CENG 23 – DYNAMICS OF RIGID BODIES

DYNAMICS – deals with the accelerated motion of a body.

The subject dynamics will be presented into two parts:

 KINEMTATICS – It is the study of the geometry of motion of particles, rigid bodies, etc,
disregarding the forces associated with these motions.
The description of motion (position, velocity, acceleration, time) without regard to forces.
 KINETICS – It is described as the analysis of the forces causing the motion.

Historically, the principles of dynamics developed when it was possible to make an accurate
measurement of time. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was one of the first major contributors to this field. His
work consisted of experiments using pendulums and falling bodies. The most significant contributions in
dynamics, however, were made by Isaac Newton (1642-1727), who is noted for his formulation of the
three fundamental laws of motion and the law of universal gravitational attraction.

Particle Kinematics – motion of a point/particle in space.

Particle – A point. Insignificant dimensions meaning has a mass but negligible size and shape.
Rigid Body – Infinite number of points. A rigid body may rotate, with angular displacement, velocity and
acceleration.

RECTILINEAR KINEMATICS – The kinematics of a particle is characterized by specifying, at any given

instant, the particle’s position, velocity, and acceleration. It also investigates lows of motion of objects
along straight line without any reference to forces that cause the motion to change.

Position – The straight line path of a particle will be defined using a single coordinate axis s. Realize that
position is a vector quantity since it has both magnitude and direction. Here, however, it is being
represented by the algebraic scalar s since the direction always remains along the coordinate axis.

Displacement – defined as the change in its position. The displacement is

The displacement of a particle is also a vector quantity, and it should be distinguished from the distance
the particle travels. Specifically, the distance traveled is a positive scalar that represents the total length
of path over which the particle travels.

Scalar quantity refers to the quantity, which has only magnitude and no direction. On the other hand,
vector quantity implies the physical quantity which comprises of both magnitude and direction.

Velocity – If a particle moves through a displacement Δs during the time interval Δt, the average velocity
of the particle during this time interval is

Consequently, the instantaneous velocity is a vector defined as

Acceleration – Provided the velocity of the particle is known at two points, the average acceleration of
the particle during the time interval Δt is defined as

Consequently, the instantaneous velocity is a vector defined as

Finally, an important differential relation involving the displacement, velocity, and acceleration along the
path may be obtained by eliminating the time differential dt between equations for instantaneous velocity
and instantaneous acceleration, which gives:

In rectilinear kinematics, thee acceleration has the same direction as the velocity when the particle is
speeding and opposite when the particle is slowing down.
A particle can have an acceleration and yet have zero velocity. Acceleration is always collinear with the
velocity.

Constant Acceleration, a = ac – When acceleration is constant, each of the three kinematic equations
can be integrated to obtain formulas that relate ac, v, s and t.

Velocity as a Function of Time:

Position as a Function of Time:

Velocity as a Function of Position:

CURVILINEAR MOTION – occurs when a particle moves along a curved path. Since this path is often
described in three dimensions, vector analysis will be used to formulate the particle's position, velocity,
and acceleration. Curvilinear motion can cause changes in both the magnitude and direction of the
position, velocity, and acceleration vectors.

CURVILINEAR MOTION: RECTANGULAR COORDINATES - Occasionally the motion of a particle can

best be described along a path that can be expressed in terms of its x, y, z coordinates.

Position – If a particle is at point (x,y,z) on the curved path s shown in figure below, then its location is
defined by the position vector :

The magnitude of r is defined as:

And the direction of r is specified by the unit vector:

Velocity – The velocity is defined as:

where

The “dot” notation represents the first time

derivatives of respectively.

The velocity has a magnitude that is found from and a direction that is
specified by the unit vector

Acceleration – The acceleration of the particle is obtained by taking the first time derivative of the
equation for velocity. We have:

The acceleration has a magnitude:

where
And a direction specified by the unit vector
MOTION OF A PARTICLE
CURVILINEAR MOTION: CYLINDRICAL COORDINATES

Sometimes the motion of a particle is constrained in a path that is best described using cylindrical
coordinates. If motion is restricted to the plane, then polar coordinates are used.

