Midterm examination: Dynamics

Hiroki Okubo
June 5 2009

1. A 75-kg man stands on a spring scale in an 1N (0 ≤ t ≤ 2)

Fy = {
elevator. During the first 3 seconds of motion 2t − 3 N (2 ≤ t ≤ 3)
from rest, the tension T in the hoisting cable Determine the velocity v of the particle at the
is 8300 N. Find the reading R of the scale in end of the 3 s.
newtons during this interval and the upward Solution. We attach unit vectors i and j on
velocity v of the elevator at the end of the 3 the x-y coordinates. The impulse-momentum
seconds. The total mass of the elevator, man, equation is applied in component form and
and scale is 750 kg. gives for the x- and y-directions, respectively.
Solution. The equation of motion of the ele- Z
vator, scale and man is Fx dt = m∆vx
Z 1 Z 3
T − Mg = Ma (1)
(−4)dt + (−2)dt = m(vx − 10)
0 1
where M is the total mass of the elevator, man
and scale, and a is the vertical acceleration. vx = −6 m/s (6)
When M = 750 and T = 8300, the accelera- Z
tion is Fy dt = m∆vy
T − Mg Z 2 Z 3
a= = 1.257 m/s2 (2)
M (1)dt + (2t − 3)dt = m(vy − 0)
0 2
The equation of motion of man is vy = 8 m/s (7)
R − mg = ma (3) Thus, v is

where m is the mass of man. R can be calcu- v = −6i + 8j m/s (8)

lated as
3. Spherical coordinates R, θ, φ are utilized when
R = m(a + g) = 75(1.257 + 9.81) = 830 N (4) a radial distance and two angles are utilized to
specify the position of a particle. We designate
The velocity reached at the end of the 3 sec- unit vectors eR , eθ , eφ as shown in Fig. 1.
onds is Show the velocity vector v of P using eR , eθ ,
Z 3 Z 3 eφ .
v= adt = 1.257dt = 3.77 m/s (5) Solution.The unit vectors can be expressed as
0 0
eR = cos φer + sin φk (9)
2. A particle with a mass of 0.5 kg has a velocity = cos θ cos φi + sin θ cos φj + sin φk
u = 10 m/s in the x-direction at time t = 0.
(10)
Forces Fx and Fy act on the particle in the x-
and y-directions, and their magnitudes change eθ = − sin θi + cos θj (11)
with time according to eφ = − sin φer + cos φk (12)
−4 N (0 ≤ t ≤ 1) = − cos θ sin φi − sin θ sin φj + cos φk
Fx = { (13)
−2 N (1 ≤ t ≤ 3)

1
 θ
R
A R
φ eθ θ
z
eR
eφ
P

z
B
R
k
k y ω
φ
eθ
j r
r
O er Figure 2: Sliding block
θ

i and specify the correct angular velocity ω of

x the conveyor pulley of radius r to prevent any
sliding on the belt as the objects transfer to
Figure 1: Three coordinates the conveyor.
Solution. By using the polar-coordinate
form, when the object on the circular surface
We differentiate the unit vectors. the equations of motion are
ėR = (−θ̇ sin θ cos φ − φ̇ cos θ sin φ)i
mg cos θ = mRθ̈ (22)
+(θ̇ cos θ cos φ − φ̇ sin θ sin φ)j
−N + mg sin θ = −mRθ̇2 (23)
+φ̇ cos φk (14)
= θ̇ cos φeθ + φ̇eφ (15) Integrating Eq. (22) to obtain as a function of
θ yields
ėθ = −θ̇(cos θi + sin θj) (16) θ̇ θ
g
Z Z
= −θ̇(cos φeR − sin φeφ ) (17) θ̇dθ̇ = cos θdθ
0 R 0

ėφ = (θ̇ cos θ cos φ − φ̇ cos θ cos φ)i θ̇2 g

= sin θ (24)
2 R
+(−θ̇ cos θ sin φ − φ̇ sin θ cos φ)j
−φ̇ sin φk (18) Substituting Eq. (24) into Eq. (23) gives
= −φ̇eR − θ̇ sin φeθ (19) N = mg sin θ + mRθ̇2
 
The position vector R is 2g
= mg sin θ + mR sin θ
R
R = ReR (20)
= 3mg sin θ (25)
The expressions for v is
The conveyor pulley must turn at the rate
v = ṘeR + RėR Rθ̇ = rω for θ = π/2, so that
= ṘeR + Rθ̇ cos φeθ + Rφ̇eφ (21) √
2gR
4. Small objects are released from rest at A and ω= (26)
r
slide down the smooth circular surface of ra-
dius R to a conveyor B. Determine the ex-
pression for the normal contact force N be-
tween the guide and each object in terms of θ