-0.2

1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

position,x
Figure 5.4: Output of the Mathematica code for Example 5.3. The solid line is the Lenard-
Jones potential in (5.2.11), and the dashed line is the Taylor series approximation.
Potential energy and equilibrium points 171

Example 5.4: Motion near a stable equilibrium point.

Consider the potential energy illustrated in Figure 5.3, V (x) = a/x + bx2 − cx3 ,
where a = 4 Jm, b = 25 J/m2 , and c = 8 J/m3 . Numerically solve for the position x(t)
as a function of time for a mass of m = 1 kg whose initial conditions are x(0) = 0.21 m
(i.e., very close to x1 in Figure 5.3), and ẋ(0) = 0.
Solution:
We begin by differentiating V (x) with respect to x in order to obtain the force F (x):

dV a
F (x) = − = 2 − 2bx + 3cx2
dx x
The next step is to use Newton’s second law in order to create a second-order ODE,
which can be solved for x(t):
a
mẍ = − 2bx + 3cx2 (5.2.13)
x2
We plot the motion using Python and Mathematica. The output of the Mathematica
code is shown in Figure 5.5. Notice that the motion is periodic, oscillating between
points x = 0.21 and x = 0.95, as suggested in Figure 5.3.

Python Code
To solve (5.2.13) using odeint, we must rewrite it as two first-order equations using
the variable, v = dx/dt = ẋ:

ẋ =v
1 a 
v̇ = − 2bx + 3cx 2
m x2
This code parallels many of the other codes in which we used odeint to solve an
ODE.
172 Energy

from [Link] import odeint

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

a, b, c, m = 4, 25, 8, 1

inits = [0.21, 0] # initial conditions

# derivatives function for odeint

def deriv(y,t):
x, v = y
dydt = [v, (a/x**2 - 2*b*x + 3*c*x**2)/m ]
return dydt

times = [Link](0, 2.0, 100)

# solve the ode using odeint

soln = odeint(deriv, inits, times)

[Link](times,soln[:,0])
[Link]('time (s)')
[Link]('position (m)')
[Link]()

Mathematica Code
We use NDSolve to integrate (5.2.13).
SetOptions[Plot, Frame->True, Axes->False, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}];

a = 4; b = 25; c = 8; m = 1;

soln = NDSolve[{m ∗ x”[t]==a/x[t]∧ 2 − 2 ∗ b ∗ x[t] + 3 ∗ c ∗ x[t]∧ 2, x[0]==0.21,

x′ [0]==0}, x, {t, 0, 2}];

Plot[x[t]/.soln, {t, 0, 2}, FrameLabel->{“time (s)”, “position (m)”}]

Work and line integrals 173

0.8

position (m) 0.6

0.4

0.2
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
time (s)
Figure 5.5: Output of the Mathematica code for Example 5.4.

5.3 WORK AND LINE INTEGRALS

Next, we extend the concept of work to higher dimensional systems, i.e., cases where the
force F = F(r). In this case, the work done by the force F moving an object between points
r1 and r2 is generalized from (5.1.1) to be:

Work Done by Force F

Z r2
W (r1 → r2 ) = F · dr (5.3.1)
r1

Notice the dot product between the force F and the infinitesimal displacement dr in
(5.3.1). The dot product tells us that work calculations involve only the component of the
force parallel to the displacement, i.e., the component of the force perpendicular to the
displacement does no work. Note that (5.3.1) is also applicable to one-dimensional systems,
and we no longer need the restriction that F is in the same direction as dr.
The right-hand side of (5.3.1) is a line integral. In other words, the integral is evaluated
along a specific path. The value of W can depend on the path taken by the particle. It is
common to rewrite (5.3.1) including the path C followed by the particle:
Z
W = F · dr (5.3.2)
C

In order to calculate integrals of this type, one can break them up into component integrals,
by writing out the dot product of the components of the force vector F = Fx î + Fy ĵ + Fz k̂
and the differential dr =dxî + dy ĵ + dz k̂, as follows:
Z Z Z
W = Fx dx + Fy dy + Fz dz (5.3.3)
C C C

and then evaluate the individual integrals along the path C. The next several examples
demonstrate how to calculate path integrals for the three paths shown in Figure 5.6.
174 Energy

y
(0,1)
(2,1) (2,1)
y y

y=x/2
θ
x
(0,0) (0,0) (2,0) (1,0)
x x
(a) (b) (c)

Figure 5.6: Three paths used in Examples 5.5-5.7.

Example 5.5: Calculating the work done by a force along a straight line path.
Find the work done by the force F = x y î−y 2 ĵ along the straight line path connecting
the origin to the point (2, 1) as indicated in Figure 5.6a. Do this problem analytically
(with and without parameterizing the path) and by using Python and Mathematica.
Solution:
This problem is most easily done in Cartesian coordinates. We write for the work
Z Z Z Z Z
W = Fx dx + Fy dy + Fz dz = x y dx − y 2 dy (5.3.4)
C C C C C

The straight line path shown in the figure can be written as y = x/2, and therefore
the differentials are related by dy = dx/2. The x-coordinate along path AB changes
from x = 0 to x = 2. By substituting these equations for y, dy into the above expression,
we end up with simple integrals over the x-axis only:
Z 2 Z 2  x 2 dx Z 2 3
x
W = x dx − = x2 dx = 1 (5.3.5)
0 2 0 2 2 0 8
We can also evaluate the work by parameterizing the path: we introduce the parameter
x = t such that t varies from t = 0 to t = 2. Along the line connecting the origin to the
point (2, 1) we then have y = t/2, and also dy = dt/2. The work becomes:
Z Z Z Z
2
2
2
W = Fx dx + Fy dy = t2 /2 dt − (t/2) dt/2 = 1 (5.3.6)
C C 0 0

Python Code
In Method #1 we use integrate in SymPy to evaluate the two integrals. In
the Python code we define the line from the origin to the point (2, 1) by using
ParametricRegion((t,t/2),(t,0,2), and we store this as the variable diagonal.
The work using Method #2 is calculated using ParametricIntegral(F,diagonal)
where F represents the force vector F = xy î − y 2 ĵ.
Work and line integrals 175

from sympy import integrate, symbols

from [Link] import CoordSys3D, ParametricIntegral,ParametricRegion

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

x, y, t, x1, y1 = symbols('x, y, t, x1, y1')

C = CoordSys3D('C') # define Cartesian system, named here C

# Method 1: using two line integrals

intx=integrate(x1*(x1/2), (x1,0,2))

inty=integrate(-y1**2, (y1,0,1))

print('The line integral using two line integrals = ',intx + inty)

# Method 2: using ParametricRegion and ParametricIntegral

x = t
y = t/2

F = x*y*C.i - y**2*C.j # Force vector with unit vector C.i, C.j

diagonal = ParametricRegion((t, t/2), (t, 0, 2))

W = ParametricIntegral(F, diagonal)
print('The line integral using ParametricIntegral = ',W)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The line integral using two line integrals = 1
The line integral using ParametricIntegral = 1

Mathematica Code
After defining the force F as a vector field, we first perform two separate line integrals
using the Integrate command. Next, we use LineIntegrate where the first argument
is the vector field. The second argument is the variables written such that they are
along the line that joins the origin to the point (2, 1) defined in Mathematica using
Line[0,0,2,1].
176 Energy

F = {x ∗ y, −y ∧ 2};

(* Method 1 : Using two line integrals *)

intx = Integrate[x ∗ x/2, {x, 0, 2}];

inty = Integrate[−y ∧ 2, {y, 0, 1}];

total = intx + inty;

Print[“The line integral using two line integrals = ”, total]

The line integral using two line integrals = 1

(* Method 2 : Using LineIntegrate *)

lineInt = LineIntegrate[F, {x, y} ∈ Line[{{0, 0}, {2, 1}}]];

Print[“The line integral using LineIntegrate = ”, lineInt]

The line integral using LineIntegral = 1

Example 5.6: Calculating the work done by a force along a path consisting
of multiple straight-line segments
Find the work done by the force F = x y î − y 2 ĵ from the previous example along the
line path (0, 0) → (2, 0) → (2, 1), indicated in Figure 5.6b. Do the problem by hand and
by using ParametricIntegral in Python and LineIntegrate in Mathematica. Does
the work done by the force depend on the path taken between points (0, 0) and (2, 1)?
Solution:
The work in this case is calculated as the sum of two segments, (0, 0) → (2, 0) and
(2, 0) → (2, 1).
In the first segment we have y = 0 and therefore dy = 0, while x varies from x = 0
to x = 2.
Z Z
W = Fx dx + Fy dy (5.3.7)
(0,0)→(2,0) (0,0)→(2,0)
Z Z
= xydx − y 2 dy (5.3.8)
(0,0)→(2,0) (0,0)→(2,0)

=0+0=0 (5.3.9)
The first integral above is zero because y = 0 along the path from (0, 0) → (2, 0).
The second integral is zero because dy = 0 along the path.
Along the second segment from (2, 0) → (2, 1), we have x = 2 and dx = 0, while y
varies from y = 0 to y = 1.
Z Z
W = Fx dx + Fy dy (5.3.10)
(2,0)→(2,1) (2,0)→(2,1)
Work and line integrals 177

Z y=1 Z 1
= x y dx − y 2 dy (5.3.11)
y=0 0
1
1 3 1
=0− y =− (5.3.12)
3 0 3

The first integral above is zero because dx = 0 along this segment.

Examples 5.5 and 5.6 show clearly that the work done by this force depends on the
path taken between the two points (0, 0) and (2, 1). Such a force is called a noncon-
servative force; we will see later in this chapter that nonconservative forces have no
potential energy associated with them.

Python Code
In the Python code we use the same method as in the previous example, with
ParametricRegion((t,0),(t,0,2) defining the horizontal line of the integration path
with x = t and y = 0. Similarly, ParametricRegion((2,t),(t,0,1) defines the ver-
tical line of the integration path with x = 2 and y = t. The work is calculated using
ParametricIntegral(F,line1) plus ParametricIntegral(F,line2), where F repre-
sents again the force vector F = x y î − y 2 ĵ.
from sympy import symbols
from [Link] import CoordSys3D, ParametricIntegral,\
ParametricRegion

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

C = CoordSys3D('C') # define Cartesian system, named here C

t = symbols('t')

# using ParametricRegion and ParametricIntegral

# Force vector
F = C.x*C.y*C.i - C.y**2*C.j

line1 = ParametricRegion((t, 0), (t, 0, 2))

integr1 = ParametricIntegral(F, line1)

print('integral along line 1 = ', integr1)

line2 = ParametricRegion((2, t), (t, 0, 1))

integr2 = ParametricIntegral(F, line2)
print('integral along line 2 = ',integr2)

print('\nWork done is :', integr1+integr2)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

integral along line 1 = 0
integral along line 2 = -1/3

Work done is : -1/3

178 Energy

Mathematica Code
We break up the path into two steps. The first line integral, stored as line1 is done
along the line joining the origin and the point (2.0). The second line integral, stored as
line2 is done along the line joining (2, 0) to (2, 1). The final result is the sum of the
two integrals.
F = {x ∗ y, −y ∧ 2};

line1 = LineIntegrate[F, {x, y} ∈ Line[{{0, 0}, {2, 0}}]];

line2 = LineIntegrate[F, {x, y} ∈ Line[{{2, 0}, {2, 1}}]];

Print[“The line integral = ”, line1 + line2]

The line integral = − 1

3

Example 5.7: Calculating the work done by a force along a curved path.
Find the work done by the force F = x y î − y 2 ĵ from Example 5.5 along the unit
quarter circle from the point (1, 0) to the point (0, 1) as indicated in Figure 5.6c. Do the
problem by hand and by using ParametricIntegral in Python and LineIntegrate in
Mathematica.
Solution:
This is a problem that is best done in polar coordinates. Let θ be the angle measured
counterclockwise with respect to the x-axis, denoted in Figure 5.6c. A particle moving
along the quarter circle would have a constant radial coordinate r = 1. Therefore, the
conversion from Cartesian to polar coordinates would be: x = cos θ and y = sin θ. In
order to rewrite the force vector, we need to convert the unit vectors from Cartesian
to polar coordinates. To derive the conversion, we start with the unit vectors for polar
coordinates from Chapter 3:
)
r̂ = cos θ î + sin θ ĵ
(5.3.13)
θ̂ = − sin θ î + cos θ ĵ

Next, we multiply r̂ by cos θ and θ̂ by sin θ and subtract. The result is:

î = cos θ r̂ − sin θ θ̂ (5.3.14)

Similarly, by multiplying the r̂-equation by sin θ and the θ̂-equation by cos θ, and
add. The result is:
ĵ = sin θ r̂ + cos θ θ̂ (5.3.15)
By inserting the coordinate transformations for x, y, î, and ĵ into the force we obtain:

F = sin θ cos(2θ) r̂ − 2 cos θ sin2 θ θ̂

where we used the trigonometric identity cos(2θ) = cos2 θ − sin2 θ. We can use the
infinitesimal displacement in polar coordinates, dr = r̂ dr + θ̂ r dθ, but this simplifies to
Work and line integrals 179

dr = r dθ θ̂, because the particle is not moving radially away from the origin (i.e., r = 1
and dr = 0). After inserting F and dr into (5.3.1) and setting r = 1, we obtain:
Z π/2
W = (−2 cos θ sin2 θ) dθ = −2/3 (5.3.16)
0

Python Code
In the Python code we use the same method as in the previous two examples, with
path=ParametricRegion((cos(t),sin(t),(t,0,pi/2) defining the quarter circular
integration path, and the angle varying from t = 0 to t = π/2. The work is calculated
once more using ParametricIntegral(F,path, where F represents again the force
vector F = xy î − y 2 ĵ.

from sympy import symbols, sin ,cos, pi

from [Link] import CoordSys3D, ParametricIntegral,ParametricRegion

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

C = CoordSys3D('C') # define Cartesian system, named here C

t = symbols('t')

# Force vector
F = C.x*C.y*C.i - C.y**2*C.j

path = ParametricRegion((cos(t), sin(t)), (t, 0, pi/2))

integr = ParametricIntegral(F, path)

print('The integral using ParametricIntegral = ', integr)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The integral using ParametricIntegral = -2/3

Mathematica Code
Again we use LineIntegrate. This time, the path is defined using the command
Circle, whose arguments are the location of the circle’s center (0, 0), the circle’s radius
(1), and the parameter θ values of the path’s start and end point (in this case θ = 0 to
π/2).
180 Energy

F = {x ∗ y, −y ∧ 2};

curve = LineIntegrate[F, {x, y} ∈ Circle[{0, 0}, 1, {0, π/2}]];

Print[“The line integral = ”, curve]

The line integral = − 2

3

5.4 WORK-KINETIC ENERGY THEOREM, REVISITED

Recall that in one dimension, the kinetic energy T = 1/2mv 2 . In two and three-dimensions,
the kinetic energy takes on the form:
1 1
T = mv 2 = mv · v (5.4.1)
2 2
If we compute the time derivative of T, we get:

dT 1
= m (v̇ · v + v · v̇) = mv̇ · v = F · v (5.4.2)
dt 2

dT = F · (vdt) (5.4.3)
dT = F · dr (5.4.4)

After integrating this equation from r0 to r, we obtain:

The Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem

Z r
T − T0 = F · dr (5.4.5)
r0

where T0 is the value of the kinetic energy at position r0 . Equation (5.4.5) is the work-kinetic
energy theorem and is similar to (5.1.6) derived for one-dimensional systems.

5.5 CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND POTENTIAL ENERGY

Recall that for one-dimensional systems, we defined a conservative force F (x), such that
the work done by F (x) to move a particle between two points x0 and x, is independent of
the path taken from x0 to x. This can be easily generalized to two- and three-dimensional
systems. A conservative force F(r) is one that depends only on a particle’s position, and
the work done by F(r) to move a particle from positions r0 to r is independent of the path
taken between the points. We can then define the potential energy to be:
Z r
V (r) = −W (r0 → r) = − F(r′ ) · dr ′ (5.5.1)
r0

where we have set a reference point r0 such that V (r0 ) = 0. The above definition works for
our purposes because we have a conservative force. If the force was not conservative, then
Conservative forces and potential energy 181

the integral in (5.5.1) would also depend on the path taken by the particle and would not
be simply a function of r.
Now suppose that a conservative force, F(r), moves a particle from a point r0 to the
point r2 along two different paths. One path goes directly from the reference point r0 to
r2 , while the other path goes from r0 to r1 and then from r1 to r2 . Because the work is
conservative, the work done along the two paths is the same:

W (r0 → r2 ) = W (r0 → r1 ) + W (r1 → r2 ) (5.5.2)

Solving for W (r1 → r2 ):

W (r1 → r2 ) =W (r0 → r2 ) − W (r0 → r1 ) (5.5.3)

W (r1 → r2 ) = − V (r2 ) + V (r1 ) (5.5.4)

Or, the work done by the conservative force F(r) is related to the potential energy
through the formula:

W (r1 → r2 ) = − [V (r2 ) − V (r1 )] = −∆V (5.5.5)

Combining equation (5.5.5) with (5.5.1), we see that the work done by a conservative force
along a closed-loop path must be equal to zero, since the change of potential energy along
that path is zero.
Combining the Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem (5.4.5) with (5.5.1), produces:
Z r2
∆T = F(r′ ) · dr ′ (5.5.6)
r1
∆T =W (r1 → r2 ) (5.5.7)
∆T = − ∆V (5.5.8)

and therefore:
∆(T + V ) = 0 (5.5.9)
which tells us that the total mechanical energy E = T +V remains constant as the particle’s
position changes from r1 to r2 .
In the case where nonconservative forces work on the system, (5.1.19) still applies for
two- and three-dimensional systems. However, in this case, (5.4.1) is used to compute T ,
(5.5.1) is used to compute V , and the work done by the nonconservative force Fnc (r) is
found using: Z r2
Wnc = Fnc (r′ ) · dr′ (5.5.10)
r1

We have seen that the potential energy V (x) can be found from the conservative force F,
by using (5.5.1). Now suppose we know V and want to find F. We know from our discussion
of one-dimensional systems that F = −dV /dx; however, how does that generalize to higher
dimensions? To derive the relationship between F and V in three dimensions, we begin by
considering an infinitesimal displacement r → r + dr over which a conservative force F(r)
is acting on a particle. The work done by that force is:

dW = F(r) · dr = Fx dx + Fy dy + Fz dz (5.5.11)
where we are working in Cartesian coordinates for simplicity, but any other coordinate
system can be used. Continuing with the same displacement r → r + dr, the work done by
182 Energy

a conservative force can also be computed as:

dW = − dV (5.5.12)
= − [V (r + dr) − V (r)] (5.5.13)
 
∂V ∂V ∂V
= − V (r) + dx + dy + dz + · · · − V (r) (5.5.14)
∂x ∂y ∂z
 
∂V ∂V ∂V
=− dx + dy + dz (5.5.15)
∂x ∂y ∂z

where r = xî+y ĵ+z k̂ , and in (5.5.15) we kept only linear terms in the multi-variable Taylor
series. Comparing the coefficients of dx, dy, and dz in Equations (5.5.11) and (5.5.15), we
find:
∂V ∂V ∂V
Fx = − Fy = − Fz = − (5.5.16)
∂x ∂y ∂z
In other words, the force is related to the potential energy through the gradient by:

Potential Energy and Force in Three Dimensions

 
−
→ ∂V ∂V ∂V
F = −∇V (x, y, z) = − î + ĵ + k̂ (5.5.17)
∂x ∂y ∂z
Z
V = − F · dr (5.5.18)

Notice the minus sign in (5.5.17). The gradient points in the direction of the most rapid
increase in a scalar function. In the case of (5.5.17), we see that forces point in the direction
of the most rapidly decreasing potential energy. Consider the gravitational potential energy
as illustrated in Figure 5.7. Points at the same altitude all have the same potential energy.
We can think of the dashed lines in Figure 5.7 as surfaces of constant potential energy. As
the altitude increases, the potential energy increases. Hence, the direction of the most rapid
increase in V is upward ,i.e., perpendicular to the ground (shown as the rectangle). Because
Fg = −∇V, the force vector points along the direction of the most rapid decrease in V ,
which is downward.
A conservative force F can be written as the gradient of the potential energy. From
Chapter 3, we recall that the curl of a gradient of any scalar function V is always zero:

∇ × F = −∇ × ∇V = 0 (5.5.19)

Therefore, one method to identify whether or not a force is conservative is to compute its
curl. A force F will be conservative if and only if its curl is zero:

Conservative Force

∇×F=0 (5.5.20)
Conservative forces and potential energy 183

Figure 5.7: Surfaces of constant gravitational potential energy and the direction of gravita-
tional force, Fg .

Example 5.8: Proving a force is nonconservative

Show that the force F = xy î − y 2 ĵ from Examples 5.5-5.7 is not conservative.
Solution:
Calculate the curl of the force:
     
∂Fz ∂Fy ∂Fx ∂Fz ∂Fy ∂Fx
∇×F= − î + − ĵ + − k̂
∂y ∂z ∂z ∂x ∂x ∂y

with Fx = xy, Fy = −y 2 , Fz = 0, this becomes:

∇ × F = (0 − 0) î + (0 − 0) ĵ + (0 − x) k̂ = − xk̂ =
̸ 0

Hence the force is nonconservative, as we expected based on the results of Examples

5.5-5.7. Below, we include the calculation in Python and Mathematica.

Python Code
We use CoordSys3D to define a coordinate system and use the function curl(F)
from the library [Link]. We find that the curl is nonzero and the force is non-
conservative.
from [Link] import CoordSys3D, curl

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

R = CoordSys3D('R')

F = R.x*R.y*R.i - R.y**2 * R.j

print('The curl of F = ', curl(F))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The curl of F = (-R.x)*R.k
184 Energy

Mathematica Code
Notice that we defined the force F as a three-dimensional vector to get the correct
curl. Otherwise, Mathematica would assume F is a two-dimensional vector field and not
give the correct curl.
F = {x ∗ y, −y ∧ 2, 0};

Print[“The curl of F = ”, Curl[F, {x, y, z}]]

The curl of F = {0, 0, −x}

Example 5.9: Proving a force is conservative and finding the associated

potential energy.  
Consider the force F = −k y î + xĵ − z k̂ .
(a) Show that it is conservative.
(b) Find the potential energy associated with this force.
Solution:
(a) We begin by computing the curl of the force:

î ĵ k̂ h i
∇×F = ∂
∂x
∂
∂y
∂
∂z
(−k) = −k î(0) + 0ĵ + k̂ (1 − 1) = 0 (5.5.21)
y x −z
So F is conservative and there exists a potential energy V associated with the force
F.
(b) Next, we calculate the potential energy V . Recall
Z Z Z Z
V = − F · dr = −k ydx − k xdy + k zdy (5.5.22)

Since the force is conservative, the potential energy V will be independent of the
path we choose for evaluating the integral.
We will integrate (5.5.22) from the origin to the point (x, y, z) along the following
path:
(1) From the origin to the point (x, 0, 0) along the x-axis.
(2) From the point (x, 0, 0) to the point (x, y, 0) along a line parallel to the y-axis.
(3) From the point (x, y, 0) to the point (x, y, z) along a line parallel to the z-axis.
Along path (1), we have y = z = 0, and dr = îdx. Therefore the line integral along
path (1) is
Z x
V1 = − (−ky)|y=0 dx = 0 (5.5.23)
0

Along path (2), x is constant and we have z = 0 and dr = ĵdy. Therefore the line
integral along path (2) is
Z y
V2 = − (−kx)|x=constant dy = kxy (5.5.24)
0

Along path (3), x and y are constant, and we have dr = k̂dz. Therefore the line
integral along path (3) is
Conservative forces and potential energy 185

Z z
k
V3 = − kzdz = − z 2 (5.5.25)
0 2
The total line integral across the entire path is
k 2
V = V1 + V2 + V3 = kxy − z (5.5.26)
2
Finally, we check the answer:
 
∂V ∂V ∂V
F = −∇V = − ,− ,− = −ky î − kxĵ + kz k̂ ✓ (5.5.27)
∂x ∂y ∂z

We now show an alternative method of calculating the potential energy V in the previous
example. In this method we integrate the general expression for the gradient.

 
Example 5.10: Consider the force F = −k y î + xĵ − z k̂ from the previous example.
Find the potential energy associated with this force, starting from the expression for
the gradient:  
∂V ∂V ∂V
F = −∇V = − ,− ,−
∂x ∂y ∂z

Solution
Since F is conservative, there exists a potential energy V associated with the force
F such that: Z Z Z Z
V = − F · dr = − Fx dx − Fy dy − Fy dy
Z Z Z
V =k ydx + k xdy − zdz

We must have  
∂V ∂V ∂V
F = −∇V = − ,− ,−
∂x ∂y ∂z
We consider the x-coordinate first:
∂V
Fx = − = −ky
∂x
Integrating with respect to x while keeping y, z as constants:

V (x, y, z) = −kyx + g(y, z)

where g(y, z) is a function to be determined. We must also have:

∂V ∂g
Fy = − = −kx = kx −
∂y ∂y
where we evaluated the ∂V
∂y . Integrating this equation with respect to y while keeping
x, z as constants, we obtain:

g(x, y) = 2kxy + h(z)

186 Energy

where h(z) is a function to be determined. Now we have:

V (x, y, z) = −kyx + 2kxy + h(z) = kxy + h(z)

We must also have:

∂V ∂h
Fz = − = kz =
∂z ∂z
Integrating with respect to z , we get:

k
h(z) = − z 2 + c
2
where c is an arbitrary constant which we set to c = 0. Therefore:
k 2
V (x, y, z) = kxy −
z
2
This is of course the same answer we obtained in the previous example, where we
used a specific integration path to evaluate V .

5.6 ENERGY AND MULTIPARTICLE SYSTEM

Consider a collection of N discrete particles, each located at ri for i = 1, 2, . . . , N , with a
center of mass located at R, shown as the empty circle in Figure 5.8. The mass of each
particle is mi and the velocity of each particle is vi . Note that what follows can be repeated
for a continuous mass distribution, but discrete sums will become integrals.
In Figure 5.8 the ith particle is located at a position ri relative to the origin, and at a
position r′i relative to the center of mass. Notice that R + r′i = ri , where R is the location
of the center of mass relative to the origin.

ri'=ri-R

mi
R

ri

x
Figure 5.8: A collection of discrete particles. The center of mass is located at R and is
denoted by the empty circle.

First, we calculate the kinetic energy of the system relative to the origin, by using a
method similar to our calculation of the total momentum of a system of N particles in
Energy and multiparticle system 187

Chapter 4. The total kinetic energy is:

N 
X 
1
T = mi vi2 (5.6.1)
i=1
2

By using ri = R+r′i and ṙi = Ṙ+ ṙ′i (recall that a dot above a variable means differentiation
of that variable with respect to time), we can write vi2 as:




vi2 = ṙi · ṙi = ṙ′i + Ṙ · ṙ′i + Ṙ = (vi′ ) + 2 ṙ′i · Ṙ + V2
2
(5.6.2)

where vi′ = ṙ′i is the velocity of the ith particle relative to the center of mass, and V = Ṙ is
the velocity of the center of mass relative to the origin. Inserting (5.6.2) into (5.6.1) gives:
N   ! N  
X 1 d X
N X 1
′ 2 ′
T = mi (vi ) + Ṙ · mi ri + mi V2 (5.6.3)
i=1
2 dt i=1 i=1
2
P
The middle term in the above equation contains mi r′i , which in Chapter 4 was shown to
be zero from the definition of the center of mass. Hence, the total kinetic energy becomes:

Kinetic Energy of a System of N Particles

XN  
1 1
mi (vi′ )
2
T = M V2 + (5.6.4)
2 i=1
2

The first term in (5.6.4) is the kinetic energy of the center of mass, and the second term
corresponds to the kinetic energy of each particle that is moving relative to the center of
mass.
For potential energy, we need to consider both external and internal forces and their
corresponding potential energies. The potential energy of the particle with mass mi is:
X
Vi = Viext + int
Vi,j (5.6.5)
j̸=i

where Viext is the potential energy due to the external force acting on mi , and Vi,j int
is
the potential energy due to the interaction force between mi and mj . Examples of such
interaction forces could be gravitational, electrostatic, or any other central forces. In general
int
for central forces we have Vi,j int
= Vi,j (|ri − rj |), meaning that the potential energy depends
on the relative distance between the two particles. Therefore the total potential energy of
the system is:
X
N XN X
V = Viext + int
Vi,j (|ri − rj |) (5.6.6)
i=1 i=1 j̸=i

In the case of rigid bodies, the particles are at fixed distances, and therefore the internal
potential energy can be ignored, since it will be constant for each particle. Hence, for a rigid
body we will only have to worry about external forces. We will study rigid bodies in more
detail in Chapter 11.
188 Energy

5.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY

The work W done by the force F (x) on a particle moving along a line from position
x0 to position x is: Z x
W = F (x′ ) dx′
x0

The Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem states that work needs to be done by the force
F (x) in order to change the kinetic energy of a system.
Zx
1 1
mv 2 − mvo2 = F (x′ )dx′
2 2
xo

The potential energy function V (x) associated with the force F (x) in one dimension
is defined by:
Z x
V (x) − V (x0 ) = − F (x′ )dx′
x0

The force F (x) associated with a potential energy V (x) can be found through differen-
tiation:

dV (x)
F (x) = −
dx
A particle is in an equilibrium state at x = x0 if:

dV
=0
dx
x0

Physical systems can exist in three types of equilibria: stable, unstable, and neutral
depending on the sign of d2 V /dx2 at the equilibrium point x = x0 .
The velocity is zero at the turning points of motion, so all of the particle’s energy
is in the form of potential energy.
Hooke’s Law appears any time we are studying small amplitude oscillations about
a stable equilibrium, by doing a Taylor expansion of the potential V (x):
1 1
V (x) ≈ (x − x0 )2 V (2) (x0 ) = k(x − x0 )2
2 2
In two and three dimensions, the work done by the force F moving an object between
points r1 and r2 is: Z r2
W (r1 → r2 ) = F · dr
r1

The value of W can depend on the path C taken by the particle:

Z
W = F · dr
C

In order to calculate integrals of this type, one can break them up into component
integrals: Z Z Z
W = Fx dx + Fy dy + Fz dz
C C C
End-of-chapter problems 189

Potential energy and force in three dimensions are:

  Z
∂V ∂V ∂V
F = −∇V (x, y, z) = − i+ j+ k V = − F · dr
∂x ∂y ∂z
Rr
For a conservative force: ∇ × F = 0, and the work r12 F · dr is independent of the path
taken between the two points r1 and r2 .
Conservation of mechanical energy states that the sum of the kinetic and potential
energy, called the total mechanical energy E, is always constant only if conservative
forces act on the system. In short: Conservative forces conserve energy.

E = T + V (x) = T0 + V (x0 )

The kinetic energy of a system of N particles is the sum of the kinetic energy of the
center of mass and the kinetic energy of each particle that is moving relative to the
center of mass:
XN  
1 2 1 ′ 2
T = MV + mi (vi )
2 i=1
2
In a rigid body the particles are at fixed distances, and the internal potential energy
can be ignored, so that we only have to worry about external forces.

5.8 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 5.1: Work and Energy in One-Dimensional Systems
1. A skier with mass m =100 kg skis down a 20-degree incline. Starting at rest, the skier
skis 100 m down the hill and coasts 50 m on level snow before coming to a stop. What
is the coefficient of kinetic friction between the skier’s skis and the snow?
2. A child slides a toy of mass m along a floor with a frictional coefficient of µ. The
initial velocity of the toy is v0 . The toy slides across the floor a distance d before it
encounters a spring with spring constant, k. The toy strikes the spring, and the spring
compresses a distance ∆x before the toy comes to a stop. Find ∆x.

3. A particle of mass m experiences a force causing it to move in the +x-direction

with velocity, v(x) = cxe−bx , where b and c are positive constants. Do this problem
both analytically and using a CAS.
a. Find the work done by the force if the particle starts at x = 0 and travels to
x = a (a > 0).
b. Find the work done when the particle starts at x = 0 and travels to x = ∞. Note
that in this case, infinity is a useful mathematical tool meaning “very far”.
c. Plot the force as a function of the distance x using numerical values b = c = m =
1 and explain your answer in part (b).
4. Person A riding in the backseat of a minivan traveling at a velocity u throws a ball of
mass m to person B who is sitting in the front seat. The ball is thrown with a velocity
v relative to person A.
190 Energy

a. What is the increase in kinetic energy of the ball as measured by person A?

b. What is the kinetic energy gain of the ball as measured by a person at rest
standing on the side of the road?
c. How much work did person A do in throwing the ball?

5. A particle with mass m experiences a force F , and has velocity v = a/x (a > 0)
along the +x-direction. How much work is done by the force moving the particle from
position x1 to x2 , where x2 > x1 ? Do this problem analytically, and by using a CAS.
6. Consider a spherical planet of mass M and radius R. The gravitational potential
energy of a particle with mass m a distance r from the center of the planet is:
GM m
V =−
r
where G is the gravitational constant.
a. What is the escape speed for the planet? In other words, what velocity does
the particle need to have at the planet’s surface in order to escape the planet’s
gravitational pull at r = ∞?
b. Calculate numerically the escape velocity for a spacecraft on Mars.

7. A mass m is connected to a massless spring and is constrained to move along the

x-axis. The coefficient of friction between the floor upon which the mass rests and the
mass is µ. The mass is pulled a distance x = A to the right of the equilibrium position
and released from rest.
a. The mass moves to the left, passes the equilibrium position and reaches a turning
point. How far to the left of equilibrium is this turning point?
b. From the turning point in (a), the mass moves to the right, passes equilibrium
again and reaches another turning point, which is not at x = A. How far to the
right of equilibrium is the new turning point?
c. What value of A results in the mass coming to rest at the equilibrium (without
passing through equilibrium) after its initial release?

Section 5.2: Potential Energy and Equilibrium Points in One-Dimensional

Systems

8. Consider the potential:

   a 2 
x 2
V = V0 +
a x

where V0 , a > 0 and x > 0. Find the equilibrium points and determine the stability of
each equilibrium point. Plot V (x) and find a Taylor series approximation (to quadratic
in x) of V about each equilibrium point. To create the plot, set all constants equal to
1. Do this problem both analytically and using a CAS.

9. The equation for the potential energy shown in Figure 5.1 is V (x) = ax4 − bx2 + c,
which is known as a double-well potential. In Figure 5.1, a = b = c = 1 was used to
make the graph:.
End-of-chapter problems 191

a. What are the units for each coefficient a, b, c if V is measured in Joules and x in
meters?
b. If a 1.0 kg particle has energy E = 0.90 J and starts in the left well, describe the
motion of the particle. If there are turning points, find them.

10. Consider the double-well potential V (x) = ax4 − bx2 + c, with a = b = c = 1. Find
the force acting on the particle. Using a numerical ODE solver, find the position x(t)
of the particle with mass m = 1 kg as a function of time, when it starts at rest and
has a total energy:
a. E = 0.85 J.

b. E = 1.0 J.
c. E = 2.0 J.

11. The potential energy function used to make Figure 5.3 is V (x) = 1/(ax)+bx2 −cx3 ,
where the magnitudes of the coefficients are: a = 0.25, b = 25, and c = 8, and the
units are such that V is measured in Joules and x in meters:
a. What are the units of a, b, and c?

b. If E = 20 J, find the turning points.

c. Find and classify each of the equilibrium points.

12. Consider the potential energy V (x) = a/x + bx2 − cx3 , from Example 5.4 and
Figure 5.2.2, where a = 4 Jm, b = 25 J/m2 , c = 8 J/m3 and mass m = 1 kg.
Using a numerical differential equation solver, find x(t) if the particle starts at rest at
x = 0.5 m and has total energy E = 30 J.

13. Hooke’s Law appears as a result of approximating a potential energy function

about a local minimum. The next term in the force as a result of the expansion is
cubic. Consider a particle experiencing a net force, F = −kx + ϵx3 .
a. Find the potential energy V (x) with respect to x = 0, find the equilibrium points,
and classify their stability.

b. Plot the potential energy for different values of k and ϵ, to see how the shape of
the potential energy graph depends on those parameters. Try both positive and
negative values for ϵ. Discuss the motion of the particles in each case.

14. The simple plane pendulum consists of a mass m attached at the end of a massless
rod of length ℓ. The other end of the massless rod is fixed to a pivot point such that the
pendulum is allowed to swing freely in the vertical plane. Find the potential energy of
the pendulum as a function of θ, the angle the rod makes with the vertical. Find the
equilibrium points and classify their stability. Using m = 1 and ℓ = 1 (in SI units),
make a graph of the potential energy and discuss the motion of the pendulum for
various values of total energy. Do not assume that the pendulum is limited to small
oscillations.
15. Consider a particle of mass m experiencing the force, F(x) = −(k x + ϵ x2 )î where
k > 0 and ϵ > 0. In the cases where there is a stable equilibrium, find the frequency
of small oscillations.
192 Energy

16. In this chapter we saw Equation (5.2.6) for a particle of mass m and total energy
E, moving in a potential V (x):
Z x
dx
t − t0 = q
m (E − V (x))
x0 2

This equation gives t(x), which can be inverted to obtain the position of the particle
x(t). Use this equation to find x(t) for a particle whose potential energy is V (x) =
1/2kx2 , both analytically and using a CAS.

17. Consider the potential energy function:

−c2 (x2 + k 2 )
V (x) =
x4 + 3c4
where c > 0 and k > 0. Find the equilibrium points as a function of x/c. Are the
points stable or unstable? Plot V (x) and discuss the possible types of motion of a
particle for different values of k/c.

18. A particle of mass m is acted upon by a one-dimensional potential V (x) = 3kx4 /4.
The particle oscillates between two turning points, x1 and x2 . Find the period of
oscillation of a particle with mass m = 1 kg, in the case where the total energy is
E = 10 J and k = 3.0 N/m4 . Plot the period of oscillation as a function of total
energy and discuss your results.
Section 5.3: Work and Line Integrals

19. Analytically, and by using a computer algebra system, compute the work done by
the force F = xy î − y ĵ along the path joining the origin to the point (2,4) along the
following paths:
a. Along the x-axis to the point (2,0), then parallel to the y-axis to the point (2,4).

b. Along the straight line path connecting the origin to the point (2,4).
c. Along the path y = x2 .

20. Analytically, and by using a computer algebra system, compute the work for the
force F = y î − xĵ along the following closed-loop paths:
a. The unit square in the first quadrant of the Cartesian plane, with one corner at
the origin.

b. The unit square whose center is at the origin.

c. The unit circle whose center is at the origin.
x2 y2
d. The ellipse 4 + 25 = 1.

Section 5.5: Conservative Forces and Potential Energy

21. Which of the forces below are conservative? Answer this question analytically and
by using a computer algebra system. For each conservative force, find the correspond-
ing scalar potential.
End-of-chapter problems 193

a. F = y î − xĵ

b. F = −kr
c. F = r sin θ eiϕ r̂ (in spherical coordinates)
d. F = kxyz r̂
k
e. F = r 3 r̂

22. Prove that any central isotropic force F = F (r)r̂, where r2 = x2 + y 2 + z 2 , is conser-
vative.
23. We showed that a conservative force can be written as F(r) = −∇V (r), and that
when conservative forces act on a system, the total mechanical energy is conserved
(∆(T + V ) = 0). Now consider a time-dependent force written as F(r, t) = −∇V (r, t).
Is energy conserved for this system? If so, prove it. If not, how is the conservation of
energy equation ∆(T + V ) = 0, changed?

24. Consider the force F = −2z 3 î + (3 + 2yez )ĵ + (y 2 ez − 6xz 2 )k̂.

a. Show that it is conservative, analytically and by using a computer algebra system.

b. Find the scalar potential associated with this force.

25. Prove that the electrostatic force F = kq1 q2 /r2 r̂ on a point charge q1 at position r due
to a fixed charge q2 at the origin is conservative. The constant k = 1/4πϵ0 is positive
and depends on the permittivity of free space, ϵ0 . Find the potential energy when the
charges have the same sign. What happens to the potential energy when the charges
have a different sign? Explain your answer.

26. For each potential energy function, compute the associated force both analytically
and using a computer algebra system:


a. V = k x2 + y 2 + z 2 .

b. V = −kr cos ϕ, where k is a positive constant and r and ϕ are cylindrical coor-
dinates.
c. V = −kr cos ϕ + cr2 sin θ, where k and c are positive constants and r, θ, and ϕ
are the typical spherical coordinates.

Section 5.6: Energy and Multiparticle Systems

27. Consider three particles. Particle 1 has a mass of m1 = 3 and is located at r1 = 3t2 î
at time t. Particle 2 has a mass of m2 = 1 and is located at r2 = 3t2 k̂. Particle 3 has
a mass of m3 = 2 and is located at r3 = 4t î − 8t2 ĵ + 3t3 k̂. All physical quantities are
in SI units. Analytically and by using a computer algebra system, find:
a. The location of the center of mass for the system.

b. The kinetic energy of the center of mass.

c. The kinetic energy of the system of particles.
194 Energy

28. Consider a planet of mass M which is orbited by a Moon of mass m1 = m. The Moon
is in a circular orbit with an orbital radius a. A dwarf planet, of mass m2 = m and
with kinetic energy of T2 approaches the two objects. The dwarf planet gets trapped
in the same circular orbit as the Moon, and the Moon is kicked free. Write down the
total energy of the three particle system (there will be two kinetic energies and three
potential energies). What is the kinetic energy of the Moon after the collision, after it
is far away? As usual, take the gravitational potential energy of a particle with mass
m at a distance r from a mass M as:
GM m
V =−
r
where G is the gravitational constant.

29. Consider a group of three particles: m1 = 3 kg at r1 = 3î − 2ĵ + 3k̂, m2 = 2 kg

at r2 = −î + 3k̂, and m3 = 1 kg at r3 = 7ĵ − 5k̂, where each position is measured
in meters. If the particles are located far away from any other mass, compute the
total gravitational potential energy for this particle configuration. Do this problem
analytically and with a computer algebra system.
30. The Virial theorem states that for a gravitationally bound distribution of masses, the
average kinetic energy of the system is equal to minus one-half of the total potential
energy, ⟨T ⟩ = − 12 ⟨V ⟩, where ⟨ ⟩ denotes an average over time. Prove that the Virial
theorem holds for a single particle of mass m, moving in a circular orbit of radius a
around another particle of mass M .
 6 Harmonic Oscillations
As discussed in Chapter 5, when a system is displaced only slightly from a stable equilibrium
position, it oscillates with harmonic motion about this equilibrium position. In this chapter,
we study the problem of harmonic motion. We first introduce the general concepts of linear
ordinary differential equations, and present the simplest application of these equations for a
linear harmonic oscillator, with and without damping forces. This is followed by the study
of forced or driven oscillations under an external force, and the important concepts of
amplitude resonance, energy resonance and the associated Q-factor for oscillatory systems.
The chapter will conclude by introducing the physical concepts of phase space and the
Superposition Principle, together with the important mathematical technique of Fourier
analysis.

6.1 DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

In this section, we make some introductory remarks about the mathematical representation
of oscillators in general. We will then apply the ideas presented in this section to specific
oscillators in later sections. Oscillating systems are of fundamental importance in physics
and engineering systems, but interest in their study extends to almost every branch of
science. From a mathematical point of view, oscillating systems are often described by
nonhomogeneous linear ordinary differential equations of the general form:

dn x dn−1 x dx
An + An−1 + .. + A1 + A0 x = f (t) (6.1.1)
dtn dtn−1 dt
where x = x(t) measures the oscillator’s displacement from a stable equilibrium, A0 , . . . , An
are constants, and f (t) is a function of time t. The order of a differential equation is the
highest derivative in the equation, and the equation is called homogeneous when the function
f (t) = 0. Equation (6.1.1) is called a linear differential equation because it consists of
only terms that are linear in x(t) and its derivatives. In general, equations that describe
oscillations are nonlinear in x and its derivatives. However, as we will see later in this
chapter, in the limit of small displacements from equilibrium, the equations of motion
usually take a linear form similar to that of (6.1.1).
In this chapter we will first study homogeneous linear second-order differential equations
of the form:

Homogeneous Second-Order Linear Differential Equation

d2 x dx
A2 + A1 + A0 x = 0 (6.1.2)
dt2 dt

If x1 (t), x2 (t) are two solutions of this equation, then the general solution xc (t) of (6.1.2)
is a linear combination of these two solutions in the form:

Solution of Homogeneous Equation

xc (t) = C1 x1 (t) + C2 x2 (t) (6.1.3)

195
196 Harmonic Oscillations

where C1 , C2 are two arbitrary constants. These constants C1 , C2 can be determined by

the initial conditions of the system at time t = 0, which are usually given in the form of
the initial position x(0) and the initial speed v(0) = ẋ(0). We will find that a homogeneous
second-order linear differential equation can be used to describe the motion of a particle
experiencing a restoring force (responsible for the oscillation) and a drag force, called a
damping force.
When external forces are applied to the oscillator, we will need a nonhomogeneous linear
second order differential equation to describe the motion. A nonhomogeneous linear second-
order differential equation takes the form:

Nonhomogeneous Second-Order Linear Differential Equation

d2 x dx
A2 2
+ A1 + A0 x = f (t) (6.1.4)
dt dt

In the general theory of differential equations, the solution of this equation is given by
the sum of the solution of the homogeneous equation xc (t) from (6.1.3), sometimes called
the complementary solution, and a particular solution xp (t) of the full nonhomogeneous
equation. The particular solution xp (t) is any solution to the equation:

d 2 xp dxp
A2 2
+ A1 + A0 xp = f (t) (6.1.5)
dt dt
The general solution x(t) of a nonhomogeneous second-order differential equation then takes
the form:

General Solution of Nonhomogeneous Equation

x(t) = xc (t) + xp (t) = C1 x1 (t) + C2 x2 (t) + xp (t) (6.1.6)

6.2 SIMPLE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR

In this section we study one of the most important problems in classical mechanics, the sim-
ple harmonic oscillator (SHO). Simple harmonic motion occurs when an object displaced
a small distance from a stable equilibrium experiences a restoring force towards the equi-
librium state. An important example of simple harmonic motion is a mass attached to a
massless spring with no friction.

6.2.1 EQUATION OF MOTION OF THE SIMPLE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR

Suppose a mass m is attached to a massless spring. When the mass is at the equilibrium
position x = 0, the spring is neither stretched nor compressed, and the net force acting on
the mass is zero. Figure 6.1a shows the system in equilibrium. When the mass is moved
from the equilibrium position, the spring exerts a force F (x) which is proportional to the
extension or compression of the spring in a direction towards the equilibrium position, as
shown in Figures 6.1b and c. The force F is called a restoring force because it attempts to
return the system back to its equilibrium state.
Simple harmonic oscillator 197

Figure 6.1: Simple harmonic oscillation in a spring-mass system.

For small displacements, we can expand F (x) as a Taylor series about the equilibrium
position x = 0:

dF
F (x) ≈F (0) + x + O(x2 ) (6.2.1)
dx
x=0

We know that F (0) = 0, because the restoring force is not exerted when the system is at
equilibrium. Likewise, we know that the first derivative of F (x) with respect to x must be
negative, in order for F (x) to point towards equilibrium. In other words, the sign of F (x)
is opposite that of x. Therefore, we define the spring constant as:

dF
k≡− (6.2.2)
dx
x=0

We can ignore second-order and higher terms in (6.2.1) because x is small. Therefore, the
result is that for small displacements, the restoring force takes on the form of Hooke’s Law:

Hooke’s Law

F (x) = −kx (6.2.3)

If x(t) is the location of the mass at a time t and we assume that the restoring force
takes the form of Hooke’s Law (i.e., small displacements from equilibrium), then we can
write Newton’s second law, F = ma = −kx(t), as:

Differential Equation for the Simple Harmonic Oscillator

d2 x
+ ω02 x = 0 (6.2.4)
dt2

where ω02 ≡ k/m is a constant. Equation (6.2.4) is the differential equation of motion for
the so-called simple harmonic oscillator (SHO), which is an important equation in physics
because it is the generic equation of motion for an object experiencing small amplitude
oscillations about a stable equilibrium. Simple harmonic motion results when a particle
experiences only a restoring force that is proportional to the particle’s displacement from
equilibrium, i.e., when there are no drag forces or other external forces acting on the particle.
198 Harmonic Oscillations

To find an analytical solution to (6.2.4), we need a function x(t) whose second derivative
gives itself back after differentiation, with a multiplicative constant and a minus sign. In
other words, x(t) must satisfy: ẍ = −ω02 x. Recall that time derivatives can be represented
by dots above a function. While one obvious choice is either a sine or a cosine function, we
will find that an exponential solution will be more useful (and still equivalent). We look for
solutions that have the form x = Ceλt , where C is a constant. By substituting this into
(6.2.4) we find:
λ2 Ceλt + ω02 Ceλt = 0 (6.2.5)
or by simplifying:
λ2 + ω02 = 0 (6.2.6)
or q
λ± = −ω02 = ±i ω0 (6.2.7)
and thus λ must be one of the complex numbers i ω0 or −i ω0 . The general solution, then,
will be a linear combination of the two solutions:

x(t) = C1 ei ω0 t + C2 e−i ω0 t (6.2.8)

Note that in general C1 and C2 are arbitrary complex constants.

By using Euler’s identities ei ω0 t = cos (ω0 t) + i sin (ω0 t) and e−i ωo t = cos (ω0 t) −
i sin (ω0 t), we can change the exponentials in this equation into trigonometric functions.
We find that the general solution must be of the form:

x(t) = C1 [cos ( ω0 t) + i sin (ω0 t)] + C2 [cos (ω0 t) − i sin (ω0 t)] (6.2.9)

This equation can be written in two equivalent mathematical forms:

Two Forms of the Solution x(t) for the SHO

x(t) = A cos ( ω0 t) + B sin ( ω0 t) (6.2.10)

x(t) = C cos ( ω0 t + ϕ) (6.2.11)

p
with C = A2 + B 2 tan ϕ = B/A (6.2.12)

We can re-write (6.2.9) as (6.2.10) by requiring the coefficients A and B to be real

numbers. In this case, we require that C2∗ = C1 , where C2∗ is the complex conjugate of C2 .
Complex conjugation changes the sign of the imaginary part of a complex number. Hence,
if c = a + ib, where a and b are real numbers, then c∗ = a − ib.
We can also rewrite (6.2.9) as (6.2.11) using the trigonometric identity cos(a + b) =
cos a cos b − sin a sin b.
From the trigonometric forms of the solution of the SHO, we see that the quantity ω0
represents the angular frequency of the oscillating mass. The angular frequency ω0 is called
the natural frequency of the oscillator and is the frequency of small amplitude oscillations.

The Natural Frequency of a Simple Harmonic Oscillator

r
k
ω0 = (6.2.13)
m
Simple harmonic oscillator 199

Returning to Equations (6.2.10) and (6.2.11), A, B, and C are now real constants which
can be determined by the initial conditions, which specify the state of the system at a given
time (usually at t = 0).
Example 6.1 demonstrates the solution of (6.2.4) for the initial conditions x(0) = x0
and v(0) = x′ (0) = v0 .

Example 6.1: The symbolic solution of the SHO for given initial conditions
Solve (6.2.4) by hand and using Mathematica and SymPy, for the initial conditions
x(0) = x0 and v(0) = x′ (0) = v0 .

Solution:
When solving by hand, we can use (6.2.10) or (6.2.11), where A, B, and C are constants
determined by the initial conditions. Inserting the initial condition x(0) = x0 at t = 0
into (6.2.10) we find:
x(0) = A cos 0 + B sin 0 = A = x0 (6.2.14)
The speed of the mass v(t) is found by taking the derivative of (6.2.10) with respect to
time:
dx
v(t) = = −Aω0 sin ( ω0 t) + B ω0 cos ( ω0 t) (6.2.15)
dt
By using the given initial condition v(0) = v0 at t0 = 0 :

v(0) = ω0 [−A sin 0 + B cos 0 ] = ω0 B = v0 (6.2.16)

and so B = v0 /ω0 . Therefore, the complete solution for these initial conditions is:
v0
x(t) = x0 cos ( ω0 t) + sin ( ω0 t) (6.2.17)
ω0

Python Code
We can obtain the same result by using dsolve() in SymPy. The output of the symbolic
evaluation is
x(t) = x0*cos(omega*t) + v0*sin(omega*t)/omega
In this code we use SymPy to obtain both the general symbolic solution which contains
the arbitrary constants C1 and C2 , as well to obtain the specific solution with the given
initial conditions.
200 Harmonic Oscillations

from sympy import symbols, Function, Derivative as D, dsolve

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

# define function x and various symbols

x = Function('x')
omega, t = symbols('omega, t', real=True, positive=True)
x0, v0 = symbols('x0, v0', real=True)

soln = dsolve(D(x(t), t, t) +omega**2*x(t), x(t),\

simplify=True).rhs
print('The general symbolic solution is:\n', 'x(t) =',soln)

initCondits = {x(0): x0, D(x(t),t).subs(t, 0): v0}

soln = dsolve(D(x(t), t, t) +omega**2*x(t), x(t),\

simplify=True,ics=initCondits).rhs

print('\nThe solution with the initial conditions x(0)=x0, v(0)=v0 \

is:', '\nx(t) =',soln)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The general symbolic solution is:
x(t) = C1*sin(omega*t) + C2*cos(omega*t)

The solution with the initial conditions x(0)=x0, v(0)=v0 is:

x(t) = x0*cos(omega*t) + v0*sin(omega*t)/omega

Mathematica Code
We use DSolve twice, to obtain both the general symbolic solution which contains the
arbitrary constants C1 and C2 , as well to obtain the specific solution with the given
initial conditions.
Simple harmonic oscillator 201

soln1 = DSolve[{x”[t] + ω ∧ 2 ∗ x[t]==0}, x[t], t];

Print[“The solution of the homogeneous ODE is:”]

Print[“x(t) = ”, x[t]/.soln1[[1]]]

The solution of the homogeneous ODE is:

x(t) = c1 Cos[tω] + c2 Sin[tω]

soln2 = DSolve[{x”[t] + ω ∧ 2 ∗ x[t]==0, x[0]==x0, x′ [0]==v0},

x[t], t];

Print[“The solution of the ODE with initial conditions is:”]

Print[“x(t) = ”, x[t]/.soln2[[1]]//Simplify]

The solution of the ODE with initial conditions is:

x(t) = x0Cos[tω] + v0Sin[tω]
ω

6.2.2 POTENTIAL AND KINETIC ENERGY IN SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION

Let us write the position and velocity for a mass undergoing simple harmonic motion in
the form x = A cos(ω0 t) and v = −Aω0 sin(ω0 t). The corresponding potential and kinetic
energies are varying with time t, according to: V (t) = 12 k x(t)2 and T (t) = 12 m v(t)2 . The
total energy of the system is then:
1 1
E =T +V = mω02 A2 sin2 (ω0 t) + kA2 cos2 (ω0 t) (6.2.18)
2 2
However, because ω02 = k/m, we get:
1 2
E= kA (6.2.19)
2
which is the maximum potential energy of the system. Hooke’s Law represents a conservative
force; therefore during the oscillation, energy is transferred between kinetic and potential,
but their sum always remains the same. At the maximum displacement from the equilibrium
position, we have x = A, and the potential energy is a maximum and kinetic energy is zero.
When the oscillator is at the equilibrium x = 0, the kinetic energy is maximum and potential
energy is zero. In-between the maximum displacement and equilibrium, the potential and
kinetic energies change. For example, as the mass moves towards equilibrium, the potential
energy decreases and the kinetic energy increases; however, as mentioned earlier, their sum
remains constant.
We can calculate the average kinetic energy < T > in one period of oscillation by taking
a time average of T over the period τ = 2π/ω0 as follows:
Z Z
1 τ 1 2 1 τ 1 1
<T >= mv dt = mA2 ω02 cos2 (ω0 t)dt = mA2 ω02 (6.2.20)
τ 0 2 τ 0 2 4
Rτ
where we used the integral value τ1 0 cos2 (ω0 t)dt = 12 .
Similarly, we can find the average potential energy < V > in one period of oscillation
by taking a time average of V (t) :
Z Z
1 τ 1 2 1 τ 1 2 2 1 1
<V >= kx dt = kA sin (ω0 t)dt = kA2 = mA2 ω02 (6.2.21)
τ 0 2 τ 0 2 4 4
202 Harmonic Oscillations

In conclusion:
1 1 1
<V >=<T >= mA2 ω02 = kA2 = E (6.2.22)
4 4 2
where we used k = mω 2 and E = 12 kA2 . This equation shows that the time averages of both
the kinetic and potential energies within one period of oscillation are equal to one-half the
total energy E.

Time Averages of Energy

1
< V >time = < T >time = E (6.2.23)
2

This equation is an example of the well-known Virial theorem in mechanics, which is

a general equation in statistical mechanics relating the average total kinetic energy of a
system of particles to its average total potential energy.

6.2.3 THE SIMPLE PLANE PENDULUM AS AN EXAMPLE OF A HARMONIC OS-

CILLATOR
The plane pendulum is one of the simplest physical systems which can exhibit harmonic
oscillations for small displacements from an equilibrium position. In this section, we calcu-
late the period τ of the simple pendulum for oscillations with a small amplitude and find
expressions for the kinetic and potential energies as functions of time.
Figure 6.2 shows a pendulum consisting of a mass m which can swing freely in a vertical
plane. A massless rod of length L connects the mass to the pendulum’s pivot point. When
the mass is displaced sideways from its equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force
due to gravity. This force will accelerate the mass back toward the equilibrium position.
The time for one complete cycle is the period τ .

Figure 6.2: Simple plane pendulum.

We can find the equation of motion for the simple plane pendulum by applying Newton’s
second law to the tangential axis only, F = −mg sin θ = ma and a = −g sin θ. The linear
2
acceleration a = ddt2s , where s is the arc length, which is related to the angle θ by the
Simple harmonic oscillator 203

d2 s
formula s = Lθ. The differential equation for the linear acceleration is dt2 = Lθ̈. Therefore
we obtain:
Lθ̈ = −g sin θ (6.2.24)
By substituting ω02 = g/L, we obtain the equation of motion for the simple plane pendulum:

θ̈ + ω02 sin θ = 0 (6.2.25)

For small displacements from equilibrium, we can approximate sin θ ≈ θ, and the equa-
tion becomes:

Equation of Motion for Small Pendulum Oscillations

θ̈ + ω02 θ = 0 (6.2.26)

Equation (6.2.26) is exactly similar to the equation for a mass-spring system ẍ +pω02 x = 0,
with the angle θ replacing
p the position x, and with the natural frequency ω0 = k/m
being replaced by ω0 = g/L . Because the two equations (SHO and pendulum) are
mathematically similar, we can repurpose the solution of the SHO in order to solve
(6.2.26). The solution to (6.2.26) is therefore given by:

θ(t) = θ0 cos (ω0 t + ϕ) (6.2.27)

where ϕ is a constant phase angle value dependent on the initial conditions. The period of
oscillation for small displacements is found using τ = 2π/ω0 and is:

Period of Oscillation for Small Pendulum Oscillations

s
L
τ = 2π (6.2.28)
g

Notice that the period of oscillation is independent of the amplitude of oscillation. This
condition holds only for small amplitude oscillations. Once the small angle approximation
sin θ ≈ θ no longer holds, then the period of oscillation will be related to the amplitude of
oscillation. Such a relationship is common in nonlinear oscillators, which we will study in
Chapter 13.
The gravitational potential energy of the pendulum is given by the expression:

V = mgh = mgL(1 − cos θ) (6.2.29)

Notice that the above expression is chosen such that V = 0 when θ = 0. In other words, the
potential energy is zero at the stable equilibrium point. By using the small angle approxi-
mation cos θ ≃ 1 − θ2 /2, we obtain:
1
V = mgLθ2 (6.2.30)
2
The total energy of the pendulum for small angle oscillations is then:
 2  2
1 ds 1 1 dθ 1
E= m + mgLθ2 = mL2 + mgLθ2 (6.2.31)
2 dt 2 2 dt 2
204 Harmonic Oscillations

where s = Lθ was used. Next, we can use (6.2.27) to find the total energy of the pendulum:
1
E= mgLθ02 (6.2.32)
2
This equation is of course completely analogous to the equation E = 12 kA2 for a mass-spring
oscillator. Notice that mgL appears in (6.2.32) instead of k. The restoring torque acting
on the pendulum is N = −mgL sin θ ≈ −mgLθ and is linearly proportional to the angular
displacement θ of the pendulum (for small displacements), with a coefficient of k = mgL.
Therefore (6.2.32) is consistent with the results for the spring-mass oscillating system.

6.3 NUMERICAL SOLUTIONS OF THE SIMPLE PENDULUM

The ODE for the simple pendulum cannot be solved in closed form without the use of
elliptical functions, and must be solved numerically.
Example 6.2 shows how to numerically evaluate and plot the solution of (6.2.25), using
SciPy and Mathematica.

Example 6.2: Numerical solution of the simple pendulum

Integrate numerically and plot the solution of (6.2.25) with L = 0.5 m for the initial
conditions θ(0) = 3 rad and θ̇(0) = 0 rad/s, using Mathematica and the Scientific
Python library SciPy.

Solution:
To solve (6.2.25), we will use the function odeint() from the [Link] library
which numerically solves first-order ODEs of the form:
dy
= f (y, t) (6.3.1)
dt
where y and t are the dependent and independent variables respectively, and f (y, t) is
a known function of the variables y, t.
To use odeint() on (6.2.25), we need to rewrite (6.2.25) as a system of two first-order
ODEs, a common procedure needed for some ODE solvers. We begin by creating a new
variable ω = θ̇ and (6.2.25) can be rewritten as the system:

dθ 
=ω 
dt (6.3.2)
dω g 
= − sin θ
dt L

Python Code
In the code we define a function deriv(y,time) whose arguments are a vector y and the
time variable time. In our example, the first component y[0] of the vector y represents
the angle variable θ, and the second component y[1] represents the angular velocity ω =
dθ/dt. The function deriv uses (6.3.2) to evaluate and return a vector with components
(ω, dω/dt).
The function odeint(deriv, yinit, t) is called with three arguments. The first ar-
gument is the function deriv which contains the information on the first-order ODE
Numerical solutions of the simple pendulum 205

to be solved, the second argument is the initial conditions vector yinit, and the third
argument is the time variable t.
The result of calling odeint is an array which is assigned to the variable y. The line
t = [Link](0, 10, 100) defines the time interval over which the ODE will be
integrated, in this case between t = 0 and t = 10 s. The variable yinit = (3,0) defines
the initial conditions θ(0) = 3 rad, and ω(0) = θ′ (0) = 0 rad/s. The last 6 lines in the
code are the graphics commands which plot the two functions θ(t) and ω(t) = θ′ (t), as
shown in Figure 6.3.
The plot shows clearly that θ(t) is not a sinusoidal oscillation.

from [Link] import odeint

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

L = 0.5 # length of pendulum

g = 9.8 # gravitational acceleration

# function to define the ODE for pendulum

def deriv(y, time):
return (y[1], - (g/L)* [Link](y[0]))

# define times t
t = [Link](0, 10, 100)

# initial conditions theta(0)=3 rad, theta'(0)=0

yinit = (3, 0)

# solve numerically using scipy odeint() function

y = odeint(deriv, yinit, t)

# plot angle and anglar velocity as functions of time

[Link](t, y[:, 0], 'o-',label=r'$\theta$(t)')
[Link](t, y[:, 1], '^-',label=r"$\theta$'(t)")

[Link](loc='best')
[Link]('Time [s]')
[Link](r"$\theta$(t), $\theta$'(t)")
[Link]('Numerical solutions for the plane pendulum')
[Link]()

findfont: Font family ['DejaVu Sans Display'] not found. Falling back to
DejaVu Sans.
206 Harmonic Oscillations

Mathematica Code
As in previous codes, we use NDSolve to obtain the numerical solution of the differ-
ential equation with the given initial conditions.

SetOptions[Plot, Frame->True, Axes->True,

BaseStyle->FontSize->20, PlotRange->All];

L = 0.5; g = 9.8;

soln = NDSolve[{θ”[t] + g/L ∗ Sin[θ[t]]==0, θ′ [0]==0, θ[0]==3},

θ, {t, 0, 10}];

Plot[Evaluate[{θ[t], θ′ [t]}/.soln], {t, 0, 10},

FrameLabel->{t, “θ[t], θ’[t]”}, PlotStyle->{Thick, Dashed}]

5
[t], '[t]

-5

0 2 4 6 8 10
t
Figure 6.3: Mathematica code output in Example 6.2 for large amplitude oscillations of a
simple pendulum, for the angle θ(t) (solid line) and the angular velocity θ′ (t) (dashed line).

6.4 DAMPED HARMONIC OSCILLATOR

Next, we add a linear resistive force to the simple harmonic oscillator. The resistive force
will be modeled similar to the linear drag forces discussed in Chapter 2. The resistive force is
sometimes called damping and is present, for example, when the oscillator is moving through
a fluid such as air. The equation for the damped harmonic oscillator contains an additional
friction term which is assumed to be linearly dependent on the speed in the form F = −bv,
where b depends on the size and shape of the oscillator, as well as other physical parameters
such as the type of fluid the oscillator moves through and the coefficient of friction between
the oscillator and a supporting surface. The complete equation for the damped harmonic
oscillator is obtained now from F = ma = −kx − bv. By dividing with the mass m we
obtain:
d2 x b dx k
2
+ + x=0 (6.4.1)
dt m dt m
Damped harmonic oscillator 207

We now define a constant γ called the damping parameter, in order to express the amount
of damping present in the system:
γ = b/2m (6.4.2)
and the differential equation becomes:

Equation of Motion for the Damped Harmonic Oscillator

ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = 0 (6.4.3)
p
where we used again ω0 = k/m for the natural frequency of the undamped oscillator.
Once more we look for solutions that have the form Ceλt , where C is a constant. By
substituting this into (6.4.3) and dividing all terms by Ceλt , we find:
λ2 + 2γλ + ω02 = 0 (6.4.4)
This is solved using the quadratic formula:
q
λ± = −γ ± γ 2 − ω02 (6.4.5)

This implies a pair of solutions eλt , corresponding to the two roots of the quadratic. The
general solution is a linear combination of these two solutions:
√
√
 √ 2 2 √ 2 2 
−γ+ γ 2 −ω02 t −γ− γ 2 −ω02 t
x(t) = C1 e + C2 e = e−γt C1 e γ −ω0 t + C2 e− γ −ω0 t
p (6.4.6)
or by introducing the parameter ω ≡ γ 2 − ω02 :

General Solution x(t) for the Damped Harmonic Oscillator (γ ̸= ω0 )

x(t) = e−γt C1 eωt + C2 e−ωt (6.4.7)

q q
2
ω= γ 2 − ω02 = (b/2m) − (k/m) (6.4.8)

The exact mathematical form of this equation x(t) depends p on the numerical values
of γ and ω0 , which determine whether the parameter ω = γ 2 − ω02 is real, imaginary,
or zero. Therefore there are three physically different behaviors of the damped harmonic
oscillator as follows: overdamped oscillations (γ > ω0 ), underdamped oscillations (γ < ω0 ),
and critically damped oscillations (γ = ω0 ). p
In the special case of critically damped oscillations, we have γ = ω0 , and ω = γ 2 − ω02 = 0.
A critically damped system returns to equilibrium as quickly as possible without oscillating.
This is often desired for the damping of systems such as doors and car suspensions. In this
case, there is only one root of the quadratic equation λ = −ω0 . In addition to the solution
x(t) = eλt , a second solution is given by the function x(t) = teλt (see Problem 26 from the
End-of-Chapter problems for this section). The complete solution for a critically damped
oscillator is a linear combination of these two solutions:

Solution x(t) for a Critically Damped Oscillator (γ = ω0 )

x(t) = (C1 + C2 t) e−ω0 t (6.4.9)

where A and B are determined by the initial conditions of the system.

208 Harmonic Oscillations

Example 6.3 shows how to obtain the general symbolic solutions (6.4.7) and (6.4.9) using
Python and Mathematica.

Example 6.3: The general symbolic solution of the SHO

Solve the ODE for a damped harmonic oscillator using Mathematica and SymPy, for
the three cases of overdamped oscillations (γ > ω0 ), underdamped oscillations (γ < ω0 ),
and critically damped oscillations (γ = ω0 ). The general solutions contain the arbitrary
constants C1 and C2 .

Python Code
We use dsolve() in SymPy. Note that for the critically damped oscillator we use γ = ω0
explicitly in the code.

from sympy import symbols, Function, Derivative as D, dsolve

import textwrap

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

# define function x and various symbols

x = Function('x')
gamma, t ,omega = symbols('gamma, t ,omega', real=True)

# overdamped and underdamped oscillation

soln = dsolve(D(x(t), t, t) + 2*gamma*D(x(t), t) + omega**2*x(t), x(t),\
simplify=True).rhs

print('For overdamped and underdamped oscillations the \

solution is : \n\nx(t) =', [Link](str(soln),63))

# critically damped oscillation: gamma=omega

soln = dsolve(D(x(t), t, t) + 2*omega*D(x(t), t) +\
omega**2*x(t), x(t)).rhs

print('\nFor critically damped oscillations, the symbolic \

solution is:\n x(t) =',soln)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

For overdamped and underdamped oscillations the solution is :

x(t) = C1*exp(t*(-gamma + sqrt(gamma**2 - omega**2))) +

C2*exp(-t*(gamma + sqrt(gamma**2 - omega**2)))

For critically damped oscillations, the symbolic solution is:

x(t) = (C1 + C2*t)*exp(-omega*t)
Damped harmonic oscillator 209

Mathematica Code
We use DSolve twice to obtain the general solutions for the three cases. The solutions
contain the arbitrary constants C1 and C2 .

Print[

"The general solution for underdamped and overdamped

motion is:"]

Print[DSolve[{m ∗ x”[t] + b ∗ x′ [t] + k ∗ x[t]==0}, x[t], t][[1, 1]]]

The general
 solution
√
forunderdamped
 and
√
overdamped
 motion is:
b2 −4km b2 −4km
1
−m
b
− t 1
−m
b
+ t
x[t] → e
2 m 2 m
c1 + e c2

Print[“The general solution for critically damped motion is: ”]

Print[DSolve[{m ∗ x”[t] + b ∗ x′ [t] + b∧ 2/(4 ∗ m) ∗ x[t]==0},

x[t], t][[1, 1]]]

The general solution for critically damped motion is:

x[t] → e− 2m c1 + e− 2m tc2
bt bt

6.4.1 COMPARISON OF OVERDAMPED, UNDERDAMPED AND CRITICALLY

DAMPED OSCILLATIONS
In the case of overdamped oscillationsp we have γ > ω0 , which means that the square
root appearing in the expression ω = γ 2 − ω02 is real, and (6.4.7) will be written as the
sum of two real exponential functions. The resulting motion is that the system returns to
equilibrium by an exponential decay without oscillating. Alternatively, one can write the
solution as a linear combination of hyperbolic functions (see Problem 23, in the End-of-
Chapter problems for this section):

Solution x(t) for an Overdamped Oscillator

 
x(t) = A0 eωt + A1 e−ωt e−γt (6.4.10)

x(t) = [B0 sinh (ωt) + B1 cosh (ωt)] e−γt (6.4.11)

q
ω = γ 2 − ω02 γ > ω0 (6.4.12)

The constants A0 , A1 , B0 , B1 can be found from the initial conditions

p of the oscillator.
In the case of underdamped oscillations, we have γ < ω0 , and ω = γ 2 − ω02 is imagi-
nary. The system oscillates at a reduced frequency compared to the undamped case, with
the amplitude gradually decreasing to zero. Mathematically, it is preferable
p to get rid of
the imaginary quantities by using the real frequency parameter ωd = ω02 − γ 2 , expressing
the general solution as a linear combination of trigonometric functions (see Problem 24 in
the End-of-Chapter problems for this section):
210 Harmonic Oscillations

Two Forms of Solutions x(t) for an Underdamped Oscillator

x(t) = [A0 sin (ωd t) + A1 cos (ωd t)] e−γt (6.4.13)

x(t) = Ae−γt cos (ωd t − ϕ) (6.4.14)

q
ωd = ω02 − γ 2 γ < ω0 (6.4.15)

The solution of the underdamped case oscillates repeatedly through the equilibrium
point as the amplitude of oscillation decays to zero. This is unlike the overdamped case,
where the oscillator may not pass through equilibrium at all as its amplitude decays to zero.
This is an important difference in the behaviors p of the twop oscillators. Also notice from
(6.4.13) and (6.4.14) that the parameter ωd = ω02 − γ 2 = k/m − γ 2 is the frequencyp of
the underdamped oscillator, which is smaller than the natural frequency ω0 = k/m .
The expression Ae−γt in (6.4.13) and (6.4.14) represents the decrease of the amplitude
as a function of time t for underdamped motion. Notice that the amplitude of oscillation
decays exponentially with time. The quantity τA = 1/γ has dimensions of time, in order
for the argument of the exponential e−γt to be dimensionless, and it characterizes how fast
the amplitude of oscillation reaches zero. As a general guideline for exponential decaying
functions, the amplitude of oscillation is considered to have reached a value of effectively
zero after five characteristic times, i.e., after t ∼
= 5/γ.
For small damping, i.e., when γ << ω0 , we can use the binomial approximation (1−x)a ∼ =
1 − ax to obtain:
q q  
2 ∼ γ2
ωd = ω0 − γ = ω0 1 − (γ/ω0 ) = ω0 1 −
2 2 γ << ω0 (6.4.16)
2ω02

Example 6.4 illustrates the solution for the equations of motion in a mass-spring system
exhibiting various degrees of damping.

Example 6.4: Comparison of overdamped, underdamped and critically

damped oscillations
Obtain the analytical solution x(t) of (6.4.3), with parameters m = 1 kg, k = 1 N/m
and for three values of the constants b = 1, 2, 3 Ns/m.
Solution:
For the given values of the parameters, when b = 1 the parameter ω 2 = γ 2 − ω02 =
2 2
(b/(2m)) − (k/m) = (1/2)√− 1 < 0. Since ω 2 is negative, we expect underdamped
motion with frequency ω = 3/2 and γ = b/(2m) = 1/2. √ In this case the solution
√ is
a
linear combination of trigonometric functions e−t/2 cos( 3/2 t) and e−t/2 sin 3/2 t .
p √
For critically damped motion, we use γ = ω0 = k/m = 1, or b = 2 k m = 2. In this
case the solution is a linear combination of the function e−ω0 t and t e−ω0 t , or e−t and
t e−t .
2 2
When b = 3 the parameter ω 2 = γ 2 − ω02 = (b/(2m)) − (k/m) = (3/2) − 1 > 0.
Since this quantity is positive, we expect overdamped motion. In this case the solution
ωt −γt
is
√ a linear combination of exponential functions e e and e−ωt e√ −γt
. With ω =
5t/2 −3t/2
5/2
√
and γ = b/(2m) = 3/2, the solutions are linear combination of e e and
− 5t/2 −3t/2
e e .
Damped harmonic oscillator 211

Python Code
We use dsolve() in SymPy without specifying the initial conditions. The results from
the code agree with the above discussion for the different b values.

from sympy import symbols, Function, Derivative as D, dsolve, sqrt

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

# define function x and various symbols

x = Function('x')
t = symbols('t', real=True)

m, k, b = 1, 1, 3

# overdamped oscillation
soln = dsolve(m*D(x(t), t, t)+b*D(x(t), t) +k*x(t), x(t), \
simplify=True).rhs

print('\nFor overdamped oscillations the solution :\nx(t) =',soln)

m, k, b = 1, 1, 1
soln = dsolve(m*D(x(t), t, t)+b*D(x(t), t) +k*x(t), x(t), \
simplify=True).rhs

print('\nFor underdamped oscillations the solution :\nx(t) =',soln)

m, k = 1, 1
b = 2*sqrt(k*m) # condition for critical SHO
soln = dsolve(m*D(x(t), t, t)+ b*D(x(t), t) + k*x(t), x(t), \
simplify=True).rhs

print('\nFor critically damped oscillations the solution :\nx(t) =',soln)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

For overdamped oscillations the solution :

x(t) = C1*exp(t*(-3 + sqrt(5))/2) + C2*exp(-t*(sqrt(5) + 3)/2)

For underdamped oscillations the solution :

x(t) = (C1*sin(sqrt(3)*t/2) + C2*cos(sqrt(3)*t/2))*exp(-t/2)

For critically damped oscillations the solution :

x(t) = (C1 + C2*t)*exp(-t)
212 Harmonic Oscillations

Mathematica Code
Again the analytical solutions from Mathematica are in agreement with the general
form of the analytical solution given in this section.

Print[“Solution for underdamped is:”];

m = 1; b = 1; k = 1;

DSolve[{m ∗ x”[t] + b ∗ x′ [t] + k ∗ x[t]==0}, x[t], t]

Solution for underdamped is:

nn h√ i h √ ioo
x[t] → e−t/2 c2 Cos 23t + e−t/2 c1 Sin 23t

Print[“Solution for overdamped is: ”];

m = 1; b = 3; k = 1;

DSolve[{m ∗ x”[t] + b ∗ x′ [t] + k ∗ x[t]==0}, x[t], t]

Solution for overdamped is:

 √
√

−3− 5 t −3+ 5 t
x[t] → e 2 2 c1 + e 2 2 c2

Print[“Solution for critically damped is: ”];

m = 1; k = 1; b = 2 ∗ Sqrt[k ∗ m];

DSolve[{m ∗ x”[t] + b ∗ x′ [t] + k ∗ x[t]==0}, x[t], t]

Solution for critically damped is:

{{x[t] → e−t c1 + e−t tc2 }}

A comparison of x(t) for the underdamped, overdamped, and critically damped oscilla-
tions is shown in Figure 6.4, where we can easily see that the critically damped oscillator
(solid curve) returns to equilibrium in a shorter time than other cases. Note that the same
parameter values are used for m, k, x(0), and v(0) to produce all three curves in Figure 6.4,
while the value of b is variable.
Energy in damped harmonic motion 213

1.0
Underdamped
Overdamped
0.5 Critical
Position x(t)

0.0
Out[ ]=

-0.5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Time t,s
Figure 6.4: Dependence of the harmonic oscillator behavior on the amount of damping,
showing underdamped (oscillatory curve), overdamped (solid line) and critically damped
(dashed curve) cases.

6.5 ENERGY IN DAMPED HARMONIC MOTION

In this section we derive an analytical expression for the energy E of the damped harmonic
oscillator, and we also consider the case of weak damping. The total energy E = T + V of
the damped harmonic oscillator is:
 2
1 dx 1
E= m + kx2 (6.5.1)
2 dt 2
For the underdamped case we can write

x(t) = A0 sin (ωd t) e−γt (6.5.2)

dx
= A0 e−γt [ωd cos (ωd t) − γ sin (ωd t) ] (6.5.3)
dt
This expression for the speed dxdt is rather complicated to work with, and therefore we
p
assume a weak damping situation in which γ << ω0 , so that ωd = ω0 − γ 2 ≃ ω0 . Using
2

these approximations the term γ sin (ωd t) is much smaller that the term ωd cos (ωd t) and
can be dropped in (6.5.3), to obtain:
dx
= A0 e−γt [ωd cos (ωd t) ] (6.5.4)
dt
Substituting x(t) and dx/dt into (6.5.1) we obtain:
1  2 1  2
E= m A0 e−γt ωd cos (ωd t) + k A0 sin (ωd t) e−γt (6.5.5)
2 2
By collecting terms:
1 2 −2γt  
E= A0 e mωd2 cos2 (ωd t) + k sin2 (ωd t) (6.5.6)
2
214 Harmonic Oscillations
p
Substituting ωd ≃ ω0 = k/m we obtain:
1 2 −2γt   1
E= A0 e k cos2 (ωd t) + k sin2 (ωd t) = kA20 e−2γt (6.5.7)
2 2
The above equation shows that in a situation of weak damping, the total energy decays
exponentially with time. The characteristic decay time is τE = 1/(2γ).We previously saw
in (6.4.13) that the corresponding characteristic decay time for the amplitude is τA = 1/γ.
In summary, the total energy E and the rate of decrease of the total energy dE/dt for
the cases of weak damping γ << ωd (or ωd ≃ ω0 ) are given by:

Energy and Energy Loss for Underdamped Oscillator, γ << ω0

1 2 −2γt
E= kA e (6.5.8)
2 0
dE
= −γkA20 e−2γt = −2γE (6.5.9)
dt

The total energy lost within a small time interval ∆t can be estimated from:

∼ dE ∆t = −2γE∆t
∆E = (6.5.10)
dt
where we used (6.5.9). It is customary to define the dimensionless Quality factor or Q-factor
Q as the ratio Q = 2π|E/∆E|, for a time interval ∆t equal to the period τ = 2π/ωd . By
substituting this value of ∆t = τ = 2π/ωd in this definition of Q:

E 1 ωd
Q = 2π = 2π = (6.5.11)
∆E 2γτ 2γ

Q-factor for Underdamped Motion

ωd ∼ ω0
Q= = (6.5.12)
2γ 2γ

In a later section, we will provide a more in-depth discussion of the quality factor, in
connection with the concept of energy resonance of a forced harmonic oscillator.

6.6 FORCED HARMONIC OSCILLATOR

Next, we consider the case where an external force F0 cos(ωt) is acting on a damped oscil-
lator. Notice that the driving force has an amplitude of F0 and a frequency of ω, sometimes
referred to as the drive frequency. This case is referred to as the forced or driven harmonic
oscillator. The net force is then:
mẍ = −kx − bẋ + F0 cos(ωt) (6.6.1)
The general equation for the driven system is then:

General Differential Equation for a Forced Harmonic Oscillator

ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = D cos(ωt) (6.6.2)

Forced harmonic oscillator 215

where γ = b/2m, ω02 = k/m, and D = F0 /m. You might be wondering why we limit ourselves
to studying driving forces in the form of cosine functions. Clearly not all driving forces in
nature are in the form of cosine or sine functions. As we will show later in this chapter,
any periodic force (under certain conditions, which are often met in physical problems) can
be approximated using a series of sines and cosines. Therefore, the case of cosine or sine
driving forces is applicable widely and for many physical systems.
Note that (6.6.2) is a nonhomogeneous ordinary differential equation. As we discussed in
the introduction of this chapter on the general theory of differential equations, the solution
of nonhomogeneous equations is given by the sum of two parts, the homogeneous solution
xc (t), plus the particular solution xp (t) of the full nonhomogeneous equation:

x(t) = xc (t) + xp (t) (6.6.3)

We already saw in the previous section that the general solution xc (t) of the homogeneous
equations is given by (6.4.7):

q
−γt −ωt 2
xc (t) = e ωt
A0 e + A1 e ω = (b/2m) − (k/m) (6.6.4)

The solution xc (t) is commonly referred to as the transient solution, because the exponential
decay term e−γt causes xc (t) to decay to zero. After the transient solution has decayed to
zero, the only solution left is xp (t) (assuming that xp = ̸ 0) and is therefore known as
the steady state solution. Many physical systems exhibit both a transient and steady state
behavior. Physicists and engineers are often (but not always!) more interested in the steady
state behavior of the system, because that is the system’s long-term behavior.
Before we study the solution x(t) for the full equation (6.6.2), it is instructive to study
the case in which damping is absent. When no friction is present, the driven oscillator is
described by b = 0, so we obtain:

ẍ + ω02 x = D cos(ωt) (6.6.5)

We try a solution of the form x = A cos (ωt − ϕ), and after we substitute and collect terms
we obtain:
−Aω 2 cos (ωt − ϕ) + ω02 A cos (ωt − ϕ) =D cos(ωt)

(6.6.6)
A ω02 − ω 2 cos (ωt − ϕ) =D cos(ωt)
This equation will have two possible solutions, when ϕ = 0 and cos (ωt − ϕ) = cos (ωt), and
when ϕ = π where cos (ωt − ϕ) = − cos (ωt). The amplitude A must be always positive, so
we can write the two possible solutions in the form:
D
A= ϕ = 0 and ω < ω0 (6.6.7)
ω02 − ω 2
D
A= ϕ = π and ω > ω0 (6.6.8)
ω 2 − ω02
and the solution of this driven oscillator with no damping is:
D
x = A cos (ωt) = cos (ωt) ϕ = 0 and ω < ω0 (6.6.9)
ω02 − ω 2
D
x = A cos (ωt) = cos (ωt) ϕ = π and ω > ω0 (6.6.10)
ω2 − ω02
A plot of the amplitude A and of the phase difference ϕ as a function of the external
frequency ω is shown in Figure 6.5. We see that the amplitude of the oscillation is maximum
216 Harmonic Oscillations

when the external frequency ω = ω0 , and that there is a sharp change in the amplitude and
in the phase at this frequency. This is our first demonstration of amplitude resonance, where
there is a large response from the oscillator when it is driven at a frequency that matches
the natural frequency of the oscillator. We will comment on resonance in more detail later
in this section.

20 5

Phase difference
15
Amplitude A

3
10
2

5
1

0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
External frequency ω/ωo External frequency ω ωo

Figure 6.5: Amplitude A and phase difference ϕ as a function of the external frequency ω,
in the special case of driven simple harmonic motion with no damping.

A more realistic physical situation is of course the case where damping is not zero. For
this case, the standard method is to try substituting a solution x = A cos(ωt − ϕ) in (6.6.2).
The choice of a cosine solution is motivated by the fact that the right-hand side of (6.6.2)
contains a cosine term with a frequency ω. We need a function x(t) whose derivatives will
ultimately give a cosine with the same frequency. We know that the first derivative of the
cosine is sine. Therefore we introduce a phase term ϕ, which if chosen properly will allow all
of the terms on the left-hand side of (6.6.2) to add up to a cosine, and match the right-hand
side. To simplify the mathematics, we write our trial solution as a complex exponential,
x = A ei(ωt−ϕ) , and also replace the term D cos(ωt) in this equation with D eiωt . We will
carry out the algebra,

and then at the end, we will take the real part of the solution, because
cos(ωt) = Re eiωt . By substituting and taking the derivatives, we obtain:

− Aω 2 ei(ωt−ϕ) + 2γωiAei(ωt−ϕ) + ω02 A ei(ωt−ϕ) = D eiωt (6.6.11)

By canceling out the eiωt from all terms and multiplying by eiϕ = cos ϕ + i sin ϕ on both
sides, we obtain:

− Aω 2 + 2γωiA + ω02 A = D eiϕ = D (cos ϕ + i sin ϕ) (6.6.12)

By equating the real parts on the two sides of this equation, and also equating the imaginary
parts on the two sides to each other, we obtain:


A ω02 − ω 2 = D cos ϕ (6.6.13)

2γωA = D sin ϕ (6.6.14)

Solving this system of equations for the amplitude A and for the phase angle ϕ, we
obtain the particular solution xp (t) of the nonhomogeneous differential equation (6.6.2) for
the driven harmonic oscillator. Finding ϕ from the above equations is simple, all one needs
to do is divide (6.6.14) by (6.6.13). Finding A involves squaring each equation and adding
them, and recalling that sin2 ϕ + cos2 ϕ = 1. The complete solution x(t) = xc (t) + xp (t) is
then given by:
Forced harmonic oscillator 217

General Solution x(t) for the Forced Harmonic Oscillator

x(t) = xp (t) + A cos (ωt − ϕ) (6.6.15)

dx dxp
v= = − Aω sin (ωt − ϕ) (6.6.16)
dt dt
F0 /m
A= q (6.6.17)
2
(ω02 − ω 2 ) + 4γ 2 ω 2
2γω
tan ϕ = (6.6.18)
ω02− ω2

The codes in Example 6.5 numerically solve (6.6.2) using the odeint numerical integra-
tion method in SciPy, and the NDSolve command in Mathematica.

Example 6.5. Numerical solution for driven harmonic oscillator

Write Mathematica and Python codes which numerically solve the differential equation
for the driven SHO, ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = D cos(ωt). Use the numerical values m = 1 mg,
k = 1 N/m , b = 15 Ns/m , D = 5 m/s2 and ω = 3 s−1 , from t = 0 to t = 80 s.
Plot both the position x(t) and the velocity v(t). Discuss the behavior of the solution
at small times, and at large times.
Solution:
The results are plotted in Figure 6.6, where the left graph is a plot of x(t), and the right
graph is a plot of v(t). Notice that in Figure 6.6, the transient behavior is dominant for
t < 40 s, and that the sinusoidal steady state behavior dominates for t > 40 s.

Python Code
In the code, the first component y[0] of the vector y represents the position variable
x, and the second component y[1] represents the derivative dx/dt. The function odeint
evaluates and returns a vector with components (x, dx/dt).The Python code shows
clearly the change of behavior of the solutions x(t) and v(t) as time progresses. The
initial part of the functions contains an exponentially decaying transient component.
At longer times, the solutions approach the steady state solutions, which oscillate with
time with a constant amplitude.
218 Harmonic Oscillations

from [Link] import odeint

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

# SI values of mass, spring constant, force amplitude

b, m, k, Fo, om = 0.2, 1, 1, 5, 3

def deriv(y, time):

return (y[1], -(b/m)*y[1] - (k/m)*y[0]+Fo/m* [Link](om*time))

t = [Link](0, 80, 400)

yinit = (2, 0)

soln = odeint(deriv, yinit, t)

[Link](1,2,1)
[Link](t, soln[:, 0], '-')
[Link]('x(t)')
[Link]('Time [s]')

[Link](1,2,2)
[Link](t, soln[:, 1], '-')
[Link]('v(t)')
[Link]('Time [s]')
plt.tight_layout()
[Link]()

Mathematica Code
SetOptions[Plot, Frame->True, Axes->True, BaseStyle->FontSize->20];

m = 1; k = 1; b = .2;

d = 5; ω = 3;

soln = NDSolve[{m ∗ x”[t] + b ∗ x′ [t] + k ∗ x[t]==d ∗ Cos[ω ∗ t], x[0]==2, x′ [0]==0},

x, {t, 0, 80}];

gr1 = Plot[Evaluate[{x[t]}/.soln], {t, 0, 80}, FrameLabel->{t, “x[t]”}];

gr2 = Plot[Evaluate[{x′ [t]}/.soln], {t, 0, 80}, FrameLabel->{t, “x’[t]”}];

GraphicsGrid[{{gr1, gr2}}]
Forced harmonic oscillator 219

2
2
1

x'[t]
x[t]

0
0
-1 -2
-2 -4
0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80
t t
Figure 6.6: The result of running the Mathematica code in Example 6.5 for the externally
driven harmonic oscillator. The effect of the transient part of the solution is clearly seen for
times t < 40 s, while the steady state solution is dominant for t > 40 s.

In addition, we can plot the amplitude A and phase angle ϕ as a function of frequency
using (6.6.17) and (6.6.18). The plots of the amplitude A and of the phase angle ϕ as a
function of the external frequency ω are shown in Figure 6.7. When ω << ω0 , we find that
the phase difference ϕ goes to zero, while for ω >> ω0 we find that the phase goes to π (180
degrees), i.e., completely out of phase with the driving force.

20 4
γ 0.01 γ 0.01
Phase Difference

15 3
Amplitude A

γ 0.05 γ 0.05

10 γ 0.1 2 γ 0.1

5 1

0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
External frequency ω/ωo External frequency ω ωo

Figure 6.7: Plots of the amplitude A (ω), and of the phase angle ϕ (ω), in the case of
externally driven damped harmonic motion.

One of the most striking results shown in Figure 6.7 is the amplitude A (ω) as a function
of frequency. Notice that similar to the undamped case, amplitude resonance can occur. The
damping prevents the amplitude from blowing up to infinity at resonance. Although the
small value of γ = 0.01 results in a large amplitude at resonance, it is not infinite; it simply
is beyond the scale of the graph here. Notice that the amplitude resonance occurs when
ω ≈ ω0 , because of the small values of γ used to make Figure 6.7. Next, we will compute
the exact frequency at which resonance occurs.
220 Harmonic Oscillations

The resonance frequency ωr is the value of the drive frequency ω which causes amplitude
resonance and is found by computing:

dA
=0 (6.6.19)
dω
ω=ωr
p
From this equation we find that A is a maximum when ω = ωr = ω02 − 2γ 2 , where ωr is
the resonant frequency. The corresponding maximum value of A defined as Amax is then:

Resonance Frequency and Resonance Amplitude for a Forced Harmonic

Oscillator
q q
ωr = ωd2 − γ 2 = ω02 − 2γ 2 (6.6.20)

F /m
Amax = p0 (6.6.21)
2γ ω02 − γ 2

Example 6.6. Amplitude resonance

Use a CAS to obtain the solution x(t) of (6.6.2) and plot the amplitude A(ω) of the
driven oscillation as a function of the external driving frequency ω. Use the numerical
values m = 1 kg, ω0 = 1 rad/s, F0 = 1.0 N, γ = 0.1 rad/s.
Solution:
The general solution of the ODE contains the sum of the transient and the steady state
solutions. In the Python and Mathematica codes, we select the steady state solution
and create a table of the amplitude A(ω) of the driven oscillation at different frequencies
ω.

Python Code
In the Python code we create a function findmax(w) which finds the maximum value
of the steady state solution. This function solves the ODE using the dsolve function
in SymPy, and we select the steady state part of the solution soln by using the .subs
method to set the arbitrary constants to C1 = C2 = 0 .
Forced harmonic oscillator 221

from sympy import symbols, Function, Derivative as D,\

dsolve, lambdify, cos, N, Add
import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')
x = Function('x')
t = symbols('t')
F, wo, gm = 1, 1, .1

#initial conditions x(0)=1 and v(0)=0

initCondits = {x(0): 1, D(x(t),t).subs(t, 0): 0}

def findmax(w):
# solve the ode to find the full analytical solution soln
soln = dsolve(D(x(t), t, t)+2*gm*D(x(t), t) +wo**2*x(t)-F*cos(w*t),
x(t),simplify=True).rhs

# Set the constants C1 and C2 to zero to get the particular solution

xsteady = [Link]({'C1': 0, 'C2': 0})
if (w == 0.1): # print steady state for w=0.1
print('\nThe steady state for w=0.1 is:\n x(t) = ',N(xsteady,3))

steadyf = lambdify(t, xsteady,'numpy') # lamdify and find max value

tvals = [Link](0,70,.02)
return max(steadyf(tvals))

# omega = external driving frequencies

omega = [Link](0.1,3,.1)

ampls = [findmax(u) for u in omega]

# plot amplitudes as a function of omega

[Link](omega,ampls)
[Link]('Driving frequency, w')
[Link]('Amplitude of steady state, A(w)')
[Link](0,5.4);
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The steady state for w=0.1 is:

x(t) = 0.0204*sin(0.1*t) + 1.01*cos(0.1*t)
222 Harmonic Oscillations

Mathematica Code
By using the DSolve command as shown in the code, Mathematica produces the ana-
lytical solution which clearly contains the sum of xc (t) and xp (t). The variable x in the
code represents the full solution, while the variable steady represents xp (t). By using
the replacement rule /.Exp[t_]->0, the two exponential terms in xc (t) are set to zero,
and we are left with the expression steady which represents xp (t). By subtracting the
variable steady from x, we obtain the variable trans which represents the transient
solution xh (t). The parameter u is a list (created by Mathematica’s Table command)
of external frequencies ω and of the corresponding maximum amplitude A(ω). These
maximum values are obtained by using the command NMaxValue . Finally the list u is
plotted using the ListPlot command, and we obtain the desired graph of the maximum
amplitude A(ω) as a function of the external driving frequency ω.

sol = DSolve[{x”[t] + ωo∧ 2 ∗ x[t] + 2 ∗ γ ∗ x′ [t] == Fo/m ∗ Cos[ω ∗ t]}, x[t], t];

x = x[t]/.sol[[1]]//Simplify
√
√

−t γ+ γ 2 −ωo2 t −γ+ γ 2 −ωo2 Fo((−ω 2 +ωo2 )Cos[tω]+2γωSin[tω])
e c1 + e c2 + m(4γ 2 ω 2 +(ω 2 −ωo2 )2 )

steady = x/.Exp[t_] → 0

Fo((−ω 2 +ωo2 )Cos[tω]+2γωSin[tω])

m(4γ 2 ω 2 +(ω 2 −ωo2 )2 )

trans = x − steady
√
√

−t γ+ γ 2 −ωo2 t −γ+ γ 2 −ωo2
e c1 + e c2

m = 1; γ = 0.1; Fo = 1; ωo = 1;

u = Table[{ω, NMaxValue[steady, t]}, {ω, 0, 3, .02}];

ListPlot[u, FrameLabel → {“Frequency ω, Hz”, “Amplitude A(ω)”},

Frame → True, BaseStyle → {FontSize → 16}, Joined → True]

steady = x/.Exp[t_] → 0/.ω->0.1//Simplify

1.00969Cos[0.1t] + 0.0203978Sin[0.1t]
Energy resonance and the quality factor for driven oscillations 223

4
Amplitude A(ω)

0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Driving frequency ω, Hz

Figure 6.8: The amplitude resonance A(ω) for a forced harmonic oscillator as a function of
the external driving frequency ω, from Example 6.6.

