Sample Quiz 1, Physics 5011, Fall, 2007

Instructions: This is a closed book exam. Calculators are not permitted (note that any numerical
answers required can be done to order-of-magnitude accuracy). Do each problem on the sheets
of paper provided. Make sure your name and ID number are on every sheet, so they can be
identified if they become separated. After you are done, staple together all of your sheets.

1. (30 pts.) A sphere of mass m and radius a rolls without slipping inside a spherical shell of
radius R (with R > a) under the influence of a uniform gravitational force. Assuming that all
of the motion occurs in one vertical plane, set up appropriate generalized coordinates for this
problem and determine the Lagrangian and any constraint conditions. Determine the
equations of motion and find the frequency of small oscillations for this system. (Hint: recall
that I = (2/5)ma2 for a sphere.)

2. (30 pts.) Consider a particle of mass m and angular momentum l that moves in a central force
field that has the form F = –mkr. (a) Find the total energy and sketch the effective potential
for this particle, and determine the radius and period of a circular orbit. (b) Suppose that the
orbit is almost circular. Show that the particle reaches its closest distance to the center twice
per orbit (or equivalently, that the frequency of small oscillations about the circular orbit is
twice the orbital frequency).

3. (40 pts.) Consider a symmetrical top (I1 = I2 ≠ I3) with no torques acting upon it. (a) Write
down the Lagrangian for this top in terms of the Euler angles and determine two constants of
motion associated with the generalized momenta of φ and ψ. Find the equation of motion for
θ, and show that steady precession (constant θ) is possible when ϕ = I 3ω3 / I1 cos θ . (b)
Show that one of the two constants of motion in part (a) corresponds to the angular
momentum around the body z′ axis and the other corresponds to the fixed z axis. (Hint:
Determine the angular momentum vector in body coordinates, and perform the coordinate
transformation to find the z component in the fixed coordinates.)
 Physics 5011, Quiz 1, October 6, 2006
Important formulas: (Note that not all formulas are valid in all cases. Also,
tensors are denoted by a double arrow above the symbol rather than a double
underline)

1 2
T= mv p = mv L = r×p F = −∇V V = − ∫ F ⋅ dr
2
∑ miri ∑ mi vi
M = ∑ mi R cm = i
Vcm = i

i M M
d ⎛ ∂L ⎞ ∂L
L = T −V ⎜ ⎟⎟ − = ∑ λ i aij Constraints: ∑ aij dq j = 0
dt ⎜⎝ ∂q j ⎠ ∂q j i j

∂L
pj = h = ∑ p j q j − L l = mr 2 θ
∂q j j

d u2
m m dV ( u ) 1
2
+ u = − 2 2 f (u ) = − 2 u=
dθ l u l du r
mk rmax + rmin k l 2 / mk rmax − rmin 2 El 2
u= [1 + e cos(θ − θ′)] a= =− = e= = 1+
l2 2 2 E 1 − e2 rmax + rmin mk 2

k Θ b db
b= cot σ=
2E 2 sin Θ d Θ
I I I I
v′ = A ⋅ v vi′ = Aij v j A = A −1 ( )
A ji = A −1
ij
Aik A jk = δij
I I I I
B ′ = A ⋅ B ⋅ A −1 Bij′ = Aik A jl Bkl
⎛ cos ψ cos ϕ − cos θ sin ϕ sin ψ cos ψ sin ϕ + cos θ cos ϕ sin ψ sin ψ sin θ ⎞
I ⎜ ⎟
A = ⎜ − sin ψ cos ϕ − cos θ sin ϕ cos ψ − sin ψ sin ϕ + cos θ cos ϕ cos ψ cos ψ sin θ ⎟
⎜ sin θ sin ϕ − sin θ cos ϕ cos θ ⎟⎠
⎝
⎛ cos ψ cos ϕ − cos θ sin ϕ sin ψ − sin ψ cos ϕ − cos θ sin ϕ cos ψ sin θ sin ϕ ⎞
I −1 ⎜ ⎟
A = ⎜ cos ψ sin ϕ + cos θ cos ϕ sin ψ − sin ψ sin ϕ + cos θ cos ϕ cos ψ − sin θ cos ϕ ⎟
⎜ sin ψ sin θ cos ψ sin θ cos θ ⎟⎠
⎝

ωx′ = ϕ sin θ sin ψ + θ cos ψ ωx = θ cos ϕ + ψ  sin θ sin ϕ

ω = ϕ sin θ cos ψ − θ sin ψ
y′ ω y = θ sin ϕ − ψ sin θ cos ϕ
ωz′ = ϕ cos θ + ψ ωz = ψ cos θ + ϕ
 ⎛d⎞ ⎛d⎞
⎜ ⎟ =⎜ ⎟ + ω× ( u ) fix = ( u )body + ω × u
⎝ dt ⎠ fix ⎝ dt ⎠body
Feff = F − 2mω × v − mω × ( ω × r )
I I I 1 I
I = ∫ d 3r ρ ( r ) ⎡⎣ r 2 1 − rr ⎤⎦ L = I ⋅ω T = ω⋅ I ⋅ω
2
I I I
( 2
I = Icm + M Rcm 1 − R cm R cm ) Ii ω
 i + εijk ω j ωk I k = N i

L=
1
2
(
I1 θ 2 + ϕ 2 sin 2 θ) + I
1
2
3 ( ψ + ϕ cos θ )
2
− V ( cos θ )

