Exploring Classical Mechanics.

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EXPLORING CLASSICAL MECHANICS

 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

Exploring Classical Mechanics

A Collection of 350+ Solved Problems for Students,
Lecturers, and Researchers

Gleb L. Kotkin
Valeriy G. Serbo
Novosibirsk State University, Russia

Second revised and enlarged English edition

1
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,
United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of
Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries
© Gleb L. Kotkin and Valeriy G. Serbo 2020
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted
First Edition published in 2020
Impression: 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics
rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020937520
ISBN 978-0-19-885378-7 (hbk.)
ISBN 978-0-19-885379-4 (pbk.)
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198853787.001.0001
Printed and bound by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

Preface to the second English edition

This book was written by the working physicists for students of physics faculties of
universities.
The first English edition of this book under the title Collection of Problems in Classical
Mechanics was published by Pergamon Press in 1971 with the invaluable help by the
translation editor D. ter Haar. This second English publication is based on the fourth
Russian edition of 2010 and includes new problems from among those used in teaching
at the physics faculty of Novosibirsk State University as well as the problems added in
the publications in Spanish and French. As a result, this book contains 357 problems
instead of the 289 problems that appeared in the first English edition.
We are grateful to A. V. Mikhailov for useful discussions of some new problems,
to Z. K. Silagadze for numerous indications of misprints and inaccuracies in previous
editions, and to O. V. Karpushina for an invaluable help in preparation of this manuscript.
In this edition, the main notations are:
m, e, r, p, and M = [r, p] – mass, charge, radius vector, momentum, and angular
momentum of a particle, respectively;
L, H, E, and U – Lagrangian function, Hamiltonian function, energy, and potential
energy of a system, respectively;
E and B – electric and magnetic field intensities, respectively;
ϕ and A – scalar and vector potentials, respectively, of the electromagnetic field;
c – velocity of light; and
d – solid angle element.
For problems about the motion of particles in electromagnetic fields, we use Gaussian
units, and in problems on electrical circuits, SI units.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

From the Preface to the first English edition

This collection is meant for physics students. Its contents correspond roughly to the
mechanics course in the textbooks by Landau and Lifshitz [1], Goldstein [4], or ter Haar
[6]. We hope that the reading of this collection will give pleasure not only to students
studying mechanics, but also to people who already know it. We follow the order in
which the material is presented by Landau and Lifshitz, except that we start using the
Lagrangian equations in § 4. The problems in §§ 1–3 can be solved using the Newtonian
equations of motion together with the energy, linear momentum and angular momentum
conservation laws.
As a rule, the solution of a problem is not finished with obtaining the required
formulae. It is necessary to analyse the result, and this is by no means the “mechanical”
part of the solution. It is also very useful to investigate what happens if the conditions
of the problem are varied. We have, therefore, suggested further problems at the end of
several solutions.
A large portion of the problems were chosen for the practical classes with students
from the physics faculty of the Novosibirsk State University for a course on theoretical
mechanics given by Yu. I. Kulakov. We want especially to emphasize his role in the
choice and critical discussion of a large number of problems. We owe a great debt to I. F.
Ginzburg for useful advice and hints which we took into account. We are very grateful
to V. D. Krivchenkov whose active interest helped us to persevere until the end.
We are extremely grateful to D. ter Haar for his help in organizing an English edition
of our book.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

§1
Integration of one-dimensional
equations of motion

1.1. Describe the motion of a particle in the following potential fields U(x):

a) U(x) = A(e−2αx − 2e−αx ) (Morse potential, Fig. 1a);

b) U(x) = − U20 (Fig. 1b);
cosh αx
c) U(x) = U0 tan2 αx (Fig. 1c).

(a) (b) (c) U

U
U
x x x

Figure 1

1.2. Describe the motion of a particle in the field U

U(x) = − Ax4 for the case when its energy is equal to zero.
E

1.3. Give an approximate description of the motion of a

particle in the field U(x) near the tuning point x = a (Fig. 2). x
a
Hint: Use a Taylor expansion of U(x) near the point x = a.
Consider the cases U  (a) = 0 and U  (a) = 0, U  (a) = 0. Figure 2

1.4. Determine how the period of a particle moving in the field in Fig. 3 tends to infinity
as its energy E approaches Um .