6.7 ENERGY RESONANCE AND THE QUALITY FACTOR FOR DRIVEN

OSCILLATIONS
In an earlier section we calculated the quality factor Q for an underdamped oscillator, a
concept that is of great importance in physics and engineering. In this section, we will pro-
vide a more in-depth derivation of the quality factor, in connection with driven oscillations.
This discussion will also lead us to a different kind of resonance, energy resonance.
The quality factor Q is a dimensionless parameter that quantifies the degree of damping
and the energy loss present in an oscillator. Higher Q indicates a lower rate of energy loss
relative to the stored energy of the resonator, and it means that the oscillations die out
more slowly. A pendulum suspended from a high-quality bearing and oscillating in air has
a high Q, while a pendulum immersed in oil has a low one. Resonators with high quality
factors have low damping, so that they ring or vibrate longer.
To understand Q, we need to find the average mechanical energy of the oscillator. The
total mechanical energy of the driven oscillator is found by substituting the general solution
x(t) = A cos (ωt − ϕ), after transients, to obtain:
1 1 1 1
E =T +V = mẋ2 + kx2 = mA2 ω 2 sin2 (ωt − ϕ) + kA2 cos2 (ωt − ϕ) (6.7.1)
2 2 2 2
By calculating the time average of the sin2 (ωt − ϕ) term over a period of oscillation,
we find that it is equal to 1/2. Similarly, the time average of the cos2 (ωt − ϕ) term over a
period of oscillation is also equal to 1/2. Therefore, the time average of the total energy E
over a period of oscillation is found from (6.7.1) to be:
1 1 1

<E>= mA2 ω 2 + kA2 = mω 2 + k A2 (6.7.2)
4 4 4
By substituting the value of the amplitude from (6.6.17) and using ω02 = k/m we find:

1
(F0 /m)
2
<E>= mω 2 + mω02 2 (6.7.3)
4 (ω0 − ω 2 ) + 4γ 2 ω 2
2
224 Harmonic Oscillations

and finally:

Average Energy E(ω) for a Forced Oscillator Over One Period

F02 ω 2 + ω02
<E>= (6.7.4)
4m (ω02 − ω 2 )2 + 4γ 2 ω 2

A plot of < E > as a function of the external driving frequency ω is shown in Figure
6.9. Notice that there is a peak similar to the peak we saw for the amplitude graph A(ω)
in Figure 6.8.
Figure 6.9 is illustrating energy resonance, and the energy resonance frequency is the
drive frequency which maximizes the average energy of the oscillator.
In the context of energy resonance and driven oscillations, the Q factor is defined as the
“frequency-to-bandwidth ratio” of the resonator, thus:
ωr
Q≡ (6.7.5)
∆ω
where ωr is the resonant angular frequency of the peaked graph in Figure 6.9. ∆ω in this
definition is the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the energy resonance peak. In
order to find ∆ω, we need to find the two points ω1 and ω2 on this graph, which correspond
to half of the maximum of the peak.

500 γ 0.03
Average energy <E>

400 γ 0.05
γ 0.1
300

200

100

0
0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2
External frequency ω/ωo

Figure 6.9: Plot of the time averaged energy < E > from (6.7.4), as a function of the ratio
ω/ω0 . The value of γ = 0.03 results in a lightly damped harmonic motion, corresponding to
a large Q-factor.

To calculate Q, we assume a system with small damping (i.e., a sharp resonance), and

2
we substitute ω ≃ ω0 in (6.7.4), except for the term ω02 − ω 2 , to obtain:

F02 ω02 1
<E>= (6.7.6)
2m (ω0 − ω 2 )2 + 4γ 2 ω02
2

By approximating ω0 ≃ ω, the term ω02 − ω 2 = (ω0 + ω) (ω0 − ω) ≃ 2ω0 (ω0 − ω), and the
previous equation becomes:

F02 1
<E>= (6.7.7)
8m (ω0 − ω)2 + γ 2
Energy resonance and the quality factor for driven oscillations 225

Next, taking the derivative of < E > with respect to the driving frequency ω and setting
it equal to zero, we find that the maximum of this function occurs at ω = ω0 . By substituting
this value in (6.7.4), the maximum time average of the total energy is given by:

F02
< E >max = (6.7.8)
8mγ 2
Next, we need to find the frequency at which the average energy < E > drops to half its
maximum value. We substitute (6.7.8) in (6.7.7) to obtain:

1 1 F02 F02 1
< E >max = = (6.7.9)
2 2 8mγ 2 8m (ω0 − ω)2 + γ 2

which simplifies to:

1 1
= 2 (6.7.10)
2γ 2
(ω0 − ω) + γ 2
The solution to this quadratic equation in ω gives us the two values ω1 and ω2 of the driving
frequency, at which the time average of the total energy drops to half its maximum value:

ω1 = γ − ω0 ω2 = ω0 − γ (6.7.11)

The full width at half maximum is then given by:

∆ω = ω1 − ω2 = 2γ (6.7.12)

Therefore, from the definition of the Q-factor in (6.7.5), we find the ratio of the resonance
frequency ω0 over the FWHM ∆ω:

The Quality Factor Q for a Driven Oscillator with Small Damping

ωr ω0
Q= = (6.7.13)
∆ω 2γ

This is the same simple equation we derived for underdamped motion and involves only
the coefficients of the second-order differential equation describing most resonant systems,
electrical or mechanical. In electrical systems, the stored energy is the sum of energies stored
in lossless inductors and capacitors; the lost energy is the sum of the energies dissipated
in resistors per cycle. In mechanical systems, the stored energy is the maximum possible
stored total energy, i.e., the sum of the potential and kinetic energies at some point in time,
while the lost energy is that lost to damping forces such as friction.

Example 6.7. Energy resonance

Use a CAS to obtain the solution x(t) of (6.6.2) and plot the maximum total energy
E of the driven oscillation as a function of the external driving frequency ω. Use the
numerical values m = 1 kg, ω0 = 1 Hz, F0 = 1.0 N,γ = 0.1 rad/s.
Solution:
We present only the Mathematica code, since the Python code is similar to Example
6.6. The code here evaluates analytically the corresponding speed vp (t) = dxp /dt, and
the total energy E(t) = 12 mvp2 + 12 kx2p . The parameter u is a list of external frequencies
226 Harmonic Oscillations

ω and of the corresponding maximum energy E(ω). We plot the maximum average
energy E(ω) as a function of the external driving frequency ω.
It is notable that the energy resonance E(ω) shown in this example is much narrower
than the corresponding amplitude resonance A(ω) studied in the previous Example 6.6.

Mathematica Code
sol = DSolve[{x”[t] + ωo∧ 2x[t] + 2γx′ [t] == Fo/mCos[ωt]}, x[t], t];

x = x[t]/.sol[[1]]//Simplify
√
√

−t γ+ γ 2 −ωo2 t −γ+ γ 2 −ωo2 Fo((−ω 2 +ωo2 )Cos[tω]+2γωSin[tω])
e c1 + e c2 + m(4γ 2 ω 2 +(ω 2 −ωo2 )2 )

steady = x/.Exp[t_] → 0

Fo((−ω 2 +ωo2 )Cos[tω]+2γωSin[tω])

m(4γ 2 ω 2 +(ω 2 −ωo2 )2 )

en = 1/2msteady∧ 2
2
Fo2 ((−ω 2 +ωo2 )Cos[tω]+2γωSin[tω])
2
2m( 4γ 2 ω 2 +(ω 2 −ωo2 )2 )

m = 1; γ = 0.1; Fo = 1; ωo = 1;

u = Table[{ω, NMaxValue[en, t]}, {ω, 0, 3, 0.02}];

ListPlot[u, PlotRange → All, FrameLabel → {“Driving frequency ω”, “Energy E”},

Frame->True, BaseStyle → {FontSize → 16}, Joined → True]

Electrical circuits 227

12
10
Energy E(ω)

8
6
4
2
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Driving frequency ω, Hz
Figure 6.10: The energy resonance E(ω) for a forced harmonic oscillator as a function of
the external driving frequency ω, from Example 6.7.

6.8 ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS

The equation of motion for the forced harmonic oscillator can also be used to describe a
driven RLC circuit. In this section, we develop the equations of motion for the RLC circuit
and we explore what is sometimes referred to as an electrical-mechanical analogy. To begin,
consider an RLC circuit as shown in Figure 6.11.

Figure 6.11: RLC series circuit with external voltage V (t), resistance R, inductance L, and
capacitance C.

The governing differential equation can be found by substituting into Kirchhoff’s voltage
law (KVL), the voltage equation for each of the three elements. From the KVL,

V (t) + VR + VL + VC = 0 (6.8.1)
where VR = −IR is the voltage drop across the resistor, VL = −L dI dt is the voltage drop
across the inductor, VC = − Q C is the voltage drop across the capacitor, and V (t) is the
time varying voltage from the source. Note that we are using the normal conventions that
I is the current in the circuit and Q is the charge on the capacitor. Furthermore, L is the
inductance of the inductor, R is the resistance of the resistor, C is the capacitance of the
228 Harmonic Oscillations

capacitor, and the current is I = Q̇. For simplicity, we will assume that V (t) = V0 cos(ωt).
Substituting these expressions in the KVL equation:
dI Q
L + IR + = V0 cos(ωt) (6.8.2)
dt C
Dividing by L leads to the second-order differential equation:

General Differential Equation for RLC Series Circuit

d2 Q(t) R dQ(t) 1 V0
+ + Q(t) = cos(ωt) (6.8.3)
dt2 L dt LC L

This equation has the exact same mathematical form as equation (6.6.2) for a driven
damped harmonic oscillator:
d2 x b dx k F0
+ + x= cos(ωt) (6.8.4)
dt2 m dt m m
where (6.6.2) is written without the substitution γ = b/2m.
Because (6.8.3) and (6.8.4) have the same mathematical form, we can reuse the solution
of the mechanical system, in order to get the solution of the electrical system. The math-
ematical similarities imply that the physical behaviors of the two systems are similar. The
forced damped harmonic oscillator has two solutions: a transient solution which decays as
t → ∞ and a steady state solution consisting of a sinusoidal oscillation with a frequency
equal to the drive frequency. Physically, these solutions are describing the displacement of
the mass m. Because of the mathematical similarities, we know that the RLC circuit will
also have two solutions, a transient which will also decay, and a steady state sinusoidal
solution which has the same frequency as the voltage source in the circuit. In the case of
the RLC circuit, it is the value of the charge on the capacitor that is oscillating.
Furthermore, we can then draw exact analogies between mechanical systems and elec-
trical systems. These analogies are shown in Table 6.1, and are found by comparing the
locations of the variables in (6.8.3) to those in (6.8.4). The simplest analogy is between the
displacement x of the mass and the charge Q on the capacitor. A more interesting analogy
exists between L and m. The inductance L in (6.8.3) appears in the same location as m in
(6.4.3). This implies that L is taking on a role similar to that of mass. This analogy makes
physical sense if we recall that the inductance L measures the inductor’s ability to resist
changes in current (Q̇), while the mass m is a measure of inertia, an object’s ability to resist
changes in velocity (ẋ).
It is also possible to use the analogies to identify qualitative characteristics of the RLC
circuit’s behavior. For example, we know that the coefficient of x in the mechanical system
is the angular frequency ω02 of oscillation for an undamped oscillator. We can conclude from
(6.8.3) that the oscillation frequency of a LC circuit (where R = 0) will be given by:

Oscillation Frequency for LC Series Circuit

1
ω0 = √ (6.8.5)
LC

because 1/LC is the coefficient of Q in (6.8.3).

Principle of superposition and Fourier series 229

Table 6.1
Analogy between electrical RLC circuit in series and driven harmonic oscillator.

Mechanical System Series RLC Circuit

Position x Charge Q
dx dQ
Velocity dt
Current dt

Mass m Inductance L
Spring Constant k Inverse Capacitance 1/C
Damping γ Resistance R
pk p 1
Natural Frequency m LC

mẍ + γ ẋ + kx = F LQ̈ + RQ̇ + Q/C = V

Finally, we can derive an expression about the energy of the RLC circuit. We begin by
multiplying (6.8.3) by Q̇ and L:
1
LQ̇Q̈ + RQ̇2 + QQ̇ = V0 cos(ωt)Q̇ (6.8.6)
C
Notice that:
1 d
1 d

Q̇Q̈ = Q̇2 and QQ̇ = Q2 (6.8.7)
2 dt 2 dt
Substitution of the previous equations into (6.8.6) gives:
 
d 1 11 2
2
LQ̇ + Q = −RQ̇2 + V0 cos(ωt)Q̇ (6.8.8)
dt 2 2C

The 12 LQ̇2 and 12 C1 Q2 terms in (6.8.8) are the energy stored in the inductor and capacitor,
respectively. We can see that if R = 0 and if there is no voltage source in the circuit (V0 = 0),
then the right-hand side of (6.8.8) is zero, so the total energy of the circuit is conserved.
The terms on the right-hand side describe how energy is either lost or gained in the
system. Recall that the power dissipated by a resistor is P = −I 2 R, which is the first
term on the right-hand side of (6.8.8). The second term on the right-hand side of (6.8.8) is
describing the rate at which energy is supplied by the variable voltage source. Notice that
V0 cos(ωt)Q̇ is in the form of V I, which is the formula for electric power.
Analogies can be a powerful tool in physics, which can be used to take an understanding
of one system, and apply it to another mathematically similar system. As with any analogy
(physics-related or not), be careful not to take the analogy too far. Doing so can lead to
confusion at best, and to a complete misunderstanding of the system at worst.

6.9 PRINCIPLE OF SUPERPOSITION AND FOURIER SERIES

So far, we have studied the response of an oscillator that is being driven by a continuous
periodic force. However, not all driving forces are continuous. Consider a mother pushing
230 Harmonic Oscillations

her child on a swing. The force applied by the mother is not continuous, but it is periodic
with a period τ . How can we mathematically model such forces? We could describe a force
that is “off” for a time τ /2 and then constant for a time τ /2 by using a piecewise definition:
(
0 0 ≤ t < τ /2
F (t) = (6.9.1)
F0 τ /2 ≤ t ≤ τ

however, such a definition could be difficult to work with analytically. We should note
that modern CAS can handle such equations in a variety of applications; however, there is
much value in learning how to work with such cases analytically. So, the question remains:
how do we represent such periodic discontinuous functions in a way that lends itself to
analytical solutions? The answer, which we will demonstrate in this section, is that we can
represent periodic discontinuous functions as a sum of sines and cosines called a Fourier
series. This interesting and important result is known as Fourier’s Theorem and applies to
periodic functions that are continuous, or have a finite number of discontinuities over the
period τ . Since most functions describing physical processes have only a finite number of
discontinuities over an interval t ∈ [0, τ ], we can consider Fourier’s Theorem to be widely
applicable.
Fourier’s Theorem is only one part of the solution of handling discontinuous periodic
drive functions. By representing drive functions as a series of sines and cosines, we need to
be able to solve equations of the form:

ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = a0 + a1 cos(ωt) + a2 cos(2ωt) + · · · + b1 sin(ωt) + b2 sin(2ωt) + · · · (6.9.2)

In other words, we need to know how to solve linear ordinary differential equations that
have multiple terms on the right-hand side. Because the differential equation is linear in x
and its derivatives, we can use the powerful concept of the Principle of Superposition, which
will allow us to break up the differential equation into pieces and then sum the solutions of
the individual pieces.

6.9.1 PRINCIPLE OF SUPERPOSITION

Consider a differential equation of the following form:
 2 
d2 x dx d d
a 2 +b + cx = a 2 + b + c x = F (t) (6.9.3)
dt dt dt dt

which is very similar to the equations describing oscillations that we have worked with so
far. We can rewrite such an equation as L̂(x) = F (t), where the differential operator L̂ is
defined as:
d2 d
L̂ ≡ a 2 + b + c (6.9.4)
dt dt
An operator L̂ is linear if it satisfies:

L̂ (c1 x1 + c2 x2 ) = c1 L̂ (x1 ) + c2 L̂ (x2 ) (6.9.5)

where c1 and c2 are arbitrary constants, and x1 and x2 are two solutions of the differential
equation (6.9.3). It is straightforward to show that L̂ defined in (6.9.4) is a linear operator.
Next, we consider a differential equation of the form:

L̂(x) = c1 F1 (t) + c2 F2 (t) (6.9.6)

Principle of superposition and Fourier series 231

where L̂ is defined as in (6.9.4). Suppose we know two functions x1 and x2 , such that
L̂ (x1 ) = F1 (t) and L̂ (x2 ) = F2 (t). In other words, x1 is the solution to (6.9.6) without
F2 (t) on the right-hand side, and x2 is the solution without F1 (t) present. Then:

L̂ (c1 x1 + c2 x2 ) = c1 L̂ (x1 ) + c2 L̂ (x2 ) = c1 F1 (t) + c2 F2 (t) (6.9.7)

Therefore, the sum of the individual solutions x1 and x2 is the solution to the full differential
equation (6.9.6). We can, of course, extend this to an arbitrary number of terms on the
right-hand side:
XN
L̂ (x) = ci Fi (t) (6.9.8)
i=1

which would then have the solution:

X
N
x(t) = xc + ci x i (6.9.9)
i=1

where xi satisfied L̂ (xi ) = Fi (t) and xc is the complementary solution of the ODE. The
ability to add solutions in the above manner is called the Principle of Superposition and
applies only to linear differential equations. In Chapter 13 we will study nonlinear systems,
and the Principle of Superposition will not apply to those systems.
The Principle of Superposition will be critical in dealing with Fourier series representa-
tions of discontinuous drive forces. When we represent the discontinuous drive force as a
Fourier series, the resulting differential equation will be of the form:

ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = a0 + a1 cos(ωt) + a2 cos(2ωt) + · · · + b1 sin(ωt) + b2 sin(2ωt) + · · · (6.9.10)

We now know that in order to solve this type of equation, all we need to do is solve the
system of equations:

ẍi + 2γ ẋi + ω02 xi = ai cos(iωt) and ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = bi sin(iωt) (6.9.11)

for i = 0, . . . , N . Note that for i = 0, cos(0) = 1 and we obtain the solution for the constant
term on the right-hand side of the differential equation. Similarly sin(0) = 0 gives the
homogeneous solution. While there may be a large number of equations to solve, there are
ways that the process can be generalized. For example, notice that in the above case, by
changing the value of i, we are simply changing the drive frequency for i > 0. Next, we need
to learn how to represent a discontinuous periodic function as a Fourier series.

6.9.2 FOURIER SERIES

In this section, we introduce an important result due to French mathematician and physicist
Joseph Fourier (1768-1830). Let us consider a function f (t) of the real variable t, which is
periodic with a period τ , such that f (t)=f (t + τ ). Fourier’s theorem states that, under
certain conditions which typically hold in mechanics, this periodic function can be written
as the sum of sine and cosine terms in the form of a Fourier series:

General Mathematical Form of Fourier Series

a0 X
N
f (t) = + an cos(nωt) + bn sin(nωt) (6.9.12)
2 n=1
232 Harmonic Oscillations

1.0

0.5

f(x)
0.0

-0.5

-1.0
-5 0 5
Position x

Figure 6.12: The sawtooth function in Example 6.8.

where the lowest angular frequency is ω = 2π/τ , and the higher frequencies are integer
multiples n ω of the fundamental angular frequency ω. The coefficients an and bn represent
the amplitudes of the various waves, and are known as Fourier coefficients. The Fourier
coefficients an and bn are computed by using the following general integral relationships:
Z τ /2 (
0 m= ̸ n
cos (nωt) cos (mωt) dt =
−τ /2 τ /2 m = n ̸= 0
Z τ /2 (
0 m= ̸ n
sin (nωt) sin (mωt) dt = (6.9.13)
−τ /2 τ /2 m = n ̸= 0
Z τ /2
cos (nωt) sin (mωt) dt =0 for all integers n and m
−τ /2

The calculation of an and bn involves multiplying both sides of (6.9.12) with either
cos(2πmt/τ ) or sin(2πmt/τ ), and integrating over the whole period. The results of this
calculation are known as Fourier’s trick to many generations of physicists:

Fourier’s Trick for Finding the Fourier Amplitude Coefficients

Z τ /2
2
an = f (t) cos(nωt)dt (6.9.14)
τ −τ /2

Z τ /2
2
bn = f (t) sin(nωt)dt (6.9.15)
τ −τ /2

It is not always possible to compute coefficients of all values of n, so a finite Fourier series
approximates the original function f (t), and the approximation improves as N increases.
The Fourier series is generally presumed to converge everywhere except at discontinuities,
where it converges to the mean of the values of f (t) before and after the discontinuity.
Example 6.8 demonstrates how to evaluate and plot the Fourier series of a periodic
function f (x), both analytically and using a CAS. Note that in this example the independent
variable is x and not the time t.
Principle of superposition and Fourier series 233

Example 6.8: Fourier series calculation

Find the Fourier series for the following periodic sawtooth function shown in Figure
6.12, both analytically and using a CAS:
x
f (x) = , for − π < x < π
π
f (x + 2πj) = f (x), for − ∞ < x < ∞ and j is an integer.

Solution:
Although in this case the independent variable is x, the function f (x) is periodic in
x, so all of the formulas for Fourier series still apply. Next, it is important to identify the
period. As can be seen from the graph (and the definition of f ), the period is τ = 2π.
Using the formulas (6.9.14) and (6.9.15), we can compute the Fourier coefficients, with
ω = 2π/τ = 1. First we find the an coefficients:
Z
1 π x
an = cos( 2πnx
2π ) dx
π −π π
 2 Z π
1
= x cos(nx) dx
π −π
 2 π
1 x sin(nx)
=
π n
−π

therefore, we see that an = 0 for all values of n, because sin(nπ) = 0 for all integers n.
Next, we compute the bn coefficients:
Z
1 π x
bn = sin( 2πnx
2π ) dx
π −π π
 2 Z π
1
= x sin(nx) dx
π −π
2 2
=− cos(nπ) + 2 2 sin(nπ)
πn π n
Again, we use sin(nπ) = 0 for integer values of n. However, note that cos(nπ) = (−1)n .
Therefore, we find that:
2 (−1)n+1
bn =
πn
The resulting Fourier series is therefore:
∞
2 X (−1)n+1
f (x) = sin(nx)
π n=1 n

When x = ±π, the Fourier series converges to 0, which is the mean of the left and right
limits at x = ±π.

Python Code
In the code we evaluate the definite integrals for an and bn and specify that n is an
integer, by using the option integer = True in the symbols command. For the plots in
Figure 6.13, we define a function T(numTerms) which represents the finite summation
234 Harmonic Oscillations

of the number of Fourier terms, numTerms. A for loop is used to evaluate the sum,
with the two subplots representing the summation for N = 10, 30 terms. As can be
expected, as N increases, the sum represents more accurately the sawtooth function.

from sympy import symbols, integrate, sin, cos, pi

import [Link] as plt
import numpy as np
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

x = symbols('x') # define symbols

n = symbols('n', integer = True,positive=True)

print("Coefficients an = ",(1/pi**2)*integrate(x*cos(n*x),(x,-pi,pi)))
print("Coefficients bn = ",(1/pi**2)*integrate(x*sin(n*x),(x,-pi,pi)))

# function to evaluate Fourier f(x) by summing the series terms

def T(numTerms):
suma = [0]*len(x) # initialize the sum
for n in range(1,numTerms):
suma = suma+(2/[Link])*(-1)**(n+1)/n*[Link](n*x)
return suma

# positions along the x-axis

x = [Link](0,2*[Link],200)
x1 = [Link](0,[Link],100)
x2 = [Link]([Link],2*[Link],100)

# call function to evaluate f(x) for different numTerms

[Link](1,2,1)
numTerms = 10
[Link](x, T(numTerms))
[Link](x1,x1/[Link])
[Link](x2,-1+([Link])/[Link])
[Link](5,1,'N = '+str(numTerms))
[Link]('f(x)')

[Link](1,2,2)
numTerms = 30
[Link](x, T(numTerms))
[Link](x1,x1/[Link]) # plot the two parts of f(x)
[Link](x2,-1+([Link])/[Link])
[Link](5,1,'N = '+str(numTerms))
plt.tight_layout()
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Coefficients an = 0
Coefficients bn = -2*(-1)**n/(pi*n)
Principle of superposition and Fourier series 235

Mathematica Code
We use the PieceWise command to define the function f (x), and we use the Table
command to create appropriate lists for the plots of the series approximations and of
f (x).

f = Piecewise[{{x/Pi, x > −Pi&&x < Pi}, {(x − 2 ∗ Pi)/Pi, x > Pi&&x < 3 ∗ Pi}}];

Plot[f, {x, −π, 3 ∗ π}, PlotRange->All];

T = 2 ∗ Pi;

numTerms = 30;

Print[“ao=”, ao = (2/T ) ∗ Integrate[f, {x, 0, T }]];

an:=(2/T ) ∗ Integrate[f ∗ Cos[2 ∗ n ∗ Pi ∗ x/T ], {x, 0, T }];

bn:=(2/T ) ∗ Integrate[f ∗ Sin[2 ∗ n ∗ Pi ∗ x/T ], {x, 0, T }];

Print[“an-Fourier coefficients=”, an];

Print[“bn-Fourier coefficients=”, bn];

ao=0
an-Fourier coefficients= −1+Cos[2nπ]+2nπSin[nπ]
n2 π 2
bn-Fourier coefficients= −2nπCos[nπ]+Sin[2nπ]
n2 π 2

anList = Table[an/.n → m, {m, 1, numTerms}];

bnList = Table[bn/.n → m, {m, 1, numTerms}];

hn PLength[anList]
Plot f, ao/2 + n=1 (anList[[n]] ∗ Cos[2 ∗ n ∗ Pi ∗ x/T ])+
PLength[bnList] o i
n=1 (bnList[[n]] ∗ Sin[2 ∗ n ∗ Pi ∗ x/T ]) , {x, −T /2, T /2}

6.9.3 EXAMPLE OF SUPERPOSITION PRINCIPLE AND FOURIER SERIES

To conclude this section, we present an example of a problem where a damped harmonic
oscillator is driven by a discontinuous periodic force. The following problem ties together
the concepts of the Principle of Superposition and Fourier Series.
Consider the following discontinuous periodic force F (t):
t
F (t) = mA for − jπ < x < jπ (6.9.16)
π
where m is the mass of the oscillator, j is an integer, and A has units of acceleration per
unit time. This is essentially the same function from Example 6.8. It may seem strange to
have m as a term in the formula of the driving force, but it will simplify the algebra later.
236 Harmonic Oscillations

Figure 6.13: Results from the Python code in Example 6.8, showing a comparison of the
original function (solid line) and the approximation using the Fourier series for N = 10, 30
terms (wavy line).

The driving force in (6.9.16) acts on a damped harmonic oscillator with damping pa-
rameter γ and natural frequency ω0 , whose equation of motion is then:

F (t)
ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = (6.9.17)
m
In order to solve for x(t) using the analytical methods described in this chapter, we need
to use the Fourier series for F (t). From Example 6.8, we know that:
∞
2mA X (−1)n+1
F (t) = sin(nωt) (6.9.18)
π n=1 n

where we changed the independent variable from x to t, included the multiplicative constant
A, and explicitly included ω into the Fourier series. Note that ω = 1 because τ = 2π. So
the resulting differential equation to solve is:
∞
2A X (−1)n+1
ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = sin(nωt) (6.9.19)
π n=1 n

However, the work done in this chapter had cosine terms on the right-hand side of the
differential equation. In order to use the solutions developed in this chapter, we will need
to use the identity: sin(a) = cos(a − π/2). Doing so results in (6.9.19) becoming:
∞
2A X (−1)n+1
ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = cos(nωt − π/2) (6.9.20)
π n=1 n
Phase space 237

To solve (6.9.20), we consider individual equations of the form:

2A (−1)n+1
ẍn + 2γ ẋn + ω02 xn = cos(nωt − π/2) (6.9.21)
π n
We use trial solutions of the form xn (t) = An cos(nωt − π/2 − ϕn ) and follow the procedure
outlined for the solution of the driven damped harmonic oscillator. The result is:

2A(−1)n+1
An = q (6.9.22)
2
nπ (ω02 − (nω)2 ) + 4γ 2 (nω)2

2γnω
tan ϕn = (6.9.23)
ω02 − (nω)2
Notice that the above solution is the same as (6.6.17) and (6.6.18), however the constant
coefficient is now 2A(−1)n+1 /nπ, and the drive frequency is nω instead of ω. Finally, we
can use the Principle of Superposition to find the solution to (6.9.20):
∞
2A X (−1)n+1
x(t) = q cos(nωt − π/2 − ϕn ) (6.9.24)
nπ n=1 2
(ω02 − (nω)2 ) + 4γ 2 (nω)2
where the phase angles ϕn are defined in (6.9.23).

6.10 PHASE SPACE

Phase space diagrams are a useful concept in physics and other disciplines. A phase space
diagram usually plots the position x(t) of a particle on the x-axis and its corresponding
momentum p = m v(t) on the y-axis. Alternatively, one can also use the speed v(t) on the
y-axis, instead of the momentum p = m v(t). The result is a graph that gives a qualita-
tive description of the particle’s motion. Phase space diagrams are important in analyzing
nonlinear systems, and we will discuss the phase space diagrams of nonlinear systems in
Chapter 13. For now, we will explore the phase space diagrams associated with the harmonic
oscillator.
Let us consider an undamped simple harmonic oscillator whose position and speed are
described by:
x(t) = A cos(ω0 t) (6.10.1)
v(t) = dx/dt = −Aω0 sin(ω0 t) (6.10.2)
We can eliminate the time t in these equations by using the trig identity sin2 (ω0 t) +
2
cos (ω0 t) = 1:
x2 v2
2
+ 2 2 =1 (6.10.3)
A A ω0
This clearly represents an ellipse on the xv-plane. We say that the phase space repre-
sentation of a simple harmonic oscillator is an ellipse, with semi-major axis equal to the
amplitude of oscillation a = A, and the semi-major y-axis equal to b = Aω0 . We know that
for the SHO, E = 21 kA2 and ω02 = k/m. Therefore, we can rewrite (6.10.3) as:

x2 v2
+ =1 (6.10.4)
2E/k 2E/m
p
This is an ellipse with semi-major axis equal
p to the amplitude of oscillation a = 2E/m
and the semi-major y-axis equal to b = 2E/k. Examples of harmonic oscillators with
238 Harmonic Oscillations

different energies E are shown in Figure 6.14. In this case, we see that ellipses with larger
area correspond to the trajectories with larger energies.

1.0
E=1
0.5 E=0.25

0.0
p

-0.5

-1.0
-2 -1 0 1 2
x 1
Figure 6.14: Phase space of simple harmonic oscillator

Phase space diagrams can tell us something about the motion of the system. The curve
in a phase diagram is sometimes referred to as a trajectory in phase space. An image of all
possible trajectories in a phase space is usually called a phase portrait or phase diagram.
Each point along a trajectory gives the system’s position and momentum. The presence of
closed-loop trajectories in a phase space diagram is evidence of oscillatory motion. A closed-
loop trajectory tells us that after some time τ , the system returns to its initial position and
momentum. The elliptical trajectories in Figure 6.14 tell us that the SHO displays oscillatory
motion (which we already knew!).
Next, we will look at the phase space diagram of an underdamped harmonic oscillator.
In this case, we write:
x(t) = Ae−γt cos(ωd t − ϕ) (6.10.5)
v(t) = dx/dt = −Aωd e−γt sin(ωd t − ϕ) − Aγe−γt cos(ωd t − ϕ) (6.10.6)
where ωd is the driving frequency. It can be difficult to visualize the trajectories directly
from the above equations. Therefore, we can make the following change of coordinates, in
order to simplify the algebra:

u = ωd x, w = γx + v (6.10.7)

Then the coordinates become:

u = ωd Ae−γt cos(ωd t − ϕ) (6.10.8)

−γt
w = −ωd Ae sin(ωd t − ϕ) (6.10.9)

Next, we convert to polar coordinates: ρ2 = u2 + w2 and θ = ωd t. Squaring and adding

u and w gives:
ρ = ωd Ae−(γ/ωd )θ (6.10.10)
We see that the trajectory in polar coordinates corresponds to a curve whose distance ρ from
the origin is decreasing as θ increases. In other words, the trajectory is an inward spiral.
Notice that the decay rate of ρ is proportional to γ, as we would expect. Furthermore, the
inward spiral for the underdamped harmonic oscillator should not be a surprise, because
Phase space 239

we know that underdamped motion consists of oscillatory motion whose amplitude decays
exponentially in time.
Suppose we did not have the insight to use polar coordinates. How would we have created
the phase space diagram? We can use a parametric plot of x and v. The codes for creating
the underdamped oscillator’s phase space diagram are demonstrated in Example 6.9.

Example 6.9: Plotting the phase space of an oscillator

Plot the phase space diagram for the underdamped harmonic oscillator with position
x(t) = Ae−γt cos(ωd t − ϕ) and numerical values A = 1, ωd = 1, γ = 0.1, ϕ = 0 (all in
SI units).
Solution:
We use a parametric plot with x(t) = Ae−γt cos(ωd t − ϕ) and y(t) = dx/dt.

Python Code
In the code we define the time parameter t and define x(t) and v(t) as NumPy expres-
sions, which are plotted in MatPlotLib using [Link]. The graph is shown in Figure
6.15.

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

A, omega, phi, gamma = 1, 1, 0, 0.1

t = [Link](0,100,500)

x = A*[Link](-gamma*t)*[Link](omega*t-phi)

# v = dx/dt
v = -A*(gamma*[Link](omega*t - phi) +\
omega*[Link](omega*t - phi))*[Link](-gamma*t)

[Link](x,v)
[Link]('v')
[Link]('x')
[Link]()

Mathematica Code
In Mathematica we find the speed v(t) using v=D[x,t], and we can use directly the
ParametricPlot[x,v] command to create the phase space plot in Figure 6.15.
240 Harmonic Oscillations

A = 1; ωd = 1; ϕ = 0; γ = 0.1;

x = A ∗ Exp[−γ ∗ t] ∗ Cos[ωd ∗ t − ϕ];

v = D[x, t];

ParametricPlot[{x, v}, {t, 0, 100}, FrameLabel → {x, v}, Frame → True,

BaseStyle → {FontSize → 16}, PlotRange->All]

0.5

0.0
v

-0.5

-0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

x
Figure 6.15: Phase space diagram for the underdamped oscillator, in Example 6.9.

The above algorithm can be used to generate the phase diagram for any system whose
position x(t) is known. While the phase space diagram does not provide new information
about the behavior of the harmonic oscillator, we will find in Chapter 13 that phase space
diagrams will become a critical tool for understanding the possible behaviors of a nonlinear
system. In Chapter 13, we will develop a method of finding a system’s phase space diagram
without solving analytically the system’s equations of motion. It is often the case in nonlinear
systems that the equations of motion cannot be solved analytically. Therefore the phase
space diagram may be the only tool available in getting information about the behavior of
the system.
Chapter summary 241

6.11 CHAPTER SUMMARY

A spring-mass system is an example of simple harmonic motion and described by:

r
d2 x k
F (x) = −kx 2
2
+ ω0 x = 0 ω0 =
dt m
and has the equivalent solutions:
x(t) = A cos ( ω0 t) + B sin ( ω0 t) x(t) = C cos ( ω0 t + ϕ)
and total kinetic energy
1 1
E =T +V = mv 2 + kx2
2 2
A simple plane pendulum is also an example of simple harmonic motion when the angle
of oscillation is small. The differential equation is:
g
θ̈ + sin θ = 0
l
In the limit of small oscillations θ0 ≪ 1, the solution of this equation is:
s
g l
θ(t) = C cos ( ω0 t + ϕ) ω02 = τ = 2π
l g
The general equations describing the damped harmonic oscillator are:
2
q
d x dx k −γt −ωt
+ 2γ + x = 0 x(t) = e A 0 e ωt
+ A 1 e ω = γ 2 − ω02
dt2 dt m
where the constant γ = b/2m is the damping p parameter. There are three possible
types of solutions, depending on whether ω = γ 2 − ω02 is real, imaginary, or zero:
(a) overdamped oscillations (γ > ω0 ), (b) underdamped oscillations (γ < ω0 ), and (c)
critically damped oscillations (γ = ω0 or ω = 0). The corresponding solutions are:

  q
x(t) = A0 eωt + A1 e−ωt e−γt ω= γ 2 − ω02 γ > ω0 Overdamped
q
x(t) = Ae−γt cos (ωd t − ϕ) ωd = ω02 − γ 2 γ < ω0 Underdamped
−ω0 t
x(t) = (A + Bt) e γ = ω0 Critically Damped
The energy and energy loss for weakly damped oscillator are:
1 2 −2γt dE
E= kA e γ << ωd = −2γE (6.11.1)
2 0 dt
The dimensionless Q-factor expresses the degree of damping present in an oscillator,
with higher Q indicating a lower rate of energy loss:
ω0
Q=
2γ
The forced damped oscillator is described by the amplitude A (ω) and phase angle
ϕ (ω), both are functions of the external driving frequency ω:
ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = F0 cos(ωt) x(t) = xc (t) + A cos (ωt − ϕ)
F0 /m 2γω
A= q tan ϕ =
2 ω02 − ω 2
(ω02 − ω2 ) + 4γ 2 ω 2
242 Harmonic Oscillations

where xc (t) is one of the three possible solutions of the homogeneous equation. This
oscillator exhibits the phenomenon of resonance with resonance frequency and
resonance amplitude given by:
q q
F /m
ωr = ωd2 − γ 2 = ω02 − 2γ 2 Amax = p0
2γ ω02 − γ 2

There is an analogy between the charge Q(t) in electrical RLC circuits and the
position x(t) in mechanical oscillators:

d2 Q(t) R dQ(t) 1 d2 x b dx k
+ + Q(t) = 0 + + x=0
dt2 L dt LC dt2 m dt m
The general mathematical form of a Fourier series for any periodic function with
period τ = 2π/ω is:

a0 X
N
f (t) = + an cos(nωt) + bn sin(nωt)
2 n=1

The Fourier coefficients can be found using Fourier’s trick:

Z τ /2 Z τ /2
2 2
an = f (t) cos(nωt)dt bn = f (t) sin(nωt)dt
τ −τ /2 τ −τ /2

Phase space diagrams are important in analyzing nonlinear systems. They are plots of
the position x(t) of a particle on the x-axis and its corresponding speed v(t) (or
momentum) on the y-axis.

6.12 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 6.1-6.3: Differential Equations and the Simple Harmonic Oscillator

1. A mass m kg moves with simple harmonic motion along the x-axis with a frequency
ω0 . At time t = 0 the mass is stationary, and at time t =1 second it is moving with a
speed V . Solve this problem both analytically and using a CAS.
a. Find the position, velocity, and acceleration as a function of time t.
b. Find the amplitude and period of the motion.
2. Starting from the general expression x(t) = A cos ( ω0 t) + B sin ( ω0 t) for a harmonic
oscillation, show that an equivalent form √
of this equation is given by the expressions:
x(t) = C cos ( ω0 t + ϕ) where C = A2 + B 2 tan ϕ = B/A.
3. A mass m is attached to a spring of spring constant k and moves with underdamped
harmonic motion along the x-axis, with the air resistance given by F = −bv.
a. Show that the difference in times between two successive maxima is given by:
2π
∆t = p
ωo2 − γ 2
End-of-chapter problems 243
p
where γ = b/2m and ω0 = k/m.

b. Show that the ratio of the amplitudes of two successive maxima of the position
is given by:
R = eγ∆t

where ∆t is the expression in part (a).

4. A mass m is attached to a vertical spring of spring constant k, which at equilibrium

stretches by an amount
p a. At time t = 0 a force F (t) = A sin(ωt) is applied to the
mass, where ω = k/m. Describe qualitatively the position x(t) and the speed v(t)
of this mass as a function of time t. You may neglect any damping present in the
system.

5. A spring has a spring constant of k = 8 N/m and a mass m = 0.5 kg is attached to

it. At time t = 0 a force F = 6 sin (4t) (in N ) is applied to the mass. Find an analytical
expression for the position z (t) at time t, with the initial conditions z(0) = 0 and
z ′ (0) = 0.

6. The differential equation for an oscillating system is:

d2 z
+ 16z − 160 cos (6t) = 0
dt2
with the initial conditions z(0) = 0 and dz
dt (0) = 0. Find and plot the solution z(t) for
several periods and interpret the results.

7. A cylinder of mass m and radius R floats with its axis vertically and partially sub-
merged in a liquid of density ρ. The cylinder is given a small vertical displacement
downwards and is released. Find the period of oscillation.
8. A mass m moves in a region of the xy-plane where the force is given by F = −k x î −
k y ĵ.

a. Show that depending on the initial conditions of the problem, the motion will be
an ellipse, a parabola or a hyperbola.
b. Find the potential energy of this oscillator.
9. Consider a mass m moving on a vertical wire inside a gravitational
field. The shape of the wire is a cycloid, described by the equations:
x = a θ − a sin θ and y = −a + a cos θ.
a. Find the speed of the mass at the bottom of the cycloid wire, if it is released
from rest at the origin (0, 0) at time t = 0.
b. Find the period of oscillation.

10. A mass m is on a frictionless table and is connected to two fixed points on opposing
walls, by two springs of equal natural length, of negligible mass and spring constants
k1 and k2 , respectively. The mass is displaced
p horizontally and then released. Prove
that the period of oscillation is τ = 2π m/(k1 + k2 ).
244 Harmonic Oscillations

11. A spring having a spring constant k and negligible mass, has one end fixed on an
inclined plane of angle θ and a mass m at the other end, as shown in Figure 6.16. If
the mass m is pulled down a distance x below the equilibrium position in a direction
parallel to the inclined plane and released, find the displacement from the equilibrium
position at any time if (a) the incline is frictionless, (b) the incline has coefficient of
friction µ.

Figure 6.16: A mass attached to a spring on an inclined plane, from Problem 6.11.

12. A particle moves with simple harmonic motion along the x-axis. At times t0 , 2t0 , 3t0
it is located
 at x

= a, b, c, respectively. Prove that the period of oscillation is T =
2πt0 / cos−1 a+c2b .

13. Two equal masses m are connected by springs having equal spring constant k, as
shown in Figure 6.17, so that the masses are free to slide on a frictionless table. The
walls to which the ends of the springs are attached are fixed.
a. Set up the differential equations of motion of the masses, and find the possible
frequencies of oscillation, also called the normal frequencies.
b. Suppose that the first mass is held at its equilibrium position while the second
mass is given a displacement of magnitude a > 0 to the right of its equilibrium
position. The masses are then released. Find the position of each mass at any
later time.
c. Plot the positions of the two masses as a function of time on the same graph,
and discuss the motion. Use the numerical values k = m = a = 1 in SI units.

Figure 6.17: Two coupled masses connected to fixed ends, from Problem 6.13.

14. Two equal masses m are on a horizontal frictionless table as shown in the Figure
6.18, are connected by springs of equal spring constants k. The end of one spring is
attached to a wall, and the masses are set into motion.
a. Set up the equations of motion of the system.
End-of-chapter problems 245

b. Find the possible frequencies of oscillation, also called the normal frequencies,
and plot
p the motion of the two masses. Use a numerical value of the frequency
ω = k/m=1 rad/s.

Figure 6.18: Two masses joined by a horizontal spring from Problem 6.14.

15. Two masses m1 and m2 are attached to the ends of a spring of constant k , which
is on a horizontal frictionless table as shown in Figure 6.19. If the masses are pulled
apart and thenpreleased, prove that they will vibrate with respect to each other with
period T = 2π µ/k where µ = M1 M2 /(M1 + M2 ) is the reduced mass of the system.

Figure 6.19: Two masses attached to a spring on a frictionless table, from Problem 6.15.

16. Find the frequencies of vibration for the system of particles of equal masses m
connected by springs with the same spring constant k, as indicated in Figure 6.20.

Figure 6.20: Two coupled masses hanging from vertical springs, from Problem 6.16.

17. A pendulum has length L = 1 m, mass m = 0.1 kg and the gravitational accelera-
tion is g = 9.8m/s2 . Let θ(t) represent the angle of the pendulum from the equilibrium
position.

a. Plot the angle θ(t), the angular velocity ω = dθ/dt, the kinetic energy T , the
potential energy V and the total kinetic energy E = T + V as functions of time
t, when the pendulum is released from rest at a small angle of 3 degrees from
equilibrium.
246 Harmonic Oscillations

b. Plot the motion of the pendulum when it is released from rest at a small angle
of 3 degrees, and at a very large angle of 170 degrees from equilibrium. How is
the oscillation different in the two cases?
c. Find the time averages < T > and < V > over a complete period of oscillation for
the two angles of release in part (b), and compare them with the total mechanical
energy E. Discuss your result.

18. A pendulum has length L = 1m, mass m = 0.1kg, and it is released from rest at an
angle of 3 degrees from equilibrium. Use a value of g = 9.8 m/s2 for the gravitational
acceleration.
a. Find the tension T of the string as a function of time t.
b. At what value of time t is the tension a maximum, and at what value is it a
minimum? Do these results make sense?
19. In this chapter,
p we saw that for small amplitude oscillations, the period of a pendulum
is τ = 2π L/g.
a. Show that in the more general case of oscillations with any amplitude θ0 , the
period is given by the expression:

p Z θ0
dθ
τ= 8L/g √
0 cos θ − cos θ0

b. By expanding the integrand in a series of the angle θ, show that the integration
can be performed term-by-term to obtain the following expression:
 
p θ02
τ = 2π L/g 1 +
16

Section 6.4: Damped Harmonic Oscillator

20. We have studied the ODE for the damped oscillator ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = 0. The
corresponding ODE for a damped pendulum oscillating at small angle θ is θ̈ + 2bθ̇ +
ω02 θ = 0. A pendulum has length L = 1 m, mass m = 0.1 kg, and is released from rest
at a small angle of 3 degrees from equilibrium.
a. If the damping force is such that the motion of the pendulum is critically damped,
find the maximum angular speed of the pendulum.
b. Plot the angle θ(t) and the angular speed ω = dθ/dt for the motion.
21. A spring system is underdamped, and the frequency of oscillation when there is no
damping is three times the frequency of oscillation with damping. Find the ratio of
successive maxima in the oscillations.
22. A spring system is critically damped, and the frequency of oscillation when there is
no damping is 100 Hz. If the initial conditions of the spring are x = x0 and v = 0 at
time t = 0, find the displacement at t = 10 s.
End-of-chapter problems 247

23. Show that the two expressions x(t) = [A0 eωt + A1 e−ωt ] e−γt and x(t) =
−γt
[B0 sinh (ωt) + B1 cosh
p (ωt)] e are equivalent for the case of overdamped mo-
tion, where ω = γ − ω0 and γ > ω0 . What is the mathematical relationship
2 2

between the constants A0 , A1 and the constants B0 , B1 ?

Starting from the general equation x(t) = (A0 eωt + A1 e−ωt ) e−γt where ω =
24. p
γ 2 − ω02 , derive
x(t) = Ae−γt cos (ωd t − ϕ)
p
for the case of underdamped motion, where ωd = ω02 − γ 2 and γ < ω0 . What is
the mathematical relationship between the constants A0 , A1 and the constants A, ϕ?

25. Using the approximation γ << ω0 , compute the general position x(t) for the case of
underdamped motion. What is the resulting equation in the limit of γ → 0?
26. Show that x(t) = teλt is a solution of the equation ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = 0, in the case of
critically damped oscillations.

Section 6.5: Energy in Damped Harmonic Motion

27. A pendulum has length L = 1 m, mass m = 0.1 kg and the gravitational acceler-
ation is g = 9.8 m/s2 . The air resistance on the pendulum is given by F = −bv where
v = v(t) is the speed of the mass m, and b = 0.1 N s/m is the damping coefficient.
The pendulum is released from rest at an angle of 3 degrees from equilibrium.
Find the kinetic energy T and potential energy V as a function of time t, when the
pendulum is released from rest at an angle of 3 degrees from equilibrium. Plot T, V
and the sum T + V on the same graph .

Sections 6.6: Forced Harmonic Oscillator

28. The position x(t) of a forced harmonic oscillator satisfies the equation

d2 x dx
+6 + 8x = 10 cos(2t)
dt2 dt
At time t = 0 the particle is at the origin and at rest.
a. Find the transient and steady state solutions for the position and velocity of the
oscillator as functions of time t. Do this by hand, and also by using a CAS.
b. Plot the potential energy, the kinetic energy and the total energy on the same
graph.
c. Find the rate of change of the kinetic energy dT/dt as a function of time, and plot
this quantity over many periods of oscillation. Discuss the shape of the resulting
graph at different intervals of time t.
29. The position x(t), y(t) of a particle on the xy-plane is given by x(t) = A cos(ω1 t + ϕ1 )
and y(t) = B cos(ω2 t + ϕ2 ). Prove that if the ratio ω1 /ω2 is a rational number, then
the particle moves in a closed curve.
248 Harmonic Oscillations

30. The position x(t), y(t) of a particle on the xy-plane satisfies the equations

d2 x
= −8y
dt2
d2 y
= −2x
dt2
At time t = 0, the particle is at the position (1, 0) and at rest. Find the position and
velocity as a function of time t. Do this problem by hand, and also by using a CAS.

31. A particle with mass m = 1 kg moves on the xy-plane where the potential energy
function is V (x, y) = x2 + y 2 + xy + 3. The particle is initially at the point (1, 1) and
moves with a speed of 2 m/s along the positive x-axis.

a. Find the position as a function of time t.

b. Find the period of the motion.

Sections 6.7-6.8: Energy Resonance and the Quality Factor for Driven Os-
cillations and Electrical Circuits

32. An electrical circuit consists of a 10 kΩ resistor, a 80 mH inductance, a 10 µF

capacitor, and an AC voltage of the form V = 100 cos(10t) (where V is measured in
Volts and time in seconds) connected in series.
a. Find the current I(t) in the circuit at any time t. Plot this function and identify
the steady state part and the transient part of the graph.
b. Plot the electrical energy stored in the capacitor as a function of time, and discuss
the shape of this graph.
c. Find the quality factor Q in this circuit.
d. Find the average power P = V I dissipated in the resistor R, between t = 0.2 s
and t = 0.4 s.
33. Give examples of mechanical and electrical systems which have a very low Q-factor
and a very high Q-factor. What is the physical meaning of these numbers for the
oscillators they describe?
Sections 6.9: Superposition Principle, Fourier Series

34. Use the symbolic capabilities of Mathematica or SymPy to:

a. Find analytical expressions for the Fourier coefficients for the periodic square
wave function shown below.
b. Plot the sum of the first 10 terms in the Fourier series and discuss how the plot
compares with the periodic square wave.
c. Repeat part (b) for the first 100 terms of the Fourier series and discuss the
results.
End-of-chapter problems 249

3.0
2.5
2.0

f(x)
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
-5 0 5
Position x
Figure 6.21: Piecewise continuous function f (x) , from Problem 6.35.

Section 6.10: Phase Space

Several problems on the concept of phase space can be found in Chapter 13.
 7 Calculus of Variations
In the next chapter, we will develop a new way of finding a system’s equations of motion. The
new method will involve a branch of mathematics called the calculus of variations, which
we introduce in this chapter. The calculus of variations focuses on finding the extrema of a
mathematical object called a functional. The foundations of the calculus of variations were
laid by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) and was further developed
by the brothers Jakob and Johann Bernoulli (1655–1705 and 1667–1748, respectively). The
first major contributions to the calculus of variations were made by Leonhard Euler (1707–
1783), Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736–1813), and Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827). In this
chapter, we will introduce the calculus of variations and use it to solve problems related to
physics.

7.1 MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING THE CALCULUS OF VARIATIONS

Up to this point in the book, we have primarily found a particle’s equation of motion by
solving a second-order differential equation based on Newton’s second law. This method
can be straightforward when the forces acting on the system are mathematically simple
and the problem is best described in Cartesian coordinates. However, many problems in
physics require the use of coordinate systems other than Cartesian coordinates. In Chapter
3, we computed velocities and accelerations in polar, cylindrical, and spherical coordinates.
We found that those quantities took on forms that are much more complicated than when
they are expressed in Cartesian coordinates. Because Newton’s second law uses acceleration,
problems involving the description of motion in spherical or cylindrical coordinates can be
quite messy and difficult to solve.
An additional complication with Newton’s second law comes from the fact that it uses
force to describe motion. While there are many mathematically simple forces which can act
on a particle, such as weight, the normal force, and the linear and quadratic drag forces;
forces of constraint can either be very complicated or completely unknown. Examples of a
force of constraint would be a particle constrained to move along the surface of a sphere or
a bead sliding along a curved wire. Even a rolling object can involve constraint forces. If
the forces of constraint are unknown, it may not be possible to use Newton’s second law to
find the equations of motion.
Granted that one knows all of the forces acting on the particle, Newton’s second law can
be used to describe the motion of particles even in the cases described above. However, the
mathematics can be quite difficult and messy. We need another way to formulate equations
of motion which will allow to us to more easily deal with non-Cartesian coordinate systems
and with constraint forces, even in cases where the force of constraint is unknown.
One such alternative formulation involves the use of a variational principle. A variational
principle involves finding a function which either minimizes or maximizes a particular quan-
tity, which is itself a function. The calculus of variations provides a means of finding the
function which extremizes the quantity of interest. For example, a chain that is suspended at
both ends will take on a shape that minimizes the chain’s gravitational potential energy. In
this case, the shape of the chain is the “function to be found” and finding that function (the
shape of the chain) involves minimizing the chain’s gravitational potential energy, which is
itself a function. The chain’s gravitational potential energy is a function of the chain’s shape.
Hence, the chain’s gravitational potential energy is a “function of a function,” because the
chain’s gravitational potential energy function depends on the chain’s shape function. In

251
252 Calculus of Variations

r2
y2
r1
y1 y=y(x)

x1 x2
Figure 7.1: A function y(x) which describes a path between two points, r1 = (x1 , y1 ) and
r2 = (x2 , y2 ).

this case, the calculus of variations can be used to find the function that corresponds to the
shape of the chain that minimizes the chain’s gravitational potential energy. This will be
analogous to finding the value that minimizes a function using the methods of elementary
calculus.
In this chapter, we will present the calculus of variations and use it to demonstrate the
solution to a few mathematical problems, all of which are relevant to physics. In the next
chapter, we will present a method which allows us to formulate a system’s equations of
motion using variational principles and the calculus of variations.

7.2 SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO POINTS—SETTING UP THE

CALCULUS OF VARIATIONS
We will begin our development of the calculus of variations by finding the shortest distance
between two points on a plane. The setup of this problem will provide a concrete example
of what we are trying to achieve with the calculus of variations. Let’s begin by considering
two points on the Cartesian plane as shown in Figure 7.1.
The quantity to be minimized is the length L of the curve joining the points r1 = (x1 , y1 )
and
p r2 = (x2 , y2 ). The length can be found by integrating the differential distance ds =
dx2 + dy 2 along a small part of the curve:
Z r2
L= ds (7.2.1)
r1

where r1 and r2 denote the location of the first and second point, respectively. It is common
to factor out the dx2 term from ds in order to obtain:
Z x2 p
L= 1 + y ′ (x)2 dx (7.2.2)
x1

where we used:
dy
dy = dx = y ′ (x)dx (7.2.3)
dx
In the introductory paragraphs of this chapter we said, “[the] calculus of variations provides
a means of finding the function which extremizes the quantity of interest.” In this case,
the “quantity of interest” is the length L of the curve y(x) joining the points r1 and r2 .
Notice that the length of the curve depends on the function y(x) (or more specifically, its
First form of the euler equation 253

derivative), hence our “quantity of interest” is a function of the function y(x) and, therefore,
we can write the length of the curve as L = L(y). The problem specifically states that we
want to find the path which minimizes the distance between the points r1 and r2 . In other
words, we want to find the function y ∗ (x) such that L(y ∗ ) is the minimum value of L. As
we will see, the calculus of variations will provide us with a means of how to find y ∗ (x).
Before showing how to solve the above problem, it will be useful to establish some
notation. Notice that (7.2.2) takes the form:

General Functional for the Calculus of Variations

Z x2
J(y) = f [y(x), y ′ (x); x] dx (7.2.4)
x1

p
In the case of (7.2.2), the integrand f [y(x), y ′ (x); x] = 1 + y ′ (x)2 is a function of
′
only y (x). The use of square brackets denotes the functional nature of f , i.e., that, loosely
speaking, its arguments are functions. The semicolon is used to separate out the independent
variable in the argument of f from the functions. In other words, f depends on functions
y(x) and y ′ (x) but can also contain terms of those functions’ independent variable, x. It
should be noted that there are no hard rules for these two notations, square brackets and
semicolons, parentheses and a comma could have been used instead. Many of the problems
from the calculus of variations that we will study will involve integrands that are functions
of y(x), y ′ (x), and x. Later on in this chapter, we will explore cases where the integrand
depends on multiple functions y1 (x), y2 (x), . . . , yn (x), their derivatives, and an independent
variable x.
The quantity J is sometimes referred to as a functional. A functional is a mathematical
object that takes a function as an input and returns a scalar as an output. In the case of
(7.2.2), the functional L can be rewritten as L(y), and takes the equation of the curve y(x)
as an input and returns as the length of the curve (a scalar) as the output.
Next, we will develop a method for finding the function y(x) that is an extremum of the
functional J(y). Or, continuing with our example, we will learn how to find the curve y ∗ (x)
that minimizes the path length between two points on a plane.

7.3 FIRST FORM OF THE EULER EQUATION

Let us return to introductory calculus for a moment. A common problem from introductory
calculus was that of finding a number x∗ , which is an extremum of f (x). This is done by
using the condition:

df
=0 (7.3.1)
dx
x=x∗
∗
In other words, the condition for the value x to be an extremum of f is that the first
derivative of f must be zero at x∗ . Equivalently, the rate of change in the function f is zero
at the extremum. It may not surprise you that in order to find the function y(x) that is
an extremum of the functional J, we will also perform a derivative and identify a condition
for that derivative to be equal to zero. The condition that leads to a zero derivative will
also give us the means of finding the extremum, y(x). Note that for clarity of notation,
we will drop the asterisk representing the extremum function. Furthermore, the point x∗
is sometimes called a stationary point because infinitesimal displacements from x∗ do not
254 Calculus of Variations

Y(x)=y(x)+aη(x)
y2

y1
y(x)

x1 x2
Figure 7.2: The function η(x) perturbs y(x), the extremum of (7.3.2), resulting in the
functional J not being stationary. The parameter a describes the size of the perturbation
from the extremum y(x).

change the value of f (x) since the slope of f (x) is zero at x∗ . Likewise, in the case of the
functional J, the extremum function y(x) makes J stationary. In other words, infinitesimal
changes in the function y(x) do not change the value of J.
Continuing with the introductory calculus problem, recall that one can easily distinguish
between a local maximum and a local minimum by calculating the second derivative of f (x)
and evaluating it at the stationary point. As it turns out, determining if y(x) maximizes or
minimizes J can be very difficult. Fortunately for applications in mechanics, it is only nec-
essary to know that y(x) makes a certain functional stationary and whether y(x) maximizes
or minimizes the functional will not matter.
Let us now consider the problem of finding the function y(x) that makes the functional
Z x2
J(Y ) = f [Y (x), Y ′ (x); x] dx (7.3.2)
x1
stationary. It will be helpful to think of the “shortest distance between two points on a plane”
example from the previous section as we work through the following derivation. However,
keep in mind that J is not necessarily a path length. Let us return to Figure 7.1 for a
visualization; however, this time we will start with the true stationary function y(x) and
vary it by adding a small perturbation η(x) such that η(x1 ) = η(x2 ) = 0. A perturbation
is a small additive deviation from a quantity. Hence, the perturbation results in a function
Y (x) = y(x)+aη(x), shown in Figure 7.2, which no longer makes the functional J stationary
because of the perturbation. The parameter a provides a measure of the amount that y(x)
is perturbed.
The functional J becomes:

Z x2
J = f [Y, Y ′ ; x]dx (7.3.3)
x
Z x1 2
= f [y + aη, y ′ + aη ′ ; x]dx (7.3.4)
x1

In other words, J = J(a) because the integration will “remove” J’s dependence on x.
In effect, we have reduced our problem to a function of a single variable a, for which we
know how to find its extrema by using introductory calculus. Because we know that the
extremum exists when a = 0, we need to show that ∂J/∂a equals zero when a = 0. As we
will see, the result of this work will be a condition for which y(x) makes J stationary.
First form of the euler equation 255

Next we take the derivative of J with respect to a:

Z x2
∂J ∂
= f [Y, Y ′ ; x]dx (7.3.5)
∂a ∂a x1
Z x2  
∂f ∂Y ∂f ∂Y ′
= + dx (7.3.6)
x1 ∂Y ∂a ∂Y ′ ∂a

Using Y = y + aη,

∂Y ∂Y ′ dη
=η and =
∂a ∂a dx
Therefore,
Z x2  
∂J ∂f ∂f dη
= η+ dx (7.3.7)
∂a x1 ∂Y ∂Y ′ dx
Next, we integrate the second term in (7.3.7) by parts using:
∂f dη
u= dv = dx
∂Y ′ dx

d ∂f
du = dx v =η
dx ∂Y ′
such that,
Z x2
x2 Z xx
∂f dη ∂f d ∂f
dx = η(x) − η(x)dx (7.3.8)
x1 ∂Y ′ dx ∂Y ′ x1 dx ∂Y ′
x1

The first term on the right-hand side of (7.3.8) is zero because η (x1 ) = η (x2 ) = 0 as can be
seen in Figure 7.2. This leaves the second term remaining in (7.3.8), which will be inserted
into (7.3.7) to obtain
Z x2  
∂J ∂f d ∂f
= − η(x)dx (7.3.9)
∂a x1 ∂Y dx ∂Y ′
Next, we need to evaluate (7.3.9) at a = 0 so that Y = y + aη = y, resulting in
Z x2  
∂J ∂f d ∂f
= − η(x)dx = 0 (7.3.10)
∂a x1 ∂y dx ∂y ′
where we have set the derivative equal
R to zero to ensure that J is stationary.
Equation (7.3.10) is of the form, h(x)η(x)dx
R = 0, and must be true for any continuous
function η(x). It can be shown that if h(x)η(x)dx = 0 for any η(x), then h(x) = 0 for all
x. The end result is the Euler equation:

The Euler Equation

∂f d ∂f
− =0 (7.3.11)
∂y dx ∂y ′
256 Calculus of Variations

which provides an ODE for the function y(x) that makes J stationary. Equation (7.3.11)
is also sometimes referred to as the first form of the Euler equation, and it provides the
promised condition for finding the extremum y because, as we will see, (7.3.11) will produce
a differential equation for y(x).
Next, we use the Euler equation to find the path of the shortest distance between two
points on the Cartesian plane.

Example 7.1: The shortest path between two points on the Cartesian plane
Find the path that has the shortest length between two points (x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 )
on the Cartesian plane, both analytically and using a CAS.
Solution:
We start with (7.2.2),
Z x2 p
L= 1 + y ′ (x)2 dx
x1
p
where we see that f = 1 + y ′ (x)2 . Next, we compute the derivatives needed for the
Euler equation:

∂f ∂f y′
=0 and = q .
∂y ∂y ′ 2
1 + (y ′ )
Because the first term of the Euler equation is zero, we have
 
d  y′ =0
q
dx ′ 2
1 + (y )
or, in other words, the term within the parentheses must be constant in x. Setting that
constant equal to c produces

y′
q =c
2
1 + (y ′ )
which leads to:
c
y′ = √
1 − c2
The term on the right-hand side of the above equation is also a constant which we
define to be m. As promised, the Euler equation leads to a differential equation from
which y can be found. It is easy to check that the differential equation y ′ = m results
in:

y(x) = mx + b
where b is the constant of integration. Hence, the path with the shortest distance be-
tween two points in the Cartesian plane is a straight line. No surprise. Computer algebra
systems sometimes have algorithms for handling problems involving the calculus of vari-
ations. The following codes create the Euler equation for this example.
First form of the euler equation 257

Python Code
We use the command euler_equations from the SymPy library to produce the
Euler equation for the problem. The arguments of euler_equations consist of the
functional f , the dependent function y(x) (the function we ultimately want to find),
and the independent variable x. The command euler_equations outputs a list of
ODEs, which is why we need the index in the variable euler. The command dsolve
can then be used to solve the resulting Euler equation for y(x), with the expected result
of y(x) = c1 + c2 x.

from sympy import diff, symbols, Function, euler_equations, sqrt,\

dsolve, simplify

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

x = symbols('x')
y = Function('y')(x)

f = sqrt(1 + diff(y,x)**2)

euler = simplify(euler_equations(f, y, x)[0])

print('The Euler equation is\n')

print([Link],'=',[Link])

soln = dsolve(euler,y).rhs

print('\nThe solution y(x) = ', str(soln))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The Euler equation is
Derivative(y(x), (x, 2))/(Derivative(y(x), x)**2 + 1)**(3/2) = 0

The solution y(x) = C1 + C2*x

Mathematica Code
Similar to Python, Mathematica also has libraries which are called packages. The
command << tells Mathematica to import the VariationalMethods package, which con-
tains various functions that can be used to solve problems involving the calculus of
variations. The EulerEquations command creates the Euler equation for f . Finally,
we use DSolve to solve the differential equation that results from the Euler equation.
The result is the equation of a line.
258 Calculus of Variations

<< VariationalMethods`

EulerEquations[Sqrt[1 + y ′ [x]∧ 2], y[x], x]

′′
− (1+yy′ [x]
[x]
2 )3/2
== 0
h ′′
i
soln = DSolve − (1+yy′ [x]
[x]
2) 3/2 == 0, y[x], x ;

y[x]/.soln

{c1 + xc2 }

7.4 SECOND FORM OF THE EULER EQUATION

There is another form of the Euler equation which is useful when the integrand of J does
not explicitly depend on x, or in other words, ∂f /∂x = 0. Note that even with this condition
for the partial derivative ∂f /∂x = 0, the derivative df /dx is not necessarily zero. We begin
by computing this derivative:

df ∂f dy ∂f dy ′
= + ′ (7.4.1)
dx ∂y dx ∂y dx
df ∂f ∂f
= y′ + y ′′ ′ (7.4.2)
dx ∂y ∂y
∂f df ∂f
y ′′ = − y′ (7.4.3)
∂y ′ dx ∂y
In addition, we can compute:
 
d ′∂f ∂f d ∂f
y = y ′′ + y′ (7.4.4)
dx ∂y ′ ∂y ′ dx ∂y ′
Finally, we insert (7.4.3) into (7.4.4),
   
d ∂f df ∂f d ∂f
y′ ′ = − y′ + y′ (7.4.5)
dx ∂y dx ∂y dx ∂y ′
 
d ∂f ∂f df
= y′ − + (7.4.6)
dx ∂y ′ ∂y dx
The term in the square brackets in (7.4.6) is Euler’s first equation, and if y(x) makes J
stationary, then that term must be zero. Therefore we have:
 
d ∂f
f − y′ ′ = 0 (7.4.7)
dx ∂y
Using the same kind of argument as we did in Example 7.1, we can set the term inside
the parentheses equal to a constant and therefore we obtain the second form of the Euler
equation:
Some examples of problems solved using the calculus of variations 259

(x1,y1)
x

F
(x2,y2)

Figure 7.3: The solution of the brachistochrone problem will provide the formula for the
dotted path which minimizes the time of travel for a particle moving between the two points
(x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 ) in a constant conservative force field, F = mg ĵ.

The Second Form of the Euler Equation

∂f
f − y′ = constant (7.4.8)
∂y ′

The second form of the Euler equation is often useful when the dependent variable, x
does not explicitly appear in f , i.e., ∂f /∂x = 0. An example of such a case is finding the
mathematical form of a geodesic on a sphere, as described later in this chapter.

7.5 SOME EXAMPLES OF PROBLEMS SOLVED USING THE CALCULUS

OF VARIATIONS
In this section, we will demonstrate the solution to three problems using the calculus of
variations. In the first problem, we will study the so-called brachistochrone problem, which
is a well-known problem in the calculus of variations. The second problem will involve
computing the shortest path between two points on the surface of a sphere. The third
problem will involve finding the minimal surface of revolution between two points.

7.5.1 THE BRACHISTOCHRONE PROBLEM

The first problem we will solve is the classic problem known as the brachistochrone problem
which was solved by Johann Bernoulli (1667-1748) in 1696. The brachistochrone problem
involves finding the path that minimizes the time of travel for a particle moving between
two points (x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 ) in a conservative force field as shown in Figure 7.3. We will
consider a particle of mass m starting at rest at the point (x1 , y1 ). The particle experiences
a constant conservative force, which for our problem will be the force of gravity F = mg ĵ,
and we will define the positive y-direction to be downwards.
260 Calculus of Variations

The time of travel between the two points is:

Z (x2 ,y2 )
ds
t= (7.5.1)
(x1 ,y1 ) v
p
In our previous example,p we used ds = 1 + y ′ (x)2 dx; however, we are going to find it more
convenient to use ds = 1 + x′ (y) dy, where x′ = dx/dy. Next, we need to find the speed
v in order to use the Euler equation. We can use the fact that F = mg ĵ is a conservative
force field to write
1
mv 2 = mgy (7.5.2)
2
at any point along the path between the two points. The above equation, of course, is simply
the conservation
√ of energy, recalling that the particle’s initial velocity is zero. Therefore,
v = 2gy, and we have:
Z y2 s
1 1 + x′2
t= √ dy (7.5.3)
2g y1 y
The conservation of energy introduces y, the independent variable, in our integrand. The
use of y as an independent variable instead of x, means that the first form of the Euler
equation becomes:
d ∂f ∂f
= (7.5.4)
dy dx′ ∂x
because now we are going to find the function x(y) that makes (7.5.3) stationary. Using
s
1 + x′2
f= (7.5.5)
y

we see that f is independent of x, and and therefore ∂f /∂x √ = 0. We can then equate the
partial derivative ∂f /∂x′ to a constant that we will call 1/ 2a,

∂f x′ 1
′
=p =√ (7.5.6)
∂x y (1 + x′2 ) 2a
√
where a is a constant. The choice of using 1/ 2a as our constant will simplify the mathe-
matics later on in the calculation. Next, we will square (7.5.6) and solve for x′ to obtain,
r
dx y
x′ = = (7.5.7)
dy 2a − y
which is a differential equation whose solution will give us the function x(y) that makes
(7.5.3) stationary. To solve for x(y), we need to solve the integral:
Z r
y
x= dy (7.5.8)
2a − y
which can be done using the substitution:

y = a (1 − cos θ) (7.5.9)
The result of the integration is that,

x = a(θ − sin θ) (7.5.10)

Some examples of problems solved using the calculus of variations 261

(x1,y1)
x
a
θ

(x2,y2)
y
Figure 7.4: The cycloid is the path that makes (7.5.3) stationary. The path is parameterized
by the variable θ.

where we set the integration constant to zero by choosing the point (x1 , y1 ) to be the origin.
In other words, x = 0 when θ = 0. The equations (7.5.9) and (7.5.10) use the parameter θ
in order to describe the path that makes (7.5.3) stationary. The path described by (7.5.10)
and (7.5.9) is called a cycloid. A cycloid is the curve traced out by the point on the rim of
a circular wheel of radius a, as it rolls along a horizontal path without slipping as shown in
Figure 7.4.
The cycloid is the path that extremizes (7.5.3), and although we will not prove it, it is
the path that minimizes the time of travel between the two points (x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 ).
The next example shows how we can arrive at the equations for the cycloid using a CAS
and how to plot it. The example also shows some of the limitations of a CAS when dealing
with complex integrals, especially when using SymPy.

Example 7.2: The cycloid

Integrate (7.5.8) using a CAS, to obtain the analytical form x(y).
Using a = 2, plot one and a half periods of the cycloid produced by equations (7.5.9)
and (7.5.10).
Solution:
See the codes below for carrying out the integration, and for creating the plot of the
cycloid.

Python Code
We perform the integration using the integrate command in SymPy. However,
note that the answer produced by SymPy contains complex numbers; this is is because
SymPy does not have a fully developed method for including detailed assumptions for
the variables in the code.
No special command is needed to create a parametric plot in Python. We simply
define the x and y coordinates and the parameter, theta.
262 Calculus of Variations

from sympy import symbols, integrate, sqrt

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
import textwrap
wrapper = [Link](width=70)

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

y1, a, y = symbols('y1, a, y',real=True,positive=True)

x = integrate(sqrt(y1/(2*a-y1)),(y1,0,y))

print('The solution of the ODE is\n\nx = ',[Link](str( x)))

# Parametric plot
theta = [Link](0,3*[Link],100)

a = 2
x = a*(theta - [Link](theta))
y = -a*(1 - [Link](theta))

[Link](x,y)
[Link]('x')
[Link]('y')
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The solution of the ODE is

x = 2*I*a*asinh(sqrt(2)*sqrt(-2*a + y)/(2*sqrt(a))) + pi*a +

I*sqrt(y)*sqrt(-2*a + y)

Mathematica Code
The Mathematica code performs better than the SymPy code above, since we can
specify in detail the conditions that must be satisfied by the variables a,y using the
Assumptions command.
The code obtains the analytical equation for x(y), which does not contain complex
numbers. Furthermore, by substituting the parametric form

y = a (1 − cos θ)

into the analytical equation x(y), we obtain the parametric equation for x as

x = a(θ − sin θ)

The ParametricPlot command in Mathematica is used for the plot.

Some examples of problems solved using the calculus of variations 263

x = Integrate[Sqrt[y1/(2 ∗ a − y1)], {y1, 0, y},

Assumptions->{Element[{a, y, y1}, Reals],

a > 0 && y1 > 0 && y > 0 && 2 ∗ a − y > 0 && 2 ∗ a − y1 > 0}]//

Simplify;

Print[“x(y) = ”, x]
√y 
p
x(y) = − (2a − y)y + 2aArcSin √a
2

(*Substitute parametric y = a ∗ (1 − Cos[θ]) *)

yparametric = a ∗ (1 − Cos[θ]);

xparametric = Assuming[θ > 0&&θ < Pi&&a > 0,

x/.{y->yparametric}//Simplify];

Print[“Parametric equation for x = ”, xparametric]

Print[“Parametric equation for y = ”, yparametric]

Parametric equation for x = a(θ − Sin[θ])

Parametric equation for y = a(1 − Cos[θ])
SetOptions[ParametricPlot, Frame->True, Axes->False,

BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}];

a = 2;

ParametricPlot[{xparametric, −yparametric}, {θ, 0, 3π},

Frame->True, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16},

FrameLabel->{x, y}]
264 Calculus of Variations

0
-1
-2
y -3
-4
0 5 10 15
x
Figure 7.5: Cycloid plot for the Mathematica code in Example 7.2.

7.5.2 GEODESICS
A geodesic is the shortest possible line between two points on a curved surface. In this
example, we will find the geodesic on a sphere of radius R. We begin by noting that the
infinitesimal displacement along the surface of the sphere (dr = 0) is:
q p
ds = R dθ2 + sin2 θ dϕ2 = R θ′2 + sin2 θ dϕ
where we used θ′ = dθ/dϕ. In this case, we are going to find the geodesic as a curve θ(ϕ).
If we use the Earth as our sphere, then finding θ(ϕ) is similar to describing the latitude of
the points along the geodesic as a function of their longitude.
The length integral we are attempting to make stationary is,
Z Z ϕ p
L= ds = R θ′2 + sin2 θ dϕ (7.5.11)
ϕ0

The variable R will not affect the process of minimization. Therefore,

p
f = θ′2 + sin2 θ (7.5.12)
Because ∂f /∂ϕ = 0, we can use the second form of Euler’s equation (7.4.8),
∂f
f − θ′ =a (7.5.13)
∂θ′
which gives
p ∂ p ′2 
θ′2 + sin2 θ − θ′ θ + sin 2
θ =a (7.5.14)
∂θ′
where a is a constant.
Your next thought might be that we solve (7.5.14) for θ′ in order to get a differential
equation which would produce θ(ϕ). However, it will be mathematically easier if we solve
the inverse function dϕ/dθ = θ′−1 . The result is,

dϕ a csc2 θ
=√
dθ 1 − a2 csc2 θ
which when integrated by separation of variables yields
 
−1 cot θ
ϕ = sin +α (7.5.15)
β
where β 2 = (1 − a2 )/a2 and α is a constant of integration. Finally, we can rewrite (7.5.15)
as:
Some examples of problems solved using the calculus of variations 265

Figure 7.6: The geodesic (black line) on the sphere is the intersection of the plane and the
surface of the sphere. The code used to create this figure can be found on this book’s website
and in the book by Pagonis and Kulp [3].

cot θ = β sin (ϕ − α) (7.5.16)

Strictly speaking, with (7.5.16) we are finished as we have θ(ϕ), but it is difficult to
interpret this result. In order to clarify our result, we will multiply (7.5.16) by R sin θ on
both sides and expanding sin (ϕ − α) = cos α sin ϕ − sin α cos ϕ,

R cos θ = β cos α (R sin θ sin ϕ) − β sin α (R sin θ cos ϕ) (7.5.17)

Notice that the terms inside the parentheses in (7.5.17) are the coordinate transformations:

x =R sin θ cos ϕ
y =R sin θ sin ϕ (7.5.18)


z =R cos θ
with constant coefficients, A ≡ β cos α and B ≡ β sin α. Therefore, in Cartesian coordinates,
(7.5.17) can be expressed as:

z = Ay − Bx (7.5.19)
which is the equation of a plane passing through the center of the sphere as shown in Figure
7.6.
Because we are restricted to the surface of a sphere of radius R, the geodesic is the
path made by the intersection of the plane with the sphere’s surface. Hence, the geodesic is
the great circle that lies at the intersection of the plane and the surface of the sphere. The
great circle between two points is the path often used for air and sea navigation, because it
266 Calculus of Variations

z
(y2,z2)

ds

(y1,z1)

x
Figure 7.7: The surface of revolution formed by a line joining the points (y1 , z1 ) and (y2 , z2 ).

provides the path with the shortest distance between those points. The code used to create
Figure 7.6 can be found on this book’s website.

7.5.3 MINIMUM SURFACE OF REVOLUTION

Consider two parallel circular wire rings that were dipped in soapy water. The soap film
between the rings will then form a surface. What is the shape of that surface? The answer
can be found by finding the minimum surface of revolution formed by a line joining the two
rings. Why does the soap film take the shape of the minimum surface of revolution? The
answer has to do with the free energy of the soap film, which is E = σA, where σ is the film
tension and A is the area of the film. In equilibrium the film’s energy is minimized. Hence,
minimizing the area is the same as minimizing the energy of the film.
Consider two points (y1 , z1 ) and (y2 , z2 ) as shown in Figure 7.7. We can generate a
surface of revolution by revolving a line that joins (y1 , z1 ) and (y2 , z2 ) about the z-axis. We
want to find the equation of the line joining (y1 , z1 ) and (y2 , z2 ), which minimizes the area
of the surface of revolution.
We begin by writing down the equation for the area of the surface of revolution. The
area is found by integrating the shaded area dA over the whole surface. Note that Figure
7.7 shows only a part of the infinitesimal area dA, and that dA actually extends around
the surface. We can think of dA as being the surface area of a cylinder, which has area
2πrh where r is the radius of the cylinder and h is the height of the cylinder. In this case, r
would be the distance y from the z-axis to the curve defining the surface of revolution.
p The
height of the cylinder ds is the differential distance along the curve z(y), ds = dy 2 + dz 2 .
Therefore, our functional for the area is:
Z y2 p
A= 2πy 1 + z ′2 dy (7.5.20)
y1

We want to find z(y) that minimizes the area of the surface of revolution. Therefore,
√ we
factored dy out of ds to produce (7.5.20), where z ′ = dz/dy. Next, we insert f = y 1 + z ′2
into the first form of the Euler equation (7.3.11) and ∂f /∂z = 0; therefore
Some examples of problems solved using the calculus of variations 267

 
d y z′
√ =0 (7.5.21)
dy 1 + z ′2
yz ′
√ =a (7.5.22)
1 + z ′2
where a is a constant. Solving (7.5.22) for z ′ we obtain,
dz a
=p (7.5.23)
dy y − a2
2

After separating variables and integrating, we obtain,

y
z = a cosh−1 +b (7.5.24)
a
where b is a constant of integration. Note that both a and b can be determined once the
points (y1 , z1 ) and (y2 , z2 ) are specified. We can solve (7.5.24) for y to obtain,
 
z−b
y = a cosh (7.5.25)
a
The next example shows how to visualize this result.

Example 7.3: The soap film problem

Plot the surface of the soap film that connects two circular rings. Assume that each
ring is parallel to the xy−plane. Furthermore, each ring is centered on the z−axis and
has a radius of 3 units. One ring is located at z = 1, and the other is located at z = −1,
where the z coordinate is measured in the same units as the radius.
Solution:
The soap film will take on the shape of the minimum surface of revolution between
the two rings. We can use (7.5.25),
 
z−b
y(z) = a cosh
a
as the curve that describes the shape of the film’s surface in the yz−plane. The curve
will have end points (y1 , z1 ) = (3, −1) and (y2 , z2 ) = (3, 1).
The first step in the solution is to use the end points to solve for a and b in (7.5.25).
Note that if we insert the end points into (7.5.25), we find that y(−1) = y(1). Further-
more, cosh is an even function. Together, the condition that y(−1) = y(1) and the even
nature of the cosh function require that b = 0.
Next, we find a by numerically solving y(1) = 3,
 
1
a cosh =3 (7.5.26)
a
which must be solved using numerical approximations. The following code numerically
solves (7.5.26) for a and plots the surface of revolution.
268 Calculus of Variations

Python Code
We use the command newton from the SciPy library to perform Newton’s method of
finding roots. The plot is created by revolving the curve a cosh(z/a) around the z-axis
between the values of z = −1 and z = 1. Notice the use of trig functions to create the
effect of the revolution when defining the variables X and Y.

from [Link] import newton

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

def f(a):
return a*[Link](1/a) - 3

root1 = newton(f, 0.1)

root2 = newton(f,1)

print('The two roots are located at a = ',round(root1,4),\

' and ', round(root2,4))

#next, we create the plot using u and v

#to establish the plot range values for x and y

u = [Link](-1,1,100)
v = [Link](0, 2*[Link], 100)
U,V = [Link](u,v)

Y = root2*[Link](U/root2)*[Link](V)
X = root2*[Link](U/root2)*[Link](V)
Z = U

fig = [Link]()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
ax.plot_surface(X, Y, Z)
ax.set_xlabel('x')
ax.set_ylabel('y')
ax.set_zlabel('z')
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The two roots are located at a = 0.3536 and 2.8209

Mathematica Code
The option Reals in NSolve instructs Mathematica to produce only real solutions
for a. Notice that there are two solutions that were stored in the variable params. There
Some examples of problems solved using the calculus of variations 269

are two curves that extremize the functional (7.5.20) from which (7.5.26) was derived.
The two curves are plotted in the yz−plane as shown in Figure 7.8.
We can plot the surface using Mathematica’s RevolutionPlot3D command, as
shown in the code below. Although we will not prove stability, we will use a = 2.82089
because that is the value of a associated with the minimal surface of the soap film.
When a = 0.35363, the soap film is not minimal and is unstable.
The default for RevolutionPlot3D is to plot a function fz (t) which describes the
height of the curve above the xy-plane, where t is the radius from the z-axis. The
command then rotates the curve of fz about the z-axis. However, our function describes
the height of the curve above the xz-plane. In order to get the shape we expect, we
need to tell Mathematica to revolve about what it believes to be the x-axis by using the
option, RevolutionAxis → {1, 0, 0}. This is the type of technical issue one occasionally
encounters when working with software. If you had plotted (7.5.25) using the defaults,
you would have obtained a plot that was clearly incorrect. This is another reminder
that one can’t simply use computer algorithms as black boxes. You need to make sure
that you understand the algorithm and check to see that the output makes sense.
SetOptions[RevolutionPlot3D, BaseStyle->{Black, Bold, FontSize->18}];

params = NSolve[a ∗ Cosh[1/a] == 3, a, Reals]

{{a → 0.353638}, {a → 2.82089}}

RevolutionPlot3D[a ∗ Cosh[z/a]/.params[[2]], {z, −1, 1},

RevolutionAxis → {1, 0, 0}, ViewPoint → {1.3, −2.4, 2.},

AxesLabel → {x, y, z}]

270 Calculus of Variations

a = 0.353638 a = 2.82089
3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5
y

1.0

0.5

0.0
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
z

Figure 7.8: The soap film profile for a = 0.353638 (solid curve) and a = 2.82089 (dashed
curve), from Example 7.3.

(a) (b)

Figure 7.9: The surface of the soap film as produced by (a) Mathematica and (b) Python,
from Example 7.3.

7.6 MULTIPLE DEPENDENT VARIABLES

In classical mechanics, it is common for f to depend on multiple dependent variables yi (x)
all with the same independent variable. In this case, f takes the form,

f [y1 (x), y1′ (x), y2 (x), y2′ (x), . . . , yn (x), yn′ (x); x] (7.6.1)
Multiple dependent variables 271

where there are n dependent variables yi . In this case, it is often convenient to write f =
f [yi , yi′ ; x], where i = 1, 2, . . . , n.
We want to find a set of functions {yi (x)} (i = 1, 2, . . . , n) that makes the functional
Z
J = f [yi (x), yi′ (x); x] dx (7.6.2)

stationary. To find {yi (x)}, we follow the work done in Section 7.2. We write Yi (α, x) =
yi (x) + αηi (x), insert Yi into (7.6.2), differentiate the resulting J with respect to α, and
then set that derivative equal to zero. The result is,
Z x2 n 
X 
∂J ∂f d ∂f
= − ηi (x)dx (7.6.3)
∂α x1 i=1
∂Yi dx ∂Yi′

Each perturbation ηi (x) is independent of one another. Therefore, in order for the derivative
in (7.6.3) to be zero at a = 0, we must have,

Multi-variable Euler Equation

∂f d ∂f
− =0 (7.6.4)
∂yi dx ∂yi′

In other words, we will have an Euler equation for each dependent function yi . As before,
each Euler equation will produce an ordinary differential equation. However, these ODEs
are often coupled and can be difficult to solve in closed form.
For an example of f depending on multiple dependent variables, we can reconsider the
first problem we studied, the shortest path between two points on the Cartesian plane. When
we first solved that problem, we assumed y = y(x). However, if we wanted to consider all
possible paths, then we would need to consider curves which are parameterized using a
variable t,

x = x(t) and y = y(t)

The above generalization allows us to look at curved paths, such as spirals in the Cartesian
plane that cannot be written as y = y(x). For example, one of the simplest parameterizations
is that for the unit circle, where x(t) = cos t and y(t) = sin t.
The
p infinitesimal displacement along a parameterized path in the Cartesian plane is
ds = dx2 + dy 2 , which can be rewritten and inserted into (7.2.1),
Z t2 p
L= x′ (t)2 + y ′ (t)2 dt (7.6.5)
t1
p
′ ′
where x = dx/dt and y = dy/dt. Using f = x′2 + y ′2 , and the Euler equations:
d ∂f ∂f d ∂f ∂f
− =0 and − =0
dt ∂x′ ∂x dt ∂y ′ ∂y
we find,

x′ y′
p =a and p =c (7.6.6)
x′2 + y ′2 x′2 + y ′2
272 Calculus of Variations

where a and c are constants. Note that we used the fact that ∂f /∂x = ∂f /∂y = 0, in order
to set ∂f /∂x′ and ∂f /∂y ′ equal to the constants a and c, respectively. By dividing the two
equations in (7.6.6), we get,

y′ dy c
= = =m (7.6.7)
x′ dx a
Integrating (7.6.7), we find y = mx + b, where b is the constant of integration. In other
words, we again get the equation for a line.

7.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY

The calculus of variations provides us a means of finding a function y(x) that ex-
tremizes the functional:
Z x2
J= f [y(x), y ′ (x); x]dx
x1

Common problems in the calculus of variations involve finding the path of the short-
est distance between two points, finding the path that minimizes the time of travel
between two points, and finding the minimum surface area for a surface of revolution.
The function y(x) can be found using Euler’s equation:
d ∂f ∂f
′
− =0
dx ∂y ∂y
Euler’s equation will produce a differential equation, which can be solved for y(x).
An alternative form of the Euler’s equation is,
∂f
f − y′ = constant
∂y ′
which can be used when ∂f /∂x = 0.
Problems involving finding the extrema of a functional which depends on several
dependent variables {yi (x)}, for i = 1, 2, . . . , n, of the form,
Z x2
J= f [yi (x), yi′ (x); x]dx
x1

can be solved using multiple Euler equations,

d ∂f ∂f
− =0
dx ∂yi′ ∂yi
The result is typically a system of n-coupled ordinary differential equations, which
can be solved, either numerically or in closed form, for each yi (x).
End-of-chapter problems 273

7.8 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, or numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 7.2: Shortest Distance Between Two Points—Setting Up the Calculus
of Variations
1. Fermat’s principle states that the path taken between two points by a light ray is the
path that can be traversed in the least time. Consider a light ray traveling between
Points 1 and 2 in the Cartesian plane. The points are in a medium with a spatially
varying index of refraction, n(x, y). Show that the path taken by the light ray must
minimize the functional,
Z 2
n(x, y) p
t= 1 + y ′ (x)2 dx (7.8.1)
1 c

where y ′ = dy/dx and the index of refraction is defined as the ratio:

c
n=
v
where c is the speed of light in vacuum, and v is the speed of light inside the medium.
2. What functional gives the length of the path that joins two points on the surface of a
cylinder with radius R? Use cylindrical coordinates (r, θ, z) and assume that the curve
can be written as θ(z).
Sections 7.3 and 7.4: First and Second Form of the Euler Equation

3. Find the path that makes the functional,

Z 1 p
J(y) = x2 1 − y ′ dx,
0

stationary with y ′ = dy/dx. The path must connect the points (0, 0) and (1, 1). Solve
this problem analytically and by using Python or Mathematica.
4. Find the shortest path between two points on the surface of a cylinder with radius
R. As in Problem 2, set up the necessary functional by using cylindrical coordinates
(ρ, θ, z) and assume that the curve can be written as θ(z).
5. Consider the light ray (solid line) reflecting off of the surface of a plane mirror at the
point (xr , yr ) as shown in Figure 7.10. The surface of the mirror is in the xz-plane,
and the light ray is in the xy-plane. Using Fermat’s principle from Problem 1, prove
the law of reflection. In other words, show that the angle of incidence θ1 is equal to
the angle of reflection θ2 in Figure 7.10. Although not necessary, you may find it
helpful to set x1 = 0 and yr = 0 as suggested in Figure 7.10. To solve the problem,
compute the time it takes to travel along the path in Figure 7.10, then show that the
time is a minimum when θ1 = θ2 . You may start by assuming that the point (xr , yr )
is in the same vertical plane as (x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 ). If you were not to make that
assumption, then explain how you would need to change your solution in order to
prove the law of reflection.
274 Calculus of Variations

(x1,y1) (x2,y2)

θ1 θ2

(xr,yr)
x

Figure 7.10: The path of a light ray in the xy-plane reflecting off a mirror in the xz-plane,
in Problem 7.5.

6. Consider the light ray shown in Figure 7.11. The light ray starts in a medium with a
spatially uniform index of refraction n1 and, at the point (xr , yr ) enters a new medium
with a spatially uniform index of refraction n2 . Using Fermat’s principle from Problem
1 to minimize the time of travel between the two points (x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 ), prove
Snell’s law, n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ2 and that the point of refraction (xr , yr ) is coplanar
with the points (x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 ). As before, the index of refraction is defined as
the ratio n = vc , where c is the speed of light in vacuum and v is the speed of light
inside the medium.

(x1,y1) y

θ1

(xr,yr) n1

n2
x
θ2

(x2,y2)

Figure 7.11: The path of a light ray in the xy-plane leaving a medium with an index of
refraction n1 ,and entering a medium with an index of refraction n2 , in Problem 7.6.

7. Find the extremum of the functional,

Z 1

J= y ′2 − y 2 + x dx
0

subject to the two boundary conditions: y(0) = 1, y ′ (0) = −1 and where y ′ (x) =
dy/dx. Solve this problem analytically and by using Python or Mathematica.

8. Show that the extrema of the functional,

End-of-chapter problems 275

Z p p
x2 + y 2 1 + y ′2 dx

are
x2 cos α − 2xy sin α − y 2 cos α = β
where y ′ = dy/dx and α, β are constants.
Hint: Rewrite the functional in polar coordinates and use a CAS to find Euler’s
equations and solve the resulting ODE.

9. Find the geodesics on the surface of the cone whose equation in cylindrical coor-
dinates is z = c ρ.
10. Imagine a ball rolling down the first half of the first loop of a cycloid (from x = 0 to
x = πa), defined by the equations:

y = a (1 − cos θ) x = a (θ − sin θ)
p
Show that the time of travel from x = 0 to x = a is equal to π a/g.
11. For a little bit of foreshadowing of upcoming chapters, consider the functional,

Z t 
1 1 2
J(x) = mx − kx dt′
′2
t0 2 2

where m and k are positive constants, x′ = dx/dt′ and t′ is the independent variable
(the prime after the t does not denote a derivative). Find the function x(t) that makes
the functional stationary. Does this look familiar?

Section 7.6 Multiple Dependent Variables

12. Show that the shortest distance between two points in three-dimensional space is a
straight line. You may want to consider writing x, y, and z in parametric form.
13. Repeat Problem 4; however, this time do not assume that θ = θ(z). Instead, you should
parameterize the curve such that z = z(t) and θ = θ(t), where t is the parameter of
the curve.
p
14. Find the shortest path on the conical surface z = z0 − c x2 + y 2 , where z0 and
c are constants. Use a CAS to find the solution of the differential equation resulting
from Euler’s equation.

15. Find the extrema of the functional,

Z π

J(y, z) = y ′2 + z ′2 + yz dx
0

where y ′ = dy/dx and z ′ = dz/dx, subject to the conditions, y(0) = 0, y(π) = 1,

z(0) = 0, and z(π) = 1. Solve this problem using Mathematica or Python.
 8 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian
Dynamics
In this chapter, we present an alternative way of formulating physics problems. This new
method was first published by French-Italian mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736–
1813) in 1788 and is therefore called Lagrangian dynamics. Lagrange’s formulation uses a
function called the Lagrangian, which is found using the particle’s energy. As we will see,
a particle will move in such a way as to make the integral of the Lagrangian with respect
to time stationary. This integral, called an action integral, is a functional (a mathematical
formula that maps a function to a number). Hence, the particle’s path can be described
using a function that is an extremum of a functional (in this case, the action integral). In
the last chapter, we learned how to find the functions that are the extrema of a functional
by using the Euler equation. In this chapter we will learn how the Euler equation can be
used to find a system’s equations of motion.
One advantage of the Lagrangian formulation is that it is the same, regardless of the
coordinate system being used. Lagrangian dynamics uses the Euler equation to derive a
particle’s equation of motion and the Euler equation takes the same form regardless of
the coordinate system being used. As we saw in Chapter 3, Newton’s second law takes
different forms depending on the coordinate system, because the formula for the acceleration
depends on the coordinate system. Another advantage of Lagrangian dynamics is that it
eliminates the need of knowing constraint forces. A bead constrained to move along a wire
is a common example involving constraint forces. The force keeping the bead on the wire
is often unknown, or very difficult to find. Lagrangian mechanics doesn’t need to know the
formula of the constraint force in order find the particle’s motion.
The final “advantage” we mention is that Lagrangian mechanics is simply elegant! As
we will see, visual inspection of the Lagrangian can reveal what quantities are conserved in
the system. We will also learn how to use the Lagrangian to derive another quantity called
the Hamiltonian, which can also be used to derive a particle’s equations of motion. The
Hamiltonian will provide us with a new way of thinking about the phase space, where we
can use pictures to describe the possible behaviors of a system. The Hamiltonian’s value
extends well beyond the field of classical mechanics and is the central quantity used to
describe a particle’s wave function in quantum mechanics.

