Chapter 12 :

Kinematics of a Particle
（VI）

by

Dr. Toh Hoong Thiam

 General Curvilinear Motion:
Cylindrical Components
 For problems involve angular position and a radial distance,
it is often more convenient to express the path of motion in
cylindrical coordinates, r, q, z.

 If the motion is restricted to the plane,

the polar coordinates r and θ are used.
 Polar Coordinates
 In this system, the location of a
particle P can be specified by
using the radial coordinate r,
and the transverse coordinate θ.
 Positive directions of the r and θ coordinates are defined by the
unit vectors ur and uq .
 ur is in the direction of increasing r when θ is held fixed.
 uq is in the direction of increasing θ when r is held fixed.

 Note that ur and uq are perpendicular to each other.

 Angle is usually measured in degrees or radians, where

1 rad = 180°/p.
 Position
 At any instant the position of
the particle P is
 
r  rur

 Velocity

 The instantaneous velocity is defined as:

dr  
v or v  r
dt

 d rur 
v
dt

 dr  dur   
v  ur  r or v  rur  rur (1)
dt dt
• During the time ∆t,
 a change in ∆r will not change the
direction of ur.
 a change in ∆θ will cause ur to become u′r, where
,    
ur  ur  Dur , Dur  time change in ur
, 
 ur changes only its direction, ur  ur  1

 For small angles ∆θ,

 Dur ≈ (1) ∆q  
Dur  Dq uq
 Dur acts in the uq direction

 Therefore,  Dur  Dq 
ur  lim   lim  uq
Dt 0 Dt
 Dt 0 Dt 
  
ur  q uq (2)
 Hence, the velocity in Eq.(1) becomes

 
v  rur  r q uq
or
v  vr ur  vq uq

where
vr  r , vq  rq

 The speed of the particle at any given instant is

r   
2
 vr    vq   rq
2
v
2 2
or v

 The direction of vԦ is tangent to the path at P.

 Note:
 The radial component vԦ𝑟 is a measure of the rate of increase or
decrease in the length of the radial coordinate, i.e., r.ሶ
 The transverse component vԦq is the rate of motion along the
circumference of a circle having a radius r.

v
Ԧr and vԦq are always perpendicular.

dq
 𝜃ሶ = dt is called the angular velocity.

- It indicates the rate of change of angle θ.

- It is measured in rad/s.
 Acceleration
 The instantaneous acceleration is defined as

 
av

 d 
a
dt
  
rur  rq uq 

  
       
a  rur  rur  rq uq  rq uq  rq uq 

  
    
  
a  rur  rur  rq  rq uq  rq uq (3)
• During the time ∆t,
 a change in ∆r
 will not change the
direction of uq
 ,
 a change in ∆θ will cause uq to become uq , where
,    
uq  uq  Duq , Duq  time change in uq

 For small angles ∆θ,

 Duq ≈ (1) ∆q  
Duq  Dq ur
 Duq acts in the −ur direction


 Therefore,  Du  Dq  
uq  lim q   lim ur
Dt 0 Dt Dt 0 Dt
 
 
uq  q ur (4)
 Using Eqs.(2) & (4) in Eq.(3) yields

  
a   r ur  r q uq  + rq  rq uq + rq q ur
    
  
a  r  rq 2 ur  rq  2rq uq 
or
a  ar ur  aq uq

where
ar  r  rq 2

aq  rq  2rq

 The magnitude of acceleration is

 r  rq    rq  2rq 
2 2
 ar    aq  a
2 2 2
a or


 The direction of a is not tangent to the path at P.
 Note:

 ar is the radial component of the acceleration.


 aq is the transverse component of the acceleration.

 
 ar and aq are always perpendicular.

d  dq 
 q   is the angular acceleration.
dt  dt 
It measures the rate of change of the angular velocity during an
instant of time. It is measured in rad/s2.
 Cylindrical Coordinates

 If the particle P moves along a

space curve, then its location may be
specified by the three cylindrical
coordinates r, θ, z.

 z coordinate is similar to that used for

rectangular coordinates.

 Note that the unit vector in z direction, i.e., 𝑢z is constant.

Therefore, the time derivatives of this vector are zero.