Exploring Classical Mechanics: A Collection of 350+ Solved Problems for Students, Lecturers, and Researchers. First Edition.
Gleb L. Kotkin and Valeriy G. Serbo, Oxford University Press (2020). © Gleb L. Kotkin and Valeriy G. Serbo 2020.
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198853787.001.0001
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

4 Exploring Classical Mechanics [1.5

U
U
Um E
E Um

x x
a x1 b a c x2

Figure 3 Figure 4

1.5. a) Estimate the period of the particle motion in the field U(x) (Fig. 4), when its
energy is close to Um (i.e., E − Um  Um − Umin ).
b) Determine during which part of the period the particle is in the interval from x to
x + dx.
c) Determine during which part of the period the particle has a momentum mẋ in the
interval from p to p + dp.
d) In the plane x, p = mẋ represent qualitatively lines E(x, p) = const for the cases
E < Um , E = U m , E > U m .

1.6. A particle of mass m moves along a circle of radius l in a vertical plane under the
influence of the field of gravity (mathematical pendulum). Describe its motion for the
case when its kinetic energy E in the lowest point is equal to 2mgl.
Estimate the period of revolution of the pendulum for the case when
E − 2mgl2mgl.

1.7. Describe the motion of a mathematical pendulum for an arbitrary value

of the energy.
Hint: The time dependence of the angle the pendulum makes with the vertical can be
expressed in terms of elliptic functions (e.g. see [1], § 37).

1.8. Determine the change in the motion of a particle moving along a section which does
not contain turning points when the field U(x) is changed by a small amount δU(x).
Consider the applicability of the results obtained for the case of a section near the
turning point.

1.9. Find the change in the motion of a particle caused by a small change δU(x) in the
field U(x) in the following cases:

a) U(x) = 12 mω2 x2 , δU(x) = 13 mαx3 ;

b) U(x) = 12 mω2 x2 , δU(x) = 14 mβx4 .

1.10. Determine the change in the period of a finite orbit of a particle caused by the
change in the field U(x) by a small amount δU(x).
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

1.12] §1. Integration of one-dimensional equations of motion 5

1.11. Find the change in the period of a particle moving in a field U(x) caused by adding
to the field U(x) a small term δU(x) in the following cases:

a) U(x) = 12 mω2 x2 (a harmonic oscillator), δU(x) = 14 mβx4 ;

b) U(x) = 12 mω2 x2 , δU(x) = 13 mαx3 ;
c) U(x) = A(e−2αx − 2e−αx ), δU(x) = −Veαx (V  A).

1.12. The particle moves in the field U(x) = U0 with the energy E > U0 . Find the
cosh2 αx
particle delay time at the motion from x = −∞ to x = +∞ in comparison with the free
motion time with the same energy.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

§2
Motion of a particle in
three-dimensional fields

γ
2.1. Describe qualitatively the motion of a particle in the field U(r) = − αr − 3 for
r
different values of the angular momentum and of the energy.

2.2. Find the trajectories and the laws of motion of a particle in the field

−V , when r < R, U
U(r) =
0, when r > R R r

(Fig. 5, “spherical rectangular potential well”) for different values −V

of the angular momentum and of the energy.

2.3. Determine the trajectory of a particle in the field U(r) = Figure 5

α + β . Give an expression for the change in the direction of
r r2
velocity when the particle is scattered as a function of angular
momentum and energy.

β
2.4. Determine the trajectory of a particle in the field U(r) = αr − 2 . Find the time it
r
takes the particle to fall to the centre of the field from a distance r. How many revolutions
around the centre will the particle then make?

β
2.5. Determine the trajectory of a particle in the field U(r) = − αr + 2 . Find the
r
angle ϕ between the direction of radius vector at two successive passages through the
pericentre (i.e., when r = rmin ); also find the period of the radial oscillations, Tr . Under
what conditions will the orbit be a closed one?
β
2.6. Determine the trajectory of a particle in the field U(r) = − αr − 2 . A field of this
r
kind arises in the motion of a relativistic particle in the Coulomb field in the special theory
of relativity; see [7], § 42.1 for details.

Exploring Classical Mechanics: A Collection of 350+ Solved Problems for Students, Lecturers, and Researchers. First Edition.
Gleb L. Kotkin and Valeriy G. Serbo, Oxford University Press (2020). © Gleb L. Kotkin and Valeriy G. Serbo 2020.
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198853787.001.0001
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

2.16] §2. Motion of a particle in three-dimensional fields 7

2.7. For what values of the angular momentum M is it possible to have finite orbits in
the field U(r) for the following cases:
−r
a) U(r) = − αer ; b) U(r) = −Ve−
2 r2
.