8.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE LAGRANGIAN

In this section, we motivate the material in the rest of the chapter by looking at a basic
example, the simple harmonic oscillator (SHO). Recall that a model system for the SHO is
a mass m connected to one end of a horizontal massless spring with a spring constant k.
The other end of the spring is connected to a support. The mass is connected to the spring
and slides along a frictionless surface. We will use the variable x to measure the location
of the mass relative to equilibrium. In this case, we know that the kinetic and potential
energies can be written as,
1 1 2
T = mẋ2 and V = kx (8.1.1)
2 2
respectively. We know that for the SHO,

277
278 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

∂V
F =− = −kx (8.1.2)
∂x
is the force acting on the mass. Therefore, using Newton’s second law, F = mẍ, we can
write the equation of motion for the SHO as,

mẍ + kx = 0 (8.1.3)
Recall that normally we define ω02
= k/m for the SHO, but for now we will leave the
equation of motion as it appears above.
There is another method of finding (8.1.3) that doesn’t directly involve Newton’s second
law. Notice that,
 
d ∂T d
= (mẋ) = ṗ = mẍ (8.1.4)
dt ∂ ẋ dt
Therefore, we can obtain (8.1.3) by writing,
 
d ∂T ∂V
+ =0 (8.1.5)
dt ∂ ẋ ∂x
Equation (8.1.5) is similar to the Euler equation in appearance, except that the functions
appearing in each derivative are different. We can make (8.1.5) look like the Euler equation
by defining a new function, the Lagrangian:

L≡T −V (8.1.6)
Notice that V does not depend on ẋ , and T does not depend on x; therefore ∂T /∂x = 0
and ∂V /∂ ẋ = 0, and we can write:
   
d ∂T d ∂L
= (8.1.7)
dt ∂ ẋ dt ∂ ẋ
and
∂V ∂L
=− (8.1.8)
∂x ∂x
And therefore we obtain from (8.1.5) the Euler-Lagrange equation:

The Euler-Lagrange Equation for One Degree of Freedom

 
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 (8.1.9)
dt ∂ ẋ ∂x

For the SHO, the Lagrangian is

1 1
L= mẋ2 − kx2 (8.1.10)
2 2
Inserting (8.1.10) into (8.1.9), we obtain (8.1.3). Hence we see that the equation of motion
for the SHO can be obtained by using the Euler-Lagrange equation. R
We see that L = L(x, ẋ; t) and (8.1.9) implies that the integral L(x, ẋ; t)dt is stationary
along the path x(t) of the oscillator. In other words, the path of the oscillator is the one
Generalized coordinates and degrees of freedom 279
R
that makes L(x, ẋ; t)dt stationary. We will formalize this statement in the next section.
However, the important point here is that we did not use Newton’s second law to derive
the equation of motion for the SHO. Instead of asking what forces are acting on the system
(as is done using Newton’s second law), we asked what behavior makes the integral of the
Lagrangian stationary. The Lagrangian depends only on the kinetic and potential energies
of the system. Note, however, that the Lagrangian is not the total mechanical energy of
the system. The total mechanical energy is the sum of the kinetic and potential energies,
while the Lagrangian is the difference between them.
Although we have demonstrated the Euler-Lagrange equation for the SHO, as we will
see in later sections, the Euler-Lagrange equation can be used to find the equation of motion
for any system. Before generalizing the work done in this section to other systems, we need
to discuss coordinate systems and the concepts of generalized coordinates and degrees of
freedom.

8.2 GENERALIZED COORDINATES AND DEGREES OF FREEDOM

In Chapter 3 we saw that it is sometimes useful to describe a system using coordinates other
than Cartesian coordinates. One challenge of using non-Cartesian coordinates with Newton’s
second law is that one has to find the acceleration in the new coordinate system. The
new form of the acceleration is often mathematically more complicated than in Cartesian
coordinates. The result is that the form of Newton’s second law heavily depends on the
coordinate system used. Because the Euler-Lagrange equations take the same form for every
coordinate system, it is in general easier to work with non-Cartesian coordinate systems
when using the Lagrangian.
We will use the term generalized coordinates in order to describe any coordinate system
that completely specifies the state of the system. Spherical and plane-polar coordinates are
examples of generalized coordinate systems; however, generalized coordinates can take many
forms. You may find it useful to work with generalized coordinates which have dimensions
of energy, angular momentum, or no dimensions at all. It is customary to write generalized
coordinates as (q1 , , q2 , . . .) or just as qj (with j = 1, 2, . . . implied but not always stated).
How many generalized coordinates do we need to completely describe the state of a
system? This is an important question because it will determine the number of Euler-
Lagrange equations we need in order to solve for a system’s behavior. Let’s consider a
system of N particles. In order to describe each particle, we will need N vectors of the
form r = xî + y ĵ + z k̂, with three components each, x, y, and z. Hence, we will need 3N
quantities to describe the position of each particle and, therefore, the state of the system.
Next, suppose that there are constraints on the particle’s motion. Each constraint will
relate one quantity to another. For example, each particle may be constrained to move on
the xy-plane. Regardless of their specific nature, constraints can relate two or more of the
quantities to each other, or they can impose a value for a particular coordinate (e.g., z = 0).
In other words, not all 3N quantities are necessarily independent. If there are m equations
of constraint, then there are s = 3N − m degrees of freedom for the system. The number
of degrees of freedom is the number of independent quantities that are needed to specify
the state of the system. In other words, we will need s independent generalized coordinates
in order to describe the state of the system. As we will see, the Euler-Lagrange equations
will produce s second-order differential equations which, when solved, will give qj (t) for
j = 1, 2, . . . , s.
The following example will help clarify constraints and degrees of freedom. Consider the
simple plane pendulum shown in Figure 8.1.
In the case of the simple plane pendulum there is one particle, the mass m, and therefore
N = 1. Generally speaking, the position of the mass would require three coordinates,
280 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

y
θ ℓ

x
m
Figure 8.1: A simple plane pendulum composed of a mass m attached to a massless rigid
rod of length ℓ which makes an angle θ with the vertical (dashed line).

x, y, and z. However, because we are working with a plane pendulum, we have our first
equation of constraint, z = 0. Next, we know that the mass is constrained to move along a
circle of radius ℓ. Therefore, the next equation of constraint is x2 + y 2 = ℓ2 . We see that we
have two equations of constraint; therefore, we have s = 3 (1) − 2 = 1 degree of freedom.
To describe the system, we would like to work with a generalized coordinate system. The
most obvious one to choose is polar coordinates. In this case, we will choose q = θ, where
θ is the angle between the pendulum and the dashed line in Figure 8.1. We can write the
Cartesian coordinates in terms of the generalized coordinate θ using:

x(q) = ℓ sin q and y(q) = −ℓ cos q (8.2.1)

Note that the origin of the coordinate system is located at the pendulum’s support, denoted
by the black-filled circle in Figure 8.1.
To find the Lagrangian, we need to rewrite the kinetic and potential energies using the
generalized coordinate q. In Cartesian coordinates, the velocity of the particle is v = ẋî+ ẏ ĵ,
where

ẋ = ℓq̇ cos q and ẏ = ℓq̇ sin q (8.2.2)

Using T = 1
2 mv · v for the pendulum’s kinetic energy and V = mgy for its gravitational
potential energy, we obtain
1
1
T = m ẋ2 + ẏ 2 = mℓ2 q̇ 2 (8.2.3)
2 2

V = mgy = −mgℓ cos q (8.2.4)

The resulting Lagrangian, L = T − V , is:
1 2 2
L (q, q̇) = mℓ q̇ + mgℓ cos q (8.2.5)
2
Notice that the Lagrangian is a function of both the generalized coordinate q and the gen-
eralized velocity q̇. The generalized velocity is the term used to describe the first derivative
of the generalized coordinate with respect to time.
Although we have not demonstrated that it is true for cases other than the simple
harmonic oscillator,
R we can say that the pendulum’s motion is the path q(t) which makes
the integral L (q, q̇) dt stationary. Therefore, the Euler-Lagrange equation,
Hamilton’s principle 281

 
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 (8.2.6)
dt ∂ q̇ ∂q
will produce the equation of motion. Inserting (8.2.5) into (8.2.6) gives the simple plane
pendulum equation,
g
q̈ + sin q = 0 (8.2.7)
ℓ

8.3 HAMILTON’S PRINCIPLE

Now that we have developed an understanding of generalized coordinates, it is time that we
justify using the Euler-Lagrange equations to derive a system’s equations of motion. This
justification was done by Irish mathematician, Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805–1865),
in papers published in 1834 and 1835 ([4],[5]). Hamilton’s Principle states:

Hamilton’s Principle

The path taken by a particle from the point r1 to the point r2 during the time
interval t1 to t2 is the one that makes the action integral stationary:
Z t2
S= Ldt (8.3.1)
t1

Hamilton’s principle is a cornerstone not just of classical physics, but also of quantum
physics. From Chapter 7, we know that the condition for S to be stationary is

The Euler-Lagrange Equation

 
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 (8.3.2)
dt ∂ q̇j ∂qj

where qj is the j th generalized coordinate, j = 1, 2, . . . , s, and s is the number of degrees

of freedom in the system.
How can we be certain that Hamilton’s principle produces the actual path that the
particle takes? We will demonstrate this using a system with one degree of freedom, but
this result is easily generalized to s degrees of freedom.
Let us consider a particle of mass m moving along a line. The particle’s location along
the line is described by the coordinate q. Therefore, the Lagrangian L is
1 2
L= mq̇ − V (q) (8.3.3)
2
To obtain the path q(t) that makes the action integral S stationary, we insert (8.3.3) into
(8.3.2):
d ∂V
(mq̇) = − (8.3.4)
dt ∂q
282 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

The result is an ODE for the path q(t). The right-hand side of (8.3.4) is the q component
of the force acting on the particle. Likewise, the left-hand side of (8.3.4) is the time derivative
of the momentum. Therefore, we see that the path q(t) that makes the action integral S
stationary is the one that also solves Newton’s second law. Therefore, Hamilton’s principle
does provide a means of finding a system’s equation of motion. Note that the above work
is not a proof of Hamilton’s principle, but rather a demonstration of how it is capable of
producing a system’s equation of motion.
Before we move on to some examples of using the Lagrangian to find the equation of
motion for a system, it is important that we point out some additional terminology that
will become useful later. First, notice V = V (qj ) and T = T (q̇i ). Hence, in our example
∂L ∂L ∂V
= mq˙j and =− (8.3.5)
∂ q̇j ∂qj ∂qj
The term ∂L/∂ q˙j is sometimes called the j th component of the generalized momentum
although it is not always a linear momentum. Likewise, ∂L/∂qj is sometimes called the j th
component of the generalized force; again it is not always a force, but rather it acts like one.
With these terms in mind, (8.3.4) can be reworded as: “the generalized force is equal to the
time rate of change of the generalized momentum.” It is a “generalized” Newton’s second
law!

8.4 EXAMPLES OF LAGRANGIAN DYNAMICS

In this section, we present several example problems. We have already seen two examples,
the simple harmonic oscillator in Section 8.1 and the simple plane pendulum in Section 8.2.
Each problem in this section will present a particular new challenge. First, we will start with
an example in three dimensions. The second example will examine a system of two particles
with one constraint. In the first two examples, we will analytically find the Lagrangian and
the Euler-Lagrange equation. This will allow us to focus on the details of concepts such as
degrees of freedom and constraints.
The third and fourth examples will use coordinates other than Cartesian coordinates.
The fifth and final example in this section will involve constraints on velocities. The last
three examples will contain a computational component, so that we may see how to use
Mathematica and SymPy to assist with the solution of problems in Lagrangian mechanics.

Example 8.1: The Euler-Lagrange equations in three dimensions

Consider a particle of mass m moving in three dimensions. In Cartesian coordinates
the kinetic energy can be written as,
1

T = m ẋ2 + ẏ 2 + ż 2 (8.4.1)
2
The particle experiences only conservatives forces and has a potential energy is
V = V (x, y, z). Write down the Euler-Lagrange equations for the particle in Cartesian
coordinates.
Solution:
This problem has three degrees of freedom because it consists of one particle (n = 1)
and no constraints (m = 0). The Lagrangian is,
1

L= m ẋ2 + ẏ 2 + ż 2 − V (x, y, z) (8.4.2)
2
Examples of lagrangian dynamics 283

Therefore, we are attempting to find functions x(t), y(t), and z(t) that make the
action integral
Z
S = L(x, y, z, ẋ, ẏ, ż)dt

stationary.
Because there are three degrees of freedom, i.e., three functions that need to be
found in order to make S stationary, there will be three Euler-Lagrange equations.
Before finding the Euler-Lagrange equations for this problem, first note that:
  
= (mẋ) = mẍ
d ∂L d


dt ∂ ẋ dt 

  

d ∂L d 
= (mẏ) = mÿ (8.4.3)
dt ∂ ẏ dt 

  

d ∂L d 

= (mż) = mz̈  
dt ∂ ż dt
By equating the terms in parentheses in each line above, we see that ∂L/∂ ẋ is the
x-component of the particle’s momentum (similar for the ẏ and ż derivatives). In this
case, the generalized momentum is the same as the linear momentum. Likewise,

= Fx 
∂L ∂V 
=− 

∂x ∂x 

∂L ∂V 
=− = Fy (8.4.4)
∂y ∂y 




= Fz 
∂L ∂V 
=−
∂z ∂z
We can see that ∂L/∂x is the x-component of the force acting on the particle (similar
for the y and z derivatives). In this case, the generalized force is equal to the force acting
on the particles. Inserting the derivatives into the Euler-Lagrange equation gives:
 
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 ⇒ mẍ = Fx
dt ∂ ẋ ∂x
 
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 ⇒ mÿ = Fy
dt ∂ ẏ ∂y
 
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 ⇒ mz̈ = Fz
dt ∂ ż ∂z
The result of the Euler-Lagrange equations is simply Newton’s second law.

While Example 8.1 may seem elementary, it points out a few important things. First,
the number of Euler-Lagrange equations will equal the number of degrees of freedom in
the system. Second, Example 8.1 demonstrates the connections between the generalized
momentum and generalized force and the physical quantities momentum and force with
which you are already familiar. Of course, to progress further in this problem and find x(t),
y(t), and z(t), you would need to know V (x, y, z).
284 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

Example 8.2: The Atwood machine

Two masses, m1 and m2 are joined by a massless inextensible string of length ℓ on
an Atwood machine. The Atwood machine has a pulley with mass M and a radius R
and the pulley is frictionless. If the string does not slip with respect to the pulley, find
the acceleration of the masses m1 and m2 .
Solution:
We begin by drawing a diagram so that we may define the coordinates needed to
describe the state of the Atwood machine.

R
x1
x2
m1

m2

Figure 8.2: The Atwood machine for Example 8.2.

We use the horizontal dashed lined passing through the center of the Atwood ma-
chine as the origin for our coordinate system. The coordinates x1 and x2 measure the
distance from the center of the Atwood machine to masses m1 and m2 , respectively.
Because the string is inextensible, the two coordinates x1 and x2 are not independent.
For example, as m1 falls down, m2 rises and vice versa. Therefore, there is one equation
of constraint among the coordinates:

ℓ = x1 + x2 + πR (8.4.5)
The last term in the constraint is the length of the string that wraps around the
pulley. Of course an additional constraint is that the masses are each constrained to
move only up or down along a line; therefore, y1 = y2 = z1 = z2 = 0, which are actually
four constraints (one on each coordinate) for a total of five constraints on the system
(m = 5). Therefore, with two particles in the system N = 2, we have s = 3(2) − 5 = 1
degree of freedom for the problem. We will rewrite the coordinates x1 and x2 in terms
of the generalized coordinate x using:

x1 = x (8.4.6)
x2 = ℓ − x − πR (8.4.7)
Examples of lagrangian dynamics 285

Notice that the velocities have the relationship, ẋ2 = −ẋ1 , and the accelerations
have the relationship, ẍ2 = −ẍ1 , which is what we would expect in this situation.
Next, we will find the kinetic and potential energies of the system. Notice that the
pulley has mass, but the string does not. Therefore, the total kinetic energy includes
the kinetic energy of m1 , m2 , and the rotational kinetic energy of the pulley. Recall
that rotational kinetic energy takes the form Trot = 12 Iω 2 , where I = 12 M R2 is the
rotational inertia for the pulley, and ω = ẋ/R is the angular velocity of the pulley.
Therefore, the total kinetic energy for the system is:
1 1 1 2
T = m1 ẋ21 + m2 ẋ22 + Iω (8.4.8)
2 2 2
 2
1 1 1 ẋ
= m1 ẋ2 + m2 ẋ2 + I (8.4.9)
2 2 2 R

The potential energy takes the form of the gravitational potential energy. Measuring
upward as the positive direction, we have:

V = −m1 gx1 − m2 gx2 (8.4.10)

= −m1 gx − m2 g (ℓ − x − πR) (8.4.11)

The resulting Lagrangian is:

 
1 1 1 I
L= m1 + m2 + ẋ2 + m1 gx + m2 g (ℓ − x − πR) (8.4.12)
2 2 2 R2
Because s = 1, there is only one Euler-Lagrange equation for this system:
 
d ∂L ∂L
= (8.4.13)
dt ∂ ẋ ∂x
  
d I
m1 + m2 + 2 ẋ = (m1 − m2 )g (8.4.14)
dt R
 
I
m1 + m2 + 2 ẍ = (m1 − m2 )g (8.4.15)
R

The generalized acceleration is:

(m1 − m2 )g
ẍ =
(8.4.16)
m1 + m2 + M 2

where we used I = 12 M R2 . From the generalized acceleration, we can get the accelera-
tion of each mass because ẍ1 = ẍ and ẍ2 = −ẍ.

Example 8.2 demonstrates several ideas. First, drawing a picture of the system can help
identify constraints on the coordinates. Second, this example reminds us to carefully identify
all kinetic and potential energies in the system. It would be easy to overlook the rotational
kinetic energy of the pulley if you thought the pulley was massless, a common assumption
in introductory physics. Finally, Example 8.2 shows us that although it might be useful to
describe the motion in generalized coordinates (in this case x), the solution of the problem
needs to address what is being asked by the problem. In this case, we needed to make sure
that we showed how to express the acceleration of each mass in terms of the generalized
coordinate.
286 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

Example 8.3: Pendulum supported by a rotating disk

A pendulum is suspended from a massless disk with a radius R that is rotating with
a constant angular velocity ω as shown in Figure 8.3. The pendulum consists of a mass
m attached to one end of a rigid massless rod of length ℓ. The other end of the rod is
attached to the edge of the rotating disk. Find the equation of motion of the mass m
analytically and using Mathematica and Python. Using a numerical ODE solver, find
θ(t) for t = 0 to t = 20 seconds using the values R = 0.2 m, ω = 2.5 rad/s, ℓ = 1.0 m,
g = 9.8 m/s2 , and initial conditions θ(0) = 1 rad and θ̇(0) = 0 rad/s.

y
ω
R x

ℓ
θ

m
Figure 8.3: The rotating pendulum for Example 8.3.

Solution:
The coordinate system is defined in the figure where the coordinate axes are the
dashed lines. The mass is constrained to move in the xy-plane, hence z = 0 is our first
equation of constraint. There is an additional constraint which may not be immediately
obvious. However, if we write the location of the mass in terms of polar coordinates, then
it will become clear that this problem has only one degree of freedom. The coordinates
of the mass can be written as:

x = R cos (ωt) + ℓ sin θ and y = R sin (ωt) − ℓ cos θ (8.4.17)

In other words, we chose the origin to be the center of the rotating disk, and the location
of the support (which is attached to the disk) appears as the first term in the equations
for x and y. We see that x and y are a function of the generalized coordinate θ. The x
and y component of the velocities are:

ẋ = −Rω sin (ωt) + ℓθ̇ cos θ and ẏ = Rω cos (ωt) + ℓθ̇ sin θ (8.4.18)

Next, we find the kinetic and potential energies. The kinetic energy T = 21 mv 2 can
be written using the velocity of the mass in the Cartesian plane, v = ẋî + ẏ ĵ,
1 1 1

T = mv 2 = mv · v = m ẋ2 + ẏ 2
2 2 2
Examples of lagrangian dynamics 287

The pendulum is in the Earth’s gravitational field; therefore, the potential energy
is V = mgy. Inserting (8.4.17) and (8.4.18) into our equations for the kinetic and
potential energies results in the Lagrangian (after some algebra, see Problem 9 in the
End-of-Chapter Problems),

1

L= m R2 ω 2 + ℓ2 θ̇2 + 2Rℓω θ̇ sin (θ − ωt) − mg (R sin (ωt) − ℓ cos θ) (8.4.19)
2
Inserting (8.4.19) into
 
d ∂L ∂L
− =0
dt ∂ θ̇ ∂θ
produces the equation of motion:

g Rω 2
θ̈ + sin θ = cos (θ − ωt) (8.4.20)
ℓ ℓ
Notice that (8.4.20) is the simple pendulum equation with an additional cosine term.
The cosine term is the drive term associated with the rotating disk.
The codes below show how to find (8.4.20) and plot its solution θ(t). A graph of
θ(t) is shown in Figure 8.4.

Python Code
This code follows the same procedure as the examples in Chapter 7. Note that we
use the variable q instead of θ. Notice also that we needed to redefine the ODE as the
function deriv so that it can be solved using odeint. The Python result agrees with
the analytical solution.
288 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

from sympy import diff, symbols, Function, euler_equations, nsimplify,\

sin, cos
import numpy as np
from [Link] import odeint
import [Link] as plt
import textwrap

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

wrapper = [Link](width=60)

D, t, m, g, w, R, l = symbols('D,t,m,g,w,R,l',positive=True)
q = Function('q')(t) # we use q instead of theta

L = 1/2*m*(R**2*w**2 + l**2*diff(q,t)**2 + \
2*R*l*w*diff(q,t)*sin(q-w*t)) - \
m*g*(R*sin(w*t) - l*cos(q))

euler = nsimplify(euler_equations(L,q,t)[0].expand().lhs)
euler_string = [Link](str(euler))

print('The Euler equation is:\n')

print(euler_string, ' = 0')

# Next, we integrate the equation of motion numerically

R, w, l, g = 0.2, 2.5, 1.0, 9.8

def deriv(y, t):

q, v = y #let v = dq/dt
dydt = [v, R*w**2/l*[Link](q-w*t)-g/l*[Link](q)]
return dydt

ics = [1,0]
t = [Link](0,20,100)
soln = odeint(deriv, ics, t)

[Link](t,soln[:,0])
[Link]('time')
[Link]('theta')
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The Euler equation is:
R*l*m*w**2*cos(t*w - q(t)) - g*l*m*sin(q(t)) -
l**2*m*Derivative(q(t), (t, 2)) = 0
Examples of lagrangian dynamics 289

Mathematica Code
This code follows the same procedure as in Chapter 7. Notice that by using a re-
placement in the variable ode, we can directly use the output of EulerEquations in
NDSolve.
SetOptions[Plot, Axes->False, Frame->True, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}];

<< VariationalMethods`

L = 1/2 ∗ m ∗ (R∧ 2 ∗ ω ∧ 2 + l∧ 2 ∗ θ′ [t]∧ 2 + 2 ∗ R ∗ l ∗ ω ∗ θ′ [t] ∗ Sin[θ[t] − ω ∗ t])−

m ∗ g ∗ (R ∗ Sin[ω ∗ t] − l ∗ Cos[θ[t]]);

euler = EulerEquations[L, θ[t], t]//FullSimplify

lm −Rω 2 Cos[tω − θ[t]] + gSin[θ[t]] + lθ′′ [t] == 0

ode = euler/.{R->0.2, ω->2.5, l->1.0, g->9.8};

soln = NDSolve[{ode, θ[0]==1, θ′ [0]==0}, θ[t], {t, 0, 20}];

Plot[θ[t]/.soln, {t, 0, 20}, FrameLabel->{“time”, “θ”}]

1.00

0.75

0.50

0.25
theta

0.00

−0.25

−0.50

−0.75

−1.00
0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0
time

Figure 8.4: The solution θ(t) from Example 8.3 as produced by the Python code. Notice
that θ(t) behaves similar to a beat wave as the pendulum interacts with the rotating disk.
290 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

Example 8.3 is an example of a problem which appears to have two degrees of freedom,
but it can actually be described using only one. Another important point demonstrated in
Example 8.3 is that it is necessary to be careful with kinetic energies. While often we focus
more on potential energies, this is a case where the kinetic energy is a bit more difficult.
It was important to include all of the components of the velocity in order to correctly
obtain the kinetic energy. Finally, if you solve Problem 9, you will see the value in using
trigonometric identities to cast the final solution in terms of something that is easier to
interpret.

Example 8.4: Bead on a wire

A bead of mass m slides along a wire near the surface of the Earth. The wire is
bent in the shape of the parabola z = ar2 , where a is a positive constant and (r, θ, z)
are the usual cylindrical coordinates. When the wire rotates with an angular velocity
ω about the z-axis, the bead travels in a circle of radius R parallel to the xy-plane, as
shown in Figure 8.5. Find the value of a in terms of ω and g, the acceleration due to
gravity. Solve this problem analytically and use Mathematica and Python to find the
Euler-Lagrange equation.

m
R

y
r
θ

x
Figure 8.5: A bead of mass m free to move on a rotating parabolic wire from Example
8.3.

Solution:
The system consists of one particle N = 1, and in order to find the number of degrees
of freedom s, we will need to find the number of constraints. Cylindrical coordinates
are a natural choice for this problem. In those coordinates, we have two constraints.
The first constraint is that z = ar2 because the bead is constrained to move along the
wire. The second constraint is due to the rotation of the wire. We know that the wire
is rotating about the z-axis at a constant angular velocity; therefore, θ = ωt. Hence, we
are left with one degree of freedom, r.
Next we find the kinetic and potential energies. Using the velocity in cylindrical
coordinates, v = ṙr̂ + rθ̇θ̂ + żẑ, we find
Examples of lagrangian dynamics 291

1 1

T = mv · v = m ṙ2 + r2 θ̇2 + ż 2 (8.4.21)
2 2
The potential energy is found using V = mgz. By applying the constraints z = ar2
and θ = ωt, we find:

θ̇ = ω and ż = 2arṙ (8.4.22)

By inserting the constraints and (8.4.22) we can find the Lagrangian:

L =T − V
1

= m ṙ2 + r2 θ̇2 + ż 2 − mgz
2
1

= m ṙ2 + r2 ω 2 + 4r2 a2 ṙ2 − mgar2
2
Note that L = L (r, ṙ). To get the equation of motion for the bead, we can insert
the Lagrangian into the Euler-Lagrange equation,

  
d ∂L d m  
2 2
= 2ṙ + 8r a ṙ = 1 + 4a r mr̈ + 8ma rṙ 
2 2 2 2

dt ∂ ṙ dt 2
(8.4.23)
∂L


=mr rω + 4a2 ṙ2 − 2ga 
∂r
Equating the two terms above gives:



1 + 4a2 r2 r̈ + 4a2 rṙ2 + r ω 2 − 2ga = 0 (8.4.24)
We are interested in the case when the bead is traveling in a circle of radius R.
Therefore, inserting r̈ = ṙ = 0 and r = R into (8.4.24), we obtain

ω2
a=
2g

Python Code
This code follows similar examples from Chapter 7. However, note the order of sub-
stitutions when defining the variable find_a. The highest derivatives must be defined
first in the subs method.
292 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

from sympy import diff, symbols, Function, euler_equations, \

simplify, solve
import textwrap

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

wrapper = [Link](width=70)

t, m, g, a, w, R = symbols('t,m,g,a,w,R',positive=True)
r = Function('r')

L = 1/2*m*(diff(r(t),t)**2 + r(t)**2*w**2 + \
4*r(t)**2*a**2*diff(r(t),t)**2) - \
m*g*a*r(t)**2

euler = simplify(euler_equations(L,r(t),t)[0]).lhs

print('The Euler equation is:\n\n')

print([Link](str(euler)), '=0')

# substitute derivatives = 0
find_a = solve([Link]([(diff(r(t),t,t),0),\
(diff(r(t),t),0),(r(t),R)]),a)[0]
print('\na = ', find_a)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The Euler equation is:

m*(-4*a**2*r(t)**2*Derivative(r(t), (t, 2)) -

4*a**2*r(t)*Derivative(r(t), t)**2 - 2*a*g*r(t) + w**2*r(t) -
Derivative(r(t), (t, 2))) =0

a = w**2/(2*g)

Mathematica Code
Finding the Euler-Lagrange equation is done the same way as finding the Euler
equation from Chapter 7. Note to be careful to include the dependency of r on t as
r[t] when defining the Lagrangian.
Examples of lagrangian dynamics 293

<< VariationalMethods`

L = 1/2 ∗ m ∗ (r′ [t]∧ 2 + r[t]∧ 2ω ∧ 2 + 4 ∗ r[t]∧ 2 ∗ a∧ 2 ∗ r′ [t]∧ 2) − m ∗ g ∗ a ∗ r[t]∧ 2

−agmr[t]2 + 12 m ω 2 r[t]2 + r′ [t]2 + 4a2 r[t]2 r′ [t]2

euler = EulerEquations[L, r[t], t]

−m r[t] 2ag − ω 2 + 4a2 r′ [t]2 + r′′ [t] + 4a2 r[t]2 r′′ [t] == 0

Solve[euler, a, Assumptions->{r′ [t]==0, r”[t]==0}][[1]]

n o
ω2
a→ 2g

Example 8.4 demonstrates several important points. First, it demonstrates the need to
use the velocity in cylindrical coordinates. The velocity of a particle in polar, cylindrical,
and spherical coordinates was discussed in Chapter 3. It is important when computing the
kinetic energy that the velocity vector be expressed in the same coordinate system that you
are using to solve the problem. Second, although this problem didn’t specifically ask for the
equation of motion, we found it easier to answer the problem by finding it. Once we had the
general equation of motion for the bead (8.4.24), we inserted the specific conditions for the
motion of interest. Finally, Example 8.4 shows how the Lagrange formulation does not need
to know all of the forces acting on the system. We do not know the mathematical form of
the force that keeps the bead on the wire. The aforementioned ignorance is not a problem,
all we needed for the Lagrange formulation was to know how the value of the z coordinate
was constrained.
The next example demonstrates the importance of calculating the Lagrangian in an
appropriate coordinate system.

Example 8.5: A moving inclined plane

A frictionless inclined plane of mass M , length ℓ, and incline θ is sliding along a level
horizontal frictionless surface, while a particle of mass m slides on the inclined plane, as
shown in Figure 8.6. Find the acceleration of the inclined plane and the particle. Solve
the problem analytically and using Mathematica or Python.
Solution:
We begin by drawing a picture of the system.
294 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

x2 ℓ

x1 m
M
Figure 8.6: A mass m sliding down an incline plane with mass M for Example 8.5.

The figure above shows that we have created two coordinates, x1 and x2 . The coor-
dinate x1 is measured from the vertical axis and describes the location of the inclined
plane M . The coordinate x2 measures the position of the particle m from the top of
the inclined plane. Note that the two coordinates are not orthogonal to each other.
To calculate the Lagrangian, we need to find the kinetic energy of each object,

1 1
T = M v12 + mv22
2 2
̸ ẋ22 . The particle’s velocity v2 relative to the vertical axis will
where v12 = ẋ1 , but v22 =
depend on the velocity of the inclined plane and therefore, v2 = ẋ1 + ẋ2 , where ẋ1 and
ẋ2 are vectors that point along the directions of x1 and x2 in the figure, respectively.
We can find v22 = v2 · v2 by noting that the angle between ẋ1 and ẋ2 is θ,

v22 = (ẋ1 + ẋ2 ) · (ẋ1 + ẋ2 ) (8.4.25)

= ẋ21 + ẋ22 + 2ẋ1 · ẋ2 (8.4.26)
= ẋ21 + ẋ22 + 2ẋ1 ẋ2 cos θ (8.4.27)

We now have what we need to compute the Lagrangian,

1 1

T = M ẋ21 + m ẋ21 + ẋ22 + 2ẋ1 ẋ2 cos θ (8.4.28)
2 2
V = mg (ℓ − x2 ) sin θ (8.4.29)
1 1

L = M ẋ21 + m ẋ21 + ẋ22 + 2ẋ1 ẋ2 cos θ − mg (ℓ − x2 ) sin θ (8.4.30)
2 2

Note that we used ℓ as the length of the inclined plane and the height of the particle
above the horizontal axis is (ℓ − x2 ) sin θ. Further note that the Lagrangian is of the
form L = L (x1 , x2 , ẋ1 , ẋ2 ). There are two degrees of freedom for this problem; therefore,
we will have two Euler-Lagrange equations:
  
d ∂L ∂L
− =0


dt ∂ ẋ1 ∂x1
  (8.4.31)

=0
d ∂L ∂L
− 
dt ∂ ẋ2 ∂x2
Examples of lagrangian dynamics 295

Next we will compute the necessary derivatives,

 
d ∂L ∂L
=M ẍ1 + m (ẍ1 + 2ẍ2 cos θ) =0
dt ∂ ẋ1 ∂x1
 
d ∂L ∂L
=m (ẍ2 + 2ẍ1 cos θ) =mg sin θ
dt ∂ ẋ2 ∂x2

which results in two equations of motion,

)
M ẍ1 + m (ẍ1 + 2ẍ2 cos θ) =0
(8.4.32)
ẍ2 + 2ẍ1 cos θ =g sin θ
where the top and bottom equations of (8.4.32) result from the Euler-Lagrange equation
with x1 and x2 , respectively. The problem asks to find the acceleration of each object.
Equations (8.4.32) are two coupled second-order differential equations, which we can
solve algebraically for ẍ1 and ẍ2 ,

−mg cos θ sin θ (M + m) g sin θ

ẍ1 = and ẍ2 =
(M + m) − m cos2 θ (M + m) − m cos2 θ
Further simplification of the resulting accelerations can be done. However, we left
them in this form so that several points can be made. First note that in the limit of
M → ∞, we find that the inclined plane does not accelerate and that the particle has
an acceleration ẍ2 = g sin θ which one expects from introductory physics. Likewise,
when θ = π/2, M does not accelerate and m has an acceleration of g, just as we would
expect. There are other limits worth exploring, such as M → 0, which we leave as an
exercise for the reader.

Python Code
Notice how we needed to explicitly state the Derivative command in the results
found in x_solns, where we solve for ẍ1 and ẍ2 .
296 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

from sympy import diff, symbols, Function, euler_equations

from sympy import simplify, solve, sin, cos, Derivative
import textwrap

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

wrapper = [Link](width=74)

M, m, g, l, q,t = symbols('M,m,g,l,q,t',positive=True)
# we use q symbol for the angle theta

x1 = Function('x1')
x2 = Function('x2')

L = 1/2*M*diff(x1(t),t)**2 + 1/2*m*(diff(x1(t),t)**2 + \
diff(x2(t),t)**2 + \
2*diff(x1(t),t)*diff(x2(t),t)*cos(q)) - \
m*g*(l-x2(t))*sin(q)

euler = euler_equations(L,(x1(t),x2(t)),t)
print('The Euler equations are:\n\n')
print([Link](str(euler[0])))
print('\n' + [Link](str(euler[1])))

x_solns = simplify(\
solve(euler,(diff(x1(t),t,t),diff(x2(t),t,t))))

print('\nThe second derivatives of x1, x2 are:\n')

print('a1 =', x_solns[Derivative(x1(t), (t, 2))])
print('a2 =', \
simplify(x_solns[Derivative(x2(t), (t, 2))]))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The Euler equations are:

Eq(-1.0*M*Derivative(x1(t), (t, 2)) - m*(cos(q)*Derivative(x2(t), (t, 2))

+ Derivative(x1(t), (t, 2))), 0)

Eq(g*m*sin(q) - m*(cos(q)*Derivative(x1(t), (t, 2)) + Derivative(x2(t),

(t, 2))), 0)

The second derivatives of x1, x2 are:

a1 = g*m*sin(q)*cos(q)/(-M + m*cos(q)**2 - m)
a2 = g*(M + m)*sin(q)/(M + m*sin(q)**2)
Constraint forces and lagrange’s equation with undetermined multipliers 297

Mathematica Code
Having two degrees of freedom changes little about the code compared to earlier
problems. Note that the second element of the command EulerEquations is a list of
dependent functions {x1,x2}.
<< VariationalMethods`

L = 1/2 ∗ M ∗ x1′[t]∧ 2 + 1/2 ∗ m ∗ (x1′[t]∧ 2 + x2′[t]∧ 2 + 2 ∗ x1′[t] ∗ x2′[t] ∗ Cos[θ])−

m ∗ g ∗ (l − x2[t]) ∗ Sin[θ];

euler = EulerEquations[L, {x1[t], x2[t]}, t]//FullSimplify



(m + M )x1′′ [t] + mCos[θ]x2′′ [t] == 0, gmSin[θ] == m Cos[θ]x1′′ [t] + x2′′ [t]

Solve[euler, {x1”[t], x2”[t]}][[1]]//FullSimplify

n o
x1′′ [t] → gmSin[2θ] ′′
−m−2M +mCos[2θ] , x2 [t]
2g(m+M )Sin[θ]
→ − −m−2M +mCos[2θ]

One of the important issues demonstrated in Example 8.5 is about choosing the right ve-
locity. We needed to make sure that the velocity of each particle was measured with respect
to the same reference frame, in order to have a consistent kinetic energy. Also notice that
∂L/∂x1 = 0. This tells us that the x1 -component of the generalized force is zero. This will
have consequences which we will discuss in Section 8.7. Finally, Example 8.5 is a demon-
stration of a problem that has two degrees of freedom. In this case, we only needed to find
the acceleration of each object. If instead we needed to find x1 (t) and x2 (t), we might have
a difficult time solving the coupled second-order differential equations. Coupled differential
equations are typically difficult to solve, and we often must rely on numerical methods.
In the next section, we will return to the Lagrange formalism and study more closely
systems with constraints.

8.5 CONSTRAINT FORCES AND LAGRANGE’S EQUATION WITH UNDE-

TERMINED MULTIPLIERS
In Section 8.2, we studied the example of the simple plane pendulum and we found that
there was a constraint on the coordinates x and y. For a pendulum of length ℓ, there is the
following relationship between x and y,

x2 + y 2 = ℓ2 (8.5.1)
Notice that (8.5.1) takes the form,

f (x, y) = constant (8.5.2)

2 2
where f (x, y) = x + y . We will call equations of the form (8.5.2) constraint equations
and in this section, we will show how the Lagrange formulation allows us to directly handle
constraints without the substitutions done in earlier chapters. The method is sometimes
called the method of Lagrange multipliers or Lagrange undetermined multipliers. We will
298 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

see that by using the constraint equation, we can also find the force causing the constraint.
In the case of the pendulum, the constraint force is the tension in the pendulum’s string.
Before developing the method of Lagrange multipliers, it is important to discuss types of
constraints. In this chapter, we will focus on holonomic constraints. Holonomic constraints
are constraint equations which can be written as an algebraic relationship between the
coordinates. Equation (8.5.2) is an example of such a constraint. Sometimes, holonomic
constraints are written in the form,

f (qi ; t) = 0 (8.5.3)

where the abbreviation qi says that f is a function of several coordinates (for example, x,
y, and z in Cartesian coordinates), and the semicolon shows f ’s indirect dependence on
time (through the coordinates qi ). For example, we can rewrite (8.5.1) in the form of (8.5.2)
by writing f (qi ; t) = f (x, y) = x2 + y 2 − ℓ2 = 0. Constraints that must be written as
relationships involving velocities are called nonholonomic constraints, unless the constraint
equation can be integrated to produce a relationship between coordinates. Although we will
not discuss nonholonomic constraints further, the interested reader can consult the classic
text by Thornton and Marion [6].
Now we will derive Lagrange’s equations with undetermined multipliers. We derive the
equations for a system with two degrees of freedom, x and y, and then discuss a general-
ization for systems with higher degrees of freedom. The system will have one holonomic
constraint of the form, f (x, y) = constant. We know that finding the equations of motion
involves finding functions x(t) and y(t) that make the action integral,
Z t2


S= L X, Ẋ, Y, Ẏ dt (8.5.4)
t1

stationary. We then write,

)
X(a, t) =x(t) + aηx (t)
(8.5.5)
Y (a, t) =y(t) + aηy (t)
where x(t) and y(t) are the functions that make (8.5.4) stationary, and ηx (t) and ηy (t) are
perturbations from x and y with ηx (t1 ) = ηy (t1 ) = 0 and ηx (t2 ) = ηy (t2 ) = 0. By inserting
(8.5.5) into (8.5.4) and using (7.6.3) we obtain:
Z t2   Z t2  
∂S ∂L d ∂L ∂L d ∂L
= − ηx dt + − ηy dt (8.5.6)
∂a t1 ∂X dt ∂ Ẋ t1 ∂Y dt ∂ Ẏ
However, (8.5.6) is only true for motions that satisfy the constraint f (X, Y ) = constant.
Therefore, along the path of the particle,
df ∂f ∂f
= ηx + ηy = 0 (8.5.7)
da ∂X ∂Y
Recall that dX/da = ηx and dY /da = ηy . Solving (8.5.7) for ηy /ηx and inserting the result
into (8.5.6), we obtain:
Z t2     
∂S ∂L d ∂L ∂L d ∂L ∂f /∂Y
= − − − ηx dt (8.5.8)
∂a t1 ∂X dt ∂ Ẋ ∂Y dt ∂ Ẏ ∂f /∂X
Setting ∂S/∂a = 0 at a = 0 gives (recall that X(a = 0, t) = x(t), and similar for Y (0, t)),
  −1   −1
∂L d ∂L ∂f ∂L d ∂L ∂f
− = − (8.5.9)
∂x dt ∂ ẋ ∂x ∂y dt ∂ ẏ ∂y
Constraint forces and lagrange’s equation with undetermined multipliers 299

The left-hand side of (8.5.9) depends on derivatives with respect to x and ẋ, while the
right-hand side depends on derivatives with respect to y and ẏ. Note that x and y are both
functions of t. In order for the two sides of (8.5.9) to be equal, they must both be equal
to a function of only t. We will define that function to be −λ(t), and we call λ Lagrange’s
undetermined multiplier. We do not know λ, hence the name “undetermined multiplier.”
Setting each side of (8.5.9) equal to −λ we obtain,

∂L d ∂L ∂f 

− = − λ(t) 
∂x dt ∂ ẋ ∂x
(8.5.10)
∂L d ∂L ∂f 
− = − λ(t)  
∂y dt ∂ ẏ ∂x
Equations (8.5.10) along with f (x, y) = constant will produce the equations of motion for
the system.
Of course, not all systems are limited to only two degrees of freedom and one constraint
equation. In general, systems will have n degrees of freedom and m equations of constraint.
We have already seen how to generalize the Lagrange formulation for s degrees of freedom,
in which case we have s Euler-Lagrange equations to solve. However, multiple constraint
equations means that there will be multiple derivatives dfj /da (j = 1, . . . , m, with m equal
to the number of constraints) that we will have to include in the derivation above. The
result is:

Euler-Lagrange Equation with Undetermined Multipliers


∂L d ∂L Xm
∂fj 
− =− λj (t) 
∂qi dt ∂ q˙i ∂q i (8.5.11)
j=1


f (q ; t) =0 
j i

where i = 1, . . . , n, j = 1, . . . , m, and we have used generalized coordinates qi . Notice

that in (8.5.11) there are m undetermined multipliers λj , one for each constraint equation
fj (qi ; t) = constant.
Before moving on to an example, there are two important points we should make. First,
you might be wondering why one would use Lagrange multipliers. Using Lagrange multipliers
can save one from doing a lot of messy algebra when it comes to solving f for the relationship
between coordinates.
√ For example, in the pendulum problem, if we solved f for y, we would
have y = ± ℓ2 − x2 . We would have to deal with both the positive and negative roots.
However, as we will see in the example below, using Lagrange’s multipliers will help simplify
the procedure. That said, the power of modern computer algebra systems may make this
argument less compelling than it once was.
The second point is more important theoretically. It turns out that the Lagrange mul-
tiplier can tell us the force causing the constraint in the system. To illustrate this, we will
consider a simple system with two degrees of freedom and one constraint. The Lagrangian is,
1

L= m ẋ2 + ẏ 2 − V (x, y)
2
and inserting this Lagrangian into the Euler-Lagrange equation yields,

∂V ∂f 
− − mẍ = − λ  
∂x ∂x
(8.5.12)
∂V ∂f 
− − mÿ = − λ  
∂y ∂y
300 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

We will focus on the equation involving x, which can be written in the form:
∂V ∂f
mẍ = − +λ (8.5.13)
∂x ∂x
The left-hand side mẍ is the x-component of the net force acting on the system. In
this case, there are two forces acting on the system: an external force, associated with the
potential energy V (x, y), and the constraint force. The first term in the right-hand side of
(8.5.13) is the x-component of the external force acting on the system, gravity for example.
The remaining term λ∂f /∂x must therefore be the x-component of the constraint force.
We can repeat a similar argument for the y-equation (8.5.12) to see that λ∂f /∂y is the
y-component of the constraint force. In general we have,

Constraint Force from Lagrange’s Undetermined Multiplier

c ∂fj
Fj,q = λj (8.5.14)
i
∂qi

c
where Fj,q i
is the qi -component of the constraint force associated with the constraint equa-
tion fj (qi ; t) = constant. The following example illustrates the use of the Euler-Lagrange
equation to derive a constraint force.

Example 8.6: Particle on a sphere

A particle of mass m starts on top of a smooth fixed sphere of radius R. At time
t = 0, the particle is perturbed by a very small force. The particle slides along the
sphere’s surface before it eventually falls off. Find the angle the particle makes as it
falls off of the sphere’s surface.
Solution:
Figure 8.7 illustrates the system when the particle has an angular displacement θ
from its starting position.

θ R

Figure 8.7: A particle of mass m on a hemisphere of radius R for Example 8.6.

To begin the problem, we start by selecting polar coordinates to solve the problem.
Because the particle is moving on the surface of the sphere, our constraint equation is,

f (r; t) = r − R = 0 (8.5.15)
The force of constraint is the force that keeps the particle on the sphere and ṙ =
0. When the particle leaves the sphere’s surface, ṙ = ̸ 0; therefore, there will be an
acceleration in the radial direction. We can find the relevant constraint force by finding:
Constraint forces and lagrange’s equation with undetermined multipliers 301

∂f
Frc = λ
.
∂r
We know ∂f /∂r, so we need to find λ. We will find λ by setting up the Euler-
Lagrange equations for the system.
Using polar coordinates, we can write down the kinetic and potential energies for
the system:
1

T = m ṙ2 + r2 θ̇2
2
V =mgr cos θ
1

L = m ṙ2 + r2 θ̇2 − mgr cos θ
2
where we used the horizontal line in Figure 8.7 as y = 0, and therefore the potential
energy can be written as mgy with y = r cos θ. The Euler-Lagrange equations are:
 
∂L d ∂L ∂f
− =−λ (8.5.16)
∂r dt ∂ ṙ ∂r
 
∂L d ∂L ∂f
− =−λ . (8.5.17)
∂θ dt ∂ θ̇ ∂θ
By substituting the Lagrangian L and the constraint equation, we obtain:

mrθ̇2 − mg cos θ − mr̈ = − λ (8.5.18)

−mgr sin θ − mr θ̈ − 2mrṙθ̇ =0
2
(8.5.19)
Next, we apply the equation of constraint, r = R and ṙ = r̈ = 0, because we want
to know the angle θ just before the particle leaves the sphere’s surface.

mRθ̇2 − mg cos θ = − λ
(8.5.20)
−mgR sin θ − mR2 θ̈ =0
In the first equation above, we have found that λ = λ(θ, θ̇). The second equation
will give us a way of finding θ(t),
g
θ̈ = sin θ (8.5.21)
R
While we could attempt to integrate (8.5.21) and solve for θ, we actually don’t need
to do that. What we really need is θ̇, which can be found from (8.5.21) using,

dθ̇ dθ̇ dθ dθ̇

θ̈ = = = θ̇ (8.5.22)
dt dθ dt dθ
By inserting (8.5.22) into (8.5.21), we get:
Z Z
g
θ̇dθ̇ = sin θdθ
R
After integrating we find:
g
θ̇2 = 2(1 − cos θ)
R
and inserting the result into (8.5.20) to get:
λ = mg (3 cos θ − 2)
302 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

The constraint force is then:

∂f
Frc = λ = mg (3 cos θ − 2)
∂r
Note that when the particle is on top of the sphere (θ = 0), the constraint force is mg.
Finally, the particle leaves the surface of the sphere when the constraint force is equal
to zero, hence we want the angle θ0 for which Frc = 0,
 
−1 2
θ0 = cos
3

Notice that this angle does not depend on the mass of the particle or the radius of the
sphere!

8.6 CONSERVATION THEOREMS AND THE LAGRANGIAN

Besides being used to derive a system’s equations of motion, the Lagrangian can help us
identify conserved quantities in the system. In particular, we will look at conservation of
momentum and energy.

8.6.1 CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM

We already know that in Newtonian mechanics the total momentum of an isolated system
of particles is conserved. We would expect to find that the total momentum is conserved for
the isolated system in the Lagrange formulation as well. One important feature of isolated
systems is that they are translationally invariant. In other words, if you move each particle
in the system by the same amount and in the same direction, then there is no change in the
system, other than the location of each particle. We will see that translational invariance
of the Lagrangian will lead to momentum conservation in the system.
The connection between translational invariance of the Lagrangian and momentum con-
servation is a result of Noether’s theorem, which states that whenever there is a continuous
symmetry in the Lagrangian, there is a corresponding conservation law. Noether’s theo-
rem was proved by Emmy Noether (1882–1935) in 1915 and published in 1918 [7]. In this
subsection, we will demonstrate the translational invariance of the Lagrangian, and we will
connect the symmetry to the conservation of momentum.
Consider a system of N isolated particles of mass mα , where α = 1, . . . , N . The location
of each particle is denoted by rα . Next we shift all of these particles through the same
displacement dr, which is our “translation,” rα → rα + dr. We need to show that the
Lagrangian will remain constant under the translation. In other words,

dL = L (rα + dr, ṙα ; t) − L (rα , ṙα ; t) = 0 (8.6.1)

Notice that there is no shift in the velocity in (8.6.1). We will discuss why below. Since
the Lagrangian consists of both the kinetic and potential energies, we need to show both
dT = 0 and dV = 0.
We will first demonstrate dT = 0. Notice that the translation does not change the
velocity of the particles because dr is constant. The kinetic energy depends on the velocity,
T = 21 mṙ · ṙ, and the displacements do not change the velocities; therefore, the kinetic
energy does not change with the translation and therefore dT = 0.
Conservation theorems and the lagrangian 303

The translation does affect the position of the particle. The careful reader might then
think that dV ̸= 0, because potential energies are often position dependent. Wouldn’t the
gravitational potential energy change with translation? Yes! However, recall that this is an
isolated system, meaning that there are no external forces acting on the system. Further-
more, inter-particle forces are usually dependent on the distances between particles. Because
all of the particles experience the same displacement, the distances between particles will
not change. Hence, dV = 0, and therefore dL = 0.
Now that we have demonstrated the translational invariance of the Lagrangian, we
can make the connection between the symmetry and the conservation of momentum. For
simplicity, we will set N = 1, but the following holds for any number of particles. In addition,
we will use generalized
P coordinates
P with generalized unit vectors êi , again for simplicity of
notation, r = qi êi and dr = êi dqi . Hence, for a single particle under the translation,

Xs
∂L Xs
∂L
dL = dqi + dq̇i = 0 (8.6.2)
i=1
∂qi i=1
∂ q̇i
where s is equal to the particle’s number of degrees of freedom. Because dr is not a function
of time,
 
dqi d
dq̇i = d = (dqi ) = 0
dt dt
Therefore (8.6.2) becomes:

Xs
∂L
dL = dqi = 0 (8.6.3)
i=1
∂qi
Because dqi ̸= 0, we must have
∂L
=0 (8.6.4)
∂qi
for all i, and therefore according to the Euler-Lagrange equation,
 
d ∂L
=0 (8.6.5)
dt ∂ q˙i
Equation (8.6.5) then tells us that:
∂L
pi = = constant (8.6.6)
∂ q̇i
We have already seen that pi is the ith component of the particle’s generalized momen-
tum. The quantity pi is sometimes also referred to as the canonical momentum conjugate to
qi . From (8.6.4), we see that when L does not explicitly depend on the coordinate qi , then
the canonical momentum conjugate to qi is conserved. In other words, if qi does not appear
in L, then pi is constant. Visual inspection of the Lagrangian can tell you what momenta are
conserved in the system! If qi does not appear in L, then changing qi will not change L and
L is said to be “invariant” under changes of qi . Note that we can extend the work above to
N -particle systems by including an additional sum over α = 1, . . . , N . The procedure would
then follow as done above. Finally, when the Lagrangian is independent of the coordinate
qi , then qi is called a cyclic coordinate. Next, we will see that time-translational symmetry
in the Lagrangian will lead to conservation of energy.
304 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

8.6.2 CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

We will now see how time-translational invariance of the Lagrangian leads to conservation
of energy. Time-translational invariance of the Lagrangian means that the Lagrangian does
not explicitly depend on time, i.e., ∂L/∂t = 0.
Let us begin by considering a single-particle system with s degrees of freedom. Like
the work done connecting translational invariance of the Lagrangian to the conservation of
momentum, we can extend what follows to N -particle systems by including an additional
sum to the equations below.
We begin by finding the total time derivative of the Lagrangian, which according to the
chain-rule is
  s  
dL X X
s
∂L ∂L ∂L
= q̇i + q¨i + (8.6.7)
dt i=1
∂qi i=1
∂ q̇i ∂t
For now, we will not restrict ourselves to Lagrangians that are time translationally invariant.
Next, we will insert the Euler-Lagrange equation
 
∂L d ∂L
= (8.6.8)
∂qi dt ∂ q̇i
into (8.6.7) to obtain,
  s  
dL X X
s
d ∂L ∂L ∂L
= q̇i + q¨i + (8.6.9)
dt i=1
dt ∂ q̇i i=1
∂ q̇i ∂t
Xs  
d ∂L ∂L
= q̇i + (8.6.10)
i=1
dt ∂ q̇i ∂t

If the Lagrangian is invariant to time translations, then ∂L/∂t = 0 and therefore (8.6.10)
becomes, " #
d Xs
L− pi q̇i = 0 (8.6.11)
dt i=1

where we used pi = ∂L/∂ q̇i . We see that we have a new conserved quantity in the square
brackets of (8.6.11). The conserved quantity is called the Hamiltonian function, or simply
the Hamiltonian. The Hamiltonian is defined as:

The Hamiltonian
X
s
H= pi q̇i − L (8.6.12)
i=1

where s is the number of degrees of freedom. As stated above, the Hamiltonian is an im-
portant quantity in both classical and quantum physics.
When the Lagrangian is invariant to time translations, then the Hamiltonian is constant
in time. The question remains, how does any of this connect to conservation of energy? To
answer that question, let us look at the simple harmonic oscillator (SHO). The Lagrangian
for the SHO is
1 1
L = mẋ2 − kx2 (8.6.13)
2 2
Conservation theorems and the lagrangian 305

where we will consider the standard model of the SHO, a mass m connected to a massless
spring with spring constant k displaced a distance x from its equilibrium position located at
x = 0, allowed to slide along a horizontal frictionless surface. In this case, we have one degree
of freedom and one generalized coordinate q1 = x. We can find the canonical momentum
conjugate to x,
∂L
p= = mẋ (8.6.14)
∂ ẋ
Inserting p = mẋ and q̇ = ẋ into (8.6.12), we find

H = mẋ2 − L = 2T − (T − V ) = T + V = E (8.6.15)

We see, at least for the SHO, that the Hamiltonian is equal to the total mechanical energy.
Next, we will prove that H = T + V for a wider class of systems.
Under the right conditions, the Hamiltonian is the total energy of the system. Consider
a system of N particles, each denoted by the index α = 1, 2, . . . , N described by the
generalized coordinates q1 , . . . , qn . We will now prove that if

rα = rα (q1 , . . . , qn ) (8.6.16)

where rα is the time-independent location of mα in Cartesian coordinates, then H = T + V .

In other words, the condition for H = T + V is that the transformation between Cartesian
and generalizedPcoordinates must be time-independent. We begin by computing the kinetic
energy T = 12 α mα ṙα · ṙα in terms of the generalized coordinates qi . The time derivative
of (8.6.16) is
Xn
∂rα
ṙα = q̇j (8.6.17)
j=1
∂qj

Therefore   !
X ∂rα X ∂rα
ṙ2α = ṙα · ṙα =  q̇j  · q̇k (8.6.18)
j
∂q j ∂qk
k

The total kinetic energy is then

1X 1X
T = mα ṙ2α = ajk q̇j q̇k (8.6.19)
2 α 2
j,k

where    
X ∂rα ∂rα
ajk = mα · (8.6.20)
α
∂qj ∂qk
and ajk = ajk (q1 , . . . , qn ). Next, we will compute the canonical momentum conjugate to qi ,

∂L ∂T X
pi = = = aij q̇j (8.6.21)
∂ q̇i ∂ q̇i j

Proof of (8.6.21) is left as Problem 28 in the End-of-Chapters Problems. Finally, we insert

(8.6.21) into (8.6.12):   
X X 

H=  aij q̇j  q̇i − L



i j
(8.6.22)


=2T − (T − V ) 



=T + V
306 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

In summary, as long as L is invariant to translations in time (i.e., not explicitly dependent

on time), the Hamiltonian is a conserved quantity. In addition, if the transformation from
Cartesian coordinates to generalized coordinates is time-independent, then the Hamiltonian
is equal to the total mechanical energy of the system. This is another demonstration of
Noether’s theorem.
Both the connections between the symmetries (translational invariance and time-
translational invariance of L), and the conservation laws (momentum and energy), result
from cyclic coordinates. A wise choice for a set of generalized coordinates would be one such
that there are as many cyclic coordinates as possible. If such a set could be found, then
there will be many conserved quantities which will likely simplify the equations of motion
for our system. Not only are simple equations of motion easier to solve, they are also easier
to use to gain insight into the system of interest.

8.7 HAMILTONIAN DYNAMICS

The Hamiltonian is an important quantity in both classical and quantum physics. In quan-
tum mechanics, the Hamiltonian is an important element of the Schrödinger equation which
is used to find a particle’s wave function. In classical mechanics, the Hamiltonian can be
used to derive a system’s equations of motion. In this section, we will show how to derive
Hamilton’s equations which will provide the equations of motion for a system in terms of
pi and qi .
We begin our derivation with another look at generalized momentum. Recall that the
generalized momentum can be found using the Lagrangian,
∂L
pi = (8.7.1)
∂ q̇i
Because the Lagrangian is a function of both generalized coordinates and generalized veloc-
ities, the momentum can be written as pi = pi (qj , q̇j ; t). The function for the momentum
can in general be inverted such that,
q̇j = q̇j (qk , pk ; t) (8.7.2)
If we combine (8.7.2) with the definition of the Hamiltonian,
X
H= pi q̇i − L (qk , q̇k ; t) (8.7.3)
i
we find that the Hamiltonian is a function of generalized coordinates and generalized mo-
menta, H = H (qk , pk ; t).
Now we are ready to derive Hamilton’s equations of motion. We will derive Hamilton’s
equations for a system with one degree of freedom and leave the derivation for the s-degrees
of freedom for Problem 31 in the End-of-Chapter Problems. We begin by calculating the
total differential of H = H(q, p; t),
∂H ∂H ∂H
dH = dq + dp + dt (8.7.4)
∂q ∂p ∂t
Next, we calculate dH using (8.7.3),
dH = q̇dp + pdq̇ − dL (8.7.5)
 
∂L ∂L ∂L
= q̇dp + pdq̇ − dq + dq̇ + dt (8.7.6)
∂q ∂ q̇ ∂t
 
∂L
= q̇dp + pdq̇ − ṗdq + pdq̇ + dt (8.7.7)
∂t
Hamiltonian dynamics 307

where we used,
d d ∂L ∂L
ṗ =
(p) = =
dt dt ∂ q̇ ∂q
from the Euler-Lagrange equation. Collecting terms, (8.7.7) becomes,
∂L
dH = q̇dp − ṗdq −dt (8.7.8)
∂t
Finally, we equate the coefficients of dq and dp in (8.7.4) and (8.7.8) to get Hamilton’s
equations for a system with one degree of freedom,
∂H ∂H
q̇ = ṗ = − (8.7.9)
∂p ∂q
Hamilton’s equations for a system of s degrees of freedom are:

Hamilton’s Equations of Motion

∂H ∂H
q˙k = ṗk = − k = 1, . . . , s (8.7.10)
∂pk ∂qk

Hamilton’s equations of motion are also sometimes referred to as the canonical equations
of motion, and the description of a particle’s motion by these equations is referred to as
Hamiltonian dynamics. Regardless of the number of degrees of freedom, we also have the
relationship:
∂H ∂L
=− (8.7.11)
∂t ∂t
found by equating the coefficients of dt in (8.7.4) and (8.7.8).
Finally, if we divide (8.7.4) by dt, we find that,
dH ∂H
= (8.7.12)
dt ∂t
While both the Lagrangian and the Hamiltonian can be used to find a system’s equa-
tions of motion, there are some differences between the two formulations. First, notice that
for a system of s degrees of freedom, Hamilton’s equations result in 2s first-order ODEs.
The Lagrange formulation for the same system results in s second-order ODEs. Hamilton’s
formulation uses generalized coordinates and generalized momenta, while the Lagrange for-
mulation uses generalized coordinates and generalized velocities. These different properties
are summarized in Table 8.1.

Table 8.1
Summary of the Hamilton and Lagrange formulations of a system’s equations of motion
for a system with s degrees of freedom and no constraints.
Formulation Number of Equations Order of Equations Coordinates Used

Lagrange s 2 qk and q̇k

Hamilton 2s 1 qk and pk
308 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

You now have three different methods of formulating a system’s equations of motion:
Newton’s second law, the Lagrangian, and the Hamiltonian. In addition, you can use con-
servation laws to set up and solve problems. The method you choose will depend on what
information you are given, and what information you want to learn about the problem at
hand. In fact, you may learn different things by solving the same problem using multiple
techniques. Once students learn about Lagrangians, they sometimes ignore Newton’s second
law, but Newton’s second law can be the easiest one to use when dealing with drag forces
and (as we will see later) noninertial reference frames. Use the right tool for the job!
To end this section, we present a few examples of using the Hamilton formulation in
order to find equations of motion. Notice that all of these examples will have a common
theme: in order to find H, one needs to first find L and compute the generalized momenta.

Example 8.7: The simple pendulum revisited, again

Find Hamilton’s equations for the simple plane pendulum from Figure 8.1. Using
m = 1.0 kg, ℓ = 1.0 m, and g = 9.8 m/s2 , plot θ(t) with initial conditions θ(0) = 3.0
rad and θ̇(0) = 0.
Solution:
From our work done earlier in this chapter, we know that the Lagrangian for this
system is given by (8.2.5):
1 2 2
L= mℓ θ̇ + mgℓ cos θ
2
where we used the coordinate θ instead of q. To find the Hamiltonian, we compute the
canonical momentum conjugate to θ,
∂L
pθ = = mℓ2 θ̇ (8.7.13)
∂ θ̇
Next, we use (8.6.12) to find the Hamiltonian,

H =pθ θ̇ − L
 
pθ 1 2  p θ 2
=pθ − mℓ + mgℓ cos θ (8.7.14)
mℓ2 2 mℓ2
p2
= θ 2 − mgℓ cos θ
2mℓ
Notice that we needed to substitute for θ̇ in order to get H in terms of θ and
pθ . Further, notice that the Hamiltonian is equal to the total mechanical energy of the
system because the transformation between Cartesian coordinates and polar coordinates
is not time-dependent.
Finally, we compute Hamilton’s equations,

∂H pθ 

θ̇ = → θ̇ = 2 
∂pθ mℓ
(8.7.15)

→ ṗθ = −mgℓ sin θ
∂H
ṗθ = − 
∂θ
There are a few things to notice with our solution. First, Hamilton’s equation for θ̇
simply reproduces what was obtained by computing the canonical momentum. Second,
the canonical momentum in this case is actually the angular momentum, not the linear
momentum. Finally, notice that ṗθ is the torque acting on the system.
Hamiltonian dynamics 309

We plot a numerical solution to (8.7.15) using the following Mathematica and

Python codes. Note that we use the initial conditions θ(0) = 3 rad and pθ (0) = 0.
The initial condition for pθ is found using (8.7.13). We show the output for the Math-
ematica code in Figure 8.8.

Python Code
We use diff to evaluate the partial derivatives of the Hamiltonian, and odeint is
used to integrate numerically the system of equations (8.7.15). The symbolic results are
the same as the analytical ones obtained above.

from sympy import diff, symbols, Function, cos

from [Link] import odeint

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

ptheta, m, l, g, theta = symbols('ptheta, m, l, g, theta ',real=True)

H = ptheta**2/(2*m*l**2)-m*g*l*cos(theta)

print('theta-dot = ', diff(H,ptheta))

print('\nptheta-dot = ', -diff(H,theta))

m, l, g = 1, 1, 9.8

def deriv(y, t):

q, p = y #let v = dq/dt
dydt = [p/(m*l**2), -m*g*l*[Link](q)]
return dydt

ics = [3,0]
t = [Link](0,20,100)

soln = odeint(deriv, ics, t)

[Link](t,soln[:,0])
[Link]('time')
[Link]('theta')
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

theta-dot = ptheta/(l**2*m)

ptheta-dot = -g*l*m*sin(theta)
310 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

Mathematica Code
We use NDSolve to solve the system of equations (8.7.15).
SetOptions[Plot, Axes->False, Frame->True, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}];

H = pθ∧ 2/(2 ∗ m ∗ l∧ 2) − m ∗ g ∗ l ∗ Cos[θ];

Print[“θ-dot = ”, D[H, pθ]]

Print[“pθ-dot = ”, −D[H, θ]]

θ-dot = lpθ
2m

pθ-dot = − glmSin[θ]

l = 1.0;

m = 1.0;

g = 9.8;

soln = NDSolve[{θ′ [t] == pθ[t]/(ml∧ 2), pθ′ [t] == −mglSin[θ[t]], θ[0] == 3.0,

pθ[0] == 0}, {θ, pθ}, {t, 0, 20}];

Plot[θ[t]/.soln, {t, 0, 20}, BaseStyle → {Black, Bold, FontSize → 22},

Frame → True, Axes->False, FrameLabel → {“time”, “θ”}, ImageSize → Large]

0
θ

-1

-2

-3
0 5 10 15 20
time
Figure 8.8: Mathematica output for Example 8.7. Notice that with the large initial ampli-
tude, θ(t) is not sinusoidal.
Hamiltonian dynamics 311

Example 8.8: Mass on a cylinder

Find Hamilton’s equations of motion for a particle of mass m constrained to move
on the surface of a frictionless cylinder of radius R. The particle is attracted to the
origin by a force F = −krr̂ where k is a positive constant, r̂ is the unit vector pointing
from the origin to the particle’s position, and r is the distance between the particle and
the origin.
Solution:
An illustration of the system is shown in Figure 8.9.

ρ=R
m

r
z

Figure 8.9: A particle of mass m moving along a cylinder of radius R, in Example 8.8.

We begin by choosing cylindrical coordinates to describe the system. Furthermore,

there is one equation of constraint,

x2 + y 2 = R 2 (8.7.16)
which can also be written as ρ2 = R2 . Therefore, there are two degrees of freedom in
this problem.
Next, we compute the kinetic energy. In cylindrical coordinates, v 2 = ρ̇2 + ρ2 θ̇2 + ż 2 .
However, using our constraint ρ̇ = 0, the kinetic energy of the particle becomes,

1

T =m R2 θ̇2 + ż 2 (8.7.17)
2
The potential energy is best found in Cartesian coordinates first. We are given that
 
F = −kr = −krr̂ = −k xî + y ĵ + z k̂ (8.7.18)

Therefore, the potential energy is

1
V = kr2
2 (8.7.19)
1

= k x2 + y 2 + z 2
2
If we apply the constraint (8.7.16), then the potential energy becomes
312 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

1

k R2 + z 2
V =
2
We next compute the Lagrangian L = T − V ,
1
1

L=m R2 θ̇2 + ż 2 − k R2 + z 2 (8.7.20)
2 2
From the Lagrangian we see that the canonical momentum conjugate to θ is con-
served because θ is a cyclic coordinate. In order to find the Hamiltonian, we need to
compute pθ and pz ,
∂L ∂L
pθ == mR2 θ̇ and pz = = mż (8.7.21)
∂ θ̇ ∂ ż
Note that pθ again is an angular momentum, whereas pz is the translational mo-
mentum. Next, we use (8.7.3) to find the Hamiltonian,

H =pθ θ̇ + pz ż − L (8.7.22)
 
 p 2  p 2  1 
pθ pz 1 θ z

=pθ + pz − m R 2
+ − k R +z
2 2
(8.7.23)
mR2 m 2 mR2 m 2
p2θ p2z 1

= + + k R2 + z 2 (8.7.24)
2mR2 2m 2
Finally, we use the Hamiltonian to compute Hamilton’s equations,

∂H pz 
→ ż = 
m 
ż =
∂pz 



∂H pθ 

θ̇ = → θ̇ = 
∂pθ mR2 (8.7.25)
∂H 

ṗz = − → ṗz = − kz  


∂z 

∂H 

ṗθ = − → ṗθ =0 
∂θ
Notice that ṗz is equal to the z-component of the external force acting on the system.

8.8 ADDITIONAL EXPLORATIONS INTO THE HAMILTONIAN

You might be wondering why we would ever want to use the Hamilton formulation, especially
given the fact that we typically need to find the Lagrangian in order to get the Hamiltonian.
Why not just use the Lagrange formulation? The reason is that Hamilton’s formulation is
powerful from a theoretical standpoint. For example, in the case of cyclic coordinates, the
equations of motion are extremely simple. Consider Example 8.8 where we studied the mass
constrained to move along the surface of a cylinder. Recall that θ was a cyclic coordinate
in Example 8.8. The equations of motion relevant to θ were,
pθ
θ̇ = and ṗθ = 0.
mR2
Because pθ is constant, it is easy to find θ(t),
Z t
pθ pθ
θ(t) = 2
dt′ = (t − t0 ) .
t0 mR mR2
Additional explorations into the hamiltonian 313

When the canonical momentum is constant, the equation of motion can be reduced to
quadrature (as above). If a coordinate system can be found such that all coordinates are
cyclic, then the equations of motion are trivial. In fact, it is possible to find such coordinate
systems. Those transformations were developed by Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi (1804–1851)
and the work is referred to as the Hamilton-Jacobi theory. Hamilton-Jacobi theory is beyond
the scope of this book, but the motivated reader should consult Goldstein et al. [8].
Furthermore, simply knowing the Hamiltonian alone can give us insight into all possible
behaviors of the system. This can be done by using the Hamiltonian to plot the system’s
phase space. Unlike in Chapter 6 where we plotted x versus v, we will plot p versus q
to create the phase space. In particular, we will plot the canonical momentum versus its
conjugate generalized coordinate. In general, the dimension of the phase space is 2s, where
s is the system’s number of degrees of freedom. Notice that H = H (qk , pk ) and will define
surfaces in the phase space. To understand the value of such plots, we will revisit the simple
pendulum, yet again.

Example 8.9: The phase space of the simple pendulum

Consider the simple plane pendulum. Using the Hamiltonian found in Example 8.7,
plot the phase space of the simple plane pendulum using the values m = 1.0 kg,
ℓ = 1.0 m, and g = 9.8 m/s2 . Specifically, plot the contours corresponding to the
initial conditions: (q, p) = (0.5 rad, 0 kg m2 /s), (2.0 rad, 0 kg m2 /s), (π rad, 0 kg m2 /s),
(π rad, ±4.43 kg m2 /s) and (π rad, ±6.26 kg m2 /s), and interpret the results.
Solution:
The Hamiltonian for the simple plane pendulum was found in Example 8.7,

p2
H(q, p) = − mgℓ cos q (8.8.1)
2mℓ2
where we have defined p = pθ and q = θ for simplicity of notation.
The initial conditions correspond to the following values of H:

Initial Condition (q0 , p0 ) H (q0 , p0 )

(0.5 rad, 0 kg m2 /s) -8.60
(2.0 rad, 0 kg m2 /s) 4.07
(π rad, 0 kg m2 /s) 9.8
(π rad, ±4.43 kg m2 /s) 19.61
(π rad, ±6.26 kg m2 /s) 29.39

Note the negative value of the first initial condition is due to the choice of y-coordinate
to describe the pendulum’s location. The codes to create a contour plot are shown
below. The result of the Python code is shown in Figure 8.10.
Notice that we plotted q only for its possible range of −π ≤ q ≤ π. Some of the
contours (contours with H ≤ 9.8) form closed loops. Closed contours correspond to
oscillatory motion, which is what we would expect for q ≤ π and an initial angular
velocity of zero. The contour for H = −8.60, is nearly elliptical and if we were to
further decrease the initial value of q, we would get a contour corresponding to a simple
harmonic motion. The contour H = 4.07 corresponds to a larger amplitude of oscillation
where the pendulum is no longer oscillating sinusoidally. The dashed line (red in the
314 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

e-book) corresponds to the largest amplitude oscillation where q = π and p = 0 initially.

Contours with H > 9.8 correspond to even higher values of energy where the pendulum
is now swinging in one direction continuously. Note that there are two contours for each
value of H > 9.8, one for clockwise and the other for counterclockwise rotations.

Python Code
In Python we use the command contour from the Matplotlib library. Unlike in
Mathematica, we must define a grid using [Link] for which we will calculate the
values of H. The value of each contour plotted is defined using the levels option in
the contour command.

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

m, l, g = 1, 1, 9.8

q_range = [Link](-[Link],[Link],100)
p_range = [Link](-10,10,100)

q, p = [Link](q_range,p_range)

H = p**2/(m*l**2) - m*g*l*[Link](q)

contour_plot = [Link](q,p,H, \
levels=[-8.6,4.07,9.8,19.61,29.39],colors=['k','k','r','k','k'],\
linestyles=['solid','solid', 'dashed','solid','solid'])

[Link](contour_plot)
[Link]('theta')
[Link]('p')
#[Link]('[Link]')
[Link]()
Additional explorations into the hamiltonian 315

Mathematica Code
We use the command ContourPlot to create the phase portrait for specific values
of H. The option Contours specifies the value of the contours plotted.
SetOptions[ContourPlot, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}];

l = 1.0;

m = 1.0;

g = 9.8;

2
p
H[q_, p_]:= 2ml2 − mglCos[q];

contour1 = H[0.5, 0];

contour2 = H[2.0, 0];

contour3 = H[π, 0];

contour4 = H[π, 4.43];

contour5 = H[π, 6.26];

contourList = {contour1, contour2, contour3, contour4, contour5};

ContourPlot[H[q, p], {q, −π, π}, {p, −10, 10}, ContourShading → None,

Contours → contourList, ContourStyle → {Bold, Black, {Red, Dashed}, Black, Black},

FrameLabel → {q, p}, ContourLabels->True]

316 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

10.0

7.5

5.0 29.39 19.61

2.5
−8.60
0.0
p

9.8
0
−2.5 4.07
19.61
−5.0 29.39

−7.5

−10.0
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3
theta

Figure 8.10: Contour plot of the simple pendulum’s Hamiltonian produced by Python in
Example 8.9.

The Hamilton formulation is a powerful one, especially for theoretical mechanics. Ex-
tensions of the Hamilton formulation like the Hamilton-Jacobi theory laid the groundwork
for the theoretical structure of quantum mechanics. Beyond Goldstein et al. [8], the very
motivated student will find Arnold [9] to be both a highly challenging and highly rewarding
presentation of theoretical mechanics that goes well beyond the undergraduate-level, tying
classical mechanics to advanced mathematics such as Lie algebra and symplectic geometry.

8.9 CHAPTER SUMMARY

The Lagrange formulation uses Hamilton’s principle, which says that the path a
particle will follow makes the action integral
Z t2
S= L (qi q̇i ; t) dt
t1

stationary. The functions qj (t) that make the action integral stationary can be found
using the Euler-Lagrange equation,
 
d ∂L ∂L
− =0
dt ∂ q̇i ∂qi
The Euler-Lagrange equation produces s second-order ODEs, where s is the number
of degrees of freedom in the system, which can be solved for qi (t).
In the case where there are m holonomic constraints on the system, we can express
the constraints as m constraint equations fj and the Euler-Lagrange equation becomes
End-of-chapter problems 317

∂L d ∂L Xm
∂fj
− =− λj (t)
∂qi dt ∂ q˙i j=1
∂qi

where λj are the undetermined Lagrange multipliers.

In addition to using the Lagrangian, the Hamiltonian can also be used to derive a
system’s equations of motion. The Hamiltonian is defined as,

X
s
H= pi q̇i − L.
i=1

Hamilton’s equations of motion are then

∂H ∂H
q˙i = and ṗi = − .
∂pi ∂qi

8.10 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, or numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 8.1: Introduction to the Lagrangian

1. Consider a free particle of mass m moving in three dimensions. The particle is

free of any external forces. Find the Lagrangian and the equations of motion for the
particle. Identify any conserved quantities. Solve this problem analytically and by
using Mathematica or Python.

2. Consider a particle of mass m moving in three dimensions near the surface of the
Earth. Find the Lagrangian and the equations of motion for the particle. Identify any
conserved quantities. Solve this problem analytically and by using Mathematica or
Python.

3. Consider a particle of mass m = 1.0 kg moving in one dimension under the

influence of the force F = −kx3 . Find the Lagrangian and the equations of motion.
Use a computer to solve for x(t) in the case where k = 0.1 N/m3 , x(0) = 1.0 m, and
ẋ(0) = 0 m/s.

Section 8.2: Generalized Coordinates and Degrees of Freedom

4. What is the number of degrees of freedom for a particle undergoing projectile motion
without air resistance? Are there any constraints on the motion? Assume that the
projectile travels a short enough distance that the Coriolis force (see Chapter 10) is
negligible.

5. Consider a disk of radius R rolling without sliding down an inclined plane. What
coordinates are needed to describe the state of the system? Are there constraints
among those quantities?
6. A very small ball of mass m and radius a is constrained to roll along the surface of a
sphere of R ≫ a. The ball is constrained to move along geodesics on the sphere. How
many degrees of freedom does the ball have?
318 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

Section 8.3: Hamilton’s Principle

7. Consider a single-particle system of s degrees of freedom. The particle experiences a

force which has an associated potential energy V (qi ). Show that the functions qi (t)
Rt
for i = 1, . . . , s that make the action integral S = t12 L (qi , q̇i ) dt stationary also obey
Newton’s laws. In other words, extend the work done in Section 8.3 to a single-particle
system with s-degrees of freedom.
8. Repeat Problem 7 for an N -particle system.

Sections 8.4 and 8.5: Examples of Lagrangian Dynamics

9. Fill in the necessary steps to calculate (8.4.19) and (8.4.20) in Example 8.3:
1

L= m R2 ω 2 + ℓ2 θ̇2 + 2Rℓω θ̇ sin (θ − ωt) − mg (R sin (ωt) − ℓ cos θ) (8.10.1)
2
g Rω 2
θ̈ + sin θ = cos (θ − ωt) (8.10.2)
ℓ ℓ
10. In Example 8.5, find the acceleration of the inclined plane and the particle in the limit
of M → 0. Discuss your results.

11. A simple plane pendulum made of a mass m and massless rod of length ℓ is
attached to a support that accelerates upward with an acceleration a. Write down the
pendulum’s x and y coordinates as a function of time t and parameter θ (defined as the
angular displacement from the pendulum’s stable equilibrium). Find the Lagrangian
and the pendulum’s equation of motion, both analytically and using a CAS. Find also
the period of small oscillations around the equilibrium position.

12. Consider the pendulum described in Problem 11. Plot the path of the pendulum
bob as a function of time in the xy-plane using ℓ = 1.0 m and a = g/10, g/2, g, and
2g. Use θ(0) = 0.25 rad and θ̇(0) = 0 as initial conditions.

13. Find the equation of motion for a simple plane pendulum made of a mass m and a
massless rod of length ℓ which is attached to a support that oscillates horizontally, such
that xs = a cos (ωt), where xs is the location of the support on the horizontal axis.
The support has no vertical motion. Write down the pendulum’s x and y coordinates
as a function of time t and parameter θ (defined as the angular displacement from
the pendulum’s stable equilibrium, as in Figure 8.1). Find the Lagrangian and the
pendulum’s Euler-Lagrange equation of motion, both analytically and using a CAS.

14. Consider the driven pendulum described in Problem 13. Plot the path of the
pendulum bob in the xy-plane using a = 0.25 m, ω02 = g/ℓ = 1 rad/s and ω =
ω0 /10, ω = ω0 /2, ω0 , and 2ω0 . Use θ(0) = 0.25 rad and θ̇(0) = 0 as initial conditions.

15. A simple plane pendulum made of a mass m and massless rod of length ℓ is
attached to a support that oscillates vertically, such that ys = a cos (ωt) , where ys is
the location of the support on the vertical axis. The support has no horizontal motion.
Write down the pendulum’s x and y coordinates as a function of time and parameter
θ (defined as the angular displacement from the pendulum’s stable equilibrium, as
in Figure 8.1). Find the Lagrangian and the pendulum’s Euler-Lagrange equation of
motion, both analytically and using a CAS.
End-of-chapter problems 319

ℓ1
θ1

m1

ℓ2
θ

m2

Figure 8.11: The double pendulum in Problem 8.17.

Figure 8.12: Circular wedge and mass in Problem 8.19.

16. Consider the driven pendulum described in Problem 15. Plot the path of the
pendulum bob in the xy-plane using a = 0.25 m, ω02 = g/ℓ = 1 rad/s and ω =
ω0 /10, ω0 /2, ω0 , and 2ω0 . Use θ(0) = 0.25 rad and θ̇(0) = 0 as initial conditions.
17. A double pendulum consists of two pendulums attached in series by massless rods as
shown in Figure 8.11. Find the equation of motion for the double pendulum. Note
that the motion of the pendulum is constrained to the plane like a simple plane
pendulum.

18. Consider a simple pendulum of mass m and initial length ℓ. After the pendulum
begins to swing, its length is shortened at a rate ℓ̇ = −α, where α is a constant.
Use the Lagrangian to compute the equations of motion of the system. Is the energy
conserved in this system? Solve this problem analytically and by using Mathematica
or Python.
19. A small particle with mass m slides down a smooth circular wedge with mass M and
radius of curvature R as shown in Figure 8.12. The wedge is free to move horizontally
along a frictionless surface. Find the equation of motion for each object.

20. Find the equations of motion for a single particle in three dimensions experiencing
a central force F (r) = F (r) r̂, where r is the magnitude of the position vector, and
F (r) is a scalar function. Use spherical coordinates.
320 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

21. A particle of mass m is constrained to move along a frictionless massless circular hoop
of radius a. The hoop rotates about its vertical diameter with a constant angular
speed ω. Find the equilibrium positions of the particle.

22. Consider a mass attached to a massless spring with a spring constant k and
equilibrium length ℓ that is allowed to swing on a frictionless plane. This is the so-
called elastic pendulum. Find the equation of motion for an elastic pendulum of mass
m and equilibrium length ℓ. Initially, the pendulum is stretched 0.25 meters from its
equilibrium length and displaced an angle of 0.5 radians from its stable equilibrium.
The pendulum is then released from rest. Plot the path of the pendulum bob in the
xy-plane using ℓ = 1, m = 1, k = 1 (in SI units) for t = 0 to 4.4 seconds.
23. A smooth horizontal circular wire of radius R rotates with constant angular speed ω
about a point on its perimeter. A particle of mass m is constrained to move along
the wire as shown in Figure 8.13. Find the equation of motion for the particle. About
what point does the particle oscillate?

ω
x

Figure 8.13: A bead restricted to move on a rotating circular wire in Problem 8.23.

24. A rope of mass M and length L is stretched out along a frictionless table such that
a length z0 is hanging over the edge of the table. Find the equation of motion of the
rope if it is released from rest. Use the Lagrangian to show that the rope requires a
time s
L
t= cosh−1 (L/z0 )
g
to completely slide off the table. You may remember this problem from Chapter 4,
where we solved it using Newton’s laws.
25. A particle of mass m moves in a plane under the force F = −αr2 where F points
towards the origin, and r is the magnitude of the position vector. Find the equations
of motion for the particle. Are there any conserved quantities? Is so, what are they?
26. A sphere of radius a and mass m is constrained to roll without slipping on the inside
of a cylinder with a radius R. Find the equations of motion of the sphere and calculate
the period of small oscillations.
27. A particle of mass m is constrained to move on a frictionless wire which is bent into
the shape of a helix with r = R and z = αθ, where R and α are positive constants. The
particle is under the influence of gravity, which points in the −z direction. Find the
equation of motion for the particle. What is the particle’s acceleration when R → 0?
End-of-chapter problems 321

Section 8.6: Conservation Theorems and the Lagrangian

28. Prove (8.6.21):
∂L ∂T X
pi = = = aij q̇j
∂ q̇i ∂ q̇i j

29. A particle of mass m moves within a force field that has an associated potential energy
V = −k/r where k is a positive constant. What are the conserved quantities for this
particle?
30. Consider a system with s degrees of freedom and Lagrangian L(qk , q̇k ), where k =
1, . . . , s. Now, let F = F(qk ) be any function of the generalized coordinates, qk . We
can construct an additional Lagrangian,
L′ = L + dF/dt
Show that L and L′ give the same equations of motion.
Section 8.7: Hamiltonian Dynamics
31. Derive Hamilton’s equations of motion for a system with s degrees of freedom.

32. A spherical pendulum is a simple pendulum that is not restricted to move in a

plane. Find the equations of motion for a spherical pendulum that has a fixed support
and consists of a massless rod of length ℓ attached to a mass m at the end of the rod.
Using m = 1 and ℓ = 1 (in SI units) plot the path of the spherical pendulum when
the pendulum bob has an initial position of r0 = î (where î is the unit vector along
the x-axis), and an initial angular velocity ω0 = θ̂ + ϕ̂ (where θ̂, ϕ̂ are the unit vector
in spherical coordinates). All quantities are in SI units.
33. Find Hamilton’s equations for a particle of mass m moving in the double-well potential,
V = − 21 kx2 + 14 ϵx4 , where k and ϵ are positive constants.
34. A particle of mass m moves within a force field that has an associated potential energy
V = −k/r, where k is a positive constant. Find Hamilton’s equations of motion.

35. Find Hamilton’s equations for the elastic pendulum described in Problem 22.
Plot the path of the elastic pendulum using the same parameter values and initial
conditions as in Problem 22. However, this time, plot the path of the pendulum from
t = 0 to t = 10 seconds.
36. Find Hamilton’s equations for a particle of mass m confined to the surface of a cone,
which in cylindrical coordinates is described by r = az, inside a uniform gravitational
field. Show that for a given energy, there are maximum and minimum values of z for
which the particle is confined.
37. Consider the force
k
F = − e−λt (8.10.3)
x
acting on a particle of mass m moving in one dimension. Assume that the constants
k and λ are bothR positive. We can create a “pseudo-potential energy,” using the rela-
tionship, V = − F dx. Using the pseudo-potential energy, find Hamilton’s equations
of motion for the particle. Compute ∂H/∂t and ∂L/∂t and show that they satisfy
(8.7.11):
∂H ∂L
=−
∂t ∂t
322 Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics

38. Recall the cycloid from the brachistochrone problem in Chapter 7,

y =a (1 − cos θ)
x =a (θ − sin θ)

where a is a constant and θ is the angle of rotation. Find Hamilton’s equations of

motion for a particle moving along a cycloid.
Looking for more Hamiltonian problems? Try finding the Hamiltonian for any of the prob-
lems from Sections 8.4 and 8.5 above!
Section 8.8: Additional Explorations into the Hamiltonian

39. Poisson brackets are an interesting method of representing the time evolution of
a quantity using the Hamiltonian. Consider two functions g(qk , pk ) and h(qk , pk ).
The functions g and h are functions of the generalized coordinates and generalized
momenta, similar to the Hamiltonian. The Poisson bracket is defined as:

X  ∂g ∂h ∂g ∂h

[g, h] = −
∂qk ∂pk ∂pk ∂qk
k

Using Poisson brackets, show:

dg ∂g
a. dt = [g, H] + ∂t , where H is the Hamiltonian.
b. q̇k = [qk , H].
c. ṗk = [pk , H].
d. [pi , pj ] = [qi , qj ] = 0.
e. [qi , pj ] = δij , where δij is the Kronecker delta (equal to 1 when i = j, and 0
otherwise).
40. If the Poisson bracket (see Problem 39) of two quantities is zero, the two quantities
are said to commute. Show that any time-independent quantity that commutes with
the Hamiltonian is conserved.

41. Both in Chapter 5 and in Problem 33 of this chapter, we studied the double-well
potential, V = − 21 kx2 + 14 ϵx4 .
a. Find the Hamiltonian for this potential.

b. Using the Hamiltonian, plot the phase space for ϵ = 1 and various values of k.
Use m = 1 for the particle’s mass.
c. How does the phase space change with k? For each value of k that you try,
describe the possible motions of the particle.
d. Draw the phase space plots and identify the types of motion associated with each
region of the phase space.
 9 Central Forces and Planetary
Motion
In this chapter we will first look at the concept of central forces and their importance in
describing physical phenomena. Next we examine the problem of two objects interacting
via a central force, this is the so called two-body problem. Our analysis of the two-body
problem will lead to Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion. We will obtain the solution of the
two-body problem both analytically and by numerically integrating Newton’s law. Finally,
we study the three-body problem where three objects interact via central forces. Solving
for the motion of one of the objects in the three-body problem will require us to use the
computational skills developed so far in this book.

9.1 CENTRAL FORCES

In this section, we will outline some general properties of central forces.
A central force is a force on a particle that is directed along a line that joins the particle
and the force center (such as the origin). When two particles interact via a central force F,
the force is always directed along the line that joins the centers of the particles, as shown
in Figure 9.1. As an example, F may be Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation (9.1.2), in
which case F21 is the force of gravitational attraction experience by m1 due to the presence
of m2 . Parallel to the force vectors in Figure 9.1 is a dashed line of length r, the distance
between the centers of m1 and m2 , and the unit vector r̂ which lies along the line joining
the two masses. Note that the vector r̂ in Figure 9.1 should lie on top of the vector F21 ,
but we placed it beside F21 for clarity in the image.
Central forces depend only on the distance r between the two interacting bodies. Therefore,
spherical coordinates provide a simple way of describing central forces, especially because
they do not depend on θ and ϕ. Hence, we can represent a central force generally in the
form:

General Formula for Central Forces

F = f (r)r̂ (9.1.1)

m1 r

F21
r

F12
m2
Figure 9.1: Two masses m1 and m2 interacting via a central force F.

323
324 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

where f (r) is a scalar function of the magnitude r of the position vector r, and r̂ is a unit
vector along the position vector as shown in Figure 9.1.
The best known examples of central forces in physics are Newton’s Law of Universal
Gravitation FG (r) between two masses m1 and m2 , and the electrostatic Coulomb force
FC (r) between two electric changes q1 and q2 . The mathematical description of these two
forces is very similar:
Gm1 m2
FG (r) = − r̂ (9.1.2)
r2
1 q1 q2
FC (r) = r̂ (9.1.3)
4πϵ0 r2
where G = 6.67×10−11 N m2 kg2 is the universal gravitational constant and ϵ0 = 8.85 ×
10−12 F/m is the corresponding constant for electrical forces, called the permittivity of free
space.

9.1.1 CENTRAL FORCES AND THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

A very important property of central forces is that they are conservative. This can be easily
seen by writing the general form of the curl of a force F in spherical coordinates:

   
1 ∂ ∂Fθ 1 1 ∂Fr ∂
∇×F= (Fϕ sin θ) − r̂ + − (rFϕ ) θ̂
r sin θ ∂θ ∂ϕ r sin θ ∂ϕ ∂r
 
1 ∂ (rFθ ) ∂Fr
+ − ϕ̂ (9.1.4)
r ∂r ∂θ
∂Fr ∂Fr
In the case of central forces we have Fθ = Fϕ = 0 , ∂ϕ =0, ∂θ = 0 so that (9.1.4) gives:

∇×F=0 (9.1.5)
and therefore, F is a conservative force.
As we saw in Chapter
R 5, conservative forces can be associated with potential energy
functions V (r) = − F · dr. The corresponding scalar gravitational potential energy VG
and electrostatic potential energy VC are:
Gm1 m2
VG (r) = − (9.1.6)
r
1 q1 q2
VC (r) = (9.1.7)
4πϵ0 r
Another well-known example of a central force is the intermolecular long-range Van der
Waals force, which is of importance in several branches of science. In one of its simplest
forms, the Van der Waals force between a pair of neutral atoms or molecules can be approx-
imated by the Lennard-Jones potential (also termed the L-J potential or 6-12 potential).
The mathematical form of the 6-12 potential VLJ (r) is:
hc c2 i
1
VLJ (r) = 12 − 6 (9.1.8)
r r
where c1 and c2 are constants with the appropriate SI units.
In the field of particle and atomic physics, the Yukawa short range nuclear force is of great
importance, and the corresponding Yukawa potential VY (r) is represented mathematically
by:
e−c5 r
VY (r) = c4 (9.1.9)
r
where c4 , and c5 are constants with the appropriate SI units.
The two-body problem 325

9.1.2 CENTRAL FORCES AND THE CONSERVATION OF ANGULAR MOMEN-

TUM
Next we will show that central forces conserve angular momentum. Consider a system of
N particles, where mi , ri , and pi are the mass, position, and momentum of particle i with
i = 1, . . . , N . We know from Chapter 4 that the total torque N acting on a system of
particles is

X
N X
N
N= ri × ṗi = ri × Fi (9.1.10)
i=1 i=1
where Fi is the force acting on the particle with mass mi . In Chapter 4, we further simplified
this equation to show that

X
N

XN X
N= ri × Fext
i + (ri − rj ) × Fij (9.1.11)
i=1 i=1 j>i

where Fext is the sum of the external forces acting on mi , and Fij is the force of interaction
between mi and mj . If we assume an isolated system, then Fext = 0, and the first term
in (9.1.11) is equal to zero. Using a coordinate system similar to that in Figure 9.1, we
can write ri − rj = rij r̂ij , where r̂ij is a unit vector that lies along a line joining mi and
mj . Furthermore, if the force of interaction between the particles is a central force, then
Fij = Fij (r)r̂ij and the second term in (9.1.11) is: (rij r̂ij ) × (Fij r̂ij ) = 0. Therefore, the
net torque acting on the system is zero, and angular momentum is conserved.
In the next section, we will examine the so-called two-body problem in detail. This
discussion will lead us to Kepler’s famous laws of planetary motion.

9.2 THE TWO-BODY PROBLEM

In this section, we will consider the two-body Keplerian problem, where two masses are
interacting via a central force. Such two-body systems are very common in astronomy.
We begin with the system shown in Figure 9.2 where the masses m1 and m2 are at
locations r1 and r2 with respect to a shared origin, O. The center of mass of the two
particles is located at R relative to the origin as shown in Figure 9.2, and it is denoted by
a white circle. The two masses interact with a central force F = F (r)r̂, not shown in the
figure, with F lying along the vector r similar to Figure 9.1.
m1

r1 r=r1-r2

R
m2

r2
O
Figure 9.2: Position vectors r1 and r2 and relative distance r = r1 − r2 of the two masses
interacting with a central force F (r)r̂. The white circle at the location R shows the location
of the system’s center of mass, and O is the origin of the coordinate system.
326 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

If r1 and r2 are the position vectors of the two masses m1 and m2 respectively, then the
vector distance between the two masses is

r = r1 − r2 (9.2.1)

Newton’s second law F = ma for each mass can be written as:

m1 r̈1 = −F (r)r̂ (9.2.2)

m2 r̈2 = F (r)r̂ (9.2.3)

where r̂ is the unit vector in the direction of r. Note that we are using Newton’s third law
to write the above equations for an attractive central force. Subtracting (9.2.2) and (9.2.3)
we obtain:  
1 1
r̈1 − r̈2 = − + F (r)r̂ (9.2.4)
m1 m2
m1 m2
(r̈1 − r̈2 ) = −F (r)r̂ (9.2.5)
m1 + m2
Which can be rewritten as,

Newton’s Second Law for the Reduced Mass µ

µr̈ = −F (r)r̂ (9.2.6)

m1 m2
µ= (9.2.7)
m1 + m2

This equation tells us that the two-body system behaves just like a single mass µ with
a position vector r, moving under the influence of the central force F = F (r)r̂. This single
mass µ is called the reduced mass of the two-body system, and it represents an effective
inertial mass appearing in the two-body problem. Using the reduced mass µ allows us to
study the two-body problem as if it were a one-body problem. Note that the minus sign
appears in (9.2.6) because we assumed an attractive force. A repulsive force would give
similar results but without the minus sign in (9.2.6).
What is the reduced mass? The definition in (9.2.7) can be difficult to interpret. Consider
the Earth-Sun system. In this case the mass of the Sun mS is much greater than the mass
of the Earth, mE . If we use m1 = mS and m2 = mE in (9.2.7), we find that µ ≈ mE . Hence,
when we study the motion of the Earth-Sun system, we are essentially studying the motion
of the Earth. As the masses become more comparable, we cannot associate the reduced
mass with either one of the masses, as we will demonstrate later in Example 9.1.
When working with a system of multiple particles, we know that the system’s center of
mass can be useful in describing the behavior of the system. As we discussed in Chapter 4,
the position of the center of mass of the two-body system is defined by:
m1 r1 + m2 r2
R= (9.2.8)
m1 + m2
Because the translational motion of the system as a whole is not of interest (we are
focused on the particles’ orbits with respect to each other), we can set R = 0, as shown
in Figure 9.3a. In other words, we can place the center of mass at the origin. This new
The two-body problem 327

coordinate system is different from that shown in Figure 9.2. As we will see, this new
coordinate system with the center of mass at the origin, will be very useful in describing
the orbits.

Figure 9.3: (a) The two-body system can be best described using a system of coordinates
axes with the origin located at the center of mass of the system. (b) The motion can also
be described by Newton’s law (9.2.6), as the motion of the reduced mass µ, with position
vector r = r1 − r2 , moving with the relative velocity of the two masses v = ṙ1 − ṙ2 .

