Application of the Calculus of Variation and Lagrange Equations

1- Consider a block of mass m sliding on a smooth wedge of mass M and angle α

which itself slides on a smooth horizontal floor, as shown in Figure 12.6. The
whole motion

Fig. 1The block slides on the smooth surface of the wedge which
slides on a smooth horizontal floor.
is planar. Find Lagrange’s equations for this system and deduce (i) the acceleration
of the wedge, and (ii) the acceleration of the block relative to the wedge.
Solution:
This is a standard conservative system with two degrees of freedom. Take as generalized
coordinates x, the displacement of the wedge from a fixed point on the floor, and y, the
displacement of the block from a fixed point on the wedge. The calculation of the kinetic
and potential energies in terms of x, y is performed in a direct manner and gives
If we now perform the time derivatives in the above equations and solve
for the unknowns ¨ x, ¨y we obtain

which are the required accelerations. They are both constant.

These results can of course be obtained by more elementary means. For instance, we
could solve this problem by appealing to conservation of horizontal linear momentum
and energy. However, the Lagrange method does have the advantage that less physical
insight is needed to solve the problem. If the system is a standard one and T and V can be
calculated, then turning the handle produces the equations of motion.

2- Figure 12.7 shows a solid cylinder with center G and radius a rolling on the rough
inside surface of a fixed cylinder with center O and radius b > a. Find the
Lagrange equation of motion and deduce the period of small oscillations about the
equilibrium position.

Fig. 2The small solid cylinder rolls on the inside surface of the
large fixed cylinder
Solution
If the cylinder were not obliged to roll, the system would have two degrees of freedom
with generalized coordinates θ (the angle between OG and the downward vertical)
and φ (the rotation angle of the cylinder measured from some reference position).
The rolling condition imposes the kinematical constraint

This constraint is integrable and is equivalent to the geometrical constraint

on taking φ = 0 when θ = 0. Thus, the rolling cylinder is a standard conservative
system with one degree of freedom.
Take θ as the generalized coordinate. Then the kinetic energy is given by

Interestingly, this equation is identical to the exact equation for the oscillations of a
simple pendulum of length 3(b − a)/2 as obtained in Chapter 6.
The linearized equation governing small oscillations of the cylinder about θ = 0
is