Theoretical classical mechanics - Short questions

What is the essence of the principle of relativity?

What is the essence of the equivalence principle?
What is referred to by “action-at-a-distance”?
Why can the inertial mass of an object be determined via measurement of gravitational forces?
Which of the following forces are central forces and which are conservative: Coulomb force, Lorentz
force, friction forces?
What is the difference between inertial and gravitational mass?
What is the configuration space of a system of N pointmasses? How many dimensions does it have?
What is the difference between “external” and “internal” forces?
What is the definition of a conservative force?
Is the Coulomb force between two pointcharges an isotropic force? Is it a central force? Why?
What are the definitions of work and power?
Explain the concepts of time-translation and time-inversion symmetries.
What is the essence of the theorem of Noether?
Under which circumstances can the internal forces in a system of N pointmasses be written as a sum of
two-body forces
(int) ∑
N
⃗
Fi (⃗ri ) = F⃗ ij (⃗ri ,⃗rj ) ?
j=1
j ̸= i

What are critical points (for one-dimensional motion of a pointmass)?

What does time-reversal symmetry refer to? Can you give an example (of a system that is symmetric
with respect to time-reversal)?
Consider a closed system of two interacting point particles that differ strongly in mass m1 ≫ m2 . Is the
reduced mass closer to m1 or m2 ? Why?
Consider a system of N interacting point masses. Explain the difference between orbital and spin angular
momentum.
What are degrees of freedom? How many degrees of freedom do the following systems have:
• a point mass in 3D space
• a swinging door
• a rigid body
• two pointmasses in 3D space connected by a spring?
Give three examples of constraints.
What are the definitions of holonomic, skleronomic and rheonomic constraints?
What is the difference between the generalized energy h and the Hamiltonian?
Under which circumstances is the generalized energy h conserved?
What are cyclic coordinates?
When is a system called separable?

1
 What are generalized coordinates?
What is the dimension of a generalized momentum?
What is the essence of the gauge invariance of the Lagrangian?
Consider a system with an integrable kinematic constraint. Is the equivalent holonomic constraint
automatically rheonomic?
What are generalized forces of type I and II?
Explain the difference between holonomic, rheonomic, skleronomic, integrable and non-integrable kine-
matic constraints.
What is the difference between virtual and actual displacements?
Can constraint forces do work? Why (not)?
What is the Lagrangian of a holonomic system with conservative forces? Show that the equations
of Lagrange for a pointmass undergoing 1D motion with potential energy V (x) are equivalent to
Newton’s equation of motion mẍ = F (x).
What is the essence of the principle of d’Alembert?
Write down the laws of Kepler.
Show that Kepler’s second law holds for the bound motion of a pointmass m in the gravitational field
of a second, MUCH heavier pointmass M ≫ m.
Consider the motion of a pointmass m subject to an isotropic central potential V (r) = K/r. The figure
below sketches the effective potential energy Veff (r) for the radial motion of m. For which values
of K and the total energy E are bound motions possible?

E>0

E<0

Veff (rmin) =
−K2m/(2J2)

Figure 1: Effective potential energy Veff (r) for the radial motion of a pointmass m subject to a isotropic
central potential V (r) = K/r.

What is an eigenoscillation? What determines the number of eigenoscillations of a system?

What is the advantage and the essence of normalcoordinates?
Consider the potential energy V (q1 , q2 ) = k1 cosh(q1 ) + k2 (1 − cos q2 ), where k1,2 > 0 are positive
constants. Show that (q1 , q2 ) = (0, 0) is a stationary point, argue that it is a stable equilibrium
point and determine the approximate potential energy Vapp (q1 , q2 ) for small oscillations around the
equilibrium position.
Why are the matrices B and T in the expressions for the approximate potential and kinetic energies
(for small oscillations of a mechanical system described by generalized coordinates q1 , q2 , . . . , qf )
symmetric?
What is an eigenmode of a mechanical system described by generalized coordinates q1 , q2 , . . . , qf ?.

2
 How many normal modes (eigenoscillations) does a system of coupled oscillators with 5 masses have?
How many normal modes (eigenoscillations) does a system of coupled oscillators with in total 5 degrees
of freedom have?
What is the difference between normal coordinates and normal modes (eigenmodes)?

In what way are the amplitude vectors of the normal modes (eigenmodes) orthogonal?

