SPA5304 Physical Dynamics Solutions 1

Problem 1 (Quick part A-type questions) [NOT marked]

(i) Idealization for a small object. It has no size and no internal motion (e.g. rotation).

(ii) There exists a coordinate frame, called inertial frame, in which

• Laws of physics are the same at all t.

• Another frame in uniform straight-line motion w.r.t. an inertial frame is also inertial.

(iii) When the torque ~τ = ~r × F~ vanishes.

(iv) 1) All planets move about the Sun in elliptical orbits, having the Sun as one of the foci.
2) A vector joining any planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
3) The square of the orbital period of a planet is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its
orbit.

Problem 2 [NOT marked]

(i)

(ii) There is a Z2 reflection symmetry: x 7→ −x under which V (x) is invariant.

(iii) mẍ(t) = 2ax(t) − 4bx(t)3

(iv) V 0 (x)|x=xe q = 0 determines the xeq equilibrium positions.

(1) (2) pa (3) pa
We get three solutions xeq = 0, xeq = 2b , xeq = − 2b .

(v) V 00 (x)|x=x(1) = −2a < 0. This is an unstable equilibrium point.

eq

V (x)|x=x(2) = V 00 (x)|x=x(3) = 4a > 0. These are stable equilibrium points.

00
eq eq

1
Problem 3 [20 marks]

(i) Position of Morty: ~rMorty = (0, 0, z)

Position of the infinitesimal piece: ~r0 = R(cos ϕ, sin ϕ, 0)
Mass of the infinitesimal piece: dM = ρRdϕ.

m dM m ρ R dϕ
dF~ (ϕ) = −G (~rMorty − ~r0 ) = G 2 (R cos ϕ, R sin ϕ, −z)
|~rMorty − ~r0 |3 (R + z 2 )3/2

[5]

(ii) The gravitational force exerted by the piece of the ring at ϕ:

m ρ R dϕ
dF~ (ϕ) = G (R cos ϕ, R sin ϕ, −z)
(R2 + z 2 )3/2

The gravitational force exerted by the piece of the ring at ϕ + π:

m ρ R dϕ
dF~ (ϕ + π) = G (−R cos ϕ, −R sin ϕ, −z)
(R2 + z 2 )3/2

Summing these two contributions:

 
m ρ R z dϕ
dF~ 0 = 0, 0, −2G 2
(R + z 2 )3/2

which has vanishing x and y components.

We have to integrate this between ϕ = (0 . . . π) to get the total gravitational force on Morty.
(The region ϕ = (π . . . 2π) has already been taken into account. )
Thus, the total force will have vanishing x and y components as well.
[2]

(iii) Integrating dF~ 0 over ϕ = (0 . . . π) is easy, because it is a constant function. So we just multiply by π
to get the total gravitational force:
 
GmρRz
F~tot = 0, 0, −2π 2 .
(z + R2 )3/2
[3]

(iv) The gravitational potential from an infinitesimal piece is

m dM m(ρ R dϕ)
dV (z) = −G = −G √
|~rMorty − ~r0 | z 2 + R2

The total potential is then Z

2πmρ R
V (z) = dV = −G √
z 2 + R2

2
 Taking
d GmρRz
− V (z) = −2π 2 = (F~tot )z
dz (z + R2 )3/2
[5]

(v) For this question we can forget about Morty so the problem is effectively two-dimensional. Let us
consider an infinitesimal piece of the ring (name it “1”) with mass dm1 lying at

~r1 = (0, −R, 0)

and compute the gravitational force exerted by another piece “2” lying on the ring at an angle ϕ:

~r2 = (R cos ϕ, R sin ϕ, 0)

The length of this piece is Rdϕ and its mass is dm2 = ρRdϕ.
The two pieces are nearby when ϕ ≈ −π/2. For simplicity, let’s introduce a shifted angle α ≡ ϕ + π2 .
Using this angle, two pieces are nearby when α ≈ 0. Let’s suppose α > 0 for now.
Let us compute the elementary force dF~ exerted by piece “2” on piece “1”. Due to the x → 7 −x
reflection symmetry of the ring, the total force exerted by the entire ring on piece “1” will be in the y
direction. Thus, we only need to compute the y component of dF~ .

dm1 dm2
(dF~ )y = |dF~ | cos β = G cos β
(~r1 − ~r2 )2

where β is the angle between the y-axis and ~r2 − ~r1 .

The triangle formed by the points {centre of the ring, ~r1 , ~r2 } has angles α, β, β. Their sum is 180◦ , so
we have cos β = sin α2 .
We also have (~r1 − ~r2 )2 = 2R2 (1 − cos α). Thus,

dm1 ρdα α
(dF~ )y = G sin
2R(1 − cos α) 2

For small α this is

3
 dm1 ρdα
dFy ≈ G
2Rα
The total force on “1” can be computed by integrating w.r.t. α. That gives a function proportional
to log α which we need to evaluate at α = 0. The log function diverges at that point. Thus, the total
force exerted by the ring on piece “1” diverges. Hence, Rick could not have built this ring, because it
would have collapsed immediately.
[5]