KINEMATICS 25 Figure 5 shows the trajectory described by point N on the rim of a wheel running along a straight road, with respect to the surface of the Earth. With respect to the cart, the trajectory of point M will naturally be the circumference of the rim. Fig. 5. A point on the rim of a rolling wheel (nail ) describes a cycloid with respect to the ground 1.4, Translational and Rotational Motion of a Body. The trajecto- ries of various points of a body may be different. This can be demonstra- ted if we rapidly move a splinter glowing at both ends in a dark room. A human eye retains a visual impression for about 0.1 second. For this reason we perceive the trajectories of the glowing ends as luminescent lines and can compare them (Fig. 6). A body has the simplest motion when all its points move identically and follow the same paths. This kind of motion is called translational. It can be observed if the splinter is so moved that it constantly remains parallel to its former position. During this motion the paths may be straight (Fig. 7a) or curved (Fig. 76). It can be proved that in transla- =e Fig. 6. Paths AA’ Fig. 7. Translational motion of and BB’ of the glo- a splinter wing ends of a splin- ter are different tional motion any straight line drawn in a body remains parallel to itself. It is convenient to employ this typical feature to answer the question whether a given motion of a body is translational. For example, when a cylinder rolls over a surface, the straight lines intersecting its axis do not remain parallel to themselves because rolling is not a translational26 MECHANICS motion. When a T-square and a triangle are moved over a drawing board any straight line drawn in them will be parallel to its former position, and the motion is translational (Fig. 8). The same kind of Fig. 8. A T-square and a triangle move translationally along 2 drawing board motion is performed by the needle of a sewing machine, a piston recip- rocating in a cylinder, the body of a truck (but not the wheels!) running along a straight road, etc. Another simple kind of motion is rotational motion of a body, or rotation. Here all the points of a body move along circumferences 0 whose centres lie on a straight line called the axis of revolution (straight line OO’ in Fig. 9). The circumferences lie in parallel planes per- pendicular to the axis of revolution. The points of the body onthe axis of revolution are stationary. Rotation is not translational motion because only the straight lines parallel to the axis of revolution remain parallel in rotational motion (for example, straight line BC in Fig. 9). : The daily movement of the Earth is rotati- Fig. 0; Rotation of 2 block onal motion, as is the oscillation of the pen- faeries at points A'andg dulum of a clock. Rotation is frequently are shown encountered in engineering: wheels, pulleys, shafts, axles and crankshafts of various mach- ines, propellers of airplanes, the pointers of instruments, etc. all rotate. Exercise 1.2, Is the motion of the pedals of a bicycle translational? 1.5. Motion of a Point. Generally speaking, the motion of a body can be described if we know how its separate points move. But when a body moves translationally, all its points move in the same way. For this reason it is enough to describe the movement of any point of the body toKINEMATICS ae deseribe its translational motion. If different points on a body move differently, the motion of only one point may suffice when we are in- terested in the change of the position of the body as a whole, for instan- ce, when studying the flight of a bullet or an airplane, the movement of a ship at sea, the movement of a planet around the Sun, etc. In the latter case, for example, it is sufficient to describe the motion of the centre of the planet. Thus, the motion of a point may often be described instead of that of a whole body. The various motions of a point differ first of all in the shape of the trajectory. If the latter is a straight line motion is rectilinear, and if it is a curved line, motion is curvilinear. With respect to the motion of a body as a whole, the differentiation of motion into rectilinear and curvilinear has a meaning only when one point is used to describe the motion of a body. In general, some points of a body may move re- ctilinearly, and others curvilinearly. Rectilinear motion of a point is the simplest kind of motion. We shall pees only such motion in the following sections up to and including c. 1.24, Exercise 1.3, What points of a cylinder rolling over a surface move rectilinearly? 1.6. Description of Motion of a Point. Although the trajectory of motion indicates all the positions occupied by a point, it does not per- mit us to determine the velocity over individual sections of the traje- ctory, whether the point stopped or not en route, ete. To obtain a full description of motion one must know at what moment the point was in different positions on its trajectory. For this purpose some method should be used to mark all the points on the trajectory and “lash” each of them to the moment when the point passes them. BF Ss — er 04 26 2-7 27 227 4 2 e. Fig. 10. Marking out a straight trajectory Let us select a definite point, called the initial point on the traje- ctory, and measure from it along the trajectory a distance s to each of the other points. To distinguish points that are at different sides of the initial one, one of the directions along the trajectory is assumed to be positive, and the distances s in this direction will be positive, while the opposite direction is negative (Fig. 10). On railways and highways the distance is marked by means of kilometre posts that show the distance from the terminal point. The number on the post passed by a train or car directly gives the distance s from the terminal, usually a large city. All distances are assumed to be positive when setting up the posts.