Theoretical Mechanics

Theoretical Mechanics
Conf. dr. Teodor Grosan
(tgrosan@math.ubbcluj.ro, Mathematica Building, Room 203)

Lecture Notes (in PDF):

www.math.ubbcluj.ro/~tgrosan/Infostud.htm/TM.htm

Examination (proposal)

1. Mid Semester Exam (Kinematics, problems) 25%

2. Final Exam (Kinematics, theory; Dynamics, theory and problems) 75%

Lecture 1. Introduction 1
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References:

1. Kohr, M., Capitole Speciale de Mecanică, Presa Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-

Napoca, 2005.
2. Brãdeanu, P., Mecanică Teoretică, vol. 1 şi 2, Litografia Universităţii Babeş-
Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca, 1988.
3. Iacob, C., Mecanică Teoretică, Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti, 1980.
4. Dragoş, L., Principiile Mecanicii Analitice, Editura Tehnică, Bucureşti, 1976.
Goldstein, H., Poole, C., Safko, J., Classical Mechanics, Reading, MA: Addison-
Wessley Publ. Co. (3rd edition), 2014.
5. Bose, S., Chattoraj, D., Elementary Analytical Mechanics, Alpha Science
International Ltd. 2000.
6. Aaron, F.D., Mecanică Analitică, Editura BIC ALL, Bucureşti, 2002.
7. Landau, L.D., Lifshitz, E.M., Mechanics, Elsevier-Butterworth-Heinemann, (3rd
edition), 2005.
8. Russo, R., Classical Problems in Mechanics, Aracne, Roma, 1997.

Lecture 1. Introduction 2
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Classical mechanics is the study of the motion of
bodies in accordance with the general principles first
enunciated by Sir Isaac Newton in his Philosophiae
Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687).
(https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/contacts/people/harnew)
Classical Mechanics covers:
• The case in which bodies remain at rest
• Translational motion– by which a body shifts from
one point in space to another Isaac Newton
• More general rotational motion–bodies that are spinning (1642-1727 )
• Particle collisions

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Classical Mechanics valid on scales which are:

• Not too fast ( e.g.. high energy particle tracks from CERN)
• v << c = 299 792 458 m/s [speed of light in vacuum]
• If too fast, time is no longer absolute - need special relativity.

Earth-Moon: 384 400 km - 1,282 sec

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Classical Mechanics valid on scales which are:

Not too small!

Particles actually have wave-like properties :

(Louis de Broglie postulated that all particles with a specific value

of momentum p have a wavelength λ = h/p, where h = 6.6 x 10-34 J⋅s
is Planck's constant )

Hence for scales >> λ wave properties can be ignored

Molecular vibrations

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Classical Mechanics valid on scales which are:
• Not too large!
• Gravitational lens produced by a cluster of galaxies
• Space is “flat” in classical mechanics - curvature of space is ignored
• Also in Newtonian mechanics, time is absolute

The picture shows a famous cosmic mirage known as the

Einstein Cross, and is a direct visual confirmation of the
theory of general relativity. It is one of the best examples
of the phenomenon of gravitational lensing — the bending
of light by gravity as predicted by Einstein in the early 20th
century. In this case, the galaxy’s powerful gravity acts as
a lens that bends and amplifies the light from the quasar
behind it, producing four images of the distant object. The
quasar, being 11 billion light-years from us in the direction
of the constellation of Pegasus, is seen as it was around
11 billion years ago. The galaxy that works as a lens is
some ten times closer.

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0. Preliminaries
(A. Bettini, A Course in Classical Physics 1—Mechanics, Springer, 2016)
(A. Romano, A. Marasco, Classical Mechanics with Mathematica®, 2nd ed., Birkhaeser, 2012)

The time is the succession of events. The Newtonian time is linear (has a uniform
flow) and irreversible.

Motion of a body means that its position in space varies in time. The notion of
motion is relative: a passenger in a plane sitting in his chair has a fixed position
relative to the plane, but moves at, say 800 km/h relative to a person standing on
earth. The latter moves at 800 km/h relative to the passenger, in the opposite
direction.