 Hence the position, velocity, and acceleration of a particle P in
cylindrical coordinates are:

Position :
rp  rur  zuz

Velocity:
v  rur  rq uq  zuz

Acceleration:

a  (r  rq 2 )ur  (rq  2rq )uq  zuz

Time Derivatives
Two types of problems usually occur :

 If the coordinates are specified as time parametric equations,

r = r(t) and θ = θ(t),
then the time derivative can be found directly.

Example
Given: r = 4t2 , q = 8t3 +62

Time derivatives: r  8t , q  24t 2

r  8, q  48t
 If the time parametric equations are not given, it is necessary to
specify the path r = f (θ) and find the relationship between the
time derivatives using the chain rule of calculus.
Example (a)
Given: r = 5q 2

Time derivatives:

 
d q 2 dq
r 5
d 2
dt
 
q 5
dq dt
 52q q  10qq

  
r  10  q q  qq   10q 2  10qq

Example (b)
Given: r2 = 6q 3 (A)
Time derivatives:

• Differentiating Eq.(A) with respect to t :

d 2
dt
 
r 6
d 3
dt
q  
dq d
dr d 2
dt dr
 
r 6
dt dq
q3  
 
r  2r   6q 3q 2

2rr  18q 2q (B)

• Differentiating Eq.(B) with respect to t :

2
d
dt
 
rr  18
d 2
dt
 
qq

 dr
2 r  r
d r  

d q2
 q  q
 
2
d q 

 
 18
 dt dt   dt dt 
 

 
 dq d q 2 
2  r  r  r  r    18 
 dt dq
q q q 
2


 

r 
2
  
 r  r   9 q  2q q  q 2 q 



r 2  rr  9 2qq 2  q 2 q  (C)
PROCEDURE FOR ANALYSIS
Coordinate System
 Polar coordinate are used to solve problem involving angular
motion of the radial coordinate r that is used to describe the
particle’s motion.

 To use polar coordinates, the origin is established at a fixed

point and the radial line r is directed to the particle.

 The transverse coordinate θ is measured from a fixed reference

line to the radial line.
Velocity and Acceleration

 Once r and the four time derivatives r, r, q, q have been
evaluated at the instant considered, their values can be used to
 
obtain the radial and transverse components of v and a .

 Use chain rule of calculus to find the time derivatives of r = f(θ).

 Motion in 3D requires a simple extension of the above procedure

to find z, z.
EXAMPLE 12.17
Given:
The amusement park consists of a
chair that is rotating in a horizontal
circular path of radius r such that the
arm OB has an angular velocity q
and angular acceleration q .

Find:
Determine the radial and transverse components of velocity and
acceleration of the passenger.
Solution:
Coordinate System
Since the angular motion of the arm
is reported, polar coordinates (r, q)
are chosen for the solution.

Velocity and Acceleration

 Given r = r , where r is constant,

⟹ r 0

⟹ r 0
 Velocity components:
vr  r  0

vq  rq

 Acceleration components:
ar  r  rq 2  rq 2

aq  rq  2rq  rq

 Note :
The n, t axes of this circular motion is collinear with the r and θ
axes
Note:
 In t−n coordinate system, we have

 rq 
2
v2
an    rq 2
 r

at 
dv d rq

  dr
 q r
dq
 0  rq  rq
dt dt dt dt

 Thus,

ar = − an
aq = at
EXAMPLE 12.18
Given:
 The rod OA is rotating in the
horizontal plane such that
θ = (t3) rad.

 At the same time, the collar B

is sliding outwards along OA so that
r = (100t2) mm.
 t is in seconds.