Math:
p ( p − 1) p ( p − 1) ... ( p − n + 1)
Binomial Theorem: (1 + x ) = 1 + px +
p
x 2 + ... + x n + ...
2 n!
2 n
x x ( n)
Taylor expansion: f ( x ) = f ( 0 ) + xf ′ ( 0 ) + f ′′ ( 0 ) + ... + f ( 0 ) + ...
2 n!
Divergence Theorem: ∫ d 3 x∇ ⋅ A = v∫ da nˆ ⋅ A Stokes Theorem: ∫ da nˆ ⋅ ( ∇ × A ) = v∫ A ⋅ dl
sin 2 θ + cos 2 θ = 1 sec 2 θ − tan 2 θ = 1 cosh 2 θ − sinh 2 θ = 1
1 1
cos 2 θ = (1 + cos 2θ ) sin 2 θ = (1 − cos 2θ ) sin 2θ = 2sin θ cos θ
2 2
⎧1 for ijk = 123, 231,312
⎪ ⎧1 for i = j
εijk = ⎨−1 for ijk = 132, 213,321 δij = ⎨ εijk εilm = δ jl δkm − δ jm δkl
⎪0 otherwise ⎩0 for i ≠ j
⎩
A × ( B × C) = B ( A ⋅ C) − C ( A ⋅ B ) A ⋅ ( B × C) = B ⋅ (C × A ) = C ⋅ ( A × B )
( A × B ) ⋅ ( C × D ) = ( A ⋅ C )( B ⋅ D ) − ( A ⋅ D )( B ⋅ C )
∇ × ∇ψ = 0 ∇ ⋅ (∇ × A ) = 0 ∇ × ( ∇ × A ) = ∇ ( ∇ ⋅ A ) − ∇2 A
∇ ⋅ ( ψA ) = ∇ψ ⋅ A + ψ∇ ⋅ A ∇ × ( ψA ) = ∇ψ × A + ψ∇ × A
∇ ( A ⋅ B ) = A ⋅∇B + B ⋅∇A + A × ( ∇ × B ) + B × ( ∇ × A )
∇ ⋅ ( A × B ) = B ⋅ (∇ × A ) − A ⋅ (∇ × B ) ∇ × ( A × B ) = A∇ ⋅ B − B∇ ⋅ A + B ⋅∇A − A ⋅∇B

Div, Grad, Curl and all that:

Cylindrical Spherical
∂ψ 1 ∂ψ ∂ψ ∂ψ ˆ 1 ∂ψ 1 ∂ψ
∇ψ = sˆ + ϕˆ + zˆ ∇ψ = rˆ +θ + ϕˆ
∂s s ∂ϕ ∂z ∂r r ∂θ r sin θ ∂ϕ
1 ∂ 1 ∂Aϕ ∂Az 1 ∂ 2 1 ∂ 1 ∂Aϕ
∇⋅A =
s ∂s
( sAs ) +
s ∂ϕ ∂z
+ ∇⋅A =
r ∂r
2 (
r Ar + )
r sin θ ∂θ
( sin θAθ ) +
r sin θ ∂ϕ
 ⎛ 1 ∂Az ∂Aϕ ⎞ ⎛ ∂As ∂Az ⎞ 1 ⎡∂ ∂A ⎤
∇ × A = sˆ ⎜ − ⎟ + ϕˆ ⎜ −
∂s ⎟⎠
∇ × A = rˆ ⎢
r sin θ ⎣ ∂θ
( sin θAϕ ) − θ ⎥
∂ϕ ⎦
⎝ s ∂ϕ ∂z ⎠ ⎝ ∂z
1⎡ ∂ ∂A ⎤ ⎡ 1 ∂Ar 1 ∂ ⎤ 1⎡ ∂ ∂A ⎤
+ zˆ ⎢ ( sAϕ ) − s ⎥ + θˆ ⎢ − ( rAϕ ) ⎥ + ϕˆ ⎢ ( rAθ ) − r ⎥
s ⎣ ∂s ∂ϕ ⎦ ⎣ r sin θ ∂ϕ r ∂r ⎦ r ⎣ ∂r ∂θ ⎦
1 ∂ ⎛ ∂ψ ⎞ 1 ∂ 2ψ ∂ 2 ψ 1 ∂2 1 ∂ ⎛ ∂ψ ⎞ 1 ∂ 2ψ
∇ 2ψ = ⎜s ⎟+ + ∇ 2ψ = ( r ψ ) + ⎜ sin θ ⎟ +
s ∂s ⎝ ∂s ⎠ s 2 ∂ϕ2 ∂z 2 r ∂r 2 r 2 sin θ ∂θ ⎝ ∂θ ⎠ r 2 sin 2 θ ∂ 2 ϕ
dl 2 = ds 2 + s 2 d ϕ2 + dz 2 dl 2 = dr 2 + r 2 d θ2 + r 2 sin 2 θ d ϕ2
d 3 x = s ds d ϕ dz d 3 x = r 2 sin θdr d θ d ϕ = r 2 dr d ( cos θ ) d ϕ
sˆ = cos ϕ xˆ + sin ϕ yˆ rˆ = sin θ cos ϕ xˆ + sin θ sin ϕ yˆ + cos θ zˆ
ϕˆ = − sin ϕ xˆ + cos ϕ yˆ θˆ = cos θ cos ϕ xˆ + cos θ sin ϕ yˆ − sin θ zˆ
zˆ = zˆ ϕˆ = − sin ϕ xˆ + cos ϕ yˆ