Lecture 37: Motion of a Symmetric Top

• Last time, we began exploring the motion of a symmetric

top when no external torque is applied
• We found that ω3 (the component along the axis of
symmetry) was constant
• The equations of motion for ω1 and ω2 can be expressed
as:
η − iΩ η = 0

where η ≡ ω1 + iω 2
• That’s an equation we know how to solve:

η ( t ) = Aei (Ωt +δ )

• To make life easy, we’ll choose the phase δ to be zero

• Writing the equation in terms of the components of ω
gives:
ω1 + iω 2 = AeiΩt
• Writing the real and imaginary parts of the above equation
separately gives:
ω1 = A cos ( Ωt )
ω 2 = A sin ( Ωt )
• To interpret this result, note that the magnitude of the
angular velocity vector must be constant:

= ω12 + ω 22 + ω 32 = A2 cos2 ( Ωt ) + A2 sin 2 ( Ωt ) + ω32

= A2 + ω32 = const
• In other words, in the body frame the motion would look
like:
Ω
This conical motion of the
angular velocity is called
Body ω “precession”
cone

Symmetry
axis
• How does the motion look in an inertial frame?
– We start by noting that both L and rotational kinetic energy
are constant
• So, L is pointed along a fixed direction in the inertial
frame, which we can take to be the x3′ direction
 1
• The kinetic energy can be expressed as T = ⋅ L , which
2
implies that the component of ω along the L direction must
be constant
• In other words, the motion must look like:
L

Again, we see precession

Space ω
cone

• Further, we can show that L, ω, and the x3 axis all must lie
in the same plane:
– First, note that: × e 3 = ω 2 e1 − ω1e 2 = A
– A is a vector perpendicular to the plane of ω and e3
L ⋅ A = L1 A1 + L2 A2 = I1ω1ω 2 − I 2ω 2ω1 = 0 (since I1 = I 2 )
• Combining all of this information, we see that the
geometry must be:
x3
L Symmetry
axis
Space
ω
cone
Body
cone
• The body cone can be thought of as rolling without
slipping on the surface of the space cone
 Motion of a Top Under Gravity, with
One Fixed Point
• We now consider the motion observed with a child’s toy
top
• Again we assume there is an axis of symmetry, such that
I1 = I 2
• Take the fixed point to be the origin of both the inertial and
body reference frames
• Assume the center of mass of the top is a distance h from
the fixed point
– So the potential energy is
U = Mgh cos θ
– The kinetic energy about the fixed point is purely rotational:
1
T= I iωi2
2 i
• So the Lagrangian is simply:
1
L= I iωi2 − Mgh cos θ
2 i
• But we need to express this in terms of our generalized
coordinates – the Eulerian angles
– Luckily, we already know how to write the ωi in terms of
θ,φ, and ψ (and their time derivatives)
• After a little algebra (see p. 457 of the text) we find:

L = I1 (φ sin θ + θ ) + I 3 (φ cos θ + ψ ) − Mgh cos θ

1 2 2 2 1 2

2 2
• The first thing to note is that neither φ nor ψ appear in the
Lagrangian
– So the momenta conjugate to these quantities must be
conserved
 ∂L
pφ = = ( I1 sin 2 θ + I 3 cos2 θ ) φ + I 3ψ cos θ = const
∂φ
∂L
pψ = = I 3 (ψ + φ cos θ ) = I 3ω3 = const
∂ψ

• Solving the above for φ gives:

pφ − pψ cos θ
φ=
I1 sin 2 θ
• Precession again (this time about the vertical direction)
 Motion in θ
• The motion in θ is the most counterintuitive feature of a
top’s motion
– i.e., the top doesn’t fall over!
• We can see why simply by considering conserved
quantities. First, energy is conserved (in the real world
there’s friction, so tops eventually slow down, but we’re
ignoring that):

E = I1 (φ sin θ + θ ) + I 3 (φ cos θ + ψ ) + Mgh cos θ

1 2 2 2 1 2

2 2
= I1 (φ sin θ + θ ) + I 3ω32 + Mgh cos θ = const
1 2 2 2 1
2 2
2
• But, pψ pψ2
I 3ω32 = I 3 = = const.
I3 I3
• Thus, the quantity:

E = I1 (φ 2 sin 2 θ + θ 2 ) + Mgh cos θ

1
′
2
( pφ − pψ cosθ )
2
1
= I1θ 2 + + Mgh cos θ
2 2 I1 sin θ
2

is also constant
• We can write this as:
1
E ′ = I1θ 2 + V (θ )
2
• This looks like the expression for energy in one dimension,
with V(θ) playing the role of an “effective potential”
• A “typical” V(θ) looks like:
20
18
16
14 E′
12
10
V

8
6
4
2
0
-0.36 0.14 0.64 1.14 1.64 2.14 2.64 3.14
θ

• For a given E ′ there is an allowed region in θ

• The body will oscillate within the allowed range
– This oscillation is called nutation