Using R = 0, we have
m1 r1 + m2 r2 = 0 (9.2.9)
By combining (9.2.9) with the definition r = r1 − r2 for the position vectors r1 and r2 , we
obtain:  
m2
r1 = r (9.2.10)
m1 + m2
 
m1
r2 = − r (9.2.11)
m1 + m2
Note that in the center of mass coordinate system of Figure 9.3a, the three vectors
r, r1 , r2 are collinear. Equations (9.2.10) and (9.2.11) allow us to relate the particles’ posi-
tions to the separation vector r. In addition, we can write the Lagrangian for the system
as:
1 1
L= m1 ṙ21 + m2 ṙ22 − V (r) (9.2.12)
R 2 2
where V (r) = − F (r)dr is the potential energy associated with the central force F. Sub-
stituting the values of (9.2.10) and (9.2.11) in the Lagrangian (9.2.12), we find after some
simple algebra that the Lagrangian of the two-body system is:

Lagrangian of the Two-Body System

1 2
L= µ | ṙ | − V (r) (9.2.13)
2
328 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

Similar to Newton’s second law, the Lagrangian shows that we are reducing the two-
body problem to the motion of a single object with a mass equal to the reduced mass µ,
moving with the relative velocity of the two masses v = ṙ1 − ṙ2 .
Similarly, the total angular momentum of the two-body problem is found from:
   
dr1 dr2
L = m1 r1 × + m2 r2 × (9.2.14)
dt dt

Substituting (9.2.10) and (9.2.11) into (9.2.14) we can obtain the total angular momentum
(see Problem 10 in the End-of-Chapter Problems):

Angular Momentum of the Two-Body System

ℓ = µ (r × ṙ) (9.2.15)

where we have replaced L (for two bodies) with ℓ (for one body). This equation tells us that
the total angular momentum of the two-body problem is equal to the angular momentum of
the reduced mass µ, located at the point r = r1 −r2 and moving with velocity v = ṙ = ṙ1 −ṙ2 .
Again, the result is that we can reduce the two-body problem to studying the motion of a
single particle of mass µ.
Furthermore, taking the time derivative of (9.2.15) results in ℓ̇ = 0; hence just as before,
the angular momentum is conserved. One of the physical consequences of the conservation
of the angular momentum vector ℓ is that the motion of the mass µ has to remain on the
same plane (which also contains the force center), in order to keep the direction of ℓ constant
at all times. This is shown for the special case of a circular orbit in Figure 9.4. Because
the motion of the particle is restricted to a plane, polar coordinates are a useful coordinate
system when dealing with central force problems. The constant nature of ℓ helps explain
why all of the orbits of the planets in our solar system are essentially coplanar and continue
to stay that way.

=r×p

θ r
p
μ

Figure 9.4: Relationship of the angular momentum vector ℓ, position vector r and linear
momentum vector p = µv.

Since the motion is restricted in to a plane, we can compute the magnitude of the
angular momentum in polar coordinates. Recall that in polar coordinates ṙ = ṙr̂ + rθ̇θ̂, and
substituting in (9.2.15) we obtain:
Equations of motion for the two-body problem 329

Magnitude of the Angular Momentum of the Two-Body Problem

ℓ = µr2 θ̇ (9.2.16)

We can also compute the total energy of the two-body system using E = T + V ,

1

E= µ ṙ2 + r2 θ̇2 + V (r) (9.2.17)
2
 2
1 1 ℓ
= µṙ2 + µr2 + V (r) (9.2.18)
2 2 µr2

This can be simplified to

Total Energy of the Two-Body System

 2
ℓ2 1 dr
E= + µ + V (r) (9.2.19)
2µr2 2 dt

Again, the physical interpretation of this equation, and the others before it, is that the
two-body system can be replaced by a single reduced mass µ at a distance r =| r1 − r2 |from
the origin (i.e., the force center and the system’s center of mass), and moving with the
velocity v = ṙ = ṙ1 − ṙ2 . This is shown schematically in Figure 9.3b.
While the reduced mass is a useful tool for performing the calculations above, what we
really want is to be able to calculate the motions of m1 and m2 . In the next section, we will
derive the equations of motion for the two-body problem.

9.3 EQUATIONS OF MOTION FOR THE TWO-BODY PROBLEM

When finding equations of motion, we often want to find the position of the particle as a
function of time. In principle, this can be done by solving (9.2.19) for ṙ:
s
dr 2 ℓ2
ṙ = =± (E − V (r)) − 2 2 (9.3.1)
dt µ µ r
which, in principle, can be integrated to get t(r) and then inverted to get r(t), once we have
specified V (r). However, r(θ) would be a more useful equation of motion because it would
give us a mathematical formula for the observed motion. We can substitute,

dr dr dθ dr ℓ2
= = (9.3.2)
dt dθ dt dθ 2µr2
into (9.3.1) and integrate to obtain
Z
ℓdr
θ(r) = ± q
(9.3.3)
r2 2µ E − V (r) − ℓ2
r2
330 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

In principle, after specifying V (r), we could perform the integral to get a mathematical
form for θ(r), and then invert it to get r(θ). However, in general, the integral in (9.3.3) is
difficult to do and the inversion is also not easy.
Before we present the analytical solution, we demonstrate the numerical solution for
the two-body problem. Computers can provide a means of obtaining numerical solutions,
in which case it is often easier working directly with Newton’s second law. In the next
example, we show how numerical solutions for an object’s orbit in the two-body system can
be obtained by numerically solving Newton’s second law.

Example 9.1: The orbits in a two-body gravitational system

Integrate Newton’s second law using Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation to
represent for interaction force between two masses m1 and m2 , in order to obtain the
orbits of a binary star system with masses m1 = 1, m2 = 2 (in arbitrary units). In order
to simplify the presentation of the numerical results, use arbitrary units with G = 1.
At time t = 0 the reduced mass is located at x = 1, y = 0 and has a velocity with an
x-component of vx = 0 and a y-component of vy = 1.
Solution:
As discussed in this section, Newton’s second law for the two masses becomes a
single equation for the reduced mass:
Gm1 m2
µr̈ = − r̂
r2
where we have used Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation as the central force. Now
we need to rewrite the above formula in terms of Cartesian coordinates. The unit vector
is given in Cartesian coordinates (x, y) by,

r xî + y ĵ
r̂ = =p
r x2 + y 2

By combining the previous two equations and using r2 = x2 + y 2 ,

d2 r Gm1 m2 xî + y ĵ Gm1 m2  

µ = − p = − x î + y ĵ
dt2 x2 + y 2 x2 + y 2 (x2 + y 2 )
3/2

Using µ = m1 m2 / (m1 + m2 ), we obtain the following two coupled differential equa-

tions:
d2 x G (m1 + m2 ) d2 y G (m1 + m2 )
2
= − 3/2
x 2
=− 3/2
y (9.3.4)
dt (x2 + y 2 ) dt (x2 + y 2 )
Once we know the solution r(t) for the motion of the reduced mass µ, then we can
also plot the positions of the two masses r1 and r2 by using their relationship to r(t):
 
m2
r1 = r (9.3.5)
m1 + m2
 
m1
r2 = − r (9.3.6)
m1 + m2
The positions can be calculated from r by using (9.2.10) and (9.2.11), by multiplying
r with the factors m1 /(m1 + m2 ) and −m2 /(m1 + m2 ) to get r1 and r2 , respectively.
Equations of motion for the two-body problem 331

Python Code
In this example, the first component Y[:,0] of the vector Y represents the variable
x(t), and the second component Y[:,1] represents the corresponding velocity ẋ(t) =
dx1 /dt. Similarly, the third component Y[:,2] of Y represents the variable y(t), and
the fourth component Y[:,3] represents the corresponding velocity dy/dt. In Figure
9.5a we see that the reduced mass µ follows an elliptical orbit.
We also plotted the positions of the two masses in Figure 9.5b. The positions can
be calculated by multiplying r with the factors m1 /(m1 + m2 ) and −m2 /(m1 + m2 ) to
get r1 and r2 , respectively. Notice that each mass follows an elliptical path around the
center of mass, which is located at one of the foci of each ellipse.
Since the vectors r1 , r2 and r are collinear, the line connecting the locations of the
two masses at any moment passes through the origin. We also draw the line connecting
the two masses m1 and m2 at time t=1 s.

from [Link] import odeint

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

# function defines the differential equations

# Y[0]=x, Y[1]=x', Y[2]=y, Y[3]=y'
def deriv(Y,t):
return [Link]([ Y[1], -(m1+m2)*\
Y[0]/((Y[0]**2+Y[2]**2)**(3/2)),
Y[3], -(m1+m2)*\
Y[2]/((Y[0]**2+Y[2]**2)**(3/2))])

t = [Link](0,6,600) # t= array of times to be evaluated

m1, m2 = 1, 2 # masses

# yinit = initial conditions [x(0), x'(0), y(0), y'(0)

yinit = [Link]([1, 0, 0, 1])
Y = odeint(deriv, yinit, t) # solve the odes using odeint

[Link](2,1,1) # plot motion of reduced mass

[Link](Y[:,0],Y[:,2],label="Motion of reduced mass")
[Link](-.25,1.1);
[Link](-.5,.5);
[Link]([Link](-.25,1.1,100),[0]*100) # draw x-axis
[Link]([0]*100,[Link](-.5,.5,100)) # draw y-axis
[Link]("(a) Motion of reduced mass")

[Link](2,1,2) # plot orbits of m1, m2

[Link](-(m2/(m1+m2))*Y[:,0],-(m2/(m1+m2))*Y[:,2])
[Link]((m1/(m1+m2))*Y[:,0],(m1/(m1+m2))*Y[:,2],'r--')
[Link]("(b) Orbits of m1, m2")
[Link](-.7,.4);
[Link](-.33,.33);
[Link]([Link](-.7,.4,100),[0]*100) # draw x-axis
[Link]([0]*100,[Link](-.33,.33,100)) # draw y-axis
332 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

# draw line connecting m1 and m2 at time t=1 s

x1, y1 = [Link]([[-(m2/(m1+m2))*Y[:,0][100],\
(m1/(m1+m2))*Y[:,0][100]],\
[-(m2/(m1+m2))*Y[:,2][100],(m1/(m1+m2))*Y[:,2][100]]])
for i in range(0, len(x1), 2):
[Link](x1[i:i+2], y1[i:i+2], 'ro-')
plt.tight_layout()
[Link]()

Mathematica Code
The command NDSolve is used to solve the system of differential equations (9.3.4),
and the Table command is used to construct a list of the pairs of position coordinates
r = (x, y) from t = 0 to t = 10, in time steps of dt = 0.01. The coordinate pairs
are stored in the variable xyList. Finally a graph of the orbits of the two masses is
produced by using the ListPlot command.
The positions r1 and r2 can be calculated from r easily by multiplying the list xyList
with the factors m1 /(m1 + m2 ) and −m2 /(m1 + m2 ) to get r1 and r2 , respectively.
m1 = 1; m2 = 2; x0 = 1; y0 = 0; vx0 = 0; vy0 = 1;

sol = NDSolve[{x”[t] == −(m1 + m2) ∗ x[t]/((x[t]∧ 2 + y[t]∧ 2)∧ (3/2)),

y”[t] == −(m1 + m2) ∗ y[t]/((x[t]∧ 2 + y[t]∧ 2)∧ (3/2)), x[0] == x0, y[0] == y0,

x′ [0] == vx0, y ′ [0] == vy0}, {x, y}, {t, 0, 10}];

x1 = x/.sol[[1]];

y1 = y/.sol[[1]];

xyList = Table[{x1[t], y1[t]}, {t, 0, 10, .01}];

gr1 = Show[ListPlot[xyList], Graphics[Disk[{0, 0}, .02]], BaseStyle->FontSize->15,

PlotLabel->“Orbit of reduced mass”];

gr2 = ListPlot[{−m2/(m1 + m2) ∗ xyList, m1/(m1 + m2) ∗ xyList},

BaseStyle->FontSize->15, PlotLabel->“Orbits of m1,m2”];

GraphicsGrid[{{gr1, gr2}}]
Equations of motion for the two-body problem 333

Figure 9.5: The two-body system in Example 9.1 can be described in two equivalent ways.
In (a) the system is described as the motion of the reduced mass µ in an ellipse with the
center of mass at the origin. In (b) the system is described by the motion of the two masses
in ellipses around the center of mass which is located at the origin, and it represents one of
the foci of the ellipse.

Although numerical solutions are very useful, it is very important to obtain an analytical
solution, when possible. Next, we derive a general equation which provides another means
of computing the orbit of the reduced mass for the two-body problem. This equation can
also be used to find the mathematical form of the central force acting on the reduced mass,
if the mathematical form of the orbit is known to us. In order to obtain the central force, we
need to use Newton’s second law in polar coordinates. Here r and θ are the usual position
and angle polar coordinates. The acceleration in polar coordinates is given by:

dv    
= r̈ − rθ̇2 r̂ + rθ̈ + 2ṙθ̇ θ̂ (9.3.7)
dt
Newton’s second law for the reduced mass µ becomes:
   
µ r̈ − rθ̇2 r̂ + µ rθ̈ + 2ṙθ̇ θ̂ = −f (r)r̂ (9.3.8)
where we used the reduced mass of the two-body system.
By setting the radial components on both sides of this equation equal to each other and
the angular components equal to each other, we obtain:
 
µ r̈ − rθ̇2 = f (r) (9.3.9)
rθ̈ + 2ṙθ̇ = 0 (9.3.10)
334 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

Equation (9.3.10) can also be written as:

d  2  dℓ
µr(rθ̈ + 2ṙθ̇) = µr θ̇ = =0 (9.3.11)
dt dt
which is another way of showing that the magnitude of the angular momentum ℓ is constant.
The radial equation (9.3.9) can be solved by making the substitution:
1
r= (9.3.12)
u
Calculating the time derivatives dr/dt and d2 r/dt2 :
1 1 du ℓ du
ṙ = − 2
u̇ = − 2 θ̇ =− (9.3.13)
u u dθ µ dθ
ℓ d du ℓ dθ d du ℓ d2 u ℓ2 u2 d2 u
r̈ = − =− = − θ̇ 2 = − 2 (9.3.14)
µ dt dθ µ dt dθ dθ µ dθ µ dθ2
where we used θ̇ = ℓu2 /µ and the chain rule. By substituting these derivatives dr/dt and
d2 r/dt2 into the radial equation (9.3.9), we obtain:
 2 2 2  
ℓ u d u 1 ℓ2 u4

µ − 2 − = f u−1 (9.3.15)
µ dθ2 u µ2
or
d2 u µ

2
+ u = − 2 2 f u−1 (9.3.16)
dθ ℓ u
Finally this equation can be written in terms of r by substituting u = 1/r:

Two-Body Equation of Motion in Terms of r(θ) and f (r)

 
d2 1 1 µr2
+ = − f (r) (9.3.17)
dθ2 r r ℓ2

This equation is useful when we know the orbit in the form r(θ), and we want to evaluate
the central force f (r) which creates this orbit. In the following two examples, we use (9.3.17)
to evaluate the central force f (r) and the total energy E for a given orbit r(θ) for a two-body
system.

Example 9.2: Finding the central force when we know the orbit
The orbit r(θ) of a mass m moving inside a central force field, is given by the expression:

r(θ) = kθ

(a) Find the central force f (r) creating this orbit, both analytically and using a CAS.
(b) Find the orbit θ(t) with the initial condition θ(0) = 0.
Solution:
(a) We use (9.3.17) to evaluate the force:
 2   
ℓ2 d 1 1
f (r) = − 2 +
µr dθ2 r r
Equations of motion for the two-body problem 335

We now have    
d2 1 d2 1 2 2k 2
= 2 = 3 = 3
dθ2 r dθ kθ kθ r
and the f (r) equation above gives:
   
ℓ2 2k 2 1 ℓ2 2k 2 1
f (r) = − + = − +
µr2 r3 r µ r5 r3

So the central force in this system is a linear combination of the two terms 1/r5 and
1/r3. .
(b) We can find the orbit θ(t) by using the conservation of angular momentum:

dθ
µr2 θ̇ = µr2 =ℓ
dt
and substituting r = kθ:

µk 2 d θ3
2 2 dθ
µk θ = =ℓ
dt 3 dt
This can be integrated to yield:

3tℓ
θ3 (t) = + θ3 (0)
µk 2

and using the initial condition θ(0) = 0 yields the orbit θ(t), or equivalently the orbit
r(t) = k θ(t): s s
3 3tℓ 3tℓ
θ(t) = r(t) = k 3
µk 2 µk 2
336 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

Python Code
We use diff to obtain the second derivative of u = 1/r, and dsolve in SymPy to
solve the differential equation symbolically for θ(t). The output of the code agrees with
the analytical solution obtained above.

from sympy import symbols,dsolve, Function, diff

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')
r, k, theta, L, mu, t =symbols('r,k,theta,L,mu,t',real=True)

# Part (a) : find force F(r)

rr = k*theta

force = -L**2/(mu*rr**2)*(diff(1/rr,theta,theta)+1/rr)

print('The force F(r) = ',[Link]().subs({theta:r/k}))

# Part (b) : we use symbol theta2 instead of theta

# in the ODE, since theta was defined as a symbol in part (a)

theta2 = Function('theta2')

ic = {theta2(0):0}

soln = dsolve(mu*k**2*theta2(t)**2*diff(theta2(t),t)-L,\
theta2(t),ics=ic)[0]

print('\nThe solution theta(t) = ',[Link])

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The force F(r) = -2*L**2*k**2/(mu*r**5) - L**2/(mu*r**3)

The solution theta(t) = 3**(1/3)*(L*t/(k**2*mu))**(1/3)

Mathematica Code
We use D to obtain the second derivative of u = 1/r, and DSolve to solve the
differential equation symbolically for θ(t). Note that we have to select the positive
solution of the ODE.
Equations of motion for the two-body problem 337

rr = k ∗ θ;

force = −(l∧ 2/(µ ∗ rr∧ 2) ∗ (D[1/rr, {θ, 2}] + 1/rr));

Print[“The force is: F(r) = ”, force/.{θ->r/k}//FullSimplify];

l2 (2k2 +r 2 )
The force is: F(r) = − r5 µ

soln = DSolve[{θ′ [t]==l/(µ ∗ k ∧ 2 ∗ θ[t]∧ 2), θ[0]==0}, θ[t], t][[2]][[1]];

Print[“The positive solution of the ODE is: ”];

Print[“ θ[t] = ”, θ[t]/.soln];

Print[“or”];

Print[“θ[t]∧ 3 = ”, (θ[t]/.soln)∧ 3]

The positive solution of the ODE is:

1/3 1/3 1/3
θ[t] = 3 k2/3
l t
µ1/3
or
θ[t]∧ 3 = k3lt
2µ

Example 9.3: Finding the total energy when we know the orbit
Find the total energy E for the orbit r(θ) of the mass µ in Example 9..2.
Solution: R
We find the potential energy V (r) = − f (r) dr by using the expression for the
force f (r) from the previous example:
Z Z  2   
ℓ 2k 2 1 ℓ2 k 2 1
V (r) = − f (r) dr = − − 5 + 3 dr = − +
µ r r 2µ r4 r2
The kinetic energy T is given by:
 2
ℓ2 1 dr
T= 2
+ µ
2µr 2 dt
We can evaluate dr/dt using the chain rule, the orbit equation r = kθ and the conser-
vation of angular momentum ℓ = µr2 θ̇:
dr dr dθ d (kθ) dθ ℓ
= = = k θ̇ = k 2
dt dθ dt dθ dt µr
Finally the total energy will be:
 2
ℓ2 1 dr
E =T +V = 2
+ µ + V (r)
2µr 2 dt
 2  
ℓ2 1 ℓ ℓ2 k 2 1
E= + µ k 2 − + 2 =0
2µr2 2 µr 2µ r4 r
As discussed later in this chapter, the value of E = 0 corresponds to a parabolic
motion of the reduced mass µ in the two-body system.
338 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

9.4 PLANETARY MOTION AND KEPLER’S FIRST LAW

In this section, we find the equation of motion for the reduced mass µ experiencing an
inverse square law force:
k
F(r) = − r̂ (9.4.1)
r2
such as Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation where k = Gm1 m2 , or the Coulomb force
where k = −q1 q2 / (4πϵ0 ). In this case, we can insert f (r) = −k/r2 into (9.3.17) to get
µk
u′′ + u = (9.4.2)
ℓ2
where we used u = 1/r and primes denote differentiation with respect to θ. We will solve
(9.4.2) for u(θ) and then find r(θ). We begin with the substitution, w(θ) = u(θ) − µk/ℓ2 ,
then (9.4.2) becomes:

w′′ = −w (9.4.3)
Notice that the result is a simple harmonic oscillator equation for w with a natural frequency
ω0 = 1. The solution is
w = A cos θ + B sin θ (9.4.4)
With a careful choice of coordinates, we can set B = 0. Let’s choose θ = 0 as the angular
position of µ when it makes its closest approach rmin to the force center (i.e., to the center of
mass). At this point, ṙ = 0 (because this is a turning point in the orbit) and due to (9.3.13),
u′ = 0. Hence, we are setting an initial condition for u to be u′ (θ = 0) = 0. Because w′ = u′ ,
we also have w′ (θ = 0) = 0, and this condition leads to B = 0. Hence we have,

µk
u = A cos θ + (9.4.5)
ℓ2
We now introduce a new constant e = ℓ2 A/ (µk) and we set α = ℓ2 / (µk), to obtain:
1 1
= (1 + e cos θ) (9.4.6)
r α
α
r= (9.4.7)
1 + e cos θ
which, as we showed in Chapter 4, is the equation of a conic section in polar coordinates
with one focus at the origin. The dimensionless variable e is the eccentricity of the conic
section, and the distance α is the semi-latus rectum. Later in this chapter we will discuss
the equation for conic sections in polar coordinates in more detail.
When studying planetary motion, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) developed three laws of
planetary motion. Kepler’s first law stated that planets orbit in an ellipse and that the Sun
is at one of the foci of the ellipse. An ellipse, of course, is one example of a conic section.
However, starting from Newton’s second law, we have found a much more general result.
We have found that the motion of the reduced mass is of the form of a conic section: circle,
ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola. What conditions dictate which conic section the reduced
mass follows? In the next section, we will begin to answer this question.
However, before we move on, there is one piece of (9.4.6) that is still unsatisfactory,
the eccentricity e is in terms of the constant of integration A. It would be better if we
could rewrite the eccentricity e in terms of physical parameters, similar to the equation
α = ℓ2 / (µk). We begin by using our choice of coordinates where ṙ = 0 at r = rmin and rmin
occurs at θ = 0, hence (9.4.6) gives
Orbits in a central force field 339

α
rmin = (9.4.8)
1+e
and the total energy at rmin is

ℓ2 k
E= 2 − (9.4.9)
2µrmin rmin
Substituting (9.4.8) into (9.4.9), and solving the resulting quadratic equation for the eccen-
tricity e, we obtain
s
2Eℓ2
e= 1+ (9.4.10)
µk 2
In summary, the motion of the reduced mass in the two-body system is a conic section,
with one focus at the origin. In terms of the eccentricity e and the semi-latus rectum α, the
equation of the conic section r (θ) in polar coordinates is:

Two-Body Equation of Motion in Terms of e and α

α
r= (9.4.11)
1 + e cos θ
s
2Eℓ2
e= 1+ (9.4.12)
µk 2
ℓ2
α= (9.4.13)
µk

Note that the conic section in (9.4.11) is completely described by the two parameters e, α.
These two geometrical parameters can be evaluated using (9.4.12) and (9.4.13), when we
know the two conserved physical quantities in the system, i.e. when we know the total energy
E and the conserved angular momentum ℓ. Alternatively, the conic section is completely
described by the physical quantities E, ℓ.

9.5 ORBITS IN A CENTRAL FORCE FIELD

In this section we look at the general problem of determining the orbits of a particle with
a reduced mass µ moving in a central force field F(r) = −k/r2 r̂. We already know that
the orbits are conic sections. However, we would like to know, for example, under what
conditions is a particle’s orbit an ellipse, as opposed to a parabola?
We start by considering the equation for the total energy:

1 2 l2
E =T +V= µṙ + + V (r) (9.5.1)
2 2µr2

where we have returned to the generic potential energy V (r). Note that for an inverse
square law, V = −k/r. The first term in (9.5.1) can be interpreted as a kinetic energy term,
because it is of the form of one half times a mass and the square of the radial velocity. It is
convenient to think of the second two terms as representing potential energy.
We notice that the term
340 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

l2 1
VC ≡ = µr2 θ̇2 (9.5.2)
2µr2 2
can be interpreted as a form of energy called the centrifugal potential energy VC , and the
corresponding force will be the centrifugal force FC :

∂VC l2
FC = − = 3 (9.5.3)
∂r µr

note that FC = FC r̂ points radially outward from the center of mass (the force center for
the two-body problem). We can then write the effective potential energy Veff (r) as the sum
of two terms, the centrifugal potential VC and the potential energy V (r) corresponding to
the central force.

The Effective Potential in a Central Force Field

l2
Veff (r) = + V (r) = VC + V (r) (9.5.4)
2µr2

Figure 9.6 shows a plot of the effective potential Veff (r) as a function of the distance
r, and for an attractive potential V = −k1 /r where k1 = 2.5 in SI-units. The dashed
lines in this graph indicate a repulsive positive centrifugal potential VC = 1/r2 , and the
attractive potential V = −k1 /r. The thick solid line in this figure shows the sum of these
two potentials, which represents the effective potential Veff (r). When the distance r → 0
the effective potential goes to infinity, while as r → ∞ the effective potential goes to
zero. The horizontal lines in this figure indicate two possible energies of the reduced mass,
E0 = −1.55 J and E1 = 1.3 J. Note that the value of these energies are arbitrarily chosen
for illustrative purposes only.
We can use the methods of Chapter 5 in order to qualitatively describe the motion of
the reduced mass µ as a function of its total energy E. Recall, that we can think of the
reduced mass as a particle that is rolling along the track made by the shape of the Veff
graph. When E = E0 , the particle is fixed at the minimum of Veff . This means that the
value of r does not change. The result is that the reduced mass has a circular orbit with
r = r0 . When E = E1 < 0 (or more generally for E0 < E < 0), the particle rolls back and
forth between r = r1 and r = r2 . We know from Chapter 5 that such a “rolling back and
forth” means oscillatory motion. The reduced mass gets no closer to the force center than
r = r1 , and no farther than r = r2 . Hence the resulting motion is an ellipse with rmin = r1
and rmax = r2 . Note that we are using rmin and rmax as the closest and farthest distance
between the reduced mass and the force center, respectively. In general, we can see from
Figure 9.6 that when E < 0, the motion of the reduced mass is bound to periodic orbits.
Furthermore, from Figure 9.6 we can see that when E ≥ 0, the motion is unbound. The
reduced mass comes in from infinity and gets as close to the force center as the distance
r3 , which is not shown in Figure 9.6. However, one can find r3 by solving E = Veff (r3 )
where E is the energy of the reduced mass. The solution can be found either analytically or
numerically. The unbound orbits are parabolic or hyperbolic, depending on the value of E.
Orbits in a central force field 341

Figure 9.6: A plot of the effective potential Veff (r) = VC + V (r) as a function of the distance
r (thick solid line). The dashed lines indicate the repulsive positive centrifugal potential
VC and the attractive potential V (r) = −2.5/r. When E = E0 the motion is a circle and
r = r0 . When E = E1 < 0, the motion is bound between the two circles with radii r = r1
and r = r2 . When E > 0, the motion is unbound.

So far in this section, we have learned that the energy of the reduced mass determines
the nature of its orbit. Now that we have a qualitative understanding of the orbit of µ, we
can use our knowledge of conic sections in order to determine the conditions under which
each orbit occurs. We know that conic sections have specific eccentricities, for example,
e = 0 for a circle. Using the equation for the eccentricity (9.4.10) we can now determine the
energies of each type of orbit. They are summarized in Table 9.1, and examples are shown
in Figure 9.7.

Table 9.1
The energies and eccentricities associated with each type of orbit.
Eccentricity e Energy E Orbit shape

e=0 E = Veff,min circle

0<e<1 Veff,min < E < 0 ellipse
e=1 E=0 parabola
e>1 E>0 hyperbola
342 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

4
Hyperbola, e>1
2

0
y

2 Ellipse, e<1

4 Parabola, e=1

8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8
x
Figure 9.7: Possible conic section orbits of the reduced mass for different eccentricities e:
ellipse (e < 1), parabola (e = 1) and hyperbola (e > 1). The orbits in this example are
centered at the origin of the coordinate system.

9.6 KEPLER’S LAWS OF PLANETARY MOTION

To conclude our work on the two-body problem, we examine Kepler’s Laws of Planetary
Motion in detail.

9.6.1 KEPLER’S FIRST LAW

As mentioned previously, Kepler’s first law states that planets orbit in an ellipse with the
Sun at one focus. We have found that the general motion is that of a conic section; however,
we will focus on ellipses in this section because of their importance in planetary and satellite
motion.
Let us begin our discussion by recalling the path r (θ) we found in (9.4.11)-(9.4.13):
s
α ℓ2 2Eℓ2
r= α= e= 1+ (9.6.1)
1 + e cos θ µk µk 2
and our choice of coordinates is such that r = rmin when θ = 0, and r = rmax when θ = π,
as shown in Figure 9.8, where the force center is at the focus F . From (9.4.6) we can easily
show,
α α
rmin = and rmax = (9.6.2)
1+e 1−e
In this section, we will assume that the reduced mass is a planet orbiting the Sun. Hence
we will use the terms perihelion as the planet’s distance of closest approach rmin to the Sun,
and aphelion as the planet’s greatest distance rmax from the Sun. We can define the major
axis 2a of the ellipse as
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion 343

rmin + rmax = 2a (9.6.3)

and the quantity a is called the semi-major axis.

Figure 9.8: The motion of the planets around the Sun can be described by an ellipse which
has the Sun at one focus, F . The second focus F ′ is an (empty) point in space. The ellipse
can be described mathematically using (9.6.1) in polar coordinates (r, θ).

At θ = 90◦ and at θ = 270◦ the distance is equal to the semi-latus rectum distance r = α
shown in Figure 9.9, and depends on both the semi-major axis a of the elliptical motion,
and on the eccentricity e:

α = a 1 − e2 (9.6.4)
The minor axis 2b is perpendicular to the major axis 2a, and both (a, b) are related to
the energy of the orbit:

α k
a= = (9.6.5)
1−e 2 2 |E|
α ℓ
b= √ =p (9.6.6)
1−e 2 2µ |E|

Here again note the presence of the two conserved quantities E, ℓ. Furthermore, we can
rewrite the perihelion and aphelion distances as:

rmin = a(1 − e) and rmax = a(1 + e)

The eccentricity e can also be found from rmin and rmax :
rmax − rmin
e= (9.6.7)
rmax + rmin
The area of an ellipse is A = πab. In the special case of a circle, the eccentricity e = 0,
resulting in rmin = rmax = a = b and A = πr2 .
344 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

Figure 9.9: Kepler’s first law places the Sun at the focus of an elliptical orbit.

The next two examples shows how to plot the orbits of planets. The first example uses
(9.4.6) and data for the planets Mercury and Earth, while the second uses a numerical
solution to Newton’s second law.

Example 9.4: Plotting the orbits of Earth and Mercury around the sun
The Earth’s distance from the Sun ranges from 147.5 million km (at perihelion),
to about 152.6 million km (at aphelion), while for Mercury these distances are from
46,000,000 to 70,000,000 km. Plot the orbits of Mercury and Earth around the Sun.
Solution:
The semi-major axis a can be found directly from the distances rmin and rmax for the
perihelion and aphelion by using (9.6.3), and the eccentricity e can be found by using
(9.6.7). Once the geometrical properties a, e are known, we know everything about the
orbits and we can plot them using the general equation (9.4.6) for the elliptical orbits.

Python Code
We evaluate α and e, and use
α
r= (9.6.8)
1 + e cos θ
with x = r cos θ, y = r sin θ to create the plots.
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion 345

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

rminE = 147.5*10**9 # Earth data

rmaxE = 152.6*10**9

a = (rminE + rmaxE)/2
eEarth = (rmaxE - rminE)/(rminE + rmaxE)
print('The eccentricity of Earth is e = ', round(eEarth,4))

alpha = a*(1 - eEarth**2)

theta = [Link](0,2*[Link],100)
rE = alpha/(1 + eEarth*[Link](theta))

[Link](rE*[Link](theta),rE*[Link](theta))

rminM = 46*10**9 # Mercury data

rmaxM = 70*10**9

aM = (rminM + rmaxM)/2
eMercury = (rmaxM - rminM)/(rminM + rmaxM)
print('The eccentricity of Mercury is e = ', round(eMercury,4))

alphaM = aM*(1 - eMercury**2)

rM = alphaM/(1 + eMercury*[Link](theta))

[Link](rM*[Link](theta),rM*[Link](theta))
[Link]('Orbits of Earth and Mecrury around the Sun')
[Link]('x [m]')
[Link]('y [m]')
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The eccentricity of Earth is e = 0.017
The eccentricity of Mercury is e = 0.2069

Mathematica Code
We use the PolarPlot command to plot the two orbits, and we also print out the
values of e for the two planets.
Notice the almost completely circular orbit of the Earth (because the eccentricity
e = 0.0167 is close to zero), and the clearly elliptical orbit for Mercury (because of the
larger value of e = 0.21).
346 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

rminE = 147.5 ∗ 10∧ 6 ∗ 10∧ 3;

rmaxE = 152.6 ∗ 10∧ 6 ∗ 10∧ 3;

a = (rminE + rmaxE)/2;

eEarth = (rmaxE − rminE)/(rminE + rmaxE)//N ;

Print[“The eccentricity of Earth is e = ”, eEarth];

gr1 = PolarPlot[a ∗ (1 − eEarth∧ 2)/(1 + eEarth ∗ Cos[θ]), {θ, 0, 2 ∗ Pi},

Frame → True, FrameLabel → {“x, m”, “y, m”},

PlotRange → {{−2 ∗ 10∧ 11, 2 ∗ 10∧ 11}, {−2 ∗ 10∧ 11, 2 ∗ 10∧ 11}}];

rminM = 46 ∗ 10∧ 6 ∗ 10∧ 3;

rmaxM = 70 ∗ 10∧ 6 ∗ 10∧ 3;

a = (rminM + rmaxM)/2;

eMercury = (rmaxM − rminM)/(rminM + rmaxM)//N ;

Print[“The eccentricity of Mercury is e = ”, eMercury];

gr2 = PolarPlot[a ∗ (1 − eMercury∧ 2)/(1 + eMercury ∗ Cos[θ]), {θ, 0, 2 ∗ Pi},

Frame → True, PlotRange → {{−2 ∗ 10∧ 11, 2 ∗ 10∧ 11}, {−2 ∗ 10∧ 11, 2 ∗ 10∧ 11}}];

Show[{gr1, gr2}, BaseStyle → FontSize → 16]

The eccentricity of Earth is e = 0.0169943

The eccentricity of Mercury is e = 0.206897
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion 347

2 × 1011

1 × 1011
y, m

-1 × 1011

-2 × 1011 11
-2 × 10 -1 × 1011 0 1 × 1011 2 × 1011
x, m
Figure 9.10: Plots of the orbits of Mercury and Earth around the Sun, from Example 9.4.

Example 9.5: The Moon’s orbit around the earth

The revolution of the Moon around the Earth is a very complex process, however
we can approximate the binary system Earth-Moon as a Keplerian system. Evaluate
(a) The period T of the Moon’s revolution around the Earth.
(b) The eccentricity e of the Moon’s orbit.
(c) Plot the Moon’s orbit around the Earth.
Use the following numerical values: perigee distance = 0.3633 × 109 m, apogee dis-
tance = 0.4055 × 109 m, mass of the Moon =0.07346 × 1024 kg, mass of the Earth
=5.9724 × 1024 kg, and gravitational constant G = 6.673 × 10−11 SI units.
Solution:
(a) We evaluate the eccentricity using
rmax − rmin apogee + perigee
e= = = 0.0549 (9.6.9)
rmax + rmin apogee − perigee
This is almost a circular orbit. The major semi-axis is evaluated from

a = (perigee + apogee)/2

(b) The period of revolution of the Moon is found from Kepler’s third law:

4π 2 a3
P2 = (9.6.10)
G (m1 + m2 )
s
4π 2 a3
P = = 27.29 days (9.6.11)
G (mmoon + mearth )
348 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

Python Code
After evaluating a and the eccentricity e, we plot the orbit using the polar coordi-
nates expression r = α/ (1 + e cos θ) and the coordinates x = r cos θ, y = r sin θ, where
the angle θ ranges from 0 to 2π.

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

# All quantities are in SI units

perigee = 0.3633*10**9;
apogee = 0.4055*10**9;
Mmoon = 0.07346*10**24;
Mearth = 5.9724*10**24;
G = 6.673*10**-11;

e = (apogee - perigee)/(apogee + perigee)

a = (perigee + apogee)/2;
Period = [Link](4*[Link]**2*a**3/(G*(Mmoon + Mearth)));

print('\nThe semimajor axis a = ', a, 'm');

print("\nThe eccentricity of moon's orbit = ", round(e,4))
print('\nThe period of revolution T of moon = ', \
round(Period/(3600*24),2), ' days')

theta = [Link](0,2*[Link],100)
alpha = a*(1 - e**2)
r = alpha/(1 + e*[Link](theta))

[Link](r*[Link](theta),r*[Link](theta))
[Link]("Orbit of Moon around the Earth")
[Link]('x')
[Link]('y')
[Link](-4.2*10**8, 4.2*10**8);
[Link](-4.2*10**8, 4.2*10**8);

# draw x-y-axes
[Link]([Link](-4.2*10**8,4.2*10**8,100),[0]*100)
[Link]([0]*100,[Link](-4.2*10**8,4.2*10**8,100))
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The semimajor axis a = 384400000.0 m

The eccentricity of moon's orbit = 0.0549

The period of revolution T of moon = 27.29 days

Kepler’s laws of planetary motion 349

Mathematica Code
The code is very similar to the Python code, and we use the command PolarPlot
to plot the Moon’s orbit.

Print[“All quantities are in SI units”];

perigee = 0.3633 ∗ 10∧ 9;

apogee = 0.4055 ∗ 10∧ 9;

e = (apogee − perigee)/(apogee + perigee);

a = (perigee + apogee)/2;

Print[“semi-major axis a = ”, a];

Print[“Eccentricity of Moon’s orbit = ”, e];

Mmoon = 0.07346 ∗ 10∧ 24;

Mearth = 5.9724 ∗ 10∧ 24;

G = 6.673 ∗ 10∧ − 11;

Period = Sqrt[4 ∗ Pi∧ 2 ∗ a∧ 3/(G ∗ (Mmoon + Mearth))];

Print[“The Revolution period T of Moon = ”, Period/(3600 ∗ 24),

“ days”];

All quantities are in SI units

semimajor axis a = 3.844 × 108
Eccentricity of moon’s orbit = 0.0548907
The Revolution period T of moon = 27.2867 days

α = a ∗ (1 − e∧2);

r = α/(1 + e ∗ Cos[θ]);

PolarPlot[r, {θ, 0, 2 ∗ Pi}, FrameLabel->{“x [m]”, “y [m]”},

Frame->True, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16},

PlotLabel->“Moon’s orbit”,

PlotRange->{{−4.2 ∗ 10∧ 8, 4.2 ∗ 10∧ 8}, {−4.2 ∗ 10∧ 8, 4.2 ∗ 10∧ 8}}]
350 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

Figure 9.11: The slightly elliptical orbit of the Moon, evaluated in Example 9.5.

9.6.2 KEPLER’S SECOND LAW

Recall that the magnitude of the angular momentum vector is:

ℓ = µr2 θ̇ (9.6.12)
From this magnitude we can now derive Kepler’s second law. We begin by considering a
small wedge of the planet’s orbit traced out in a time dt, as shown in Figure 9.12.

rdθ
dθ
r
Figure 9.12: A small wedge of the planet’s orbit traced out in a time dt.

The wedge shown in Figure 9.12 forms an infinitesimal triangular area element dA, which
in polar coordinates can be written as:

r2
dA = dθ (9.6.13)
2
By dividing with dt and using (9.6.12), we obtain Kepler’s second law:
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion 351

Kepler’s Second Law

dA r2 dθ ℓ
= = = constant (9.6.14)
dt 2 dt 2µ

Note that Kepler’s second law holds for any central force. Equation (9.6.14) is the
mathematical form of Kepler’s second law which says that a line joining a planet to the
Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal time intervals. This is illustrated in Figure 9.13. The
result of Kepler’s second law is that the planet’s speed increases as it reaches perihelion and
decreases as it approaches aphelion.

Figure 9.13: Kepler’s second law: A line connecting a planet to the Sun (S) sweeps out equal
areas in equal times. If the time TAB required to travel distance AB is equal to the time
TCD required to travel distance CD, then the swept out area AREAABS must be equal to
the corresponding area AREACDS .

Example 9.6 shows how to evaluate the angular momentum of the Earth as it orbits
around the Sun, and also how to estimate the Earth’s orbital velocity.

Example 9.6: The orbital angular momentum of the Earth around the
Sun
The speed of the Earth at perihelion is 30,300 m/s, and its distance from the Sun
ranges from 147.3 million km (at perihelion), to about 152.6 million km (at aphelion).
Evaluate:
(a) The orbital angular momentum of the Earth around the Sun.
(b) The orbital velocity of the Earth at aphelion.
(c) The speed of the Earth at the latus rectum point α of its elliptical orbit.
Solution:
(a) When the Earth is at the aphelion (or at the perihelion) of its orbit, the velocity
vector v = dr/dt is perpendicular to the position vector r, so that the radial component
of the velocity is zero (dr/dt = 0); therefore, the magnitude of the angular momentum
is found from:
 
dr dr
| ℓ |= m r × =m|r|| | sin 90◦ = mrv
dt dt
where v represents the magnitude of the orbital velocity at these two points and m =
5.97 × 1024 kg is the mass of the Earth. By using the given value of the speed at
352 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

perihelion and the given distance from the Sun, we can find the magnitude of the
angular momentum in SI units:

ℓ = | ℓ |= mrperi vperi = 5.97 × 1024 kg 3.03 × 104 m/s 147.3 × 109 m
= 2.66 × 1040 kgm2 /s

(b) Since the magnitude of the angular momentum is conserved, we have:

ℓ = mrperi vperi = mraphe vaphe

so that the orbital velocity at the aphelion is found from:

vaphe = ℓ/ (m raphe )

By using this equation we find the speed at the aphelion in SI units:

2.66 × 1040 kgm2 /s
vaphe = / = 29, 200 m/s
(5.97 × 1024 kg ) × (152.6 × 109 m)
(c) The latus rectum point is located on the elliptical orbit of the Earth, at a distance
α vertically above the location of the Sun in Figure 9.9. By working as in the previous
example, we use the values of rperi and raphe to find the values of the semi-major axis a
and the eccentricity e. Once we know a and e, we calculate the distance α from (9.6.4).
Finally, we use conservation of angular momentum to find the vlatus :

vlatus = rperi vperi /α

which gives the value of vlatus = 29, 800 m/s. Note that the velocity vector at the latus
rectum is not perpendicular to the position vector.

9.6.3 KEPLER’S THIRD LAW

Next we derive Kepler’s third law in which he mathematically related the period of a planet’s
orbit to its semi-major axis. Using our more general result, we will derive the period-distance
relationship for the reduced mass.
We begin by integrating (9.6.14), Kepler’s second law,

Z Z
2µ
dt = dA (9.6.15)
ℓ
2µ
P = πab (9.6.16)
ℓ
where we used the area of an ellipse A = πab. P is the period, the time needed for a line
joining the reduced mass and the force center to sweep out the entire area of the ellipse.
Next, we use (9.6.5) and (9.6.6) to express the period P and as a function of energy E.
r
µ −3/2
P = πk |E| (9.6.17)
2
By substituting now |E| = k/(2a) from (9.6.5), we obtain Kepler’s third law:
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion 353

Kepler’s Third Law

4π 2 µ 3
P2 = a (9.6.18)
k

Kepler’s original statement was that the planet’s period squared was proportional to the
cube of its semi-major axis. Kepler did not know the proportionality constant. However,
using Newton’s second law, we have found it! If we consider the central force to be Newton’s
Law of Universal Gravitation, the constant k = Gm1 m2 and the definition of the reduced
mass µ = m1 m2 / (m1 + m2 ), then Kepler’s third law becomes

4π 2 a3
P2 = (9.6.19)
G (m1 + m2 )
However, for a planet of mass m1 orbiting the Sun of mass m2 = M ≫ m1 , we have

4π 2 a3
P2 = (9.6.20)
GM
Example 9.7 illustrates Kepler’s Third Law with the moons of Jupiter.

Example 9.7: The Moons of Jupiter

The following table lists the orbital properties of the four largest moons of Jupiter,
discovered by Galileo Galilei. Use this data to find the mass of Jupiter.

Satellite Semi-major axis (km) Orbital period (days)

Io 421,700 1.7691
Europa 671,034 3.5512
Ganymede 1,070,412 7.1546
Callisto 1,882,709 16.689

Solution:
The data can be analyzed by plotting Kepler’s law
4π 2 a3
P2 = (9.6.21)
G (m1 + m2 )
By plotting P 2 as a function of a3 using the given table, we should obtain a a linear
graph P 2 = m a3 + b, with a slope
4π 2
slope =
G (m1 + m2 )
For Jupiter m1 = mJupiter >> m2 , so this becomes
4π 2
slope =
G MJupiter
354 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

By fitting a straight line to the plot of the data, we can obtain an estimate of the mass
of Jupiter:
MJupiter = 4π 2 / (G slope) . Note that in this problem it is important to use SI units
throughout the solution, by converting the units of kilometers into meters, and the
periods P into SI units by converting days into seconds.

Python Code
We use list comprehensions to obtain the variables x = a3 , y = P 3 . We use SI
units by converting the units of kilometers into meters, and the days into seconds. The
aValues list is converted in SI units by converting the units of kilometers into meters,
and the periods P are converted into SI units by converting days into seconds. We use
the command polyfit from the NumPy library, to find the best straight line fit to
this plot. The command solve from SymPy is used to obtain the value of the mass of
Jupiter.

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
from sympy import solve, symbols
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

M = symbols('M')
G = 6.67408*10**-11

aValues = [Link]([4.21700*10**8, 6.71034*10**8, 10.70412*10**8,\

18.82709*10**8])
acube = [aValues[i]**3 for i in range(4)]

periods = [Link]([1.7691*3600*24, 3.5512*3600*24, 7.1546*3600*24,\

16.689*3600*24])
psquare = [periods[i]**2 for i in range(4)]

[Link](acube,psquare,'o') # plot period^2 vs a^3

[Link]('a^3 [m^3]')
[Link]('P^2 [s^2]')

m,b = [Link](acube, psquare, 1)

print('Best slope =', m)

mJupiter = solve(m - 4*[Link]**2/(G*M), M)

print('Mass of Jupiter = ', mJupiter[0], " kg");
x = [Link](0,7*10**27,100)
[Link](x,b + m*x) # plot best fit line
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Best slope = 3.1155753615415456e-16
Mass of Jupiter = 1.89858509859858e+27 kg
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion 355

Mathematica Code
We set up two lists called aValues and periods, which contain the semi-major axes
a and the periods P of the four moons. The aValues list is converted in SI units by
converting the units of kilometers into meters, and the periods P are converted into
SI units by converting days into seconds. The command Transpose is used to create a
new list called list, containing the pairs (a3 , P 2 ) for the four moons. This is plotted
using the ListPlot command, and the graph is stored in the variable gr1. By using the
FindFit command, we fit a best line to the graph, and we obtain the best slope of this
line to have a slope of 3.11 × 10−16 (SI-units).
By setting the best slope 3.11×10−16 = 4π 2 /(GM ) and using the NSolve command,
we obtain the mass of Jupiter as M = 1.89 × 1027 kg. This value is very close to the
accepted value of the mass of Jupiter MJ = 1.90 × 1027 kg.

G = 6.67408 ∗ 10∧ − 11;

aValues = {421700, 671034, 1070412, 1882709} ∗ 10∧ 3;

periods = {1.7691, 3.5512, 7.1546, 16.689} ∗ 3600 ∗ 24;

list = Transpose[{aValues∧ 3, periods∧ 2}];

gr1 = ListPlot[list, Frame → True,

FrameLabel → {“a∧ 3 (m∧ 3)”, “P∧ 2 (s∧ 2)”}, BaseStyle->FontSize->17,

PlotRange → {{0, 8 ∗ 10∧ 27}, {0, 2.2 ∗ 10∧ 12}}, PlotMarkers->Automatic];

Print[“Best line fit = a+b*x with ”];

bestline = FindFit[list, a + b ∗ x, {a, b}, x];

Print[“Best slope =”, slope = b/.bestline];

mJupiter = NSolve[slope == 4 ∗ Pi∧ 2/(G ∗ M ), M ];

Print[“Mass of Jupiter = ”, M /.mJupiter[[1]], “ kg”];

Best line fit = a+b*x with

Best slope =3.1155753615415436`*∧ -16
Mass of Jupiter = 1.89859 × 1027 kg

gr2 = Plot[(a + b ∗ x)/.bestline, {x, 0, 8 ∗ 10∧27},

BaseStyle->FontSize->17, Frame → True,

PlotRange → {{0, 8 ∗ 10∧ 27}, {0, 2.2 ∗ 10∧ 12}}];

Show[gr1, gr2]
356 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

2.0 × 1012

1.5 × 1012
P^2 (s^2)
1.0 × 1012

5.0 × 1011

0
0 2 × 1027 4 × 1027 6 × 1027 8 × 1027
a^3 (m^3)

Figure 9.14: Kepler’s third law applied to four of the many Moons of Jupiter, from Example
9.7.

9.7 PLANAR CIRCULAR RESTRICTED THREE-BODY PROBLEM

In this final section of Chapter 9, we examine a problem which requires the use of numerical
methods, the so-called planar circular restricted three-body problem. Consider three masses,
m1 , m2 , and m3 that are interacting solely via gravitational interactions. There are no other
objects exerting forces on the masses. We make the following assumptions. First, the motion
of all three particles is confined to the same plane. Second, m3 ≪ m1 and m3 ≪ m2 and,
therefore, m3 does not affect the motion of masses m1 and m2 . If the second assumption
were the only one being made about the system, the system would be referred to as a
restricted three-body problem.
The final assumption is that the masses m1 and m2 each move in a circular orbit about
their shared center of mass. Because m3 doesn’t affect the motion of the other two masses,
we know that, from the work done in this chapter, m1 and m2 will orbit their shared center
of mass and that the orbit will be in the form of a conic section. In this case, we choose a
specific conic section, a circle. These three assumptions together form the planar circular
restricted three-body problem.
We use the formalism developed in Section 9.6 in order to describe the motions of m1
and m2 . Furthermore, we will scale the variables associated with m1 and m2 as done in
Worthington [10]:
• The sum of the masses m1 and m2 is unity, m1 + m2 = 1.
• The distance between m1 and m2 is fixed to be r = 1.

• The period of the orbits of m1 and m2 about their shared center of mass is 2π.
These scalings will simplify the resulting equations of motion. Using Kepler’s third law and
the scalings above, we find that G = 1. In addition, we can choose m2 = m and then
m1 = 1 − m, where 0 ≤ m ≤ 1/2. The end result is that the equations of motion will
depend on only one parameter, m.
Before deriving the equations of motion, we need to establish a coordinate system as
shown in Figure 9.15.
Planar circular restricted three-body problem 357
y
m3

R m2
r2

t
m 1-m x
r1
m1

Figure 9.15: The coordinate system for the planar restricted circular three-body problem.
The center of mass for m1 and m2 is at the origin. Mass m1 follows a circular orbit with
radius m about the center of mass, and m2 follows a circular orbit of radius 1 − m. The
third body m3 is located at the position R. Not shown in this figure is a vector r which
points from m1 to m2 and passes through the origin.

In order to understand Figure 9.15, we begin with the assumption that m1 and m2
follow circular orbits. Using (9.2.10) and (9.2.11), we can compute the radius of each orbit:
m2
r1 = r=m (9.7.1)
m1 + m2

−m1
r2 = r =1−m (9.7.2)
m1 + m2
Noting that ω = 1 (because the period of m1 and m2 is 2π), we can write,

r2 = (1 − m) cos t î + (1 − m) sin t ĵ (9.7.3)

Although not shown in Figure 9.15, the separation vector r = r2 − r1 points from m1 to
m2 and passes through the origin. Noting that r = 1, we can write,

r1 = −m cos t î − m sin t ĵ (9.7.4)

The location of m3 can be written as

R = X î + Y ĵ (9.7.5)
358 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

We will use the Lagrangian to derive the equations of motion for the particle m3 . The
kinetic energy of the mass m3 is,
1

T3 = m3 Ẋ 2 + Ẏ 2 (9.7.6)
2
We find the potential energy using the general formula, V = −Gmm2 /r where m and m2
are the masses of the interacting particles and r is the distance between m and m2 . There
are two gravitational interactions that involve m3 , V13 is the potential energy between m1
and m3 , and V23 is the potential energy between m2 and m3 . They can be written as:

G(1 − m)m3
V13 = − (9.7.7)
r13

Gmm3
V23 = − (9.7.8)
r23
where
2 2 2
r13 = (X + m cos t) + (Y + m sin t) (9.7.9)

2 2
2
r23 = (X − (1 − m) cos t) + (Y − (1 − m) sin t) (9.7.10)

are the distances between m3 and m1 and between m3 and m2 , respectively.

Because we are interested only in the motion of m3 (we already know the motion of m1
and m2 by our assumptions), we will write only the terms of the Lagrangian for the mass m3 .
The terms for the kinetic energies of m1 and m2 , and the term describing the gravitational
potential energy between m1 and m2 will not contribute to the equations of motion for
m3 because they are independent of the variables X, Ẋ, Y , and Ẏ . The Lagrangian of our
system (including only the terms relevant to m3 ) is L = T3 − (V13 + V23 ), which, when using
G = 1, can be written as,

1
(1 − m)m3 mm3
L= m3 Ẋ 2 + Ẏ 2 + + (9.7.11)
2 r13 r23
Note that (9.7.11) is time-dependent. We can eliminate the time-dependence by trans-
forming our coordinate system into a frame that is rotating with the masses m1 and m2 .
In this rotating frame, m1 and m2 are at rest, with m1 located at the point (m, 0) and m2
located at the point (1 − m, 0). Let us use the notation (x, y) to describe the position of m3
in the rotating frame. The transformation that connects the coordinates (X, Y ) and (x, y)
is the rotation matrix
    
X cos t − sin t x
= (9.7.12)
Y sin t cos t y

where the angle of rotation is θ = ωt = t, since ω = 1 due to our assumption about the
period of revolution for masses m1 and m2 . We can write out the matrix multiplication in
(9.7.12) to find,

X =x cos t − y sin t (9.7.13)

Y =x sin t + y cos t (9.7.14)
Planar circular restricted three-body problem 359

Using (9.7.13) and (9.7.14) we find,

Ẋ =ẋ cos t − x sin t − ẏ sin t − y cos t (9.7.15)
Ẏ =ẋ sin t + x cos t + ẏ cos t − y sin t (9.7.16)
2 2
r13 = (x + m) + y 2 (9.7.17)
2
2
r23 = (x − (1 − m)) + y 2
(9.7.18)
Inserting equations (9.7.15)-(9.7.18) into (9.7.11) and after some algebra, we can re-write
the Lagrangian as,
1   m (1 − m) mm
2 2 3 3
L = m3 (ẋ − y) + (ẏ + x) + + (9.7.19)
2 r13 r23
Finally, to get the equations of motion, we use the Euler-Lagrange equations,
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 (9.7.20)
dt ∂ ẋ ∂x
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 (9.7.21)
dt ∂ ẏ ∂y
which result in
(1 − m) (x + m) m [x − (1 − m)]
ẍ − 2ẏ − x = −  3/2 −  3/2 (9.7.22)
2 2
(x + m) + y 2 (x − (1 − m)) + y 2
(1 − m) y my
ÿ + 2ẋ − y = −  3/2 −  3/2 (9.7.23)
2 2
(x + m) + y 2 [x − (1 − m)] + y 2

The equations of motion (9.7.22) and (9.7.23) are two coupled second-order ordinary
differential equations that must be solved numerically.
Example 9.8 shows the numerical solution of this system of ODEs using Python. The
corresponding code using Mathematica for this example is left for Problem 9.38.

Example 9.8: Numerical solution of the planar circular restricted three-

body
problem
Solve the equations of motion (9.7.22) and (9.7.23) using Python, for various initial
conditions.
Solution:
To compute the numerical solution in Python, we rewrote (9.7.22) and (9.7.23) as a
system of four first-order differential equations using u ≡ ẋ and v ≡ ẏ as new variables.
The resulting equations of motion are

ẋ =u (9.7.24)
(1 − m) (x + m) m [x − (1 − m)]
u̇ =2v + x −  3/2 −  3/2 (9.7.25)
2 2
(x + m) + y 2 (x − (1 − m)) + y 2
ẏ =v (9.7.26)
(1 − m) y my
v̇ = − 2u + y −  3/2 −  3/2 (9.7.27)
2 2
(x + m) + y 2 [x − (1 − m)] + y 2
360 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

The four first-order equations of motion are then solved using odeint for the con-
dition m = 0.01. The local variables peXterm and peYterm are the right-hand side of
(9.7.22) and (9.7.23), respectively. These additional variables were included to improve
the clarity of the algorithm. In addition, we included the basic information needed to
create a four-panel plot. The results of the code are shown in Figure 9.16.
In Figure 9.16 we see the trajectory of m3 in the rotating coordinate frame (x, y)
for four different initial conditions. In each plot, the red (in the e-book) dot near the
origin is m1 and the other dot (which is green in the e-book) is m2 . The blue (in the
e-book) curve is the trajectory of m3 . Notice in the upper-left plot of Figure 9.16, m3
is in a precessing orbit about m1 , which is obscured by the trajectory. The upper-right
plot has m3 spiraling out towards an orbit that encompasses both m1 and m2 . The
lower-right plot shows a case where m3 orbits about m2 .
Arguably the most interesting plot in Figure 9.16 is the lower-left plot which shows
an example where m3 orbits around a so-called Lagrange point of the m1 -m2 system.
A Lagrange point is a point in space where the centrifugal force is balanced by the
gravitational attraction. Because we transformed the coordinates of the original problem
into a rotating system, we introduced a noninertial frame. We will discuss noninertial
frames in the next chapter. However, for now all you need to know is that in non-inertial
frames, an apparent force called the centrifugal force appears which is directed outward.
Near two orbiting masses, such as m1 and m2 , there are five points called Lagrange
points where the centrifugal (outward) force is equal to the gravitational attraction
(inward). The Lagrange points are equilibrium points, and the one represented in the
lower-left panel of Figure 9.16 is called L4, which is a stable equilibrium.
For example, the Trojan asteroids orbit Jupiter’s L4 point. In addition, Lagrange
points in the Earth-Sun and Earth-Moon systems have been used by many probes and
satellites. For example, the James Webb Space Telescope orbits L2, which lies along a
line joining the Earth and the Sun, and would be to the right of the green dot (in the
e-book) in Figure 9.16.
Planar circular restricted three-body problem 361

Python Code

import numpy as np
from [Link] import odeint
import [Link] as plt

mu = 0.01

def threeBody(vec,t):
x, y, u, v = vec

peXterm = -(1.0-mu)*(x+mu)/((x+mu)**2+y**2)**(1.5)-mu*\
(x-1.0+mu)/((x-1.0+mu)**2+y**2)**(1.5)
peYterm = -y*(1.0-mu)/((x+mu)**2+y**2)**(1.5)-mu*y/((x-1.0+\
mu)**2+y**2)**(1.5)
derivative = [u, v, 2*v + x + peXterm, -2*u + y + peYterm ]
return derivative

initialCondition1 = [-0.75, 0, 0, 1]
t=[Link](0,20,2001)
sol1 = odeint(threeBody, initialCondition1, t)

initialCondition2 = [1.1, 0, 0, 0.3]

t=[Link](0,50,5001)
sol2 = odeint(threeBody, initialCondition2, t)

initialCondition3 = [0.5, 0.86, 0, 0.02]

t=[Link](0,50,5001)
sol3 = odeint(threeBody, initialCondition3, t)

initialCondition4 = [1.1, 0.0, 0, 0.01]

t=[Link](0,10,1001)
sol4 = odeint(threeBody, initialCondition4, t)

f, ((ax1, ax2), (ax3, ax4)) = [Link](2,2)

plt.subplots_adjust(top = 0.99, bottom=0.01, hspace=0.75, wspace=1.0)
[Link](sol1[:,0],sol1[:,1])
[Link](sol2[:,0],sol2[:,1])
[Link](sol3[:,0],sol3[:,1])
[Link](sol4[:,0],sol4[:,1])
[Link]()
362 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

Figure 9.16: Results of the Python code for the planar restricted three-body problem, from
Example 9.8. The red (in the e-book) dot near the origin is m1 , and the green (in the
e-book) dot is m2 . The curve represents the path followed by m3 . The complete code for
this plot can be found in this book’s website.

9.8 CHAPTER SUMMARY

A central force is directed along a line that joins the particle and the force center.
Central forces can be expressed in spherical coordinates as:

F = f (r)r̂
where the vector r is the location of the particle relative to the force center. Central
forces conserve energy and angular momentum.
In a two-body system, where two masses m1 and m2 interact via a central force, we
can reduce the problem to that of the motion of a single particle of mass µ called the
reduced mass:
m1 m2
µ=
m1 + m2
The reduced mass is located at r = r1 − r2 relative to the system’s center of mass.
The center of mass serves as the force center.
One approach of finding the equations of motion for the reduced mass in the two-
body problem, is by solving the differential equation,
 
d2 1 1 µ r2
+ = − f (r)
dθ2 r r ℓ2
From the equation of motion, which is derived from Newton’s second law in polar
coordinates, we can derive general forms of Kepler’s Three Laws of Planetary Motion.
The first law is that the orbit of the reduced mass is of the form of a conic section
with the force center at one focus,
End-of-chapter problems 363

s
1 1 ℓ2 2Eℓ2
= (1 + e cos θ) α= e= 1+
r α µk µk 2
For planets orbiting the Sun, their motion is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus.
The shape of the ellipse can be described by

rmin = a (1 − e) rmax = a (1 + e)
where e is the eccentricity of the ellipse, r is the distance from the Sun to the planet,
a and b are the semi-major and semi-minor axes of the ellipse. The perihelion is the
point where the distance is minimum rmin , and the aphelion is the point where the
distance is maximum rmax . In general, the motion of the reduced mass can be any
conic section, and is determined by the energy E and angular momentum ℓ which
determine the eccentricity e of the orbit. If 0 < e < 1 the motion is an ellipse, if e = 0
the orbit is a circle, if e > 1 the motion is a hyperbola, and for e = 1 it is a parabola.
The conservation of angular momentum leads to Kepler’s second law: a line joining
the reduced mass to the force center sweeps out equal areas in equal time periods.
Kepler’s third law relates the period of the planet’s orbit P to the semi-major axis
of its orbit a.
4π 2 a3
P2 =
G (m1 + m2 )
The three-body problem involves interactions between three objects. We examined
the circular restricted three-body problem which is a relatively simple formulation of
the three-body problem. However, even the circular restricted three-body problem must
be analyzed numerically. The motion of the third mass m3 ≪ m1 , m2 can be rather
complicated.

9.9 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 9.1: Central Forces
1. A two-body system interacts with a central force F (r) = f (r) r̂ where r̂ is the
radial unit vector. Show that (a) the angular momentum and (b) the total energy are
conserved. Solve this problem both analytically and using a CAS.
2. A two-body

system of masses m1 and m2 interacts with the central force field F =
− K/r2 r̂, where r̂ is the radial unit vector.
a. Find the Lagrangian of the two-body system as a function of the distance r.
What are two constants of the motion?
b. How much work is done by the force field in (a) by moving the particle from
a point on the circle with radius r = a > 0, to another point on the circle
r = b > 0? Does the work depend on the path? Explain.
3. A particle of mass m moves in a central force field defined by F = −K/r3 .
a. Write an equation for the conservation of energy.

b. Prove that if E is the total energy supplied to the particle, then its speed is given
by
364 Central Forces and Planetary Motion
p
v= K/(mr2 ) + 2E/m

4. A particle of mass m moves in a central force field defined by F = −k r2 . It starts

from rest at a point on the circle r = a. Prove that when it reaches the circle r = b
its speed will be p
v = 2k(a3 − b3 )/3m

5. A particle of mass m moves in a central force field F = −K/rn where K and n are
constants and K > 0. The particle starts from rest at r = a and arrives at r = 0 with
finite speed V0 .
a. Prove that for this physical situation, the condition n < 1 must be true.

b. Prove that s
2Ka1−n
V0 =
m (n − 1)

6. Let L, M, and T represent the dimensions of length, mass and time, respectively.
Find the dimensions of the universal gravitational constant G.

7. The coordinates of a mass m are given as a function of time t, as x = x0 cos (ω1 t)

and y = y0 sin (ω2 t), where ω1 , ω2 are positive constants.
a. Is the angular momentum of the mass m conserved as it moves on the xy-plane?

b. Show that if ω1 = ω2 , then the force acing on the mass is a central force.
c. Evaluate the total energy when ω1 = ω2 , and show that it is conserved.

Solve this problem analytically and using a CAS.

8. A mass m experiences a force
F = f (r) r̂ − λv
where λ is a positive constant, f (r) is a scalar function of the radial distance r, v is
the velocity vector, and r̂ is the unit vector along the radial direction. Show that the
angular momentum varies with time as L = L0 e− m t , where L0 is the initial angular
λ

momentum at t = 0.

Sections 9.2 - 9.3: The Two-Body Problem and Equations of Motion for the
Two-Body Problem

9. Two point masses m1 ,m2 are separated by a distance r. Starting from rest, they
both begin to accelerate towards each other. Show that the elapsed time t until they
collide is: s
r3
t=π
8G(m1 + m2 )
You may want to evaluate the integrals with a CAS.
10. Show that the total angular momentum L =L1 + L2 of the two-body system is equal
to
L =µ (r × v)
where µ is the reduced mass, r = r2 − r1 is the relative position vector of the two
masses, and the velocity vector v = ṙ. Here µ = reduced mass = mm11+m
m2
2
.
End-of-chapter problems 365

11. Show that the kinetic energy of the two-body system with a reduced mass µ and
relative position vector of the two masses r = r2 − r1 is equal to:
1 2
T = µ | ṙ |
2
m1 m2
where µ = reduced mass = m1 +m2 . Solve this problem both analytically and using a
CAS.

12. In Example 9.1 we evaluated numerically and plotted the orbits in a two-body
gravitational system. Use the command ListAnimate in Mathematica, to produce an
animation of the two bodies moving around each other.

13. The orbit of a particle of mass m in a central force located at r = 0 is a spiral

r = e−θ . Prove that the force is proportional to 1/r3 .

14. What central force is required to produce an orbit r2 = a2 cos (2θ), where a is a
positive constant? It may be useful to use a CAS to evaluate and simplify the necessary
derivatives.
15. Show that both r = e−θ and r = 1/θ are possible orbits for a central force proportional
to 1/r3 . How is this possible?
16. A particle with mass m moves around the origin O with a speed v = a/r, inversely
proportional to the distance from O.
a. Show that the motion of the particle requires an inverse cube central force.

b. What types of orbits are possible?

17. The orbit of a mass m inside a central force field is such that r = a/θ, where a is a
positive constant. Show that the potential must be proportional to 1/r2 .
18. Obtain the orbit for a mass m moving in a central force field defined by F = −K/r3 ,
and describe it physically.
19. A particle of mass m moves in a central force field given in magnitude by F = −Kr
where K is a positive constant and r is the position vector. If the particle starts at
r = a, θ = 0 with a speed v0 in a direction perpendicular to the x-axis, determine and
describe its orbit.
20. A particle of mass m moves in a central force field given in magnitude by F = −k/r3
where k is a positive constant, and r is the distance from the force center. The particle
starts at r = a, θ = 0 with a speed v0 in a direction making an angle α with the positive
x-axis.
a. Show that the differential equation for the orbit is given in terms of u = 1/r by

d2 u
+ (1 − γ)u = 0
dθ2
where
k
γ=
ma2 v 20 sin2 α
b. Solve the differential equation in (a) and interpret it physically.
366 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

21. The orbit of a mass m and angular momentum L in a central field is given by
1
r (θ) =
A cos (ωo θ)
where ωo is a positive constant, and the constants A, ϕ depend on the initial condi-
tions. This type of orbit is obtained in Problems 9.16, 9.18 and 9.20 under certain
assumptions.
a. Assuming that θ(0) = 0, obtain analytical expressions for the radius r(t) as a
function of time.
b. Plot r(t) as a function of time t, and a polar plot r(θ) by using the numerical
values A = 1, L = 1, m = 1, ω = 0.3 (all in SI units). What is the physical
meaning of these plots?
Solve this problem both analytically and also using a CAS.

Section 9.4: Planetary Motion and Kepler’s First Law

22. A planet moves around a massive Sun according to the equation

12
r=
3 + cos θ
a. Evaluate the semi-major axes a, b and plot the orbit.
b. Find the central force for this orbit, in terms of the angular momentum and the
mass m of the planet.

Solve this problem both analytically and also using a CAS.

23. A planet moves around a massive Sun according to the equation

24
r=
3 + 5 cos θ
a. Evaluate and plot the orbit.
b. Find the central force for this orbit, in terms of the angular momentum L and
the mass m of the planet.

Solve this problem both analytically and also using a CAS.

24. A planet revolves around a massive Sun in an elliptical orbit, with one focus F at
the origin, the center of the ellipse located at (−4, 0) and semi-major axis a = 10.
a. Find the equation of the orbit in Cartesian and polar coordinates.
b. Find the central force for this orbit, in terms of the angular momentum L and
the mass m of the planet.
Solve this problem both analytically and also using a CAS.

25. The orbit of a mass m and angular momentum L in a central field is given by
1
r (θ) =
A cosh (ω0 θ)
where ω0 is a positive constant, and the constants A, ϕ depend on the initial condi-
tions. This type of orbit is obtained in Problems 9.16, 9.18 and 9.20 under certain
assumptions.
End-of-chapter problems 367

a. Assuming that θ(0) = 0, obtain analytical expressions for the radius r(t) as a
function of time.
b. Plot r(t) as a function of time t, and a polar plot r(θ) by using the numerical
values A = 1, L = 1, m = 1, ω = 0.3 (all in SI units). What is the physical
meaning of these plots?
Solve this problem both analytically and also using a CAS.

26. The distance of closest approach of Halley’s Comet to the Sun is 0.57 astronomical
units AU (1 AU is the mean Earth-Sun distance). The greatest distance of the comet
from the Sun is 35 AU. Create a polar plot of the orbit of Halley’s comet around the
Sun in the vicinity of our solar system, which extends about 40 AU in diameter. Plot
together the orbits of Mercury, the earth and Halley’s Comet.
Section 9.5: Orbits in Central Force Fields

27. Evaluate and discuss the motion of a particle in the central force field F = α/r2 +β/r3
for β > 0 and α, β are constants.

28. Integrate numerically Newton’s second law when the interaction force between two
masses m1 and m2 is of the form
Gm1 m2 Gm1 m2
F(r) = − r̂ or F(r) = − r̂
r1.9 r2.1
Evaluate numerically and discuss the orbits of a particle in these central force poten-
tials. Use the numerical values m1 = 1, m2 = 2, G = 1 and initial conditions x(0) = 1,
x′ (0) = 0, y(0) = 0, y ′ (0) = 0.5 (all quantities in SI units). Show that the resulting
orbits of the reduced mass are precessing ellipses, and discuss the differences between
the two cases. Use a CAS to carry out numerical integration of Newton’s law.
29. Planet A has a velocity vA at aphelion and a velocity of vP at perihelion during its
motion around a star. A second planet B moves around the same star as planet A, in
a circular orbit with a radius R and with a speed v. Show that the aphelion distance
for planet A is
2Rv 2
RA =
vA (vA + vP )

30. A comet of energy E and angular momentum L enters a region with an attractive
central potential V (r). Show that the distance of closest approach of the comet to
the star is
L
rmin = p
2m (E − V (rmin ))

31. A comet of mass m approaches our sun with a velocity v0 from a very large distance
as shown in Figure 9.17. If there was no deflection of the comet due to the Sun, it
would have passed a distance b from the Sun as shown. Show that the distance of
closest approach for the comet is given by:
s 2
k k
rmin = + + b2
mv02 mv02

where the gravitational potential is V = −k/r.

368 Central Forces and Planetary Motion

Figure 9.17: The comet of mass m approaching the Sun, from Problem 9.31.

32. A spacecraft travels from planet A to planet B in an elliptical orbit, so that the
perihelion is at planet A and the aphelion is at planet B. Planets A and B move in
circular orbits around a star of mass M , with radii RA and RB as shown in Figure
9.18. Assume that the masses of the planets have no effect on the spacecraft. Show
that the spacecraft must be given a speed
s r
2GM RA GM
v= −
RB (RA + RB ) RA

with respect to planet A, in order to move in the dashed elliptical orbit shown below.

Figure 9.18: A spacecraft transiting from planet A to planet B along the dotted elliptical
path, from Problem 9.32.

Section 9.6: Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion

33. Solve the following Kepler law problems:
a. Assuming that the planet Mars has a period about the Sun equal to approxi-
mately 687 earth days, find the mean distance of Mars from the Sun. Take the
distance of the Earth from the Sun as 93 million miles.
End-of-chapter problems 369

b. Calculate the mass of the Sun using the fact that the Earth is 150 million km from
it, and the Earth makes one complete revolution about the Sun in approximately
1 year.
34. Suppose that a small spherical planet has a radius of 10 km and a mean density of 5
g/cm3 .
a. What would be the acceleration due to gravity at its surface?

b. What would a person weigh on this planet if they weighed 80 kg on Earth?

c. If the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of a spherical planet is gP and
the mean density and radius are given by σ and R respectively, show that gP =
(4π/3) GRσ, where G is the universal gravitational constant.

35. Solve the following Kepler law problems:

a. Evaluate the radius of the orbit of a geostationary satellite.

b. Evaluate the orbiting period of the space shuttle around the Earth, by assuming
that its orbit is very close to the Earth’s surface.

36. Create three lists of the perihelion, aphelion and orbital periods of the planets,
and use Kepler’s third law to estimate the mass of the Sun, by fitting a least squares
linear function. Follow a procedure similar to Example 9.7.

Section 9.7: Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem

37. Using the code provided in Section 9.7, try different initial conditions for the mass
m3 and discuss the result.

38. Write the Mathematica code for Example 9.8, and discuss the plots for various
initial conditions of the circular restricted three-body problem.
39. In this problem, we evaluate and plot the Lagrange points for the circular restricted
three-body problem with m = 0.01. We continue with the situation where m1 ≫ m2
such as the Earth-Sun-satellite system. Note that the value of m in the Earth-Sun
satellite is close to 10−6 but we will continue with m = 0.01 for visualization purposes.
The Lagrange points are points where ẍ = ÿ = 0 and ẋ = ẏ = 0 in the rotating frame
discussed in Section 9.7. Using a computer, solve numerically (9.7.22) and (9.7.23)
when ẍ = ÿ = ẋ = ẏ = 0. Plot the resulting points on the same graph as a circle with
radius 1 − m, which represents the orbit of m2 . You should find that there are a total
of five Lagrange points and that two of the Lagrange points lie along the orbit of m2
and three of them lie along the same line (one of those is also located on the orbit).
 10 Motion in Noninertial
Reference Frames
As we saw in Chapter 1, Newton’s second law is valid only for inertial reference frames.
However, it is sometimes the case where we need to describe the motion in a noninertial
reference frame. For example, long-range missile trajectories need to be described using
a noninertial reference frame, a frame fixed to the surface of the rotating (and therefore
noninertial) Earth. In Chapter 1 we found that using Newton’s second law in a noninertial
reference frame, resulted in the appearance of inertial forces. In this chapter, we will expand
on the idea of inertial forces; specifically, those arising in rotating reference frames. We will
discuss how a vector in a rotating reference frame can be described in a nonrotating frame,
and from that description, we will show how applying Newton’s second law in a rotating
frame results in inertial forces such as the Coriolis force and the centrifugal force. We will
then study how the Coriolis and centrifugal forces affect the motion of a particle near the
surface of the Earth. Finally, we will explore the famous problems of the Foucault pendulum
and projectile motion in a noninertial frame.

10.1 MOTION IN A NONROTATING ACCELERATING REFERENCE

FRAME
Although we examined the case of a nonrotating accelerating frame in Chapter 1, it is
worthwhile revisiting it, this time using three dimensions. Consider a particle of mass m
whose motion is being described using two reference frames as shown in Figure 10.1.
The reference frame S ′ shown in Figure 10.1 is an inertial frame which we will imagine
to be at rest, and the frame S is accelerating away from S ′ with an acceleration A = R̈. In
Chapter 1, we denoted the moving frame with primes. In this chapter, we will switch our
notation for convenience and use primed variables to describe quantities measured in the
inertial frame S ′ and unprimed variables for quantities measured in the noninertial frame
S. We will be focusing on the motion of a particle in the noninertial frame, and we do not
want to complicate the notation with additional primes.

y m

r
y' r'
S x
R

S' x'
Figure 10.1: A particle of mass m located at a position r′ relative to the origin of an inertial
frame S ′ and at a location r relative to the origin of a noninertial frame S. The vector R
measures the position of the noninertial frame’s origin relative to the origin of the inertial
frame.

371
372 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

The position of the particle measured in S ′ can be written as r′ = R + r and the velocity
of the particle, as measured in the frame S ′ is therefore,

ṙ′ = ṙ + V (10.1.1)

where V = Ṙ is the instantaneous velocity of the frame S relative to S ′ . For example, if

S ′ is a stationary reference frame on the ground and S is fixed in an accelerating car, then
the particle’s velocity relative to the ground (ṙ′ ) is the velocity of the particle relative to
the car (ṙ) plus the velocity of the car (V). It should be noted that (10.1.1) only holds for
non-relativistic cases.
Next, we differentiate (10.1.1) to get the acceleration of the particle as measured in the
noninertial frame,
r̈ = r̈′ − A (10.1.2)
where A = V̇. Notice that similar to what was found in Chapter 1, an additional acceleration
is measured in S ′ , which is not measured in S. Multiplying (10.1.2) by the mass of the
particle m,

mr̈ =mr̈′ − mA (10.1.3)

F =F′ − mA (10.1.4)

where F = mr̈ are the forces acting on the particle as measured in the noninertial frame,
and F′ = mr̈′ are the forces acting on the system as measured in the inertial frame. The
forces acting on the particle such as gravity, air resistance, friction, etc. These forces are
measured in both frames. However, there is an additional force measured in the noninertial
frame, −mA. This additional force is sometimes called an inertial force, a fictitious force,
or a pseudo-force. In order to use Newton’s second law to describe motion in a noninertial
frame, we need to include the additional inertial force, which is not due to the particle’s
interaction with another body, but rather arises from the acceleration of the noninertial
frame.
Although the inertial force is sometimes called the fictitious force, inertial forces are real
to those moving in a noninertial reference frame. You have experienced noninertial forces
in an accelerating car as you are being pushed back on the seat, or on a rotating carnival
ride, where you are pushed against the side of a carriage as the ride spins. In each case,
the force is due to your inertia as opposed to the interaction with another body, hence the
name inertial force, since it is introduced in order to account for all of the accelerations you
are experiencing. By including inertial forces, we are able to use Newton’s second law to
describe motion in noninertial reference frames.

Example 10.1: A pendulum with an accelerating support

Consider a simple plane pendulum of mass m and a massless rod of length ℓ in
a downward uniform gravitational field g, and whose support has a vertical upward
acceleration of a as shown in Figure 10.2. Find the frequency of small oscillations of
the pendulum.
Angular velocity as a vector 373

θ ℓ

Figure 10.2: An upward accelerating pendulum with mass m and length ℓ from Example
10.1.

Solution:
According to (10.1.3), the force in the frame S which is accelerating with the pen-
dulum is,
F = (T + mg) − ma (10.1.5)
where T is the tension in the pendulum, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and a is a
vector that has a magnitude of a and points in the direction opposite of g. The term in
the parentheses of (10.1.5) is F′ , the sum of the forces acting on the system according
to Newton’s second law in the inertial frame. We can rewrite (10.1.5) as

F = T + mgeff (10.1.6)

where geff = g − a is the effective gravitational field which includes the gravitational
attraction and the acceleration of the pendulum’s support. It then follows that in the
frame S, the equation of motion of the pendulum for small oscillations is,
geff
θ̈ + θ=0 (10.1.7)
ℓ
where θ is the angle that the pendulum makes with the vertical (as usual). From Chapter
6 we know that the coefficient in front of θ in (10.1.7) is the square of ω0 , the frequency
of small oscillations. Therefore, we find
r
|g − a|
ω0 = (10.1.8)
ℓ
We see that the upward acceleration effectively reduces the gravitational field. The
result is that the accelerated frame is the same as having an additional gravitational
field (in this case, whose acceleration is in the opposite direction of g). The fact that ac-
celerating frames are indistinguishable from gravitational fields is an important element
in the general theory of relativity.

10.2 ANGULAR VELOCITY AS A VECTOR

Before we move on to rotating frames, we need to first reexamine angular velocity, and
in particular, the vector nature of angular velocity. Euler’s rotation theorem says that any
infinitesimal displacement of a rigid object such that a point on the body remains fixed, is
equivalent to a rotation about an axis that runs through the fixed point. This theorem is
difficult to prove, but we don’t need to prove it here. However, as an illustrative example,
374 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

consider a wheel rolling along a road. Euler’s theorem says that an infinitesimal displacement
of the wheel can be described as a rotation about the contact point between the wheel and
the road.
Euler’s theorem tells us that in order to specify the rotation about a point, we need
only the direction of the axis and the amount rotated about the axis. Of course, if we are
interested in the rate of rotation, the angular velocity, then we would need the direction
of the axis of rotation and the rate of the rotation. This means we can write the angular
velocity as a vector ω that lies along the axis of rotation and whose magnitude is the rate
of rotation. A stationary spinning top may have an angular velocity of 2π rad/sec with an
axis that is vertically oriented. However, does ω point up or down? The answer to that is
determined by the right-hand rule,

Right-Hand Rule for Rotation

Curl the fingers of your right hand in the direction of the rotation. Your thumb points
in the direction of ω.

The right-hand rule is illustrated in Figure 10.3. The circle with arrows in Figure 10.3
represents a wheel rotating in a counterclockwise direction. As you curl the fingers of your
right hand in the direction of the arrows on the wheel, your thumb should point up, away
from the page. Your thumb is pointing in the direction of the wheel’s angular velocity.

Figure 10.3: The right-hand rule. The large circle represents a wheel and the arrows on
the circle represent a counter clockwise rotation of the wheel. Curl the fingers of your right
hand in the direction of the arrows on the circle. Your thumb should point in the direction
of the vector ω.

If an object’s angular velocity is changing with time, then both the rate of rotation
and/or the orientation of the rotation axis is changing in time. Situations that involve
changes in the orientation of the rotation axis can be difficult to describe mathematically.
In this chapter, we will focus primarily on systems with fixed angular velocities, i.e., both
the rate of rotation and the direction of the rotation axis will remain constant.
In addition to a formal definition of angular velocity, we will also need a relationship
between the velocity of a particle and its angular velocity. Recall that the tangential velocity
v of a particle moving along a circle of radius r with angular velocity ω is v = ωr. In
this particular case, the axis of rotation went through the center of the circle and was
Angular velocity as a vector 375

perpendicular to the plane of the circle. This simple relationship between v and ω results
from the fact that all of the motion is restricted to a plane. That is not generally true.
Consider a particle, represented by the black dot in Figure 10.4 fixed to a location on the
Earth’s surface in the Northern Hemisphere. The angular velocity of the Earth is essentially
constant and points from the South Pole to the North Pole. While every point on the Earth
has the same angular velocity, the particle’s latitude will affect the particle’s tangential
velocity, v.

ρ v

θ r

Figure 10.4: The Northern Hemisphere of the Earth showing the location of a point particle
(black dot) and its velocity, v, which is tangent to the dashed circle.

In Figure 10.4, the particle travels in a circle of radius ρ = |ρ| as the Earth rotates.
The latitude of the particle is π/2 − θ. As θ increases, the particle needs to travel a greater
distance in the same amount of time, while the angular velocity is the same at all latitudes.
Therefore, v = |v| must increase with an increasing θ. We recall that the tangential velocity
of the particle is v = ρ ω where ρ = r sin θ. Therefore, v = rω sin θ and we can write the
tangential velocity as,
v=ω×r (10.2.1)
Notice that (10.2.1) is the general form for the familiar equation v = rω, where θ = π/2.
We need to use (10.2.1) in this case because the origin of the inertial frame is the center
of the Earth, and the center of the Earth is not the center of the circle along which the
particle travels. Furthermore, the center of the Earth will serve as the origin of the inertial
frame that we will use in future problems.
Equation (10.2.1) is not unique to the velocity vector. Note that we can rewrite (10.2.1)
as,
dr
=ω×r (10.2.2)
dt
which is not a formula unique to the vector r. In fact, for any vector Q that is constant in
the rotating reference frame, its time derivative as measured in the nonrotating frame is,

dQ
=ω×Q (10.2.3)
dt
In the next section, we will provide a derivation of a more general form of (10.2.3), which
will include vectors that are not constant in the rotating reference frame.
376 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

ê3
ω P
ê'3

r ê2
r'

R ê1

ê'2

ê'1
Figure 10.5: The inertial frame S ′ (primed unit vectors) and the noninertial rotating frame
S (unprimed unit vectors, red in the e-book). The vector R represents the location of the
origin of the noninertial frame as measured in the inertial system. The vector ω represents
the angular velocity of the noninertial frame.

10.3 TIME DERIVATIVES OF VECTORS IN ROTATING COORDINATE

FRAMES
Recall that in Section 10.1, we related quantities such as velocity and acceleration between
inertial and noninertial frames. This was easily done because neither frame was rotating.
However, once we allow for the noninertial frame to rotate with respect to the inertial
frame, things become a bit more difficult. We will still be able to relate quantities such as
the acceleration measured in the rotating frame to the acceleration measured in the inertial
frame, but to do so, we will need to include the angular velocity of the rotating frame.
We begin by setting up two specific reference frames. As in Section 10.1, we will use
primed coordinates to denote the fixed inertial frame as S ′ , and unprimed coordinates for
the noninertial frame S. The origin of the noninertial frame S is located at a location R
from the origin of S ′ and the noninertial frame is rotating with an angular velocity ω with
respect to S ′ . The two coordinate systems are shown in Figure 10.5.
In Figure 10.5, the inertial frame S ′ is represented by the primed unit vectors ê′i , where
we are using generalized unit vectors in order to simplify an upcoming derivation. The
noninertial frame S is represented by the unprimed unit vectors êi and are colored red in
the e-book. The unit vectors êi are fixed in the rotating frame. In other words, êi rotate with
the frame and, therefore, an observer in the rotating frame will measure êi to be constant
in both magnitude and direction. The vector ω (green in the e-book) represents the angular
velocity of the noninertial frame. The point P can be located using either coordinate system.
As measured in the inertial frame S ′ , the point P is located at, r′ = R + r.
Now let us consider an arbitrary vector Q which is measured in the noninertial frame.
The vector Q could be the position of a particle at the point P , the velocity of the particle,
or any other vector quantity. We will compute the time derivative of Q as measured in the
Time derivatives of vectors in rotating coordinate frames 377

inertial (fixed) frame and the noninertial (rotating) frame using the following notation,
 
dQ
= the time derivative of Q relative to the inertial (fixed) frame S’
dt f
 
dQ
= the time derivative of Q relative to the noninertial (rotating)
dt r
frame S.

We begin by writing Q in terms of the unit vectors that are fixed in the noninertial
frame,
X3
Q= Qi êi (10.3.1)
i=1

The coefficients Qi are the same in each frame. Observers in the inertial frame, would
see êi vary with time, but that would be the only difference between what is observed in
the two frames. If we calculate the time derivative of Q relative to the noninertial frame we
find,
  X 3
dQ
= Q̇i êi (10.3.2)
dt r i=1
Because the scalar coefficients Qi are the same in each frame, we do not need to distin-
guish whether Q̇i is relative to the inertial or noninertial frame. Note that the derivative
does not affect the unit vectors because they are constant relative to the noninertial frame.
Next, we compute the time derivative of Q relative to the fixed frame,
  X
3 X
3  
dQ dêi
= Q̇i êi + Qi (10.3.3)
dt f i=1 i=1
dt f

The first term on the right-hand side of (10.3.3) is what we found when computing the
time derivative relative to the noninertial frame. Notice that the second term in the right-
hand side of (10.3.3) is the time derivative of the vector êi , which is constant in the rotating
frame. We can use the general equation (10.2.3) to write,
 
dêi
= ω × êi (10.3.4)
dt f

Therefore, (10.3.3) becomes,

  X
3 X
3
dQ
= Q̇i êi + ω × (Qi êi ) (10.3.5)
dt f i=1 i=1

or using (10.3.2):

Time Derivative of a Vector Q Relative to an Inertial Frame

   
dQ dQ
= +ω×Q (10.3.6)
dt f dt r
378 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

Notice that (10.3.6) is what we would expect from our studies of translationally moving
reference frames. To better understand this, let Q = r, the position of a particle as measured
in the noninertial (rotating) frame. The first term in the right-hand side of (10.3.6) is the
velocity measured in the rotating frame. The second term is the translational velocity of
the particle at r due to the rotation of the noninertial frame. Hence, the velocity measured
by an observer in the fixed frame is the velocity of the particle in the moving frame plus the
velocity of the frame itself. Note that one result of (10.3.6) is that the angular acceleration
ω̇ is the same in each frame because ω × ω = 0.
Equation (10.3.6) tells us that a vector’s rate of change can be related between inertial
and noninertial frames. Newton’s second law provides a particle’s equations of motion by
stating that the net force acting on a particle is proportional to the particle’s change in
velocity as measured in an inertial frame. Thus, (10.3.6) allows us to relate the acceleration
of a particle in an inertial frame, found from Newton’s second law, to situations where the
observer is in a noninertial frame. In the next section, we will use (10.3.6) to find Newton’s
second law in a rotating frame.

10.4 NEWTON’S SECOND LAW IN A ROTATING FRAME

In order to find an equation which describes the motion of a particle in a rotating frame, we
will need to modify Newton’s second law for use in noninertial frames. To find the form of
Newton’s second law in a rotating frame S, we will use as a reference Figure 10.5. Suppose
that there is a particle with mass m located at the point P in Figure 10.5. We will allow
the noninertial frame to be both rotating and have a linear acceleration relative to S ′ . It
will be helpful to think of the inertial frame as fixed. Let ω be the angular velocity of the
noninertial frame S.
In the inertial frame S ′ we can write Newton’s second law as,
 ′
′ dv
F =m (10.4.1)
dt f

where v′ is the velocity of the particle relative to the inertial frame S ′ , and F′ is the net
force acting on the particle. The net force F′ includes the interaction forces between the
mass m and other bodies such as gravity, air resistance, friction, etc. In order to find the
form of Newton’s second law for a noninertial frame, we will need to rewrite the acceleration
as measured in the inertial frame (dv′ /dt)f in terms of the acceleration as measured in the
noninertial frame.
We begin by finding v′ . Figure 10.5 shows that,

r′ = R + r (10.4.2)

The velocity v′ is found by taking the time derivative of r′ relative to the inertial frame.
 ′    
dr dR dr
v′ = = + (10.4.3)
dt f dt f dt f

We use (10.3.6) on the second term in the right-hand side of (10.4.3) in order to find
how an observer in the inertial frame S ′ measures the velocity of the particle moving in the
noninertial frame S,    
dr dr
= +ω×r (10.4.4)
dt f dt r
Newton’s second law in a rotating frame 379

where ω is the angular velocity of S. By using (10.4.4) and defining the following:
 ′
dr
v′ ≡ (10.4.5)
dt f
 
dR
V≡ (10.4.6)
dt f
 
dr
v≡ (10.4.7)
dt r
we can write:
v′ = V + v + (ω × r) (10.4.8)
where:

v′ = the velocity of the particle relative to the inertial frame S ′

V = the linear velocity of the noninertial frame relative to S ′
v = the velocity of the particle relative to the noninertial frame S
ω = the angular velocity of the noninertial frame S relative to S ′
ω × r = the velocity of the particle due to the rotation of S relative to S ′

Next, we return to (10.4.1) and insert (10.4.8) to obtain:

"      #
′ dV dv dr
F =m + + (ω̇ × r) + ω × (10.4.9)
dt f dt f dt f

Now, we will go through the right-hand side of (10.4.9) term by term. The first term in
the right-hand side of (10.4.9) is the linear acceleration of the noninertial frame,
 
dV
A= (10.4.10)
dt f

The second term in the right-hand side of (10.4.9) is rewritten using (10.3.6):
   
dv dv
= + (ω × v) (10.4.11)
dt f dt r
= a + (ω × v) (10.4.12)

where a = (dv/dt)r is the acceleration of the particle as measured in the noninertial frame.
The third term in the right-hand side of (10.4.9) does not need simplification because ω̇ is
the same in each reference frame. Finally, the fourth term in the right-hand side of (10.4.9)
is rewritten using (10.3.6),
   
dr dr
ω× =ω × + ω × (ω × r) (10.4.13)
dt f dt r
= (ω × v) + [ω × (ω × r)] (10.4.14)

By inserting (10.4.10)-(10.4.14) into (10.4.9), we obtain,

F′ = mA + ma + 2m (ω × v) + m (ω̇ × r) + m [ω × (ω × r)] (10.4.15)

If we define

F ≡ F′ − mA − 2m (ω × v) − m (ω̇ × r) − m [ω × (ω × r)] (10.4.16)

380 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

as the force experienced by the particle in the noninertial frame, then for noninertial frames,
Newton’s second law takes the form
F =ma (10.4.17)
Recall that a is the acceleration of the particle as measured in the noninertial frame. Al-
though the above equation looks like how we have written Newton’s second law from Chapter
1 and onwards, it is important to remember all of the terms that are packed into F as de-
fined in (10.4.16). The force F is sometimes called the effective force acting on the particle
because it includes both interaction forces and inertial forces.
Notice that there are four inertial forces introduced in (10.4.16). The inertial force −mA
is the same one we found in Section 10.1, and it is due to the linear acceleration of S. The
second term in (10.4.16), −2m (ω × v), is the so-called Coriolis force which we will discuss
in detail later. The term, −m (ω̇ × r), is the inertial force associated with the angular
acceleration of S ′ . For most of the problems in this chapter, the frame S will be attached
to the surface of the Earth, and to a good approximation, ω̇ = 0. This force will not be
present in our discussion. The final term, −m [ω × (ω × r)], is the centrifugal force which
we will also discuss later in detail.
We have learned that Newton’s second law can be used, with modification, for problems
involving noninertial frames. The trick is that we have to include additional inertial forces
and not just the forces of interactions between bodies in the system. Just like in Section
10.1, these inertial forces are real to the observer in the noninertial frames.
Next, we will discuss further the Coriolis and centrifugal forces. These two inertial forces
play an important role when describing the motion of an object near the Earth’s surface.
For the remainder of this chapter, the inertial frame S ′ has its origin at the center of the
Earth and ê′3 points along the Earth’s rotation axis from the Earth’s center to its North
Pole. Hence ω = ω ê′3 where ω = 2π rad/day. Furthermore, the noninertial frame S has its
origin fixed at one point on the Earth’s surface, the ê1 ê2 -plane is tangent to the Earth’s
surface at the origin of S, and ê3 is pointing locally up (away from the center of the Earth).

10.4.1 CENTRIFUGAL FORCE

As we saw in the previous section, the term

Fcent = −m [ω × (ω × r)] (10.4.18)

in (10.4.16) is called the centrifugal force and is present due to the rotation of the noninertial
frame. We can understand the direction of the centrifugal force as follows.
In Figure 10.6, a particle of mass m (not shown) is located at r in a reference frame
that is rotating relative to an inertial frame. In the inertial frame, an observer would see
the particle moving in a circle of radius ρ = r sin θ. In order to find the direction of the
centrifugal force −m [ω × (ω × r)], we first need to find the direction of the vector ω × r.
The vector ω × r is perpendicular to both ω and r and therefore lies in the plane of the
circle as shown most clearly in the bird’s-eye view in Figure 10.6(b). Next, the direction of
ω × (ω × r) is perpendicular to both ω and ω × r, and therefore points radially in towards
the center of the circle. Finally, the centrifugal force is −m [ω × (ω × r)], which points in
the opposite direction of ω × (ω × r) and therefore points radially outward from the center
of the circle.
We can compute the magnitude of the centrifugal force from (10.4.18). Let us focus on
describing the motion along the circle in cylindrical coordinates ρ, ϕ, and z. Note that in
this case, we want an azimuthal angle to describe the motion around the circle of radius ρ,
as shown in Figure 10.6a. Hence we will use ϕ to denote that angle consistent with spherical
coordinates. Using cylindrical polar coordinates, we find ω × r = ω r sin θϕ̂. Furthermore,
Newton’s second law in a rotating frame 381
ω ω×r

ω×r
ω ω×(ω×r) -ω×(ω×r)
ω×(ω×
ρ r)
-ω×(ω
ρ
× r)

r
θ

(a) The perspective from a distant observer. (b) A bird’s-eye view of (a) looking down on the
vector ω.

