22 Equations of Motion, Problem Statement, and Solution Methods Chap.

Example 1.5
Derive the equation governing the free motion of a simple pendulum (Fig. E1.5a), which
consists of a point mass m suspended by a light string of length L.

L
θ T

m
fI
mg Figure E1.5 (a) Simple pendulum;
(a) (b) (b) free-body diagram.

Solution Figure E1.5a shows the displaced position of the pendulum defined by the angle θ
measured from the vertical position, and Fig. E1.5b shows the free-body diagram of the mass.
The forces acting are the weight mg, tension T in the string, and D’Alembert’s fictitious inertia
force f I = m L θ̈.
Equilibrium of the moments of forces about O gives
m L 2 θ̈ + mgLsin θ = 0 (a)
This is a nonlinear differential equation governing θ.
For small rotations, sin θ  θ and the equation of motion [Eq. (a)] can be rewritten as
g
θ̈ + θ = 0 (b)
L
Example 1.6
The system of Fig. E1.6 consists of a weight w attached to a rigid massless bar of length
L joined to its support by a rotational spring of stiffness k. Derive the equation of motion.
Neglect rotational inertia and assume small deflections. What is the buckling weight?

fI
w
•

L
θ w

fs
k
•

(a) (b) Figure E1.6

Solution Figure E1.6b shows the displaced position of the system defined by the angle θ
measured from the vertical position and the free-body diagram, which includes the weight w,
the spring force (moment) f S = kθ , and D’Alembert’s fictitious inertia force f I = (w/g)L θ̈ .