To describe the motion we then need a reference frame. Usually, a reference frame
is fixed on the earth. The possible choices are still infinite.

Kinematics is the part of classical mechanics that studies the motion of a body,
ignoring its causes.

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A particle (“material point”) is an object whose size can be ignored in a particular

context.
This abstraction allows to simplify the observation of motion, as it gets rid of the
complications deriving from the extension of real bodies. Moreover this abstraction
is introductory to the far more complex study of real bodies.

Kinematics of the material point studies the motion of a point-like (particle) object.

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1. Kinematics of the material point

Consider a material point M. The point M is moving relative to an orthonormal frame

Ox1x2x3 if his position vector (𝑟 = OM) is variable in time:

𝑟=𝑓 𝑡 or 𝑟 = 𝑟 𝑡 (1.1)
Equation (1.1) is the equation of motion of the point M written in the vector form.

In an orthogonal frame, the scalar

equations of the motion are:
𝑥𝑖 = 𝑥𝑖 𝑡 or 𝑥𝑖 = 𝑓𝑖 𝑡 , 𝑖 = 1,2,3
(1.2)

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If 𝑥𝑖 𝑡 or 𝑓𝑖 𝑡 are known in a time interval 𝑡0 , 𝑇 , 𝑡0 > 0; 𝑇 < ∞, then the motion of

the material point M in the frame Ox1x2x3 is known in this time range.
The function
𝑟: 𝑡0 , 𝑇 𝑅3 , 𝑟 = 𝑟 𝑡 (1.3)
associates to every moment 𝑡 ∈ 𝑡0 , 𝑇 a unique position in space for the point M.

The particle describes in its motion a curve, which is called the trajectory.
The trajectory is the (geometric) locus of the successive positions of the material
point in space.
Equations (1.2) represent the parametric equations of the trajectory (𝑡 being the
parameter). By eliminating 𝑡 in these equations the trajectory can be obtained as a
intersection of two surfaces: (1.4)

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Further, we suppose that 𝑥𝑖 𝑡 are functions of class 𝐶 𝑘 (𝑘 ≥ 2) on the motion

interval. Thus, the trajectory is a rectifiable curve* and it is possible to specify the
position of the point M on the trajectory by using an intrinsic coordinate, 𝑠, the arc
length on the trajectory, measured from an initial position 𝑂′ to the current position of
the point M.
Moreover, the parametric representation of
the trajectory (depending on the parameter
s) has the form:
𝑟 = 𝑟 𝑠 , 𝑠𝜖 0, 𝑆 , 𝑆 > 0 (1.5)

In this case, the equation of the motion of

the particle on the trajectory is given by:
𝑠 = 𝑠(𝑡), 𝑡𝜖 𝑡0 , 𝑇 (1.6)

* A rectifiable curve is a curve having finite length.

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Velocity
Let us consider the position vector of particle M at the instant of time 𝑡, 𝑟 𝑡 and an
immediately following instant 𝑡 + Δ𝑡, 𝑟 𝑡 + Δ𝑡 , where Δ𝑡 is a short time interval.
In this time interval the particle has
moved by Δs, which is a step in the
space.

The average speed of the particle

M is defined as follow:
𝑠 𝑡+Δ𝑡 −𝑠 𝑡
𝑣m =
Δ𝑡
The limit

𝑠 𝑡+Δ𝑡 −𝑠 𝑡
𝑣 𝑡 = lim (1.9)
Δ𝑡 0 Δ𝑡
is the speed of M at the moment t.
𝑑𝑠
Thus, 𝑣 𝑡 = 𝑑𝑡 𝑡 = 𝑠 𝑡 (1.10)

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The average velocity in the time interval Δ𝑡 is the vector obtained by dividing the
displacement Δ𝑟 by the time interval in which it happens:

𝑟 𝑡 + Δ𝑡 − 𝑟 𝑡 Δ𝑟
𝑣m = = (1.11)
Δ𝑡 Δ𝑡
The (instantaneous) velocity is the limit for Δ𝑡 0 of the average velocity, namely