2.8. A particle falls from a finite distances towards the centre of the field U(r) = −αr −n .
Will it make a finite number of revolutions around the centre? Will it take a finite time
to fall towards the centre? Find the equation of the orbit for small r.
2.9. A particle in the field U(r) flies off to infinity from a distance r = 0. Is the number
of revolutions around the centre made by the particle finite for the following cases?

a) U(r) = αr −n b) U(r) = −αr −n

2.10. How long will it take a particle to fall from a distance R to the centre of the field
U(r) = −α/r. The initial velocity of the particle is zero. Treat the orbit as a degenerate
ellipse.
2.11. One particle of mass m moves along the x-axis from a long distance with velocity
v towards the origin O of the coordinate system. Another particle of the same mass
moves towards the origin O along the y-axis from a long distance with the same velocity
magnitude. If the particles didn’t interact, the second would pass through point O in
time τ after the first one. However, they repulse from each other, and potential energy of
interaction is U(r) = α/r, where r is the distance between particles. Find the minimum
distance between the particles.
2.12. Two particles with masses m1 and m2 move with velocities v1 and v2 from long
−→
distances along the crossing lines, the distance between which is equal to AB = ρ. If
particles didn’t interact, particle 1 would pass the point of minimum distance A at time
τ earlier than particle 2 would pass the point B. However, there is the force of attraction
between the particles, which is given by the potential energy U(r) = −β/r 2 .

a) At what relation between ρ and τ will particles collide?

b) At what distance from the point A will such a collision occur?

2.13. Determine the minimal distance between the particles, the one approaching from
infinity with an impact parameter ρ and an initial velocity v and the other one initially at
rest. The masses of the particles are m1 and m2 , and the interaction law is U(r) = α/r n .
2.14. Determine in the centre of a mass system the finite orbits of two particles of
masses m1 and m2 , and an interaction law U(r) = −α/r.
2.15. Determine the position of the focus of a beam of particles close to the beam axis,
when the particles are scattered in a central field U(r) under the assumption that a particle
flying along the axis is turned back.
2.16. Find the inaccessible region of space for a beam of particles flying along the z-axis
with a velocity v and being scattered by a field U(r) = α/r.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

8 Exploring Classical Mechanics [2.17

2.17. Find the inaccessible region of space for particles flying with a velocity v from a
point A in all directions and moving in a potential field U(r) = −α/r.

2.18. Use the integral of motion A = [v, M] − α rr (the Laplace vector – see [1], §15 and
[7], § 3.3) to find the orbit of a particle moving in the field U(r) = −α/r.

2.19. The spacecraft is moving in a circular orbit of the radius R around the Earth. A
body, whose mass is negligible in comparison with the mass of the spacecraft, is thrown
from the spacecraft with relative velosity v, directed to the centre of the Earth. Find the
orbit of the body.
Hint: To find the orbit of the body, try using the Laplace vector.
(This problem is formulated based on the real incident: during a spacewalk, the
cosmonaut A. Leonov threw the plug from the camera in the direction of the Earth –
see [8], § 8.)

2.20. Determine in quadratures the change of the period T of radial oscillations

of a particle moving in the central field U(r) when this field is changed by a small
amount δU(r).

2.21. Show that the orbit of a particle in the field

α
U(r) = − e−r/D
r

is a lowly precession ellipse when rmax  D. Find the angular velocity of precession.

2.22. Find the precessional velocity of the orbit in the field U(r) = −α/r 1+ε ,
when |ε|  1.

2.23. Find the angular velocity of the orbit precession of a particle in the field

β
U(r) = 12 mω2 r 2 +
r4

for β  mω2 a6 , mω2 b6 , where a and b are parameters of the unperturbed trajectory:
 r cos ϕ 2  r sin ϕ 2
+ = 1.
a b

2.24. The particle slides on the surface of a smooth paraboloid of revolution whose axis
(the z-axis) is directed straight up:

x2 + y2
z= .
2l

Find the angular velocity of the orbit precession. The maximum and the minimum
distances of a particle from the z-axis are a and b, where a  l.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

2.30] §2. Motion of a particle in three-dimensional fields 9

2.25. Study the motion of the Earth–Moon system in the field of the Sun. Assume that
the mass of the Moon is 81 times less than the mass of the Earth, and the distance from
the Earth to the Moon (r = 380 thousand km) is a lot less than the average distances
to the Sun (R = 150 million km).

a) For simplicity, taking that the plane of the Moon orbit coincides with the plane of
the Earth orbit, show that the potential energy of the Earth–Moon system in the
field of the Sun, averaged over a month, has the form

α β
U(R) = − − 3,
R R

where R is the distance from the Sun to the centre of mass of the Earth–Moon
system. Determine the precession of perihelion for a 100-year period.
b) The plane of the Moon’s orbit makes an angle of θ = 5◦ with the plane of the
Earth’s orbit. Determine the related average velocity of precession for the Moon’s
orbital plane.

