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A The three cylinder problem

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28 views

A The three cylinder problem

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smijesniblod
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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IB Physics: K.A.

Tsokos

Teacher notes
Topic A

The three-cylinder problem. (A difficult problem for a dark and rainy day.)

Three identical cylinders are stacked as shown. There is friction between the cylinders as well as
between the cylinders and the ground.

To keep the problem as simple as possible assume that the two lower cylinders do not touch but are
very close to each other.

What is the minimum coefficient of static friction with the ground for equilibrium?

f2

N2
f2

mg N1

f1
IB Physics: K.A. Tsokos

We have the obvious normal forces N1, N2 and the weight mg of each cylinder. The forces on the right
lower cylinder are identical to those on the lower left cylinder by symmetry. The horizontal component
of the force N2 pushes the left cylinder to the left so a frictional force f1 develops to the right (see
comment at the end of this note). This frictional force tends to rotate the lower left cylinder
counterclockwise, so a frictional force f2 develops between this cylinder and the top cylinder. Forces in
blue and green are action-reaction pairs. The angle  is 60 .

Right away we see that we need friction with the ground to have equilibrium. We also need friction
between the cylinders otherwise the cylinders would be rotating.

Treating all cylinders as one body we see that the downward force is 3mg and the upward is 2N1 , so
3mg
equilibrium demands that 2N1 = 3mg and so N1 = .
2

Taking torques about the center of the lower left cylinder gives f1R = f2R , so we learn that f1 = f2 = f .

Taking torques about the point where the lower left cylinder touches the top cylinder gives:

mgR cos + f (R + R sin ) = N1R cos

The distances needed for calculating torques are shown in the figure:

Rcos Rcos

R+ Rsin
mg
N2

3mg 3mg
Therefore, using N1 = we find mg cos + f (1 + sin ) = cos i.e.
2 2

1
mg cos mg cos60 mg 2 mg 2 mg 2− 3 mg
f= = = = = = (2 − 3) .
2 1 + sin 2 1 + sin60 2 3 4 2+ 3 2 (2 + 3)(2 − 3) 2
1+
2
IB Physics: K.A. Tsokos

3mg
The minimum coefficient of friction will require the maximum frictional force and so f = N1 =  .
2
mg 3mg
Hence, (2 − 3) =  and so
2 2

2− 3
=  0.0893 .
3

(Taking horizontal force components on the lower left cylinder gives:

1 + sin mg cos 1 + sin mg


N2 cos = f + f sin  N2 = f =  = .
cos 2 1 + sin cos 2

This means that the net horizontal force component on the lower left cylinder at the point where it
touches the top cylinder is to the left, justifying the original claim that the frictional force with the
ground is pointing to the right.)

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