𝑟 𝑡 + Δ𝑡 − 𝑟 𝑡
𝑣 𝑡 = lim (1.12)
Δ𝑡 0 Δ𝑡
Thus,
𝑑𝑟
𝑣 𝑡 = = 𝑟 𝑡 = 𝑥1 𝑡 𝑖1 + 𝑥2 𝑡 𝑖2 + 𝑥3 𝑡 𝑖3 = 𝑣1 𝑖1 + 𝑣2 𝑖2 + 𝑣3 𝑖3 (1.13)
𝑑𝑡

However, we have 𝑟 = 𝑟 𝑠 and 𝑠 = 𝑠 𝑡 and we get

𝑑𝑟 𝑑 𝑟 𝑑𝑠
𝑣 𝑡 = = =𝑣𝜏 (1.14)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑡
where 𝜏 is the tangent versor (unit vector) at the trajectory in the point M.
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Remark: The velocity vector is tangent to the trajectory, is oriented in the sense of
𝑑𝑠
the displacement and its algebraic magnitude is 𝑠 = 𝑑𝑡 .
𝑣 = 𝑠𝜏 (1.15)

Acceleration
The ratio
𝑣 𝑡 + Δ𝑡 − 𝑣 𝑡
𝑎𝑚 𝑡 = (1.16)
Δ𝑡
is the average acceleration of the particle M.

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The limit
𝑣 𝑡 + Δ𝑡 − 𝑣 𝑡 (1.17)
𝑎 𝑡 = lim
Δ𝑡 0 Δ𝑡

is the instantaneous acceleration of the particle M at the moment t.

We have

𝑑𝑣
𝑎 𝑡 = = 𝑣 𝑡 = 𝑥1 𝑡 𝑖1 + 𝑥2 𝑡 𝑖2 + 𝑥3 𝑡 𝑖3 = 𝑎1 𝑖1 + 𝑎2 𝑖2 + 𝑎3 𝑖3 (1.18)
𝑑𝑡

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2. Kinematics of the material point in different frames of
coordinates

Cartesian coordinates

Motion equations: 𝑥𝑖 = 𝑥𝑖 𝑡 , 𝑡𝜖 𝑡0 , 𝑇 , 𝑖 = 1,2,3

Trajectory: Eliminate time in the motion equation. The curve is the intersection of
two surfaces: F1 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 = 0 ; F2 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 = 0
𝑑𝑟
Velocity: 𝑣 𝑡 = = 𝑟 𝑡 = 𝑥1 𝑡 𝑖1 + 𝑥2 𝑡 𝑖2 + 𝑥3 𝑡 𝑖3 (1.13)
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑣 (1.14)
Acceleration: 𝑎 𝑡 = = 𝑣 𝑡 = 𝑥1 𝑡 𝑖1 + 𝑥2 𝑡 𝑖2 + 𝑥3 𝑡 𝑖3
𝑑𝑡

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Frenet – Serrat frame of coordinates (𝜏, 𝑛, 𝑏 ) (or (T, N, B))
𝜏 - is the unit vector tangent to the curve, pointing in the direction of motion
𝑛 - is the normal unit vector
𝑏 - is the binormal unit vector, the cross product of 𝜏 and 𝑛.
Remark: The Frenet frame of coordinates has the origin in the moving particle and it
is moving along with the particle.

Motion equations: s = 𝑠 𝑡 , 𝑡𝜖 𝑡0 , 𝑇
𝑑𝑠
Velocity: 𝑣 𝑡 = 𝑣𝜏 = 𝑣, 0,0 = , 0,0
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑣 𝑑
Acceleration: 𝑎 𝑡 = = 𝑑𝑡 𝑣𝜏 =
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝜏 𝑑𝑠
= 𝜏 + 𝑣 𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑡
R is the radius of curvature 𝑣2
𝑑𝜏 𝑛 =𝑣 𝜏 + 𝑛
= 𝑅 is the Frenet’s formula 𝑅
𝑑𝑠

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Thus, we have
𝑣2
𝑎 𝑡 = 𝑣, , 0 = a𝜏 𝜏 + a𝑛 𝑛
𝑅
𝑣2
where a𝜏 = 𝑣 is the tangential acceleration and a𝑛 = 𝑅
is the normal acceleration.