Figure 10.6: Centrifugal force in two perspectives. A particle is located at r in a rotating

reference frame which has an angular velocity ω. An observer in a noninertial frame would
see the particle as moving in a circle with a radius ρ = r sin θ. The particle experiences a
centrifugal force −m [ω × (ω × r)] that points radially outward from the particle’s center
of revolution.

ω × (ω × r) = −ω 2 r sin θρ̂ (note that ω = ωẑ in cylindrical polar coordinates with ẑ × ϕ̂ =

−ρ̂). Therefore, we find that
Fcent = m ρ ω 2 ρ̂ (10.4.19)
Hence, a particle moving along a circle would experience an outward force with a magnitude
m ρ ω 2 . Notice that this outward force is consistent with the familiar centripetal force Fc =
−m rω 2 ρ̂. Recall that the centripetal force is the net force that keeps a particle moving along
a circular path with a constant speed. Now that we have an understanding of noninertial
frames, we have another means of describing uniform circular motion. From the perspective
of the particle, which is in a noninertial frame, there is a centrifugal force acting on it, such
that the net force is zero in the radial direction.
Because the Earth is rotating, objects near the surface of the Earth experience the cen-
trifugal force. The outward-pointing centrifugal force reduces the effective acceleration due
to gravity by an amount depending on the particle’s latitude. The next example illustrates
this.
382 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

ω
-ω×(ω×r)
g0
ρ g

θ R
E

Figure 10.7: A particle located at RE on the Earth’s surface (solid circle) moves in a circle
(dotted circle) as the Earth rotates with an angular velocity ω, in Example 10.2. Vectors
for the effective gravitational acceleration g, the centrifugal acceleration ω × (ω × r), and
the acceleration due to gravity g0 are also shown.

Example 10.2: Gravity and the centrifugal force

Consider a particle of mass m at rest on the surface of the Earth. Find the effective
force acting on the particle and compute the difference in the effective acceleration due
to gravity between the North Pole and a point on the equator.

Solution:
It is helpful to include a diagram of the particle’s location before we perform any
calculations. Figure 10.7 shows a particle’s position RE on the Earth’s surface. The
position vector RE has a magnitude of 6.371 km and points in a direction from the
center of the Earth to the location of the particle on the Earth’s surface. The angle
θ is the same angle from Figure 10.6a and is related to the particle’s latitude λ by
λ = π/2 − θ. To a stationary observer above the Earth, the particle appears to move in
a circle of radius ρ = RE sin θ.
According to (10.4.16), the effective force acting on the particle is,

F = F′ + mg0 − m [ω × (ω × RE )] (10.4.20)

where
GME
g0 = − 2 R̂E
RE
is the acceleration due to the gravitational attraction, found from Newton’s universal
law of gravitation, the Earth’s mass is ME = 5.972 × 1024 kg and F′ is the sum of all
of the forces other than gravity acting on the particle. The only inertial force acting
on the particle is the centrifugal force. The Coriolis force is zero because the particle is
not moving relative to the Earth’s surface and, to good approximation, ω is a constant
and therefore ω̇ = 0.
We can collect the second and third terms in (10.4.20) and define a new acceleration
due to gravity called an effective acceleration due to gravity g where,

g = g0 − ω × (ω × r) (10.4.21)
Newton’s second law in a rotating frame 383

and it is this effective acceleration g that determines the acceleration due to free fall and
the period of a pendulum at a point on Earth. Note that the centrifugal acceleration
effectively reduces the acceleration due to gravity. In addition, a plumb line will lie along
the direction of g and will slightly deviate from true vertical because of the outward-
directed centrifugal force shown in the diagram above. Furthermore, the surfaces of the
Earth’s oceans are perpendicular to g, not g0 .
We can compute the effective acceleration due to gravity at the North Pole and
equator by first finding the magnitude of g0 ,

GME 6.674 × 10−11 Nm2 /kg 2 5.972 × 1024 kg
g0 = 2 = 2 = 9.820 m/s2
RE (6.371 × 106 m)

Next, we compute the magnitude of the centripetal acceleration at the North Pole
and equator. We will use acent = RE ω 2 sin θ ρ̂ which comes from dividing (10.4.19) by
the mass m. Note that we want the component acent sin θ of acent which is parallel to
RE . Note that for the North Pole, θ = 0 and for the equator θ = π/2. In each case
ω = 2π rad/day = 7.272 × 10−5 rad/s,

acent = RE ω 2 sin2 0 =0 m/s2 North Pole

π
acent = RE ω 2 sin2 =0.0337 m/s2 Equator
2
The effective gravitational acceleration is therefore, g = g0 − acent , and we find that
the effective acceleration due to gravity at the North Pole is reduced by 0.0337 m/s2 ,
or about 0.3%, greater than at the equator. The centrifugal force is responsible for the
oblateness of the Earth. The Earth’s polar radius is 21.4 km greater than its equatorial
radius! The additional bulge at the Earth’s equator actually means that the gravita-
tional acceleration at the poles is actually 0.5% greater than that at the equator.

A result of Example 10.2 is that in general, we can rewrite the effective force (10.4.16)
acting on a particle near the surface of the Earth as,

F = F′ + mg − 2m (ω × v) (10.4.22)

where F′ is the sum of all of the interaction forces experienced by the particle excluding
its gravitational attraction to the Earth. We then combined mg0 with the centrifugal force
into a new force mg. The final term in (10.4.22) is the Coriolis force, which will be the topic
of the next section.

10.4.2 CORIOLIS FORCE

When a particle is moving with a velocity v relative to a rotating reference frame, an
additional inertial force called the Coriolis force will be present. The Coriolis force is,

Fcor = −2m (ω × v) (10.4.23)

It is clear from (10.4.23) that the Coriolis force depends on the velocity of a particle.
Particles that are not moving will not experience a Coriolis force. We can estimate the size
of the Coriolis force using (10.4.23). Using ω ≈ 7.3 × 10−5 rad/sec as in Example 10.2, we
find that a golf ball at a latitude of 45 degrees North traveling at 70 m/s will experience a
Coriolis force of 0.007 N, a very small effect considering its time of flight. An intercontinental
384 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

ballistic missile traveling at 7 km/s will experience a Coriolis force of 0.7 N which could
have a more considerable effect on the missile. However, missiles are also affected by the
weather and their courses are corrected by computer guidance systems.
The direction of the Coriolis acceleration (and therefore of the Coriolis force) is deter-
mined by the −ω × v term. As shown in Figure 10.8, the Coriolis acceleration is to the
right of the velocity when the particle is moving in the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere. In the
Southern Hemisphere, the Coriolis acceleration will be to the left of the particle’s velocity.

-ω×v
Figure 10.8: The direction of the Coriolis acceleration acor = −2 (ω × v) of a particle moving
with a velocity v relative to the angular velocity ω of a rotating reference frame. The
acceleration deflects the particle towards its right in the Northern Hemisphere, and towards
its left in the Southern Hemisphere.

Besides missile trajectories, the Coriolis force has an important impact on Earth’s
weather, deflecting air currents in the atmosphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, air is de-
flected toward the right, which leads to high pressure to the right of the airflow, and low
pressure to the left (opposite in Southern Hemisphere), resulting in the counterclockwise
circulation of air in the Northern Hemisphere and the clockwise circulation in the Southern.
ω

ez

RE
θ

λ ex

Figure 10.9: Rotating coordinate system (ex , ey , ez ) is attached to the Earth’s surface (cir-
cle), in Example 10.3. Note that ey is not shown, but points into the page.
Newton’s second law in a rotating frame 385

Example 10.3: The horizontal deflection of a plumb line

Consider a particle of mass m falling freely in Earth’s gravitational field. The particle
is released from rest at a height H above the Earth’s surface and is at a latitude of λ.
Find the particle’s horizontal deflection from the plumb line due to the Coriolis force.
Using H = 100 meters, plot the horizontal deflection in centimeters as a function of
latitude.

Solution:
A diagram showing the coordinate system appears in Figure 10.9, which depicts the
Earth as the circle. The origin of the rotating frame S is located at a latitude λ, and is
fixed on the Earth’s surface. We have chosen our coordinates in the following way. The
êz -direction is locally upward, opposing the direction of the effective acceleration due to
gravity. The direction, êx , points towards the South. Not shown is the direction êy that
points towards the East in order to preserve a right-handed coordinate system. Note
that the angular velocity vector ω = ωẑ′ , where ẑ′ is a unit vector in the inertial frame
(fixed to the center of the Earth), and points from the Earth’s center to the North Pole.
In order to find the horizontal displacement of the falling particle, we need to solve
Newton’s second law for rotation using our established coordinate system. Newton’s
second law is,
F = mr̈ = mg − 2m (ω × v) (10.4.24)

Hence, we will need to integrate Newton’s second law two times in order to get the
displacement we are seeking. Note that the vectors g and v are already in the unprimed
noninertial coordinate system. However, ω is in the primed or inertial coordinate system.
We can transform ω to the noninertial coordinate system, by thinking of the unprimed
coordinates as a rotation of the primed coordinates through an angle θ about the êy
direction. In order to obtain the form of ω in the noninertial coordinates, we can apply
the rotation matrix about the y-axis to the vector ω in the inertial coordinates,
        
ωx cos θ 0 − sin θ 0 −ω sin θ −ω cos λ
 ωy  =  0 1 0  0 =  0 = 0  (10.4.25)
ωz sin θ 0 cos θ ω ω cos θ ω sin λ

where we used λ = π/2−θ. If we assume that the x and y components of the falling par-
ticle’s velocity are negligible and use vz = −gt, we can compute the Coriolis acceleration
ω × v using (10.4.25),

êx êy êz

ω×v= −ω cos λ 0 ω sin λ = −ω g t cos λêy (10.4.26)
0 0 −gt

Using g = −gêz and (10.4.26) we find that (10.4.24) becomes three equations,

ẍ =0 (10.4.27)
ÿ =2 ω g t cos λ (10.4.28)
z̈ = − g (10.4.29)

which shows us that there is no deflection to the South (x-direction) and also shows
that the vertical motion is a free fall. The deflection is towards the East (y-direction)
386 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

and is found by integrating (10.4.28) twice, once with with initial condition ẏ(0) = 0
and then a second time with initial condition y(0) = 0. The result is,
1
y(t) = ω g t3 cos λ (10.4.30)
3
We can find the time of flight t by integrating (10.4.29) twice to get z(t) = z(0)− 12 gt2
p
(note ż(0) = 0) with z(0) = H. Solving for t, we find t = 2H/g and therefore the
displacement from the plumb line of the falling particle is:
s
1 8H 3
y= ω cos λ (10.4.31)
3 g

How large is this? An object dropped from a height of 100 m at a latitude of 45◦
North is deflected by 1.55 cm, if we neglect the effects of air resistance.

Python Code
We convert the latitude from radians to degrees to create the plot. Notice that we
multiply the variable deflection by 100 to get the deflection in centimeters.

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

w = 7.272*10**(-5) # angular speed of Earth

g = 9.8
H = 100

l = [Link](0,[Link]/2) # latitude, lambda

deflection = 1/3*w*[Link](8*H**3/g)*[Link](l)

[Link](l*180/[Link],deflection*100)
[Link]("deflection (cm)")
[Link]("latitude")
[Link]()

Mathematica Code
Note that we plotted latitude in degrees and needed to adjust the argument of
Cos accordingly. We multiplied the function Deflection by 100 in Plot to obtain
centimeters.
Foucault pendulum 387

SetOptions[Plot, Axes->False, Frame->True, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}];

H = 100;

w = 7.272 ∗ 10∧ (−5); (* angular velocity of Earth *)

g = 9.8;

Deflection[λ_]:=1/3 ∗ w ∗ Sqrt[8 ∗ H ∧ 3/g] ∗ Cos[λ ∗ π/180];

Plot[100 ∗ Deflection[λ], {λ, 0, 90},

FrameLabel->{“latitude (degrees)”, “deflection (cm)”}]

2.0
deflection (cm)

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
0 20 40 60 80
latitude (degrees)
Figure 10.10: Output of the code for Example 10.3. The deflection is highest (2.2 cm) at
the equator (λ = 0) and falls to zero at the North Pole.

10.5 FOUCAULT PENDULUM

One of the most famous problems involving noninertial reference frames is the Foucault
pendulum, which was first devised by French physicist Jean-Bernard-Léon Foucault (1819–
1868). The pendulum consists of a heavy mass m suspended from a tall ceiling by a long
and light wire. As the pendulum oscillates, it precesses in the horizontal plane. In some
cases, the pendulum is set up such that it knocks over pegs as it precesses. You might have
seen a Foucault pendulum in-person at a science museum or university. A quick search for
“Foucault pendulum” online will result in many videos of Foucault pendulums in action.
Foucault originally conceived the pendula as a demonstration of the Earth’s rotation. In
1851 he used a 28-kg mass suspended from a 67-m wire from the dome of the Pantheon
in Paris, France. In this section, we will derive the equations of motion for the Foucault
pendulum and show how its precession period is proportional to the pendulum’s latitude.
388 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames
ez

T
ey

Tx
Ty
ex
mg

Figure 10.11: A Foucault pendulum of mass m and length ℓ suspended from a large vertical
height at a point on the z-axis.

We begin with a schematic diagram of the pendulum. Figure 10.11 shows a Foucault
pendulum of mass m connected to a long light wire of length ℓ. The coordinate frame
illustrated is a noninertial frame whose xy-plane is tangent to the Earth’s surface and
whose z-axis is oriented along the local vertical direction. The angle α is small. There are
two forces acting on the Foucault pendulum, gravity, and tension. The force of gravity
mg uses the effective gravitational acceleration g which includes the centrifugal force as
previously discussed. The tension in the wire T is illustrated in Figure 10.11, which also
includes the x- and y-components of T. Note that the z-component of T will be discussed
later in the problem. Finally, we assume that the Foucault pendulum’s motion is largely
confined to the xy-plane. In other words, ż ≪ ẋ and ż ≪ ẏ.
Assuming that the Earth’s angular acceleration is constant, which over the period of
the pendulum is an excellent approximation, we can use (10.4.22) to find the acceleration
of the mass m by dividing (10.4.22) by m and using F′ = T,
T
a= + g − 2 (ω × v) (10.5.1)
m
To get x(t) and y(t) (note that with our assumptions z(t) = 0), we need to find the
components of the vector equation (10.5.1), and integrate and solve the resulting second-
order ODE.
To get the ODE, we write the components of each of the vectors on the right-hand side of
(10.5.1), noting that a = ẍêx + ÿêy + z̈êz . We can see in Figure 10.11, that g = −gêz where
g is the magnitude of the local effective acceleration due to gravity. Next, the components
of the tension can be found using the fact that α is a small angle and ℓ is large,
x y
Tx ≈ − T Ty ≈ − T Tz ≈T (10.5.2)
ℓ ℓ
where we used sin α ≈ x/ℓ and y/ℓ for Tx and Ty , respectively. The Coriolis acceleration
ω × v can be found using the method outlined in Example 10.3,

êx êy êz

ω×v= −ω cos λ 0 ω sin λ (10.5.3)
ẋ ẏ 0
= (−ẏ ω sin λ) êx + (ẋ ω sin λ) êy + (−ẏ ω cos λ) êz (10.5.4)
Foucault pendulum 389

where we used ż ≃ 0, since the pendulum’s motion is confined to the xy-plane. Therefore,
inserting the vector components into (10.5.1) we obtain,

T x
ẍ = − + 2ẏ ω sin λ


m ℓ 


T y
ÿ = − − 2ẋ ω sin λ (10.5.5)
m ℓ 



T 
z̈ = − g + 2ẏ ω cos λ 
m
The pendulum stays in the xy-plane; therefore, z̈ ≈ 0. Furthermore, ẏω is small compared
to the acceleration due to the gravity and the tension. Therefore, we can write T = mg
using the equation for z̈ in (10.5.5) and we can rewrite (10.5.5) as,
)
ẍ + β 2 x =2ωz ẏ
(10.5.6)
ÿ + β 2 y = − 2ωz ẋ

where β 2 = T /(m ℓ) ≃ g/ℓ, and ωz = ω sin λ is the êz component of the angular velocity.
Notice that (10.5.6) consists of a pair of coupled second-order differential equations. The
equations are called coupled because the equation for ẍ contains a term with ẏ and vice-
versa. A common√means of solving coupled ODEs analytically is by multiplying one of the
equations by i = −1 and adding the two equations together. The result of multiplying the
ÿ equation by i and adding it to the ẍ equation is,
(ẍ + iÿ) + β 2 (x + iy) = −2ωz i (ẋ + iẏ) (10.5.7)
We see that (10.5.7) is a second-order ODE in the variable q = x + iy,
q̈ + 2iωz q̇ + β 2 q = 0 (10.5.8)
The form of (10.5.8) should be familiar; it is similar to a damped harmonic oscillator.
The solution to (10.5.8) is,
h  p   p i
q(t) = e−iωz t A exp it ωz2 + β 2 + B exp −it ωz2 + β 2 (10.5.9)

Notice that if the Earth were not rotating, ωz = 0 and (10.5.8) would become,
q̈ ′ + β 2 q ′ = 0 (10.5.10)
which is the equation for simple harmonic motion, where we used the notation of q ′ = x′ +iy ′
for the value of q in a nonrotating frame. From our work in Chapter 6, we know that
q ′ (t) = Aeiβt + Be−iβt (10.5.11)
p
Furthermore, from (10.5.10) we see that β = g/ℓ is the Foucault pendulum’s frequency
of small oscillation when the Earth is not rotating. Because β ≫ ωz , we can rewrite (10.5.9)
as  
q(t) = e−iωz t Aeiβt + Be−iβt (10.5.12)
or
q(t) = e−iωz t q ′ (t) (10.5.13)
We can get a better physical insight to the motion of the pendulum if we write (10.5.13)
as
x + iy =(x′ + iy ′ )e−iωz t
= (x′ + iy ′ ) (cos (ωz t) − i sin (ωz t)) (10.5.14)
= (x′ cos (ωz t) + y ′ sin (ωz t)) + i (−x′ sin (ωz t) + y ′ cos (ωz t))
390 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

Next, we equate the real and imaginary parts to get the solution we are after, x(t) and
y(t), )
x(t) =x′ cos (ωz t) + y ′ sin (ωz t)
(10.5.15)
y(t) = − x′ sin (ωz t) + y ′ cos (ωz t)
It is easier to get some physical insight into these equations if we rewrite (10.5.15) as a
matrix equation,
    ′ 
x(t) cos (ωz t) sin (ωz t) x (t)
= (10.5.16)
y(t) − sin (ωz t) cos (ωz t) y ′ (t)

The appearance of the rotation matrix in (10.5.16) tells us that the Foucault pendulum’s
plane of oscillation is rotating through an angle ωz t with a rotation frequency of ωz = ω sin λ.
Therefore, the precession rate ωz of the pendulum depends on the latitude of the pendulum.
We also see how the Foucault pendulum gives a demonstration of the Earth’s rotation, as
its rotation rate is dependent on the Earth’s angular velocity.

Example 10.4: Motion of Foucault pendulum in the plane

In 1851 Jean-Bernard-Léon Foucault demonstrated a Foucault pendulum with
length ℓ of 67 meters in Paris, France. Plot the solution to (10.5.6) with the initial
conditions x(0) = 0.1, y(0) = 0, ẋ(0) = 0, and ẏ(0) = 0 and interpret the result.
Solution:
Paris, France has a latitude of 48.8◦ N. The codes below create the plot. The Math-
ematica output appears in Figure 10.12. Notice that the pendulum begins at the point
(0.1, 0) and oscillates to the point (−0.1, 0). As time progresses, the pendulum’s plane
rotates. We integrated (10.5.6) for a quarter of the pendulum’s plane of oscillation’s
period which is approximately:
ωz ω sin λ
τ= = = 108, 072 s = 30 hours (10.5.17)
2π 2π

Python Code
To solve the problem in Python, we need to first rewrite (10.5.6) as a system of
first-order equations:

ẋ = r 



ẏ = s 
(10.5.18)
ṙ = −β 2 x + 2ωz s



ṡ = −β 2 y − 2ωz r
We then use odeint to solve (10.5.18). The solutions x, y are stored in x_coord and
y_coord, respectively.
Foucault pendulum 391

from [Link] import odeint

import numpy as np

w = 7.272*10**(-5) #angular velocity of Earth

lam = 48.8*[Link]/180 #lambda
l, g = 67, 9.8 #length of pendulum, g
wz = w*[Link](lam)
b = g/l #beta-squared

def deriv(u,t):
x, y, r, s = u
dydt = [r, s, -b**2*x + 2*wz*s, -b**2*y - 2*wz*r ]
return dydt

t = [Link](0,27000,10000)
ics = [0.1,0,0,0]

soln = odeint(deriv, ics, t)

x_coord = soln[:,0]
y_coord = soln[:,1]

[Link](x_coord,y_coord)
[Link]('y')
[Link]('x')
[Link]()

Mathematica code
We use NDSolve to integrate (10.5.6) and plotted the solution using ParametricPlot
for one quarter of the period of the pendulum’s plane of oscillation.
l = 67;

λ = 48.8 ∗ Pi/180;

g = 9.8;

w = 7.727 ∗ 10∧ (−5);

wz = w ∗ Sin[λ];

β = g/l;

soln = NDSolve[{x”[t] + β ∧ 2 ∗ x[t]==2 ∗ wz ∗ y ′ [t],

y”[t] + β ∧ 2 ∗ y[t]== − 2 ∗ wz ∗ x′ [t],

x[0]==0.1, y[0]==0, x′ [0]==0, y ′ [0]==0}, {x[t], y[t]}, {t, 0, 27000}];

ParametricPlot[{x[t], y[t]}/.soln, {t, 0, 27000}, FrameLabel->{x, y}]

392 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

0.10

0.05

0.00

y
- 0.05

- 0.10
- 0.10 - 0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10
x

Figure 10.12: Mathematica output for Example 10.4. The pendulum sweeps out a quarter
of a period over the integration time.

ez (vertical)

v0

ey
(East)

ex
(South)

Figure 10.13: Coordinate system for a projectile launched in the yz-plane towards the East,
at an angle α and with a speed v0 .

10.6 PROJECTILE MOTION IN A NONINERTIAL FRAME

As a final section to this chapter, we will explore the problem of projectile motion in a
noninertial reference frame under the influence of Earth’s gravitation. We will compute the
Coriolis deflection of a projectile launched at a latitude λ = 50◦ North at an angle α = 45◦ ,
with a speed of v0 = 200 m/s towards the East.
To address the problem of projectile motion in a noninertial frame, we will need to set
up a coordinate system as shown in Figure 10.13. We have shown the noninertial frame,
the frame in which observers are watching the projectile’s flight. This frame is located in
the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere. The êy and êx directions correspond to East and South,
respectively. The vector êz is oriented to point along the vertical direction. The projectile is
launched in the yz-plane, such that if the Earth were not rotating, the projectile would land
at a location R = Rêy , and it would land a distance R from the origin along the y-axis.
By including the effect of the Earth’s rotation, we expect that the projectile will land
somewhere to the South of the y-axis. To find where the projectile lands, we will follow
a process similar to finding the rotation rate of the Foucault pendulum in the previous
Projectile motion in a noninertial frame 393

section. We begin by writing the acceleration of the projectile using (10.4.22),

a = g − 2 (ω × v) (10.6.1)
Other than gravity, there are no external forces acting on the system. Therefore, F′ = 0.
As with the Foucault pendulum, the effective acceleration due to gravity is g = −gêz . The
Coriolis acceleration is,
êx êy êz
ω×v= −ω cos λ 0 ω sin λ (10.6.2)
ẋ ẏ ż
ω × v = (−ẏω sin λ) êx + (żω cos λ + ẋω sin λ) êy + (−ẏω cos λ) êz (10.6.3)
Notice that we made no assumptions about the components of the projectile’s velocity.
Inserting the accelerations into (10.6.1), we obtain the following equations,

ẍ =2ẏω sin λ 

ÿ = − 2ω (ż cos λ + ẋ sin λ) (10.6.4)


z̈ = − g + 2ẏω cos λ
The result is a system of coupled ODEs. While it is possible to argue some approxi-
mations to simplify (10.6.4) (such as 2ẏω cos λ ≪ g), we will seek a numerical solution of
(10.6.4) in Example 10.4.

Example 10.5: Projectile motion in noninertial frames

Using numerical methods, solve (10.6.4) to find the range and the Coriolis deflection
of a projectile launched at a latitude λ = 50◦ North at an angle α = 45◦ with a speed
of v0 = 200 m/s towards the East.
Solution:
The Mathematica and Python codes are shown below.

Python Code
To solve the problem in Python, we need to first rewrite (10.6.4) as a system of
first-order equations:

ẋ = q 



ẏ = r 



ż = s 
(10.6.5)
q̇ = 2rω sin λ 



ṙ = −2ω (s cos λ + q sin λ)




ṡ = −g + 2rω cos λ
We then use odeint and the solutions x, y, z are stored in x_coord, y_coord, and
z_coord, respectively. To get the time of flight, we need to know when the z(t) crosses
zero (for the numerical model, the projectile can fall through the Earth’s surface). Using
[Link] we can find the index values where z_coord changes sign. Using [Link], we
get the index before the sign change (hence the addition of 1 in tof_index). Finally, we
can find the time of flight, range, and Coriolis deflection by inserting tof_index into
the respective arrays.
394 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

from [Link] import odeint

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

w = 7.272*10**(-5) # angular velocity of Earth

a, l = 45*[Link]/180, 50*[Link]/180 #launch angle alpha. latitude
v0, g = 200, 9.8 # initial velocity, g

z0_dot = v0*[Link](a)
y0_dot = v0*[Link](a)

def deriv(u,t):
x, y, z, q, r, s = u
dydt = [q, r, s, 2*r*w*[Link](l), \
-2*w*(s*[Link](l) + q*[Link](l)),\
-g + 2*r*w*[Link](l)]
return dydt

t = [Link](0,1000,10000)
ics = [0, 0, 0, 0, y0_dot, z0_dot]
soln = odeint(deriv, ics, t)

x_coord = soln[:,0]
y_coord = soln[:,1]
z_coord = soln[:,2]

z_zero_crossings = [Link]([Link]([Link](z_coord)))[0]
print('The indices of the zero crossing are:',z_zero_crossings)

tof_index = z_zero_crossings[1]+1 #index of time of flight

time_of_flight = t[tof_index]
print('\nThe time of flight is: ', round(time_of_flight,2),' s')

print('\nThe Coriolis deflection = ',\

round(x_coord[tof_index],2),' m')

print('\nThe range = ', round(y_coord[tof_index],2),' m')

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The indices of the zero crossing are: [ 0 288]

The time of flight is: 28.9 s

The Coriolis deflection = 6.58 m

The range = 4085.64 m

Projectile motion in a noninertial frame 395

Mathematica code
The code begins by defining the necessary parameters, including the components
of the initial velocity which are stored as z0Dot and y0Dot. We solve (10.6.4) using
NDSolve, as usual. The time of flight T is obtained by finding when the altitude of the
projectile z equals zero, by using FindRoot. The index [[1,2]] is used to remove the
replacement rule that Mathematica outputs for the FindRoot command. Finally, we
insert the time of flight into x[t] to get the Coriolis deflection and y[t] to get the
projectile’s range.
ω = 7.27210∧ (−5);

α = 45 ∗ Pi/180;

λ = 50 ∗ Pi/180;

v0 = 200;

g = 9.8;

z0Dot = v0Sin[α];

y0Dot = v0Cos[α];

soln = NDSolve[{x”[t] == 2y ′ [t]ωSin[λ],

y”[t] == −2z′ [t]ωCos[λ] − 2x′ [t]ωSin[λ],

z”[t] == −g + 2y′ [t]ωCos[λ], x′ [0] == 0, y′ [0] == y0Dot,

z′ [0] == z0Dot, x[0] == 0, y[0] == 0, z[0] == 0}, {x, y, z},

{t, 0, 2000}];

T = FindRoot[(z[t]/.soln) == 0, {t, 10, 2000}][[1, 2]];

Print[“The time of flight T = ”, NumberForm[T, 4],

“ s”]

The time of flight T = 28.9 s

Print[“The Coriolis deflection is: ”,

NumberForm[x[T ]/.soln[[1]], 3], “ m”]

The Coriolis deflection is: 6.58 m

range = y[T ]/.soln[[1]];

Print[“The range is R = ”, NumberForm[range], “ m”]

The range is R = 4085.3 m

396 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

10.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY

It is sometimes necessary to describe the motion of a particle in a noninertial ref-

erence frame. Although Newton’s second law is valid only in inertial frames, we can
modify Newton’s second law for use in a noninertial frame. The time derivative of any
vector Q relative to a rotating noninertial frame, is related to that of an inertial frame
by the relationship:
   
dQ dQ
= +ω×Q
dt f dt r
where ω is the angular velocity of the noninertial frame with respect to the inertial
frame.
We can rewrite Newton’s second law for rotating frames as,

ma = F′ − mA − 2m (ω × v) − m (ω̇ × r) − m [ω × (ω × r)]
where:
a = the acceleration relative to the noninertial frame
F′ = the sum of the “interaction” forces acting on the
particle (gravity, friction)
A = the linear acceleration of the noninertial frame relative
to an inertial frame
−2 (ω × v) =the Coriolis acceleration
−ω̇ × r = an acceleration due to the
angular acceleration of the noninertial frame
−ω × (ω × r) = the centrifugal acceleration.

The last four terms in the equation above are referred to as “inertial forces” or
fictitious forces, because they arise from the acceleration of the noninertial frame and
are not due to the interaction between the particle and another body.

10.8 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 10.1: Motion in a Nonrotating Accelerating Reference Frame
1. A pendulum with mass m hangs from the ceiling of an accelerating car by a massless
rod. As the car accelerates forward with a constant acceleration A, the pendulum tilts
backwards at an angle ϕ0 . Find the pendulum’s equilibrium angle ϕ0 .
Section 10.2: Angular Velocity as a Vector
2. Show that relative angular velocities add in the same way as translational velocities.
For example, we know that if a particle is moving relative to a frame S with a velocity
v and that the frame S is moving with a velocity V relative to the inertial frame
S ′ , then the velocity of the particle relative to S ′ is v′ = V + v. Repeat this line
of reasoning with a body rotating with an angular velocity ω relative to a rotating
frame S which rotates with an angular velocity Ω relative to an inertial frame S ′ .
End-of-chapter problems 397

Show that the angular velocity of the body relative to S ′ is ω ′ = Ω + ω. Assume that
the reference frames S and S ′ have the same origin.
Section 10.4: Newton’s Second Law in a Rotating Frame

3. Consider a bullet fired horizontally towards the South with a velocity v0 = 500 m/s
at a latitude λ = 50◦ North. How does the Coriolis force acting on the bullet compare
to is weight? Solve this problem analytically and by using either Python or Mathe-
matica.
4. A bucket of water is rotating about its vertical symmetry axis with an angular velocity
ω. What is the shape of the water’s surface in the bucket?

5. Atomic clocks show that a modern day is longer by about 1.7 milliseconds than a
century ago. Hence although small, the angular acceleration of the Earth is not zero
̸ 0, where ω is the angular velocity of the Earth. Compute the acceleration ω̇ × r
ω̇ =
due to the changing angular velocity of the Earth, on a particle fixed to the Earth’s
surface located in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA (latitude 37.3° N and a longitude of
76.6° W ). Solve this problem analytically and using Python or Mathematica.
6. Let S be a frame rotating with a constant angular velocity ω relative to an inertial
frame S ′ , with the origins of both frames being the same. The particle has a potential
energy V . Find the Lagrangian in terms of the position and velocity coordinates r and
ṙ in S. Show that the Euler-Lagrange equations yield

F′ = ma + 2m (ω × v) + mω × (ω × r)

7. Using the effective gravitational acceleration, plot the time it takes for a particle
of mass m to fall a distance of 100 meters, as a function of latitude. Where is this
time the greatest? Ignore air resistance and assume the particle is released from rest.
8. A baseball of mass m is launched vertically upward from the ground with an initial
velocity v0 at a latitude λ. Find the Coriolis deflection of the ball when it returns to
the ground.

9. Find the deflection from the plumb line for a 1.0 kg particle falling from a height
H = 100 m under the Earth’s gravity, experiencing linear air resistance. Assume that
the horizontal component of the particle’s velocity is small, so that the drag force acts
only in the vertical direction. Thus the drag force is Fd = −bż ẑ, where b = 0.1 Ns/m.
Compare the answer to the result if the particle fell from the same height in vacuum
at a latitude of 45 degrees.

10. Consider a particle of mass m confined to move in a vertical plane rotating with
a constant angular velocity ω about the vertical. Let x be the horizontal coordinate
on the plane and z be the vertical coordinate. Using analytical methods, solve the
equations of motion for the particle and describe the particle’s motion. Using Python
or Mathematica, solve the equations of motion using initial conditions r0 = 1î − 1ĵ
and v0 = 1î + 1ĵ (in SI units). Plot the motion of the particle on the plane using ω = 1
rad/s.

11. Let us consider again Problem 10, but now assume the plane’s angular velocity is
increasing in time, such that its angular acceleration is α = αêz where α is a positive
398 Motion in Noninertial Reference Frames

constant. However, now solve the problem using only Python or Mathematica. Plot
the motion of the particle for α = 0.5, and α =1.0 rad/s2 . Assume that the initial
angular velocity of the plane is zero.
12. A baseball is dropped from a height of 30 m at a latitude of 32◦ South. Ignoring air
resistance, in what direction and how far did the ball land from the vertical? How
does the direction compare to the result of Example 10.3? Explain any similarities or
differences.
Section 10.5 Foucault Pendulum
13. Show that (10.5.9)
h  p   p i
q(t) = e−i ωz t A exp i t ωz2 + β 2 + B exp −i t ωz2 + β 2

is the solution to the second-order ODE (10.5.8) :

q̈ + 2i ωz q̇ + β 2 q = 0

14. What is the rate of rotation of a Foucault pendulum’s plane of oscillation if the
pendulum is located in Paris, France? How about Paris, Kentucky, USA. Plot the
Foucault pendulum’s rotation rate as a function of latitude. Where is its maximum?
What is the minimum value, and where does this minimum value occur?
15. Consider a Foucault pendulum experiencing a damping force F′ = −b v v̂. Is the
precession frequency changed?
16. Is the Foucault pendulum’s precession frequency significantly changed if ω̇ = ̸ 0, where
ω is the angular velocity of the Earth about its rotation axis? To answer this question,
assume that the magnitude of the Earth’s angular velocity changes at a constant rate,
but its direction does not change (this is not true over long time periods). Furthermore,
assume that the change in the angular velocity is very small. For example, consider
the situation described in Problem 26 from Chapter 4 which states that the Earth’s
angular velocity changed from 7.6 × 10−5 rad/s to 7.3 × 10−5 rad/s during a time
period of 350 million years. Let the pendulum have a mass m and a length ℓ (assumed
to be very long) and to be located at a latitude λ in the Northern Hemisphere.
Section 10.6: Projectile Motion in a Noninertial Frame

17. In our study of the projectile motion in a noninertial frame, we derived the equa-
tions
ẍ =2ẏω sin λ
ÿ = − 2ω (ż cos λ + ẋ sin λ) (1)
z̈ = − g + 2ẏω cos λ
Assuming that the approximation 2ẏω cos λ << g holds, solve the resulting system
of two coupled ODEs in closed form. You will want to use a symbolic ODE solver.
After finding the solutions, perform a Taylor series expansion for x(t) and y(t), and
interpret your results.

18. Use a CAS to find the range and Coriolis deflection of a 1.0 kg projectile experi-
encing linear air resistance of the form F′ = −bvv̂ where b = 0.3 SI units. The initial
velocity v0 = 200 m/s, the latitude λ = 50◦ N and the angle of launching is α = 45°.
End-of-chapter problems 399

19. Repeat Problem 18, but this time, the projectile experiences quadratic air resis-
tance of the form F′ = −bv 2 v̂ where b = 0.01 SI units.
20. A projectile of mass m is fired due East from a point on the Earth’s surface with a
latitude of λ (in the Northern Hemisphere). The projectile’s initial speed is v0 and is
launched at an angle α with respect to the horizontal. Calculate the lateral deflection
of the projectile as it hits the ground. Do this problem without the aid of a computer.
21. There is a legend that during World War I, the British navy consistently missed
German ships when fighting near the Falkland Islands because their ships did not
properly account for the Coriolis force. We will not discuss the validity of this legend
here, but for a moment, let’s suppose that it is true and that the Coriolis force was
known, but the ship’s guns were set up to hit their targets for battles in the Northern
Hemisphere. The Falkland Islands are near 50◦ South latitude. Suppose the guns were
set to accurately hit targets at 50◦ North latitude, by how much did the British ships
miss their target during the Falkland Islands engagement? Assume that the German
ships were due East of the British ships, that the British ships’ guns had a muzzle
velocity of 500 m/s and the shells were shot at an angle of 20◦ with respect to the
horizontal.
 11 Rigid Body Motion
We begin this chapter by reviewing the rotational motion of a single particle around an
arbitrary axis and the concepts of the moment of inertia and the center of mass. In par-
ticular we focus on how the center of mass simplifies the description of the translational
and rotational motion of a system of particles. After the review, we explore generalized
definitions of the moment of inertia, including products of inertia and the inertia tensor,
and we demonstrate how to calculate these quantities for a variety of solids. We will see
that the moment of inertia tensor of a solid depends on the choice of the coordinate system
and discuss the parallel axis theorem for rigid bodies. This is followed by a discussion of
eigenvalues and eigenvectors of matrices, and how they can be used to describe the principal
axes of a rigid body. The chapter will conclude with a discussion of the Euler equations and
a description of the precessional motion of spinning tops and gyroscopes.

11.1 ROTATIONAL MOTION OF PARTICLES AROUND A FIXED AXIS

In this section, we review rotational motion concepts with a focus on the rotational motion
of a particle that is confined to move in a circle of radius r in the xy-plane with an angular
velocity ω = ωz k̂, as illustrated in Figure 11.1. We later develop equations to describe more
general rotational motion.
As discussed in Chapter 10, the instantaneous velocity v of mass m is given by the cross
product of the angular velocity vector, which, in general, takes the form ω = ωx î+ω y ĵ+ω z k̂
and of the position vector r:
v=ω×r (11.1.1)
Recall from Chapter 4 that the angular momentum is a useful quantity for describing
rotational motion. The angular momentum vector ℓ is given by the cross product of the
position vector r and the momentum vector p = mv:
ℓ = r × p = m (r × v) (11.1.2)
The position, velocity, angular momentum, and angular velocity vectors are shown in Figure
11.1, where in the case of r = xî + y ĵ and ω = ωz k̂, the angular momentum vector and the
angular velocity vectors point in the same direction, the z-axis.
Since the position and velocity vectors are at right angles to each other, we can write
v = ωr, and the last equation becomes:

ℓ = mrv = mr2 ω (11.1.3)

As usual, unbolded variables represent magnitudes of vectors, e.g., ω = |ω|. Notice that in
this equation, the angular momentum is written as a quantity mr2 multiplied by the velocity
v. If we relate this to the definition of linear momentum p = mv, we can think of (11.1.3) as
a “rotational inertia” (mr2 ) multiplied by the angular velocity ω. This “rotational inertia”
is called the moment of inertia, I, and is defined by:

I = mr2 (11.1.4)
where r is the distance of the mass m from the rotational axis.
1
The kinetic energy of the rotating mass m is found from T = mv 2 , and by substituting
2
v = ωr, we obtain:
1
T = Iω 2 (11.1.5)
2
401
402 Rigid Body Motion

Figure 11.1: Rotational motion of a particle in the xy-plane, showing the position, velocity,
angular momentum, and angular velocity vectors.

Recall from Chapter 4 that the torque acting on the particle is N = r × F. We can rewrite
the torque as the time derivative of the angular momentum, by using Newton’s second law
for rotational motion. Using (11.1.3) we can write ℓ = Iω , and Newton’s second law of
rotation becomes:
d
N= (Iω) = I ω̇ = Iα (11.1.6)
dt
where α = ω̇ is the angular acceleration.
Let’s reconsider (11.1.3) as a vector relationship:

ℓ = Iω (11.1.7)

Since the moment of inertia is defined as a scalar quantity in (11.1.4), this vector equation
states that in the example of Figure 11.1, the angular momentum vector ℓ and the angular
velocity vector ω point in the same direction along the rotational axis. In addition, we can
rewrite (11.1.6) as,

N = Iα (11.1.8)
Note that the torque vector N and the angular acceleration vector α point in this same
direction in this case.
Example 11.1 shows an evaluation of the angular momentum vector using Python and
Mathematica.

Example 11.1: Use Python and Mathematica to evaluate the angular momentum
and torque N acting on the mass m in the situation shown in Figure 11.1. Assume that
the mass m moves with a constant angular velocity ω around the z-axis in a circle of
radius R.
Rotational motion of particles around a fixed axis 403

Solution:
We use cylindrical coordinates with the angle increasing with time according to
θ = ω t.
The position vector
r = R cos (ωt) î + R sin (ωt) ĵ
The codes calculate the cross product ω × r and verify that this is indeed equal to
the velocity vector (dx/dt, dy/dt).
In this example, the angular momentum vector points always along the z-axis and
its magnitude is equal to ℓz = mR2 ω.
The torque N = I ẇ = 0, since the mass moves with a constant angular velocity ω
around the z-axis.

Python Code
We define the position vector as a list, and use the cross function in NumPy to
evaluate the cross products.

from numpy import cross

from sympy import sin, cos, symbols, simplify
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

R, omega, t, m , theta = symbols('R, omega, t, m, theta',real=True)

r_vector = [R*cos(omega*t),R*sin(omega*t),0]

omega_vector = [0,0,omega]

v_vector = simplify(cross(omega_vector, r_vector) )

print('\nv_vector = ',v_vector)

L_vector = m* cross(r_vector,v_vector )

print('\nL = ',simplify(L_vector))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

v_vector = [-R*omega*sin(omega*t), R*omega*cos(omega*t), 0]

L = [0, 0, R**2*m*omega]
404 Rigid Body Motion

Mathematica Code
The code uses the Cross command to evaluate the cross products.

rvector = {R ∗ Cos[ω ∗ t], R ∗ Sin[ω ∗ t], 0};

ωvector = {0, 0, ω};

vvector = Cross[ωvector, rvector];

Print[“v = ωvector x r = ”, vvector];

v = ωvector x r = {−RωSin[tω], RωCos[tω], 0}

L = m ∗ Cross[rvector, vvector];

Print[“Angular momentum L = ”, L//Simplify]


Angular momentum L = 0, 0, mR2 ω

Let us now consider a particle of mass m which rotates around the z-axis at a constant
angle θ and with an instantaneous angular velocity ω, as shown in Figure 11.2. In this
situation the angular momentum vector is perpendicular to the shaded plane in the figure,
which is defined by the position and velocity vectors. As a result, in the example of Figure
11.2 the angular momentum vector ℓ and the angular velocity vector ω do not point in the
same direction, and the direction of ℓ changes continuously in space during the rotational
motion.

Figure 11.2: A particle of mass m revolves around the z-axis on a plane parallel to the
xy-plane with angular velocity vector ω. In this example the angular momentum vector ℓ
and angular velocity vectors ω are not pointing in the same direction. Compare this figure
with the situation in Figure 11.1.
Rotational motion of particles around a fixed axis 405

In this situation the equation ℓ = Iω does not apply because ℓ and ω do not point in
the same direction as in Figure 11.1. We must redefine the moment of inertia concept for
the mass m. As we will see later in this chapter, we need to replace the scalar quantity I in
this equation with a more general physical quantity, the moment of inertia tensor I.

Example 11.2: Use Python and Mathematica to evaluate the angular momentum
and torque for the rotating mass m shown in Figure 11.2, assuming that ω = |ω| is
constant.
Solution:
We follow the same method as in the previous example, using cylindrical coordinates.
The position vector

r = R sin θ cos (ωt) î + R sin θ sin (ωt) ĵ + R cos θk̂

The length R sin θ appearing in the expressions for the coordinates x, y represents the
radius of rotation of the particle around the z-axis.
The components of the angular momentum are:

ℓx = −mR2 ω sin θ cos θ cos (ωt)

ℓy = −mR2 ω sin θ cos θ sin (ωt)

ℓz = −mR2 ω sin2 θ
Clearly in this situation the angular momentum vector ℓ has nonzero components
along the x, y, and z axes. By inspection of the calculated components ℓx and ℓy , we
see that the vector ℓ rotates around the z-axis with a constant angular speed ω, and
that the z-component ℓz = m R2 ω sin2 θ stays constant with time. The codes for Figure
11.2 follow.
406 Rigid Body Motion

Python Code
The code is very similar to the previous example, using a different position vector.

from numpy import cross

from sympy import sin, cos, symbols, simplify
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

R, omega, t, m , theta = symbols('R, omega, t, m, theta',real=True)

r_vector = [R*sin(theta)*cos(omega*t),R*sin(theta)*sin(omega*t),\
R*cos(theta)]

omega_vector = [0,0,omega]
v_vector = simplify(cross(omega_vector, r_vector) )
L_vector = m* cross(r_vector,v_vector )

print('Lx_component = ',L_vector[0])
print('Ly_component = ',L_vector[1])
print('Lz_component = ',simplify(L_vector[2]))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Lx_component = -R**2*m*omega*sin(theta)*cos(theta)*cos(omega*t)
Ly_component = -R**2*m*omega*sin(theta)*sin(omega*t)*cos(theta)
Lz_component = R**2*m*omega*sin(theta)**2

Mathematica Code

rvector = {R ∗ Sin[θ] ∗ Cos[ω ∗ t], R ∗ Sin[θ] ∗ Sin[ω ∗ t], R ∗ Cos[θ]};

ωvector = {0, 0, ω};

vvector = Cross[ωvector, rvector];

Print[“v = ωvector x r = ”, vvector];

v = ωvector x r = {−RωSin[θ]Sin[tω], RωCos[tω]Sin[θ], 0}

L = m ∗ Cross[rvector, vvector];

Print[“The angular momentum L is: ”];

Print[“L = ”, L//Simplify]

The angular
 momentum L is:
L = −mR2 ωCos[θ]Cos[tω]Sin[θ], −mR2 ωCos[θ]Sin[θ]Sin[tω], mR2 ωSin[θ]2

Before we discuss the rotational properties of solid bodies, let us review the center of
mass and how it is used to describe the rotation of a system of particles.
Review of rotational properties for a system of particles 407

11.2 REVIEW OF ROTATIONAL PROPERTIES FOR A SYSTEM OF

PARTICLES
In this section we summarize some of the results we already saw in Chapters 4 and 5 about
the momentum, angular momentum, and energy of a system of particles. In particular, we
look again at the importance of the center of mass, and how it can help us simplify the
description of the motion of rigid bodies.

11.2.1 CENTER OF MASS

Let us consider a collection of i = 1, 2, . . . , N discrete particles as in Figure 11.3, each with
mass mi and located at a position ri relative to the origin.

ri'=ri-R

mi
R

ri

x
Figure 11.3: Collection of discrete particles (filled circles), with the empty circle representing
their center of mass located at R.

Let R represent the location of the center of mass relative to the origin, shown as a
white circle in Figure 11.3, and r′i denote the positions of the particles relative to the center
of mass. Then ri = r′i + R and the position of the center of mass can be found from:

The Position of the Center of Mass for N Discrete Particles

1 X X X
N N N
R= mi ri M= mi mi r′i = 0 (11.2.1)
M i=1 i=1 i=1

In the case of a continuous distribution of mass M , the summations are replaced by

integrals:

The Position of the Center of Mass for a Continuous Mass Distribution

Z Z Z
1
R= rdm M = dm r′ dm = 0 (11.2.2)
M
408 Rigid Body Motion

11.2.2 MOMENTUM OF A SYSTEM OF PARTICLES

From Chapter 4 we recall that the total momentum of a system of particles is equal to the
product of the total mass M of the system and the velocity of the center of mass. We can
think of the system of particles as a single particle of mass M located at the system’s center
of mass, and of the net external forces Fext as acting on the center of mass of the system.
Newton’s second law can be written in terms of the motion of the center of mass as follows:

Total Momentum of a System of Particles or Continuous Mass

Distribution
X
N X
N
P= pi = mi ṙi = M Ṙ (11.2.3)
i=1 i=1

Ṗ = M R̈ = Fext (11.2.4)

As a consequence, if the total external force acting on a system of particles is zero, then
the center of mass is either at rest, or it moves with constant velocity and the total linear
momentum of the system is conserved.

11.2.3 ANGULAR MOMENTUM OF A SYSTEM OF PARTICLES

From Chapter 4 we also recall that the total angular momentum of the system is the sum
of two terms:

Total Angular Momentum of a System of Particles

X
N
L= (r′i × p′i ) + R × P (11.2.5)
i=1

L̇ = N (11.2.6)

P ′
The first term (ri × p′i ) represents the angular momentum of the particles about the
center of mass, and the second term (R × P), is the angular momentum of the center of
mass about the origin. In this situation Newton’s second law can be stated as follows: if
the internal forces between the particles in a system of particles are central forces, then
the total external torque N on this system is equal to the time rate of change of the total
angular momentum L̇ of the system. As a consequence, if the total external torque acting on
a system of particles is zero, then the total angular momentum of the system is conserved.

11.2.4 WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY FOR A SYSTEM OF PARTICLES

In Chapter 5 we saw that the total kinetic energy of a system of particles is also the sum
of two terms.
Moment of inertia tensor 409

Kinetic Energy of a System of Particles

XN  
1 2 1 ′ 2
T = M Ṙ + mi (ṙi ) (11.2.7)
2 i=1
2

W12 = T2 − T1 (11.2.8)

The first term is the translational kinetic energy of the center of mass 12 M Ṙ2 , and
P1 ′ 2
the second term 2 mi (ṙi ) , represents the kinetic energy of each particle relative to the
center of mass. We also saw that the total work W12 done in moving a system of particles
from a state of kinetic energy T1 to a state of kinetic energy T2 is equal to the change in
kinetic energy. Furthermore, for a rigid body, the only motion relative to the center of mass
is rotation. Hence, the second term in (11.2.7) is the kinetic energy of rotation about the
center of mass. We can then think of equation (11.2.7) as stating that the total kinetic
energy of a rigid body is equal to the translational kinetic energy of the center of mass plus
the kinetic energy of rotation about the rigid body’s center of mass.
For the potential energy, we need to consider both external and internal forces, and
their corresponding potential energies. The potential energy of the ith mass is:
X
Vi = Viext + int
Vi,j (11.2.9)
j̸=i

where Viext is the potential energy due to the external forces acting on mi , and Vi,j int
is the
potential energy due to the internal interaction force between mi and mj . An example of
such an interaction force could be gravitational, electrostatic, or any other central force. In
int
general for central forces, Vi,j int
= Vi,j (|ri − rj |), i.e., the potential energy depends only on
the distance between the two particles. Therefore, the total potential energy of the system
is:
XN XN X
V = Viext + int
Vi,j (|ri − rj |) (11.2.10)
i=1 i=1 j̸=i

Rigid bodies are defined as solids in which the particles that make up the solid are at
fixed distances from each other. Therefore, the internal potential energy can be ignored
since it will be constant for each particle. Hence, for a rigid body we will only have to
worry about external forces; the internal central forces are irrelevant. When all internal and
external forces acting on a system of particles are conservative, the total mechanical energy
E = T + V is conserved.
In Chapters 4 and 5 we saw that the above results for linear momentum, angular momen-
tum, and kinetic energy holds also for continuous mass distributions, with the summations
replaced by appropriate integrals.

11.3 MOMENT OF INERTIA TENSOR

In this section, we develop a more general definition of the moment of inertia. Figure 11.4
shows a rigid body (shaded region) rotating around a fixed axis AB, with an angular velocity
vector ω. We describe this rigid body as a collection of finite masses mi located at posi-
tions ri , with respect to a coordinate system xyz which is fixed on the rotating body. The
410 Rigid Body Motion

instantaneous velocity vi of mass mi is given by the cross product of the angular velocity
vector ω = ωx î + ωy ĵ + ωz k̂ and the positions ri = xi î + yi ĵ + zi k̂:

vi = ω × ri (11.3.1)

Figure 11.4: Rigid body with a fixed axis of rotation AB. The coordinate system shown is
fixed on the rotating body.

The total angular momentum vector L relative to the center of the coordinate system
is given by the vector sum of the angular momenta of the masses mi :
X X
L= mi (ri × vi ) = mi [ri × (ω × ri )] (11.3.2)
where the summation i = 1 . . . n runs over the masses mi which make up the rigid body.
We now use the identity of the triple cross product A × (B × A) = A2 B − (A · B) A to
evaluate ri × (ω × ri ):
ri × (ω × ri ) = ri2 ω − ri (ri · ω) (11.3.3)

   
ri × (ω × ri ) = x2i + yi2 + zi2 ωx î + ωy ĵ + ωz k̂ − xi î + yi ĵ + zi k̂ (xi ωx + yi ωy + zi ωz )
(11.3.4)
Substituting (11.3.4) into (11.3.2) and collecting the terms with î, ĵ, and k̂:

L = Lx î + Ly ĵ + Lz k̂ (11.3.5)

L = (Ixx ωx + Ixy ωy + Ixz ωz ) î + (Iyx ωx + Iyy ωy + Iyz ωz ) ĵ + (Izx ωx + Izy ωy + Izz ωz ) k̂

(11.3.6)
where the scalar quantities Ikl (k, l = x, y, or z) are the components of the moment of
inertia tensor, I, and are defined by:
Moment of inertia tensor 411

Moment of Inertia Tensor for Discrete Masses mi


XN

XN



Ixx = mi yi2 + zi2 = mi ri2 − x2i  



i=1 i=1 



XN

XN


Iyy = 2 2
m i xi + zi = mi ri − yi
2 2
(11.3.7)


i=1 i=1 



XN

XN



2 
Izz = 2 2
mi xi + yi = mi ri − zi 
2


i=1 i=1

X
N X
N X
N
Ixy = Iyx = − mi xi yi Ixz = Izx = − mi xi zi Iyz = Izx = − mi yi zi
i=1 i=1 i=1
(11.3.8)

From these equations it is clear that the moment of inertia matrix I is symmetric, i.e.
Ixy = Iyx , Ixz = Izx , and Iyz = Izy .
Equations (11.3.6) and (11.3.8) can be written as the product of two matrices I and ω:

Angular Momentum and Moment of Inertia Tensor I

L=I·ω (11.3.9)
   
Ixx Ixy Ixz ωx
I = Iyx Iyy Iyz  and ω = ω y  (11.3.10)
Izx Izy Izz ωz

The terms Ixx , Iyy , and Izz are referred to as moments of inertia. These are the moments
of inertia of the rigid body about each axis. The terms Ixy , Iyz , Ixz , . . . are called products of
inertia. As we will see later, the products of inertia are zero if the x, y, and z axes correspond
to the rigid body’s axes of symmetry. The products of inertia measure the symmetry of the
rigid body’s mass distribution about the x, y and z axes.
To understand the importance of the product of inertia, consider the following. Suppose
you are interested in balancing an automobile tire. In the case of the tire, the axis of
symmetry is the axle passing through the center of the tire and perpendicular to the plane
of the tire. A proper tire rotates about the axle, or in other words, its angular momentum
vector points along the direction of the axle. Suppose the axle points in the z-direction.
We want L = Izz ω k̂ to be the angular momentum of the wheel. However, suppose the
mass of the wheel is not evenly distributed about the axle, then the axle is no longer an
axis of symmetry, and there will be at least two nonzero products of inertia. For simplicity,
suppose that Izy ̸= 0 and all other products of inertia are equal to zero. Then in this case,
the wheel will precess (wobble), because L is no longer parallel to the axle (which points in
the z-direction). Hence automotive technicians will add small weights to a tire to balance
it, such that the wheel’s angular momentum will be parallel to its axis of rotation.
Equations (11.3.7) can also be written as a single equation, as follows:
!
XN X3
Ikl = mi δkl uis − uik uil
2
(11.3.11)
i=1 s=1
412 Rigid Body Motion

where we use the compact notation uis (s = 1, 2, 3) to denote the three components of the
position vector ri = (xi , yi , zi ) of the mass mi . For example, u32 is the y-coordinate of
m3 . The symbol δkl in (11.3.11) is the Kronecker delta which equals 1 when k = l, and 0
otherwise.
It is important to remember that the elements of the inertia tensor depend on the choice
of origin for the coordinate system. Example 11.3 shows how to calculate the elements of
the moment of inertia tensor for a single particle.

Figure 11.5: Single particle attached to a rod, from Example 11.3.

Example 11.3: Moment of inertia tensor for a single particle

A particle of mass m is attached to a thin massless rod of length R and rotates
around the z-axis at a constant angle ϕ as shown in Figure 11.5, with a constant
angular velocity ω. Calculate the moment of inertia tensor with respect to the XY Z
coordinate system. In which direction is the angular momentum vector ℓ pointing?
Solution
The instantaneous position of the mass m is best described by cylindrical coordi-
nates, with the constant radius r = R sin ϕ, i.e.,

x = r cos θ = R sin ϕ cos θ y = r sin θ = R sin ϕ sin θ z = R cos ϕ

For a constant angular velocity, the angle θ = ωt. Substituting these values for x, y, z
in the expressions for inertia tensor. we obtain:



Ixx = m y 2 + z 2 = m R2 sin2 ϕ sin2 θ + cos2 ϕ

Similarly


Iyy = m x2 + z 2 = mR2 sin2 ϕ cos2 θ + cos2 ϕ



Izz = m x2 + y 2 = mR2 sin2 ϕ cos2 θ + sin2 ϕ sin2 θ = mR2 sin2 ϕ
Ixy = −mxy = −mR2 sin2 ϕ sin θ cos θ Ixz = −mxz = −mR2 sin ϕ cos ϕ cos θ
Iyz = −myz = −mR2 sin ϕ cos ϕ sin θ
Moment of inertia tensor 413

The complete inertia tensor is then:

 2 
sin ϕ sin2 θ + cos2 ϕ − sin2 ϕ sin θ cos θ − sin ϕ cos ϕ cos θ
2
I = mR − sin2 ϕ sin θ cos θ sin2 ϕ cos2 θ + cos2 ϕ − sin ϕ cos ϕ sin θ 
− sin ϕ cos ϕ cos θ − sin ϕ cos ϕ sin θ sin2 ϕ

The angular momentum vector can now be found by multiplying this matrix I with
the angular momentum matrix ω = (0, 0, ω).

ℓ = Iω

Since ω = (0, 0, ω), the matrix multiplication yields the third column of the matrix
I multiplied by ω, i.e.,

ℓx = −mR2 ω sin ϕ cos ϕ cos θ = −mR2 ω sin (2ϕ) cos (ω t)

ℓy = −mR2 ω sin ϕ cos ϕ sin θ = −mR2 ω sin (2ϕ) sin (ω t)

ℓz = mR2 ω sin2 ϕ
where we used the trig identity 2 cos ϕ sin ϕ = sin (2ϕ), and substituted θ = ω t.
The physical interpretation of these equations is that as the mass m rotates around
the z-axis at the fixed angle ϕ, the angular momentum vector ℓ rotates around the
z-axis also, but with a different angle equal to 2ϕ. The z-component of the angular
momentum vector stays constant in time, and is equal to ℓz = mR2 ω sin2 ϕ.
414 Rigid Body Motion

Python Code
We use the Matrix command from SymPy to define the matrices I, ω and the dot
command from NumPy to evaluate the product ℓ = Iω of the two matrices.

from numpy import dot

from sympy import Matrix,sin, cos, symbols, simplify
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

R, omega, t, m , theta, phi = symbols('R,omega,t,m,theta, phi',real=True)

x = R*sin(phi)*cos(theta)
y = R*sin(phi)*sin(theta)
z = R*cos(phi)

rsq = x**2+y**2+z**2

Ixx, Iyy, Izz = m*(rsq-x**2), m*(rsq-y**2), m*(rsq-z**2)

Ixy, Ixz, Iyz = -m*x*y, -m*x*z, -m*y*z

I = Matrix([[Ixx,Ixy,Ixz],[Ixy,Iyy,Iyz],[Ixz,Iyz,Izz]])

omega_matrix=Matrix([0,0,omega])

print('Lx-component = ', dot(I,omega_matrix)[0][0])

print('\nLy-component = ', dot(I,omega_matrix)[1][0])

print('\nLz-component = ', simplify(dot(I,omega_matrix)[2][0]))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Lx-component = -R**2*m*omega*sin(phi)*cos(phi)*cos(theta)

Ly-component = -R**2*m*omega*sin(phi)*sin(theta)*cos(phi)

Lz-component = R**2*m*omega*sin(phi)**2
Moment of inertia tensor 415

Mathematica Code
We define the matrices I, ω as lists, and use the Dot command in Mathematica to
evaluate the product ℓ = Iω of the two matrices.

x = R ∗ Sin[ϕ] ∗ Cos[θ];

y = R ∗ Sin[ϕ] ∗ Sin[θ];

z = R ∗ Cos[ϕ];

ωvector = {0, 0, ω};

Ixx = m ∗ (y ∧ 2 + z ∧ 2);

Iyy = m ∗ (x∧ 2 + z ∧ 2);

Izz = m ∗ (x∧ 2 + y ∧ 2);

Ixy = Iyx = −m ∗ x ∗ y;

Iyz = Izy = −m ∗ y ∗ z;

Ixz = Izx = −m ∗ x ∗ z;
Inertia = {{Ixx, Ixy, Ixz}, {Iyx, Iyy, Iyz}, {Izx, Izy, Izz}};

L = Dot[Inertia, ωvector];

Print[“Angular momentum L = ”, L//Simplify];


L = −mR2 ωCos[θ]Cos[ϕ]Sin[ϕ], −mR2 ωCos[ϕ]Sin[θ]Sin[ϕ], mR2 ωSin[ϕ]2

If we are dealing with a continuous uniform distribution of particles instead of a collection

of discrete masses mi , the summations in the above equations become integrals over the
continuous variables (x, y, z), and the density of the material ρ(x, y, z) must be included
inside the integrals. For solids in three dimensions dm = ρ dV , and the components of the
inertia tensor become:

Inertia Tensor for a Continuous Mass Distribution

ZZZ 


Ixx = y + z ρ dxdydz 
2 2 




V 

ZZZ 

2 2


Iyy = x + z ρ dxdydz (11.3.12)


Z VZ Z 





Izz = x + y ρ dxdydz 
2 2



V
ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ
Ixy = − xyρ dxdydz Ixz = − xzρ dxdydz Iyz = − yzρ dxdydz
V V V
(11.3.13)
416 Rigid Body Motion

Example 11.4 shows how to evaluate the elements of the inertia tensor for a uniform
cube by using symbolic integration.

Example 11.4: The moment of inertia of a cube around its center of mass
Consider a uniform cube of side a, evaluate the moment of inertia tensor with respect
to the Cartesian coordinate system with the origin (0, 0, 0) located at the center of mass,
and the x, y, and z axes parallel to the edges of the cube.
Solution:
We use Cartesian coordinates for the calculation, with the limits of (x, y, z) varying
from −a/2 to a/2. The mass element is dm = (M/a3 ) dV = (M/a3 ) dx dy dz and the
moments of inertia elements are:
ZZZ Z Z a/2 Z a/2

M a/2

Ixx = y 2 + z 2 dm = 3 y 2 + z 2 dx dy dz
a −a/2 −a/2 −a/2
V

Z a/2 Z a/2 z=a/2

M 2 z3
Ixx = 3 dx dy y z +
a −a/2 −a/2 3 z=−a/2
Z a/2  y=a/2 Z a/2  
M y3 a3 M a3 a3 1
Ixx = 3 dx a+ y = 3 dx a + a = M a2
a −a/2 3 12 y=−a/2 a −a/2 12 12 6
The products of inertia are:
ZZZ Z a/2 Z a/2 Z a/2
M
Ixy = − x y dm = − x y dx dy dz
a3 −a/2 −a/2 −a/2
V

Z a/2 Z a/2 Z a/2

M M
Ixy = − x dx y dy dz = − 0a=0
a3 −a/2 −a/2 −a/2 a3
2
By symmetry, Ixx = Iyy = Izz = M a /6 and Ixy = Ixz = Iyz = 0.
 
M a2 /6 0 0
I= 0 M a2 /6 0 
0 0 M a2 /6
Moment of inertia tensor 417

Python Code
The integrate command in SymPy is used to carry out the triple integrals, and
the Matrix command is used to create the 3×3 inertia tensor.

from sympy import symbols, integrate, Matrix

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

x, y, z, a, m = symbols('x, y, z, a, m',real=True) # symbols

# evaluate the integrals using triple itegration in SymPy

Ixx = Iyy =Izz = integrate(y**2+x**2, (x,-a/2,a/2),\
(y,-a/2,a/2),( z,-a/2,a/2))*m/a**3

Ixy = Ixz = Iyz= -integrate(x*y,(x,-a/2,a/2),\

(y,-a/2,a/2), (z,-a/2,a/2))*m/a**3

I = Matrix([[Ixx,Ixy,Ixz], [Ixy,Iyy,Iyz], [Ixz,Iyz,Izz]])

print('The inertia tensor I is:\n')
I

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The inertia tensor I is:
Matrix([
[a**2*m/6, 0, 0],
[ 0, a**2*m/6, 0],
[ 0, 0, a**2*m/6]])

Mathematica Code
The Integrate command is used to carry out the symbolic triple integrals, and the
MatrixForm command is used to print the 3×3 inertia tensor as a matrix.

Ixx =

Iyy = Izz = Integrate[y ∧ 2 + z ∧ 2, {x, −a/2, a/2}, {y, −a/2, a/2}, {z, −a/2, a/2}];

Ixy = Iyx = Integrate[x ∗ y, {x, −a/2, a/2}, {y, −a/2, a/2}, {z, −a/2, a/2}];

Iyz = Izy = Integrate[y ∗ z, {x, −a/2, a/2}, {y, −a/2, a/2}, {z, −a/2, a/2}];

Ixz = Izx = Integrate[x ∗ z, {x, −a/2, a/2}, {y, −a/2, a/2}, {z, −a/2, a/2}];

Inertia = m/a∧ 3 ∗ {{Ixx, Ixy, Ixz}, {Iyx, Iyy, Iyz}, {Izx, Izy, Izz}};

Print[“Moment of inertia tensor = ”, Inertia//MatrixForm];

 2 
a m
0 0
 6
a2 m 
Moment of inertia tensor =  0 6 0 
a2 m
0 0 6
418 Rigid Body Motion

Figure 11.6: Evaluating the moment of inertia tensor of a uniform triangular pyramid in
Example 1.5.

Example 11.5 shows how to evaluate the elements of the inertia tensor for a triangular
pyramid with a uniform density by using numerical integration.

Example 11.5: The moment of inertia of a uniform triangular pyramid

Consider the triangular pyramid with vertices at the origin, (1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), and
(0, 0, 1) shown in Figure 11.6. The pyramid has a density ρ = 1 (in SI units). Use
numerical integration to evaluate the moment of inertia tensor with respect to the
Cartesian coordinate system with the origin at (0, 0, 0).
Solution:
In order to find the moment of inertia tensor, we first need to choose a coordinate
system and identify the limits of integration. We use Cartesian coordinates for the
calculation, and we need to figure out the limits of integration to evaluate (11.3.12) and
(11.3.13).
The volume element dV appears in Figure 11.6. Notice that its height is determined
by its x and y coordinates. The “front” face of the pyramid in the figure is described by
the equation x + y + z = 1. Therefore, the limits for the z integral will range from 0 to
1 − x − y. Next, the distance the volume element can be translated along the y-axis in
the xy-plane is determined by its x-coordinate. Therefore, the limits for the y integral
will be from 0 to 1 − x (the equation of the line that forms the base of the pyramid in
the xy-plane). Finally, x can range from 0 to 1.
Now that we have all of the pieces, we can perform the integrals.
The mass element with ρ = 1 is dm = ρ dV = dx dy dz, and the moments of inertia
elements are:
ZZZ ZZZ



Ixx = y 2 + z 2 dm = y 2 + z 2 dx dy dz
V V
Z 1 Z 1−y  z=1−x−y
z3
Ixx = dy dx y 2 z +
0 0 3 z=0
Moment of inertia tensor 419

Z Z " #
3
1 1−y
(1 − x − y)
Ixx = dy dx y (1 − x − y) +
2
0 0 3
The integrals are rather tedious to evaluate by hand, so we use the alternative numerical
integration routines available in a CAS.

Python Code
The Python code uses the [Link]() function to evaluate the triple
integrals. In order to simplify the code, we define a function f which evaluates the
command [Link]() for the triple integrals, and is called for each
of the components of the inertia tensor Ixx , Ixy , etc.
The important feature of the double integration here is the implementation of the
integration limits in the line of code tplquad(i, 0, 1, 0, yupper). Here yupper is
the function 1−x representing the upper limit in the y-integration, and i is the function
to be integrated.
In this example we use a NumPy array to represent the moment of inertia matrix.
Note that the order of the integrations tplquad(i, 0, 1, 0, x2, 0, z2) is again
important, and we define the upper limits of integration as two functions: x2 and z2.

from [Link] import tplquad

import numpy as np
from sympy import symbols
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

z2 = lambda y, z: 1-y-z #upper limit for z integration

x2 = lambda z: 1-z #upper limit for x integration

def f(i):
return tplquad(i, 0, 1, 0, x2, 0, z2)[0]

Ixx = lambda z, y, x: (y**2+z**2)

Iyy = lambda z, y, x: (x**2+z**2)
Izz = lambda z, y, x: (y**2+x**2)

Ixy = lambda z, y, x: -x*y

Ixz = lambda z, y, x: -x*z
Iyz = lambda z, y, x: -y*z

I = [Link]([[f(Ixx),f(Ixy),f(Ixz)],[f(Ixy),f(Iyy),f(Iyz)],\
[f(Ixz),f(Iyz),f(Izz)]])
print('Moment of inertia tensor I=')
I

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Moment of inertia tensor I=
array([[ 0.03333333, -0.00833333, -0.00833333],
[-0.00833333, 0.03333333, -0.00833333],
[-0.00833333, -0.00833333, 0.03333333]])
420 Rigid Body Motion

Mathematica Code
We evaluate the triple integrals in Mathematica using the NIntegrate command.
Notice that the limits of the integral that we would do last by hand are the first limits
in NIntegrate.

Ixx = NIntegrate[y ∧ 2 + z ∧ 2, {x, 0, 1}, {y, 0, 1 − x}, {z, 0, 1 − x − y}];

Iyy = NIntegrate[x∧ 2 + z ∧ 2, {x, 0, 1}, {y, 0, 1 − x}, {z, 0, 1 − x − y}];

Izz = NIntegrate[y ∧ 2 + z ∧ 2, {x, 0, 1}, {y, 0, 1 − x}, {z, 0, 1 − x − y}];

Ixy = Iyx = −NIntegrate[x ∗ y, {x, 0, 1}, {y, 0, 1 − x}, {z, 0, 1 − x − y}];

Iyz = Izy = −NIntegrate[y ∗ z, {x, 0, 1}, {y, 0, 1 − x}, {z, 0, 1 − x − y}];

Ixz = Izx = −NIntegrate[x ∗ z, {x, 0, 1}, {y, 0, 1 − x}, {z, 0, 1 − x − y}];

Inertia = {{Ixx, Ixy, Ixz}, {Iyx, Iyy, Iyz}, {Izx, Izy, Izz}};

Print[“Moment of inertia tensor = ”, Inertia//MatrixForm];

 
0.0333333 −0.00833333 −0.00833333
Moment of inertia tensor =  −0.00833333 0.0333333 −0.00833333 
−0.00833333 −0.00833333 0.0333333

11.4 KINETIC ENERGY AND THE INERTIA TENSOR

We now proceed to evaluate the kinetic energy of a rigid body and demonstrate how it
relates to the moment of inertia tensor. The total kinetic energy is the sum of the kinetic
energies for the masses mi moving with velocities vi :
X 1 
1 X
T = mi vi · vi = (mi [(ω × ri ) · vi ]) (11.4.1)
2 2
where we used vi = ω × ri , and we have dropped the limits of the summation for simplicity.
Note that we used ωi = ω for all values of i, because for a rigid body, each particle has the
same angular velocity. The fact that ω is the same for each particle is due to the fact that
the distances between particles are fixed in a rigid body. We now use the property of the
scalar triple product (A × B) · C = A · (B × C) in order to simplify T :
1 X 1 X  1
T = (mi ω · [(ri × vi )]) = ω · mi [(ri × vi )] = ω · L (11.4.2)
2 2 2
where
P we used the definition of the angular momentum of a system of particles L =
mi [(ri × vi )] from (11.3.2). We now use (11.3.6) for the angular momentum L. By writing
out the components we obtain:

1 1 1 1
T = ω · L= Ixx ωx2 + Iyy ωy2 + Izz ωz2 +Ixy ω x ω y +Iyz ω y ω z +Izx ω z ω x (11.4.3)
2 2 2 2
By using (11.3.9), this equation can be written in a compact form as a matrix equation:
Kinetic energy and the inertia tensor 421

Kinetic Energy of a Rigid Body

1 T 1 T
T = (ω) · L = (ω) · I · ω (11.4.4)
2 2

T
Here the dot product indicates the multiplication of the three matrices, and (ω) indi-
cates the transpose of the column matrix representing the angular velocity vector ω (i.e., a
row vector).
If the angular velocity vector ω points in the direction of the unit vector n̂, we can write
ω = ωn̂, where ω is the magnitude of the angular frequency. Therefore, the above matrix
equation becomes:
1 T
T = ω 2 (n̂) · I · n̂ (11.4.5)
2
From introductory physics we recall that the kinetic energy for rotation around a fixed axis
is: 1
T = In ω 2 (11.4.6)
2
where In is the scalar moment of inertia around this axis. By comparing the last two
equations, we obtain the general expression:

Moment of Inertia for Rotation Around an Axis in the Unit Vector

Direction n̂
T
In = (n̂) · I · n̂ (11.4.7)

The products of inertia can also be found using an expression similar to (11.4.7). For
example, Ixy is obtained by calculating the quantity:
 T
Ixy = bi · I · bj (11.4.8)

Example 11.6:
Use SymPy and Mathematica to find the scalar moments of inertia In of a cube
when it is rotated around
(a) the main diagonal,
(b) a face diagonal on the xy-plane,
(c) the edge that runs along the x-axis.
Solution
We first evaluate the inertia tensor with respect to a coordinate system centered at
one of the vertices, as in Example 11.4. Once the tensor is evaluated, the scalar moment
of inertia I is obtained using (11.4.7) and the appropriate unit vector n̂ pointing along
the direction of rotation.  
For the main diagonal we have n̂ = √13 î + ĵ + k̂ , for the face diagonal on the
 
xy-plane n̂ = √12 î + ĵ , and for the edge that runs along the x-axis, n̂ = î.
The codes below give I = ma2 /6, I = 2ma2 /3 and I = 5ma2 /12, correspondingly.
As we may have expected from geometrical considerations, the largest value of I is
obtained for the face diagonal of the cube.
422 Rigid Body Motion

Python Code
The tensor is evaluated using SymPy as in previous examples. We use the command
transpose from Numpy to find the transpose of the matrix ω = ωn̂, and the command
@ to multiply the three matrices.

from sympy import symbols, integrate, Matrix, sqrt

import numpy as np
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

x, y, z, a, m = symbols('x, y, z, a, m',real=True) # symbols

# evaluate the integrals using triple itegration in SymPy

Ixx = integrate(y**2+x**2, (x,0,a), (y,0,a),(z,0,a))
Iyy = integrate(y**2+x**2, (x,0,a), (y,0,a),(z,0,a))
Izz = integrate(y**2+x**2, (x,0,a), (y,0,a),(z,0,a))

Ixy = -integrate(x*y,(x,0,a), (y,0,a), (z,0,a))

Ixz = -integrate(x*y,(x,0,a), (y,0,a), (z,0,a))
Iyz= -integrate(x*y,(x,0,a), (y,0,a), (z,0,a))

I = [Link]([[Ixx,Ixy,Ixz],[Ixy,Iyy,Iyz],[Ixz,Iyz,Izz]])*m/a**3

omega = [Link]([1/sqrt(3),1/sqrt(3),1/sqrt(3)])
omega_trnsp = [Link](omega)

print('(a) When rotational axis is along diagonal,\

I = ',omega_trnsp @ (I @ omega))

omega = [Link]([1/sqrt(2),1/sqrt(2),0])
omega_trnsp = [Link](omega)

print('\n(b) When rotational axis is along face diagonal,\

I = ',omega_trnsp @ (I @ omega))

omega = [Link]([1,0,0])
omega_trnsp = [Link](omega)

print('\n(c) When rotational axis is along edge of cube,\

I = ',omega_trnsp @ (I @ omega))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

(a) When rotational axis is along diagonal,I = a**2*m/6

(b) When rotational axis is along face diagonal,I = 5*a**2*m/12

(c) When rotational axis is along edge of cube,I = 2*a**2*m/3

Inertia tensor in different coordinate systems − the parallel axis theorem 423

Mathematica Code
The tensor is evaluated using Integrate as in previous examples. We use the period
command to multiply the three matrices.

ρ = m/a∧ 3;

Ixx = Iyy = Izz = Integrate[ρ(y ∧ 2 + z ∧ 2), {x, 0, a}, {y, 0, a}, {z, 0, a}];

Ixy = Iyz= Ixz = −Integrate[ρ(x

 ∗ y), {x, 0, a}, {y, 0, a}, {z, 0, a}];

 Ixx Ixy Ixz 

 
iCube =  
 Ixy Iyy Iyz  ;
 
Ixz Iyz Izz

ω = 1/Sqrt[3] ∗ {1, 1, 1};

Print[“(a) When the rotational axis is along cube diagonal, I=”, ω.iCube.ω];
2
(a) When the rotational axis is along cube diagonal, I= a 6m

ω = 1/Sqrt[2] ∗ {1, 1, 0};

Print[“(b) When the rotational axis is along face diagonal, I=”,

ω.iCube.ω//Simplify];
2
(b) When the rotational axis is along face diagonal, I= 5a12m

ω = {1, 0, 0};

Print[“(c) When the rotational axis is along edge of cube, I=”, ω.iCube.ω];
2
(c) When the rotational axis is along edge of cube, I= 2a3 m

11.5 INERTIA TENSOR IN DIFFERENT COORDINATE SYSTEMS − THE

PARALLEL AXIS THEOREM
Two important theorems which simplify the calculations of the moments of inertia of a rigid
body, are the parallel axis theorem and the perpendicular axis theorem.
In its simplest form, the parallel axis theorem states that if I is the scalar moment of inertia
of a body around an axis AB, and ICM is the corresponding moment of inertia about a
second axis parallel to AB and passing through the center of mass, then I and ICM are
related by:

A Simple Form of the Parallel Axis Theorem

I = ICM + md2 (11.5.1)

424 Rigid Body Motion

Figure 11.7: Two coordinate systems with their axes parallel to each other, are shifted in
space relative to each other by a vector a.

where d is the shortest distance between the two parallel axes.

The perpendicular axis theorem refers to a thin lamina mass which is distributed on the
xy-plane of the Cartesian coordinate system. If Ix , Iy , and Iz are the scalar moments of
inertia of this distribution around the x, y, and z axes respectively, then these are related
by:

The Perpendicular Axis Theorem for a Lamina

Iz = Ix + Iy (11.5.2)

More generally, it is convenient and useful to know the relationship between inertia
tensors expressed in different coordinate systems.
We now prove the parallel axis theorem. Figure 11.7 shows two Cartesian coordinate
systems with origins O and OCM and with their axes parallel to each other. Note that OCM
is located at the object’s center of mass. If a is the vector connecting the two origins, the
relationship of any position vectors ri and r′i in the two coordinate system is:
ri = r′i + a (11.5.3)
Let I be the inertia tensor defined in the coordinate system (x, y, z) with the origin fixed
at point O, and I′ be the inertia tensor for the center of mass coordinate system (x′ , y ′ , z ′ )
with its origin at OCM . We wish to find the relation between I and I′ . As we saw previously
in (11.3.11), the components of the inertia tensor I with respect to O can be written in
compact form as:
!
XN X3
Ikl = mi δkl uis − uik uil
2
(11.5.4)
i=1 s=1

where we again use the compact notation uis (s = 1, 2, 3) to denote the three components
of the mass mi ’s position vector ri = (xi , yi , zi ), and δkl is the Kronecker delta.
Inertia tensor in different coordinate systems − the parallel axis theorem 425

Similarly, the components for the tensor with respect to the second coordinate system
OCM are: !
XN X3
′ ′ 2 ′ ′
Ikl = mi δkl (uis ) − uik uil (11.5.5)
i=1 s=1

Equation (11.5.3) can be written in terms of these components as:

uis = u′is + as s = 1, 2, 3 (11.5.6)
Substituting (11.5.6) into (11.5.4), by expanding the terms and rearranging, we obtain:
!
XN X3
′ 2 ′ ′
Ikl = mi δkl (uis + as ) − (uik + ak ) (uil + al )
i=1 s=1
" # " #
X
N X
3 X
N X
3
(u′is ) u′ik u′il
2
= mi δkl − + mi δkl a2s − ak al
i=1 s=1 i=1 s=1

X
N h i XN X
N
mi δkl (u′is ) as − mi u′ik al − mi u′il ak
2
+2 (11.5.7)
i=1 i=1 i=1
The last three terms are zero because of the definition of the center of mass:
X
N X
N
mi r′i = 0 =⇒ mi u′is = 0 (11.5.8)
i=1 i=1

The coefficients ak and al factor out of the sums, and (11.5.7) becomes:
" # " #
XN X3 X
N X 3
′ 2 ′ ′
Ikl = mi δkl (uis ) − uik uil + mi δkl as − ak al
2
(11.5.9)
i=1 s=1 i=1 s=1
" #
X
N X
3
′
Ikl = Ikl + mi δkl a2s − ak al (11.5.10)
i=1 s=1
P
The total mass is M = mi , so (11.5.10) gives the generalized parallel axes theorem,
also known as the Steiner theorem, for the elements of the inertia tensor in any coordinate
system:

The Parallel Axis Theorem

′
 
Ikl = Ikl + M a2 δkl − ak al (11.5.11)

Note that I′ is the object’s moment of inertia for a coordinate system whose origin is
located at the object’s center of mass.
By applying the parallel axis theorem for the diagonal elements of the tensor so that
δkl = 1, we recover (11.5.1), the simple form of the parallel axis theorem:
′
  ′
Ikk = Ikk + M a2 − a2k = Ikk + M d2k (11.5.12)
where dk is the shortest distance from the axis of rotation to the center of mass.
426 Rigid Body Motion

11.6 PRINCIPAL AXES OF ROTATION

A very useful tool for describing the motion of rigid bodies is the concept of principal axes
of rotation. This is best described within the general theory of linear algebra, and is closely
related to the concepts of eigenvalues and eigenvectors of matrices.
Our discussion of principal axes of rotation begins with a review of the inertia tensor
itself. First, it is important to remember that the elements of the inertia tensor depend on
the axes and choice of origin for the system. Second, recall that the inertia tensor is a real
symmetric matrix, i.e., Ikl = Ilk (k, l = 1, 2, 3). There is a theorem in Linear Algebra that
states that any real symmetric matrix can be diagonalized. In other words, the matrix can
be rewritten in a form which has zeros in all of the off-diagonal elements. Physically, this
means that for any choice of the origin for any rigid body, there always exists a set of axes
in which the inertia tensor is diagonal, i.e., it is of the form:
 
λ1 0 0
I =  0 λ2 0  (11.6.1)
0 0 λ3
This special set of axes is known as the principal axes of the rigid body. According to the
same theorem from Linear Algebra, there are three principal axes of rotation, and they are
mutually orthogonal. In addition, any axis of symmetry through the origin is a principal
axis.
The main property of the principal axes is that when rotation takes place around one
of these three axes, the angular momentum L and angular velocity vectors ω are parallel
to each other. Therefore, if ω points along the direction of a principal axis, then L = λω
(where λ is a scalar), and L and ω to point in the same direction. However, recall that in
general, L = I · ω. Hence:
I · ω = λω (11.6.2)
The scalar λ is called a principal moment of inertia, and it is the moment of inertia of the
object when it is rotating about the principal axis ω. Before discussing principal moments
and principal axes further, it is important to pause and discuss some general properties of
(11.6.2).
The equation I · ω = λω is an eigenvalue problem in the theory of Linear Algebra. In
general, in an eigenvalue problem we are given a square matrix A, and we are looking for
two quantities, a vector a and a scalar quantity λ, such that:
Aa = λa (11.6.3)
The vector a is called an eigenvector of the square matrix A, corresponding to the eigenvalue
λ. Hence, according to (11.6.2), the principal axes are the eigenvectors of the inertia tensor
and principal moments are the eigenvalues associated with each principal axis. We see from
(11.6.3), that the matrix A scales the vector a by a value λ.
Physically, from (11.6.3) we see that for λ > 0, the matrix A elongates or shortens
the vector a, but it does not change the direction of a (the vector a stays along the same
line after multiplication). If λ = 1, then a remains unchanged after multiplication by A.
When λ < 0, the vector a is still scaled, but now it points in the direction opposite of its
original orientation. The vector a stays along the same line after multiplication by A. In
other words, the direction of a does not change, insofar as it lies along the same line it was
on before the multiplication.
According to another theorem in Linear Algebra, in order for the eigenvalue equation
(11.6.3) to have a nontrivial solution a ̸= 0, the determinant of the matrix (A − λ I) must
be zero, i.e.,
det (A − λ I) = 0 (11.6.4)
Principal axes of rotation 427

where I is the square identity matrix, consisting of ones along the diagonal and zeros
everywhere else. Equation (11.6.4) is called the characteristic equation of our eigenvalue
problem. In Chapter 13, we will revisit the eigenvalue problem in more detail.
There are two steps in finding the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a given moment of
inertia matrix:
1. Solve the characteristic equation (11.6.4), in order to find the three eigenvalues
λ1 , λ2 , and λ3 . These eigenvalues will depend of course on the physical parameters
of the rigid body.
2. Substitute the first eigenvalue λ1 into I a1 = λ1 a1 , in order to find the corresponding
eigenvector a1 . Next, we repeat this step for each of the remaining eigenvalues in order
to obtain their eigenvector.

At the end of this process, we will have found three eigenvectors a1 , a2 , and a3 and the
corresponding eigenvalues λ1 , λ2 , and λ3 , respectively. The resulting eigenvalues are the
principal moments of inertia and the resulting eigenvectors are the principal axes. The
principal moment of inertia λi is the rigid body’s moment of inertia for a rotation about
the principal axis ai .
The Mathematica and Python codes in Examples 11.7 and 11.8 shows how to evaluate
the principal moments of inertia and principal axes of a cube, with respect to two different
coordinate systems.

Example 11.7:
Find the inertia tensor, principal moments of inertia and principal axes for a cube
with uniform density, mass m, and side a, with respect to a coordinate system defined
by its edges and the origin located at one of the corners.
Solution:
The codes below calculate the elements of the symmetric inertia tensor, by carrying
out the triple integrals from x = 0 to x = a, and similarly for the y and z axes. Note
that we use a = 1 for plotting purposes.
Both codes yield the eigenvalues I1 = I2 = 11 m a2 /12 and I3 = m a2 /6, and the
eigenvectors (−1, 0, 1), (−1, 1, 0) and (1, 1, 1). It is easily verified that these three vectors
are perpendicular to each other.

Python Code
The commands Eigenvects and Eigenvalues from SymPy are used to find the three
eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the inertia tensor. These two commands return a Python
dictionary, together with the multiplicity of each eigenvalue. The eigenvectors are stored
in the parameters vec1, vec2, and vec3 and the commands Poly3DCollection and
quiver produce a 3D plot of the cube and of the three eigenvectors (1, 1, 1), (−1, 1, 0)
and (−1, 0, 1).
428 Rigid Body Motion

from sympy import Matrix, symbols, integrate

import [Link] as plt
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d.art3d import Poly3DCollection

x, y, z, a, m = symbols('x, y, z, a, m',real=True) # symbols

# evaluate the integrals using triple integration in SymPy

Ixx = integrate(y**2+x**2, (x,0,a), (y,0,a),\
( z,0,a))*m/a**3
Iyy = integrate(y**2+x**2, (x,0,a), (y,0,a),\
( z,0,a))*m/a**3
Izz = integrate(y**2+x**2, (x,0,a), (y,0,a),\
( z,0,a))*m/a**3

Ixy = -integrate(x*y,(x,0,a), (y,0,a), (z,0,a))*m/a**3

Ixz = -integrate(x*y,(x,0,a), (y,0,a), (z,0,a))*m/a**3
Iyz= -integrate(x*y,(x,0,a), (y,0,a), (z,0,a))*m/a**3

I = Matrix([[Ixx,Ixy,Ixz], [Ixy,Iyy,Iyz], [Ixz,Iyz,Izz]])

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

print('The eigenvalues are: ')

print([Link]())

print('\n The eigenvectors are:')

vec1 = [Link]()[0][2][0]
vec2 = [Link]()[1][2][0]
vec3 = [Link]()[1][2][1]
print(vec1)
print(vec2)
print(vec3)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The eigenvalues are:
{a**2*m/6: 1, 11*a**2*m/12: 2}

The eigenvectors are:

Matrix([[1], [1], [1]])
Matrix([[-1], [1], [0]])
Matrix([[-1], [0], [1]])
Principal axes of rotation 429

fig = [Link]()
ax = fig.add_subplot(projection='3d') # set up 3D plot
[Link](0,0,0,vec1[0],vec1[1],vec1[2],color='r',\
length=1,arrow_length_ratio=.3)
[Link](0,0,0,vec2[0],vec2[1],vec2[2],color='b',\
length=1,arrow_length_ratio=.3)
[Link](0,0,0,vec3[0],vec3[1],vec3[2],color='g',\
length=1,arrow_length_ratio=.3)

ax.set_xlabel('X') # label,set limits on x,y,z axes

ax.set_ylabel('Y')
ax.set_zlabel('Z')
ax.set_xlim(-1.2,1.2);
ax.set_ylim(-1.2,1.2);
ax.set_zlim(-1.2,1.2);

shape=[((0,0,0),(1,0,0),(1,1,0),(0,1,0),\
(0,0,0),(0,0,1),(0,1,1),(0,1,0),\
(0,0,0),(0,0,1),(1,0,1),(1,1,1),(0,1,1),\
(0,1,0),(1,1,0),(1,1,1),(1,1,0),(1,0,0),(1,0,1),(0,0,1) )]
cube =Poly3DCollection(shape,color='k',alpha=0.1) # draw the cube
ax.add_collection3d(cube)
[Link]()

Figure 11.8: Eigenvectors of a uniform cube, with respect to a coordinate system defined
by its edges and the origin located at one of the corners, from Example 11.7.
430 Rigid Body Motion

Mathematica Code
The commands Eigenvectors and Eigenvalues are used to find the three eigenvec-
tors and eigenvalues of the inertia tensor. The eigenvectors are stored in the parameters
vec1, vec2, and vec3 and the commands Graphics3D and Arrow are then combined to
produce a 3D plot of the cube and of the 3 eigenvectors in Figure 11.8.

ρ = m/a∧ 3;

Ixx = Iyy = Izz = Integrate[ρ ∗ y ∧ 2 + z ∧ 2), {x, 0, a}, {y, 0, a},

{z, 0, a}];

Ixy = Iyz= Ixz = −Integrate[ρ

 ∗ (x ∗ y), {x, 0, a}, {y, 0, a}, {z, 0, a}];
 Ixx Ixy Ixz 
 
iCube = 
 Ixy Iyy Iyz  ;

 
Ixz Iyz Izz
Print[“The tensor I = ”, iCube//MatrixForm];

Print[“The Eigenvalues of I are: ”, Eigenvalues[iCube]];

Print[“The Eigenvectors of I are: ”, Eigenvectors[iCube]];

vec1 = Eigenvectors[iCube][[1]];

vec2 = Eigenvectors[iCube][[2]];

vec3 = Eigenvectors[iCube][[3]];
n 2 2 2
o
The Eigenvalues of I are: 11a12 m , 11a12 m , a 6m
The Eigenvectors of I are: {{−1, 0, 1}, {−1, 1, 0}, {1, 1, 1}}

Graphics3D[{Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, vec1}], Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, vec2}],

Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, vec3}], FaceForm[{Opacity[.2]}], Cuboid[{0, 0, 0},

{1, 1, 1}], Dashed, Line[{{−1, 0, 0}, {1, 0, 0}}],

Line[{{0, −1, 0}, {0, 1, 0}}], Line[{{0, 0, −1}, {0, 0, 1}}]},

Axes → True, BaseStyle → FontSize → 18, AxesLabel → {x, y, z},

PlotRange → {{−1, 1}, {−1, 1}, {−1, 1}}]

Principal axes of rotation 431

Example 11.8:
Find the inertia tensor, principal moments and principal axes for a cube with uniform
density, mass m, and side a, with respect to a coordinate system with origin at the center
of mass of the cube, and axes parallel to the edges of the cube.
Solution
The codes are very similar to Example 11.7, with the difference being that the
integrations are carried out from x = −a/2 to x = a/2, instead of from x = 0 to x = a
used in Example 11.7.
The codes yield I1 = I2 = I3 = ma2 /6 and the three eigenvectors are the unit
vectors (1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0) and (0, 0, 1). The principal moments of inertia with respect to
the center of the cube are equal to each other, and the corresponding moment of inertia
matrix is diagonal. This means that if the cube is rotated around any axis through its
center, the scalar moment of inertia will always be the same and equal to I = ma2 /6.
The results are shown in Figure 11.9.

Python Code

from sympy import Matrix, symbols, integrate

import [Link] as plt
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d.art3d import Poly3DCollection

x, y, z, a, m = symbols('x, y, z, a, m',real=True) # symbols

# evaluate the integrals using triple integration in SymPy

Ixx = integrate(y**2+x**2, (x,-a/2,a/2), (y,-a/2,a/2),\
( z,-a/2,a/2))

Iyy = integrate(y**2+x**2, (x,-a/2,a/2), (y,-a/2,a/2),\

( z,-a/2,a/2))

Izz = integrate(y**2+x**2, (x,-a/2,a/2), (y,-a/2,a/2),\

( z,-a/2,a/2))

Ixy = -integrate(x*y,(x,-a/2,a/2), (y,-a/2,a/2), (z,-a/2,a/2))

Ixz = -integrate(x*y,(x,-a/2,a/2), (y,-a/2,a/2), (z,-a/2,a/2))

Iyz= -integrate(x*y,(x,-a/2,a/2), (y,-a/2,a/2), (z,-a/2,a/2))

I = m/a**3*Matrix([[Ixx,Ixy,Ixz], [Ixy,Iyy,Iyz], [Ixz,Iyz,Izz]])

432 Rigid Body Motion

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

print('The eigenvalues are: ')

print([Link]())

print('\n The eigenvectors are:')

vec1 = [Link]()[0][2][0]
vec2 = [Link]()[0][2][1]
vec3 = [Link]()[0][2][2]
print(vec1)
print(vec2)
print(vec3)

fig = [Link]()
ax = fig.add_subplot(projection='3d') # set up 3D plot
[Link](0,0,0,vec1[0],vec1[1],vec1[2],color='r',\
length=1,arrow_length_ratio=.3)
[Link](0,0,0,vec2[0],vec2[1],vec2[2],color='b',\
length=1,arrow_length_ratio=.3)
[Link](0,0,0,vec3[0],vec3[1],vec3[2],color='g',\
length=1,arrow_length_ratio=.3)

ax.set_xlabel('X') # label,set limits on x,y,z axes

ax.set_ylabel('Y')
ax.set_zlabel('Z')
ax.set_xlim(-1.2,1.2);
ax.set_ylim(-1.2,1.2);
ax.set_zlim(-1.2,1.2);

shape=[((-0.5,-0.5,-0.5),(0.5,-.5,-.5),(.5,.5,-.5),(-.5,0.5,-.5),\
(-0.5,-0.5,-0.5),(-.5,-.5,.5),(-.5,.5,.5),(-.5,.5,-.5),\
(-0.5,-0.5,-0.5),(-.5,-.5,.5),(.5,-.5,.5),(.5,.5,.5),(-.5,.5,.5),\
(-.5,.5,-.5),(.5,.5,-.5),(.5,.5,.5),(.5,.5,-.5),(.5,-.5,-.5),\
(.5,-.5,.5),(-.5,-.5,.5) )]

cube =Poly3DCollection(shape,color='k',alpha=0.1) # draw the cube

ax.add_collection3d(cube)
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The eigenvalues are:
{a**2*m/6: 3}

The eigenvectors are:

Matrix([[1], [0], [0]])
Matrix([[0], [1], [0]])
Matrix([[0], [0], [1]])
Principal axes of rotation 433

Mathematica Code

ρ = m/a∧ 3;

Ixx = Integrate[(y ∧ 2 + z ∧ 2), {x, −a/2, a/2}, {y, −a/2, a/2}, {z, −a/2, a/2}];

Iyy = Izz = Ixx;

Ixy = Iyz = Ixz = −Integrate[(x ∗ y), {x, −a/2, a/2}, {y, −a/2, a/2}, {z, −a/2, a/2}];

 
 Ixx Ixy Ixz 
 
iCube = ρ ∗  Ixy Iyy Iyz 

;
 
Ixz Iyz Izz
Print[“The tensor I = ”, iCube//MatrixForm];
 2 
a m
0 0
 6
a2 m 
The tensor I =  0 6 0 
2
a m
0 0 6

Print[“The Eigenvalues of I are: ”, Eigenvalues[iCube]];

Print[“The Eigenvectors of I are: ”, Eigenvectors[iCube]];

vec1 = Eigenvectors[iCube][[1]];

vec2 = Eigenvectors[iCube][[2]];

vec3 = Eigenvectors[iCube][[3]];
n 2 2 2
o
The Eigenvalues of I are: a 6m , a 6m , a 6m
The Eigenvectors of I are: {{0, 0, 1}, {0, 1, 0}, {1, 0, 0}}

Graphics3D[{Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, vec1}], Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, vec2}], Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, vec3}],

FaceForm[{Opacity[.2]}], Cuboid[{−.5, −.5, −.5},

{.5, .5, .5}], Dashed, Line[{{−1, 0, 0}, {1, 0, 0}}], Line[{{0, −1, 0}, {0, 1, 0}}],

Line[{{0, 0, −1}, {0, 0, 1}}]}, Axes → True, BaseStyle → FontSize → 18,

AxesLabel → {x, y, z}, PlotRange → {{−1, 1}, {−1, 1}, {−1, 1}}]
434 Rigid Body Motion

Figure 11.9: Eigenvectors of a uniform cube, with respect to a coordinate system located at
the center of mass and with coordinate axes parallel to the edges of the cube, from Example
11.8.

