QoTD 111 Solution

JØKÊR (Piyush∗)

Bicycle wheels have the same radius R, and the distance between the centers of the wheels l = 3R. Two small stones
were stuck in the tread of the tires in front of him and the rear wheels. At the initial moment, the stone on the rear
wheel touches the ground, and the stone on the front wheel is in the extreme position in front of it (Fig. 1). The bicycle
travels in a straight line at a speed v, the wheels do not slip on the road, the stones do not come off the tires.

Figure 1: Initial cycle situation

Q1. Find the maximum Lmax and minimum Lmin of the distance between the stones during the movement of the
bicycle.
Since the wheels have the same dimensions and do not slip, they rotate with
v
the same angular velocities ω = . Therefore, the angle between the radius
R
vectors of stones ⃗r1 and ⃗r2 relative to the centers of the wheels at any time is
90◦ .

The radius vector ⃗r21 of the second stone relative to the first can be
found from the vector equality.

⃗r21 = ⃗r◦ + (⃗r2 − ⃗r1 ) (1)

Figure 2: Vector representation of
where ⃗r◦ is the radius vector of the center of the front wheel relative to the ⃗r21
center of the rear wheel. √
Since the angle between vectors ⃗r1 and ⃗r2 is always 90◦ , then vector ⃗r2 − ⃗r1 has a length of 2R and rotates at a
constant angular velocity equal to the angular velocity of the wheels. Thus, the radius vector of the second stone with
respect to the first can be found as the sum
√ of the vector ⃗r◦ (which does not change during the movement of the bicycle)
and the vector, which has a length of 2R and rotates with an angular velocity ω. The √ addition of these vectors is
shown in Figure 3, and the ends of the vectors ⃗r2 − ⃗r1 and ⃗r21 lie on a circle of radius 2R centered at the end of the
vector ⃗r◦ .

Figure 3: Simple diagram for Fig. 2

Figure 4: Explanation of max and min distance
∗
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 From Figure 3 it follows that the vector ⃗r21 has a minimum length at the moment when the vector ⃗r2 − ⃗r1 is directed
opposite to the vector ⃗r◦ . And maximum length at the moment when the vector ⃗r2 − ⃗r1 is directed in the same direction
as ⃗r◦ . So,

min
√  √ 
⃗r21 = 3R − 2R = R 3 − 2 (2)
max
√  √ 
⃗r21 = 3R + 2R = R 3 + 2 (3)

Q2. After what minimum time t after the start of movement, the distance between the stones reaches its maximum
value.
These two cases are shown in Fig. 4. The length of the vector ⃗r21 will be maximum when the vector ⃗r2 rotates through
an angle π/4 compared to the initial position. From here we find the moment of time tmax when the distance between
stones reaches its maximum value:
π πR
tmax = = (4)
4ω 4v
The length of the vector ⃗r21 will be minimum when the vector ⃗r2 rotates through an angle 5π/4 compared to the initial
position. From here we find the moment of time tmin when the distance between stones reaches its maximum value:
5π 5πR
tmin = = (5)
4ω 4v