2.26. Determine the angular velocity of the orbit precession of a particle in the field
U(r) = − αr + δU(r) if the orbit eccentricity e is much less than 1, assuming

δU(r) = δU(a) + (r − a)δU  (a) + 12 (r − a)2 δU  (a),

where a = 12 (rmax + rmin ) is the average orbit radius.

2.27. Determine the angular velocity of the orbit precession of a particle in the field
U(r) = − αr + δU(r) (δU(r) is a small correction) up to second order in δU(r) inclusively.

2.28. Find the equation of motion of the orbit of a particle moving in the field U(r) =
γ γ
− αr + 3 , assuming 3 to be a small correction to the Coulomb field.
r r

2.29. Show that the problem of the motion of two charged particles in a uniform electric
field E can be reduced to the problem of the motion of the centre of mass and that of
the motion of a particle in a given field.

2.30. Under what conditions can the problem of the motion of two charged particles in
a constant uniform magnetic field B be separated into the problem of the centre of mass
motion and the relative motion problem?
Take the vector potential of the magnetic field in the form

A(ri ) = 12 [B, ri ] , i = 1, 2.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

10 Exploring Classical Mechanics [2.31

2.31. Express the kinetic energy, the linear momentum, and the angular momentum of
a system of N particles in terms of the Jacobi coordinates:

m1 r1 + . . . + mn rn
ξn = − rn+1 (n = 1 . . . N − 1),
m1 + . . . + mn
m1 r1 + . . . + mN rN
ξN = .
m1 + . . . + mN

2.32. A particle with a velocity v at infinity collides with another particle of the same
mass m which is at rest. Their interaction potential energy is U(r) = α/r n and the collision
is a central one. Find the point where the first particle comes to rest.
2.33. Prove that
e
MB + [r, B]2 ,
2c

is the integral of motion for a charged particle in a uniform constant magnetic field B.
Here M = m[r, v], and c is the velocity of light.
2.34. Find the trajectory and the law of motion of a charged particle in the magnetic
field B(r) = gr/r 3 (the field of the magnetic monopole).
Such form has a field of a thin long solenoid outside its end at distances which are
large compared to the solenoid’s diameter, but small compared to its length.
2.35. Give a qualitative description of the motion and the shape of the orbit of a charged
particle moving in the field of a magnetic dipole μ, in the plane perpendicular to the
vector μ. Take the vector potential of magnetic dipole in the form A(r) = [μ, r]/r 3 .
2.36. a) Give a qualitative description of the motion of a charged particle in the field
U(r) = 12 mλr 2 , where r is a distance from the z-axis, for the case where there is a constant
uniform magnetic field B parallel to the z-axis present.
b) Find the law of motion and the orbit of a charged particle moving in the field
U(r) = α/r 2 in a plane perpendicular to a constant uniform magnetic field B.
2.37. A charged particle moves in the Coulomb field U(r) = −α/r in a plane perpen-
dicular to a constant uniform magnetic field B. Find the orbit of the particle. Study the
case when B is small and the case when the field U(r) is a small perturbation.
2.38. Describe the motion of two identical charged particles in a constant uniform
magnetic field B for the case when their orbits lie in the same plane which is perpen-
dicular to B and where we may consider their interaction energy U(r) = e2 /r to be a
small perturbation.
2.39. Show that the quantity
α
F [v, M] − Fr + 12 [F, r]2
r

is a constant of motion in the field U(r) = − αr − Fr where F = const.

Give the meaning of this integral of motion when F is small.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

2.45] §2. Motion of a particle in three-dimensional fields 11

2.40. Study the effect of a small extra term δU(r) = −Fr, where F = const, added to
the Coulomb field on the finite orbit of a particle.

a) Find the average rate of change of the angular momentum, averaged over one
period.
b) Find the time-dependence of the angular momentum, the size, and the orientation
of the orbit for the case when the force F lies in the orbital plane.
c) Do the same as under b) for the case when the orientation of the force is arbitrary.

Hint: Write down the equations of motion for the vectors M = m[r, v] and A =
[v, M] − α r/r averaged over one period and solve them.
2.41. Find the systematic displacement of a finite orbit of a charged particle moving
in the field U(r) = −α/r under influence of weak constant uniform electric E and mag-
netic B fields.

a) Consider the limiting case when the magnetic field is perpendicular to the orbit
plane and the electric field is in this plane.
b) Consider the general case.

2.42. Find the systematic change of the elliptic orbit of a particle in the field
U(r) = −α/r under the influence of a small perturbation

δU(r, θ) = −βr 2 (3 cos2 θ − 1).