11.7 PRECESSION OF A SYMMETRIC SPINNING TOP WITH ONE POINT

FIXED AND EXPERIENCING A WEAK TORQUE
The motion of spinning tops is a fascinating example of the rotational motion of rigid bodies
around an axis, and it has important practical applications in gyroscopes. It will also serve
as an example of how the concept of principal axes can be applied to solve problems in
rotational mechanics.
Figure 11.10 shows a symmetric spinning top of mass m, whose vertex is fixed at the
origin, placed on a frictionless surface, with its rotational axis at an angle θ with respect
to the vertical. If the top is spinning rapidly, it will not fall as we might expect due to the
effect of gravity, but its symmetry axis describes a cone in space at the constant angle θ,
as shown in Figure 11.10. This type of motion is called precession and is due to the torque
acting on the fast spinning object.
Precession of a symmetric spinning top with one point fixed and experiencing a weak torque 435

dL⟂

r CM

mg
x

y
Figure 11.10: Spinning top precesses at a fixed angle θ due to the gravitational torque. The
top is rotating about its symmetry axis which points in the same direction as L.

Let us take the contact point to be the origin O of the coordinate axes. The total
angular momentum of the spinning top with respect to this origin is the sum of the angular
momentum Lspin (due to the spinning motion) and the angular momentum LCM (due to
the motion of the center of mass about the pivot point):

L =Lspin + LCM (11.7.1)

If the top spins very fast around its symmetry axis, we can assume that LCM ≪Lspin , and
therefore we can neglect the part of the angular momentum due to the motion of the center
of mass, so that L =Lspin . With this assumption, the vector L points along the direction of
the position vector r of the center of mass with respect to the origin, as shown in Figure
11.10.
The forces acting on the spinning top are the weight W = mg and the normal force
FN pointing upwards at the point of contact with the horizontal surface. This torque with
respect to the pivot point is produced by the gravitational force, and it is given by:

N = r × mg (11.7.2)

where r is the location of the center of mass relative to the origin. The magnitude of this
torque is equal to:
|N| = |r × mg| = rmg sin θ (11.7.3)
where θ is also the angle between the two vectors r and mg.
The important point about the motion of the spinning top is that this torque will cause
a change in the direction of the angular momentum vector L, while the magnitude of the
vector L will remain constant and equal to:

L = |L| = Iω (11.7.4)

where I is the principal moment of inertia associated with the top’s principal axis that
points in the direction of L, and ω is the magnitude of the angular velocity about the top’s
436 Rigid Body Motion

axis of rotation. The torque N with respect to the pivot point is found from Newton’s
second law of rotation:
dL
N= (11.7.5)
dt
Since the magnitude of L remains constant, this equation can be written as |N| = d|L|/dt
and by combining (11.7.5) and (11.7.3) we obtain:
dL
rmg sin θ = (11.7.6)
dt
During the precession, the component of L perpendicular to the z-axis, labeled L⊥ in Figure
11.10, changes direction. Figure 11.10 shows the location of L⊥ at a time t and a later time
t + dt, with dϕ representing the angle between the initial and final angular momentum
vectors. Since the magnitude L remains constant and the angle dϕ is infinitesimally small,
we can write:
dL dL rmgdt
sin (dϕ) ≃ dϕ = = = (11.7.7)
L⊥ L sin θ Iω
where we used (11.7.6) and (11.7.4).
The angular frequency ΩP of the precession motion is given by the time rate of change
of the angle ϕ:
dϕ
ΩP = (11.7.8)
dt
Finally by combining (11.7.8) and (11.7.7), we obtain:
rmg
ΩP = (11.7.9)
Iω
According to this expression, the precessional frequency for a fast spinning top precessing
at a constant angle θ will depend on these factors: the weight of the top mg, the distance
of the center of mass r from the contact point, the spinning angular frequency ω and the
moment of inertia I around the symmetry axis.
As discussed in Chapter 10, the Earth has an equatorial bulge; therefore, it experiences
a gravitational torque due to the Sun and the Moon. These torques cause the Earth’s axis of
rotation to precess slowly, completing one revolution every 26,000 years. The phenomenon
is called the precession of the equinoxes. One of the results is that Polaris is not always the
North Star, and the star that the Earth’s North Pole points towards changes as the Earth
precesses.

11.8 RIGID BODY MOTION IN 3D AND EULER’S EQUATIONS

In this section we derive the equations of motion for a rotating rigid body in the form known
as Euler’s equations.
Let us consider a rigid body which rotates about an axis that passes through a fixed
point. An example of this could be the spinning top shown in Figure 11.10. In order to specify
the motion of the rigid body in space, we need six coordinates, so there are six degrees of
freedom for this system. These coordinates are usually taken to be the three coordinates of
the center of mass of the body, plus three more coordinates which are usually taken to be
angular velocities expressing the rotation around the center of mass. If there is a fixed point
on the rigid body, then we need only three coordinates to describe the rotational motion.
Since the rigid body is rotating, the principal axes are fixed on the body and therefore
also rotate in space, so they are not stationary with respect to the inertial (fixed) X ′ Y ′ Z ′ -
frame shown in Figure 11.11. This means that when we use the principal axes to describe
Rigid body motion in 3D and euler’s equations 437

the motion, we are by necessity dealing with noninertial rotating reference frames, and we
can use the techniques from Chapter 10 to describe the motion of the rotating body.
The specific non-inertial frame defined by the principal axes of the rotating body is
called the body coordinate frame, which is the XY Z coordinate system in Figure 11.11, and
it is usually taken to be the principal axes of the object. The inertial X ′ Y ′ Z ′ -frame is called
the space coordinate frame.

Figure 11.11: Motion of a rigid body rotating about the axis AB can be described in two
coordinate systems. The space coordinate frame X ′ Y ′ Z ′ is an inertial coordinate system.
The body coordinate frame XY Z is fixed on, and rotates with the rigid body, and is
therefore a noninertial frame. The body coordinate frame is usually taken to correspond to
the principal axes of the rotating rigid body.

Newton’s second law in an inertial frame of reference says that the time derivative of
the angular momentum L in the inertial frame equals the applied torque N:
 
dL d
= (Ispace ω) = N (11.8.1)
dt space dt
where Ispace is the moment of inertia tensor calculated in the space (inertial) frame, and ω =
(ω1 , ω2 , ω3 ) is the angular velocity. This equation does not lend itself easily to calculations,
because both Ispace and ω change during the motion. However, the calculation can be
simplified using the body coordinate frame.
Let ê1 , ê2 , and ê3 be the unit vectors of the body frame pointing along the principal
axes of the rotating body, the axes X,Y, and Z in Figure 11.11. In the body coordinate
frame, the moment of inertia tensor is constant and diagonal:
 
I1 0 0
I =  0 I2 0  (11.8.2)
0 0 I3
where I1 , I2 and I3 are the object’s principal moments of inertia. The angular momentum
in the body frame L can be written as:

L = L1 ê1 + L2 ê2 + L3 ê3 = I1 ω1 ê1 + I2 ω2 ê2 + I3 ω3 ê3 (11.8.3)

438 Rigid Body Motion

where ωk are the components of the angular velocity.

In Chapter 10 we saw that in a rotating reference frame, the time derivative in (11.8.1)
must be replaced with the following time derivative in the body frame:
   
dL dL
= +ω×L (11.8.4)
dt space dt body
By substituting L = Iω in this equation, and since the inertia tensor and the principal
moments Ik do not depend on time, we have:
 
dL
= Iω̇ (11.8.5)
dt body
By substituting (11.8.1) and (11.8.5) into (11.8.4), we arrive at the following vector form of
Euler’s equations:

Iω̇ + ω × (Iω) = N (11.8.6)

For the principal axes coordinates, we have Lk = Ik ωk . Finally, by writing out the com-
ponents of the cross product in (11.8.6), the components of this vector equation become:

Euler’s Equations for a Rigid Body

I1 ω̇1 + (I3 − I2 )ω2 ω3 = N1

I2 ω̇2 + (I1 − I3 )ω3 ω1 = N2 (11.8.7)
I3 ω̇3 + (I2 − I1 )ω1 ω2 = N3

where Nk (k = 1, 2, 3) are the components of the applied torque. This system of three cou-
pled differential equations for (ω1 , ω2 , ω3 ) is known as Euler’s equations for a rigid body. In
special cases they can be solved analytically; however, in most cases they must be integrated
numerically, in order to obtain the time dependent functions (ω1 (t) , ω2 (t) , ω3 (t)).

11.9 FORCE-FREE SYMMETRIC TOP

In this section, we will examine an application of Euler’s equations for a symmetric top
with I1 = I2 ̸= I3 which experiences no net external torque, hence N1 = N2 = N3 = 0. In
this case, Euler’s equations become

I ω̇1 + (I3 − I)ω2 ω3 = 0 
I ω̇2 + (I − I3 )ω3 ω1 = 0 (11.9.1)


I3 ω̇3 = 0
where we set I1 = I2 = I. We will solve (11.9.1) for ω = (ω1 , ω2 , ω3 ) in order to understand
the behavior of the top’s axis of rotation, which points in the direction of ω. Because there
are no forces acting on the top, the top’s center of mass is either at rest or moving with a
constant velocity. Without loss of generality, we can therefore choose a coordinate system
for the space frame such that the top’s center of mass is at rest at the space frame’s origin.
Finally, we also assume that ω does not lie along a principal axis of the top; otherwise, the
motion would be trivial.
Force-free symmetric top 439

Note that according to (11.9.1), ω3 is constant (ω̇3 = 0). The remaining two equations
can then be written as   
I3 − I
ω̇1 = − ω3 ω2 


I
  (11.9.2)
I3 − I 

ω̇2 = ω3 ω1 
I
We can define a constant angular frequency Ω such that:
I3 − I
Ω= ω3 (11.9.3)
I
which is constant. Equations (11.9.2) then become
)
ω̇1 = − Ωω2
(11.9.4)
ω̇2 =Ωω1
which are a pair of coupled second-order differential equations. In other words, there are
ω2 terms in the equation for ω̇1 , and vice-versa. The result is that the value of ω1 depends
on ω2 , and the value of ω2 depends on ω1 . To solve this system in closed form, we need
to decouple the equations (i.e., write each of the two equations as an equation of a single
variable) or we need to rewrite the equations as one single differential equation of a single
variable. We will take the latter approach by extending
√ the problem to the complex plane.
If we multiply the ω̇2 equation in (11.9.2) by i = −1 and add the two equations, we obtain

η̇ − iΩη = 0 (11.9.5)
where η = ω1 + iω2 . The solution to (11.9.5) is

η = AeiΩt (11.9.6)
Note that once we introduce complex numbers, the constant in the solution can also be
complex. In that case, we write, A = αeiβ and (11.9.6) becomes

η = αei(Ωt+β) (11.9.7)
where α and β are real constants. The term β is a phase term, and it can be set equal to
zero by choosing an appropriate initial time for the problem. This is similar to observing
a sinusoidal wave as it passes by. By setting the initial time t0 = 0 to be the time when
a crest passes your position, the resulting wave motion can then be described as a cosine
function with the phase equal to zero. In what follows, we continue to use (11.9.6) as the
solution to (11.9.5) with A as a real constant.
Using the Euler relationship for exponentials, we can rewrite (11.9.6) as

ω1 + iω2 = A (cos(Ωt) + i sin(Ωt)) (11.9.8)

or
)
ω1 =A cos(Ωt)
(11.9.9)
ω2 =A sin(Ωt)
which describe circular motion of radius A and angular frequency Ω.
Recall that ω3 is constant. Therefore, the magnitude of ω is also constant, since
q q
ω = ω12 + ω22 + ω32 = A2 + ω32 (11.9.10)
440 Rigid Body Motion

Equation (11.9.9) tell us that the projection of ω onto the x1 x2 -plane in the body
frame describes a circle. Hence, ω precesses about the symmetry axis x3 with a precession
frequency Ω. An observer in the body frame will therefore observe ω as tracing out a cone
as shown in Figure 11.12(a). The resulting cone is sometimes called a body cone.

Figure 11.12: Precession of ω about the symmetry axis of the force-free symmetric top as
observed in the (a) body frame and (b) space frame.

Because we are examining the force-free case, the angular momentum L of the top is
constant. Hence an observer in the space frame will see the plane containing ω and e3 (the
top’s symmetry axis) precess about L with a precession frequency Ω′ . It can be shown that
Ω′ = L/I. The cone swept out by the plane containing ω and e3 is sometimes called the
space cone. The space cone is shown in Figure 11.12(b).
In addition to the precession due to the gravitational torques provided by the Sun and
the Moon, the Earth experiences another precession due to the Earth’s oblateness. The
Earth is slightly flattened at the poles due to its rotation (see Chapter 10). The result of
the flattening is that the Earth’s principal moments of inertia are not all identical. The
Earth’s principal moment of inertia about its polar axis is slightly larger than its other two
moments (by about 1 part in 300). Hence (11.9.9) tells us that there should be a precession
with a frequency of ω3 /300 where ω3 is equal to one rotation per day. The result is a small
precession (or wobble) of the Earth’s polar axis with a period of 300 days. The wobble was
discovered by an amateur astronomer Seth Chandler (1846-1913). However, the period is
closer to 400 days because the Earth is not a perfectly rigid rotator.
Chapter summary 441

11.10 CHAPTER SUMMARY

The tangential velocity v and angular momentum vector ℓ of a mass m are given
by the cross products:
v=ω×r ℓ = r × p = m (r × v)
where r is the position vector and p = mv is the momentum vector.
When the position and velocity vectors are at right angles to each other, we can
write these equations as:
v = ωr ℓ = mrv = mr2 ω = Iω
where I = mr2 is the scalar moment of inertia around the rotational axis. The kinetic
energy of the rotating mass m is found from:
1 2
T = Iω
2
A rigid body is a collection of finite masses mi located at positions ri , with respect
to a coordinate system xyz which is fixed in the body, rotating around a fixed axis AB
with an angular velocity vector ω = (ωx , ωy , ωz ). The tangential velocity vi of mass
mi is given by the cross product:
vi = ω × ri
The angular momentum vector L of a system of particles with masses mi relative
to the center of the mass coordinate system is given by the vector sum of the angular
momenta of the masses:
X X
L= mi (ri × vi ) = mi [ri × (ω × ri )]
In cases where the vectors L and ω do not point in the same direction, the equation
L = Iω does not apply, and we replace the scalar quantity I with the moment of the
symmetric inertia tensor I defined by:

L=I·ω
   
Ixx Ixy Ixz ωx
I = Iyx Iyy Iyz  and ω = ω y 
Izx Izy Izz ωz
where the scalars Ikl (k, l = 1, 2, 3) are the components of the inertia tensor I, defined
by: X X


Ixx = mi yi2 + zi2 Ixy = Iyx = − mi xi yi , etc.
The elements of the inertia tensor depend on the choice of origin for the system. For
a mass m with density ρ these elements are given by:
ZZZ ZZZ


Ixx = 2 2
ρ y + z dxdydz Ixy = Iyx = − ρxydxdydz etc.
V V

The kinetic energy and moment of inertia tensor are related by the matrix multiplication
equation:
1 1 T
T = ω · L = (ω) ·I · ω
2 2
442 Rigid Body Motion

T
where (ω) indicates the transpose of the column matrix ω.
The scalar moment of inertia I for rotation around an axis in the direction n̂ of any
unit vector, is found from the inertia tensor using the matrix multiplication equation:
T
In = (n̂) · I · n̂

The parallel axis theorem for scalar moments of inertia states: if I is the scalar moment
of inertia of a body around an axis AB, and ICM is the corresponding moment of inertia
about a second axis parallel to AB and passing through the center of mass at a distance
d, then I and ICM are related by:

I = ICM + md2

The generalized parallel axis theorem between moment of inertia tensors is as follows:
If I is the inertia tensor defined in a coordinate system with the origin fixed at point
O, and I′ is the inertia tensor defined in a center-of mass coordinate system with its
origin at the center-of-mass OCM and whose axes are parallel to the previous coordinate
system, then the elements of the tensors I and I′ are related by:
′
 
Ikl = Ikl + M a2 δkl − ak al

where a is the vector connecting the two origins O and OCM .

The principal axes of the rigid body are a special orientation of the axes, and all
rigid bodies have three principal axes. The main property of the principal axes is that
when rotation takes place around one of these three axes, the angular momentum L
and angular velocity vectors ω are parallel to each other and:

L = I · ω = λω

where λ is a scalar constant. This equation is an eigenvalue problem in which we are

looking for the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the moment of the inertia matrix I.
The principal axes is a noninertial frame fixed on the body, called the body coor-
dinate frame, while the inertial xyz-frame for a stationary observer is called the space
coordinate frame.
When using the principal axes of coordinates, we have Lk = Ik ωk , and the motion
of a rigid body can be described by the Euler equations:

I1 ω̇1 + (I3 − I2 )ω2 ω3 = N1

I2 ω̇2 + (I1 − I3 )ω3 ω1 = N2
I3 ω̇3 + (I2 − I1 )ω1 ω2 = N3
where (N1 , N2 , N3 ) is the external torque acting on the rigid body.

11.11 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 11.1: Rotational Motion of Particles Around a Fixed Axis
End-of-chapter problems 443

1. Human walking can be modeled as a swinging simple pendulum pivoting at the hip
joint. Estimate the period of this simple pendulum. Make reasonable numerical esti-
mates for the model, and neglect the effect of knee joints.

2. Find the principal axes and principal moments of inertia for a system of two masses
m1 , m2 connected by a massless rigid rod of length l.

3. A cylinder has mass m and radius R, and is attached to a hanging mass m. The
cylinder rolls without slipping upwards on an inclined plane, as shown in Figure 11.13.
A massless string is wrapped around the cylinder.
a. Find the magnitude and direction of the acceleration of the hanging mass.
b. What are the magnitude and direction of the force of static friction at the contact
point between the cylinder and the inclined plane?
Use a CAS to solve the system of equations.

Figure 11.13: Cylinder on an inclined plane attached to a hanging mass, in Problem 11.3.

4. A uniform hoop of mass m and radius R hangs in a vertical plane and is supported
by a nail at a point on the circumference, as shown in Figure 11.14. Calculate the
natural frequency of small oscillations.

Figure 11.14: Uniform hoop supported by a nail, located at the blue circle (in the e-book),
in Problem 11.4.

5. Baseball players always try to hit what is known as the sweet spot on the baseball
bat. The sweet spot is where the hit delivers the most energy to the ball, and at the
same time minimizes the force on the hands of the player. To describe the physics
of the sweet spot, the baseball bat can be assumed to be rotating in space around a
pivot point at its end without linear displacement, as shown in Figure 11.15. At what
distance D along the baseball bat is the sweet spot located?
444 Rigid Body Motion

Figure 11.15: Baseball bat hitting a baseball at the sweet spot D away from the pivot point,
in Problem 11.5.

6. A torsion pendulum consists in general of a mass m hanging from a wire that can
be twisted, producing a torque N = Iα proportional to the angle θ describing the
twisting. A torsion pendulum satisfies an equation similar to Hooke’s Law:

I1 θ̈ + Aθ = 0

where I1 is the moment of inertia of the attached object around the rotational axis,
and A is the torsion coefficient describing the stiffness of the wire. Consider the torsion
pendulum shown in Figure 11.16, which consists of a thin disk of radius R and mass
M , with a cylindrical mass M of radius R/4 placed on top of the disk. Find the ratio of
the periods of this torsion pendulum, with and without the presence of the cylindrical
mass on top of the thin disk.

Figure 11.16: ATorsion pendulum in Problem 11.6.

7. A bowling ball of uniform density is thrown along a horizontal alley with initial velocity
v0 in such a way that it initially slides without rolling. The ball has mass m, the
coefficient of static friction with the floor is µs , and the coefficient of sliding friction
with the floor is µk . Compute how far the ball will slide before it starts rolling. You
can ignore the effect of air resistance.
8. A coin with radius R and mass m is spinning about its axis of symmetry through its
center with angular frequency ω0 as shown in Figure 11.17a. The coin is placed down
on a horizontal surface as shown in Figure 11.17b. The coin stops slipping and starts
rolling away. What is the velocity of the coin when it rolls away?
End-of-chapter problems 445

(a) (b)

Figure 11.17: Spinning coin, in Problem 11.8.

9. A wheel of mass M and radius R is projected along a horizontal surface with an initial
linear velocity v0 and an initial angular velocity ω0 , as shown in Figure 11.18. The
wheel starts sliding along the surface. Let the coefficient of friction between the wheel
and the surface be µ.
a. How long does it take for the wheel to stop sliding?
b. What is the velocity of the center of mass of the wheel when the sliding stops?

Figure 11.18: Wheel projected along a horizontal surface, in Problem 11.9.

10. A solid uniform cylinder of mass m and radius R is placed on a plane inclined at angle
θ with respect to the horizontal, as shown in Figure 11.19. Let a be the acceleration
of the axis of the cylinder along the incline. The coefficient of friction between the
cylinder and plane is µ. For θ less than some critical angle θc , the cylinder will roll
down the incline without slipping.
a. What is the critical angle θc ?
b. What is the acceleration a for angles less than the critical angle?

Figure 11.19: Cylinder rolling down an inclined plane, in Problem 11.10.

446 Rigid Body Motion

11. A wheel of radius R and moment of inertia I is mounted on a frictionless axle through
its center. A flexible, weightless cord is wrapped around the rim of the wheel and
carries a body of mass M which begins descending as shown in Figure 11.20. What is
the tension in the cord?

Figure 11.20: Mass hanging from a wheel, in Problem 11.11.

12. A thin uniform stick of mass m is resting with its bottom end on a frictionless table.
The stick is released from rest at an angle θ0 with respect to the vertical, as shown in
Figure 11.21. Find the force exerted by the table upon the stick at an infinitesimally
small time after its release.

Figure 11.21: Thin uniform stick in the process of falling over, in Problem 11.12.

Section 11.2: Review of Rotational Properties for a System of Particles

13. A rigid body consists of three masses m1 = 2, m2 = 1, m3 = 4 located at positions

r1 = (1, −1, 1) , r2 = (2, 0, 2) and r3 = (−1, 1, 0), with all units in the SI system.
a. Calculate the angular momentum of the system when the angular velocity is
ω = (3, −2, 4).
b. Find the principal axes and principal moments of inertia of this system.
14. A billiard ball of radius R and mass M is struck with a horizontal cue stick at a height
h above the billiard table, as shown in Figure 11.22. Find the value of h for which the
ball will roll without slipping.
End-of-chapter problems 447

Figure 11.22: Billiard ball being struck by a horizontal cue, in Problem 11.14.

Section 11.3: Moment of Inertia Tensor

15. A square plate with mass m and side a, has a uniform mass density and lies on
the xy-plane of a xyz coordinate system, with the origin located at one of its corners.
The square plate has a thickness b.
a. Find the moment of inertia tensor of the square plate with respect to this coor-
dinate system.
b. Find the principal moments of inertia and principal axes for this plate, when the
thickness b << a , i.e., when the plate is very thin.

16. Two equal point masses M are connected by a massless rigid rod of length 2b,
to form a dumbbell. Choose a coordinate system in which the dumbbell is on the
xy-plane at an angle ϕ with respect to the x-axis, and with the origin located at the
center of mass of the dumbbell, as shown in Figure 11.23. The angular velocity ω of
rotation around the z-axis is a constant in time.
a. Calculate the elements of the inertia tensor for this coordinate system.
b. Find and discuss the principal axes and principal moments of inertia.

Figure 11.23: Two point masses connected by a massless rod, in Problem 11.16.

17. Find the principal moments of inertia and principal axes for a uniform cylinder of
height H and radius R, with respect to a coordinate system located at the center of
mass of the cylinder.
448 Rigid Body Motion

Section 11.4: Kinetic Energy and the Inertia Tensor

18. Four masses all with mass m, lie in the xy-plane at positions (x, y) =
(a, 0), (−a, 0), (0, +2a), and (0, −2a). These are joined by massless rods to form
a rigid body.

a. Find the moment of inertia tensor using the xyz-axes as a reference system.
b. Consider a direction given by a unit vector n̂ that makes equal angles with the
positive xyz-axes. Find the moment of inertia for rotation about this axis.
c. Find the angular momentum with respect to the unit vector n̂.

19. A compound pendulum has mass m and principal moments of inertia I1 , I2 , and I3 .
The pendulum oscillates about a horizontal axis which makes angles α, β, and γ with
respect to the principal axes of inertia. Show that the period of small oscillations is
r
mgd
T = 2π
I
where d is the distance from the center of mass to the axis of rotation, and

I = md2 + I1 cos2 α + I2 cos2 β + I3 cos2 γ

20. A spherical ball of mass m and radius r rolls without slipping on a track as shown in
Figure 11.24. Find the minimum height h above the top position in the loop that will
permit the ball to maintain constant contact with the rail of the loop.

Figure 11.24: Ball rolling without slipping on a track, in Problem 11.20.

21. A uniform plank of length 2a is held temporarily so that one end leans against a
frictionless vertical wall, and the other end rests on a frictionless floor making an
angle θ0 with the floor, as shown in Figure 11.25. When the plank is released, it will
slide down under the influence of gravity. Show that the time t that it will take the
plank to reach a new angle θ is:
Z t
dθ
t= q
2a (sin θ0 − sin θ)
0 3g
End-of-chapter problems 449

Figure 11.25: Uniform plank temporarily leaning against a frictionless vertical wall, in Prob-
lem 11.21.

22. A uniform solid ball of radius a rolls with velocity v on a level surface, and it collides
inelastically with a step of height h < a, as shown in Figure 11.26. Find the minimum
velocity for which the ball will “trip” up over the step. Assume that no slipping occurs
at the impact point.

Figure 11.26: Solid ball tripping over a ledge, in Problem 11.22.

23. A particle of mass m and speed v collides elastically with the end of a uniform thin
rod of mass M and length L as shown in Figure 11.27. The collision takes place on a
horizontal surface, so gravity can be ignored. Show that if mass m is stationary after
the collision, then M = 4m.

Figure 11.27: Particle colliding with the end of a uniform thin rod, in Problem 11.23.

24. Solve the following problems involving different physical pendulums. A physical pen-
dulum is a rigid body that swings freely about some pivot point.
450 Rigid Body Motion

a. A rectangular thin plate with sides (a, b) is hung vertically

p from its edge of length
a. Show that the period of small oscillations is T = 2π 2b/(3g).
b. A uniform solid sphere with radius R is hung vertically from p a point on its
surface. Show that the period of small oscillations is T = 2π 7R/(5g).
c. In a simple pendulum, the string is replaced with a solid thin rod of mass M and
length L, and a mass m is attached
p at the end of this rod. Show that the period
of small oscillations is T = 2π 2(M + 3m)L/ [3(M + 2m)g].
25. Given that the moment of inertia of a cube about an axis that passes through the
center of mass and the center of one face is I0 , find the moment of inertia about an
axis passing through the center of mass and one corner of the cube.

Section 11.6: Principal Axes of Rotation

26. A thin disk of radius R and mass M lying in the xy-plane has a point mass
m = 5M/4 attached on its edge as shown in Figure 11.28. We ignore gravity.
a. Show that the moment of inertia tensor of the disk about its center of mass is:
 
2 1 0 0
MR 
I= 0 1 0
4
0 0 2

b. Find the moment of inertia tensor of the combination of disk and point mass
when the system rotates around the pivot point A at the origin, in the coordinate
system shown in Figure 11.28.
c. Find the principal moments and the principal axes.

Figure 11.28: Thin disk with a point mass (solid dot) attached at the edge, in Problem
11.26.

27. A torsion pendulum consists of a vertical wire attached to a cube which may rotate
about the vertical. The cube is hung from a corner, then it is hung from midway
along an edge, and finally it is hung from the middle of a face. In each case, the
cube is allowed to oscillate around the pivot point. Which one of the three periods of
oscillation of the cube is largest?
End-of-chapter problems 451

Sections 11.7-11.8: Motion of a Spinning Top- Precession - Rigid Body Motion

in 3D and Euler’s Equations

28. Consider a rotating object which is not experiencing any external torques. Using
Euler’s equations, show that the magnitude of the angular momentum is constant.
Show also that the rotational kinetic energy is constant. Use a CAS to carry out the
algebra.

29. A thin rectangular plate has dimensions a and b. Find the torque required to rotate
this plate with constant angular velocity ω around one of its diagonals.

30. A uniform rigid wheel is located on the xy-plane, and has principal moments of
inertia I1 = I2 ̸= I3 about its body-fixed principal axes x̂1 , x̂2 and x̂3 as shown in
Figure 11.29. The wheel is attached at its center of mass to a bearing which allows
frictionless rotation about one space-fixed axis. The wheel is “dynamically balanced”,
i.e., it can rotate at constant ω, so that it can exert no torque on its bearing.
a. Examine and integrate the Euler equations, first without any given initial con-
ditions, and secondly by using the initial conditions ω1 (0) = 1 and ω2 (0) = 0.
b. What conditions must the components of ω satisfy for this dynamically balanced
system? Discuss the motion.

Figure 11.29: Uniform rigid wheel rotating around the axis ω, in Problem 11.30.
 12 Coupled Oscillations
In this chapter, we explore the properties of coupled harmonic oscillators. These systems
can be analyzed by using either the Lagrangian approach of Chapter 8, or alternatively
using Newton’s second law. The simplest form of these systems in mechanics contains two
masses connected by springs to each other. A second simple example of coupled mechanical
oscillators is the double pendulum, which also exhibits a wide range of interesting behaviors.
We will see that these simple oscillating systems can exhibit normal modes of oscillation,
which are patterns of motion in which all parts of the system move sinusoidally with the
same frequency. The frequencies of the normal modes of a system are known as its natural
frequencies of oscillation. We will find that any motion exhibited by the system can be
expressed as a linear combination of these normal modes.
The discussion of the two-mass system will lead us to a more general description of lin-
early coupled harmonic systems, and how their equations of motion can be written in matrix
form. The best way to obtain solutions to the equations of motions for coupled oscillations
is by using standard techniques from Linear Algebra, in order to find the eigenvalues and
eigenvectors of a matrix. The eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the matrix characterizing the
oscillating system are closely related to its normal modes.
This chapter will conclude with a general treatment of coupled oscillations, and a dis-
cussion of normal coordinates.

12.1 COUPLED OSCILLATIONS OF A TWO-MASS, THREE-SPRING SYS-

TEM
In this section we introduce a simple system exhibiting coupled oscillations, consisting of
two masses connected by springs to each other and to two supporting walls.

12.1.1 EQUATIONS OF MOTION

Consider two masses m1 and m2 attached to three springs with spring constants
k1 , k2 , and k3 and to two fixed walls, as shown in Figure 12.1.

Figure 12.1: System of two coupled harmonic oscillators consisting of two masses m1 and
m2 connected with three springs with constants k1 , k2 , and k3 .

Let us denote by x1 (t) and x2 (t) the horizontal displacements of the two masses from
their respective equilibrium points. The force on the first mass due to the first spring is
−k1 x1 . The middle spring will be stretched by a distance (x1 − x2 ), and the force on the
first mass due to this middle spring will be −k2 (x1 − x2 ). The total force on the first mass
must then be F1 = −k1 x1 − k2 (x1 − x2 ). Similarly, the force on the second mass due to the
middle spring is −k2 (x2 − x1 ), and the force on the second mass due to the third spring
will be −k3 x2 .

453
454 Coupled Oscillations

Using the notation ẍ for acceleration, the equations of motion from Newton’s second
law F = ma for the two masses are:
)
m1 ẍ1 = −k1 x1 − k2 (x1 − x2 )
(12.1.1)
m2 ẍ2 = −k2 (x2 − x1 ) − k3 x2
In a more general way, we can obtain the same equations by starting with the Lagrangian
formulation of Chapter 8. The potential energies of the two end springs are V1 = k1 x21 /2
and V3 = k3 x22 /2, while the potential energy for the middle spring is V2 = k2 (x1 − x2 )2 /2,
so that the Lagrangian is equal to:
1 1 1 1 1
L = T − VT otal = m1 x˙1 2 + m2 x˙2 2 − k1 x21 − k3 x22 − k2 (x1 − x2 )2 (12.1.2)
2 2 2 2 2
The Euler-Lagrange equations are:
 
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 → m1 ẍ1 = −k1 x1 − k2 (x1 − x2 ) (12.1.3)
dt ∂ ẋ1 ∂x1
 
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 → m2 ẍ2 = −k2 (x2 − x1 ) − k3 x2 (12.1.4)
dt ∂ ẋ2 ∂x2
These are of course the same equations as in (12.1.1).

12.1.2 NUMERICAL SOLUTION OF THE EQUATIONS OF MOTION

In general, it is not possible to obtain the solutions x1 (t) and x2 (t) of the system of equations
(12.1.1) analytically, and they must be obtained by numerically integrating the equations
for given initial conditions of the system. The initial conditions are usually given as the
initial positions and initial speeds of the two masses.
Example 12.1 shows how to obtain and plot the numerical solutions x1 (t) and x2 (t),
with the initial conditions x1 (0) = 0, x2 (0) = a, ẋ1 (0) = a, and ẋ2 (0) = 0.

Example 12.1: Numerical solution for the general case of two coupled
oscillating masses
Integrate (12.1.1) for k1 = 4 N/m, k2 = 2 N/m, k3 = 3 N/m, m1 = 1 kg, m2 = 2 kg
and plot the numerical solutions x1 (t) and x2 (t), with the initial conditions x1 (0) = 0,
x2 (0) = 1 m, ẋ1 (0) = 0 and ẋ2 (0) = 0. This situation corresponds to the case where the
first mass m1 is initially at rest at its equilibrium position (x1 (0) = 0 and ẋ1 (0) = 0),
and the second mass is pulled a distance a = 1 meter from its equilibrium and released
from rest (ẋ2 (0) = 0).
Solution:
In this example we use the NDSolve command in Mathematica, and the odeint
library in Python to numerically solve the system of differential equations, and to obtain
the numerical solutions x1 (t) and x2 (t).
The plots of x1 (t) and x2 (t) in Figure 12.2 are obviously complex, and it is not
possible to give a simple physical description of the motion of the two masses. The key
physical component which creates this complex behavior is the middle spring in Figure
12.1, since this is the component that couples the motion of the two masses.
Coupled oscillations of a two-mass, three-spring system 455

Python Code
As usual for solving second-order ODEs with Python, we define a vector X =
[x1,y1,x2,y2] where y1,y2 represent the speeds v1 = dx1 /dt and v2 = dx2 /dt.
We use the command odeint and define a function solvODE whose input are X
and the time array t, and the output is an array soln with columns representing
x1 (t), dx1 /dt, x2 (t), dx2 /dt. The plots of x1 (t) and x2 (t) are shown in Figure 12.2.

import numpy as np
from [Link] import odeint
import [Link] as plt

def solveODE(X, t):

# X : X = [x1,y1,x2,y2]
# t : time
x1, y1, x2, y2 = X

f = [y1, k2 * (x2 - x1 ) / m1 -k1*x1/m1,

y2, k2 * (x1 - x2 ) / m2 -k3*x2/m2]
return f

k1, k2, k3, m1, m2 = 4, 2, 3, 1, 2 # Parameter values

# Initial conditions (x1,y1 = dx1/dt, x2, y2 = dx2/dt)

# x1, x2= initial positions, y1, y2 = initial velocities
x1, y1, x2, y2 = 0, 0, 1, 0

# times for evaluating x(t)

t = [Link](0,20,100)

# Pack up the parameters and initial conditions:

X = [x1, y1, x2, y2]

# Call the ODE solver.

soln = odeint(solveODE, X, t)

[Link](1,2,1)
[Link](t, soln[:,0])
[Link]('(a) x1(t)')

[Link](1,2,2)
[Link](t, soln[:,2])
[Link]('(b) x2(t)')
plt.tight_layout()
[Link]()
456 Coupled Oscillations

Mathematica Code
We use NDSolve to solve the system of ODEs from t = 0 to t = 20 s.
The numerical values for the parameters m1 , m2 , k1 , k2 , and k3 are needed in
order to plot the solutions using the Plot and GraphicsGrid commands.

SetOptions[Plot, BaseStyle->{FontSize->14}];

k1 = 4; k2 = 2; k3 = 3; m1 = 1; m2 = 2;

sol = NDSolve[{m1 ∗ x1”[t] == −k1 ∗ x1[t] + k2 ∗ (x2[t] − x1[t]),

m2 ∗ x2”[t] == −k3 ∗ x2[t] + k2 ∗ (x1[t] − x2[t]), x1[0] == 0, x1′ [0] == 0,

x2[0] == 1, x2′ [0] == 0}, {x1, x2}, {t, 0, 20}];

gr1 = Plot[x1[t]/.sol, {t, 0, 20}, PlotLabel → “(a) x1[t]”];

gr2 = Plot[x2[t]/.sol, {t, 0, 20}, PlotLabel → “(b) x2[t]”];

GraphicsGrid[{{gr1, gr2}}, Frame → True]

(a) x1[t] (b) x2[t]

1.0

0.5 0.5

5 10 15 20 5 10 15 20

-0.5 -0.5

-1.0

Figure 12.2: Plots of the positions x1 (t), x2 (t) of the two masses for the two-mass three-
spring system, from Example 12.1.

12.1.3 EQUAL MASSES AND IDENTICAL SPRINGS: THE NORMAL MODES

In Example 12.2, we look at the special case of equal masses (m1 = m2 ), and springs
with equal spring constants (k1 = k2 = k3 ). This is an interesting physical situation, in
which the analytical solutions are simple, and it may be easy to understand the physics of
the situation. This example introduces the concept of normal modes in a simple and clear
manner.
Coupled oscillations of a two-mass, three-spring system 457

Example 12.2: Equal masses and identical springs: the antisymmetric

oscillation
Solve analytically the two-mass three-spring system and plot the numerical solutions
x1 (t) and x2 (t) for the special case of identical masses and identical springs, m1 = m2
and k1 = k2 = k3 . Use the numerical values a = 1.0 m, k = 1.0 N/m, m = 1.0 kg.
(a) Use the initial conditions x1 (0) = a, x2 (0) = −a, ẋ1 (0) = 0 and ẋ2 (0) = 0.
(b) Use the initial conditions x1 (0) = a, x2 (0) = a, ẋ1 (0) = 0 and ẋ2 (0) = 0.
Solution:
(a) In this situation the two masses are initially displaced from their equilibrium
positions by equal and opposite distances a, and they are then released from rest.
The analytical solutions in this case from CAS are
p 
x1 (t) = a cos 3k/m t
p 
x2 (t) = −a cos 3k/m t

The minus sign in x2 (t) tells us that the two masses will move together with the same
speed, but they will be completely out of phase as shown in Figure 12.3ab. p
The frequency of oscillation for both masses in this situation is ω2 = 3k/m.
This situation is referred to as the antisymmetric oscillation of the system.
(b) In this situation the two masses are pulled the same distance a from their
corresponding equilibrium, and they are released from rest (ẋ1 (0) = 0 and ẋ2 (0) = 0).
The analytical solutions are
p 
x1 (t) = x2 (t) = a cos k/m t

This tells us that if the two masses are initially displaced from equilibrium by the same
distance and released from rest, the two masses will move together with the same speed
and in phase, as if the middle spring was not present. This makes physical sense, since
in this situation the middle spring will be unstretched from its natural length, and will
remain unstretched during the motion of the two masses. p
The frequency of oscillation for both masses in this situation is ω1 = k/m, i.e.,
the same frequency as if only one of the two masses were attached to a single spring
with a spring constant k.
This situation is referred to as the symmetric oscillation of the system.

Python Code
(a) We use the command dsolve_system in SymPy to solve analytically the sys-
tem of ODEs with the given initial conditions. The command lambdify converts the
symbolic answer x1 (t) and x2 (t) into NumPy arrays which are plotted in Figures 12.3a
and 12.3b.
(b) We use the same code (not shown here) and change only the initial conditions
x1 (0) = a, x2 (0) = a, ẋ1 (0) = 0 and ẋ2 (0) = 0. The positions x1 (t) and x2 (t) are
plotted in Figures 12.3c and 12.3d.
458 Coupled Oscillations

from sympy import Function, Eq, Derivative as D, symbols,\

lambdify, simplify
from [Link] import dsolve_system
import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

k, m, t, x0, v0, a = symbols('k, m, t, x0, v0, a',real=True,\

positive=True)
x1, x2 = symbols('x1, x2', cls=Function)

eq1 = Eq(D(x1(t),t,t), -(k/m)* x1(t) -(k/m)*(x1(t)-x2(t)))

eq2 = Eq(D(x2(t),t,t), -(k/m)* x2(t) -(k/m)*(x2(t)-x1(t)))

# initial conditions x1(0)=a, v1(0)=0, x2(0)=-a and v2(0)=1

initCondits = {x1(0): a, D(x1(t),t).subs(t, 0): 0,\
x2(0): -a, D(x2(t),t).subs(t, 0): 0 }
# solve the system of two differential equations symbolically
soln = dsolve_system((eq1, eq2), [x1(t),x2(t)], t, initCondits)

X1 = soln[0][0].rhs # extract the solutions x1(t) and x2(t)

X2 = soln[0][1].rhs
print('x1(t) =',X1)
print('\nx2(t) =',X2)

# make x1(t) and x2(t) functions using lambdify

x1soln = lambdify(t, [Link]({k:1,m:1,a:1}),'numpy')

x2soln = lambdify(t, [Link]({k:1,m:1,a:1}),'numpy')

# evaluate x(t) values from t=0 to t=10 s

xvals = [Link](0,5.5,.1)

[Link](x1soln(xvals),label='(a) x1(t)')
[Link](x2soln(xvals),'r--',label='(b) x2(t)')
[Link]('Time t [s]')
[Link]('x1(t), x2(t)')
[Link]()
[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

x1(t) = a*cos(sqrt(3)*sqrt(k)*t/sqrt(m))

x2(t) = -a*cos(sqrt(3)*sqrt(k)*t/sqrt(m))
Coupled oscillations of a two-mass, three-spring system 459

Mathematica Code
We use DSolve to solve symbolically the system of differential equations, and
ExpToTrig is used to convert the solutions into trig functions. Note also the use of
the Simplify command.

SetOptions[Plot, BaseStyle->{FontSize->14}];

sol =

ExpToTrig[DSolve[{m ∗ x1”[t] == −k ∗ x1[t] + k ∗ (x2[t] − x1[t]),

m ∗ x2”[t] == −k ∗ x2[t] + k ∗ (x1[t] − x2[t]), x1[0] == a, x1′ [0] == 0,

x2[0] == −a, x2′ [0] == 0}, {x1[t], x2[t]}, t]]//Simplify

numValues = {a → 1, k → 1, m → 1};
nn h√ √ i h √ √ ioo
x1[t] → aCos √3 kt
m
, x2[t] → −aCos 3 kt
√
m

gr1 = Plot[x1[t]/.sol/.numValues, {t, 0, 10}, PlotLabel → “(a) x1[t]”];

gr2 = Plot[x2[t]/.sol/.numValues, {t, 0, 10}, PlotLabel → “(b) x2[t]”,

PlotStyle->Dashed];

GraphicsGrid[{{gr1, gr2}}, Frame → True]

sol =

ExpToTrig[DSolve[{m ∗ x1”[t] == −k ∗ x1[t] + k ∗ (x2[t] − x1[t]),

m ∗ x2”[t] == −k ∗ x2[t] + k ∗ (x1[t] − x2[t]), x1[0] == a, x1′ [0] == 0, x2[0] == a,

x2′ [0] == 0}, {x1[t], x2[t]}, t]]//Simplify

numValues = {a → 1, k → 1, m → 1};
nn h√ i h √ ioo
x1[t] → aCos √kt
m
, x2[t] → aCos √kt
m

gr1 = Plot[x1[t]/.sol/.numValues, {t, 0, 10}, PlotLabel → “(c) x1[t]”];

gr2 = Plot[x2[t]/.sol/.numValues, {t, 0, 10}, PlotLabel → “(d) x2[t]”,

PlotStyle->Dashed];

GraphicsGrid[{{gr1, gr2}}, Frame → True]

460 Coupled Oscillations

(a) x1[t] (b) x2[t]

1.0 1.0

0.5 0.5

2 4 6 8 10 2 4 6 8 10
-0.5 -0.5

-1.0 -1.0
(c) x1[t] (d) x2[t]
1.0 1.0

0.5 0.5

2 4 6 8 10 2 4 6 8 10
-0.5 -0.5

-1.0 -1.0

Figure 12.3: (a),(b) Plots of the antisymmetric normal mode of the two-mass three-spring
system, from Example 12.2. The two masses in this case are completely out of phase and
x1 (t) = −x2 (t). (c),(d) Plots of the symmetric normal mode of the system, in which the
two masses are completely in phase and x1 (t) = x2 (t).

Example 12.2 showed that the system of two equal masses p and three identical
p springs
in Figure 12.1 has two natural frequencies given by ω1 = k/m and ω2 = 3k/m. By
properly choosing the initial conditions in the system as in the two examples, we can force
both masses to oscillate with a single frequency, either ω1 or ω2 . In these special situations,
the two natural frequencies are uncoupled from each other, and we say that these are the
normal modes of the oscillating system.
Figure 12.4 shows schematically the p motion of the two masses in either the symmetric
oscillation pattern with
p frequency ω 1 = k/m (left panel), or an antisymmetric oscillation
with frequency ω2 = 3k/m (right panel).

(a) (b)

Figure 12.4: The normal modes of the two-mass,

p three-spring system pin Figure 12.1, corre-
sponding to the natural frequencies (a) ω1 = k/m and (b) ω2 = 3k/m. These normal
modes represent symmetric and antisymmetric oscillations, respectively.
Coupled oscillations of a two-mass, three-spring system 461

12.1.4 GENERAL CASE: LINEAR COMBINATION OF NORMAL MODES

If the two masses are displaced at some random distances and are released, they will oscillate
in a complex manner, which can be described as the linear combination of oscillations with
frequencies ω1 and ω2 .
The Python and Mathematica codes in Example 12.3 illustrate the general case, where
the solutions x1 (t) and x2 (t) are indeed
p linear combinations
p of trigonometric functions in-
volving the two frequencies ω1 = k/m and ω2 = 3k/m. This example shows how
occasionally we can numerically decouple the motions corresponding to these two frequen-
cies.

Example 12.3: Analytical solutions for equal masses and identical springs;
decoupling of the two frequencies
Integrate (12.1.1) for identical springs and identical masses, with the initial condi-
tions x1 (0) = 0, x2 (0) = a, ẋ1 (0) = 0 and ẋ2 (0) = 0.
Solution:
In this case, the second mass in Figure 12.1 is moved from equilibrium by a distance
a and is released from rest. The first mass is initially at rest at its equilibrium position.
The analytical solutions obtained from the CAS are
h p  p i
x1 (t) = (a/2) cos k/m t − cos 3k/m t
h p  p i
x2 (t) = (a/2) cos k/m t + cos 3k/m t

and these are shown in Figures 12.5 (a) and (b) below. Once more, the functions
x1 (t) and x2 (t) are complicated, and it is difficult to describe how exactly the two
masses are moving. This is because mathematically both x1 (t) and x2 (t) contain the
frequencies ω1 and ω2 .
Figures 12.5 (c) and (d) show plots of the function
p 
x1 (t) + x2 (t) = a cos k/m t
p 
x1 (t) − x2 (t) = −a cos 3k/m t

By using these linear combinations, it is now possible to decouple the two normal modes,
so that the motions
p shown in Figures
p 12.5 (c) and (d) are simple cosine functions with
frequencies ω1 = k/m and ω2 = 3k/m.

Python Code
We use the command dsolve_system in SymPy to solve analytically the system of
ODEs with the given initial conditions. The command lambdify converts the symbolic
answer x1 (t) and x2 (t) into NumPy arrays which are plotted in four panels.
462 Coupled Oscillations

from sympy import Function, Eq, Derivative as D, symbols,\

lambdify, simplify
from [Link] import dsolve_system
import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

k, m, t, x0, v0, a = symbols('k, m, t, x0, v0, a',real=True,\

positive=True)
x1, x2 = symbols('x1, x2', cls=Function)

def plotx(y,ttle): # function to plot x1,x2 etc

[Link](xvals,y,'b');
[Link](ttle);

eq1 = Eq(D(x1(t),t,t), -(k/m)* x1(t) -(k/m)*(x1(t)-x2(t)))

eq2 = Eq(D(x2(t),t,t), -(k/m)* x2(t) -(k/m)*(x2(t)-x1(t)))

# initial conditions x1(0)=0, v1(0)=0, x2(0)=0 and v2(0)=1

initCondits = {x1(0): 0, D(x1(t),t).subs(t, 0): 0,\
x2(0): a, D(x2(t),t).subs(t, 0): 0 }
# solve the system of two differential equations symbolically
soln = dsolve_system((eq1, eq2), [x1(t),x2(t)], t, initCondits)

X1 = soln[0][0].rhs # extract the solutions x1(t) and x2(t)

X2 = soln[0][1].rhs
print('\nx1(t) =\n',simplify(X1))
print('\nx2(t) =\n',simplify(X2))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

x1(t) =
a*(cos(sqrt(k)*t/sqrt(m)) - cos(sqrt(3)*sqrt(k)*t/sqrt(m)))/2

x2(t) =
a*(cos(sqrt(k)*t/sqrt(m)) + cos(sqrt(3)*sqrt(k)*t/sqrt(m)))/2
Coupled oscillations of a two-mass, three-spring system 463

# make x1(t) and x2(t) functions using lambdify

x1soln = lambdify(t, [Link]({k:1,m:1,a:1}),'numpy')
x2soln = lambdify(t, [Link]({k:1,m:1,a:1}),'numpy')

xvals = [Link](0,10,.2) # evaluate x(t) from t=0 to t=10 s

[Link](2,2,1) # plot panels for x1, x2, x1+x2 and x1-x2

plotx(x1soln(xvals),'(a) x1(t)')
[Link](2,2,2)
plotx(x2soln(xvals),'(b) x2(t)')
[Link](2,2,3)
plotx(x1soln(xvals)+x2soln(xvals),'(c) x1(t)+x2(t)')
[Link](2,2,4)
plotx(x1soln(xvals)-x2soln(xvals),'(d) x1(t)-x2(t)')
plt.tight_layout()
[Link]()

Mathematica Code
We use DSolve to solve symbolically the system of differential equations, and
ExpToTrig is used to convert the solutions into trig functions.

sol =

ExpToTrig[DSolve[{m ∗ x1”[t] == −k ∗ x1[t] + k ∗ (x2[t] − x1[t]),

m ∗ x2”[t] == −k ∗ x2[t] + k ∗ (x1[t] − x2[t]), x1[0] == 0, x1′ [0] == 0,

x2[0] == a, x2′ [0] == 0}, {x1[t], x2[t]}, t]][[1]]//Simplify

numValues = {a → 1, k → 1, m → 1};
n  h√ i h √ √ i  h√ i h √ √ io
x1[t] → 12 a Cos √kt
m
− Cos 3 kt
√
m
, x2[t] → 1
2 a Cos √kt + Cos
m
3 kt
√
m

gr1 = Plot[x1[t]/.sol/.numValues, {t, 0, 10}, PlotLabel → “(a) x1[t]”];

gr2 = Plot[x2[t]/.sol/.numValues, {t, 0, 10}, PlotLabel → “(b) x2[t]”];

gr3 = Plot[(x1[t] + x2[t])/.sol/.numValues, {t, 0, 10},

PlotLabel → “(c) x1[t]+x2[t]”];

gr4 = Plot[(x1[t] − x2[t])/.sol/.numValues, {t, 0, 10},

PlotLabel → “(c) x1[t]-x2[t]”];

GraphicsGrid[{{gr1, gr2}, {gr3, gr4}}, Frame → True]

464 Coupled Oscillations

Figure 12.5: Plots of the positions (a) x1 (t), (b) x2 (t), (c) x1 (t) + x2 (t) and (d) x1 (t) − x2 (t)
of the two-mass, three-spring system from Example 12.3.

In Example 12.4 we examine one more interesting behavior of the two-mass, three-
spring system, the case of weakly coupled oscillators. In this example the weak coupling
is established by choosing a middle spring with smaller spring constant than the two end
springs (k1 = k3 = k and k2 << k).

Example 12.4: Weakly coupled oscillators

Integrate (12.1.1) and plot the numerical solutions x1 (t) and x2 (t) for the special
case of identical masses (m1 = m2 = 1 kg), identical end springs (k1 = k3 = 1 N/m),
and a smaller middle spring constant (k2 = 0.2 N/m). Consider the physical situation
with the initial conditions x1 (0) = 1 m, x2 (0) = 0, ẋ1 (0) = 0, and ẋ2 (0) = 0.
Solution:
The codes for Python and Mathematica are the same as Example 12.1, with different
numerical values of the parameters. The output of the Mathematica code in Figures
12.6 (a) and (b) of Figure 12.6 shows the solutions x1 (t) and x2 (t). The motion of the
two masses shows a clear beat pattern, in which mass m1 reaches a maximum amplitude
of oscillation at the same time that m2 reaches a minimum amplitude, and vice versa.
In this example it is again possible to uncouple the motions of the two masses, by
plotting the sum x1 (t) + x2 (t) and the difference x1 (t) − x2 (t) of the two functions x1 (t)
and x2 (t). This is shown in Figures 12.6 (c) and (d), where the two linear combinations
x1 (t) + x2 (t) and x1 (t) − x2 (t) can be seen to have pure harmonic oscillations with
different frequencies, corresponding to the two normal modes of the system. We will
see a more general method of uncoupling the normal modes of the system later in this
chapter, when we discuss the concept of normal coordinates.

In the next two sections, we develop a more formal mathematical analysis of the normal
modes for the system in Figure 12.1, by using the techniques of Linear Algebra.
Normal mode analysis of the two-mass, three-spring system 465

(a) x1[t] (b) x2[t]

1.0 1.0

0.5 0.5

20 40 60 80 20 40 60 80
-0.5 -0.5

-1.0 -1.0
(c) x1[t]+x2[t] (d) x1[t]-x2[t]
1.0 1.0

0.5 0.5

20 40 60 80 20 40 60 80
-0.5 -0.5

-1.0 -1.0

Figure 12.6: Plots of the positions (a) x1 (t) and (b) x2 (t), (c) x1 (t) + x2 (t) and (d) x1 (t) −
x2 (t) of the weakly coupled two-mass, three-spring system, from Example 12.4.

12.2 NORMAL MODE ANALYSIS OF THE TWO-MASS, THREE-SPRING

SYSTEM
We now proceed to analyze the system of equations (12.1.1) using two different methods. In
Subsection 12.2.1, we show how to obtain the analytical solution for the two-mass, three-
spring system by using the standard matrix techniques of Linear Algebra. In Subsection
12.2.2, we show how to solve the same problem by turning it into an eigenvalue/eigenvector
type of problem, which can be easily analyzed using the commands available in Mathematica
and Python.

12.2.1 EQUAL MASSES AND IDENTICAL SPRINGS − ANALYTICAL SOLUTION

In the case of equal masses m1 = m2 = m, and identical spring constants k1 = k2 = k3 = k,
the equations of motion (12.1.1) become:

mẍ1 = −kx1 − k(x1 − x2 ) mẍ2 = −k(x2 − x1 ) − kx2 (12.2.1)

This system of equations can be written in a compact matrix form:
     
m 0 ẍ1 −2k k x1
= (12.2.2)
0 m ẍ2 k −2k x2
We can now solve this matrix equation by using the standard methods of Linear Algebra,
and by following the same eigenvalue problem procedure we used in Chapter 11 for the
principal moments of inertia.
We proceed in two steps, first we find the natural frequencies ω of the system, and second
we find the positions x1 (t) and x2 (t), as follows.
Since we expect oscillatory motion, we try solutions of the form:

x1 (t) = A1 eiωt x2 (t) = A2 eiωt (12.2.3)

466 Coupled Oscillations

where A1 and A2 are the unknown amplitudes of oscillation for the two masses, and ω is
the unknown frequency of oscillation. Substituting these into the matrix equation (12.2.2):
     
m 0 −ω 2 A1 eiωt −2k k A1 eiωt
= (12.2.4)
0 m −ω 2 A2 eiωt k −2k A2 eiωt
By canceling the exponential factor eiωt which is common to all terms, and combining the
matrices, we obtain:
    
−ω 2 m + 2k −k A1 0
= (12.2.5)
−k −ω 2 m + 2k A2 0
This matrix equation represents a system of equations. A theorem from Linear Algebra says
that if the determinant of the matrix is non-zero, then there is a unique solution, which in
this case is the trivial solution A1 = A2 = 0. However, in order for multiple solutions to
exist, the determinant of the matrix must be zero. We are interested in a nontrivial solution
A1 , A2 ̸= 0, so we solve for the values of ω which cause the determinant to be zero.
We set the determinant of the matrix equal to zero:
 
−ω 2 m + 2k −k
det =0 (12.2.6)
−k −ω 2 m + 2k



ω 2 m − 2k ω 2 m − 2k − k 2 = 0 (12.2.7)
Solving for ω, we obtain four possible solutions, only two of which are positive:
r r
k 3k
ω1 = , ω2 = (12.2.8)
m m
This completes the first part of the analysis, where we determined the two natural frequen-
cies ω1 and ω2 . In the previous section, we found that oscillatory solutions to our system of
equations can contain one or both of these two frequencies.
In order to complete the description of the system, we mustq also find the two unknown
k
amplitudes of oscillation A1 and A2 . If we substitute ω1 = m into the matrix equation
(12.2.6), we obtain:

q 2 
k
m − 2k k     
 m  A1 −k k A1
 q 2  (12.2.9)
  A2 = k −k A2
=0
k k
m m − 2k

By multiplying the matrices, we obtain these two equations:

− kA1 + kA2 = 0 (12.2.10)

kA1 − kA2 = 0 (12.2.11)

It is clear that these two equations are identical, and that A1 = A2 . Note that this always
happens when we are finding the eigenvectors of a 2 × 2 matrix, one p of the equations will be
redundant and can just be ignored. We conclude that when ω1 = k/m, the two amplitudes
are equal A1 = A2 , and therefore x1 (t) = x2 (t) = A1 eiωt . We can now write the first solution
p
for the motion of the two masses, which corresponds to the first normal model ω1 = k/m:

x1 (t) = x2 (t) = A1 eiω1 t (12.2.12)

Normal mode analysis of the two-mass, three-spring system 467

Since A1 = A2 and x1 (t) = x2 (t), this type of motion corresponds to both masses moving
in the same direction and in phase at all times, as we saw previously in Figure 12.4a. This
type of motion is known as the first normal mode or the symmetric mode of oscillation,
and the general motion of the system in this mode can be written in terms of trigonometric
functions:
x1 (t) = x2 (t) = D1 cos (ω1 t − ϕ1 ) (12.2.13)
In matrix notation, the first normal mode can be written as:
   
x1 (t) 1
= D1 cos (ω1 t − ϕ1 ) (12.2.14)
x2 (t) 1
By working
p in a similar fashion for the second natural frequency of the system, we substitute
ω2 = 3k/m into (12.1.1), and obtain A1 = −A2 . Since A1 = −A2 , this type of motion
corresponds to the two masses moving in opposite directions, while the center of mass
remains stationary, as shown in Figure 12.4b. This type of motion is known as the second
normal mode or the antisymmetric mode of oscillation. p
We can then write the second possible solution corresponding to ω2 = 3k/m as:
   
x1 (t) 1
= D2 cos (ω2 t − ϕ2 ) (12.2.15)
x2 (t) −1

In general, the motion of the system will

p be a linear combination
p of the two normal modes,
corresponding to the frequencies ω1 = k/m and ω2 = 3k/m.
A faster method of obtaining the normal mode frequencies ω1 and ω2 and the amplitudes
A1 and A2 , is by solving the matrix equation (12.2.5) using the symbolic capabilities of
Python and Mathematica. Example 12.5 shows how to implement the above procedure in
a CAS, to obtain the general solution for the two-mass, three-spring system.

Example 12.5: Solving the two-mass, three-spring system by solving the

matrix equation
Use a CAS to solve the two-mass, three-spring system in Figure 12.1 as a matrix
equation problem. Consider specifically the case of equal masses and identical springs,
and follow the steps above: in the symbolic codes, substitute x1 (t) = A1 eiωt and x2 (t) =
A2 eiωt in the differential equations, cancel out the eiωt terms, and setup the matrix A.
Find the normal mode frequencies ω1 and ω2 and the general relationship between the
amplitudes A1 and A2 by solving the characteristic equation.
Solution: p
The codes produce the first normal mode frequency ω1 = k/m, and the cor-
responding relationship between the amplitudes is A1 = A2 . This is of course the
symmetric mode of oscillation for the system that we saw previously. p
The codes also produce the second normal mode frequency ω2 = 3k/m, and the
corresponding relationship between the amplitudes A1 = −A2 for the antisymmetric
mode of oscillation.

Python Code
We enter the ODEs for the variables x1 (t), x2 (t) to obtain the symbolic equations
eq1 and eq2. The matrix A is formed from the coefficients A1 , A2 of eq1 and eq2, using
the .coeff() method.
468 Coupled Oscillations

The natural frequencies are found using the solve command in SymPy to solve the
characteristic equation det(A)=0.

from sympy import symbols, exp, I, diff, solve, expand, Matrix

k, m, omega, x1, x2, A1, A2, t = \

symbols("k, m, omega, x1, x2, A1, A2, t")
# define all symbols for variables

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

# define x1 and x2 as complex exponentials

x1 = A1*exp(I*omega*t)
x2 = A2*exp(I*omega*t)

# differential equations for x1, x2 divided by exp(I*omega*t)

eq1 = expand((m*diff(x1,t,t)+k*x1+k*(x1-x2))/exp(I*omega*t))
eq2 = expand((m*diff(x2,t,t)+k*x2+k*(x2-x1))/exp(I*omega*t))

# Matrix A has coeffcients of A1, A2 in the system of equations

A = Matrix([[[Link](A1),[Link](A2)],[[Link](A1),[Link](A2)]])

print('The matrix of coefficients for A1, A2 is:\n')

print(A)

sol = solve([Link](),omega) # set det(A)=0 and solve for omega

print('\nNatural frequency omega1 = ',sol[0])

print('Natural frequency omega2 = ',sol[1])
print('\nNatural frequency omega3 = ',sol[2])
print('Natural frequency omega4 = ',sol[3])

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The matrix of coefficients for A1, A2 is:
Matrix([[2*k - m*omega**2, -k], [-k, 2*k - m*omega**2]])

Natural frequency omega1 = -sqrt(3)*sqrt(k/m)

Natural frequency omega2 = sqrt(3)*sqrt(k/m)

Natural frequency omega3 = -sqrt(k/m)

Natural frequency omega4 = sqrt(k/m)
Normal mode analysis of the two-mass, three-spring system 469

Mathematica Code
The code follows the same steps in the analytical solution and in the above Python
code, by evaluating the elements of the matrix
p and solving thepcharacteristic equation
det(A)=0 to obtain the frequencies ω1 = k/m and ω2 = 3k/m. The command
Coefficient is used to find the elements of the matrix.

x1 = A1 ∗ Exp[I ∗ ω ∗ t]; x2 = A2 ∗ Exp[I ∗ ω ∗ t];

eq1 = m ∗ D[x1, {t, 2}] + k ∗ x1 + k ∗ (x1 − x2);

expr1 = (eq1)/Exp[I ∗ ω ∗ t]//Simplify;

Print[“The first ODE yields the equation : ”, expr1]

The first ODE yields the equation : 2A1k − A2k − A1mω 2

eq2 = m ∗ D[x2, {t, 2}] + k ∗ x2 + k ∗ (x2 − x1);

expr2 = (eq2)/Exp[I ∗ ω ∗ t]//Simplify;

Print[“The second ODE yields the equation : ”, expr2]

The second ODE yields the equation : − A1k + 2A2k − A2mω 2

A = {{Coefficient[expr1, A1], Coefficient[expr1, A2]},

{Coefficient[expr2, A1], Coefficient[expr2, A2]}};

Print[“The matrix A is: A = ”, A]

 
The matrix A is: A = 2k − mω 2 , −k , −k, 2k − mω 2

Print[“The natural frequencies are: ”]

Print[Solve[Det[A]==0, ω]]

The
nn natural frequencies√are:
√ o n o n √ √ o n √ √ oo
ω → − √m k
, ω → √m k
, ω → − √3mk , ω → 3 k
√
m

12.2.2 SOLVING THE TWO-MASS AND THREE-SPRING SYSTEM AS AN EIGEN-

VALUE PROBLEM
In this section, we show how to solve the general two-mass, three-spring system as an
eigenvalue problem, using the commands available in Mathematica and Python. Let us
consider again the general equations of motion (12.1.1), for the system of two masses in
470 Coupled Oscillations

Figure 12.1:
m1 ẍ1 = −k1 x1 − k2 (x1 − x2 ) m2 ẍ2 = −k2 (x2 − x1 ) − k3 x2 (12.2.16)
or after dividing the first equation by m1 , and the second equation by m2 :
k1 k2 k2 k3
ẍ1 = − x1 − (x1 − x2 ) ẍ2 = − (x2 − x1 ) − x2 (12.2.17)
m1 m1 m2 m2
By substituting a trial solution of the form x1 (t) = A1 eiωt and x2 (t) = A2 eiωt and canceling
the common factor eiωt , these equations yield:
k1 k2 k2 k3
− A1 ω 2 = − A1 − (A1 − A2 ) − A2 ω 2 = − (A2 − A1 ) − A2 (12.2.18)
m1 m1 m2 m2
These can be written in compact matrix form as:
 k1 +k2 −k2    
m1 m1 A1 A1
    = ω2   (12.2.19)
−k2 k2 +k3
m m
A2 A2
2 2

You will recognize that this equation is an eigenvalue problem in the theory of Linear
Algebra, similar to the eigenvalue problems we encountered for the moment of inertia matrix
in Chapter 11.
For the two-mass system of Figure 12.1, the eigenvalue problem to be solved becomes
clear by writing (12.2.19) in this matrix form:

The Two-Mass System as an Eigenvalue Problem

GA = ω 2 A (12.2.20)
 −k2 
  k1 +k2
m1 m1
A1
A= G= 
A2 −k2 k2 +k3
m2 m2

We are looking for the eigenvalues λ = ω 2 of the square matrix G, which will give us the
natural frequencies of oscillation. We are also looking for the corresponding eigenvectors A,
which will give us the normal modes of oscillation corresponding to each natural frequency.
In order for the eigenvalue equation (12.2.20) to have a nontrivial solution (A ̸= 0), we must
have:  k1 +k2 
−k2
m1 − ω
2
m1
det  =0 (12.2.21)
−k2
m2
k2 +k3
m2 − ω 2

which is the characteristic equation of our eigenvalue problem. From this point on, we
proceed by following the same two-step method used in the previous section. First, we must
solve the characteristic equation (12.2.21) in order to find the frequencies ω1 and ω2 . These
frequencies will depend on k1 , k2 , k3 , m1 , and m2 . In the next step, we substitute the
first natural frequency ω1 into (12.2.19), in order to find (A1 , A2 ), the first normal mode.
Finally, we repeat the previous steps using the second natural frequency ω2 , in order to find
(A1 , A2 ) for the second normal mode.
The Mathematica and Python codes in Example 12.6 show how to find the eigenvectors
and eigenvalues for two different cases of the two-mass system in Figure 12.1.
Normal mode analysis of the two-mass, three-spring system 471

Example 12.6: The two-mass system as an eigenvalue/eigenvector prob-

lem
Solve the two oscillating mass systems in Figure 12.1 as an eigenvalue/eigenvector
problem, in these two cases:
(a) Identical springs and identical masses.
(b) Identical springs and unequal masses.
Solution:
(a) In this case the matrix is
 2k −k

m m
G= 
−k 2k
m m
p
The codes produce the first eigenvalue ω12 = k/m or ω1 = k/m, and the corre-
sponding eigenvector,    
A1 1
=
A2 1
This is what we also obtained in Section 12.2 for the first normal
p mode of the
oscillating two-mass system. Similarly, the second eigenvalue ω2 = 3k/m, and the
corresponding eigenvector
   
A1 −1
=
A2 1
This is again the same result we obtained in Section 12.2 for the second normal
mode.
(b) In this case the matrix is
 2k −k 
m1 m1
G= 
−k 2k
m2 m2

and the CAS produces the two eigenvalues and eigenvectors:

s    m1 −m2 +z 
A1
k (m1 + m2 − z)  =
m1

ω1 =
m1 m2
A2 1
s    −m1 +m2 +z 
A1 m1
k (m1 + m2 + z)  = 
ω2 =
m1 m2
A2 1
p
where z = m21 − m1 m2 + m22 . In this two-mass, three-spring system with unequal
masses, the ratio of the amplitudes A1 /A2 depends in a complicated manner on the
masses (m1 , m2 ), but it does not depend on the spring constant k.
472 Coupled Oscillations

Python Code − Part (a)

In the Python code we use the command eigenvals and eigenvects, which pro-
duces the same eigenvalues and eigenvectors as the analytical solution, each eigenval-
ues with a multiplicity of 1. For example,
pthe output (k/m,1,[Matrix([[1],[1]])
is interpreted as the frequency ω1 = k/m with a multiplicity of 1, and the
Matrix([[1],[1]]) result indicates the corresponding eigenvector
   
A1 1
=
A2 1

from sympy import Matrix, symbols

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

k, m = symbols('k, m')

A = Matrix([[2*k/m,-k/m],[-k/m,2*k/m]])

omega_sq = list([Link]().keys())

eigenvects = list([Link]())

print('The square of the first frequency is: ',omega_sq[0])

print('\nThe first eigenvector is: ',eigenvects[1][2][0])

print('\nThe square of the second frequency is: ',omega_sq[1])

print('\nThe second eigenvector is: ',eigenvects[0][2][0])

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The square of the first frequency is: 3*k/m

The first eigenvector is: Matrix([[-1], [1]])

The square of the second frequency is: k/m

The second eigenvector is: Matrix([[1], [1]])

Python Code − Part (b)

This code is essentially the same as part p
(a) with a different matrix A. We use the
.subs method to make the replacement z = m21 − m1 m2 + m22 , as explained above.
Normal mode analysis of the two-mass, three-spring system 473

from sympy import Matrix, symbols, sqrt, simplify

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

k, m1, m2, z = symbols('k, m1, m2, z')

A = Matrix([[2*k/m1,-k/m1],[-k/m2,2*k/m2]])

omega_sq = list([Link]())

eigenvects = list([Link]())

print('The square of the first frequency is:\n',\

simplify(omega_sq[0].subs(sqrt(m1**2 - m1*m2 + m2**2),z)))

print('\nThe square of the second frequency is:\n',\

simplify(omega_sq[1].subs(sqrt(m1**2 - m1*m2 + m2**2),z)))

print('\nAfter the z-substitution, the eigenvector #1 is:')

u = eigenvects[0][2][0]
print(simplify([Link](sqrt(m1**2 - m1*m2 + m2**2),z)))

print('\nAfter the z-substitution, the eigenvector #2 is:')

u = eigenvects[1][2][0]
print(simplify([Link](sqrt(m1**2 - m1*m2 + m2**2),z)))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The square of the first frequency is:
k*(m1 + m2 - z)/(m1*m2)

The square of the second frequency is:

k*(m1 + m2 + z)/(m1*m2)

After the z-substitution, the eigenvector #1 is:

Matrix([[(m1 - m2 + z)/m1], [1]])

After the z-substitution, the eigenvector #2 is:

Matrix([[(m1 - m2 - z)/m1], [1]])
474 Coupled Oscillations

Mathematica Code − Part (a)

The code below uses the commands Eigenvalues and
p Eigenvectors . We use the
replacement command /. to make the replacement z = m21 − m1 m2 + m22 .

 
 2 ∗ k/m −k/m 
A= ;
−k/m 2 ∗ k/m

Print[“The frequencies are: ”, Sqrt[Eigenvalues[A]]]

 q q 
√ k k
The frequencies are: 3 m , m

Print[“The eigenvectors are: ”, Eigenvectors[A]]

The eigenvectors are: {{−1, 1}, {1, 1}}

Mathematica Code − Part (b)

 
 2 ∗ k/m1 −k/m1 
A= ;
−k/m2 2 ∗ k/m2
np o
rule = m12 − m1m2 + m22 ->z ;

Print[“The frequencies after the z-substitution are:”,

Sqrt[Eigenvalues[A]]/.rule]
q q 
k(m1+m2−z) k(m1+m2+z)
The frequencies after the z-substitution are: m1m2 , m1m2

Print[“The eigenvectors are:”,

Eigenvectors[A]/.rule//Simplify]
 
The eigenvectors are: m1−m2+z
m1 , 1 , − −m1+m2+z
m1 ,1

12.3 DOUBLE PENDULUM

Figure 12.7 shows a double pendulum, consisting of two masses m1 and m2 attached to
massless rigid rods of lengths L1 and L2 . We can treat this problem using the same methods
as for the two-mass three-spring oscillating system, by developing the equations of motion
Double pendulum 475

and evaluating the natural frequencies. In Subsection 12.3.1, we will develop the Lagrangian
and the equations of motion. In Subsection 12.3.2, we will find the analytical solution for
the special case of two identical coupled pendula. In Subsection 12.3.3, we will treat the
double pendulum as an eigenvalue problem, and show how to obtain the natural frequencies
and the amplitudes of the normal modes.

12.3.1 LAGRANGIAN AND EQUATIONS OF MOTION − NUMERICAL

SOLUTIONS
The position (x1 , y1 ) of the first mass is (x1 , y1 ) = (L1 sin θ1 , L1 cos θ1 ), so that the kinetic
energy of mass m1 is:

1
1
1
T1 = m1 ẋ21 + ẏ12 = m1 L21 cos2 θ1 θ̇12 + L21 sin2 θ1 θ̇12 = m1 L21 θ̇12 (12.3.1)
2 2 2
The location (x2 , y2 ) of m2 is shifted with respect to the first mass by (x1 , y1 ), so that
(x2 , y2 ) = (L1 sin θ1 + L2 sin θ2 , L1 cos θ1 + L2 cos θ2 ). Therefore, the kinetic energy of the
second mass is:

1

T2 = m2 ẋ22 + ẏ22 (12.3.2)
2  
1 d 2 d 2
= m2 (L1 sin θ1 + L2 sin θ2 ) + (L1 cos θ1 + L2 cos θ2 ) (12.3.3)
2 dt dt

After differentiating and collecting terms, we find:

1

T2 = m2 L21 θ̇12 + 2L1 L2 θ̇1 θ̇2 cos (θ1 − θ2 ) + L22 θ̇22 (12.3.4)
2

+x

+y L1
θ1

m1

L2
θ2

m2

Figure 12.7: The double pendulum oscillator is characterized by the two angles (θ1 (t), θ2 (t)).

The total kinetic energy is then:

1 1
T = (m1 + m2 ) L21 θ̇12 + m2 L1 L2 θ̇1 θ̇2 cos (θ1 − θ2 ) + m2 L22 θ̇22 (12.3.5)
2 2
For amplitudes of small oscillations we use the approximation cos (θ1 − θ2 ) ≃ 1, so that:
476 Coupled Oscillations

1 1
(m1 + m2 ) L21 θ̇12 + m2 L1 L2 θ̇1 θ̇2 + m2 L22 θ̇22
T = (12.3.6)
2 2
The total potential energy V is the sum of potential energies for each pendulum:

V = m1 gy1 + m2 gy2 = (m1 + m2 ) gL1 cos θ1 + m2 gL2 cos θ2 (12.3.7)

θ12
For amplitudes of small oscillations, we use the approximation cos θ1 ≃ 1 − 2 and cos θ2 ≃
θ22
1− so that:
2    
θ2 θ2
V = (m1 + m2 ) gL1 1− 1 + m2 gL2 1− 2 (12.3.8)
2 2
Using these small angle approximations, the Lagrangian L = T − V of the system is:
1 1
L= (m1 + m2 ) L21 θ̇12 + m2 L1 L2 θ̇1 θ̇2 + m2 L22 θ̇22
2   2 
θ12 θ22
− (m1 + m2 ) gL1 1 − − m2 gL2 1 − (12.3.9)
2 2

We can now find the Euler-Lagrange equations:

   
d ∂L ∂L d ∂L ∂L
− =0 − =0 (12.3.10)
dt ∂ θ̇1 ∂θ1 dt ∂ θ̇2 ∂θ2
By evaluating the derivatives and simplifying, we obtain:

(m1 + m2 ) L1 θ̈1 + m2 L2 θ̈2 = − (m1 + m2 ) gθ1 (12.3.11)

m2 L1 θ̈1 + m2 L2 θ̈2 = −m2 gθ2 (12.3.12)
If we desire to do so, we can use the commands in Python and Mathematica to carry
out a numerical integration of this system of differential equations, and plot the functions
θ1 (t) and θ2 (t). This is left as a problem at the end of the chapter. Next, we will find
analytical solutions for θ1 (t) and θ2 (t), for the special case of two coupled identical pendula.

12.3.2 IDENTICAL MASSES AND LENGTHS - ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS

We now use a trial solution in the form of exponential functions θ1 (t) = A1 eiωt and θ2 (t) =
A2 eiωt . Substituting and canceling the common exponential term eiωt , we find:

− (m1 + m2 ) L1 A1 ω 2 − m2 L2 A2 ω 2 = − (m1 + m2 ) gA1 (12.3.13)

− m2 L1 A1 ω 2 − m2 L2 A2 ω 2 = −m2 gA2 (12.3.14)

After collecting the terms:


(m1 + m2 ) −L1 ω 2 + g A1 − m2 L2 ω 2 A2 = 0 (12.3.15)

−m2 L1 ω 2 A1 − m2 L2 ω 2 − g A2 = 0 (12.3.16)

This system of linear equations for A1 and A2 will have a nontrivial solution, only if the
determinant is zero:
  
(m1 + m2 ) −L1 ω 2 + g −m 2 L2 ω
2
det =0 (12.3.17)
−m2 L1 ω 2 −m2 L2 ω 2 − g
Double pendulum 477

In principle, we can obtain the solution to this characteristic equation; however, the resulting
algebraic expressions are very complicated. So instead of looking at the completely general
solution, let us look at the special case of equal lengths (L1 = L2 = L), and identical masses
(m1 = m2 = m). In this special case, (12.3.17) becomes:
  
2m −Lω 2 + g −mLω

2
det =0 (12.3.18)
−mLω 2 −m Lω 2 − g
which gives the two possible solutions:
r r
√ g √ g
ω1 = 2+ 2 ω2 = 2− 2 (12.3.19)
L L
As in the case of the two-mass, three-spring oscillators, this completes the first part of the
analysis, where we determined the frequencies ω1 and ω2 of the normal modes. In order
to complete the description of the system, we must also q find the two unknown amplitudes
√

of oscillation A1 and A2 . Substituting the value of ω1 = 2 − 2 g/L into (12.3.15), we
find:
n  √ g o  √ g
2m −L 2 − 2 + g A1 − mL 2 − 2 A2 = 0 (12.3.20)
L L
Simplifying and canceling the common factors:
√

A1 2− 2 1
= √
= −√ (12.3.21)
A2 2 −1 + 2 2
q √
√
The solution for ω1 = 2 − 2 g/L is then A2 = 2A1 , and we can write the first
possible solution corresponding to the first normal mode:
√ √
θ1 (t) = A1 eiω1 t θ2 (t) = 2θ1 (t) = 2A1 eiω1 t (12.3.22)
√ √
Since A2 = 2A1 and θ2 (t) = 2θ1 (t), this type of motion corresponds to both masses
moving in the same direction and in phase at all times, √ as shown in Figure 12.8a. The
amplitude of the second pendulum must be equal to 2 times larger than the amplitude
of the first pendulum. This is the first normal mode or the symmetric mode of oscillation,
and the general motion of the system in this mode can be written as a linear combination
of trigonometric functions:
√
θ2 (t) = 2θ1 (t) cos (ω1 t − ϕ1 ) (12.3.23)
In matrix notation, the first normal mode can be written as:
   
θ1 (t) 1
= D1 √ cos (ω1 t − ϕ1 ) (12.3.24)
θ2 (t) 2
q √

By working in a similar manner with the second frequency ω2 = 2+ 2 g/L, we find:
   
θ1 (t) −1
= D2 √ cos (ω2 t − ϕ1 ) (12.3.25)
θ2 (t) 2
This is the second normal mode or the antisymmetric mode of oscillation, in which both
masses moving in the same direction completely out of phase
√ at all times, as shown in Figure
12.8b. The amplitude of the second pendulum is again 2 times larger than the amplitude
of the first pendulum.
478 Coupled Oscillations

Figure 12.8: Symmetric and antisymmetric normal modes of small angle oscillations for the
double
q pendulum with equal masses and equal lengths. The two natural frequencies are
√
√
ω= 2 ± 2 g/L, and the amplitudes are related by A2 = ± 2A1 .

The above results can be obtained using a CAS, as shown in Example 12.7.

Example 12.7: The natural frequencies and normal modes of the double
pendulum
Find the natural frequencies of the double pendulum with equal masses and equal
lengths.
Solution:
When m1 = m2 = m and L1 = L2 = L, the system of equations (12.3.15) and
(12.3.16) can be written in matrix form as:

   
−2m Lω 2 − g −mLω 2
A1 0
=
−mLω 2 −m Lω 2 − g A2 0

Once more, we accept only the two positive values of the natural frequency ω. The
solutions are r
√ 
ω1 = 2 − 2 g/L

and r
√ 
ω2 = 2+ 2 g/L
Double pendulum 479

Python Code
The code uses the command Matrix is Sympy to define the matrix, and Solve is
used to solve the characteristic equation for the natural frequency ω.
from sympy import Matrix, symbols, solve, det

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

k, m, L, omega, g, A1, A2 = symbols('k, m, L, omega, g, A1, A2')

A = Matrix([[2*m*(-L*omega**2+g),-m*L*omega**2],\
[-m*L*omega**2,-m*(L*omega**2 - g)]])

omega_vals = solve(det(A),omega)

print('Eigenvalues #1 is: ',omega_vals[0])

print('\nEigenvalues #2 is: ',omega_vals[1])
print('\nEigenvalues #3 is: ',omega_vals[2])
print('\nEigenvalues #4 is: ',omega_vals[3])

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Eigenvalues #1 is: -sqrt(-sqrt(2)*g/L + 2*g/L)

Eigenvalues #2 is: sqrt(-sqrt(2)*g/L + 2*g/L)

Eigenvalues #3 is: -sqrt(sqrt(2)*g/L + 2*g/L)

Eigenvalues #4 is: sqrt(sqrt(2)*g/L + 2*g/L)

Mathematica Code
The code uses the commands Det and Solve to find the four roots of the character-
istic equation for the natural frequency ω.
 
∧ ∧
2 ∗ m ∗ (−L ∗ ω 2 + g) −m ∗ L ∗ ω 2
A= ;
−m ∗ L ∗ ω ∧ 2 −m ∗ (L ∗ ω ∧ 2 − g)
      
0
Do Print Solve Det[A] == , ω [[i]] ,
0
{i, 1, 4}]
 q √

ω→− L − L 2g 2g

 q √

ω→ L − L
2g 2g

 q √

ω→− L + L 2g 2g

 q √

ω → 2g L + L
2g
480 Coupled Oscillations

12.3.3 DOUBLE PENDULUM AS AN EIGENVECTOR/EIGENVALUE PROBLEM

We already saw that it is possible to solve the two-mass, three-spring system as an eigen-
value/eigenvector problem. Let’s see how we can do that for the double pendulum problem.
One problem we encounter is that the equations of motion (12.3.11) and (12.3.12) have
terms containing both θ̈1 and θ̈2 . Let us then first isolate the θ̈1 and θ̈2 terms into separate
equations, so that the eigenvalue problem becomes more clear. By subtracting (12.3.11) and
(12.3.12), we obtain the equation for θ̈1 :

m1 L1 θ̈1 = − (m1 + m2 ) gθ1 + m2 gθ2 (12.3.26)

By substituting θ̈1 from this expression in (12.3.11), we obtain the equation for θ̈2 :

m1 L2 θ̈2 = − (m1 + m2 ) gθ1 + (m1 + m2 ) gθ2 (12.3.27)

As previously, we substitute the exponential solutions θ1 (t) = A1 eiωt and θ2 (t) = A2 eiωt
into these two equations to obtain:

(m1 + m2 ) g m2 g
− A1 ω 2 = − A1 + A2 (12.3.28)
m1 L1 m1 L1
(m1 + m2 ) g g (m1 + m2 )
− A2 ω 2 = − A1 − A2 (12.3.29)
m1 L2 m1 L2
In matrix form:
    
(m1 +m2 )g
− mm12Lg1 A1 A1
 m1 L1
 
  = ω2   (12.3.30)
(m1 +m2 )g
m1 L2 − g(m 1 +m2 )
m1 L2
A2 A2

This is once more the standard form of the eigenvalue problem, and we can proceed by
finding the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the 2 × 2 matrix on the left-hand side of this
matrix equation. Finding the natural frequencies and the amplitudes of oscillation A1 and
A2 in Python and Mathematica is left as an exercise, see the End-of-Chapter Problems.

12.4 GENERAL THEORY OF SMALL OSCILLATIONS AND NORMAL CO-

ORDINATES
In this section, we develop the general mathematical formalism for the normal modes of
coupled oscillators. The first subsection shows how the Lagrangian can be reduced into a
quadratic function of the generalized coordinates and generalized velocities of the system.
In the second subsection, the equations of motion are reduced into a matrix equation, and
the solutions of this matrix equation are shown to be closely related to the concepts of
normal modes and normal coordinates.

12.4.1 LAGRANGIAN FOR SMALL OSCILLATIONS AROUND AN EQUILIBRIUM

POSITION
In Section 8.2, we introduced the concept of generalized coordinates (q1 , q2 , . . . , qs ) or qj ,
with j = 1, 2, . . . , s where s represents the number of degrees of freedom in the system.
The generalized coordinates describe any coordinate system that completely specifies the
state of a system. We also introduced the corresponding generalized velocities q̇j , in order
to describe the first derivative of the generalized coordinate with respect to time. These
General theory of small oscillations and normal coordinates 481

generalized quantities were useful in describing the Euler-Lagrange equations of the system
in the compact form:  
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 (12.4.1)
dt ∂ q̇j ∂qj
We also considered a system of N particles, denoted by the index α = 1, 2, . . . , N , and
assumed that the Cartesian coordinates rα , describing the location of the particle with
mass, mα , are given in terms of the generalized coordinates by:

rα = rα (q1 , . . . , qn ) , (12.4.2)

We then showed that the kinetic energy which is written in Cartesian coordinates as
1X
T = mα ṙα · ṙα (12.4.3)
2 α

becomes the following expression in generalized coordinates:

1X
T = ajk q̇j q̇k (12.4.4)
2
j,k

where    
X ∂rα ∂rα
ajk = mα · (12.4.5)
α
∂qj ∂qk
and the coefficients ajk = ajk (q1 , . . . , qs ) depend on the coordinates qj .
Next, we assume that the potential energy of the system depends only on the coordinates
qj :
V = V (q1 , . . . , qs ) (12.4.6)
Under the above assumptions, our Lagrangian has the form:
1X
L=T −V = ajk q̇j q̇k − V (q1 , . . . , qs ) (12.4.7)
2
j,k

Let us now assume that the system performs small oscillations around a point of stable
equilibrium qEQ = (q1 , q2 , . . . , qs )EQ . Without loss of generality, we can redefine our co-
ordinates so that this equilibrium point is the origin of our generalized coordinate system,
i.e. ,qEQ = 0. Next, we expand the potential energy around this point:

X
s
∂V 1 X ∂2V
s
V = V (0) + qi + qj qk + ... (12.4.8)
i=1
∂qi 2 ∂qj ∂qk
j,k=1

where all derivatives are evaluated at the equilibrium point located at the origin of our
coordinate system, qEQ = 0. At the equilibrium points we have ∂V /∂qi = 0, and we can
further simplify this expression by setting V (0) = 0 to obtain:

1 X
s
V = Kjk qj qk (12.4.9)
2
j,k=1

where we defined the constants

∂2V
Kjk = Kkj = (12.4.10)
∂qj ∂qk
482 Coupled Oscillations

We can also Taylor expand the coefficients ajk in (12.4.5) around the equilibrium point,
and keep only the constant term in the expansion, so that the ajk are now constants. By
combining (12.4.4) and (12.4.9), we obtain the following expression for the kinetic energy
T , for the potential energy V and the Lagrangian L:

Generalized Lagrangian for Small Oscillations about Equilibrium

1 X
s
T = ajk q̇j q̇k ajk = constants (12.4.11)
2
j,k=1

1 X
s
V = Kjk qj qk Kjk = constants (12.4.12)
2
j,k=1

1 X 1 X
s s
L=T −V = ajk q̇j q̇k − Kjk qj qk (12.4.13)
2 2
j,k=1 j,k=1

Example 12.8 shows how to calculate the coefficients ajk and Kjk for the double pen-
dulum system we studied in the previous section.

Example 12.8: Finding the generalized Lagrangian for the double-

pendulum
Calculate the coefficients ajk and Kjk for the double pendulum.
Solution:
The kinetic energy of the double pendulum for small oscillations was found in the
previous section to be:
1 1
T = (m1 + m2 ) L21 θ̇12 + m2 L1 L2 θ̇1 θ̇2 + m2 L22 θ̇22
2 2
1 1 1 1
T = (m1 + m2 ) L1 θ̇1 + m2 L1 L2 θ̇1 θ̇2 + m2 L1 L2 θ̇1 θ̇2 + m2 L22 θ̇22
2 2
2 2 2 2
The coefficients ajk are the coefficients appearing in (12.4.4) for the kinetic energy T .
Since our generalized coordinates
are q1 = θ1 and q2 = θ2 , then ajk are the coefficients
of the θ̇12 /2, θ̇22 /2, and θ̇1 θ̇2 /2 terms in this expression for T . Therefore,


a11 = coefficient of θ̇12 /2 = (m1 + m2 ) L21


a12 = a21 = coefficient of θ̇1 θ̇2 /2 = m2 L1 L2


a22 = coefficient of θ̇22 /2 = m2 L22
The potential energy of the double pendulum was found in the previous section to be:
   
θ2 θ2
V = (m1 + m2 ) gL1 1 − 1 + m2 gL2 1 − 2
2 2
The coefficients Kjk are the coefficients appearing in (12.4.9) for the potential energy
V , for the θ12 , θ22 , and θ1 θ2 terms. Therefore,


K11 = coefficient of θ12 = (m1 + m2 )gL1
General theory of small oscillations and normal coordinates 483

K12 = K21 = coefficient of (θ1 θ2 ) = 0

K22 = coefficient of θ22 = m2 gL2
We can then use the constant coefficients ajk and Kjk as two 2 × 2 matrices. The
coefficients ajk are used to create the following matrix M, and the coefficients Kjk are
used to create the matrix K:
   
(m1 + m2 ) L21 m2 L1 L2 (m1 + m2 ) gL1 0
M= K=
m2 L1 L2 m2 L22 0 m2 gL2

As we will see next, the matrix M can be thought of as a generalized “mass matrix”
and the matrix K as a generalized “spring constant” matrix K.

12.4.2 EQUATIONS OF MOTION FOR SMALL OSCILLATIONS AROUND AN

EQUILIBRIUM POINT
We can now proceed to derive the general equations of motion, by evaluating the Euler-
Lagrange expressions for the coordinate qj :

∂L ∂V X s
= = Kjk qk (12.4.14)
∂qj ∂qj
k=1

    !
d ∂L d ∂T d X
s X
n
= = ajk q̇k = ajk q̈k (12.4.15)
dt ∂ q˙j dt ∂ q˙j dt
k=1 k=1

The Euler-Lagrange equations for qj then become:

X
s X
s
ajk q̈k = − Kjk qk (12.4.16)
k=1 k=1

We will have one such equation for each coordinate qj . Finally, we can write the equations
of motion in compact form as a single matrix equation:

General Equations of Motion for Small Oscillations around Equilibrium

Mq̈ = −Kq (12.4.17)

     
a11 a12 ··· a1s q̈1 K11 K12 ··· K1s q1
 a21 a22 ··· a2s  q̈2   K21 K22 ··· K2s  q2 
     
 .. .. .. ..  ..  = − .. .. .. ..  .. 
 . . . .  .   . . . .  . 
as1 as2 ··· ass q̈s Ks1 Ks2 ··· Kss qs
(12.4.18)

with the s × 1 column matrix q denoting the generalized coordinates of the system, M rep-
resenting the symmetric s × s generalized “mass matrix”, and K the symmetric generalized
484 Coupled Oscillations

“spring constant” matrix.

     
q1 a11 ... a1s K11 ... K1s
 ..   .. .. ..   .. .. .. 
q= .  M= . . .  K= . . .  (12.4.19)
qs as1 ... ass Ks1 ... Kss
Since we expect oscillatory motion, we try solutions of the form qj (t) = Aj eiωt where Aj are
the amplitudes of oscillation and ω is the natural frequency of the system. By substituting
into (12.4.17) and canceling the exponential terms as usual, we obtain:

Generalized Equations of Motion for Small Oscillations around

Equilibrium

ω 2 MA = KA (12.4.20)

with the s × 1 column matrix A (whose elements are the Aj from the trial solution qj )
denoting the unknown amplitude matrix.
Equation (12.4.20) is the generalized matrix form of the familiar equation mω 2 = k,
which describes the oscillation frequency ω for a mass m attached to a spring with spring
constant k. This equation can be solved in principle by using any of the Linear Algebra
techniques we saw previously in this book.
Example 12.9 shows one method of solving (12.4.20) for the double pendulum.

Example 12.9: Finding the natural frequencies and normal modes of the
double pendulum, again
Solve (12.4.20) for the double pendulum with equal masses and equal lengths, and
find the natural frequencies and the normal modes.
Solution:
In Example 12.9, we calculated the coefficients ajk and Kjk of the matrices M and K
for the double pendulum. Equation (12.4.20) then becomes:

     
2 (m1 + m2 ) L21 m2 L1 L2 A1 (m1 + m2 ) gL1 0 A1
ω =
m2 L1 L2 m2 L22 A2 0 m2 gL2 A2


By collecting terms, i.e., writing (12.4.20) as ω 2 M − K A = 0, we obtain:

   
(m1 + m2 ) L21 ω 2 − gL1 m2 L1 L2 ω 2
A1 0
=
m2 L1 L2 ω 2 m2 L22 ω 2 − gL2 A2 0
Simplifying and setting L1 = L2 = L and m1 = m2 = m:

   
2mL Lω 2 − g mL2 ω 2
A1 0
=
mL2 ω 2 mL Lω 2 − g A2 0
This, of course, is the same equation we obtained and solved in Example 12.7, and
we can reuse the code for Example 12.7 to find ω and A.

