D’Alambert’s Principle

For each particle of matter in a system with mass m, Newton’s second law states that

F=m a

We can define a vector I as I =−m a

And call it “the force of inertia.” Newton’s second law can now be formulated in a new way:

F effective=F + I =0

On the face of it the new formulation seems trivial but it is actually the expression of a principle. In
mechanics the vanishing of a total force means that the system is in equilibrium. Hence by introducing
the force of inertia to the other acting forces in a system produces equilibrium and a problem of
dynamics is reduced to a problem of statics.

The criterion for the equilibrium of an arbitrary system of forces is that the total virtual work of all of
the forces vanishes. Since the criterion involves virtual displacements and not actual displacements it
is equally applicable to masses at rest and masses in motion.

D’Alambert’s principle states that any system of forces is in equilibrium if we add to the impressed
forces the forces of inertia. It can also be formulated as follows: the total virtual work of the effective
forces is zero for all reversible variations:
n n n
δW =∑ F i effective ∙ δ Ri ≡ ∑ F i ∙ δ Ri +¿ ∑ I i ∙ δ R i=0 ¿
i=1 i=1 i=1

Applications

The Atwood’s Machine

The work done by gravity on the left hand mass due to a displacement δs is
 δ W L =−mg ∙ δs

And the work done by gravity on the right hand mass due to a displacement δs is

δ W R =Mg ∙ δs

The inertial work on the two masses due to a displacement δ s is

2
d s
δ W I =−( m+ M ) 2
∙ δs
dt

And so

[ ]
2
d s
δW = ( M −m ) g−( m+ M ) 2
∙ δs=0
dt

From which an equation of motion for the system is obtained

d s ( M +m )
2
= g
dt
2
( M −m )

A Rotating Disk

2
d θ
A force F is applied to the right side of a disk which induces and angular acceleration 2 . The work
dt
done by the force with angular displacement δθ is

δ W F =R F δθ

With the work done by the inertial force on mass element d m i

 ( )
2
2 d θ
δ W I =−d mi r i 2
δθ
i
dt

There are also forces exerted between neighbouring mass elements which do work but as we sum over
all of the mass elements, these internal forces cancel by virtue of Newton’s third law. The total virtual
work is therefore

[ ( )]
n 2
d θ
δW = R F−∑ d mi r i
2
2
δθ=0
i=1 dt

This leads to the governing equation

2
d θ
I 2
=R F
dt

If we write d m i=ρ r i drdθdz where z is normal to the page and ρ is the mass density then the
moment of inertia becomes
w 2π R 4
πw R ρ
I =ρ ∫ ∫ ∫ r drdθdz=
3
,
0 0 0 2

Where w is the thickness of the disk. The moment of inertia of the disk is therefore
2
MR
I=
2

And the equation of motion for the rotating disk can be written as
2
d θ 2F
2
=
dt MR