Find:
The velocity and acceleration of the collar when t = 1s.
Solution:
Coordinate System r = (100t2)
 Since angular motion is involved, polar
coordinates (r, q) are chosen.
 Since time-parametric equations of the particle
is given, it is not necessary to relate r to θ. θ = (t3)

Time derivatives
r = 100 t2 ⟹ r t 1s  100(1)2 = 100 mm
r  200t ⟹ r t 1 s
 200(1) = 200 mm/s
r  200 ⟹ r t 1 s
= 200 mm/s2
q = t3 ⟹ q t 1s  (1)3 = 1 rad = 57.3◦
q  3t 2
⟹ q t 1 s
 3(1) 2 = 3 rad/s
q  6t ⟹ q t 1 s
 6 1 = 6 rad/s2
Velocity at t = 1 s
 The velocity is v  rur  rq uq
v   200  ur  100  3 uq

v   200 ur  300 uq  mm/s

 The magnitude of velocity is

v  2002  3002  361 mm/s

 The direction of velocity is

 vq  1  300 
  tan 
1
  tan    56.3
 vr   200   + 57.3 ° =113.6°

 With respect to the fixed rectangular system, the velocity is

v = 361 mm/s 113.6°
Acceleration at t = 1 s
 The acceleration is
a  (r  rq 2 )ur  (rq  2rq )uq
a   200  100  3  ur  100  6   2  200  3  uq
2
 
a   700ur  1800uq  mm/s 2

 The magnitude of acceleration is

a  7002  18002  1930 mm/s2
 The direction of acceleration is
 aq  1  1800  (180°− + 57.3° = 168.6°
  tan 
1
  tan    68.7
 ar   700 
 With respect to the fixed rectangular system, the acceleration is
168.6°
a = 1930 mm/s2
EXAMPLE 12.19
Given:
 The searchlight casts a spot of
light along the face of a wall that
is located 100m from the
searchlight.

 The searchlight is rotating at a constant rate of q  4 rad/s.

Find:
Determine the magnitudes of the velocity and acceleration at which
the spot appears to travel across the wall at the instant θ = 45°.
Solution:
Coordinate System
Polar coordinates will be used since the angular rate of the
searchlight is given.

Time derivatives
 From the figure,
r = 100/cos q = 100 sec q
r  100(secq tan q )q

 
r  100  sec q tan q q  tan q  q
  

  sec q  sec 2 q q q  
 
 (sec q tan q ) q 


     (sec q tan q )q 
2 2
⟹ r  100 sec q tan q q  sec q q
2 3
 
 Given : q  4 rad/s
q 0

 At q = 45°,
r = 100 sec 45° = 141.4 m
r  100(sec 45 tan 45 )  4  = 565.7 m/s

r  100 sec 45 tan 2 45  4   sec3 45  4   0  = 6788.2 m/s2

2 2

Velocity
 The velocity is
v  rur  rq uq
v   565.7  ur  141.4  4  uq

v   565.7 ur  565.7 uq  m/s

 The magnitude of velocity is

v  vr2  vq2

 565.7 2  565.7 2

= 800 m/s
Acceleration
 The acceleration is
a  (r  rq 2 )ur  (rq  2rq )uq
a  6788.2  141.4  4   ur  141.4  0   2  565.7  4   uq
 2
 
a   4525.5ur  4525.5uq  m/s 2

 The magnitude of acceleration is

a  ar2  aq2

 4525.52  4525.52

= 6400 m/s2
EXAMPLE 12.20
Given:
 Due to the rotation of the forked rod, ball A
travels across the slotted path, a portion of
which is in the shape of a cardioid,
r = 0.15(1 – cos θ) m where θ is in radians.

 The ball’s velocity is v = 1.2 m/s and its

acceleration is a = 9 m/s2 at the instant
θ = 180°.

Find:

Determine the angular velocity q and angular acceleration q of the fork.
Solution:
Coordinate System
Use polar coordinates.

Time derivatives
r = 0.15(1−cos q
r  0.15(sin q )q

 
r  0.15  cos q q (q )  (sin q )q   0.15  cos q  (q ) 2 +(sin q )q 
 

 At q = 180°,
r = 0.15(1−cos 180° = 0.3 m
r  0.15(sin180 ) q = 0

 
r  0.15  cos180 q (q )  (sin180 )q   0.15q

2
Angular velocity
 Since v = 1.2 m/s,

r   
2
 rq
2
v

 0  
2
 0.3q
2
⟹ 1.2 
q  4 rad/s

Angular acceleration
 Since a = 9 m/s2,
a  (r  rq 2 ) 2  (rq  2rq ) 2

9  0.15(4)  0.3(4)   0.3q  2  0  4 

2
2 2 2
⟹

q  18 rad/s 2