In the next subsection, we proceed to show how the above general matrix formalism of
the equations of motion leads to the concept of normal coordinates.
General theory of small oscillations and normal coordinates 485

12.4.3 NORMAL COORDINATES

Let us consider the general matrix equation (12.4.20), and rewrite it in the form:
 
A1

 A2 
K − ωj2 M Aj = 0 where Aj =   ... 
 (j = 1 . . . s) (12.4.21)
As j

KAj = ωj2 MAj (12.4.22)

where s is equal to the number of degrees of freedom of the coupled oscillator. Equation
(12.4.22) tells us that the column vector Aj can be characterized

as a generalized eigenvector
of the real-valued symmetric square matrix K − ωj2 M .
A general theorem of Linear Algebra for real-valued symmetric square matrices, proves
that these s generalized eigenvectors Aj are linearly independent (s × 1) column vectors,
and that they form a complete set of basis vectors for the space of all (s × 1) column
vectors. Therefore, we can write any solution q of the equations of motion (12.4.17) as a
linear combination of these eigenvectors:

X
s
q= cj (t)Aj (12.4.23)
j=1

where cj (t) are time-dependent coefficients. Our goal is to show that these coefficients cj (t)
oscillate independently of each other, i.e., that each coefficient corresponds to a different
frequency ωj .
Substituting (12.4.23) into (12.4.17) and using (12.4.22), we obtain:

Mq̈ = −Kq (12.4.24)

X X
c̈j (t)MAj = − cj (t)KAj (12.4.25)
X X
c̈j (t)MAj = − cj (t)ωj2 MAj (12.4.26)

Since the vectors are linearly independent, the last equation can hold only if the coeffi-
cients of the vector MAj are equal:

c̈j (t) = −cj (t)ωj2 (12.4.27)

The solutions of these s equations are the sinusoidal functions cj (t) given by:

cj (t) = bj sin (ωj t − ϕj ) (12.4.28)

where ϕj is a phase angle, and bj is the amplitude; both parameters (ϕj , bj ) are determined
by the initial conditions of the system. This equation establishes that each coefficient cj (t)
oscillates with a different frequency ωj . By substituting (12.4.28) into (12.4.23), we obtain
the desired general result:

X
s
q= bj sin (ωj t − ϕj ) Aj (12.4.29)
j=1

In words, this equation tells that any solution q of the equations of motion can be
written as the linear combination of s independent oscillating terms, each of which has its
own characteristic natural frequency ωj . These oscillating terms are known as the normal
486 Coupled Oscillations

coordinates cj (t) of the system. Hence all motions of a linear coupled oscillator can be
expressed as a linear combination of normal coordinates.
The material in this section is a formal way of demonstrating the result of Example 12.4.
In that example we found that the analytical solution for equalmasses and pequal spring

p
constants, could be written as the sum of two terms, cos k/mt and cos 3k/mt . For
p
example, the
p solution x 1 (t) could be written in the form (12.4.29) by writing ω 1 = k/m
and ω2 = 3k/m as the frequencies, ϕ1 = ϕ2 = π/2 as the phases, and
   
a/2 0
A1 = A2 = (12.4.30)
0 −a/2
as the amplitudes.

12.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY

Systems of coupled harmonic oscillators can be analyzed by using either the La-
grangian approach, or alternatively using Newton’s second law. The simplest form of
these systems consists of two masses connected by springs to each other, with the La-
grangian:
1 1 1 1 1
L=T −V = m1 x˙1 2 + m2 x˙2 2 − k1 x21 − k3 x22 − k2 (x1 − x2 )2
2 2 2 2 2
This leads to the system of coupled differential equations:

m1 ẍ1 = −k1 x1 − k2 (x1 − x2 )

m2 ẍ2 = −k2 (x2 − x1 ) − k3 x2

The solution x1 (t) and x2 (t) of such systems are in general complex, and it is not
possible to give a simple physical description of the motion of the masses. However, in
the special case of equal masses and equal spring constants, we obtain the analytical
solution by using the standard matrix techniques of Linear Algebra.
The first possible solution
p for the motion of the two masses corresponds to the
natural frequency ω1 = k/m, and both masses move in the same direction and in
phase at all times. This type of motion is known as the first normal mode or the
symmetric mode of oscillation, and can be written as:
   
x1 (t) 1
= D1 cos (ω1 t − ϕ1 )
x2 (t) 1

The second possible p solution for the motion of the two masses corresponds to the
natural frequency ω2 = 3k/m, and in this type of motion the two masses moves in
opposite directions, while the center of mass remains stationary. This type of motion is
known as the second normal mode or the antisymmetric mode of oscillation, and can
be written as:    
x1 (t) 1
= D2 cos (ω2 t − ϕ2 )
x2 (t) −1
In general, the motion of the system will be a linearp
combination of the
p two possible
normal modes, corresponding to the frequencies ω1 = k/m and ω2 = 3k/m.
End−of−chapter problems 487

This system can also be reduced into an eigenvalue problem, by substituting a trial
solution of the form x1 (t) = A1 eiωt and x2 (t) = A2 eiωt in the system of coupled
equations.
In a second well-known example of coupled harmonic oscillators, we examined the
double pendulum, which also has two normal modes. q The frequencies of the
q symmetric
√
g √

and antisymmetric modes of oscillation are ω1 = 2 − 2 L and ω2 = 2 + 2 Lg .
In this chapter we also looked at the general mathematical formalism for the normal
modes of coupled oscillators. Here we use generalized coordinates qj (j = 1, 2, . . . , s)
and the corresponding generalized velocities q̇j , where s is the number of degrees of
freedom of the system.
The Lagrangian for small oscillations around an equilibrium position can be reduced
into a quadratic function of the generalized coordinates and generalized velocities of the
system in the form:

1X 1 X
n
L=T −V = ajk q̇j q̇k − Kjk qj qk
2 2
j,k j,k=1

where ajk and Kjk are constants.

For such a system, the Euler-Lagrange equations become:

X
n X
n
ajk q̈k = − Kjk qk
k=1 k=1

This system of coupled differential equations can be solved using standard techniques
of Linear Algebra.
Any solution q = qj (j = 1, 2, . . . , s) of these equations of motion can be written
as the linear combination of s independent oscillating terms, each of which has its own
characteristic natural frequency ωj :

X
s
q= bj sin (ωj t − ϕj ) Aj
j=1

These oscillating terms are known as the normal coordinates of the system.

12.6 END−OF−CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Sections 12.1-12.2: Coupled Oscillations of Spring-Mass Systems -Normal Mode
Analysis
1. Two masses m1 and m2 are connected to each other with a spring of spring constant k,
and they are placed on
pa horizontal frictionless table. Show that the natural frequency
of the system is ω = k/µ, where µ = m1 m2 /(m1 + m2 ) is the reduced mass of the
system.

2. Consider the two-mass, three-spring system studied in this chapter, with different
masses m1 , m2 and identical spring constants k1 = k2 = k3 .
488 Coupled Oscillations

a. Transform the Lagrangian by introducing two new variables q1 = x1 + x2 and

q2 = x1 − x2 . Obtain new equations of motion by using the Euler-Lagrange
equations for this transformed Lagrangian.
b. Solve the new equations and obtain q1 (t) and q2 (t), and the natural frequencies
of the system. This is an example where by using a new set of coordinates, we
can uncouple the differential equations of motion. These new coordinates q1 (t),
q2 (t) represent the normal coordinates of the system.
3. In the two-mass, three-spring system studied in this chapter, obtain the analytical
solution x1 (t) and x2 (t), by using the following initial conditions: the first mass is
at rest in the equilibrium position, and the second mass is moved a distance a from
equilibrium, and released from rest.
4. Obtain an approximate analytical solution for the case of two weakly coupled oscilla-
tors described in Example 12.4. This system is weakly coupled if the spring constant
k2 of the middle spring is much smaller than the spring constants of the two end
springs (k2 << k1 = k3 ). Use m1 = m2 and the following initial conditions: the first
mass is at rest in the equilibrium position, and the second mass is moved a distance
a from equilibrium, and released from rest. Find the frequency ω at which energy is
transferred back and forth between the two coupled oscillators.

5. Consider two equal masses m attached to one wall and to each other with springs
of spring constant k,√ as shown
p in Figure 12.9. Show that the natural frequencies of
5±1
the system are ω = 2 k/m.

Figure 12.9: Two equal masses attached to each other and to a wall by springs, Problem
12.5.

6. Consider the three different situations shown in Figure 12.10, where three identical
masses m are attached to springs with the same spring constant k . Write the equations
of motion for these three cases.

Figure 12.10: Three identical masses connected by identical springs, Problem 12.6.
End−of−chapter problems 489

7. Three equal masses m are connected to each other with identical springs of constant
k, as shown in Figure 12.11. Find and describe the normal modes of oscillation (assume
no friction), by using a CAS.

Figure 12.11: Three identical masses connected by two identical springs, Problem 12.7.

8. Three equal masses m are connected with springs of the same spring constant
k. The masses are connected to each other and to two end walls, as shown in Figure
12.12. Calculate the frequencies of the normal-modes of oscillations of this system and
describe the corresponding motion of the three masses in each normal mode.

Figure 12.12: Three identical masses connected to four identical springs, Problem 12.8.

9. Find the effective spring constants and natural frequencies for each of the oscillat-
ing systems shown in Figure 12.13 below. In Figure 12.13a, two springs with spring
constants k1 and k2 are attached in parallel to a mass m and to one wall. In Figure
12.13b, two springs with spring constants k1 and k2 attached in series to a mass m
and to one wall.

(a) (b)

Figure 12.13: A mass connected to a support by two springs, Problem 12.9.

10. Two identical masses are connected with identical springs with spring constant, k,
and are restricted to move on a circle as shown in Figure 12.14. Find expressions for
the natural frequencies and describe the motion of the system.
490 Coupled Oscillations

Figure 12.14: Two masses connected along a circle, Problem 12.10.

11. Repeat Problem 10, with three identical masses connected with identical springs
with spring constant k. The equilibrium position is when the masses are equally
spaced.

12. Four identical masses are connected by four identical springs, and are constrained
to move on a frictionless circle of radius R. The equilibrium position is when the
masses are equally spaced. How many normal modes of small oscillations are there
and what are the frequencies of small oscillations?

13. Three bodies of equal mass m are connected with springs of constant, k, and are
placed in an equilateral shape as shown in Figure 12.15. The masses are constrained to
move on the xy-plane. Construct the Lagrangian of this system and find the natural
frequencies.

Figure 12.15: Three masses connected in a triangle, Problem 12.13.

14. A simple classical model of the CO2 molecule would be a linear structure of
three masses, with the electrical forces between the ions represented by two identical
springs of equilibrium length L and force constant k. Assume that only motion along
the original equilibrium line is possible, i.e., ignore rotations. Let m be the mass of
each oxygen and M be the mass of the carbon atom located between the oxygen
atoms.
a. How many vibrational degrees of freedom does this system have?
b. Find the normal modes and calculate the natural frequencies.
End−of−chapter problems 491

15. Two equal masses m are suspended from a ceiling by springs with constants k, as
shown in Figure 12.16.
a. Find the equations of motion of the two masses by using a coordinate system
(y1 , y2 ) as measured from the ceiling.

b. Transform these equations of motion by making a substitution y1 = x1 + u1 and

y2 = x2 + u2 , where u1 and u2 are the equilibrium positions of the two masses.
Solve the new system of equations and describe the normal modes of oscillations
of this system in the vertical direction.

Figure 12.16: Two masses hanging by springs from a vertical support, Problem 12.15.

Section 12.3: The Double Pendulum

16. A double pendulum consists of two equal masses m, and the upper and lower strings
have lengths L1 = 3L and L2 = 4L, respectively. Find the normal modes for small
oscillations of this system.

17. Two unequal masses m and M (with M > m) hang from a support by strings
of equal lengths l, with the respective angles with the vertical θ1 , θ2 . The masses
are coupled by a spring of spring constant K and of unstretched length equal to the
distance L between the support points, as shown in Figure 12.17. Assume that the
distance between the supports L << l. Find the normal mode frequencies for the
small oscillations along the line between the two masses, and describe the motion of
the two masses in each mode. Write down the most general solution.
492 Coupled Oscillations

Figure 12.17: Two unequal mass pendula masses m, M connected by a spring, Problem
12.17.

Section 12.4: General Theory of Small Oscillations and Normal Coordinates

18. A mass M moves along the x-axis on a frictionless surface as shown in Figure 12.18.
The mass m is connected to M by a massless string.
a. Write a Lagrangian for this system for a small angle approximation.
b. Find x(t) and θ(t).
c. Find the frequency of small oscillations.

Figure 12.18: Pendulum attached to a sliding mass, Problem 12.18.

19. A mass M moves along the x-axis on a frictionless surface, and is attached to a
wall with a spring with spring constant k as shown in Figure 12.19. The mass m is
connected to M by a massless string.

a. Write a Lagrangian for this system for a small angle approximation.

b. Find the frequencies of small oscillations.
End−of−chapter problems 493

Figure 12.19: Pendulum attached to an oscillating support, Problem 12.19.

20. A thin uniform bar of mass m and length 3L/2 is suspended by a string of length
L and negligible mass as shown in Figure 12.20. Find the normal frequencies for small
oscillations in the xy-plane.

Figure 12.20: A thin uniform bar suspended by a string, Problem 12.20.

21. A mass m moves in a gravitational field g pointing in the z-direction, and on the inside
wall of a frictionless axially symmetric vessel given by z = b(x2 + y 2 )/2 , where a is a
constant and z is in the vertical direction, as shown in Figure 12.21. The particle is
moving in a circular orbit at height z = z0 .
a. Obtain the angular frequency of the circular motion in terms of m, z0 , b, and g.
b. Find the total energy and angular momentum in terms of m, z0 , b, and g.
c. The particle is pushed slightly downwards in the horizontal circular orbit. Obtain
the frequency of oscillation about the unperturbed orbit, in the case of small
oscillations around the stable circular motion.
494 Coupled Oscillations

Figure 12.21: An axially symmetric vessel given by z = b(x2 + y 2 )/2, Problem 12.21.

22. A particle of mass m is constrained to move on the parabola z = x2 /a in the xz-plane,

where a is a constant length, and there is a constant gravitational force acting in the
negative z direction.
a. Define a suitable generalized coordinate system, and write the Lagrangian in
terms of these generalized coordinates.
b. Where is the equilibrium position for the particle?
c. Write and solve the equation for small oscillations about this equilibrium point.
23. A hemisphere with a non-uniform density is placed on a table as shown in Figure
12.22. The radius of the hemisphere is R, and the center of mass is located a distance
a above the table.
a. Find the potential energy when the hemisphere is slightly misplaced by an angle
θ from equilibrium. Under what conditions will the object perform oscillations
around a stable equilibrium point?

b. Find the frequency of small oscillations around this stable equilibrium point,
when the moment of inertia of the object around the center of mass is ICM .
Assume that the object is only allowed to roll around the pivot contact point.

Figure 12.22: A hemisphere placed on a table, Problem 12.23.

End−of−chapter problems 495

24. A uniform sphere of radius a rests in equilibrium inside a uniform hemispherical shell
of radius R, as shown in Figure 12.23.
a. Find the relationship between a and R in order to have a stable equilibrium
situation for small oscillations.
b. Find the natural frequency for small oscillations of the system.

Figure 12.23: A uniform sphere resting inside a hemispherical shell, Problem 12.24.
 13 Nonlinear Systems
Nonlinear systems are everywhere! In physics, one of the most common examples of a non-
linear system is an oscillator undergoing large amplitude oscillations. However, nonlinear
systems occur in other sciences as well. Examples of nonlinear systems in other fields in-
clude predator-prey models, population dynamics, disease propagation, arms-race models,
economic models, and the list goes on. In fact, nonlinear systems are the norm, and linear
systems are often approximations. While the diversity and difficulty of nonlinear systems
may be concerning, there are some basic methods of analysis which are applicable to most
of the nonlinear systems you would encounter. In this chapter, we will learn some of those
methods. Along the way, we will discover some interesting new behaviors that only nonlin-
ear systems can exhibit, such as bifurcations and chaos. At the end of the chapter, you will
have an opportunity to apply what you have learned, by analyzing systems from a variety
of natural and social sciences.

13.1 LINEAR VS. NONLINEAR SYSTEMS

So far, most of the systems studied in this book have been linear. In other words, the equa-
tions that describe the motion of an object have a linear dependence on the coordinate x(t)
and its derivatives. For example, we generally have not seen terms such as ẋx, x2 , or sin(x)
in the equations of motion we have studied. Of course, there are exceptions, the quadratic
drag force and the simple plane pendulum contained a nonlinear term in their equations
of motion. In the case of quadratic drag force, we could solve the equations of motion in
closed form. In the case of the simple plane pendulum, we needed to perform a small angle
approximation in order to solve the equation of motion. However, it is often the case that
we cannot find closed-form solutions to equations of motion with nonlinear terms. Small-
quantity approximations, such as the small angle approximation, are not always appropriate
for an analysis.
Consider a system that is described by a coordinate x(t). Systems whose behavior are de-
termined by differential equations with only a linear dependence on the dependent variable
x and its derivatives are called linear systems. If nonlinear terms in x(t) and its derivatives
are present in the system’s equation of motion, then the system is called a nonlinear sys-
tem. Note this classification does not include the independent variable t. For example, the
equation ẍ + ω02 x = t2 is still considered linear, because all of the terms are linear in the
dependent variable x and its derivatives. While the difference between linear and nonlinear
systems may seem minor, nonlinearity has serious mathematical consequences.
One of the first consequences of nonlinearity is that the principle of linear superposition
no longer holds. Consider the equation of motion for a simple harmonic oscillator, ẍ+ω02 x =
0, studied in Chapter 6. Suppose we find two solutions for this equation, x1 (t) and x2 (t).
Then, according to the principle of linear superposition, the general solution to the harmonic
oscillator equation is: c1 x1 (t) + c2 x2 (t), where c1 and c2 are constants as demonstrated by
(13.1.1).

ẍ1 + ω02 x = (c1 ẍ1 + c2 ẍ2 ) + ω02 (c1 x1 + c2 x2 )

= c1 ẍ1 + ω02 x1 + c2 ẍ2 + ω02 x2
(13.1.1)
= c1 (0) + c2 (0)
=0

497
498 Nonlinear Systems

Now, let us change the differential equation to the form: ẍ + x2 = 0. Suppose we find
two solutions to this equation, x1 and x2 . Is it true that c1 x1 (t) + c2 x2 (t) is still a solution?
We insert the superposition into the nonlinear differential equation:
2
ẍ + x2 = (c1 x¨1 + c2 ẍ2 ) + (c1 x1 + c2 x2 )



= c1 x¨1 + x21 + c2 ẍ2 + x22 + 2c1 c2 x1 x2 (13.1.2)
= 2c1 c2 x1 x2
Notice that now, we do not get zero. The result is that unlike linear systems, nonlinear
systems cannot be broken into parts, solved individually, and then have those solutions
combined for a solution to the whole system. Recall the topic of the driven damped harmonic
oscillator. If there are multiple sinusoidal drive terms on the right-hand side of the equation,
we could solve the differential equation for one right-hand term at a time, then add the
individual solutions to get a particular solution. That cannot be done for nonlinear systems.
This makes nonlinear systems more difficult to solve in closed-form. In fact, closed-form
solutions for nonlinear differential equations often cannot be found.
Many systems from the physical, biological, and social sciences are nonlinear, and linear
descriptions of behavior are often approximations. For example, Hooke’s Law, F (x) = −kx,
holds for an oscillator undergoing small amplitude oscillations. Once the amplitude of the
oscillations is large enough, then the restoring force is no longer linear, and nonlinear terms
need to be included in order for the equation of motion to accurately describe the oscillation.
One of the results is that the period of oscillation is no longer independent of the amplitude
of oscillation.
As we will see, nonlinear systems can display a much more diverse set of behaviors than
linear systems. The limited types of behavior and mathematical simplicity makes linear
systems easier to solve, and allows us to predict future states of the system with a high
degree of accuracy. Nonlinear systems, however, are often not exactly solvable and display
complex behaviors such as bifurcations and chaos, which can make long-term predictions of
behavior impossible.
Linear approximations can shed some light on the solution of a nonlinear system. These
linear approximations, often done using Taylor expansion, will allow us to use some of the
tools for linear differential equations in order to provide some understanding of the nonlinear
system.
One of the powerful tools we have for analyzing nonlinear systems is the phase space plot
mentioned in Chapter 6. Phase space plots will provide graphical methods of understanding
the long-term behavior of a nonlinear system. Recall, that for the damped driven harmonic
oscillator, we were mostly interested in the steady-state solution and less interested in the
transient behavior. The same will generally be true for nonlinear systems, and phase space
plots will allow us to identify the nature of the steady-state solution.
Nonlinear systems appear in many fields besides physics. The mathematical techniques
we will learn in this chapter are applicable to systems from a wide range of natural and
social sciences. Some of the most exciting developments in science are the applications of
“traditional physics techniques” to problems in the biological and social sciences.

13.2 DAMPED HARMONIC OSCILLATOR, REVISITED

In this section, we return to the damped harmonic oscillator, a linear system, to expand
upon the concept of phase space diagrams. Recall that in a phase space diagram, we plot
velocity vs. position. The behavior of the damped harmonic oscillator is modeled by the
equation
Damped harmonic oscillator, revisited 499

γ = 0.1 γ=0
1.00
1.0
0.75

0.50
0.5
velocity 0.25

velocity
0.00 0.0

−0.25
−0.5
−0.50

−0.75
−1.0
−1.00
−1.0 −0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 −1 0 1
position position

Figure 13.1: The phase space plot for (13.2.1) with γ = 0.1 (left) and γ = 0 (right).

ẍ + 2γ ẋ + ω02 x = 0 (13.2.1)
where x is the displacement of the mass m from the spring’s equilibrium, γ is the damping
parameter, and ω02 = k/m depends on the spring constant k.
The phase portrait of (13.2.1) is shown in Figure 13.1 where m = 1, ω0 = 1, and
x(0) = 1, ẋ(0) = 0. For the undamped case, γ = 0 and for the damped case γ = 0.1.
Pretend, for a moment, that we did not know how to solve this problem in closed form,
but instead all we had were the phase space plots that were generated numerically; this is
often true for nonlinear systems. What can we learn from Figure 13.1 about the behavior
of (13.2.1)?
Let us first consider the left graph in Figure 13.1, where γ = 0.1 and, hence, there is
a small amount of damping in the system. To help visualize the behavior of the system,
we will continue to think of (13.2.1) as describing a mass on a spring with damping. The
path in phase space, called the phase space trajectory, or simply trajectory, represents the
solution to (13.2.1).
To understand the behavior of the system, follow the trajectory in phase space! As we
follow the trajectory from its starting point, we see that the position decreases towards zero,
while the velocity becomes more negative. Thinking of a mass on a spring, the trajectory
represents a mass starting at rest at a position of 1.0 m to the right of equilibrium (x = 0),
and when released, it moves to the left towards equilibrium, gaining speed. The mass reaches
equilibrium where it has its maximum (negative) speed, overshoots equilibrium, and begins
to slow down (velocity becomes less negative). The mass continues moving to the left to a
distance of about 0.6 meters left of equilibrium and, at that point, the velocity is zero. The
mass, however, has reached a turning point and moves to the right (positive velocity) gaining
speed as it approaches equilibrium again. The mass reaches its highest speed at equilibrium
and begins to slow down. However, notice that the mass does not return to its initial
position, instead ending up at a distance of about 0.5 m to the right of equilibrium before
turning around. This decaying oscillation continues until the mass is at rest at equilibrium
(trajectory ends at the origin).
We can use Figure 13.1 to answer our question about the steady-state of the system
(the mass is at rest at the equilibrium position), and we could even discuss the transient
behavior, all without having a closed-form solution! The final point, in this case the origin,
500 Nonlinear Systems

is a point where both ẋ = 0 and v̇ = 0. Points in phase space that satisfy the conditions,
ẋ = 0 and v̇ = 0, are called fixed points of the system. Fixed points correspond to equilibrium
points of the system and take on different forms. In the case of γ = 0.1, the fixed point is
called a stable spiral, and it represents a decaying oscillation onto the equilibrium position.
We can get the same qualitative information about the system’s behavior in the case of
γ = 0, which corresponds to the right graph in Figure 13.1. Again, starting with an initial
condition of (x = 1, v = 0), and continuing with the mass-spring analogy, we can follow
the trajectory counterclockwise to see that the mass moves towards equilibrium with an
increasing speed (to the left), overshoots equilibrium, slows down and stops a distance of
1.0 m to the left of equilibrium. At that point, the mass begins moving to the right with
increasing speed until it overshoots equilibrium and returns to its starting position. The
closed curve trajectory represents an oscillation, the system returning to its initial state.
The origin is still an equilibrium position and is still a fixed point, but the mass does not
come to rest there. In this case, the fixed point at the origin is referred to as a center (as
in center of oscillation).
As we can see, it is possible to get a lot of valuable information from phase space plots.
We can ask further questions. For example, do all initial conditions have trajectories that
spiral into the origin when γ = 0.1? The answer, of course, is yes because damping removes
energy from the system and causes it to come to rest at equilibrium. However, we could find
this out by selecting several initial conditions and numerically solving (13.2.1). We would
find that all points have trajectories that spiral into the origin, and therefore the origin is
a global attractor, a fixed point which “attracts” trajectories starting from all points in the
phase space. Likewise, we could repeat the exercise for γ = 0 and find that the resulting
phase space graph consists of nested closed trajectories. In this case, the origin neither
attracts nor repels trajectories and is considered to be neutrally stable. Hence, we could
answer the question about the behavior of the system for any initial condition, even without
solving the system in closed form.
In the above example, we saw two types of fixed points, the stable spiral and a center,
representing a stable and neutral equilibrium, respectively. There are other types of fixed
points which repel trajectories, corresponding to unstable equilibrium, as well as fixed points
that both attract and repel trajectories (also corresponding to unstable equilibrium). In
the next section, we will discuss fixed points more generally. We will look into how to
find them and how to classify the stability of their equilibrium states. The next section is
mathematical in nature and a bit abstract, but we will follow with two examples which will
help demonstrate the key ideas of the section.

13.3 FIXED POINTS AND PHASE PORTRAITS

Although Newton’s second law motivates us to study second-order ordinary differential
equations in classical mechanics, we know that we can rewrite them as a pair of coupled
first-order equations. Hence, for this section, we will consider pairs of first-order equations
of the form:

Generic First-Order Equations of Motion

)
ẋ =f (x, y)
(13.3.1)
ẏ =g(x, y)
Fixed points and phase portraits 501

where f (x, y) and g(x, y) are functions of the variables x and y. For example, x and y could
represent position and velocity for a physical system, or they could represent the numbers
of rabbits and foxes in a predator-prey model. We can recast (13.2.1) into a form similar to
(13.3.1) by choosing y = v and (13.2.1) becomes,
)
ẋ =y
(13.3.2)
ẏ = − 2γy − x
where f (x, y) = y and g(x, y) = −2γy − x. Equations (13.3.1) are sometimes referred
to as a two-dimensional system of equations because it depends on two variables, x and
y. In addition, (13.3.1) is called the equations of motion for our system. Recall that the
term, equations of motion, for a physical system describes the actual motion of a particle.
However, it is common to refer to (13.3.1) as equations of motion even if we are using them
to describe the populations of animals, or any other type of system that is not necessarily
moving (but is changing). The equations of motion describe the behavior of a given system
regardless of the nature of the system.
While nonlinear systems are diverse and often difficult to analyze, there are some general
strategies on how to approach such systems. For example, a general approach that we like
to recommend to our students is the following:

The General Approach to Analyzing Nonlinear Systems

1. Find the fixed points (equilibrium points) of the system, points (x∗ , y ∗ ) such that
f (x∗ , y ∗ ) = 0 and g (x∗ , y ∗ ) = 0.

2. Identify the stability of the fixed points.

3. Using initial conditions near the fixed points, plot the phase portrait, y vs. x,
which contains a representative selection of trajectories.
4. Identify other nonlinear structures in the phase portrait such as limit cycles and
strange attractors (see below).
5. Identify bifurcations (see below).

In this section, we will focus on the first two steps, and then, in later sections, we will
demonstrate the final two steps by example.
To find the fixed points, (x∗ , y ∗ ) for the system (13.3.1), we simply solve the equations:
)
f (x∗ , y ∗ ) =0
(13.3.3)
g (x∗ , y ∗ ) =0

for (x∗ , y ∗ ). In our damped harmonic oscillator example, there is one fixed point
(x∗ = 0, y ∗ = 0), found by solving f (x∗ , y ∗ ) = y ∗ = 0 and g (x∗ , y ∗ ) = −2γy ∗ − x∗ = 0.
Systems may have multiple fixed points. Solving for fixed points can be done either by hand,
or by using a computer algebra system.
Once we have found the fixed points, we need to find the stability of those fixed points.
In other words, are the equilibrium states stable, unstable, or neutrally stable? To find the
stability, we must know how the system behaves near each equilibrium state, i.e., we need
to find the mathematical form of the equations of motion near the equilibrium point.
502 Nonlinear Systems

Taylor series expansions provide a polynomial approximation of equations near a partic-

ular point. Hence, by Taylor expanding f and g, we can get a simple mathematical form for
the equations of motion near the equilibrium states. The Taylor-expanded f and g will result
in simple linear differential equations that can be solved in closed-form. The closed-form
solutions will tell us the stability of the system near the equilibrium point. In summary, in
order to get the stability of the fixed point, Taylor expand the equations of motion about
the fixed point and solve the resulting differential equations.
To perform the Taylor series expansion, we perturb the system about the fixed point.
The perturbation is done via a change of coordinates: x = x∗ + u and y = y ∗ + v, where u
and v are small compared to x∗ and y ∗ , respectively. Note that v is not being used to denote
velocity. Furthermore, the origin of our new coordinates, (u, v), is the fixed point (x∗ , y ∗ ).
Next, we substitute x = x∗ + u and y = y ∗ + v into the equations of motion (13.3.1) and
Taylor expand about the point (x∗ , y ∗ ). Note that ẋ = u̇ because x∗ is constant, similarly
for ẏ.
After substitution, the Taylor expansion of f in (13.3.1) becomes:

u̇ =f (x∗ + u, y ∗ + v) (13.3.4)
∂f ∂f

=f (x∗ , y ∗ ) + u +v +O u2 , v 2 (13.3.5)
∂x (x∗ ,y∗) ∂y (x∗ ,y∗)
∂f ∂f
=u +v (13.3.6)
∂x (x∗ ,y∗) ∂y (x∗ ,y∗)

Notice that some terms appear to be lost from (13.3.5)
to (13.3.6). The term f (x∗ , y ∗ ) =
0 by the definition of fixed points, while the term O u2 , v 2 contains second-order and higher
terms. Recall that u and v are small, so u2 and v 2 are very small and negligible for the
dynamics. While there are cases where those nonlinear terms need to be retained, we will
focus this text on systems for which those terms can be neglected. The same procedure can
be repeated for g(x, y):
∂g ∂g
v̇ = u +v (13.3.7)
∂x (x∗ ,y∗) ∂y (x∗ ,y∗)
The equations for u̇ and v̇ tell us how the perturbations from the fixed point (x∗ , y ∗ )
evolve in time. By Taylor expanding (13.3.1) about the fixed point, we obtain a system of
equations that is linear in u and v. The above process is sometimes called the linearization
of the equations of motion. We can solve these linearized equations in closed form and get
an understanding of how the trajectories behave near the fixed point. In other words, we
will be able to find the stability of the equilibrium point. It is helpful to cast the linearized
equations into matrix form:

Linearized Equations of Motion

   ∂f ∂f  
u̇ u
= 
∂x ∂y
    (13.3.8)
∂g ∂g
v̇ ∂x ∂y
v

where we have removed the notation for the evaluation of each partial derivative for sim-
plicity in notation.
Fixed points and phase portraits 503

The 2 × 2 matrix in (13.3.8) is called the Jacobian matrix A and, for simplicity, we can
recast (13.3.8) in the form,
u̇ = Au (13.3.9)
where u = (u, v). Equation (13.3.9) represents a system of first-order differential equations
which can be solved with the solution u = weλt , where w is a constant vector. Inserting
our trial solution into (13.3.9) yields,

λw =Aw (13.3.10)

which is the eigenvector equation for the matrix A. Hence, in our trial solution, u = weλt , λ
is the eigenvalue of A associated with the eigenvector, w. We have previously studied eigen-
values and eigenvectors in Chapters 11 and 12. Here we will study them from a geometric
perspective.
Returning to our analysis, we can rewrite (13.3.10) in the form,

(A − λ1) w = 0 (13.3.11)

where 1 is the 2 × 2 identity matrix (with 1’s on the diagonal and 0’s otherwise) and 0 is
the zero vector. Linear algebra tells us that if the matrix, A − λ1, is invertible, then the
solution to (13.3.11) is w = 0, which is the trivial solution. For a nontrivial solution, we
need the matrix A − λ1 to be singular (i.e., not invertible). Linear algebra also tells us that
a matrix is singular if its determinant is zero. Hence, in order to get a nontrivial solution,
det (A − λ1) = 0 must be true. The condition det (A − λ1) = 0 produces a polynomial in
λ, called the characteristic polynomial, which can be solved to obtain the eigenvalues of A.
Because the matrix A is a 2 × 2 matrix, it will produce two eigenvalues and each eigenvalue
can be plugged into (13.3.11) to get its associated eigenvector. Using the principle of linear
superposition, the solution to (13.3.9) is therefore,

u = c1 w1 eλ1 t + c2 w2 eλ2 t (13.3.12)

where λi is the eigenvalue of A associated with the eigenvector wi , and ci are constants
determined by initial conditions.
Before moving on with examples, it is important to pause and try to understand the
implications of (13.3.10) and (13.3.12). These next three paragraphs are abstract, but worth
the effort needed in understanding them. When a vector is multiplied by a matrix, the result
is a vector. Consider the matrix equation, Mv1 = v2 where M is a N ×N matrix and v1 and
v2 are N -dimensional vectors (N × 1 matrices). We can think of the equation Mv1 = v2 as
saying that when multiplied by the matrix M, the vector v1 is transformed into the vector
v2 . The new vector, v2 , may have a different magnitude and direction compared to v1 .
The point here is that matrices change vectors. Now, let us look at (13.3.10). Notice that
in (13.3.10), the vector w, when multiplied by the matrix A, essentially does not change
direction. The length of w is changed by a factor of λ, but the new vector λw still lies along
the same line as w (if λ < 0, the new vector λw now points in the opposite direction of
w). This makes eigenvectors special, they essentially define directions that are unchanged
by the transformation A.
Why do we care about how matrices change vectors? Recall that the proposed solution
to (13.3.9) is u = weλt , and u is a location in the phase space near the fixed point. The
magnitude of u grows or decays exponentially in time depending on the sign of λ. The
geometric interpretation of eigenvalues and eigenvectors tells us that a solution that starts
near the fixed point along the direction of w will either move towards the fixed point along
the direction of w if λ <0, or away from the fixed point along the direction of w if λ > 0.
At the end of this section, we will briefly address the case of λ = 0.
504 Nonlinear Systems

The sign of the eigenvalue λ gives the stability of the fixed point along the direction of
w. Because we are working with problems in two dimensions, (13.3.12) tells us that there
are two directions of stability for the fixed point. One direction is along w1 and the other
is along w2 , these directions are eigenvectors of A. Each direction has its own stability
determined by λ1 and λ2 , respectively. Hence, if λ1 < 0 and λ2 > 0, then a point u starting
near the fixed point will initially move towards the fixed point along the direction of w1
but, as time progresses, it will eventually start to move away from the fixed point along
the direction of w2 . The fixed point in this case represents an unstable equilibrium since
perturbations from the equilibrium (the fixed point) grow exponentially as t → ∞.
In the next two examples, we will demonstrate the procedure of finding and classify-
ing fixed points using the outline developed above. Example 13.1 examines the damped
harmonic motion and demonstrates how to find and classify fixed points analytically.

Example 13.1: The damped harmonic oscillator, revisited, again

Consider the equations of motion for the damped harmonic oscillator with m = 1:

ẋ =y
ẏ = − 2γy − ω02 x
Find the Jacobian matrix and compute its eigenvalues and its eigenvectors.
Solution:
We have already noted that f = y and g = −2γy − ω02 x and that the fixed point is
located at the origin. We can use (13.3.8) to get the Jacobian,
   
∂f ∂f
0 1
 ∂x ∂y

A=  = 
∂g
∂x
∂g
∂y (0,0) −ω0 −2γ
2

Next, we begin the process of computing the eigenvalues,

   
0 1 1 0 −λ 1
det(A − λ1) = det −λ = =0
−ω02 −2γ 0 1 −ω02 −2γ − λ
Computing the determinant gives:

−λ(−2γ − λ) + ω02 = λ2 + 2γλ + ω02 = 0

which is solved for λ:
q
λ = −γ ± γ 2 − ω02
Does this look familiar?pIt should! Next, we will use (13.3.11) to find the eigenvector
associated with λ = −γ + γ 2 − ω02 , (we will let the reader do the other one):
   q      
0 1 1 0 w1 0
(A − λ1) w = − −γ + γ − ω02 2 · =
−ω02 −2γ 0 1 w2 0

which simplifies to:

 p     
γ − γ 2 − ω02 p1 w1 0
· =
−ω02 −γ − γ 2 − ω02 w2 0
or
Fixed points and phase portraits 505

 q 
γ − γ 2 − ω02 w1 + w2 =0
 q 
−ω02 w1 + −γ − γ 2 − ω02 w2 =0

resulting in   !
  p
w1 − ω12 γ + γ 2 − ω02
= 0
w2 1
What does all of this say about the stability of the equilibrium at the origin? We
will return to that later in this section. For now, this example is intended to simply
demonstrate the procedure outlined so far in this section.

Example 13.2 demonstrates how to use Python and Mathematica to find and classify
fixed points. The system in Example 13.2 does not describe a particular physical system.
However, it is a simple system of equations that allows for a direct demonstration of the
procedure and is more easily extended to a discussion of stability than Example 13.1.

Example 13.2: A system of two first-order ordinary differential equations

Consider the following system of ordinary differential equations:

ẋ =y(x + 1)
ẏ =x(y + 1)
Using Mathematica and Python, find the fixed points and solve the corresponding
linearized system of equations.
Solution:
The code appears below. We find there are two fixed points, the origin and the point
(−1, −1). After normalizing the eigenvectors, the solution near the origin is
   √   √ 
u 1/√2 −1/√ 2
= c1 t
e + c2 e−t
v 1/ 2 1/ 2
where c1 and c2 are constants that cannot be found without initial conditions for our
linearized system. We will leave it to the reader to normalize the solution near the point
(−1, −1).

Python Code
After defining f and g, we solved for the fixed points. Note that Python put the
origin as the last fixed point. We then used Matrix to create the Jacobian matrix A and
found its eigenvalues and eigenvectors. We used list comprehensions in eigenvects1
and eigenvects2 so that the print command would print the eigenvectors as lists.
506 Nonlinear Systems

from sympy import symbols, diff, solve, Matrix

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

x, y = symbols('x,y')

f = y*(x + 1)
g = x*(y + 1)

#find the fixed points

fps = solve([f,g],[x,y])

fps1 = fps[1] #identify the first fixed point as origin

fps2 = fps[0]

print('The fixed points are, ', fps)

#compute the Jacobian matrix

A = Matrix([[diff(f,x), diff(f,y)],\
[diff(g,x),diff(g,y)]])

A_fps1 = ([Link]([(x,fps1[0]),(y,fps1[1])]))
A_fps2 = ([Link]([(x,fps2[0]),(y,fps2[1])]))

eigenvals1 = list(A_fps1.eigenvals().keys())
eigenvals2 = list(A_fps2.eigenvals().keys())

eigenvects1 = [list(ev[2][0]) for ev in A_fps1.eigenvects()]

eigenvects2 = [list(ev) for ev in A_fps2.eigenvects()[0][2]]

print('The eigenvalues for the origin are:', eigenvals1)

print('The eigenvalues for (-1,-1) are:', eigenvals2)

print('The eigenvectors for the origin are ', eigenvects1)

print('The eigenvectors for the (-1,-1) are ', eigenvects2)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The fixed points are, [(-1, -1), (0, 0)]
The eigenvalues for the origin are: [-1, 1]
The eigenvalues for (-1,-1) are: [-1]
The eigenvectors for the origin are [[-1, 1], [1, 1]]
The eigenvectors for the (-1,-1) are [[1, 0], [0, 1]]
Fixed points and phase portraits 507

Mathematica Code
After defining f and g, we solved for the fixed points. Note that Mathematica put
the origin as the last fixed point. We then created the Jacobian matrix A and found its
eigenvalues and eigenvectors using the Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors commands.
f = y ∗ (x + 1);

g = x ∗ (y + 1);

(* Find the fixed points *)

fps = Solve[{f ==0, g==0}, {x, y}]

{{x → −1, y → −1}, {x → 0, y → 0}}

(* Compute the Jacobian matrix *)

A = {{D[f, x], D[f, y]}, {D[g, x], D[g, y]}};

(* We will label the origin as fps1 *)

Afps1 = A/.fps[[2]];

Afps2 = A/.fps[[1]];

Print[“The eigenvalues of the origin are ”, Eigenvalues[Afps1]]

The eigenvalues of the origin are {−1, 1}

Print[“The eigenvalues of (-1,-1) are ”, Eigenvalues[Afps2]]

The eigenvalues of (-1,1) are {−1, −1}

Print[“The eigenvectors of the origin are ”, Eigenvectors[Afps1]]

The eigenvectors of the origin are {{−1, 1}, {1, 1}}

Print[“The eigenvectors of (-1,-1) are ”, Eigenvectors[Afps2]]

The eigenvectors of (-1,-1) are {{0, 1}, {1, 0}}

Now let us examine the solution near the origin from Example 13.2. We see that along
the direction of w1 = (1, 1), there is an exponential growth away from the origin since λ > 0.
However, along the direction of w2 = (−1, 1), there is exponential decay towards the origin,
since λ < 0. This fixed point has two different stabilities which depend on direction. The
unstable direction w1 is tangent to a curve called the unstable manifold of the fixed point.
The stable direction w2 is tangent to a curve called the stable manifold. Each vector,
w1 and w2 , is tangent to its respective manifold at the fixed point. The origin in Example
13.2 is called a saddle point (or simply, saddle) and is ultimately unstable, as we will see
below. To better understand what is going on here, let us examine the phase portrait near
the origin in Example 13.3.
508 Nonlinear Systems

Example 13.3: The phase portrait of the system from Example 13.2
Plot the phase portrait near the origin for the system of equations in Example 13.2.
Solution:
The code below creates the phase portraits shown in Figure 13.2. In each case, the
solid black lines represent the stable and unstable manifold. The arrowheads on the
stream plots show the flow of trajectories near the origin. Trajectories starting near
the stable manifolds approach the origin, but they eventually turn toward the unstable
manifold and move away from the origin.

Python Code
The stable and unstable manifolds are found by integrating the equations near the
origin. The command streamplot is used to show the vector field around the origin.
Trajectories will flow along the arrows created by the stream plot.

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
from [Link] import odeint

times = [Link](0,8,100)

def deriv(z,t):
x, y = z
dzdt = [y*(x+1), x*(y+1)]
return dzdt

ic1 = [-0.001,0.0009]
ic2 = [0.001, -0.001]
ic3 = [-0.001, 0.0011]
ic4 = [-0.001, -0.001]

soln1 = odeint(deriv, ic1, -times)

soln2 = odeint(deriv, ic2, -times)
soln3 = odeint(deriv, ic3, times)
soln4 = odeint(deriv, ic4, times)

X, Y = [Link]([Link](-0.1,0.1,100), \
[Link](-0.1,0.1,100))

f_vec = Y*(X + 1)
g_vec = X*(Y + 1)

[Link](X, Y, f_vec, g_vec)

[Link](soln1[:,0],soln1[:,1],'k')
[Link](soln2[:,0],soln2[:,1],'k')
[Link](soln3[:,0],soln3[:,1],'k')
[Link](soln4[:,0],soln4[:,1],'k')
[Link]('x')
[Link]('y')
[Link](-0.1,0.1)
[Link](-0.1,0.1)
[Link]()
Fixed points and phase portraits 509

Mathematica Code
We begin by computing trajectories that will be the stable and unstable manifolds.
We create multiple plots using ParametricPlot, one for each manifold. We then plot
the stream plot using StreamPlot where the inputs are f (x, y) and g(x, y). The Show
command displays all of the graphs as one plot.
tmax = 6;

soln1 = NDSolve[{x′ [t] == y[t](x[t] + 1), y ′ [t] == x[t](y[t] + 1), x[0] == −0.001,

y[0] == 0.001}, {x, y}, {t, 0, −tmax}];

soln2 = NDSolve[{x′ [t] == y[t](x[t] + 1), y ′ [t] == x[t](y[t] + 1), x[0] == 0.001,

y[0] == −0.001}, {x, y}, {t, 0, −tmax}];

soln3 = NDSolve[{x′ [t] == y[t](x[t] + 1), y ′ [t] == x[t](y[t] + 1), x[0] == 0.001,

y[0] == 0.0011}, {x, y}, {t, 0, tmax}];

soln4 = NDSolve[{x′ [t] == y[t](x[t] + 1), y ′ [t] == x[t](y[t] + 1), x[0] == −0.001,

y[0] == −0.001}, {x, y}, {t, 0, tmax}];

stable1 = ParametricPlot[{x[t], y[t]}/.soln1, {t, 0, −tmax}, PlotStyle->Black];

stable2 = ParametricPlot[{x[t], y[t]}/.soln2, {t, 0, −tmax}, PlotStyle->Black];

unstable1 = ParametricPlot[{x[t], y[t]}/.soln3, {t, 0, tmax}, PlotStyle->Black];

unstable2 = ParametricPlot[{x[t], y[t]}/.soln4, {t, 0, tmax}, PlotStyle->Black];

stream = StreamPlot[{y(x + 1), x(y + 1)}, {x, −0.1, 0.1}, {y, −0.1, 0.1},

StreamColorFunction->Blue];

Show[stream, stable1, stable2, unstable1, unstable2, Frame->True,

Axes → False, BaseStyle → {Bold, FontSize → 16}, FrameLabel → {x, y}]

As we can see in the above example, the eigenvalues give the stability of the fixed
point. There are three simple types of fixed points associated with real eigenvalues in two-
dimensional systems: stable node, unstable node, and a saddle.

• The stable node has two negative eigenvalues and trajectories that start near the stable
node and approach it exponentially. A stable node corresponds to a stable equilibrium
position. For each stable node there is a region in the phase space called its basin of
attraction. The basin of attraction for a stable node is the set of all initial conditions
whose trajectories approach the stable node as t → ∞.
• The unstable node, sometimes called a repellor, has two positive eigenvalues. It is
called a repellor because trajectories starting near the node move away from the node
at an exponential rate. An unstable node corresponds to an unstable equilibrium.
510 Nonlinear Systems

0.10

0.100

0.075
0.05
0.050

0.025
0.00

y
0.000
y

−0.025

- 0.05
−0.050

−0.075

- 0.10
−0.100
−0.100 −0.075 −0.050 −0.025 0.000 0.025 0.050 0.075 0.100
- 0.10 - 0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10
x
x

(a) (b)

Figure 13.2: Phase portrait for Example 13.3 created by Python (a) and Mathematica (b).
In both graphs, the X-shaped black lines are the stable and unstable manifold. The blue
arrows (in the e-book) show the flow of the trajectories.

• The saddle, explored in Examples 13.2 and 13.3, has one positive and one negative
eigenvalue. It corresponds to an unstable equilibrium. The stable manifolds of the
saddle often serve as borders for the basin of attraction for stable nodes and other
stable structures in the phase space (see below).
In addition to the points listed above, there are three types of fixed points with complex
eigenvalues. Suppose λ = α + iβ, then eλt = eαt (cos(βt) + i sin(βt)). In the case of complex
eigenvalues we see that there is a combination of exponential growth or decay and oscillation,
similar to the damped harmonic oscillator case. The possible fixed points are:
• A stable spiral occurs when Re(λ) < 0, and the trajectory spirals onto the fixed point.
A stable spiral appears in the phase portrait of the underdamped harmonic oscillator
with β < ω0 .
• An unstable spiral occurs when Re(λ) > 0, and the trajectory spirals away from the
fixed point. This would correspond to the damped harmonic oscillator with a negative
damping parameter.
• A center occurs when Re(λ) = 0 and there is neither exponential growth away from the
fixed point, nor is there exponential decay onto the fixed point. The point is neutrally
stable and the trajectories circle the center. This corresponds to the undamped simple
harmonic oscillator.
What happens when there is a zero eigenvalue? One typically uses numerical methods to
analyze the system. Finally, it should be mentioned that there are cases that are called
degenerate, because they have only one eigenvalue and/or one eigenvector. These lead to
other types of fixed points which are beyond the scope of this book. The interested reader
is directed to Strogatz [11] for a thorough and readable review of even more types of fixed
points. Next, we will use our newfound knowledge of fixed points to analyze the simple
plane pendulum.

13.3.1 SIMPLE PLANE PENDULUM, REVISITED

Consider a simple plane pendulum shown below in Figure 13.3. The pendulum consists of
a massless rod of length ℓ, bob of mass m, and makes an angle with the vertical θ.
Fixed points and phase portraits 511

Figure 13.3: Simple plane pendulum.

The equation of motion of the pendulum has been found many times in this book,

θ̈ + ω02 sin θ = 0 (13.3.13)

where the natural frequency ω02 = g/ℓ. Equation (13.3.13) can be solved in closed form using
elliptical integrals; however, those solutions are not very insightful. Let us instead proceed
with the analysis developed in Section 13.3, by breaking up (13.3.13) into two first-order
equations:
θ̇ =y
(13.3.14)
ẏ = − ω02 sin θ
where the variable y is the angular velocity. Notice that fixed points occur at (θ∗ = 0, y = 0)
and (θ∗ = ±π, y = 0); these make sense physically because they correspond to the very
bottom and top of the pendulum’s path. Based on the way we have defined our coordinate
system, θ = ±π are the same point, the very top of the pendulum’s path. Note that θ = +π
when the pendulum approaches the top moving counterclockwise, and θ = −π when it
approaches the top moving clockwise. The Jacobian of the system is:
 
0 1
A= (13.3.15)
−ω02 cos θ 0

At the origin, the Jacobian (13.3.15) becomes:

 
0 1
(13.3.16)
−ω02 0

with eigenvalues λ = ±iω0 . The origin, corresponding to the bottom of the pendulum’s
path, is a center. The center is representing the oscillation of the pendulum about the
stable equilibrium position.
At (±π, 0), the Jacobian (13.3.15) becomes
 
0 1
(13.3.17)
ω02 0

which has eigenvalues λ = ±ω0 . The fixed point corresponding to the unstable equilibrium
is a saddle. Were you expecting an unstable node? The topmost point cannot be an unstable
mode because an unstable mode repels all trajectories. A saddle, on the other hand, has a
stable direction. We know that the pendulum can approach the top before turning around,
and hence, the topmost point must be a saddle. Now that we know the location and stability
of the fixed points, we are ready to draw the phase portrait.
Figure 13.4 illustrates the phase portrait for the simple pendulum using ω0 = 1. Recall
that the points θ = ±π correspond to the same physical location. Hence, the two saddle
512 Nonlinear Systems

Figure 13.4: Phase portrait for (13.3.13) with ω0 = 1.

points in the phase portrait are actually the same point. The red line (in the e-book) in Fig-
ure 13.4 is both the stable and unstable manifold of the saddle, which is sometimes referred
to as a homoclinic orbit, a trajectory that connects a saddle point to itself. Physically, the
homoclinic orbit represents the pendulum starting with an angular displacement of θ = π
(vertical position) and an angular velocity of 0, where the pendulum then swings down in
a clockwise direction through the stable equilibrium and returns to the vertical position,
coming to a momentary rest and swinging back in a clockwise direction. The homoclinic
orbit represents the largest possible amplitude of oscillation of the pendulum.
Initial conditions that start inside the homoclinic orbit correspond to oscillatory behav-
ior. Notice that these inside trajectories (black lines) in Figure 13.4 form closed loops, which
we know to mean that the system eventually returns to its initial state after a time τ , the
period of oscillation. Notice how the trajectories begin to take the shape of the homoclinic
orbit as the amplitude of oscillation gets bigger. The graphs of θ(t) for each of the trajecto-
ries inside the homoclinic orbit are shown in Figure 13.5. As the amplitude increases in size,
the period of oscillation increases. Recall that in the simple harmonic oscillator, the period
of oscillation was independent of the amplitude of oscillation. In nonlinear oscillators, there
is typically a relationship between amplitude and period.
Finally, notice that the trajectories outside of the homoclinic orbit in Figure 13.4 do
not form closed loops. Those orbits correspond to the pendulum going over the top of its
motion and continually rotating in one direction, either clockwise (trajectories below the
homoclinic orbit) or counterclockwise (trajectories above the homoclinic orbit). Hence, we
see that the homoclinic orbit separates two distinct behaviors of the pendulum (oscillatory
versus continual rotation in one direction). The homoclinic orbit is sometimes called a
separatrix, because it separates two distinct types of behavior.

13.3.2 DOUBLE-WELL POTENTIAL, REVISITED

Recall the double-well potential,
1 1
V (x) = − kx2 + ϵx4 (13.3.18)
2 4
Fixed points and phase portraits 513

1
θ (rad)

0
Out[ ]=

-1
θ(0) = 0.5
-2 θ(0) = 1.5
θ(0) = 2.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
t (sec)

Figure 13.5: Graphs of θ (in radians) versus time (seconds) for each of the oscillatory
trajectories shown in Figure 13.4.

0.1

0.0
V(x)

Out[ ]=
-0.1

-0.2

-1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5

x

Figure 13.6: Double-well potential (13.3.18) with k = ϵ = 1.

An example of the double-well potential is graphed in Figure 13.6 with k = ϵ = 1. We

can see in Figure 13.6 that there are two stable equilibria at x = ±1 and one unstable
equilibrium at x = 0. The double-well potential is associated with a force of the following
form, F (x) = kx − ϵx3 . The resulting equation of motion is then,
mẍ = kx − ϵx3 (13.3.19)

Next, using m = k = ϵ = 1, we will find the fixed points, identify their stability, and
plot the phase portrait. In order to plot the phase portrait, we will need to recast (13.3.19)
into a two-dimensional system, )
ẋ =y
(13.3.20)
ẏ =x − x3
We see from (13.3.20) that fixed points exist at (0, 0), (1, 0), and (−1, 0). The Jacobian
matrix is,  
0 1
A= (13.3.21)
1 − 3x2 0
514 Nonlinear Systems
√
which provides eigenvalues of ±1 for (0, 0) and ±i 2 for the points (1, 0) and (−1, 0). Hence,
the origin is a saddle, and the other two points are centers. In Example 13.4, we plot the
phase portrait for the double well.

Example 13.4: Double-well potential

Plot the phase portrait for the double-well potential (13.3.20).
Solution:
Figure 13.7 shows the output of the Mathematica code used to create the phase
portrait. Notice the two homoclinic orbits, one in red (in the e-book) and the other
in black (in the e-book), which surround the two centers. Inside each homoclinic orbit
are closed-loop trajectories corresponding to oscillations about each stable equilibrium
point. Outside of the homoclinic orbit are larger closed-loop trajectories which corre-
spond to an oscillation that passes through each equilibrium point.

Python Code
This code follows that of Example 13.3 in structure. Note the variables right_hc
and left_hc are the solutions for the left and right homoclinic orbits, respectively.

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
from [Link] import odeint

times = [Link](0,20,200)

def deriv(z,t):
x, y = z
dzdt = [y, x - x**3]
return dzdt

ic1 = [0.001,0.001]
ic2 = [-0.001, -0.001]

right_hc = odeint(deriv, ic1, times)

left_hc = odeint(deriv, ic2, times)

X, Y = [Link]([Link](-2,2,100), \
[Link](-2,2,100))

f_vec = Y
g_vec = X - X**3

[Link](X, Y, f_vec, g_vec)

[Link](right_hc[:,0],right_hc[:,1],'r')
[Link](left_hc[:,0],left_hc[:,1],'k')
[Link]('x')
[Link]('y')
[Link](-2,2)
[Link](-2,2)
[Link]()
Fixed points and phase portraits 515

Mathematica Code
This code is similar to that of Example 13.3. The variables
leftHomoClinicSolution and rightHomoclinicSolution contain the solutions
for the left and right homoclinic orbits, respectively.
sp = StreamPlot[{y, x − x∧ 3}, {x, −2, 2}, {y, −2, 2}, FrameLabel → {x, y},

BaseStyle → {Bold, FontSize → 16}, StreamColorFunction->Blue];

leftHomoclinicSolution =

NDSolve[{x′ [t] == y[t], y ′ [t] == x[t] − x[t]∧ 3, x[0] == 0.01, y[0] == 0}, {x, y},

{t, 0, 100}];

leftHomoclinicPlot = ParametricPlot[Evaluate[{x[t], y[t]}/.leftHomoclinicSolution],

{t, 0, 100}, BaseStyle → {Bold, FontSize → 22}, PlotStyle → Black];

rightHomoclinicSolution =

NDSolve[{x′ [t] == y[t], y ′ [t] == x[t] − x[t]∧ 3, x[0] == −0.01, y[0] == 0}, {x, y},

{t, 0, 100}];

rightHomoclinicPlot = ParametricPlot[Evaluate[{x[t], y[t]}/.rightHomoclinicSolution],

{t, 0, 100}, BaseStyle → {Bold, FontSize → 22}, PlotStyle → Red];

Show[sp, rightHomoclinicPlot, leftHomoclinicPlot]

13.3.3 DAMPED DOUBLE-WELL

As another example of a phase portrait, we will examine a damped double-well potential.
The force acting on the particle is,
F (x) = kx − ϵx3 − bẋ (13.3.22)
where the first two terms of (13.3.22) are from the double-well potential studied in the
previous section and the final term is a linear damping term. If we assume the particle has
a unit mass and set k = ϵ = 1 and b = 0.1, then we can rewrite the equation of motion as,
)
ẋ =y
(13.3.23)
ẏ =x − x3 − 0.1y
We can see that (13.3.23) has three fixed points, (0, 0) and (±1, 0). The Jacobian matrix
of (13.3.23) is,  
0 1
A= (13.3.24)
1 − 3x2 −0.1
and has eigenvalues of ±1 at the origin and −0.05 ± 1.41i for the other two points. Hence,
we see that the origin is a saddle and the other two points are a stable spiral. This should
516 Nonlinear Systems

0
y

-1

-2
-2 -1 0 1 2
x
Figure 13.7: Mathematica-generated phase portrait for the double-well potential from Ex-
ample 13.4.

not be surprising: the damping is causing decaying oscillation onto the equilibria at (±1, 0).
To better see this, we will study the phase portrait in Example 13.5.

Example 13.5: Damped double-well potential

Plot the phase portrait for the damped double-well potential (13.3.20).
Solution:
Figure 13.8 shows the Python-generated phase portrait. We did not include the
stream plot so that the trajectories would stand out better in the graph. The stable
manifolds are black (in e-book), and they connect the saddle to each stable spiral. The
stable spirals represent stable equilibria the oscillator will decay onto. The red (in e-
book) curves are the unstable manifolds of the saddle. All initial conditions (besides
those starting on the stable manifold) will eventually spiral onto one of the stable spirals.
Fixed points and phase portraits 517

Python Code
This code follows that of Example 13.4 in structure. The natures of the manifolds
produced by each solution are described by their variable name.

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
from [Link] import odeint

times = [Link](0,80,2000)

def deriv(z,t):
x, y = z
dzdt = [y, x - x**3 - 0.1*y]
return dzdt

ic1 = [0.01, 0.0]

ic2 = [-0.01, 0.0]

unstable_1 = odeint(deriv, ic1, times)

unstable_2 = odeint(deriv, ic2, times)
stable_1 = odeint(deriv, ic1, -times)
stable_2 = odeint(deriv, ic2, -times)

[Link](unstable_1[:,0],unstable_1[:,1],'k')
[Link](unstable_2[:,0],unstable_2[:,1],'k')
[Link](stable_1[:,0],stable_1[:,1],'r')
[Link](stable_2[:,0],stable_2[:,1],'r')
[Link]('x')
[Link]('y')
[Link](-2,2)
[Link](-2,2)
[Link]()
518 Nonlinear Systems

Mathematica Code
This code is similar to that of Example 13.4. We identified the stable and unstable
manifolds in the variable names for each plot.
soln1 = NDSolve[{x′ [t]==y[t], y ′ [t]==x[t](1 − x[t]∧ 2) − 0.1 ∗ y[t],

x[0] == 0.01, y[0] == 0}, {x, y}, {t, 0, 100}];

unstable1 = ParametricPlot[Evaluate[{x[t], y[t]}/.soln1],

{t, 0, 100}, PlotStyle → Black,

PlotRange->{{−2.1, 2.1}, {−2.1, 2.1}}];

soln2 = NDSolve[{x′ [t]==y[t], y ′ [t]==x[t](1 − x[t]∧ 2) − 0.1 ∗ y[t],

x[0] == 0.01, y[0] == 0}, {x, y}, {t, 0, −40}];

stable1 = ParametricPlot[Evaluate[{x[t], y[t]}/.soln2],

{t, 0, −20}, PlotStyle → Red, PlotRange->{{−2.1, 2.1}, {−2.1, 2.1}}];

soln3 = NDSolve[{x′ [t]==y[t], y′ [t]==x[t](1 − x[t]∧ 2) − 0.1 ∗ y[t],

x[0] == −0.01, y[0] == 0}, {x, y}, {t, 0, 100}];

unstable2 = ParametricPlot[Evaluate[{x[t], y[t]}/.soln3],

{t, 0, 100}, PlotStyle → Black,

PlotRange->{{−2.1, 2.1}, {−2.1, 2.1}}];

soln4 = NDSolve[{x′[t]==y[t], y ′[t]==x[t](1 − x[t]∧2) − 0.1 ∗ y[t],

x[0] == −0.01, y[0] == 0}, {x, y}, {t, 0, −40}];

stable2 = ParametricPlot[Evaluate[{x[t], y[t]}/.soln4],

{t, 0, −20}, PlotStyle → Red, PlotRange->{{−2.1, 2.1}, {−2.1, 2.1}}];

Show[unstable1, unstable2, stable1, stable2, FrameLabel → {x, y},

BaseStyle → {FontSize → 16}, Frame->True, Axes->False]

Examining the code in Example 13.5 provides a good opportunity to discuss how to
find stable manifolds. Notice that the stable manifolds, with variable names stable_1 and
stable_2 (in Python), are found by integrating (13.3.23) backwards in time. The stable
manifold is the set of points that moves towards the saddle as t → ∞. The stable manifold
can be difficult to find integrating forward in time. Hence, in order to find the stable
Fixed points and phase portraits 519

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
y

−0.5

−1.0

−1.5

−2.0
−2.0 −1.5 −1.0 −0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
x

Figure 13.8: Python-generated phase portrait for the double-well potential from Example
13.4.

manifold, one chooses an initial condition near the saddle point and integrates the equations
backwards in time. Points on the stable manifold move away from the saddle as t → −∞.
The unstable manifold is the set of points that moves towards the saddle as t → −∞ (or
away as t → ∞), and it is found by solving the equations forward in time, using an initial
condition near the saddle.

13.3.4 BIFURCATIONS OF FIXED POINTS

An interesting phenomenon that can occur in nonlinear systems is the so-called bifurcation
of fixed points. If we think of the parameters of a nonlinear system as being variables, we
see that the location and stability of fixed points (and therefore equilibria) can change.
Consider again the damped double-well potential,
)
ẋ =y
(13.3.25)
ẏ =kx − ϵx3 − by

The fixed points in (13.3.25) occur at the origin and at,

r !
∗ ∗ k
(x , y ) = ± ,0 (13.3.26)
ϵ

If we think of k and ϵ as parameters that can be varied, then we see that the location of
the fixed points in (13.3.26) can change. For example, as k → 0 the fixed points (13.3.26)
collide at the origin. This collision is an example of a bifurcation, and it tells us the condition
for which two stable equilibria can exist in the system. In this case, we use the term stable
equilibrium in the sense of Chapter 5, i.e., as a local minimum in the potential. Furthermore,
the eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix evaluated at (13.3.26) are,
1 p 
λ= −b ± b2 − 8k (13.3.27)
2
√
When 0 < b < 8k, we see that the fixed points located at (13.3.26) are stable spirals.
However, if b → 0, the previously stable fixed points become centers. This is an example of
520 Nonlinear Systems

another type of bifurcation where the fixed point changes stability. There are many types
of bifurcations between fixed points, and a complete overview of them is beyond the scope
of this book. However, the interested reader should consult Refs. [11, 12, 13]. In the next
paragraph, we will briefly mention two important bifurcations.
One of the most common bifurcations is the so-called saddle-node bifurcation. In a
saddle-node bifurcation, a saddle point and a stable node collide and both points disappear
from the phase portrait. Physically speaking, the system goes from having two equilibria,
one stable and one unstable, to having no equilibrium points (sometimes there is another
attracting structure elsewhere in the phase portrait). Another common bifurcation of fixed
points is the so-called transcritical bifurcation. In a transcritical bifurcation, a saddle and a
stable node collide, and pass through each other. However, as the collision occurs, the fixed
points exchange stabilities, so the saddle becomes a stable node and the stable node becomes
a saddle. Physically speaking, the equilibria exchange stabilities, but both equilibrium states
continue to exist after the bifurcation. Of course, for each bifurcation, the equilibrium state
is changing because the fixed point is moving, therefore changing the position and speed of
the equilibrium state.
We might imagine, that if we were designing a system, we would want to know of possible
bifurcations in the system in order to prevent problems such as a desirable stable equilibrium
suddenly becoming unstable. For example, we might want to engineer an airplane wing that
stays relatively flat during flight. All airplane wings move a little during flight. However,
we would want to avoid the flat state from becoming unstable and the system undergoing
galloping, where the amplitude of oscillation of the wing gets large. A bifurcation in which
the galloping state becomes stable would be a dangerous situation, as can be seen in videos
of the famous Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse.
Next, we are going to study more complicated behaviors unique to nonlinear systems,
namely limit cycles and chaos.

13.4 LIMIT CYCLES

We are now going to eliminate the restriction of small amplitude oscillations and allow
for larger amplitudes. So far we have learned that nonlinear oscillators can have simple,
sinusoidal-like oscillations, just like the harmonic oscillator. However, as the amplitude of
oscillation gets larger, the period begins to depend on the amplitude. In some nonlinear sys-
tems, the oscillations can get complicated and look nothing like a sinusoid. These nonlinear
oscillations appear in the phase portrait as a limit cycle, an isolated closed-loop trajectory.
The limit cycle’s isolation makes them different from centers, which have multiple closed
orbit trajectories around the fixed point. Like fixed points, limit cycles can be stable, unsta-
ble, and even take on saddle-like stability. The stability of limit cycles is beyond the scope
of this text, but Strogatz [11] provides a good introduction, and we will provide some other
references at the end of this book.

13.4.1 DUFFING EQUATION

Recall that in Chapter 5, we made some assumptions about the potential associated with
a restoring force. Namely, the potential needed to have a local minimum at the equilibrium
position x0 , which in this Chapter we will set to 0. We then found that if we considered
small amplitude deviations from the equilibrium, then we could approximate the potential
energy using a parabola, V = 1/2kx2 , which results in Hooke’s Law, F = −kx. All of this
was done by Taylor expanding the potential energy about the equilibrium. If necessary, go
back to chapter 5 and reread that section. Because we are now looking at larger amplitude
oscillations, we will need to include more terms in the Taylor expansion of the potential
Limit cycles 521

energy V (x) about the equilibrium at the origin,

dV 1 d2 V 1 d3 V 1 d4 V
V (x) ≈ V (0) + x+ x2 + x3 + x4 + · · · (13.4.1)
dx x=0
2! dx2 x=0
3! dx3 x=0
4! dx4 x=0

We have already made the argument that dV dx = 0 at the equilibrium, and that argument
continues to hold for the large amplitude case. The derivatives produce a constant value
when evaluated at the origin, so we will rewrite (13.4.1) in the form:
1 2 1 1
V (x) ≈ V (0) + kx + αx3 + δx4 + · · · (13.4.2)
2! 3! 4!
Next, we apply a restriction to the force which is common in physics, even in nonlinear
systems, that V (x) is symmetric about the equilibrium. Hence, the potential energy of the
object at a position x is the same as that at a position −x. In other words, we would not
expect the oscillator to have an energy that is dependent upon which side of equilibrium it
is on. In order to satisfy this restriction, we must require that α = 0. We can then find F
by calculating F = −dV /dx to get the force:

F (x) = − kx − ϵx3 (13.4.3)

where ϵ = δ/6. The resulting equation of motion is,

mẍ + kx + ϵx3 = 0 (13.4.4)

using F (x) = mẍ. We see that the result of examining large amplitude oscillations is that
we must include a cubic nonlinearity in our equation of motion. If we include a damping
term and a drive term, the new net force acting on the system is mẍ = Fnet (x) = −kx −
ϵx3 − β ẋ + f cos(ωt), and our equation of motion becomes:

ẍ + c1 ẋ − c2 x + c3 x3 = d cos(ωt) (13.4.5)

where c1 = β/m, c2 = k/m, c3 = ϵ/m, and d = f /m. Equation (13.4.5) is called the Duffing
equation and is a standard model equation used in nonlinear dynamics to study a wide
range of nonlinear phenomena. With the right choice of parameters, ci and d, the Duffing
equation can be made to display a large variety of nonlinear behaviors. We will use the
Duffing equation to demonstrate limit cycles, period-doubling bifurcations, and chaos.

13.4.2 LIMIT CYCLES AND PERIOD-DOUBLING BIFURCATIONS

To demonstrate limit cycles and what is called period-doubling bifurcations, we will use
equation (13.4.5) with ci = 1, for all i, ω = 1, and vary the value of d. In each case we will
solve the Duffing equation with initial conditions x(0) = 0 and ẋ(0) = 0 and plot the phase
portrait along with a short segment of x(t). All units can be considered to be SI units.
Figures 13.9, 13.10, and 13.11 show sample solutions of (13.4.5) for various values of d,
after the transients have decayed and the system settled onto its attracting limit cycle. We
will demonstrate how these figures are made in Example 13.6 in the next section.
Notice that in Figure 13.9 when d = 0.68, the Duffing equation produces a limit cycle, an
isolated closed trajectory corresponding to an oscillation. The solution x(t) (on the right),
may look sinusoidal, but it is not; notice how narrow the peaks and troughs are compared
to a sinusoid. Furthermore, the limit cycle is not elliptical, and sinusoidal oscillations are
the result of elliptical trajectories in the phase portrait.
522 Nonlinear Systems

0.8 1.4
d = 0.68
0.6 1.2

0.4 1.0

0.2 0.8
x'

x
Out[ ]=
0.0 0.6

-0.2 0.4

-0.4 0.2

-0.6 0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 4500 4520 4540 4560 4580 4600
x t

Figure 13.9: Phase portrait (left) and x(t) (right) of (13.4.5) with ci = 1, for all i, ω = 1,
and d = 0.68.

The graphs of Figure 13.10 shows the phase portrait (left) and solution (right) when d
is increased to 0.69. The limit cycle appears to intersect itself; however, it does not. The
apparent intersection is due to a three-dimensional phase portrait being projected into two
dimensions. Although beyond the scope of this chapter, the Duffing equation is actually a
three-dimensional system due to the explicit dependence of time in this system. The solution
for d = 0.69 is called a period-2 solution because, loosely speaking, the oscillator has to go
through two oscillations before returning to its initial state, once the oscillator has settled
onto the limit cycle behavior.

Figure 13.10: Phase portrait (left) and x(t) (right) of (13.4.5) with ci = 1, for all i, ω = 1,
and d = 0.69.

Figure 13.11 shows the phase portrait (left) and solution (right) when d is increased
to 0.75. There are even more apparent intersections in the phase portrait and the solution
x(t) appears even more complicated. Figure 13.11 illustrated a period-4 solution to (13.4.5).
We are seeing an interesting phenomenon that can occur in nonlinear oscillators called a
period-doubling bifurcation, whereas the parameter d in (13.4.5) varies, the period of the
oscillator (and therefore the limit cycle) doubles. One method of illustrating period-doubling
bifurcations is by using something called a Poincaré section, which we will discuss below.
Limit cycles 523

1.5
0.8
d = 0.75
0.6
1.0
0.4
0.2
x'

x
Out[ ]= 0.0 0.5
-0.2
-0.4
0.0
-0.6
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5
x 4500 4520 4540 4560 4580 4600
t

Figure 13.11: Phase portrait (left) and x(t) (right) of (13.4.5) with ci = 1, for all i, ω = 1,
and d = 0.75.

The Poincaré section samples the solution once a period and then plots the phase space.
Since the drive frequency is ω = 1, we can sample x(t) and ẋ(t) at times t = 2nπ, where
n is an integer. The code for producing Poincaré sections is shown in Example 13.6 in the
next section.
The Poincaré sections for the solutions in Figures 13.9 through 13.11 are shown in Figure
13.12.

0.75 0.75
d = 0.68 d = 0.69
0.5 0.5

0.25 0.25
x'
x'

0 0
-0.25 -0.25
-0.5 ● -0.5 ●
●
0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2
x x
Out[ ]=

0.75
d = 0.75
0.5
0.25
x'

●
0
-0.25 ●
●
-0.5 ●
0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2
x

Figure 13.12: The Poincaré sections for the solutions shown in Figures 13.9 through 13.11.

Notice how in Figure 13.12, for d = 0.68, there is only one point. That is because, after
settling onto the limit cycle, the solution repeats its state once every period. We are not
sampling the solution at its maximum, i.e., the x-coordinate of the point in the Poincaré
section does not correspond to the maximum value of the right graph in Figure 13.9. The fact
that the point in the Poincaré section does not match either the maximum or minimum
value of the solution does not matter. What matters is that every t = 2nπ, the system
returns to the same state. However, we see that when d = 0.69, the oscillator appears to
jump between two points in its Poincaré section. It takes 4π = 2 × 2π, or twice the period
to repeat its state. Continuing this reasoning, we see that when d = 0.75, the system is
exhibiting period-4 behavior.
As mentioned previously, Figures 13.9 through 13.12 are demonstrating period-doubling
bifurcations. We see a period-doubling bifurcation in the limit cycle between d = 0.68 and
d = 0.69. We see another period-doubling bifurcation between d = 0.69 and d = 0.75. As we
continue to increase d, we would see several more period-doubling bifurcations, the series
524 Nonlinear Systems

of which is called a period-doubling cascade, which will eventually lead to chaotic behavior
once d = 0.8. However, to illustrate chaos, we will change the parameters used in (13.4.5)
in order to better visualize the attractor corresponding to chaotic behavior.

13.5 CHAOS
In addition to interesting oscillations, nonlinear systems can also display a behavior called
chaos. To explore the phenomenon of chaos, we will use the Duffing equation, but with a
specific set of parameter values:
ẍ + 0.15ẋ − x + x3 = 0.3 cos(t) (13.5.1)
It is worth mentioning that there are many different values of ci and d from (13.4.5) that
will produce chaotic behavior in the Duffing equation, including those used in Section 13.4.2
with d = 0.8. However, we use the parameters as in (13.5.1) because they provide a good
view of the attractor associated with the chaotic dynamics. Example 13.6 will demonstrate
the chaotic solution of (13.5.1) and also show how Figures (13.9)-(13.12) are created. Let us
start by plotting the solution, phase portrait, and Poincaré section of the solution to (13.5.1)

Example 13.6: Chaotic solution to the Duffing equation

Solve the Duffing equation
ẍ + 0.15ẋ − x + x3 = 0.3 cos(t) (13.5.2)

using the initial conditions x(0) = 0 and ẋ(0) = 0. Plot x(t), the phase portrait, and
the Poincaré section after allowing transients to decay.
Solution:
The solution is presented in Figure 13.13, which shows the output of the Python
code. Notice how in Figure 13.13, the phase portrait does not contain a limit cycle, but
some unusual trajectory which seems to oscillate about each of the stable equilibrium
in the double-well potential. Those oscillations are clear in the graph of x(t), where
the solution oscillates about the equilibrium at x = 1, before switching and oscillating
about x = −1. Notice that the duration of time spent near each equilibrium varies and
the switching between one equilibrium to the next seems unpredictable. This is strange
behavior!
Like in Section 13.4.2, we can use a Poincaré section to understand the structure
of the attractor. Notice that the Poincaré section is not a simple collection of points.
In fact, it has its own complex structure. You might wonder if we solved (13.5.1) for
a longer period of time, we would find that any of the points in the Poincaré section
repeat themselves, hence demonstrating a periodicity. The answer is no, there is no
repetition, and therefore the system is not periodic. The Poincaré section is even more
interesting if we zoom into it and look at its structure. Doing so would reveal that the
bands that are visible in the Poincaré section of Figure 13.13 persist when zoomed in at
any scale provided enough points are plotted, which can get computationally expensive.
The presence of structure at arbitrary scale means that the attractor is a fractal!

Python Code
To use odeint, we need to rewrite (13.5.2) as
)
ẋ = v
(13.5.3)
v̇ = −0.15y + x − x3 + 0.3 cos (t)
Chaos 525

We set a transient time of 4800 using the variable start. Notice that start appears
in the plot command as the starting point for the slices used to create each plot (except
for the Poincaré section). The transient time is much shorter than 4800; however, we
choose a large value to make the graphs easier to read.
To create the Poincaré section, we used a slice in the scatter command. The stride
of the slice is tau = 2*[Link], which matches the period of the drive term in (13.5.2).
To properly visualize the Poincaré section, we needed a lot of data. Therefore, we used
the full solution for the Poincaré section.

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
from [Link] import odeint

dt = 0.001 #step size

times = [Link](0,5000,dt)

def deriv(z,t):
x, y = z
dzdt = [y, -0.15*y + x - x**3 + 0.3*[Link](t)]
return dzdt

ics = [0,0]

soln = odeint(deriv,ics,times)

start = int(4800/dt) #starting index after transient

tau = int(2*[Link]/dt)

fig, ax = [Link](nrows = 2, ncols = 2)

#plot x(t)
ax[0,0].plot(times[start:],soln[start:,0])
ax[0,0].set_xlabel('time')
ax[0,0].set_ylabel('x')
ax[0,0].set_title('x(t)')

#plot phase portrait

ax[0,1].plot(soln[start:,0],soln[start:,1])
ax[0,1].set_xlabel('x(t)')
ax[0,1].set_ylabel('v(t)')
ax[0,1].set_title('Phase Portrait')

#plot Poincare section

ax[1,0].scatter(soln[::tau,0],soln[::tau,1],s = 1)
ax[1,0].set_xlabel('x')
ax[1,0].set_ylabel('v')
ax[1,0].set_title('Poincare Section')

#delete unneeded graph

ax[1,1].set_axis_off()

plt.tight_layout()
[Link]()
526 Nonlinear Systems

Mathematica Code
We use NDSolve to solve (13.5.2). The plots of x(t) and the phase portrait are
similar to that done earlier in this chapter. To create the Poincaré section, we sampled
the solution at time interval of t = 2π and stored the result as the table psData, which
was then plotted with ListPlot.

SetOptions[{Plot, ListPlot, ParametricPlot}, Axes->False, Frame->True,

BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}, ImageSize->Large];

soln = NDSolve[{x”[t] + 0.15 ∗ x′ [t] − x[t] + x[t]∧ 3==0.3 ∗ Cos[t],

x[0]==0, x′ [0]==0}, x, {t, 0, 5000}];

p1 = Plot[x[t]/.soln, {t, 4500, 5000}, FrameLabel->{“time”, “x(t)”},

PlotLabel->“x(t)”];

p2 = ParametricPlot[{x[t], x′ [t]}/.soln, {t, 4500, 5000},

FrameLabel->{x, v}, PlotLabel->“Phase Portrait”];

psData = Table[{First[x[t]/.soln], First[x′ [t]/.soln]}, {t, 1000, 5000, 2 ∗ π}];

p3 = ListPlot[psData, FrameLabel->{x, v}, PlotLabel->“Poincare Section”];

GraphicsGrid[{{p1, p2}, {p3}}]

Chaos 527

x(t) Phase Portrait

1.0
1
0.5

v(t)
0 0.0
x

−0.5
−1
−1.0
4800 4850 4900 4950 5000 −1 0 1
time x(t)
Poincare Section
1.0

0.5
v

0.0

−0.5

−1 0 1
x

Figure 13.13: Python-generated plots of x(t), the phase portrait, and Poincaré section of
(13.5.2) from Example 13.6.

What have we learned in our study so far from Figure 13.13? We learned that chaotic
systems are not periodic. The trajectory of a chaotic system’s solution in the phase portrait
is attracted to a structure with fractal properties. Furthermore, the behavior of the solution
is not random; the system is obeying the Duffing equation. This is getting strange! But
wait, there is more...

13.5.1 CHAOS AND INITIAL CONDITIONS

Let us look at the behavior of two solutions of (13.5.1) with different, but similar, initial
conditions. Do we expect the behaviors to significantly differ? Consider two children, Chris
and Gail, each on a swing side-by-side. The swings are identical in length, and because we
are physicists, let us assume they are both wearing space suits and are swinging in vacuum,
under the influence of a gravitational field similar to that of the Earth’s. Chris starts by
displacing his swing 10 degrees from equilibrium. Gail starts by displacing hers 11 degrees
from equilibrium. In each case, the small angle approximation is satisfied, and both swings
behave like simple harmonic oscillators. What are the resulting behaviors? We know the
frequencies of oscillation are the same (simple harmonic motion, with same length swings),
so we would expect that Chris and Gail would swing in sync, but Gail would go a little
higher than Chris because her initial state had a slightly larger initial amplitude. What
happens if their swings are chaotic? The ride would be much more interesting! After a
period of time, Chris and Gail’s swings will fall out of sync with each other.
To illustrate this, let us compare two solutions of (13.5.1), one with an initial condition
of x(0) = 0, ẋ(0) = 0, and the other with the same initial velocity but with x(0) = 0.00001,
0.01, and 0.1. The results are shown in Figure 13.14 with a plot of the simple harmonic
528 Nonlinear Systems

oscillator (SHO) with two initial conditions x(0) = 1.1 and x(0) = 1.0, each with ẋ(0) = 0,
for comparison.

Figure 13.14: Plots comparing similar initial conditions for the simple harmonic oscillator
(SHO) and the Duffing equation. The value of Difference in the title of each plot describes
the difference in the initial positions of the two oscillators. The black solid curve has an
initial position of x(0) = 0 and the red dashed curve (in the e-book) has an initial position
of x(0) = 0 + Difference. In all cases ẋ(0) = 0.

In Figure 13.14, the black line (in the e-book) for the SHO is the solution for x(0) = 1 and
ẋ(0) = 0. For the Duffing equation, the black line is the solution for x(0) = 0 and ẋ(0) = 0.
The red dashed line (in the e-book) for each graph has a zero initial velocity, but an initial
position that is off by the value of “Difference” (the value of which is in each plot’s title) from
the red line’s initial condition (e.g., for the SHO, the red dashed line has an initial position
of x = 1.1). Notice that the SHO behaves exactly as described in the above paragraph. The
two solutions track each other with only a small difference in their amplitudes (as expected
from the initial condition). However, the Duffing equation solutions are very different from
the SHO solutions. Notice that over time, the small difference in the initial conditions is
magnified. Eventually, the two solutions are not similar at all. For example, there are times
where the red solution is near x = 1, but the black solution is near the other equilibrium at
x = −1, and vice versa. We see in Figure 13.14 that the smaller the initial difference, the
longer the solutions are similar, but even extreme initial similarity (the lower right graph in
Figure 13.14) eventually yields a divergence in the solutions. This phenomenon is referred to
as sensitive dependence on initial conditions, and is a critical component of chaotic behavior.
Attractors on which the trajectories exhibit sensitive dependence on initial conditions are
called strange attractors.
Is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions just a fancy way of saying that the
system is random? No, the system is not random. The Duffing equation is an ordinary
differential equation. The solution of the Duffing equation is dictated by its initial conditions,
and therefore is a deterministic system. In other words, future values of x(t) and ẋ(t) depend
on the initial conditions x(0) and ẋ(0). In a random system, past states do not dictate
Chaos 529

future states (otherwise, there would be no lottery!). The fact that the Duffing equation
is deterministic means that the interesting behavior arises due to the nonlinearity of the
system, not due to some random elements.
Other than being a mathematical curiosity, why is sensitive dependence on initial con-
ditions important? As an example, it is helpful to consider the case where chaos was first
presented in its modern form by meteorologist Edward Lorenz (1917-2008), who was creat-
ing weather models.
Lorenz’s weather model demonstrated chaotic behavior. To illustrate sensitive depen-
dence on initial conditions, suppose that the weather perfectly follows Lorenz’s model (in
reality, it does not). Does that mean we can perfectly predict the weather at any point in
the future? No. In order to make predictions, we need to input an initial condition into the
model. The initial condition comes from instruments used to measure various atmospheric
conditions. The instruments have a certain degree of accuracy; they may only measure the
true value of a quantity to, for example, one part in a thousand. The actual degree of
accuracy is irrelevant, the point is that the measured initial conditions will be different
from the true state of the atmosphere. Since, in our example, the weather perfectly obeys
a chaotic model, then the slight difference in measured versus true values will mean that
after a period of time, the model’s predictions will diverge from the actual weather. The
chaotic system is sensitive to initial conditions! The result of a chaotic system’s sensitive
dependence on initial conditions is that there is no accurate long-term prediction possible
for chaotic systems.

13.5.2 LYAPUNOV EXPONENTS

We can quantify the sensitivity to initial conditions by looking at the rate at which initially
close trajectories diverge. Consider two trajectories on the chaotic attractor, x(t), and x(t)+
δ(t), where δ(t) is a vector that measures the distance between the two trajectories and
δ(0), the initial separation, is very small, δ(0) << 1. Numerical studies show that,

∥δ(t)∥ ≈ ∥δ(0)∥ eλt (13.5.4)

where λ is called the maximum Lyapunov exponent. The maximum Lyapunov exponent
measures the rate of exponential divergence between two initially nearby trajectories on
the chaotic attractor. Chaotic systems have λ > 0. The maximum Lyapunov exponent is
typically difficult to calculate for a system; however, there are methods of finding λ from
measured data called time series. A review of such methods can be found in Kantz and
Schreiber [14].
So what have we learned? First, chaotic systems are not random; they are deterministic.
Second, their trajectories live on strange attractors in the phase portrait, and these attrac-
tors have fractal structure. This means that chaotic systems are not periodic; they do not
settle onto fixed points. They are also not quasiperiodic, an oscillator consisting of a sum of
incommensurate frequencies. Third, trajectories on the chaotic attractor exhibit sensitive
dependence on initial conditions. This means that there is no long-term predictability for
a chaotic system. So what is chaos? Chaos has eluded a formal definition since it was first
formally presented by Lorenz in 1963. However, for our purposes, Strogatz’s definition [11],
will suffice:
Chaos is aperiodic long-term behavior in a deterministic system that exhibits
sensitive dependence on initial conditions.
If the authors may be so bold, we suggest that of all the factors, it is the sensitivity to
initial conditions that is truly the hallmark of chaos. That sensitivity is what makes chaotic
systems difficult to predict and very interesting!
530 Nonlinear Systems

13.6 A FINAL WORD ON NONLINEAR SYSTEMS

Mathematician Stanislaw Ulam (1909-1984) once said, “Using a term like nonlinear science
is like referring to the bulk of zoology as the study of non-elephant animals.” Nonlinear
systems are everywhere, and understanding how to study them is an important part of a
scientist’s preparation. There is an exciting world out there where physics intersects the
biological and social sciences, and nonlinear systems often take center stage in those arenas.
By focusing only on linear systems, one would miss an opportunity to explore exciting new
fields such as econophysics. The study of nonlinear systems can open up new worlds of
problems outside of traditional physics, such as modeling disease propagation, population
dynamics, social networks, and much more.
In this chapter, we discussed that nonlinear systems can take on a wide variety of
behaviors. We have not even scratched the surface on the variety of interesting phenomena
that can occur in nonlinear systems. As promised, we will include a few extra suggestions
on how to extend the reader’s study of nonlinear systems. For a more general discussion
of nonlinear systems, we recommend chapter 12 of our book, Mathematical Methods using
Python (Pagonis and Kulp [3]). The next book we recommend reading is Strogatz [11], as
the book is easily understandable and enjoyable to read. It also covers the topics in this
chapter more in depth and has applications outside of physics and engineering.
After reading Strogatz [11], one can take many pathways to learning nonlinear systems.
We frequently recommend Enns [13] because it contains some very interesting applications
of nonlinear systems to a wide variety of fields in the natural and social sciences. Another
book commonly used in nonlinear dynamics courses is Hilborn [12]. If the reader is interested
in analyzing data measured from nonlinear systems, both Kantz and Schreiber [14] and
Abarbanel [15] are recommended. Finally, if the reader is interested in developing models
of systems (especially complex systems), we recommend Wilensky and Rand [16].
If one spends enough time working with (and learning about) nonlinear systems, even-
tually, one will come to start thinking of problems not as linear versus nonlinear, or even as
physics versus not physics. Instead, they will likely see the system they are working with as
just that, an interesting system to be analyzed with one of many tools the reader will have in
his/her mathematical and computational toolbox. In the end, breaking up problems in the
natural world by discipline is a human-imposed construct. Real systems are neither biology
versus physics versus sociology, they are just systems to be studied. While the construction
of silos for problems is useful for the purposes of education, once you no longer need it, we
recommend discarding it and focusing on studying problems that are interesting to you.

13.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY

In this chapter, we studied systems whose equations of motion have nonlinear terms.
These equations have the form

ẋ =f (x, y)
ẏ =g(x, y)
Although the equations governing nonlinear systems are not usually solvable in
closed form, we can use tools such as phase portraits to understand possible steady
state behaviors of the system as well as identify the stability of equilibria.
The fixed points of the system can be found by solving

f (x∗ , y ∗ ) =0
g(x∗ , y ∗ ) =0
End-of-chapter problems 531

Although we cannot solve the whole system analytically, we can linearize the system
about the fixed points, which results in an easily solvable system of equations:
   ∂f ∂f   
u̇ u
= 
∂x ∂y
   
∂g ∂g
v̇ ∂x ∂y
v

where the eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix A give us information about the stability
of the equilibrium. The eigenvalues can be found using the characteristic polynomial,

det (A − λ1) = 0
In nonlinear systems, the equilibrium states can change (both location in phase space
and stability).
Finally, we also explored a behavior called chaos, which is unique to nonlinear sys-
tems. A hallmark of chaos is that the solutions of a chaotic system display sensitive
dependence on initial conditions. In other words, two initially similar states will evolve
to very different behaviors, thus inhibiting one’s ability to make long-term predictions
on chaotic systems.

13.8 END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

The symbol indicates a problem which requires some computer assistance, in the form
of graphics, numerical computation, or symbolic evaluation.
Section 13.1: Linear vs. Nonlinear Systems
1. Consider the differential equation

d3 x
+x=0
dt3

Is this equation a linear or a nonlinear differential equation? Justify your answer. Solve
the equation for x(t).
2. Are the following differential equations linear or nonlinear? Justify your answers.
d3 x
a. dt3 + t3 x = 0.
b. ẍ + t3 ẋx = 0
c. ẍ + t2 x = A cos (t)
d. ẋ + x sin t = t3
3. Consider the differential equation

ẍ = t2 x − tx2

Suppose you have found two solutions to this equation, x1 (t) and x2 (t). Is it true that
c1 x1 + c2 x2 is also a solution? Prove your answer.
532 Nonlinear Systems

Section 13.2: Damped Harmonic Oscillator, Revisited

4. Using a computer, plot the phase portrait for the damped harmonic oscillator with
γ < 0 and ω02 = 1. You may use x(0) = 1 and ẋ(0) = 0. Do you get what you expect?
Why or why not? What does it mean for γ < 0?

5. Using a computer, plot the phase portrait for the damped pendulum, ẍ+ω02 sin x+
γ ẋ = 0 for ω02 = 1 and three values of γ, less than, equal to, and greater than ω02 . For
each case, use x(0) = 1 and ẋ(0) = 0. Discuss your results.
Section 13.3: Fixed Points and Phase Portraits
6. Consider a one-dimensional system, ẋ = f (x). We can assign a potential function to
the system, V (x), such that

dV
f (x) = −
dx

which makes the potential function similar to the potential energy discussed in Chap-
ter 5. In this chapter, we discussed that the condition for fixed points (i.e., equilibrium
points), x∗ , f (x∗ ) = 0. How can we use the potential to find fixed points using V (x)?
In other words, how does one find fixed points using V (x)? How can one use V (x) to
identify the stability of a fixed point?
7. Consider the system ẋ = 1 − x2 . Find the potential corresponding to this system (see
Problem 6). Using the potential, find the fixed points and identify their stability.
8. In this chapter, we discussed how to identify the stability of fixed points for two-
dimensional systems. The logistic equation, ẋ = rx(1 − x/k), is used to model popu-
lation sizes, and is a one-dimensional system. Note that r is a positive constant called
the linear growth rate and k is a positive constant called the carrying capacity. Find
the fixed points for the logistic equation and give them a physical interpretation. Find
the stability of each fixed point by perturbing the fixed point, x = x∗ + u (for u << 1)
and expanding the logistic equation in powers of u. The result will be a differential
equation for u which you can solve.

9. Find the eigenvalues and eigenvectors for the following matrices. Solve this prob-
lem analytically and by using a computer algebra system.

     
0 1 2 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c)
3 0 7 3 1 1

10. Write a computer program that recreates Figure 13.4.

11. Solve the pendulum equation (13.3.13) numerically with an initial condition of
θ(0) = 2.7, 2.9, and 3.0 (all with θ̇(0) = 0 and ω0 = 1). Keeping in mind Figure 13.5,
why does the solution, θ(t), change as the initial angular displacement approaches the
vertical (x = π)?
End-of-chapter problems 533

12. Strogatz [11] discusses the mathematics of love affairs, an interesting and fun way
to explore two-dimensional linear systems. Let R(t) be Romeo’s love (positive) or
hate (negative) for Juliet at time t, and J(t) be Juliet’s love or hate for Romeo at
time t. The love affair can be modeled using the equations:

Ṙ =aR + bJ
J˙ =cJ + dR

Interesting relationships can be created by choosing different values of the parameters

a, b, c, and d. Following the methods of Section 13.3, classify the fixed point at
the origin for an eager Romeo (a = 1, b = 2) and a very cautious Juliet (c = −1,
d = −3) by analytically finding the eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix. Plot the phase
portrait, and comment on the possible outcomes for various initial conditions of the
relationship.

13. In this problem, we will build on Problem 12 with a nonlinear romance! We will
have both Romeo and Juliet be very sensitive to their own emotions:

Ṙ = − 2R − 2J(1 − |J|)
J˙ =J + R(1 − |R|)
The nonlinear term J(1 − |J|) is sometimes called a repair nonlinearity (Sprott [17]),
and the number 1 in the second term on the right-hand side is a measure of when
Juliet’s love becomes counterproductive. Plot the phase portrait for this system and
discuss the nature of the relationship between Romeo and Juliet.
14. Find the Jacobian matrix for (13.3.25) and compute its eigenvalues for each of the
fixed points.

15. The Lotka-Volterra model of competition is a mathematical model for two species
X and Y who compete for the same resources. Let x be the population size of species
X and y be the population size of species Y , then one choice of a Lotka-Volterra
model would be:

ẋ =4x − 3x2 − xy
ẏ =2y − 4y 2 − 3xy

For this model, identify the fixed points and their stability. Can the two species ever
coexist? Note that this kind of equation-based model tends to work well for large
populations. For small populations, agent-based models tend to be more useful. For a
discussion of agent-based versus equation-based modeling, the interested reader should
consult Wilensky and Rand [16].

16. Plot the phase portrait for the Lotka-Volterra competition model in Problem 15.
Discuss the final state of the system for various initial conditions.
534 Nonlinear Systems

17. Lotka-Volterra equations can also be used to describe predator-prey models where
species Y (predator) eats species X (prey). Consider the predator-prey model

ẋ =3x − 7xy
ẏ = − 2y + 5xy

where like the competition model, we will assume x(t) and y(t) measure the number of
each species in the hundreds. Find analytically the fixed points of this predator-prey
model and identify their stability. Comment on the nature of the equilibrium state
corresponding to each fixed point.

18. Using a computer, draw the phase portrait for the predator-prey model in Problem
17.
19. The SIS (susceptible-infected-susceptible) disease transmission model can be used for
diseases that do not remove individuals from the population, either through immunity
or death. SIS models are sometimes appropriate for some bacterial diseases such as
streptococcal pharyngitis (also known as sore throat). Consider two populations of
individuals s(t) and i(t), representing the number of susceptible and infected individ-
uals, respectively. The SIS model is:

ṡ =µn − µs + γi − βsi
i̇ = − µi − γi + βsi

where the coefficients represent rates, and n = s + i is the total population. Com-
ment on the physical meaning of each coefficient: µ,γ, and β. Find the fixed points
for the system and identify their stability. Note that negative values of s and i are
meaningless.
Section 13.4: Limit Cycles

20. Consider the Duffing equation:

ẍ − x + x3 + 0.1ẋ = d cos ωt (13.8.1)

where ω = 1.4. Show that the Duffing equation, (13.8.1), undergoes a series of period-
doubling bifurcations by changing the value of d. Start with d = 0.1 and gradually
increase its value until a period-doubling bifurcation is observed. Use x(0) = 0 and
ẋ(0) = 0 as initial conditions.