1
In 2D the curvature 𝜌 = 𝑅 is:

or for

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Example: (https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Calculus/)

Without finding T and N, write the acceleration of the motion

To solve this problem, we must first find the particle's velocity.

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On the other hand

Thus,

A similar problem

Lecture 1. Introduction 20
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(https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/aeronautics-and-astronautics/)

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Remark

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2. Kinematics of the material point in orthogonal curvilinear coordinates

Curvilinear coordinates (q1, q2, q3) are a coordinate system for Euclidean
space in which the coordinate lines may be curved.

Examples: polar, rectangular, spherical, and cylindrical coordinate systems.

We assume the existence of a vector function 𝑟: Ω ⊂ 𝑅3 𝐷 ⊂ 𝑅3 such that

(2.1)

(2.2)

This function associates to each triplet 𝑞1 , 𝑞2 , 𝑞3 ∋ Ω an unique position

M 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 ∈ R3 and vice versa.
(2.3)

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Thus the application should be is a diffeomorphism of class C2 and in order to exist
is necessary that:
(2.4)

In this case the equation of motion are

(2.5)

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The curves:
Γ1:
Γ2 :
Γ3 :
are called curves of coordinates.
The elementary displacement on

is:

and the length of the curve arc covered by

particle M is given by:

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Taking into account that 𝑑𝑟 is tangent to the curve Γ1 then

Generally, we have:

(2.6)

where 𝐻𝑖 is the coefficient of Lamé corresponding to the curve Γ1 (i = 1,2,3).

However, for a general motion the elementary displacement on the trajectory is:
3 3 3
𝜕𝑟
𝑑𝑟 = 𝑑 𝑟𝑖 = 𝑑𝑞 = 𝐻𝑖 𝑑𝑞𝑖 𝑒𝑖
𝜕𝑞𝑖 𝑖 (2.7)
𝑖=1 𝑖=1 𝑖=1
3

𝑑𝑠 = 𝑑𝑟 = 𝐻𝑖 𝑑𝑞𝑖 2; 𝑑𝑠𝑖 = 𝐻𝑖 𝑞𝑖 , 𝑖 = 1,2,3 (2.8)

𝑖=1

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Velocity in curvilinear coordinates

Taking into account that and

one obtain:

or
3 3

𝑣= 𝐻𝑖 𝑞𝑖 𝑒𝑖 = 𝑣𝑖 𝑒𝑖
(2.8)
𝑖=1 𝑖=1
where
(2.9)
𝑣𝑖 = 𝐻𝑖 𝑞𝑖 , (𝑖 = 1,2,3)

are the components of the velocity in the frame 𝑒1 , 𝑒2 , 𝑒3 .

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Acceleration in curvilinear coordinates

Consider the components of the acceleration:

We have

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Finally, one obtain

(2.10)

Remark: If the curve of coordinate is a straight line or a circle of radius R then we

have 𝐻line = 1 and 𝐻circle = 𝑅.

Indeed, for Γ1 line we have 𝑑𝑞1 = 𝑑𝑠1

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For Γ1 circle we have 𝑑𝑠1 = 𝑅𝑑𝜃, and thus

Particular curvilinear coordinates –cylindrical coordinates

(q1, q2, q3) : (see Figure)

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Equations of the motion are:

Functional relations and the Jacobian:

(2.11)

The curves:
Γ𝑟 is a line with the versor e𝑟 𝐻𝑟 = 1
Γ𝜃 is a circle with the versor e𝜃 𝐻𝜃 = 𝑟
Γ𝑧 is a line with the versor e𝑧 𝐻𝑧 = 1

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The curves of coordinates (𝑟, 𝜃, 𝑧) are orthogonal.

(orthogonality condition)

Thus, the velocity and acceleration components are:

(2.12)

(2.13)

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Remark: For z=0, the motion in polar coordinates is obtained.

Equations of the motion are:

The velocity and acceleration components are

(2.14)
𝑣𝑟 = 𝑟 is the radial velocity
𝑣𝜃 = 𝑟𝜃 is the transversal velocity

(2.15)

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