PHYSICS 341, Fictitious Forces in Rotating Frames

As a demonstration of the interplay of fictitious forces as seen in a rotating frame the figures
below plot the motion of a particle that slides with constant speed v0 across a frictionless surface.
The actual motion is a straight line in the direction of the initial velocity (as seen by an outside
observer). However the observer in the rotating frame sees a completely different behaviour due
to the fictitious forces that exist in that frame. If the surface is rotating with a constant angular
velocity ω oriented out of the page (the rotation is counter-clockwise), then the transverse force
Ftran = −mω̇ × r′ = 0 and the fictitious forces acting on the object are (1) the centrifugal force
Fcent = −mω × (ω × r′ ) and (2) the Coriolis force FCor = −2mω × v′ . Here the velocity as seen in
the rotating frame is v′ = ẋ′ ı̂′ + ẏ ′ ̂′ since the motion remains in the x − y-plane.
In the simulations shown below, the mass m = 1.0kg, the angular velocity ω = 1.0rad/s and the
outer edge of the rotating surface has a radius R = 1.0 metres. The trajectory of the particle will
always begin at the positions (x0 , y0 ) = (0.5m, 0.0m) with a speed v0 . The time required for the
particle to exit the surface is computed and is given as te in seconds.
v0 = 1.5 m/s, te = 0.86 s v0 = 0.8 m/s, te = 2.9 s v0 = 0.45 m/s, te = 17.3 s
1 1 1

0.5 0.5 0.5

0 0 0
y

y
-0.5 -0.5 -0.5

-1 -1 -1
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
x x x

(a) (b) (c)

v0 = 0.328 m/s, te = 5.0 s v0 = 0.47 m/s, te = 3.83 s v0 = 0.283 m/s, te = 3.3 s

1 1 1

0.5 0.5 0.5

0 0 0
y

-0.5 -0.5 -0.5

-1 -1 -1
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
x x x

(d) (e) (f )

Figure 1. The motion of an object sliding across a frictionless horizontal surface as seen
in the frame of a rotating observer. The initial speeds are given by v0 and the time to
leave the surface is te . The angular velocity ω = 1. rad/s is directed out of the page. The
arrow indicates the initial direction of the velocity.

1
 The equations of motion in the rotating frame are therefore:

ma′ = −mω × (ω × r′ ) − mω × v′

Since r′ = x′ ı̂′ + y ′ ̂′ , v′ = vx′ ı̂′ + vy′ ̂′ and ω = ω k̂ the equation of motion can be written in the form:

dx′
= vx′
dt
dvx′
= ω 2 x′ + ωvy′
dt
dy ′
= vy′
dt
dvy′
= ω 2 y ′ − ωvx′
dt
It is left as an exercise to show that the equations of motion can be written in this form. The
advantage of writing the equations of motion as coupled first order differential equations is that they
can be solved numerically to obtain the results shown above.
The difference in the figures are determined by the initial conditions. As stated above the initial
positions are the same for (a)-(f ). The only changes are in the initial velocities (i.e. in both magnitude
and direction). For(a) - (d) the velocities are directed in the +y-direction. For (e) and (f ) the initial
velocity is directed at 45◦ above the +x-direction. Table 1 shows the initial velocity components and
the escape time for each of the simulations.
Figure v0x (m/s) v0y (m/s) te (s)
(a) 0.0 1.5 0.86
(b) 0.0 0.8 2.9
(c) 0.0 .45 17.3
(d) 0.0 .328 5.0
(e) 0.332 0.332 3.83
(f ) 0.20 0.20 3.3

Table 1. Initial velocities and escape times for simulations (a)-(f ).

At a high speed (a) the object slides off quickly. For (b) and (d) the object slides off at similar
positions but the times are quite different. For the latter the centrifugal force dominates. At an
intermediate speed the object may spiral around a number of times before leaving the surface. When
the initial velocity is directed at an angle the motion becomes even more complicated. In (e) with
the intermediate speed, the object performs a loop before leaving the surface. For lower speeds (f )
the object changes it direction of motion rather abruptly.