One basic assumption in our theory of small oscillations is that the equilibrium point ⃗q(0) is a minimum
of both V and V (app) . Note that we performed a Taylor series expansion up to second order to derive
V (app) from the exact potential energy V . In the lectures we considered transverse oscillations of
a linear chain of oscillators with springs under tension, i.e. prestretched springs. Show that the
above basic assumption is not fulfilled if the springs are not prestretched (i.e. in the notation of the
lectures if T0 = 0 or equivalently if ∆s0 = 0).

4m
3m
3m
y1 y2
y3

x=a x = 2a x = 3a
x=0 x = 4a

Figure 2: Transversal oscillations of a linear chain of 3 pointmasses attached to rigid walls via 4 springs.

What are cyclic variables and why are they advantageous in the context of Hamiltonian mechanics?

If a generalized coordinate qi is not part of H, what do you know about its conjugate momentum pi ?
By using its total time derivative demonstrate that the Hamiltonian H is a constant of the motion, if
the Langrangian L does not explicitly depend on time.
When do we have H = T + V = Etot ?

What is Hamilton’s principle?

What is the objective/goal of the calculus of variations?

What is the definition of action?

What is the essence of Legendre transforms? Why are they useful?

What are active and passive variables?

What is the general procedure to construct the Hamiltonian of a system?

What is the essence of Poisson’s theorem?

What is a canonical transformation?

What are affine coordinates?

How is the Jacobian of a coordinate transformation defined?

⃗ i defined?
How are the covariant basis vectors Z

How is the covariant metric tensor Zij defined? Why is it symmetric?

⃗ i defined?
How are the contravariant basis vectors Z
How is the contravariant metric tensor Z ij defined?

How are the Christoffel symbols defined? What do they express?

What is a tensor?

3
How can you determine the contravariant components of a vector, if you know its covariant components?
What are the two postulates of Einstein in his special theory of relativity?
What is the difference between the Galilei and the Lorentz transformations and what happens if v ≪ c?
What is the difference between the general Lorentz transformation and the homogeneous Lorentz trans-
formation?
A meter stick flies with a fixed velocity parallel to its axis. When it passes by it appears to be 70 cm
long. How fast is it?
A plane flies with v = 1000 km/h for exactly one hour (measured in its own frame of reference). On the
ground two observers measure when the plane passes by at the start and the end of this period.
What is the difference in time these observers will measure?
A cube flies with a constant velocity parallel
√ to one of its sides. When it passes by an observer it appears
to be shortened by a factor of 1/ 2 compared to its proper length. How fast does move it relative
to the observer?
What is the structure, what are the properties of space and time according to Newton and according to
the special theory of relativity?
What does the principle of causality state?
Are velocities larger than the vacuum speed of light c consistent with the special theory of relativity?
What does Lorentz contraction refer to? Give the corresponding equation.
What does time dilation refer to? Give the corresponding equation.
What is the proper time of a particle?
What is the role and definition of the metric tensor in the special theory of relativity?
What is the difference between space-like and time-like 4-vectors?
Why is it convenient to formulate relativistic mechanics in terms of 4-tensors?
Why is the inertial mass of a particle not a 4-scalar?
How is the relativistic kinetic energy defined?
What is referred to as ”energy-mass equivalence”? Can you give an example?
How is the 4-force connected with the Newtonian notion of (3-)force?
What characterizes elastic and inelastic relativistic collisions?

Short calculations
Show that the angular momentum of a pointparticle moving along a straight line with constant speed
is constant.

v0

A point particle with mass m and electric charge q is moving through a uniform and constant magnetic
⃗ It is thus subject to the Lorentz force F
field B. ⃗ = q⃗v × B.
⃗ Show that the following quantities
remain constant

4
 1. the absolute value of the momentum |⃗p|.
2. the kinetic energy T .
3. the scalar product ⃗v · B.
⃗

Calculate the eigenvalues of the matrix ( )

1 −2
.
−2 0

A point mass m = 1 kg is thrown into a homogeneous gravitational field ⃗g = (0, −10) ms−2 under an
angle θ with the horizontal and with an initial velocity |⃗v| = 10 m/s. Calculate the trajectory
(x(t), y(t)) of the pointmass as well as its range on a flat plane field as a function of θ. Neglect
friction effects.
Which value of θ gives the largest range?
What answer do you get for m = 2 kg?

v0 g

θ x

range

Consider the transformation from Cartesian coordinates x, y, z to affine coordinates x′ = 2x, y ′ = y,

z ′ = 4z. Determine the covariant metric tensor of the affine coordinate system Zi′ j ′ .