Only consider the case when the orbit plane passes through the z-axis. This problem
is a simplified model of the satellite motion in the Earth field taking into account the
gravitational field of the Moon near the Earth space.
2.43. Taking that the orbit of the Moon in the Earth field is an ellipse lying in the plane
of the Earth orbit, find the systematic change of the Moon orbit under the influence of
the perturbation

δU(r, χ) = − 12 m2 r 2 (3 cos2 χ − 1),

where m is the Moon mass,  is the angular velocity of the Earth around the Sun, χ is
the angle between Earth to Sun and Earth to Moon directions.
2.44. Find the systematic displacement of the finite orbit of a charged particle moving
in the field U(r) = −α/r and in the field of the magnetic dipole μ, if the effect of the
latter may be considered to be a small perturbation. Take the vector potential in the form
A(r) = [μ, r]/r 3 .
2.45. Find the average precession rate of the orbit of a particle moving in the field
U(r) = −α/r under the influence of a small additional “friction force” F = β v̈ (such
2
form has the force of radiation damping; in this case, β = 3 2 q , where q is the charge of
3
c
the particle and c is the velocity of light; see [2], § 75).
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

§3
Scattering in a given field. Collision
between particles

3.1. Find the differential cross-section for the scattering of particles with initial velocity
parallel to the z-axes by smooth elastic surfaces of revolution ρ(z) for the following cases:
z , 0  z  π a;
a) ρ = b sin a
b) ρ = Az , 0 < n < 1;
n
2
c) ρ = b − az , a2  z < ∞.
b

3.2. Find the surface of revolution which is such that the differential cross-section for
elastic scattering by this surface coincides with the Rutherford scattering cross-section.
3.3. Find the differential cross-section for the scattering of particles by spherical
“potential barrier”:

V, when r < a,
U(r) =
0, when r > a.

3.4. Find the cross-section for the process where a particle falls towards the centre of
the field U(r) when U(r) is given by:

β β γ
a) U(r) = αr − 2 , b) U(r) = 2 − 4 .
r r r
3.5. Calculate the cross-section for particles to hit a small sphere of radius R placed at
the centre of the field U(r) for the cases:

β γ
a) U(r) = − αn , n  2; b) U(r) = 2 − 4 .
r r r
3.6. A uniform beam of meteors with velocity v∞ flies towards the planet. What fraction
of meteorites that fell on the planet falls on the part invisible from the beam side? Take
a planet as a uniform ball of radius R and mass m0 .

Exploring Classical Mechanics: A Collection of 350+ Solved Problems for Students, Lecturers, and Researchers. First Edition.
Gleb L. Kotkin and Valeriy G. Serbo, Oxford University Press (2020). © Gleb L. Kotkin and Valeriy G. Serbo 2020.
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198853787.001.0001
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

3.12] §3. Scattering in a given field 13

3.7. Find the differential cross-section for the scattering of particles by the field U(r):
α α
a) U(r) = r − R, when r < R,
0, when r > R;
1
mω (r − R2 ),
2 2 when r < R,
b) U(r) = 2
0, when r > R.

3.8. Find the differential cross-section for the scattering of fast particles (E  V ) by the
field U(r) for the following cases:
 
V 1 − (r 2 /a2 ), when r < a,
a) U(r) =
0, when r > a;

V ln (r/a), when r < a,
b) U(r) =
0, when r > a;

 a2 
c) U(r) = V ln 1 + 2 ;
r
  2 
d) V 1− r2 , when r < R,
U(r) = R
0, when r > R.

3.9. Find the differential cross-section for small angle scattering in the field
β
U(r) = 4 − α2 .
r r
3.10. Find the differential cross-section for the scattering of particles by the field U(r) =
−α/r 2 .
3.11. Find the differential cross-section for the scattering of fast particles (E  V ) by
the following fields U(r):

a) U(r) = Ve−
2 r2
; b) U(r) = V .
1 +  2r2

Study in detail the limiting cases when the deflection angle is close to its minimum or
maximum value.
3.12. A beam of particles with their velocities initially parallel to the z-axis is scattered
by the fixed ellipsoid

x2 y2 z2
+ + = 1.
a2 b2 c2

Find the differential scattering cross-section for the following cases:

 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

§5
Small oscillations of systems with
one degree of freedom

5.1. Find frequency ω of the small oscillations for particles moving in the following fields
U(x):

a) U(x) = V cos αx − Fx; b) U(x) = V (α 2 x2 − sin2 αx).

5.2. Find the frequency of the small oscillations for the system depicted in Fig. 13. The
system rotates with the angular velocity  in the field of gravity around a vertical axis.
5.3. A point charge q of mass m moves along a circle of radius R in a vertical plane and
in the field of gravity. Another charge q is fixed at the lowest point of the circle (Fig. 14).
Find the equilibrium position and the frequency of the small oscillations for the first
point charge.
5.4. Describe the motion along a curve close to a circle for a point particle in the central
field U(r) = −α/r n (0 < n < 2).
5.5. Find the frequency of the small oscillations of a spherical pendulum (a particle
of mass m suspended a string of length l) if the angle of deflection from the vertical, θ
oscillates about the value θ0 .