21. The logistic map, xn+1 = rxn (1 − xn ), is a discrete form of the logistic equation
(see Problem 8). After choosing an initial value x0 and parameter r, it is easy to
compute successive values. For example, x1 = rx0 (1 − x0 ) and x2 = rx1 (1 − x1 ),
and so on. Using x0 = 0.1, plot xn vs. n for r = 2.9, 3.2, 3.5, and 3.55. Identify the
periodicity of each solution. You can produce a Poincaré section by plotting xn+1 vs.
xn . Finally, try r = 3.91. What kind of behavior is the logistic map exhibiting when
r = 3.91?
End-of-chapter problems 535

22. Weakly driven nonlinear oscillators can be excited to large amplitudes through
a phenomenon called autoresonance. The oscillator is driven by a periodic forcing
term whose amplitude is small, but its frequency changes (typically decreasing) with
time. As the drive frequency decreases through the oscillator’s resonant frequency,
the oscillator becomes phase-locked with the driving force, resulting in the oscillator
maintaining resonance even though the drive frequency is no longer the oscillator’s
natural frequency. Consider the following driven pendulum:

ẍ + ω02 sin(x) = ϵcos ω0 t − 1/2αt2
Notice that the drive frequency (the time derivative of the drive phase) is fd = ω0 −αt,
so that at t = 0, the drive frequency is equal to the natural frequency of the pendulum.
Starting with initial conditions, x(−1000) = 0 and ẋ(−1000) = 0, compute x(t) for
ϵ = 0.0459 and ϵ = 0.0461 for the pendulum with ω0 = 2π, α = 0.001. For which value
of ϵ is the pendulum displaying autoresonance? For more information on autoresonance
and the pendulum, check out Fajans and Friédland [18].

23. Electrical circuits provide excellent examples of nonlinear systems. One of the
most famous circuit-inspired equations is the so-called Van der Pol equation


ẍ − ϵ 1 − x2 ẋ + x = 0

which is a simple harmonic oscillator with a nonlinear damping term. Notice that the
sign of the damping actually changes with the value of x. For example if ϵ > 0, then
the damping is negative for x < 1 and is positive for x > 1. Thus small oscillations
will grow due to negative damping, but once the oscillations are large enough, they
will dampen out as the damping term becomes positive. The Van der Pol oscillator
can also display so-called relaxation oscillations, a common form of oscillations in
nonlinear systems where rapid changes of x are followed by slower variations. To see
relaxation oscillations in action, solve the Van der Pol oscillator for ϵ = 8.0. Plot both
x(t) and the phase portrait. Describe the solution.
24. It can sometimes be convenient to describe limit cycles using polar coordinates. Con-
sider the following system in polar coordinates:

ṙ =r(r − 1)(r − 2)
θ̇ =1

where r and θ are the usual polar coordinates with r ≥ 0. Notice that one can find
values of r that make ṙ = 0, but there are no values of θ or r for which θ̇ = 0. Give
a description of the phase portrait in this case. There are limit cycles in this system.
Where are they and what is their stability? The stability can be found by using the
method outlined in Problem 8 for the ṙ equation.
Section 13.5: Chaos

25. The Lorenz equations:

ẋ =σ(y − x)
ẏ =rx − y − xz
ż =xy − bz
536 Nonlinear Systems

display chaotic behavior with σ = 10, r = 28, and b = 8/3. Plot the phase portrait
(x, y, z) for the Lorenz equations.

26. The Lorenz equations in Problem 25 are a chaotic system. Show that they demon-
strate sensitive dependence on initial conditions.

27. Chua’s circuit is a electrical circuit with a piecewise linear negative resistance NR .
It is one of the simplest circuits to exhibit a variety of nonlinear behaviors including
a period-doubling route to chaos. The circuit schematic is shown in Figure 13.15. Let
x, y, and z be proportional to the voltages across the capacitors C1 and C2 , and the
current in the inductor L, respectively. The equations governing the circuit can be
obtained from Kirchoff’s rules and simplified to be:

ẋ =α(y − x − g(x))
ẏ =x − y + z
ż = − βy

where g(x) = m1 x + 21 (m0 − m1 ) (|x + 1| − |x − 1|) with α = C2 /C1 , β = R2 C2 /L,

and m0 and m1 being the slopes of the inner and outer segments of the voltage-current
curve, respectively. For more information the interested student should consult Enns
[13]. Create a phase portrait (x-y-z space) for the equations of motion using α = 15.6,
β = 25.58, m0 = −8/7, m1 = −5/7. The result will be the famous double-scroll
attractor.

Figure 13.15: Chua’s circuit, Problem 13.28.

28. A period-doubling route to chaos can be observed in the equations for Chua’s
circuit (see Problem 27) by using the same parameters as used in Problem 27, but
with β = 50, 35, 33.8, etc. For each value of β, create a graph of x(t) and identify the
periodicity of each solution. For what value of β is there a period-8 solution?

One Final Problem for Nonlinear Systems

29. As a final problem for this chapter, we will explore the idea of bifurcations of fixed
points. Consider the following predator-prey model:

ẋ =x(1 − x) − xy
ẏ = − ϵy + xy

a. Which species is the predator? Which is the prey?

b. Find the fixed points. Assume that ϵ > 0.
End-of-chapter problems 537

c. Notice that for a certain value of ϵ, fixed points collide in the phase portrait (i.e.,
two or more fixed points occupy the same location in the phase portrait). Those
collisions are bifurcations of fixed points. For what value of ϵ do the bifurcations
occur?
d. Find the Jacobian of the system and evaluate the Jacobian at each fixed point.
e. Find the stability of each fixed point by finding the eigenvalues of the Jacobian
associated with each fixed point. You may want help from a computer algebra
system for this.
f. Describe how the stability of each fixed point changes with ϵ. Besides collisions
between fixed points, bifurcations can also involve changes in the stability of a
fixed point. Plotting the eigenvalues as a function of ϵ is often a useful trick to
identify whether or not the eigenvalues are positive or negative.
g. Draw phase portraits for the system before and after the bifurcation(s) by choos-
ing a value of ϵ less than and greater than the bifurcation conditions you found
in parts c and e. Notice that the phase portraits are different.
h. Provide a qualitative description of what happens to the system as ϵ increases.
What does ϵ represent in our system? Does the increasing the value of ϵ have the
effect on the phase portrait that you expected? Why or why not?
 A Introduction to Python
A.1 DATA TYPES AND VARIABLES IN PYTHON
The main numeric types in Python are integers, floating point numbers and complex num-
bers. A floating point number (or float) is a real number written in decimal form. Python
stores floats and integers internally in different ways.
In Example A.1 we assign a value to a variable using the assignment operator =, for
example a = 0.0003 assigns the value of 0.0003 to the variable a. We can also define
variables by using scientific notation
√ to represent floats, for example b = 1.64e-4. Python
uses the letter j to represent −1, and the built-in function complex(a,b) creates the
complex number a+b*j. We can use the built-in function type() to identify the type of a
Python object, and the built-in function print(a) is used to print the value of a variable.
Similar to several other computer languages, the line e = ′ time′ defines a string variable e.
Example A.1 shows how the function type(a) can be used to find out what class of
object the variable a belongs to. In most codes of this book you will see the line of code
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29), which is used to separate the Python code from
the output generated by the code.

Example A.1: Assigning Python variables

Assign Python variables to each of the quantities 0.00007, 1.64e-4, 10, 3+4i, time. Use
the Python function type(a) to determine the type of each variable.

Python Code

#define variables
a, b, c, d = 0.00007, 1.64e-4, 10, complex(3,4)
e = 'time'

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29)

print('Variable a = 0.0003 belongs to type:',type(a))

print('Variable b = 1.64e-4 belongs to type:',type(b))
print('Variable c = 10 belongs to type:',type(c),'\n')

print('A complex number created with complex(3,4)=',d)

print('Variable d = complex(3,4) belongs to type:',type(d),'\n')

print("Variable e = 'time' belongs to type:",type(e))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Variable a = 0.0003 belongs to type: <class 'float'>
Variable b = 1.64e-4 belongs to type: <class 'float'>
Variable c = 10 belongs to type: <class 'int'>
A complex number created with complex(3,4)= (3+4j)
Variable d = complex(3,4) belongs to type: <class 'complex'>
Variable e = 'time' belongs to type: <class 'str'>

539
540 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

Multiple variable assignments can be compressed to one line. For example, the code
a,b,c = 1, 2, 3 is a compressed version of the three individual lines of code a = 1, b =
2, and c = 3.
The common arithmetic operators in Python are: addition +, subtraction −, multipli-
cation ∗, division / and exponentiation ∗∗. In addition, the % operator is used to find the
remainder (or modulo), and the // is used for integer division.
In Python we can use f-strings to format the printing of variables. Within the f-string,
any variable can be enclosed inside curly brackets, for example print(f′ {a}′ ) will print the
numerical value of the variable a, and print(f′ {a**2}′ ) prints the numerical value of a2 .
By using the f-string formats print(f′ {a:.3}′ ), print(f′ {a:.2e}′ ), print(f′ {a:.2f}′ )
and print(f′ {a:g}′ ), we print the variable a using two decimals, using scientific notation,
and as a float in generic notation, respectively.
In Example A.2 we use f-strings to format the printing of variables.

Example A.2: Assign Python variables a, b to the numbers 5.0/3 and 1.645.
(a) Use f-strings to print the variable a using scientific notation with two significant
figures.
(b) Print the variable a2 without any formatting and by using generic notation.
(c) Print the variable b using two decimal points in the output of the code.
(d) What does round(a,2) and round(b,1) produce in the code?

Python Code

a = 5.0/3 #define variables

b = 1.645

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

print(f'Without formatting, the variable a={a}','\n')

print(f'Using scientific notation, the variable a={a:.2e}')

print(f'Without formatting, the square of variable a is {a**2}')

print(f'Using generic notation, the square of variable a is \
{a**2:g}','\n')

print(f'Using two decimals, the variable b=1.645 is {b:.3}')

print('\nround(a,2) produces ',round(a,2))

print('round(b,1) produces ',round(b,1))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Without formatting, the variable a=1.6666666666666667
Using scientific notation, the variable a=1.67e+00
Without formatting, the square of variable a is 2.777777777777778
Using generic notation, the square of variable a is 2.77778
Using two decimals, the variable b=1.645 is 1.65

round(a,2) produces 1.67

round(b,1) produces 1.6
Sequences in python 541

A variable name cannot begin with a number, and there are reserved words in Python
which should not be used as variables. Table A.1 shows a partial list of reserved words.

Table A.1
Partial list of reserved words in Python.

False None def elif True

class for from or if
finally lambda nonlocal else sum
return try and import min
is not del break max
continue sum global list array

A.2 SEQUENCES IN PYTHON

The main sequence types in Python are lists, tuples and range objects. The main differences
between these sequence objects are:
Lists are mutable, i.e., their elements can be modified, and are usually homogeneous (i.e.
objects of the same type create a list of similar objects).
Range objects are efficient sequences of integers (commonly used in for loops). They use
a small amount of memory and yield items only when needed.
Tuples are immutable, i.e. their elements cannot be modified, and their elements are usu-
ally heterogeneous (i.e., objects of different types create a tuple, describing a single
structure).
In the next three subsections, we look at examples of these types of sequences.

A.2.1 LISTS
We create a Python list using square brackets, with items separated by com-
mas. Lists can contain data of any type and even other lists. For example,
a=[2.0,[3,0],5j,[1,1,2],′ s′ ,1] defines a list containing floats, integers, complex num-
bers, other lists, and strings.
We can access the elements of a list by their index, and it is important to remember that
lists are indexed starting at 0, not at 1. For example print(a[0]) prints the first element
in the list a, and print(a[2]) prints the third element. We can also use negative indices
to access elements starting from the end of the list, so that print(a[-1] prints the last
element in the list, print(a[-2]) prints the second to last element, etc.
Since lists are mutable, they can be altered, so we can redefine any of the elements in
the list, for example a[-1] = -2 sets the last element of the list to -2. We can use multiple
indices to access several entries in a list of lists, for example print(a[1][0]) will print the
first element in the element a[1]. In the above list a, the element print(a[1][0]) is 0.
542 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

We can define sub-lists called slices, by using the syntax a[start:end:step]. For ex-
ample, the slice a[Link] starts at index 2 and increases by a step of 2 taking every second
element in the list, but does not include the ending value 5 of the index. We can omit one
of the indices or the step parameter in a slice, for example a[:5] creates a list of the first
five elements of a, and a[2:] creates a list of all the elements of a after and including a[2].
Likewise, a[::2] creates a list which contains every other element in a.
Lists can be concatenated using the addition operator +, for example, a[1]+a[3] creates
a new list with the elements from both a[1], a[3].
Example A.3 presents how to use these general properties of lists and how to access and
modify parts of a list.

Example A.3: Consider the Python list

a = [2,[3,0],5,[1,1,2],′ s′ ,[1,4],2,5]
(a) Write a code to add the first and last element in this list.
(b) Modify the third element in the list so that it is equal to -2.
(c) What is the a[3][2] element of the list?
(d) Create a new list which starts from the third element in the list, a, and contains
every third element of a.
(e) Create a new list that contains the first five elements of a.
(f) What does the code a[1]+a[3] produce?
(g) What does the code a[1]*3 produce?

Python Code
(a) The first and last elements in this list are added by a[0]+a[-1].
(b)-(c) a[2]=-2 sets the third element in the list equal to -2. Similarly, a[3][2] obtains
the third part of the fourth element of the list.
(d)-(e) The line a[2:len(a):2] creates a new list which starts from the third element
a[2] in the list, up to the length of the list which is specified by len(a).
(f)-(g) The code a[1]+a[3] produces a new list by concatenating the list [1, 1, 2] to the
end of the list [3, 0]. Finally, a[1]*3 produces a new list by repeating the elements of
the list a[1] three times.
Sequences in python 543

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

a = [2,[3,0],5,[1,1,2],'s',[1,4],2,5] # define list a

print('list a=',a)

print('the sum of the first and last element is: ',a[0]+a[-1])

a[2] = -2
print('\na[2] = -2 modifies list a into \na =',a,'\n')

print('The a[3][2] element is =', a[3][2],'\n')

print('The a[2:len(a):2] sequence is =',a[2:len(a):2])
print('The a[:5] sequence is =',a[:5])

print('\nThe a[1]+a[3] sequence is =',a[1]+a[3])

print('The a[1]*3 sequence is =',a[1]*3)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

list a= [2, [3, 0], 5, [1, 1, 2], 's', [1, 4], 2, 5]
the sum of the first and last element is: 7

a[2] = -2 modifies list a into

a = [2, [3, 0], -2, [1, 1, 2], 's', [1, 4], 2, 5]
The a[3][2] element is = 2
The a[2:len(a):2] sequence is = [-2, 's', 2]
The a[:5] sequence is = [2, [3, 0], -2, [1, 1, 2], 's']

The a[1]+a[3] sequence is = [3, 0, 1, 1, 2]

The a[1]*3 sequence is = [3, 0, 3, 0, 3, 0]

Individual elements can be assigned separate variables in a list. For example, a, b, c =

[1,2,3] stores the value of 1 in the variable a, the value of 2 in b, and the value of 3 in c.
This is sometimes referred to as unpacking a list.
Lists cannot be copied like numeric data types by using for example a statement like
b = a. Specifically a statement like b = a does not create a new list b from list a, but
simply makes a reference to a. This confusion can be avoided by using the b = [Link]()
command, which creates two isolated objects, whose contents share the same reference. This
is referred to as shallow copying of an object. One can also use the b = [Link](a)
command, which creates two isolated objects, whose contents and structure are completely
isolated from each other. This is referred to as deep copying of an object. The deep copy
is an independent copy of the original object and all its nested objects. In other words, if
we make changes to any nested objects in the original object, we will see no changes to the
deep copy.
544 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

A.2.2 RANGE SEQUENCES AND LIST COMPREHENSIONS

The second important type of sequence in Python is a range object, created with the built-in
function range([Link]step) where a, b and step are integers. This function creates an object
representing the sequence of integers from a to b (excluding b), incremented by the variable
step.
An important feature of Python that we use frequently in this book is a list comprehen-
sion, with the general syntax [expression for item in sequence]. Here sequence is a
sequence object (e.g., a range, a list, a tuple, etc.), item is a variable name which takes each
value in the sequence, and expression is a Python expression which is calculated for each
value of item. For example [u**2 for u in [1,2,3]] produces a new sequence with the
squares of the integer sequence [1,2,3].
As another example, we can use the remainder operator % to create a periodic sequence
of (0,1,2,3) and length 12 with the line of code [x%4 for x in range(0,12)]. Example
A.4 presents various properties of the range() function. Notice that when we print a range
object, this does not display the elements when printed. This is because a range object yields
values only when they are needed. However, the function list() can convert a range object
into a list object, whose elements can then be printed. This example also demonstrates list
comprehensions.

Example A.4:
(a) What does the line print(range(1,7,2)) produce in the output of the Python
code?
(b) Change the object range(1,7,2) into a list, by using the Python function list().
(c) Find the maximum element, the sum of the elements and the length of the object
range(1,7,2).
(d) What will be the result of the code [u**3 for u in [1,2,3]]?
(e) What will be the result of the code [x%3 for x in range(0,12)]?
Sequences in python 545

Python Code

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

a = range(1,7,2)
print('Define the range sequence a = ',a,'\n')
# print(a) does not print the elements of the range() object

# Use list(a) to convert the range into a list, then print elements
print('list(a) gives: ',list(a),'\n')

print('The length of the range sequence a is = ',len(a))

print('The sum of elements in the range sequence a is = ',sum(a))
print('The maximum of the range sequence a is = ',max(a))

c, d = [3,'s'] # unpacking a sequence

print("\nUnpack the sequence [3,'s'], to get: c = ",c,' d = ',d,'\n')

e = [u**3 for u in [1,2,3]] # a list comprehension

print('The list comprehension e = ',e)

f = [x%3 for x in range(0,12)] # another list comprehension

print('The list comprehension f = ',f,'\n')

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Define the range sequence a = range(1, 7, 2)
list(a) gives: [1, 3, 5]
The length of the range sequence a is = 3
The sum of elements in the range sequence a is = 9
The maximum of the range sequence a is = 5

Unpack the sequence [3,'s'], to get: c = 3 d = s

The list comprehension e = [1, 8, 27]
The list comprehension f = [0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2]

A.2.3 TUPLE SEQUENCES

The third type of Python sequence is a tuple. We create a tuple by using parentheses
instead of square brackets. For example a = (1,3,′ s′ ). The major difference between tuples
and lists is that tuples are immutable, i.e., their elements cannot be altered. However, the
indexing, slicing and concatenating operations for tuples are essentially the same as for lists.
In this book we will be using list and range objects in most examples, and will occasionally
encounter tuples.

A.2.4 FUNCTIONS ON SEQUENCES

Python has several built-in functions for computing with sequences. For example, len(a),
sum(a), max(a) and min(a), evaluate the length, sum, maximum and minimum element in
the list. We can also sort the list using sorted(a). We also note a major difference between
546 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

string and list types in Python. Lists are mutable but strings are not, i.e., we can modify
the value of an element in a list, but not for a string. However, parts of a string can be
extracted using slices, for example ′ hi′ [1] will extract the second letter in the string ′ hi′ .

A.3 FUNCTIONS, FOR LOOPS AND CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS

This section is a brief introduction to functions, for loops, and conditional statements in
Python. We will demonstrate these over the next four examples. All programming languages
have their own way of setting up functions, for loops, and conditionals. Python uses inden-
tations and colons for these statements. In the next four examples, pay close attention to
how Python uses indentations and colons to delimit blocks of code. There should be no
extra white spaces in the beginning of any line, and the line before any indented block must
end with a colon character.
We begin with Example A.5 where we wish to calculate the position of a particle starting
at the origin with initial speed v0 , moving under a constant acceleration a at a time t using:
1
y = v0 t + a t 2 (A.3.1)
2
Because we wish to evaluate (A.3.1) several times in our code, we will define (A.3.1) as a
function in Python and we will use a for loop for our calculation.
The first three lines of code in Example A.5 define the function f, by using the def
keyword. A function is generally a named unit of code which can be called from other parts
of a program. In Python a function may have one or more variables as arguments, which
receive their values from the calling program. The function f has three arguments vo, a, t,
which are listed in parentheses in the line defining f. All three arguments must be provided
when the function is called.
Inside the indented code of the function definition, the evaluation of (A.3.1) is stored in
the variable y. The variable y is a local variable used by the function, and its value is not
known outside the definition of the function f . By contrast, the variable ypos is a global
variable, whose numerical value is known to the entire code.
The return y statement sends the variable y as the result of the calculation to the
calling code. One can specify more than one variable in the return statement by separating
them with commas.
Suppose we wanted to calculate the value of the function f for vo = 2, a = 1, and t =
3. This can be done using the syntax f(2,1,3). For example, p = f(2,1,3) would store
the value 10.5 in the variable p.
However, Example A.5 asks us to calculate the particle’s position at multiple times. One
can construct for loops in Python which execute blocks of code repeatedly. In Example A.5
we create a for loop for such a purpose. However, before we begin the for loop, the code
line ypos = [] initializes an empty list and which will be used to store the position of the
particle at various times. Notice that this line of code is unindented because, as a global
variable, ypos is defined outside of the function f.
To define a for loop, we need two things, a variable for iteration and a range for that
iteration. In Example A.5, the variable of iteration is t which takes on the values in the
sequence range(4). The indented block of code following the for loop will be repeated
several times. In the first iteration of the loop, the variable t has the value of 0, the first
element of the sequence range(4). The function f is evaluated using f(1,2,t) which, in
this iteration of the loop, is the same as f(1,2,0). The value of f(1,2,0) is then appended
to the end of the list ypos by using the [Link](f(1,2,t)) command.
Functions, for loops and conditional statements 547

In the second iteration of the loop, the variable t has the value of 1 and the process is
repeated. Afterwards, the loop has two more iterations, t = 2 and t = 3. The integer 3 is
the last element of range(4) and, therefore the loop stops after that iteration.

Example A.5:
Create a function f(vo,a,t) which evaluates the position y of a particle starting at the
origin, moving with initial speed v0 , under a constant acceleration a, and at time t:
1
y = v0 t + a t 2 (A.3.2)
2
Use a for loop so that the function f is called repeatedly to evaluate the position of the
particle at times t = 0, 1, 2, and 3 seconds.

Python Code
As outlined above, we construct the for loop using range(4). The function f is called
repeatedly inside the loop, to evaluate the position variable ypos. The value of f is
added (appended) to the list ypos by using the [Link](f(1,2,t)) command.

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

def f(vo,a,t): # define function f

y = vo*t+a*t**2/2 # functions require indentation
return y # return the variable y to the calling code

ypos = [] # create the empty list ypos

for t in range(4): # for loops require indentation
[Link](f(1,2,t)) # add the value of f to the list ypos

print('position y(t) = ',ypos)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

position y(t) = [0.0, 2.0, 6.0, 12.0]

In some cases, the functions we need in our code are simple and they depend only on one
variable, so that we can use a simple function structure called a lambda function. Example
A.6 defines a lambda named function f, which evaluates the position ypos of the particle
based on (A.3.1).

Example A.6:
Repeat the previous example by using a lambda function.

Python Code
Note that when using this simpler type of function, the variables v0 and a are treated
as global variables with fixed values v0 = 1 and a =2.
548 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

vo, a = 1, 2 # global variables vo, a

f = lambda t: vo*t+a*t**2/2 # define lambda function f(t)

ypos = [] # empty list ypos

for t in range(4): # for loops require indentation

[Link](f(t)) # add value of f to the list ypos

print('position y(t) = ',ypos)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

position y(t) = [0.0, 2.0, 6.0, 12.0]

In many occasions we need to execute parts of the code only if certain conditions are
true. In Python such conditional statements are implemented using the if, elif and else
keywords, as in Example A.7. The conditional statement also uses indentation, just like the
functions and for loops.

Example A.7
Repeat the previous example; however, this time use an if statement inside the for
loop, so that the code stores only values of the position which are smaller than 7.

Python Code
In this example the ypos variable is evaluated and stored only if the conditional state-
ment f(t)<7 is true, otherwise, the code line [Link](f(t)) is ignored.

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

vo, a = 1, 2 # global variables xo, vo, a

f = lambda t: vo*t+a*t**2/2 # define lambda function f(t)

ypos = [] # empty list ypos

for t in range(4): # for loops require indentation

if f(t)<7: # if statements require indentation
[Link](f(t)) # if f(t)<7 is true, then add value
# of f(t) to the list ypos
# if f(t)>=7, then ignore this statement

print('position y(t) = ',ypos)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

position y(t) = [0.0, 2.0, 6.0]
Importing python libraries and packages 549

A.4 IMPORTING PYTHON LIBRARIES AND PACKAGES

One of the major advantages of Python is the availability of modules, libraries and packages
for various scientific applications. In this text, we’ll use the term library as a generic term
for all three.
There are several different ways to import Python libraries, and the most common
methods are explained in Example A.8, by using the numpy library and the cosine function
cos() as an example.
The simplest way to import functions from the NumPy library is using [Link](0.5),
where the function is invoked using the form library_name.function_name() .
In the second method, we use an alias for the module name, so that we do not have
to type repeatedly long module names. In this example import numpy as np, and call the
cosine function in the form [Link](0.5). In the third method of importing a function, we
use from numpy import cos and it is understood that the cos() function in the code will
refer to the numpy library.
In the fourth method we use the character * as a wild card for importing all available
functions with the code line from numpy import *. In this last method, we do not need
to type the name of the alias or library. However, one must be careful when using the *
method, since this can cause trouble when more than one modules is imported, which could
be using the same name for different functions.
Other common libraries we will work with are SymPy (Symbolic Python), SciPy (Sci-
entific Python) and the graphics library Matplotlib. These libraries are discussed later in
this chapter.

Example A.8:
Write a Python code to demonstrate the four methods described above for importing
the numpy package, and then evaluate the cosine function cos(0.5) in each method.

Python Code
The comments in this code explain the differences between the four methods of loading
and using the package.
550 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

import numpy # method 1: use [Link]() syntax

print('Using NumPy function, result is: ', [Link](0.5))

import numpy as np # method 2: use alias np, instead of numpy

print('Using np shorthand notation, result is: ', [Link](0.5))

from numpy import cos # method 3: import only function cos() from numpy
print('Importing just the NumPy function, result is: ', cos(0.5))

from numpy import * # method 4: import all necessary from numpy

print('Importing all NumPy functions, result is: ', cos(0.5))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Using NumPy function, result is: 0.8775825618903728
Using np shorthand notation, result is: 0.8775825618903728
Importing just the NumPy function, result is: 0.8775825618903728
Importing all NumPy functions, result is: 0.8775825618903728

Libraries are sometimes organized into multiple modules. For example, the mod-
ule name A.B indicates a module B contained within a library named A. For ex-
ample, [Link]() refers to the function normal() contained within the
module random of the library numpy. The general format for this type of function is
[Link]().

A.5 THE NUMPY LIBRARY

NumPy is the core Python library for numerical computing. NumPy supports operations
on compound data types like arrays and matrices. The first thing to learn is how to create
arrays and matrices using the NumPy library. Python lists can be converted into multi-
dimensional arrays.
In this book we usually adopt the standard convention and import NumPy using the
alias name np, with the code line import numpy as np. As mentioned above, one can also
import NumPy functions using the syntax from numpy import *. If NumPy is the only
package being used in the code, then there is no possibility of any function name conflicts.

A.5.1 CREATING NUMPY ARRAYS

The fundamental object provided by the NumPy library is the ndarray. We can think of a
1D (one-dimensional) ndarray as a list, a 2D (two-dimensional) ndarray as a matrix, a 3D
(three-dimensional) ndarray as a 3-tensor, and so on.
Using the function [Link]() we can create a NumPy array from a Python sequence,
such as a list, a tuple or a list of lists. For example, a = [Link]([1,5,2]) creates a 1D
NumPy array from a Python list.
There are several other functions that can be used for creating different types of arrays
and matrices. Some examples of such array functions are shown in Table A.2.
The NumPy library 551

Table A.2
NumPy functions for creating arrays and matrices.
Function Description
[Link](a) Creates N-dimensional NumPy array from sequence a.
[Link](start, stop, step) Creates an evenly spaced 1D array from start to stop,
excluding the stop value.
[Link](start, stop, N) Creates a 1D array with length equal to N,
including the start and stop value.
[Link](shape) Creates array of given shape and type, filled with zeros.
[Link](shape) Creates an array of given shape and type, filled with ones.
[Link](shape) Creates an array of given shape and type,
filled with random float numbers from 0 to 1.
[Link](array, newshape) Changes the dimensions of a 1D array.

Example A.9 applies some of these array functions to create various types of arrays. In
the first two lines of code, notice that when we print a NumPy array it looks a lot like a
Python list, except the elements are separated by spaces, while in a list the elements are
separated by commas.
The function [Link](start,stop,step) is very similar to the list function
range(start,stop,step) that we saw before when discussing lists. In Example A.9, the
code line [Link](0,3.5,.5) creates a 1D NumPy array with values from 0 to 3.5 in
steps of .5, excluding the end value of 3.5.
The function [Link](start,stop,N) is slightly different, since we specify the
number of points N between the start and end values, instead of the step in the array. In
the same example, [Link](0,8,6) creates an array with exactly six elements between
0 and 8, including the end value 8.
Similarly [Link](5) creates a 1D NumPy array of zeros of length 5. Similarly,
[Link](2,1) creates a 2D NumPy array of zeros with 2 rows and 1 column. The code
line [Link]([1,2]) will generate a matrix with one row and two columns, with
random values between 0 and 1.
Example A.9 demonstrates various types of arrays, and how to use the [Link](),
[Link](), [Link]() and [Link]() functions.

Example A.9
Write a simple code to show how to create arrays using the [Link](),
[Link](), [Link]() and [Link]() functions.
552 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

Python Code
The comments in the code explain the various commands.

import numpy as np
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')
print('printing the list [1,2,3]: ',[1,2,3])
print('printing the array [Link]([1,2,3]): ',[Link]([1,2,3]),'\n')

print('[Link](5) gives: ',[Link](5))

print('[Link](0,3.5,.5) gives: ',[Link](0,3.2,.5),'\n')
# array from 0 to 3.5 steps 0.5 (excluding 7)

print('[Link](0,8,6) gives: ',[Link](0,8,6),'\n')

# create array with 6 values between 0 and 8

print('array with zeros: ',[Link](5)) # generate array with 5 zeros

print('array with ones: ',[Link]([2,1]),'\n')
# generate two rows and one column, with ones

print('array with random values: ',[Link]([1,2]))

# generate random numbers in one row and two columns, in interval (0,1)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

printing the list [1,2,3]: [1, 2, 3]
printing the array [Link]([1,2,3]): [1 2 3]
[Link](5) gives: [0 1 2 3 4]
[Link](0,3.5,.5) gives: [0. 0.5 1. 1.5 2. 2.5 3. ]
[Link](0,8,6) gives: [0. 1.6 3.2 4.8 6.4 8. ]
array with zeros: [0. 0. 0. 0. 0.]
array with ones: [[1.]
[1.]]
array with random values: [[0.32685396 0.76130921]]

A.5.2 ARRAY FUNCTIONS, ATTRIBUTES, AND METHODS

In this section we present a brief overview and examples of working with Python arrays. We
will look at how we can access the properties (or attributes) of an array, and will examine
some of the functions that can be used with NumPy arrays.
Example A.10 applies various functions on arrays and also shows how we can extract
some of the important properties of arrays. Some examples of useful commands for extract-
ing the properties of arrays are shown in Table A.3.
Note that the syntax in Table A.3 is [Link], [Link] etc. These are examples of using
methods objects in Python, as opposed to the functions objects we have looked at so far in
this book. Recall also that we use the function type(A) for a list A , but we use the similar
command [Link] for a NumPy array A. This is an example of using a function versus
using a method.
Functions are called by placing argument expressions in parentheses after the function
name as in type(a), where a is an object (list, string, float, etc.). The functions that we
The NumPy library 553

define in this book will always be called using the function name first, followed in parenthesis
by all of the arguments of the function.
Methods are somewhat similar to functions, but they are called using the dot notation,
such as [Link]. Loosely speaking, methods are always attached to a specific object, while
functions are isolated. Another example of a function versus a method is the implementation
of the dot and cross products of two vectors A and B in SymPy and NumPy. In SymPy
the dot product is implemented as a method [Link](B), while in NumPy the dot product
is represented as a function dot(A,B). We will later see several more different types of
functions and methods within the NumPy, SymPy and SciPy packages used in this book.

Table A.3
Useful commands (methods) for extracting the properties or attributes of an array.
Command Description
[Link] Prints the data type for NumPy array A.
[Link] Prints the number of dimensions for NumPy array A.
[Link] Prints the size (total number of elements) for NumPy array A.
[Link] Finds the number of rows and columns for NumPy array A.

Example A.10 shows how we can use some of these functions with arrays. All entries in
a NumPy array are of the same data type. We will mostly work with numeric arrays which
contain integers, floats, complex numbers or Booleans. We will also mostly be working with
the default integer type numpy.int64 and the default float type numpy.float64. We can access
the datatype of a NumPy array A by its [Link] attribute. We create a 2D NumPy array
from a list of lists of integers using the lines of code A = [Link]([[1,2,3],[4,5,6]])
and [Link] prints out dtype(′ int32′ ) i.e, the data is of integer type and is represented
in the computer’s memory by 32-bits. Similarly, [Link] tells us that A has two dimensions,
with the first dimension corresponding to the vertical direction counting the rows, and the
second dimension corresponds to the horizontal direction counting the columns. Finally, we
can find out the total elements in array A with [Link].
In the next section we see how to carry out arithmetic operations with various types of
arrays.

A.5.3 ARITHMETIC OPERATIONS WITH NUMPY ARRAYS

Mathematical functions in NumPy are vectorized, and a partial list of functions we can use
to compute with NumPy arrays is given in Table A.4.
Vectorized functions operate elementwise on arrays and produce new arrays as output.
For example [Link](2*[Link]*x) computes the values for each elements of the array x =
[Link](0,1.25,0.25). These vectorized functions compute values across arrays very
quickly. NumPy also provides mathematical constants such as π ([Link]), and e (np.e).
We can modify the contents of a NumPy array using indexing and slicing, just as in the
case of lists.
554 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

Table A.4
Partial list of useful array functions in Python.
Array functions in NumPy
[Link] [Link] [Link] [Link]
[Link] [Link] [Link] [Link]
Mathematical functions in NumPy
[Link] [Link] [Link]
[Link] [Link] [Link]
[Link] np.log10 [Link]
Mathematical constants in NumPy
[Link] np.e

Arithmetic operations are applied to NumPy arrays element-by-element: these include

addition +, subtraction -, multiplication *, division / and exponentiation **. See Example
A.10 for a demonstration of the addition of two NumPy arrays.
Normally we can only add vectors or matrices of the same size. However, NumPy has
a set of rules called broadcasting, which allows the combination of arrays of different sizes
when the process makes sense. For example, we can add a constant to a 1D NumPy array,
by using the expression 1+[Link]([5,6,7])**2. In this example of broadcasting, the
array [Link]([5,6,7]) is squared, and then we add the array of ones [1. 1. 1.] which has
the same shape. Here we are adding the scalar number 1 to a 1D NumPy array of length 3,
and the broadcasting rule allows us to use a very simple syntax.
Example A.10 demonstrates various array operations. For example, to compute the
average or mean of the values in an array, we use [Link]([5,6,7]), and to find the index
of the maximum element in the array, we use [Link]([5,6,7]) which gives the value
of the index 2, i.e., it identifies the third element in the array as the max value.
Array functions apply to multi-dimensional arrays as well, but we have to choose
along which axis of the array to apply the function. For example, for the array M =
[Link]([[2,4,2],[2,1,1],[3,2,0]])), the function [Link](M,axis=0) will sum the
columns of M. However, the function [Link](M,axis=1) will sum the rows of M. In a sim-
ilar manner, a three-dimensional array of size 3×3×3 can be summed over each of its three
axes.

Example A.10:
Define two NumPy arrays, a and b from the lists [1, 2, 3] and [4, 5, 6], respectively.
In addition, define a 3 × 3 matrix M of your choosing as a NumPy array.
Write a simple code to demonstrate the following:

1. The use of the functions mean(a), argmax(a) , std(a) for the NumPy array a.
2. The result of a + b and a * b.
3. Broadcasting, using 1 + a**2.
4. The use of the functions [Link](M,axis=0) , [Link](M,axis=1) .
The NumPy library 555

Python Code

import numpy as np
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

a = [Link]([1,2,3])
b = [Link]([4,5,6])
M = [Link]([[2,4,2],[2,1,1],[3,2,0]])

#Part 1
print('mean of elements in array a = ',[Link](a))
print('std dev of elements in array a = ',[Link](a))
print('max of elements in array a = ',[Link](a))
print('sum of elements in array a = ',[Link](a),'\n')

#Part 2
print('a + b = ' , a+b)
print('a * b = ', a*b, '\n')

#Part 3
print('1 + a**2 = ', 1 + a**2,'\n')

#Part 4
print('matrix M =',M,'\n')
print('sum of elements of M along axis=0 (rows) = ',[Link](M,axis=0))
print('sum of elements of M along axis=1 (columns) = ',[Link](M,axis=1))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

mean of elements in array a = 2.0
std dev of elements in array a = 0.816496580927726
max of elements in array a = 3
sum of elements in array a = 6
a + b = [5 7 9]
a * b = [ 4 10 18]
1 + a**2 = [ 2 5 10]
matrix M = [[2 4 2]
[2 1 1]
[3 2 0]]
sum of elements of M along axis=0 (rows) = [7 7 3]
sum of elements of M along axis=1 (columns) = [8 4 5]

A.5.4 INDEXING AND SLICING OF NUMPY ARRAYS

NumPy arrays can be indexed, sliced and copied, just like Python Lists.
Example A.11 shows how to use slicing and indexing in multidimensional NumPy array.
For example, the fourth element in array v is accessed with v[3] and we can use two indexes
v[1,2] to find the element at row index 1 and column index 2. Similarly v[-1,-1] accesses
the last element. The syntax v[2,:] addresses the row with index 2, and v[:,3] addresses
the column with index 3.
556 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

Example A.11:
(a) Define a 3 × 3 matrix v of your choosing and demonstrate the use of indexing with
v[3], v[1,2] and v[-1,-1].
(b) What elements of the matrix correspond to v[2,:] and v[:,3] ?

Python Code

import numpy as np
print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

# define 3x3 matrix using NumPy array

v = [Link]([[1,2,3],[4,5,6],[7,8,9]])

print('The third element v[2] = ',v[2],'\n')

print('The element at row index 1 and column index 2=',v[1][2])

print('The element v[1,0] = ',v[1,0])
print('The last element v[-1,-1] = ',v[-1,-1],'\n')

print('The column with index 0 = ',v[:,0])

print('The row with index 2 = ',v[2,:],'\n')

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The third element v[2] = [7 8 9]
The element at row index 1 and column index 2= 6
The element v[1,0] = 4
The last element v[-1,-1] = 9
The column with index 0 = [1 4 7]
The row with index 2 = [7 8 9]

A.6 THE MATPLOTLIB MODULE

Matplotlib is a Python library that can generate many different types of plots and graphical
representations of data, using just a few lines of code. The user has full control of line styles,
font properties, axes properties, etc. Often data points for the plotting functions are supplied
as Python lists or as NumPy arrays.
In the next two subsections we will see how to create two- and three-dimensional plots
using Matplotlib. We will also briefly discuss two different methods of using Matplotlib,
namely object-oriented programming versus procedural programming.

A.6.1 2D PLOTS USING MATPLOTLIB

The general procedure to create a 2D plot is to first import the Python library Matplotlib
and its submodule pyplot. Typically we will import the [Link] submodule
using the short-hand alias plt. Next we create two sequences of x-values and y-values,
and then use the general plot command [Link](x,y,[fmt],**kwargs). Here [fmt] is
an optional string format and **kwargs are optional keyword arguments specifying the
The matplotlib module 557

properties of the plot. To improve the appearance of the plot, we use pyplot() functions
to add a figure title, legend, grid lines, etc. Finally, the line [Link]() displays the figure.
Let’s begin with a basic example, of solving a simple physics problem in which we throw
a ball straight up with an initial speed v0 = 5 m/s. We want to plot the position y(t) as a
function of time, and also find numerically the maximum height reached by the ball. The
kinematic equations for this problem are:
1
y = v0 t − g t2 (A.6.1)
2
v(t) = v0 − g t (A.6.2)
2
where g = 9.8 m/s is the acceleration of gravity. Example A.12 shows how we would solve
this problem using the numerical capabilities of Python.

Example A.12
Write a code to evaluate and plot the kinematic equation (A.6.1), from t = 0 to t =1 s
with vo = 5 m/s.

Python Code
The first line in the code import numpy as np causes Python to import the NumPy
library, with the alias np. We import the Python library Matplotlib and its submodule
pyplot, in order to plot the position y(t). The code imports the [Link]
submodule using the short-hand alias plt. After the libraries are imported, we define
the initial condition variable vo and the acceleration of gravity g, in a single line vo, g
= 5, 9.8.
We need to tell Python for which values of time t we will be computing the position
y(t). In this case, we use t=[Link](0,1,100) to define the array with the values
of times t, which will be used to compute y(t). We next use a list comprehension in the
form y=[vo*u-g*u**2/2 for u in t] to obtain the array y containing the values of
y(t).
The pyplot commands plot, title, ylabel, xlabel are used to improve the appear-
ance of the plot in Figure A.1, and finally [Link]() prints the plot. The last four
lines in the code show how to evaluate numerically the maximum height ymax and the
corresponding time tmax, by applying the functions max() and argmax(), respectively.
558 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')
import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt
vo, g = 5, 9.8 # define values of vo, g

t = [Link](0,1.03,100) # create sequence of times

y = [vo*u-g*u**2/2 for u in t] # create sequence of positions, plot y(t)

[Link](t,y)

[Link]('Ball thrown straight up') # add title to plot

[Link]('Vertical distance y(t)') # add labels for x and y axes
[Link]('Time t [s]')

ymax = max(y) # find position ymax

tmax = t[[Link](y)] # find time tmax

print('Max height reached = ',f'{ymax:.4f}', ' m')

print('Time to reach ymax = ',f'{tmax:.4f}',' s')

[Link]()

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Max height reached = 1.2755 m
Time to reach ymax = 0.5098 s

Figure A.1: Plot of the kinematic equation (A.6.1), from t = 0 to t =1 s with vo = 5 m/s.
The matplotlib module 559

We can improve further the plots by specifying various options inside the [Link]()
function. For example, we specify the color , e.g., by name as in color=′ red′ , or by a RGB tu-
ple such as (1,0,1). We can also specify the type of line to be used with linestyle=′ dashed′ ,
the type of marker for data points with marker=′ o′ , the linewidth with linewidth=2, etc.
It is very convenient to use combined format strings as in the command
[Link](x,y,′ rd--′ ) where the string ′ rd--′ ) signifies a red line ( ’r’), a diamond
marker (’d’) and a dashed line (--).
Examples of colors are: b blue, g green, r red, c cyan, m magenta, y yellow, k black, w
white. Examples of character Markers are: . point, o circle, v triangle down, ^ triangle up,
s square, p pentagon, * star, + plus, x x, D diamond. Finally, examples of linestyles are: -
solid line style, -- dashed line, -. dash-dot line, : dotted line.
The graphical commands in this example are an example of procedural programming.
Next, we will use the Matplotlib module to produce 3D plots using object oriented pro-
gramming.

A.6.2 3D PLOTS USING MATPLOTLIB

Example A.13 demonstrates how to plot a surface z = f (x, y) in 3D.

Example A.13
Write a Python code to plot the surface function z = f (x, y) = x + y + 3 in 3D, when
−3 ≤ x ≤ 3 and -3 ≤ y ≤ 3.

Python Code
The 3D plot in the example is created using the plot_surface() func-
tion within the matplotlib library. The lines fig = [Link]() and and
fig.add_subplot(projection =′ 3d′ ) create the 3D plot, and the wireframe style is
used for the plot.
The NumPy command meshgrid(x, x) creates double arrays X,Y from the single
NumPy arrays x,y,z. It is necessary to created double arrays which are required as
inputs for the function plot_surface(X,Y,Z).
The plotting function plot_wireframe(X,Y,Z) plots the 3D surface of the plane z =
f (x, y) = 3 + x + y with the result shown in Figure A.2.
560 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

# surface plot for z=3+x+y

x = [Link](-3, 3, 0.6) # grid of points on x-axis
X, Y = [Link](x, x) # grid of points on xy-plane
Z= 3+X+Y # values of z for points on the xy-grid

# plot 3D surface using object oriented programming commands

# define the objects fig and axes for 3D plotting
fig = [Link]()
axes = fig.add_subplot(projection ='3d')

# plot 3D surface using wireframe style

axes.plot_wireframe(X, Y, Z, color='skyblue')

axes.set_xlabel('X') # labels for x,y,z axes

axes.set_ylabel('Y')
axes.set_zlabel('Z')

[Link](-2.6,2,6,'z=f(x,y)=3+x+y') # add text to the plot

[Link]()

Figure A.2: Plot of a 3D surface z = f (x, y) from Example A.13 using MatPlotLib.
Symbolic computation with SymPy 561

A.7 SYMBOLIC COMPUTATION WITH SYMPY

Symbolic Computation involves using a computer to help find closed-form solutions to differ-
ential equations, integrals, eigenvalues, and many more types of symbolic evaluations. For
example, we can enter the equation or integral we want solved, and the computer program
returns a closed-form solution, if it exists.
Python cannot perform symbolic manipulations by itself, so we need to import the
SymPy library in order to expand Python’s capabilities. This is sometimes done in the first
line of the code with import sympy as sym, which causes Python to import the SymPy
library with the alias sym. Most often, we will import from SymPy only the functions we
need.
As an example of a symbolic type of computation, we will use SymPy to solve again
symbolically the simple physics problem of throwing a ball straight up with an initial speed
v0 = 5 m/s. We want to evaluate symbolically the maximum height ymax reached by the
ball (neglecting air resistance), and how long it takes to reach this maximum height. The
kinematic equations for this problem are:
1
y = v0 t − g t2 (A.7.1)
2
v(t) = v0 − g t (A.7.2)
By setting the speed v(t) = v0 − g t = 0 at the maximum height reached by the ball, we
find the corresponding time t = v0 /g. Substituting this value of t into (A.7.1) we find the
maximum height:
   2
v0 1 v0 v2
ymax = v0 − g = 0 (A.7.3)
g 2 g 2g
Example A.14 shows how we would solve this problem using the symbolic capabilities
of Python.

Example A.14:
Use SymPy to solve again the problem of throwing a ball straight up with an initial
speed v0 = 5 m/s. Evaluate symbolically the maximum height ymax reached by the ball
(neglecting air resistance), and how long it takes to reach this maximum height.

Python Code
The following Python code evaluates the time tmax and the maximum height ymax ,
starting from (A.7.1) and (A.7.2). In this example, the SymPy library includes the
function solve and the method .subs which can help us solve algebraic equations.
Notice that we tell Python that the variables vo, t, g need to be defined, using the
symbols command, and that we also include the option real=True to signify that they
are to be treated as real variables.
The code line solve(vo-g*t,t) solves symbolically the equation v0 − g t = 0 for the
variable t, while the line [Link](t,tmax) substitutes symbolically the value of t with
tmax.
562 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

from sympy import symbols, solve

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

vo, t, g = symbols('vo, t, g ',real=True) # define variables

# solve equation for tmax symbolically using solve() function

tmax = solve(vo-g*t,t)[0]
print('Time to reach max height=',tmax)

y = vo*t-g*t**2/2
# substitute tmax in y(t) to find ymax, using method .subs
print('Max height reached = ',[Link](t,tmax))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Time to reach max height= vo/g
Max height reached = vo**2/(2*g)

In the next section we provide an example which shows how to use the lambdify and
diff functions in Python.

A.8 LAMBDIFY() AND DIFF() FUNCTIONS IN PYTHON

Example A.15 shows how one can combine the results from NumPy and SymPy libraries,
by using the lambdify() function. The lambdify() function can calculate numerical values
from SymPy expressions, and the diff function is used to obtain the symbolic derivative
of a function.
In Example A.15, we are asked to evaluate a symbolic derivative and then plot its result.
We use SymPy to evaluate the symbolic derivative of a function. However, lambdify must
then be used, so that we can numerically evaluate the result before we create the plot.

Example A.15:
Use SymPy to evaluate the symbolic derivative of the function f = a sin(bt) with respect
to time t, and evaluate this derivative in the interval t = 0 to t = 6. Use the numerical
values a = 1 and b = 2.

Python Code
The Python code imports the lambdify function with the code line from
[Link] import lambdify. Notice that we tell Python that the
variables a, b, t need to be defined using the symbols command, and that we also
include the option real=True to signify that they are to be treated as real variables.
The diff(f,t) command is used to evaluate the symbolic derivative of the function
f = a sin(b t) and the result is stored in the variable deriv.
Next, [Link](a:1,b:2) substitutes the numerical values a = 1 and b = 2 into the sym-
bolic derivative, and code line y = lambdify(t,[Link](a:1,b:2)) creates a function
y = f (t).
Overview of integration methods in python 563

import numpy as np
from sympy import symbols, sin, diff
from [Link] import lambdify

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

a, b, t = symbols('a,b,t',real=True) # define symbols

f = a*sin(b*t)
deriv = diff( f,t) # evaluate symbolic derivarive of f
print('Symbolic Derivative v=dy/dt: ',deriv)

tims = [Link](0,6,5) # sequence of times tims

# substitute a=1 and b=2 in derivative, using .subs method

y = lambdify(t,[Link]({a:1,b:2}))

# print y(t)
print('Derivative values = \n',y(tims))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

Symbolic Derivative v=dy/dt: a*b*cos(b*t)
Derivative values =
[ 2. -1.97998499 1.92034057 -1.82226052 1.68770792]

A.9 OVERVIEW OF INTEGRATION METHODS IN PYTHON

This section provides a brief overview of different symbolic and numerical integration meth-
ods available in Python.
In general, there are two broad types of integration functions available in Python. The
first type of Python function is used to integrate analytical functions f (x), and several
examples are given in this chapter from various areas of science. This type of integration is
carried out using two different methods:
• Method #1: Using the [Link] library, we carry out symbolic integration of
both proper and improper integrals. In addition, by using the [Link] library
we can evaluate integrals of special functions frequently encountered in physics (Error
function, Bessel function, Hermite polynomials, etc).

• Method #2: Using the [Link] library, we can carry out numeric integration
of functions from other libraries, or functions defined by the user (see Table A.5), or
samples of a function which are often stored as NumPy arrays (see Table A.6).
564 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

Table A.5
Integration functions available in the [Link] library for given functions.
Python function Description
quad General purpose integration.
dblquad General purpose double integration.
tplquad General purpose triple integration.
fixed_quad Integrate func(x) using Gaussian quadrature of order n.
quadrature Integrate with given tolerance using Gaussian quadrature.
romberg Integrate func using Romberg integration.

Of the methods in Table A.5, we will use the quad command in this book to evaluate 1D
integrals, while the functions dblquad and tplquad will be used to evaluate two-dimensional
and three-dimensional integrals.

Table A.6
Integration functions available in the [Link] library for sampled functions.
Python function Description
trapezoid Use the trapezoidal rule to compute an integral
cumulative_trapezoid Use the trapezoidal rule to cumulatively compute an integral
simpson Use Simpson’s rule to compute an integral
from samples of the function
romb Use Romberg Integration to compute integral
from (2k + 1) evenly-spaced samples

For a more complete listing of integration routines in SciPy, and details on how each
algorithm works, see the online manual and tutorial for [Link].
Example A.16 evaluates an indefinite integral which appears often in physics, using the
[Link] command.

Example A.16:
Calculate these integrals using SymPy.
Z Z
(a) x cos(n x) dx (b) x sin(n x) dx
Dsolve() command in SymPy 565

Python Code
Using integration by parts, we obtain:
Z
x sin(n x) cos(n x)
x cos(n x) dx = + +C
n n2
and Z
x cos(n x) sin(n x)
x sin(n x) dx = − + +C (A.9.1)
n n2
where C is an arbitrary constant of integration. The following Python code to evaluate
the definite integral gives the same result. Notice that we tell Python the variable the
variable x needs to be defined using the symbols command, and that the variable n
is not zero, by including the option positive=True. We also use the symbolic form of
cos() for the cosine function, instead of the numerical form of [Link]().

from sympy import symbols, integrate, cos, sin

x = symbols('x')
n = symbols('n', positive=True) # define symbols

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')
print("The indefinite cosine integral = ",integrate(x*cos(n*x),x))
print("The indefinite sine integral = ",integrate(x*sin(n*x),x))

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The indefinite cosine integral = x*sin(n*x)/n + cos(n*x)/n**2
The indefinite sine integral = -x*cos(n*x)/n + sin(n*x)/n**2

A.10 DSOLVE() COMMAND IN SYMPY

In Python we obtain symbolic general solutions of a differential equation using the SymPy
command dsolve. This command has typically three arguments: the differential equation
that we are trying to solve, the function for which the differential equation is being solved,
and the initial conditions of the problem. Let’s look at the details of the Python code.

Example A.17:
Consider a particle that is moving along a line with an acceleration proportional
to time a t, where a is a constant. If at time t = 0 the particle’s velocity is v0 , find
the formula for the particle’s velocity as a function of time, by solving the differential
equation dv/dt = a t.

Python Code
The first line tells Python to import several commands from the Symbolic Python
(SymPy) library. Libraries are written by experienced programmers, and they include
functions which can be used by any code that imports the library. In this case, the
SymPy library includes functions like dsolve which solve differential equations in closed
form.
566 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

All of the symbols need to be specified in Python. We use Symbol('t', real=True,

positive=True) to indicate that t is a real and positive variable. Similarly, symbols is
used to indicate that a,v0 are real variables. We use the Function command to indicate
to Python that v[t] is a function.
The general solution of the differential equation is given by the SymPy command
dsolve, whose arguments are the differential equation, the function for which the dif-
ferential equation is being solved, and the initial conditions of the problem. In this
example, the structure of this command is
dsolve(diff(v(t),t)-a*t,v(t),ics=initconds).
Notice that in Python, the differential equation is written such that the right-hand side
is equal to zero; in this example diff(v(t),t)-a represents the equation dv/dt = a t,
and only the left-hand side of the differential equation is entered. Here v(t) is the
desired solution, and ics=initconds specifies the initial conditions of the problem.
These conditions are specified in the line initconds = v(0):v0 which represents the
given initial condition v(0) = v0 .

from sympy import Symbol, symbols, Function, dsolve, diff

print('-'*28,'CODE OUTPUT','-'*29,'\n')

# define symbols and the function v

v = Function('v')
t = Symbol('t', real=True, positive=True)
a, v0 = symbols('a, v0', real=True)

# initial conditions for the ODE

initconds = {v(0):v0}

# use dsolve to obtain solution of ODE dv/dt=a

solution = dsolve(diff(v(t),t)-a*t,v(t),ics=initconds).rhs

print('The solution is v(t) = ',solution)

---------------------------- CODE OUTPUT -----------------------------

The solution is v(t) = a*t**2/2 + v0

A.11 NUMERICAL INTEGRATION: THE ODEINT() COMMAND IN SCIPY

In Python we obtain numerical solutions of a differential equation using the SciPy command
odeint().

Example A.18
Using an initial velocity of v(0) = v0 =1 m/s, find and graph the numerical solution
to the differential equation:
dv
= at (A.11.1)
dt
where the constant a = 2 m/s2 .
Numerical integration: the odeint() command in SciPy 567

Python Code
We import three libraries, NumPy, SciPy, and the graphics library Matplotlib. From
the SciPy library we import only the function odeint which is used to numerically solve
the differential equation (A.11.1). After the libraries are imported, we assign the values
of the initial condition variable v0 and the acceleration a.
To solve the differential equation numerically, we create a new function in Python
that we called velderiv(v,t), which contains the differential equation we are solving.
In Python, function definition is done using the command def. The arguments of the
function are v and t, and they are included in parentheses following the function name.
The next few lines contain the actual calculation of the function. Notice we included
a local variable dvdt, which stays within the function and is equal to the first derivative
of v. The last line of the function is return dvdt, which returns the value of the variable
dvdt.
We also need to tell Python for which values of t we will be computing v(t). In
this case, times is an array which contains the list [t0 , t1 , . . . , t30 ] = [0, 0.1, . . . , 3.0],
and hence we will be solving for v(0), v(0.1), . . . , v(3.0). Next, we solve the differential
equation using the command odeint, which is imported from the [Link]
library. The odeint command in this example is:
velocity = odeint(velderiv,v0,times).
This command has three arguments: the differential equation (as the user-defined func-
tion velderiv), the initial value (v0), and the list of times times. The result is an
array which we called velocity, and contains values [v0 , v1 , . . .], where vi = v(ti ). The
last group of lines in the program set up the graph of v versus t.

import numpy as np
from [Link] import odeint
import [Link] as plt

# initial condition v(0)=1, and acceleration a =9.8 m/s^2

v0 = 1
a = 2

# define function velderiv to be called by odeint

def velderiv(v,t):
dvdt = a*t
return dvdt

# times at which to evaluate the numerical solution

times = [Link](0,3,30)

# solve the ODE with initial v(0)=v0

velocity = odeint(velderiv,v0,times)

# plot v(t) and label the axes

[Link](times,velocity)
[Link]('v(t), m/s')
[Link]('Time, s')
[Link]()
568 Appendix A: Introduction to Python

Figure A.3: Plot of the numerical solution of the differential equation A.11.1 from Example
A.18.

A.12 VECTOR REPRESENTATION IN SYMPY

The Python library [Link] is used in this book to represent vectors and vector
operations. .Some examples of the relevant vector functions and methods are shown in
Table A.7.

Table A.7
Partial list of vector functions and methods in the package [Link].
Function/Method Description
R = CoordSys3D('R') Define Cartesian coordinate system named R.
R.base_vectors() The unit base vectors of the coordinate system R.
[Link] components of vector v.
[Link]() magnitude of vector v.
[Link]() the normalized version of vector v.
[Link](u) The vector projection of vector von vector u,
[Link](u, scalar=True) The scalar magnitude of the projection of vector von vector u.
[Link](u) cross product of vectors v, u.
[Link](u) dot product of vectors v, u.
v.to_matrix(C) Modify vector v into a matrix form C.

For several more examples of Python codes covering many of the topics in this book,
the readers are referred to our recently published book Mathematical Methods using Python
(Pagonis and Kulp, [3]).
 B Introduction to Mathematica
B.1 VARIABLES IN MATHEMATICA
Although Mathematica is best known for its symbolic capabilities, it is a programming lan-
guage in and of itself. Therefore, it can store floats, integers, complex numbers, and strings
as variables. In general, variable names in Mathematica should be lowercase (functions be-
gin with uppercase letters); however, there is nothing preventing you from using upper case
letters in Mathematica. The Print command can be used to display a variable’s contents.
Note that Mathematica can also print contents without using the Print command. By
default, Mathematica displays the output when commands are executed, or variables are
assigned. Lines ending with a semicolon (;) suppress the output.

Example B.1: Assigning and displaying variables in Mathematica

√ of the quantities 0.0004, 3 × 10 , 1 − 2i, and
4
Assign Mathematica variables to each
the string “Hello world!” Note that i = −1.
Solution: √
Notice that we used ^ for exponentiation and that I is used for −1. Furthermore,
double quotes are used for strings. For the variables a, b, and c, we suppressed the
output with a ; at the end of the line in which the variables are defined. By leaving
out the ; when s is defined, we allowed Mathematica to display the contents of s
immediately below its definition. We also demonstrated the use of the Print command.
The last line shows that variables need not be assigned a value. Mathematica can work
with the x without it being assigned beforehand.

569
570 Appendix B: Introduction to Mathematica

Mathematica Code
a = 0.0004;

b = 3 ∗ 10∧ 4;

c = 1 − 2I;

s = “Hello World!”

Hello World!

Print[“a = ”, a]

a = 0.0004

Print[“b = ”, b]

b = 30000

Print[“c = ”, c]

c = 1 − 2i

Print[“s = ”, s]

s = Hello World!

Print[“We stored nothing in x. x = ”, x]

We stored nothing in x. x = x

Variable names in Mathematica cannot start with a number. It is often good to use
variable names that are clear. However, Mathematica does not allow spaces or underscores
in variable names. Words can be separated in a variable’s name using capitalization. For
example, suppose we wish to calculate a projectile’s time of flight. We can store that time
in a variable named timeOfFlight where we capitalized the O and the F to separate words.
Variable names can not be the same as function names. For example, you cannot use
Sin as a variable name since that is Mathematica’s reserved command for the trig function.
However, sin can be used as a variable name. The Mathematica naming convention (of
using capitalization for functions and not variables) can help prevent you from trying to
assign variables to protected names.
The Mathematica notebook will also give color clues as to variables which have already
been defined. For example, if you were to type the letter a later in the code used in Example
B.1, then it would appear black because Mathematica knows the value of a. Likewise,
if you type the name of a command such as Sin, it would also appear black, because
Mathematica knows that function. However, if you were to type sin in the code, it would
appear blue. The variable sin is not defined and Mathematica colors variables and terms
blue when it doesn’t understand them. Coloration can be a useful way of debugging code
in Mathematica. Finally, some characters may appear in the color teal. These are variables
which Mathematica intends to use in a function. For example in the command Solve[x^2
== 1,x], we are asking Mathematica to solve the equation x2 = 1 for x. The variable x is
not previously defined, but Mathematica is using it in the Solve command.
Lists in Mathematica 571

B.2 LISTS IN MATHEMATICA

In Mathematica, a list contains a series of objects (of any kind, string, integer, float,
etc.). Lists are defined using curly brackets {}. For example, a = {1,2,3} defines the
list {1,2,3} in the variable a. Lists can contain more than one type of object. For example,
we could define a new list b = {1, {3,4,5}, "Hello World!",2I} .
Let us return to the list a as defined in the paragraph above. We can access an element
of a list by its index (the numerical position in the list). In Mathematica, the first element
has an index of 1. Hence, if we want to ask Mathematica for the first element of a list, we
type a[[1]]. Note the double square brackets. Likewise, if we want to change the value of
an element in the list, we can use the element’s index. For example, a[[-1]] = 5 changes
the last value of the list to the number 5.
Sublists can be defined using ;;. This is shown in Example B.2.

Example B.2: Lists in Mathematica

Define the list a = {2, {1, 2, 3}, 3 ∗ I, {1, 4}, ”Hello”}.
a. What does the line a[[2;;4]] produce?
b. Change the last value of the list to “world.”
c. What does a[[4]] + a[[5]] produce?
d. What does 3*a[[2]] produce?

Mathematica code
Notice that a[[2;;4]] creates a list that starts with the second element of a, and
ends with the fourth element of a. The ranges are inclusive and the resulting list has
three elements.
In part (b), note that a[[-1]] indicates the last element of the array a.
When computing a[[4]] + a[[5]], we find that we get a new list where the string
“world” is added to each element of a[[4]]. Note that Mathematica is okay with
combining variable types in this way. Finally 3*a[[2]] produces a list where each
element of a[[2]] is multiplied by the first element of a (the number 3). Further,
notice that we did not use the Print command and let Mathematica output the result
of each calculation immediately below each line that doesn’t end with a semicolon.
572 Appendix B: Introduction to Mathematica

(*Part (a)*)

a = {2, {1, 2, 3}, 3 ∗ I, {1, 4}, “Hello”};

a[[2;;4]]

{{1, 2, 3}, 3i, {1, 4}}

(*Part (b)*)

a[[−1]] = “world”;

{2, {1, 2, 3}, 3i, {1, 4}, world}

(*Part (c)*)

a[[5]] + a[[4]]

{1 + world, 4 + world}

(*Part (d)*)

3 ∗ a[[2]]

{3, 6, 9}

B.3 FUNCTIONS, LOOPS, AND CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS

Mathematica has thousands of predefined functions. However, there is still a need for user-
defined functions. For example, suppose you want to calculate the position of a particle x(t)
moving with a constant acceleration a. We know from basic physics that the position of the
particle x is described by
1
x = x0 + v0 t + at2 (B.3.1)
2
where x0 and v0 are the position and velocity of the particle at time t, respectively. By
creating a user-defined function for (B.3.1), we can evaluate it several times. Example B.3
shows how to create and evaluate a user-defined function.

Example B.3: Functions and lists in Mathematica

Create a function X[v0,a,t] which evaluates (B.3.1) to find the position of a particle
at times t = 0, 1, 2, and 3 seconds with v0 = 3 m/s and a = 2 m/s2 .
Functions, loops, and conditional statements 573

Mathematica Code
Following Mathematica’s naming convention, we began with defining the function
X using a capital letter. In the square brackets, we included each argument for X, in
this case the initial velocity v0, acceleration a, and time t. To define the function, we
use SetDelayed (:=) which assigns the right-hand side to the function X, but does not
evaluate the definition until it is called in the code. In the second line of the code, we
show how to evaluate the function. Finally, we create a list of positions using the Table
command. Table creates a list where the first argument is the object being computed
(in this case, the function X with specified v0 and a). The second argument of Table is a
list that contains the variable being iterated, the starting value for the iteration, and the
final value (both values are inclusive). A step size can be included as a fourth value in
the list. For example, the command Table[X[3, 2, t], {t, 0, 3,2}] would create
a list starting at t = 0 and ending at t = 3, but calculate only every other element. The
result would be {0,10}.
X[v0_, a_, t_]:=v0 ∗ t + 1/2 ∗ a ∗ t∧ 2;

X[3, 2, 1]

Table[X[3, 2, t], {t, 0, 3}]

{0, 4, 10, 18}

The Table command is one method of performing a loop in Mathematica that is par-
ticularly useful if you have a simple calculation, or if you want the output of the loop to be
a list. More complicated loops can be done in Mathematica using the command Do. In the
next example, we will repeat Example B.3 using a Do-loop.

Example B.4: Functions and lists in Mathematica

Create a function x[v0,a,t] which evaluates (B.3.1) to find the position of a par-
ticle. Use a Do loop to calculate x[3,2,t] at times t = 0, 1, 2, and 3 seconds.

Mathematica Code
We defined the function X as in Example B.3. We then created an empty list Xlist
which will store the position of the particle as a function of time. Notice that the Do
loop has several lines. Before the comma in Do are the lines that are iterated during
the loop. In this case, we evaluate the function X[3,2,t] and store the result in the
variable xpos. The AppendTo command appends the value of xpos to the end of the
list. Finally, we display the value of the variable Xlist.
574 Appendix B: Introduction to Mathematica

X[v0_, a_, t_]:=v0 ∗ t + 1/2 ∗ a ∗ t∧ 2;

xlist = {};

Do[xpos = X[3, 2, t];

AppendTo[xlist, xpos],

{t, 0, 3}];

xlist

{0, 4, 10, 18}

Conditional statements are used when we need to execute parts of the code, but only if
certain conditions are true. In Mathematica, we use the If command as demonstrated in
Example B.5.

Example B.5: Functions and lists in Mathematica

Create a function x[v0,a,t] which evaluates (B.3.1) to find the position of a par-
ticle. Use a Do loop to calculate X[3,2,t] at times t = 0, 1, 2, and 3 seconds, but store
the value in a list only if X[3,2,t] < 10 is true.

Mathematica Code
This time we included an If command in the Do loop. We used white space to
separate the if-statement for clarity. The first argument of If is xpos < 10 and it states
the condition that must be true in order for the second argument AppendTo[xlist,
xpos] to be executed. In this case if the particle’s position is less than 10 meters, then
the position’s value is appended to xlist. A third argument can be included in If,
which would be the calculation executed if the condition were false.
Vectors and matrices in Mathematica 575

X[v0_, a_, t_]:=v0 ∗ t + 1/2 ∗ a ∗ t∧ 2;

xlist = {};

Do[xpos = X[3, 2, t];

If[xpos < 10,

AppendTo[xlist, xpos]]

, {t, 0, 3}];

xlist

{0, 4}

B.4 VECTORS AND MATRICES IN MATHEMATICA

Vectors and matrices are important mathematical structures in physics, and Mathematica
treats both as lists. In Example B.6, we show how Mathematica stores vectors and matrices
as well as to perform basic calculations. Instruction on more detailed calculations will be
provided throughout the text.

Example B.6: Vectors and matrices in Mathematica

Consider the vectors
r1 = 3î − 2ĵ + k̂
r2 = −î + ĵ + 4k̂
and the matrices    
1 2 a b
A= B=
3 4 c d
Calculate: r1 + r2 , r1 · r2 , A + B, and AB.

Mathematica Code
Notice that in Mathematica, vectors are stored as lists. The first element is the
x−component, the second is the y−component and so on. In general, an n-dimensional
vector is stored as a list of length n. The command . or Dot[r1,r2] is used for the dot
product.
Matrices are stored as a two-dimensional array in Mathematica. Notice that the
elements of the array are row vectors. Matrix multiplication is done using . just like the
dot product. Furthermore, we demonstrate the MatrixForm command which produces
easier to read output for matrices. The double slashes tells Mathematica to perform the
MatrixForm command on the output.
576 Appendix B: Introduction to Mathematica

r1 = {3, −2, 1};

r2 = {−1, 1, 4};

A = {{1, 2}, {3, 4}};

B = {{a, b}, {c, d}};

r1 + r2

{2, −1, 5}

r1.r2

−1

A+B

{{1 + a, 2 + b}, {3 + c, 4 + d}}

A.B//MatrixForm
 
 a + 2c b + 2d 
 
3a + 4c 3b + 4d

B.5 CREATING PLOTS IN MATHEMATICA

The graphical representation of functions is important in physics. Mathematica has many
different plotting functions. However, the four most important in this text are:
• Plot is used to plot functions, both Mathematica and user-defined functions, including
the solutions to differential equations.

• ListPlot is used to plot lists such as data points.

• ParametricPlot is used to plot two functions which depend on the same independent
variable. For example, if you needed to plot the path of a projectile, you would plot the
projectile’s horizontal coordinate x(t) and its vertical coordinates y(t) in a parametric
plot.

• Plot3D is used to plot functions of two independent variables. The result is the surface
of a function in 3D.
Each type of plot is demonstrated in Example B.7.
Creating plots in Mathematica 577

Example B.7: Plotting functions in Mathematica

Consider the functions:

x(t) = 1 + 2t (B.5.1)
y(t) = 2 + 3t − 4.5t2
(B.5.2)
 2 
x + y2
f (x, y) = 3 exp − (B.5.3)
3

(a) Use Plot to plot y(t) for t = 0 . . . 1.

(b) Use ListPlot to plot the ordered pairs {x(t), y(t)} for t = 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4.
(c) Use ParametricPlot to plot {x(t), y(t)} for t = 0 . . . 3.
(d) Use Plot3D to plot f (x, y) for x ∈ [−2, 2] and y ∈ [−2, 2].

Mathematica Code
(a) We begin with the SetOptions command which forces certain options on the
commands that appear in its first argument. In this case, we are forcing the options Axes
-> False which removes the axes from the plot, Frame -> True which encloses the plot
in a frame, and BaseStyle -> {FontSize -> 16}, which forces the font size to be 16
for the commands Plot, ListPlot, and ParametricPlot. The command Plot3D does
not have a Frame option, hence the additional line of code.
For the Plot command, the first argument is the function to be plotted, and the
second argument is the range of independent coordinate values. The range is inputted
as a list. The first argument of the list is the independent variable, the second argument
is the starting value, and the third argument is the final value. The FrameLabel option
is used to label the plot’s axes. The output of ListPlot is shown in Figure B.1(a).
(b) Before we could use ListPlot, we needed to define a list of ordered pairs. That
is done using the Table command. In this case, the first argument is the ordered pair.
The second argument contains the options. The output of ListPlot is shown in Figure
B.1(b).
(c) ParametricPlot is used in the same way as Plot; however, an ordered pair
is plotted instead. The option AspectRatio -> Full is used to prevent Mathematica
from using the same scale to display the vertical and horizontal axes. The reader is
encouraged to download the code from this chapter and change the AspectRatio to see
how the plot is changed. The output of ListPlot is shown in Figure B.1(c).
(d) Finally Plot3D is used like Plot, except ranges for both independent variables
must be given. The output is a wireframe surface. If you are using the Mathematica
notebook, you can mouse over the plot and click and drag to change its orientation.
The output of ListPlot is shown in Figure B.1(d).
578 Appendix B: Introduction to Mathematica

SetOptions[{Plot, ListPlot, ParametricPlot}, Axes->False,

Frame->True, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}];

SetOptions[Plot3D, BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}];

x[t_]:=1 + 2 ∗ t;

y[t_]:=2 + 3 ∗ t − 4.5 ∗ t∧ 2;

f [x_, y_]:=3 ∗ Exp[−(x∧ 2 + y ∧ 2)/3]

Plot[y[t], {t, 0, 1}, FrameLabel->{“time”, “y(t)”}]

list = Table[{x[t], y[t]}, {t, 0, 4}];

ListPlot[list, FrameLabel->{x, y}]

ParametricPlot[{x[t], y[t]}, {t, 0, 3}, FrameLabel->{"x(t)

", “y(t)”}, AspectRatio->Full]

Plot3D[f [x, y], {x, −2, 2}, {y, −2, 2}, AxesLabel->{x, y, f}]
Basic symbolic calculations in Mathematica 579

2.5 0
- 10
2.0
- 20
y(t)

1.5

y
- 30
- 40
1.0
- 50
0.5 - 60
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 2 4 6 8
time x
(a) (b)

-5

- 10
y(t)

- 15

- 20

- 25

- 30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
x(t)
(c) (d)

Figure B.1: Output of Plot (a), ListPlot (b), ParametricPlot (c), and Plot3D (d) from
Example B.7.

B.6 BASIC SYMBOLIC CALCULATIONS IN MATHEMATICA

Mathematica is a powerful computer algebra system. In this book, we will demonstrate
many of its capabilities. For now, we are going to present four basic calculations:
• Solve allows Mathematica to symbolically solve an equation for a single variable, or
a system of equations for multiple variables.
• D calculates symbolic derivatives.
• Integrate calculates symbolic integrals.
• DSolve solves ordinary differential equations symbolically.
580 Appendix B: Introduction to Mathematica

We will demonstrate each of these in the next three examples.

Example B.8: Symbolic manipulation and differentiation

The height of a projectile is
1
y(t) = y0 + v0 t − gt2 (B.6.1)
2
where y0 is the projectile’s initial vertical position, v0 is the initial velocity in the
y-direction, and g is the acceleration due to gravity. Using Mathematica, find the max-
imum height of the projectile.

Mathematica Code
This problem involves finding the maximum of the function y(t), which is done by
finding dy/dt = 0, solving for t, and inserting that value of t into y(t).
We begin by defining (B.6.1) as a variable (not a function) y. The command D[y,
t] computes dy/dt (the result is displayed below the command). We then use the Solve
command to find the value of t when dy/dt = 0. In the Solve command, note the use
of ==, which is used as equivalence. A single equal sign is used for variable assignment.
If one needs to test equality or set two sides of an equation equal, one must use ==.
Finally, we use the replacement command /. to substitute the value of tmax into y.
y = y0 + v0 ∗ t − 1/2 ∗ g ∗ t∧ 2;

D[y, t]

−gt + v0

tmax = Solve[D[y, t]==0, t]

nn oo
v0
t→ g

y/.tmax[[1]]

v02
2g + y0

Example B.9: Symbolic integration

Find the work done by the force F = −kx exerted from the point x = x1 to the
point x = x2 .

Mathematica Code
We know that this problem involves integrating the force. After defining the variable,
force, we use the command Integrate to perform the integration. The first argument
of Integrate is the function being integrated. The second argument can be one of two
Numerical solutions to integrals and differential equations in Mathematica 581

things. Had we simply put x as the second argument, Mathematica would have given
an indefinite integral (without the constant of integration). However, we included a list
of the variable of integration, its lower limit, and its upper limit. The result is a definite
integral.
force = −k ∗ x;

Integrate[force, {x, x1, x2}]//Simplify

1
2k x12 − x22

Example B.10: Symbolic solution of ordinary differential equations

Solve the differential equation

d2 x
= −kx (B.6.2)
dt2
with the initial conditions x(0) = x0 and ẋ(0) = 0.

Mathematica code
The DSolve command is used to solve (B.6.2). The first element is a list which
includes the ODE and the initial conditions. Note the use of apostrophes to denote
differentiation, and square brackets to denote that x is a function of time t. The
second argument of DSolve is the function being solved for, and the third element
is the independent variable. If we wanted a general solution, we could have omitted
the initial conditions from the first argument of DSolve and Mathematica would have
given a solution with arbitrary constants. Finally, we display the solution using x[t]/.
soln[[1]], which tells Mathematica to display the function x[t] stored in the variable
soln.
soln = DSolve[{x”[t]== − k ∗ x[t], x[0]==x0, x′ [0]==0}, x, t];

x[t]/.soln[[1]]
h√ i
x0 Cos kt

B.7 NUMERICAL SOLUTIONS TO INTEGRALS AND DIFFERENTIAL

EQUATIONS IN MATHEMATICA
Sometimes, closed-form solutions to ODEs or integrals are either impossible to find, or not
helpful. In those cases, we can use numerical methods which provide a list of values as
a function of an independent variable (or variables). Mathematica often uses interpolat-
582 Appendix B: Introduction to Mathematica

ing functions as numerical solutions, so the solutions can be evaluated just like any other
function.
Numerical integration is done using the command NIntegrate which is used exactly
like Integrate except that the limits of integration need numerical values. Furthermore,
all parameters in the function (such as k in Example B.10) must be given numerical values.
We demonstrate numerical integration of ODEs in the next example.

Example B.11: Numerical solution of ordinary differential equations

Solve the differential equation

d2 x
= −kx (B.7.1)
dt2
where k = 2 N/m and the initial conditions x(0) = x0 = 1 and ẋ(0) = 0. Plot the result
for t = 0 . . . 10.

Mathematica Code
The NDSolve command is used to solve (B.7.1). Like DSolve, the first element is
a list which includes the ODE and the initial conditions. The second argument of
NDSolve is the function being solved for, and the third element is the numerical range
of independent variable. The result of NDSolve is an interpolating function. We plot
the resulting function using the Plot command. Note again the use of x[t] /. soln
to specify the function x[t], which is stored in the variable soln.

SetOptions[Plot, Frame->True, Axes->False,

BaseStyle->{FontSize->16}];

soln = NDSolve[{x”[t]== − 2 ∗ x[t], x[0]==1, x′ [0]==0}, x,

{t, 0, 10}];

Plot[x[t]/.soln, {t, 0, 10}, FrameLabel->{“time”, “x(t)”}]

Numerical solutions to integrals and differential equations in Mathematica 583

1.0

0.5

x(t) 0.0

- 0.5

- 1.0
0 2 4 6 8 10
time
Figure B.2: A graph of the solution to (B.7.1) from Example B.11.
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585
Index
*, 549 brachistochrone, 259
6-12 potential, 324 burn rate, 135

acceleration, 2 calculus of variations, 251

definition of, 6 canonical equations of motion, 307
acceleration due to gravity, 33 canonical momentum, 303
effective, 382 CAS, 19
acceleration vector center of mass, 144, 326, 407
Cartesian coordinates, 77 continuous mass distribution, 137
cylindrical coordinates, 99 point particles, 136
polar coordinates, 97 central force, 13, 122, 323
spherical coordinates, 102 and torque, 149
action integral, 277 definition of, 323
air resistance, 42 centrifugal force, 340, 360, 371, 380
angular acceleration, 2, 97, 402 direction of, 380
angular momentum, 146, 401 centrifugal potential energy, 340
conservation, 149 Chandler, Seth, 440
conservation of for central forces, 325 chaos, 1, 497, 498, 524
magnitude for two-body problem, 328 definition of, 529
of a rigid body, 410 characteristic equation, 427, 470, 477
of the two-body problem, 328 characteristic polynomial, 503
particle off xy-plane, 404 Chua’s circuit, 536
system of particles, 147, 408 classical mechanics, 1
angular position, 2 fundamental question, 1
angular velocity, 2, 93, 374, 401 classical physics, 1
vector, 373 closed form solution, 17
antisymmetric mode of oscillation, 460, 467 cofactor expansion, 86
double pendulum, 477 collision
aphelion, 342 elastic, 130
arc length, 76, 77 inelastic, 130
arithmetic complex conjugate, 198
NumPy arrays, 554 complex number
arithmetic operators type in Python, 539
in Python, 540 computation, 16
array, 20, 567 computer algebra systems, 19
Atwood machine, 284 concatenation
autoresonance, 535 lists, 542
azimuthal angle, 100 conditional statements, 548
conservative force, 159–161, 180
basic descriptors of motion, 2, 14 curl of, 182
basin of attraction, 509 constraint equations, 279, 297
Bernoulli, Jakob, 251 constraint force, 277, 298, 300
Bernoulli, Johann, 251, 259 from undetermined multiplier, 300
bifurcation, 497, 498, 519, 536 Coriolis acceleration, 384, 385
body cone, 440 direction of, 384
body coordinate frame, 437 Foucault pendulum, 388
boundary conditions, 32 projectile motion, 393
boundary value problem, 32 Coriolis force, 97, 371, 380, 383

587
588 Index

Coulomb force, 338 eccentricity, 95, 338

coupled differential equations, 389 econophysics, 530
critically damped oscillations, 207 effective force, 380
cross product, 85 effective gravitational field, 373
curl eigenvalue, 426, 465, 503
Cartesian coordinates, 116 how to find, 427
conservative force, 117 eigenvalue problem, 426
cylindrical coordinates, 116 coupled oscillators, 470
of the gradient, 118 eigenvector, 426, 466, 503
spherical coordinates, 116 how to find, 427
cyclic coordinates, 303, 312 elastic pendulum, 320
cycloid, 261 elastic potential energy, 162
cylindrical coordinates, 98 electrical-mechanical analogy, 227, 229
electrostatic force, 13
damped harmonic oscillator, 206, 532 electrostatic potential energy, 324
energy of, 213 energy, 159, 161
equation of motion, 207 conservation of, 161
damping, 206 non-conservative forces and energy, 163
damping parameter, 207 of the two-body problem, 329
degrees of freedom, 279, 280, 480 equations of constraint, 279
Del Operator equations of motion, 29, 501
Cartesian coordinates, 110 definition of, 11
cylindrical coordinates, 110 equilibrium, 11, 163
spherical coordinates, 110 equilibrium point, 163
del operator, 103, 116 Euler equation, 255, 277
second derivatives, 118 first form, 256
determinant, 86, 503 multivariable, 271
differential, 102, 109 second form, 259
differential distance, 77 Euler’s equations, 436, 438
differential equation, 12 force-free symmetric top, 438
complementary solution, 196 Euler’s formula
homogeneous, 195 for sine and cosine, 92
linear vs. nonlinear, 195 Euler’s method, 53
nonhomogeneous, 196 Euler’s rotation theorem, 373
order of, 195 Euler, Leonhard, 251
particular solution, 196 Euler-Cromer method, 69
directional derivative, 106 Euler-Lagrange equation, 278, 281, 481
displacement, 2, 3 with undetermined multipliers, 299
divergence exhaust speed, 134
Cartesian coordinates, 114, 115 extended Simpson’s rule, 61
cylindrical coordinates, 115
of the curl, 118 f-strings, 540
spherical coordinates, 115 Fermat’s principle, 273
dot product, 82 fictitious force, 371, 372, 380, 396
double pendulum, 474, 475 fixed point, 500
double-well potential, 190 fixed points
drag force, 42 center, 500, 510
driven harmonic oscillator, 214 how to find, 501
Duffing equation, 521 perturbation of, 502
chaos, 524, 527, 528 saddle, 510
saddle point, 507
Index 589

stability, 501 great circle, 265

stable node, 509
stable spiral, 500, 510 Hamilton’s equations, 306, 307
unstable node, 509 for one degree of freedom, 307
unstable spiral, 510 for s degrees of freedom, 307
float, 539 simple plane pendulum, 308
floating point number, 539 Hamilton’s Principal, 281
for loops, 546 Hamilton, William Rowan, 281
forbidden regions, 166 Hamilton-Jacobi theory, 313
force, 9 Hamiltonian, 277, 304
computing from potential energy, 181 definition, 304
conservative, 180 equivalence to total energy, 305
definition of, 9 Hamiltonian dynamics, 307
newton, 10 holonomic constraints, 298
nonconservative, 162, 177, 181 homoclinic orbit, 512
relationship to acceleration, 10 Hooke’s Law, 197
forced harmonic oscillator, 214 Hooke’s law, 51
format strings, 540
in Matplotlib, 559 import
Python libraries, 549
Foucault pendulum, 371, 387
index
Foucault, Jean, 387
Fourier coefficients, 232 list, 541
Fourier series, 230, 231, 235 inertia, 9, 11
Fourier’s Theorem, 230 inertia tensor, 426
Fourier’s trick, 232 inertial force, 16, 372, 380, 396
inertial forces, 380
Fourier, Joseph, 231
inertial reference frame, 15
fractal, 524
free-body diagram, 14 infinitesimal area element
fsolve cylindrical coordinates, 99
Python commands, 131 polar coordinates, 93
full width at half maximum, 224, 225 infinitesimal displacement
Cartesian coordinates, 76
function
cylindrical coordinates, 99
Python, 546
functional, 251, 253, 277 polar coordinates, 93
functions on sequences, 545 spherical coordinates, 101
FWHM, 224 infinitesimal volume element
cylindrical coordinates, 99
general relativity, 2, 373 spherical coordinates, 101
General theory of relativity, 373 initial conditions, 31, 196
generalized coordinates, 279, 305, 306, 480 integers
simple plane pendulum, 280 type in Python, 539
generalized force, 282 integration functions, 563
generalized momentum, 282, 303, 306 SciPy, 564
generalized velocity, 280, 480 internal force, 129
geodesic, 264, 265
Jacobi, Carl Gustov Jacob, 313
global attractor, 500
Jacobian matrix, 503
gradient, 103
joule, 159
Cartesian coordinates, 110
Jupiter
cylindrical coordinates, 109, 110
moons of, 353
spherical coordinates, 110
gravitational potential energy, 161, 324 Kepler’s First Law, 338, 342
590 Index

Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion, 342 definition of, 11

Kepler’s Second Law, 350, 351 system of particles, 144
derivation of, 350 linear superposition, 503
Kepler’s Third Law, 352 and nonlinear systems, 497
Kepler, Johannes, 338 linear systems
kilogram definition of, 497
definition of, 9 linearization, 502
kinematic equations, 33 Lissajous figures, 529
kinetic energy, 160 list, 541
multi-particle system, 187 comprehension, 544
of a rigid body, 420 concatenation, 542
rotational, 401 copying, 543
system of particles, 408 deep copying, 543
Kirchhoff’s voltage law, 227 functions, 545
Kirchoff’s rules, 536 index, 541
Kronecker delta, 412 shallow copying, 543
slice, 542
L-J potential, 324 unpacking, 543
Lagrange Multiplier, 297 local variable, 20, 567
Lagrange point, 360 logistic equation, 532
Lagrange’s undetermined multiplier, 299 logistic map, 534
Lagrange, Joseph-Louis, 251, 277 Lorentz force, 13
Lagrangian, 277, 280, 454 Lorenz equations, 535
definition of, 278 Lotka-Volterra model of competition, 533
double pendulum, 476 Lyapunov exponent, 529
for the three-body problem, 358, 359
small oscillations about equilibrium, 482 magnitude
two-body problem, 327 of cross product, 86
lambda function, 60, 547 of vector, 73
lambdify, 562 Magnus effect, 42
Laplace, Pierre-Simon, 251 major axis, 342
Laplacian, 118 mass, 9
Law of Reflection, 273 gravitational, 9, 13
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, 251 inertial, 9, 13
Lennard-Jones potential, 324 mass matrix, 483
Lennard-Jones potential function, 167 Mathematica commands
level set, 103 /., 96
library, 7, 18, 549, 565 &&, 49
Lie algebra, 316 Arrow, 430
lift, 42 Assuming, 49
limit cycle, 520 Collect, 44
line integral, 173 ContourPlot, 315
Linear Algebra, 453, 465 Cross, 89, 91, 404
linear mass density Curl, 118
mass integrals, 137 Dot, 84, 88, 91
linear momentum DSolve, 257
conservation of, 130, 408 Dsolve, 19
conservation of system of N particles, Eigenvalues, 430, 474
134 Eigenvectors, 430, 474
conservation of, for systems of particles, EulerEquations, 257
144 FindFit, 355
Index 591

Grad, 105, 115 Newton’s Second Law

Graphics3D, 430 and Kepler’s First Law, 338
GraphicsGrid, 456 and Kepler’s Third Law, 353
Integrate, 49, 142 for rotational motion, 402
Line, 175 of rotation, 436
LineIntegral, 175 polar coordinates, 333
ListPlot, 222 simple pendulum, 202
NDSolve, 21, 454 Newton’s second law, 11, 29, 129, 146, 159,
NMaxValue, 222 251, 308
Norm, 74, 89 constant force, 32
NSolve, 268 differential equations from, 29
Plot, 456 for a noninertial frame, 380
PolarPlot, 95 for rotation, 147
RevolutionPlot3D, 269 inertial frame, 371
Solve, 96, 132 inertial reference frames, 15
«, 257 noninertial frame, 372, 378
Mathematica packages position-dependent force, 50
VariationalMethods, 257 time-dependent force, 38
Matplotlib, 556 velocity-dependent force, 42
plot, 556 Newton’s Third Law, 326
surface plot, 559 Newton’s third law, 13, 129, 149
Maxwell’s equations, 128 violation of, 13
mechanical energy, see also {energy}161 Newton’s universal law of gravitation, 382
mechanics Newton, Issac, 10
definition, 1 Noether’s Theorem, 306
meter Noether’s theorem, 302
definition of, 2 Noether, Emmy, 302
method, 552 nonconservative force, 162, 177, 181
Midpoint Rule, 70 work done by, 181
minimum surface of revolution, 266 nonholonomic constraints, 298
minor axis, 343 noninertial reference frame, 15, 371
moment of inertia, 156 nonlinear system, 497
single particle, 401 definition of, 497
tensor, 410 nonlinear systems, 1
moment of inertia tensor general approach to solving, 501
solid object, 415 normal coordinates, 464, 486
momentum, see also {linear momentum}11 normal mode, 456, 460, 467
of oscillation, 453
nabla, 103 North Star, 436
natural frequency, 198, 460, 465, 467, 485 numerical computation, 17
of oscillation, 453 numerical solutions
net force, 10 value of, 22
system of particles, 144 NumPy, 549, 550
net work, 163 arithmetic operations on arrays, 553
Newton’s first law, 10 NumPy arrays
in terms of momentum, 12 broadcasting, 554
law of inertia, 11
Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation, 323, oblateness of the Earth, 383, 440
324, 330, 338 ODE, see also {ordinary differential equa-
and Kepler’s Third Law, 353 tion}29, 30
Newton’s laws of motion, 10 ordinary differential equation, 30
592 Index

general solution, 30 predator-prey models, 534

order of, 30 principal axes, 427
particular solution, 31 principal axes of rotation, 426
orthogonal, 83 principal moment of inertia, 426
overdamped oscillations, 209 principal moments of inertia, 427
Principle of Superposition, 230, 231, 235
parallel axis theorem, 423, 425 product of inertia, 411, 421
generalized, 425 projectile motion, 125
parametric plot, 79 in a noninertial frame, 392
pendulum, see also {simple plane pendu- pseudo force, 372
lum}202 pseudo-determinant, 116
perihelion, 342 Pythagorean theorem, 73
period-2 solution, 522 Python commands
period-4 solution, 522 +=, 62
period-doubling bifurcation, 521–523 contour, 314
period-doubling cascade, 524 cross, 87, 90
permittivity of free space, 324 curl, 117
perpendicular axes theorem, 423 def, 20, 567
perpendicular axis theorem, 424 diff, 52
perturbation, 254 dot, 84, 88
phase diagram, 238 dsolve, 18, 565
phase portrait, 238, 501 elif, 61
phase space, 313 else, 62
phase space diagram, 237 euler_equations, 257
physical pendulum, 449 Function, 18, 566
Planck constant, 9 if, 61
plot, 556 is_conservative, 117
Poincaré section, 524, 534 lambda, 60
Poincaré section, 523 modulo,%, 62
point particle, 2 odeint, 20, 567
Poisson brackets, 322 ParametricIntegral, 174
polar angle, 100 ParametricRegion, 174
polar coordinates, 91 quad, 60
polar radius ReferenceFrame, 87, 115
of Earth, 383 Python libraries
Polaris, 436 Matplotlib, 20, 567
position, 2, 3 NumPy, 20, 567
definition of, 2 [Link], 115, 117
polar coordinates, 92 SciPy, 20, 567
position vector SymPy, 7, 18, 52, 565
Cartesian coordinates, 75
cylindrical coordinates, 99 Q, 214, 224
polar coordinates, 92, 97 quality factor, 214, 223, 224
spherical coordinates, 102 quantum mechanics, 277
potential energy, 161, 180 quantum theory, 1
gravitational, 161 quasiperiodic, 529
system of particles, 409
potential function, 532 range, 541
precession, 434 range object, 544
of the equinoxes, 436 reduced mass, 326, 328
precessional frequency, 436 reference frame, 7, 14
Index 593

relativity, 1 source, 114

relaxation oscillations, 535 space, 2
repair nonlinearity, 533 space cone, 440
reserved words space coordinate frame, 437
in Python, 541 speed, 6, 76
resonance spherical coordinates, 100
amplitude, 216, 219 spring constant, 197
energy, 224 spring constant matrix, 484
frequency, 220 stable manifold, 507, 518
restoring force, 196 stationary point, 253
right-hand rule steady state solution
of rotation, 374 of forced harmonic oscillator, 215
rigid bodies Steiner theorem, 425
definition of, 409 strange attractors, 528
rockets, 134 streptococcal pharyngitis, 534
horizontal motion, 134 superposition, 230
vertical motion, 135 surface density
rotation matrix, 358 mass integral, 137
rotational inertia, 401 symbolic computation, 17
Runge-Kutta method, 55 symmetric mode of oscillation, 467
double pendulum, 477
saddle-node bifurcation, 520 symmetric oscillation, 460
scalar, 9 symmetric top
scalar projection, 83 force-free, 438
scalar triple product, 89, 420 symplectic Geometry, 316
Schrodinger equation, 306 SymPy, 561
second, 9
definition of, 2 Taylor series, 502
semi-latus rectum, 338 multi-variable, 103
semimajor axis, 343 terminal velocity, 46
sensitive dependence on initial conditions, three-body problem, 323, 356
528 thrust, 135
separation of variables, 30 time, 2
separatrix, 512 time derivative
simple harmonic motion, 51 in a rotating frame, 377
compared to chaos, 527 time series, 529
simple harmonic oscillator, 197, 304 time translational invariance, 304
Lagrangian, 277 time-translation symmetry, 303
natural frequency, 198 torque, 11, 147, 402
potential energy, 167 trajectory, 499
simple plane pendulum, 191, 202 phase diagram, 238
period of, 203 transcritical bifurcation, 520
Simpson’s rule, 61 transient solution
extended, 61 of forced harmonic oscillator, 215
singular matrix, 503 translational invariance
sink, 114 of isolated systems, 302
SIS model, 534 of the Lagrangian, 302, 303
small angle approximation trapezoid rule, 61
nonlinear systems, 497 triple integrals
soap film, 266 Cartesian coordinates, 100
solenoidal vector field, 114 cylindrical coordinates, 100
594 Index

spherical coordinates, 102 Cartesian coordinates, 76

triple product, 89 cylindrical coordinates, 99
scalar, 89 polar coordinates, 93, 97
vector, 90 spherical coordinates, 101
Trojan asteroids, 360 Virial Theorem, 194, 202
tuple, 541, 545 volume density
turning point, 162, 165, 166, 499 mass integral, 137
two-body problem, 323, 325
angular momentum of, 328 weak equivalence principle, 9, 13
energy of, 329 weakly coupled oscillators, 464
Lagrangian of, 327 wild card, 549
two-dimensional system, 501 work, 159, 173
type, 539 Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem, 160, 180

Ulam, Stanislaw, 530 Yukawa potential, 324

underdamped oscillations, 209
undetermined multiplier, 297, 299
unit vector, 73
Cartesian, 2
Cartesian coordinates, 6
cylindrical coordinates, 98
definition of, 2
generic, 5
polar coordinates, 93
spherical coordinates, 101
time derivatives in polar coordinates, 93
time derivatives in spherical coordi-
nates, 101
universal gravitational constant, 324
unstable manifold, 507, 519

Van der Pol equation, 535

Van der Waals force, 324
variable
printing, 540
variational principle, 251
vector, 3, 73
Cartesian coordinate, 73
components, 2
generic, 5
magnitude, 73
vector function
derivative of, 76
vector operator, 103
vector product, 85
vector projection, 83
vector triple product, 90
velocity, 2, 76
definition of, 6
tangential, 374, 375
velocity vector