We start with a system of particles each with mass mi and velocity vi

For each particle, Newton's second law states that:

d
p i m v Fi
dt i i
(1.1)

where Fi is the force applied to particle i.

Therefore:

Fi p i 0 F p 0
i i
(1.2)
i

And

F p r
i i i
0 (1.3)
i

Where ri is an infinitesimal displacement of particle i.

Or:

p i
ri Fi ri 0 (1.4)
i i

We now introduce the concept of generalized coordinates.

In general, in three dimensional space, we require 3 independent coordinates to describe

the location of the particle in space. However, if there is some constraints in the system
then we do not require all the degrees of freedom to express the motion. simply put, by
introducing generalized coordinates we incorporate the system constraints implicitly into
the equation of motions. A motion on a circle (of radius R) is a good example for such
constraint. Instead of describing the system in terms of x , y and the constraint

x 2 y 2 L 0 , we simply introduce the single angular coordinate such that

x R cos and y R sin
So the position vector of particle i, namely ri , can be expressed as a function of
generalized coordinates and time:

ri t ri q1, q 2 , , qn , t (1.5)

Then, we can write the infinitesimal change in ri as a virtual displacement of teh

generalized coordinates:

ri
ri q j (1.6)
j q j

The velocity is:

dri ri ri
vi qk (1.7)
dt k qk t

Thus:

ri
F r i i
Fi
q j
q j (1.8)
i i, j

We define the generalized force component:

ri
Q j Fi (1.9)
i q j

Thus:

ri
F r
i i
Fi
q j
q j Q j q j (1.10)
i i, j j

As we have noted before, the generalized coordinates do not necessarily have the
dimensions of length (in the particle in a circle example the generalized coordinate was
dimensionless - an angle). However the term Q j q j must always have the dimension of

work (in the example of the angle Q j has the unit of torque).
Let's see what happens to the momentum term under such transformation:

p i
ri m ri mri ri (1.11)
i i

Using (1.6) again:

ri
p i
ri m ri mri q j (1.12)
i i, j q j

We can use the derivative of a product to write:

ri
ri
d d ri
m ri mri q dt mri q mr dt q
(1.13)
i j i
j j

We again use the expression for full differential

d ri 2 r dq
2 ri
i k
(1.14)
dt q j k q j qk dt q j t

If we exchange k j in the sum (k runs on the same range as j) and compare it to

(1.6) we see that:

d ri 2 r dq
2 ri r v
i k
i i (1.15)
dt q j q j qk dt q j t
k q j q j

But from (1.7) the partial differentiation gives:

ri ri vi r
vi q j i (1.16)
j q j t q j q j
Plugging this back into (1.12) we get:

r
ri d d r
m r mr q mri i mr i
i dt dt q j
i i
q j
i j

r
ri d d r
m ri mri mri i mr i
q j
i dt q j dt q j
i

ri v
d v
m r mr q mvi i mvi i
i dt q j q j
i i
i j

v
d mvi
2
ri
m ri mri q j
mvi i
q j 2
i i dt
q j

d 1 1
p ri m v2 m v2 q (1.17)
i

j dt q j 2 i
i i 2 i i j
i
q j

If we identify the systems total kinetic energy as:

mi vi2
T (1.18)
i 2

Then, using (1.10) we can finally write:

p i
ri Fi ri 0
i i

d 1 1
dt q 2 i i q
m v 2 m v2 q Q q 0
j
2 i i j j j
j i j j

d T T Q
q 0
dt q q j
j
(1.19)
j

j j

Since this is true for any infinitesimal change in the set of independent generalized
coordinates, the coefficient of any q j must be zero, which results in j equations of

motion:

d T T
Qj 0 (1.20)
dt q j q j

What this say is that the change with respect to time in the change in kinetic energy
with respect to the generalized speed q j equals the change in the kinetic energy with

respect to the generalized coordinate q j plus the generalized work Q j . Not very helpful

by any means. however as we shall see this does give us information on what is
conserved in the system.

If the force is a result of a potential:

Fi iV (1.21)

Then:

ri ri V
Q j Fi iV (1.22)
i q j i q j q j

And in this case, the equations of motion read

d T T
Qj 0
dt q j q j

d T T V
0
dt q j q j q j

d T T V
0 (1.23)
dt q j q j
If the potential is independent of the generalized speeds then:

V
0 (1.24)
q j

And we can define the Lagrangian

L T V (1.25)

And the equations become:

d L L
0 (1.26)
dt q j q j

While this is not a conservation of energy equation (as the kinetic energy can be time-
dependent if m changes with time, this equation tells us if other quantities are
conserved.

If the Lagrangian is explicitly independent of coordinate q j then

L d L
0 0 (1.27)
q j dt q j

Or simply:

L
constant (1.28)
q j

And this is a constant of motion.

For example, a free particle (no potential) moving on the x axis.

In this case

mx 2
L T V (1.29)
2

Then:

L
mx constant (1.30)
q j

Or in other words - in the absence of potential (that is, external forces) the momentum
is conserved. Note that we cannot say whether the kinetic energy is conserved since the
mass might be time dependent!

What about the particle on a flat ring (no potential)?

There is no potential, so the kinetic energy is

T

m x 2 y 2 mR 2 2
(1.31)
2 2

Therefore, the conserved quantity is

d T d


dt dt

mR 2 0 (1.32)

mR 2 is the angular momentum of the particle perpendicular to the plane of the ring.
Note that m and can change with time, but not the angular momentum! If we
increase the mass by factor of two then the angular velocity must drop by the same
factor. The kinetic energy will not be conserved.