Normal and Tangential coordinate systems (t-n)

Measurements made along the tangent t and normal n to the path of the particle are one of the
common descriptions of curvilinear motion which uses path variables.

The positive direction for n at any position is always taken toward the center of curvature of the
path.

Velocity and Acceleration

Circular Motion

Circular motion is an important special case of plane curvilinear motion where the radius of
curvature ρ becomes the constant radius r of the circle and the angle β is replaced by the angle θ
measured from any convenient radial reference to OP.

The velocity and the acceleration of the

particle P becomes:
Polar Coordinates (r-θ)
In polar coordinates the particle is located by the radial distance r from a fixed point and by
angular measurement θ to the radial line. Polar coordinates are particularly useful when a motion
is constrained through the control of a radial distance and an angular position or when an
unconstrained motion is observed by measurements of a radial distance and an angular position.

The velocity in a vector form is given as: v=

ṙ =ṙ er + r θ̇ eθ

So the velocity is given as: The vector acceleration is:

v r=ṙ

v θ=r θ̇

v=√ v r2 + v θ2 And the acceleration is given as:

Geometric interpretation

Circular motion

For circular motion the radius of curvature is constant r, the velocity and the acceleration
becomes

The positive r direction is in the negative n-direction, thusa r=−an. The expressions for a r and a θ
can also be obtained by direct differentiation of the coordinate relations x=r sin θ and y=r sin θ .
a x = ẍ∧a y = ÿ

Relative motion
In relative motion the analysis of motion unlike the previous analysis, which are absolute,
analysis of motion is simplified by using measurements made with respect to a moving reference
system.

r A =r B +r A / B

Additional considerations
Constrained Motion of Connected Particles
This analysis is used in order to determine the respective motions of the particles by accounting
constraints imposed by interconnecting members.

One degree of freedom

The total length of the cable is

Applying the first and second derivatives

The system above is said to have one degree of freedom since only one variable, either x or y, is
needed to specify the positions of all parts of the system.

Two Degree of Freedom

Here the positions of the lower cylinder and

pulley C depend on the separate A combination of the two movements gives
specifications of the two coordinates y A and an upward (negative) movement
y B. dy A dy B v v
−d y c = + and −v c = A + B
4 2 4 2
The lengths of the cables are given as;
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