A
a θ a

m m
R
a a ϕ
q m
m
q

Figure 13 Figure 14

Exploring Classical Mechanics: A Collection of 350+ Solved Problems for Students, Lecturers, and Researchers. First Edition.
Gleb L. Kotkin and Valeriy G. Serbo, Oxford University Press (2020). © Gleb L. Kotkin and Valeriy G. Serbo 2020.
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198853787.001.0001
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 8/7/2020, SPi

26 Exploring Classical Mechanics [5.6

5.6. Find the correction to the frequency of the small oscillations of a diatomic molecule
due to its angular momentum M.
5.7. Determine the free oscillations of the system shown in Fig. 15
for the case when the particle moves: k m k
A B
2l
a) along the straight line AB;
b) at a right angle to AB. Figure 15

How does the frequency depend on the tension of the springs in the equilibrium
position?
5.8. Find the free oscillations of the system (Fig. 16) in a uniform field of gravity for the
case when the particle can only move vertically.
5.9. Find the stable small oscillations of a pendulum when its point of suspension moves
uniformly along a circle of radius a with an angular velocity  (Fig. 17). The pendulum
length is l (l  a).
Ω

a
k
m l R
2l
k L C
m U

Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18

5.10. Find the stable oscillations in the voltage across a capacitor and the current in
a circuit with an e.m.f. U(t) = U0 sin ωt (Fig. 18).
5.11. Determine the law of motion of an oscillator with friction which initially is at rest
and which is acted upon by a force F(t) = F cos γ t.
5.12. Determine the energy E acquired by an oscillator under the action of a force
F(t) = Fe−(t/τ ) during the total time its acts
2

a) if the oscillator was at rest at t = −∞;

b) if the amplitude of the oscillation at t = −∞ was a.

5.13. Describe the motion under the action of a force F(t)

a) of an unstable system described by the equation

1
ẍ − μ2 x = F(t);
m
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Chants for the
Boer
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Title: Chants for the Boer

Author: Joaquin Miller

Release date: October 16, 2023 [eBook #71889]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: The Whitaker & Ray

Company, 1900

Credits: Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file
was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHANTS

FOR THE BOER ***
CHANTS
FOR THE
BOER
By
JOAQUIN MILLER

“And whether on the scaffold high,

Or in the battle’s van,
The fittest place for man to die
Is where he dies for man.”

San Francisco
The Whitaker & Ray Company
(Incorporated)
1900
 Copyright, 1900
by
The Whitaker & Ray Company
(Incorporated)
 CONTENTS.
TO THE BOERS.
TO YE FIGHTING LORDS OF LONDON TOWN.
MOTHER EGYPT.
ANGLO-SAXON ALLIANCE.
INDIA AND THE BOERS.
AT THE CALEND’S CLOSE.
AS IT IS WRITTEN.
TO OOM PAUL KRUGER.
USLAND TO THE BOERS.
THAT USSIAN OF USLAND.
FIGHT A BOY OF YOUR SIZE.
For the right that needs assistance,
For the wrong that needs resistance,
For the glory in the distance,
For the good that we can do.
Find here not one ill word for brave old England; my first, best friends
were English. But for her policy, her politicians, her speculators, what
man with a heart in him can but hate and abhor them? England’s
best friends to-day are those who deplore this assault on the farmer
Boers, so like ourselves a century back. Could any man be found
strong enough to stay her hand with sword or pen in this mad hour?
That man would deserve her lasting gratitude. This feeling of
abhorrence holds in England as well as here. Take for example the
following from her ablest thinker to a friend in Philadelphia:
“I rejoice that you and others are bent on showing that
there are some among us who think the national honor is
not being enhanced by putting down the weak. Would that
age and ill health did not prevent me from aiding.
“No one can deny that at the time of the Jameson Raid the
aim of the Outlanders and the raiders was to usurp the
Transvaal Government, and he must be willfully blind who
does not see what the Outlanders failed to do by bullets
they hope presently to do by votes, and only those who,
while jealous of their own independence, regard but little
the independence of people who stand in their way, can
fail to sympathize with the Boers in their resistance to
political extinction.
“It is sad to see our Government backing those whose
avowed policy is expansion, which, less politely
expressed, means aggression, for which there is a still
less polite word readily guessed. On behalf of these, the
big British Empire, weapon in hand, growls out to the little
Boer Republic, ‘Do as I bid you.’
“I have always thought that nobleness is shown in treating
tenderly those who are relatively feeble and even
sacrificing on their behalf something to which there is a
just claim. But, if current opinion is right, I must have been
wrong.”
Herbert Spencer.
CHANTS
FOR THE BOER
BY
JOAQUIN MILLER

TO THE BOERS.
“For Freedom’s battles once begun,
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son,
Though baffled oft, are ever won.”
—BYRON.