Polar Coordinates – We can specify the location of a particle shown in figure below using a radial
coordinate r, which extends outward from the fixed origin O to the particle, and a transverse coordinate θ,
which is the counter clockwise angle between a fixed reference line and the r axis. The angle is generally
measured in degrees or radians, where 1 rad = 180°/π.

Position – At any instant position of the particle

is defined by the position vector

Velocity – The velocity can be written in component form as

Since vr and vθ are mutually

perpendicular, the magnitude of
velocity or speed is simply the
positive value of:
where

and the direction of v is tangent

to the path

Acceleration – we can write the acceleration in component form as

Since ar and aθ are mutually

perpendicular, the magnitude of
acceleration is simply the
positive value of:
where

and the direction of a will not be

tangent to the path

Cylindrical Coordinates – If the particle moves along a space curve as

shown in figure to the right, then its location may be specified by the
three cylindrical coordinates, r, θ, z. The z coordinate is identical to that
used for rectangular coordinates. Since the unit vector defining its
direction, uz, is constant, the time derivatives of this vector are zero, and
therefore the position, velocity, and acceleration of the particle can be
written in terms of its cylindrical coordinates as follows:
DEPENDENT MOTION

In some types of problems, the motion of one particle will depend on the corresponding motion of another
particle. This dependency commonly occurs if the particles, here represented by blocks, are
interconnected by inextensible cords which are wrapped around pulleys.

In many kinematics problems, the motion of one object will depend on the motion of another object.

The blocks in this figure are connected by an

inextensible cord wrapped around a pulley. If block A
moves downward along the inclined plane, block B will
move up the other incline.

The motion of each block can be related mathematically

by defining position coordinates, sA and sB. Each
coordinate axis is defined from a fixed point or datum
line, measured positive along each plane in the
direction of motion of each block.

In this example, position coordinates sA and sB can be defined from fixed datum lines extending from the
center of the pulley along each incline to blocks A and B.

If the cord has a fixed length, the position coordinates s A and sB are related mathematically by the
equation

Here lT is the total cord length and lCD is the length of cord passing over arc CD on the pulley.

The velocities of blocks A and B can be related by differentiating the position equation. Note that l CD and
lT remain constant, so

The negative sign indicates that as A moves down the incline (positive s A direction), B moves up the
incline (negative sB direction). Accelerations can be found by differentiating the velocity expression.

EXAMPLE:

Consider a more complicated example. Position coordinates (sA and sB)

are defined from fixed datum lines, measured along the direction of
motion of each block.

Note that sB is only defined to the center of the pulley above block B,
since this block moves with the pulley. Also, h is a constant.

The red colored segments of the cord remain constant in length during
motion of the blocks.

The position coordinates are related by the equation

Where l is the total cord length minus the lengths of the red segments.
Since l and h remain constant during the motion, the velocities and accelerations can be related by two
successive time derivatives:

When block B moves downward (+sB), block A moves to the left (-sA).

RELATIVE MOTION

Velocity of the moving objects with respect to other moving or stationary object is called “relative velocity”
and this motion is called “relative motion”.

Throughout this chapter the absolute motion of a particle has been determined using a single fixed
reference frame. There are many cases, however, where the path of motion for a particle is complicated,
so that it may be easier to analyze the motion in parts by using two or more frames of reference. For
example, the motion of a particle located at the tip of an airplane propeller, while the plane is in flight, is
more easily described if one observes first the motion of the airplane from a fixed reference and then
superimposes (vectorially) the circular motion of the particle measured from a reference attached to the
airplane.

Position – Consider particles A and B, which move along the arbitrary paths shown in figure above. The
absolute position of each particle, rA and rB, is measured from the common origin O of the fixed x, y, z
reference frame. The origin of a second reference x’, y’, z’ is only attached to and moves with particle A.
Using vector addition, the position of the particle is given by the equation:

Velocity – An equation that relates the velocities of the particles is determined by taking the time
derivative of the above equation:

Acceleration – The time derivative of equation for velocity yields a similar vector relation between the
absolute and relative accelerations of particles A and B.