Chapter 2

Lagrangian Mechanics I

Chapter contents:
●
Constraints and Generalized Coordinates
●
Virtual Displacement
●
Principle of Virtual Work
●
D’Alembert Principle
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 Constraints and Generalized
Coordinates
For a system of Np particles, the motion of each particle is given by
mi ⃗r¨ i = F
⃗i (i=1,2, ... N p )
⃗r i =(x i , y i , zi ) => Total 3Np equations (for 3Np coordinate values)

However, in most situations, the true degree of freedom of the system

is usually less than 3Np because the coordinates may be related by
constraints and not truly independent.

For instance, we don’t need to know the motions of each particle inside
a rigid body in order to study the motion of the body.

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Example: Particle on a flat table

A particle is free to move on a flat table: (x, y) plane

The constraint for the particle’s motion is

given by z = 0
(assume that the particle will not fall
off the table)

The normal force N ⃗ is responsible to confine

the particle on the table. The normal force is an example of constraint
force. It takes whatever value it needs in order to maintain the constraint.
In this case, its magnitude is N = mg.

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Example: Pendulum of fixed length

A particle is attached by an inelastic string of

length l to the origin O and confined to move
on the x-y plane.

In this example, the constraints are given by

the following 2 equations:
z=0
2 2
x + y =l
2
(x and y are not independent)

=> True degree of freedom = 3 − 2 = 1

3 coordinates 2 constraint equations

It is enough to use one coordinate to describe the system. We can

choose x or y (or θ).
Question: What is the constraint force in this example?
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Definition: Holonomic constraints

If the conditions of constraints can be expressed as equations of the

form
f j (⃗r 1 ,⃗r 2 ,...,⃗r N ,t)=0,
p
( j=1,2,..., N c )
then the constraints are said to be holonomic.
[Np = number of particles; Nc = number of constraint equations]

=> True degree of freedom of the system: N = 3Np − Nc.

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Instead of using 3Np non-independent coordinates {xi, yi, zi} (which are
related by Nc constraint equations), we can choose a set of N (= 3Np− Nc)
independent variables {qα ; α = 1, 2, …, N} to describe the system.
These coordinates {qα} are called generalized coordinates.
N = 3Np− Nc independent
3Np coordinates + Nc constraints coordinates
{xi, yi, zi} f j (⃗r 1 ,...,⃗r N ,t)=0
p
{qα ; α = 1, 2, …, N}

The original coordinates ⃗r i can be expressed in the form:

⃗r i =⃗r i (q 1 , q 2 ,... q N ,t) (i=1,2,. .. , N p )

This is just another way to say that the constraints are holonomic.

Remark:
Constraint conditions that cannot be expressed as f j (⃗r 1 ,...⃗r N ,t)=0 p

are called non-holonomic.

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Example:

Let us consider the pendulum of

fixed length again

The constraint equations are

z=0
2 2 2
x + y =l
and hence they are in the form f j (⃗r 1 ,⃗r 2 ,...,⃗r N ,t)=0 . The constraints
p

are thus holonomic. In this case, Np = 1 and Nc = 2. The true degree of

freedom is N = 3Np − Nc = 1. We can choose the variable θ as the
generalized coordinate and the original Cartesian coordinates are
given by
x=l sin θ
y=−l cos θ
Note:
The generalized coordinates do not necessarily carry length dimension
(such as θ in this example) 7
Example:

A particle is placed on the surface of a

sphere. If the particle is perturbed, it
can slide down and fall off the sphere.

The constraint condition is given by

r≥R (R = radius of the sphere)
In this case, the constraint is non-holonomic because the condition is
an inequality.

Remark:
In general, if the system is non-holonomic, the equations expressing
the constraints cannot be used to eliminate the dependent coordinates.
Non-holonomic systems require special treatment. In fact, there is no
general method for treating all kinds of non-holonomic systems, although
some special cases can be solved in principle. We shall not consider 8
these systems in the course.
 Virtual Displacement
Some difficulties due to constraints in solving a mechanical problem:
● The coordinates (xi, yi, zi) are not all independent. For holonomic
constraints, the problem can be solved formally by introducing
generalized coordinates {qα} so that ⃗r i =⃗r i (q 1 ,... , q N ,t) .

●
In contrast to external applied force F ⃗ (a) (e.g., gravity), the constraint
force F ⃗ (c) are among the unknowns of the problem (e.g., normal
force) and can be known only after we have solved the problem.
F
⃗ (c) can take any arbitrary value it needs to enforce the constraint.

However, in most situations, we are only interested to know the motion

of an object due to the applied force(s). We don’t really care much
about the constraint force(s).
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Question: Is there a better way to formulate the problem so that we can
get rid of the forces of constraint F
⃗ (c)?

Let us first consider the following simple examples:

(fixed constraint surfaces without friction)

In these cases, the constraint forces (eg, normal forces or tension) are
perpendicular to the motion of the particle.

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Let us decompose the total force on a particle into external applied
force and constraint force:
F
⃗ =F
⃗ (a)+ F
⃗ (c)
applied force constraint force

Newton’s 2nd law => m ⃗a = F

⃗ (a)+ F
⃗ (c)

Let us take the dot product of this equation with the velocity:
⃗ (a)⋅⃗v + F
⃗ (c )⋅⃗v (F
⃗⋅⃗v =rate of work done)
m ⃗a⋅⃗v = F
= 0 for the above simple examples

In this way, the constraint force can be eliminated! In reality, most

surfaces also exert constraint forces which are parallel to the surface
(e.g, sliding friction). The motion of the particle still satisfies the constraint,
and these constraint forces can do work.