The Sword of Gideon, Sword of God

Be with ye, Boers. Brave men of peace
Ye hewed the path, ye brake the sod,
Ye fed white flocks of fat increase
Where Saxon foot had never trod;
Where Saxon foot unto this day
Had measured not, had never known
Had ye not bravely led the way
And made such happy homes your own.

I think God’s house must be such home.

The priestess Mother, choristers
Who spin and weave nor care to roam
Beyond this white God’s house of hers,
But spinning sing and spin again.
I think such silent shepherd men
Most like that few the prophet sings—
Most like that few stout Abram drew
Triumphant o’er the slaughtered Kings.
 Defend God’s house! Let fall the crook.
Draw forth the plowshare from the sod
And trust, as in the Holy Book,
The Sword of Gideon and of God;
God and the right! Enough to fight
A million regiments of wrong.
Defend! Nor count what comes of it.
God’s battle bides not with the strong;
And pride must fall. Lo, it is writ!

Great England’s Gold! how stanch she fares

Fame’s wine cup pressing her proud lips—
Her checkerboard of battle squares
Rimmed round by steel-built battleships!
And yet meanwhiles ten thousand miles
She seeks ye out. Well, welcome her!
Give her such welcome with such will
As Boston gave in battle’s whir
That red, dread day at Bunker Hill.

San Francisco, September, 1899.

TO YE FIGHTING LORDS OF LONDON
TOWN.
CHRISTMAS MORNING, 1899.
“The equipment of the Maine hospital ship by our
American cousins warrants us in saying at least that they
wish us well.”

We wish you well in all that’s well,

Would bind your wounds, would clothe, would feed—
Lay flowers where your brave men fell
In desert lands, exalt each deed
Of sacrifice; would beg to lay
White lilies by the gray hearthstone
Where, bowed in black this Christmas day,
She wails her brave dead far away
And weeps, so more than all alone:
Weeps while the chime, the chilly chime,
Drops on her heart, drops all the time
As one might drop a stone.

But you, ye lords and gentlemen

High throned, safe housed at home, fat fed,
When ye say we approve ye, when
Ye say this blood so bravely shed
Is shed with our consent, take care,
Lest Truth may take ye unaware;
Lest Truth be heard despite these chimes.
This hearthstone, brother’s blood that cries
To God is Freedom’s blood. Take care
Lest all sweet earth these piteous times
Not only hate ye for your crimes,
But scorn ye for your lies!

We would forgive could we forget:

We could forget all wrongs we knew
Had ye stayed hand some little yet—
Left to their own that farmer few
So like ourselves that fateful hour
Ye forced our farmers from the plow
To grapple with your tenfold power.
They guessed your greed, we know it now;
And now we ward ye from this hour!
Now, well awake no more we sleep,
But keep and keep and ever keep
To Freedom’s high watchtower.

Not all because our Washington

In battle’s carnage, years and years,
And this same Boer braved ye as one—
Blent blood with blood and tears with tears:
Not all because of kindred blood,
Not all because they built a town
And left such names of true renown.[A]
Not all because of Luther, Huss:
But most because of Brotherhood
In Freedom’s Hall; the holy right
To fight for Home, as freemen fight—
Who Freedom stabs, stabs Us!

This Nation’s heart, say what men may

Who butcher Peace and barter Truth,
Beats true as on its natal day,
Beats true as in its battle-youth,
Beats true to Freedom, true to Truth,
Whatever Tories dare to say.
Of all who fought with Washington
One Arnold was and only one.
Christ chose but twelve, yet one poor soul
Sold God for silver. Ever thus
Some taint, and even so with Us:
But Freedom thrills the whole.

My Lords, ye lead, through Him who died,

Your dauntless millions. Ye are wise
And learned. Ye are, beside,
As God’s anointed in their eyes,
Ye sit so far above their reach.
Such trust! But are ye truly true
To what He taught, to what ye preach,
To those who trust and look to you?
Then why mocked ye that manly Russ,
That august man, that manliest man
That yet has been since time began?
Ye mocked, as ye mock Us!

My Lords, slow paced and somber clad

Ye all will fare to church to-day
And there sit solemn faced and sad
With eyes to book, as if to pray.
And will ye think of Him who came
And lived so poor and died so lorn—
Came in the name of Peace, the name
Of God, that fair first Christmas morn?
My Lords, ye needs must think to-day—
Your eyes bent to the Holy Book
The while the people look and look—
For dare ye try to pray?

And while ye think of Christ the child

Think of the childless mother, she
Whose dead boy has his desert wild,
While yours his Christmas tree;
Think of the mother, far away,
Who sits and weeps with hollow eyes,
Her hungry child that cries and cries
Forlorn and fatherless to-day:
Think of the thousand homes that weep
All desolate, who but for ye
To-day had decked their Christmas tree;
Then fare ye home and—sleep?

[A] Note.—“I thank God there is not a drop of

Saxon blood in my veins. I am a Dutchman; Boer,
if you please.”—Rough-rider Roosevelt, Governor
of New York and heir apparent to the Presidency
of Us.
 MOTHER EGYPT.
Dedicated to England on her invasion of North Africa.

Dark browed, she broods with weary lids

Beside her Sphinx and Pyramids,
With low and never-lifted head.
If she be dead, respect the dead;
If she be weeping, let her weep;
If she be sleeping, let her sleep;
For lo, this woman named the stars!
She suckled at her tawny dugs
Your Moses while you reeked in wars
And prowled your woods, nude, painted thugs.

Then back, brave England; back in peace

To Christian isles of fat increase!
Go back! Else bid your high priests bear
The sword and curse the sweet plowshare;
Take down their cross from proud Saint Paul’s
And coin it into cannon-balls!
You tent not far from Nazareth,
Your camps trench where his child-feet strayed.
If Christ had seen this work of death!
If Christ had seen these ships invade!

I think the patient Christ had said,

“Go back, brave men! Take up your dead;
Draw down your great ships to the seas;
Repass the gates of Hercules;
Go back to wife with babe at breast,
And leave lorn Egypt to her rest.”
Or is Christ dead, as Egypt is?
Ah, England, hear me yet again;
There’s something grimly wrong in this—
So like some gray, sad woman slain.

What would you have your mother do?

Hath she not done enough for you?
Go back! And when you learn to read,
Come read this obelisk. Her deed
Like yonder awful forehead is
Disdainful silence. Like to this
What lessons have you writ in stone
To passing nations that shall stand?
Why, years, as hers, will leave you lone
And level as yon yellow sand.

Saint George? Your lions? Whence are they?

From awful, silent Africa.
This Egypt is the lion’s lair;
Beware, brave Albion, beware!
I feel the very Nile should rise
To drive you from this sacrifice.
And if the seven plagues should come?
The red seas swallow sword and steed?
Lo! Christian lands stand mute and dumb
To see thy more than Moslem deed.
 ANGLO-SAXON ALLIANCE.
England’s Colonial Secretary, who must bear a great part
of the blame and shame of this Boer war, has said publicly
that there is something like alliance between England and
the United States. Our Secretary of State says there is
nothing of the sort, and we know there is not, nor can be,
until “We, the People,” choose to have it, and that will not
be until this crime against the Boer is forgotten, as well as
Bunker Hill and the Fourth of July.

Alliance! And with whom? For what?

Comes there the skin-clad Vandal down
From Danube’s wilds with vengeance hot?
Comes Turk with torch to sack the town
And wake the world with battle shot?
Come wild beasts loosened from the lair?
No, no! Right fair blue Danube sweeps.
No, no! The Turk, the wild beast sleeps.
No, no! There’s something more than this—
Or Judas’ kiss? Or serpent’s hiss?
There’s mischief in the air!

Alliance! And with whom? For what?

Did we not bear an hundred years
Of England’s hate, hot battle shot,
Blent, ever blent, with scorn and jeers?
And we survived it, did we not?
We bore her hate, let’s try to bear
Her love; but watch her and beware!
Beware the Greek with gifts and fair
Kind promises and courtly praise.
Beware the serpent’s subtle ways—
There’s mischief in the air!

Alliance! And for what? With whom?

She burned our Freedom’s Fane. She spat
Vile venom on the sacred tomb
Of Washington; the while she sat
High throned, fat fed, and safe at home,
And bade slaves hound and burn and slay,
Just as in Africa to-day;
Just as she would, will when she dare
Send sword and torch and once again
Make red the white rim of our main—
There’s mischief in the air!

Alliance! Twice with sword and flame:

Alliance! Thrice with craft and fraud:
And now you come in Freedom’s name.
In Freedom’s name? The name of God!
Go to—the Boers. For shame, for shame!
With wedge of gold you split us twain
Then launched your bloodhounds on the main;
But now, my Lords, so soft, so fair—
How long would this a-lie-ance last?
Just long enough to tie Us fast—
Then music in the air!