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In order to keep the nice idea of getting rid of the constraint forces, we
restrict (or define) constraint forces F ⃗ (c) as forces exerted by the constraint
surface that are perpendicular to the surface. That is, we do not consider
sliding friction as constraint forces. But we can still consider it as one of
the applied forces and put it into F⃗ (a) .

More formally, if the constraint “surface” is given by a constraint equation:

f (⃗r 1 ,... , ⃗r N p , t)=0 ,
then the constraint force, being perpendicular to the “surface”, can be
expressed as
⃗ (c)=λ ∇ f
F (λ can depend on time t)

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Example:
For a particle which is confined on the x-y
plane, the constraint equation can be
expressed as
f (x , y , z , t)≡z=0

The constraint force is F

⃗ (c)=λ ∇ f =λ k^ (i.e., the normal force)

Now suppose the surface can move vertically in such a way that the
constraint equation becomes a given function of time
f ( x , y , z , t )≡z−h(t )=0

The constraint force is still perpendicular to the surface, but the actual
motion of the particle does not parallel to the surface. For instance, if
the particle is at rest on the moving surface, then the displacement of
the particle is parallel to the z direction and hence F
⃗ (c)⋅d ⃗r ≠0 .

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From the above example, we found that if the constraint surface is a
function of time, then the constraint force (even if defined to be normal
to the surface) and the actual displacement of the particle need not
perpendicular to each other.

Question: The idea that F

⃗ (c)⋅(some vector)=0 is a good trick to eliminate
the constraint force. Can we have that “some vector” to do
the job in general situations?

Definition: Virtual displacement

We define a virtual displacement δ ⃗r by “freezing” the system at some
instant of time t, and “imagine” the particle being displaced by δ ⃗r that
is consistent with the constraint.

Note:
The “actual” displacement d ⃗r is a displacement in a time interval dt,
while δ ⃗r is a “displacement” at some instant of time!

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A slightly better mathematical definition is to define δ ⃗r as an arbitrary
vector which is tangent to the constraint surface f (⃗r ,t )=0 at ⃗r and time
t so that
δ ⃗r⋅∇ f =0

Example:
A particle is sliding down a moving
inclined plane. This is an example
of time dependent constraint surface
d ⃗r =actual displacement in time interval dt
δ ⃗r =arbitrary vector tangent to the plane at time t
N
⃗ =normal force (i.e., the constraint force in this case )

The constraint force can do actual work: N

⃗ ⋅d ⃗r ≠0

The virtual work done is zero: N

⃗ ⋅δ ⃗r =0

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 Principle of Virtual Work
For a system of Np particles, we have for each particle:
⃗ (c)
F r i=0
i ⋅δ ⃗ (i=1, 2,... , N p )
provided that we restrict ourselves to constraint forces which are
perpendicular to the constraint surface. Obviously, the total virtual
work is zero: N p

∑ ⃗ (ci )⋅δ ⃗r i =0
F
i

Note:
Besides sliding friction (which we have excluded from our definition of
constraint forces), there are indeed other constraint forces that are
parallel to the constraint surface.

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Example: Tension

Consider a frictionless pulley system as

shown. The tension is a kind of constraint
force in order to keep the length of the
inextensible string unchanged.

In this case, the individual virtual work on

each particle does not vanish:

T
⃗ 1⋅δ ⃗r 1≠0 , T⃗ 2⋅δ ⃗r 2 ≠0

However, the total virtual work by the tension on the system is zero:

δ W =T
⃗ 1⋅δ ⃗r 1 + T
⃗ 2⋅δ ⃗r 2 |δ ⃗r 1|=|δ ⃗r 2|=δ r
=−T δ r+T δ r=0 (in order to satisfy
the constraint)

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 Motivated by the above example, we now relax our condition on the
constraint force and restrict ourselves to systems where the total virtual
work by constraint forces is zero:
Np
Principle of
∑ F⃗ (c )
i ⋅δ ⃗r i =0 virtual work
i

This “principle” is better interpreted as a condition on what forces we can

consider as constraint forces in the system. Forces which do not satisfy
the principle should be treated as “applied” forces.

If we restrict ourselves to the condition F

⃗ (c) r i =0, then the tension in
i ⋅δ ⃗
the above example must be treated as an applied force. But now, the
tension can be considered as a constraint force and its total virtual work
on the system is zero.

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 D’Alembert Principle
Let us consider a system of Np particles, each of them is acted upon by
a total force F
⃗ i:
For the i-th particle ⃗p˙ i = F
⃗i
=F⃗ (a)
i + F
⃗ (c)
i
External applied force Constraint force
(eg, gravity)

Take the dot product with virtual displacement and sum over all
particles: N p N p

∑ ⃗ (a)
(F i −⃗p˙ i )⋅δ ⃗
r i= ∑ ⃗ (c)
F r i =0 (by principle of virtual work)
i ⋅δ ⃗
i i

Np

=> ∑ ⃗ i − ⃗p˙ i )⋅δ ⃗r i =0

(F
(a)
D’Alembert principle
i
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Note: Since δ ⃗r i in general are not all independent, the individual terms
do not need to vanish. Together with the constraint equations,
D’Alembert principle contains Newton’s 2nd law and the conditions
on the constraint forces.

Example:
Suppose the particles are at rest. The D’Alembert
principle reduces to 2

∑ ⃗ (a)
F r i =0
i ⋅δ ⃗
i

Here gravity is the only applied force on the particles:

=> −m 2 g δ r+m1 g δ r=0
m1 =m2
The condition for static equilibrium is for the particles to have the
same mass (….something that you might have discovered when you were still a kid!)
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