PART I

Dynamics of Particles

CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Dynamics

Reading Assignment

1/1 History and Modern Applications of Dynamics

1/2 Basic Concepts

Space:-

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  Is the geometric region occupied by bodies.
 Position in space is determined relative to some geometric reference system by means
of linear and angular measurements.
 The basic frame of reference for the laws of Newtonian mechanics is the primary
inertial system or astronomical frame of reference, which is an imaginary set of
rectangular axes assumed to have no translation or rotation in space.
 Measurements show that the laws of Newtonian mechanics are valid for this reference
system as long as any velocities involved are negligible compared with the speed of
light, which is 300 000 km/s or 186,000 mi/sec.
 Measurements made with respect to this reference are said to be absolute, and this
reference system may be considered “fixed” in space.

Time:-
 Is a measure of the succession of events and is considered an absolute quantity in
Newtonian mechanics.

Mass:-
 Is the quantitative measure of the inertia or resistance to change in motion of a body.
 Mass may also be considered as the quantity of matter in a body as well as the property
which gives rise to gravitational attraction

Force:-
 is the vector action of one body on another

A particle:-
 Is a body of negligible dimensions.
 When the dimensions of a body are irrelevant to the description of its motion or the
action of forces on it, the body may be treated as a particle.
An airplane, for example, may be treated as a particle for the description of its flight path.

A rigid body:-
 Is a body whose changes in shape are negligible compared with the overall dimensions
of the body or with the changes in position of the body as a whole.
As an example of the assumption of rigidity, the small flexural movement of the wing tip of an
airplane flying through turbulent air is clearly of no consequence to the description of the
motion of the airplane as a whole along its flight path. For this purpose, then, the treatment of
the airplane as a rigid body is an acceptable approximation.

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On the other hand, if we need to examine the internal stresses in the wing structure due to
changing dynamic loads, then the deformation characteristics of the structure would have to be
examined, and for this purpose the airplane could no longer be considered a rigid body.

Revision Assignment on Vector and scalar quantities

1/3 Newton’s Laws

Law I A particle remains at rest or continues to move with uniform velocity (in a straight line
with a constant speed) if there is no unbalanced force acting on it.

Law II The acceleration of a particle is proportional to the resultant force acting on it and is in
the direction of this force. To some it is preferable to interpret Newton’s second law as
meaning that the resultant force acting on a particle is proportional to the time rate of change
of momentum of the particle and that this change is in the direction of the force. Both
formulations are equally correct when applied to a particle of constant mass.

Law III. The forces of action and reaction between interacting bodies are equal in magnitude,
opposite in direction, and collinear.
These laws have been verified by countless physical measurements. The first two laws hold for
measurements made in an absolute frame of reference, but are subject to some correction
when the motion is measured relative to a reference system having acceleration, such as one
attached to the surface of the earth.
Newton’s second law forms the basis for most of the analysis in dynamics. For a particle of mass
m subjected to a resultant force F, the law may be stated as

Where a is the resulting acceleration measured in a nonaccelerating frame of reference.

Newton’s first law is a consequence of the second law since there is no acceleration when the
force is zero, and so the particle is either at rest or is moving with constant velocity.
The third law constitutes the principle of action and reaction with which you should be
thoroughly familiar from your work in statics.

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1/5 Gravitation

The value of the gravitational constant obtained from experimental data is:

Effect of Altitude
The force of gravitational attraction of the earth on a body depends on the position of the body
relative to the earth. Thus the variation in gravitational attraction of high-altitude rockets and
spacecraft becomes a major consideration.
Every object which falls in a vacuum at a given height near the surface of the earth will have the
same acceleration g, regardless of its mass. This result can be obtained by combining Eqs. 1/1
and 1/2 and canceling the term representing the mass of the falling object. This combination
gives

Where me is the mass of the earth and R is the radius of the earth.
The mass me and the mean radius R of the earth have been found through experimental
measurements to be

respectively.

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These values, together with the value of G already cited, when substituted into the expression
for g, give a mean value of g = 9.825 m/s2
The variation of g with altitude is easily determined from the gravitational law. If g 0 represents
the absolute acceleration due to gravity at sea level, the absolute value at an altitude h is

Read:-
 Effect of a Rotating Earth
 Standard Value of g

Apparent Weight
The gravitational attraction of the earth on a body of mass m may be calculated from the
results of a simple gravitational experiment. The body is allowed to fall freely in a vacuum, and
its absolute acceleration is measured. If the gravitational force of attraction or true weight of
the body is W, then, because the body falls with an absolute acceleration g, Eq. 1/1 gives:

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 CHAPTER 2
Kinematics of Particles
2/1 Introduction
 Kinematics is the branch of dynamics which describes the motion of bodies without
reference to the forces which either cause the motion or are generated as a result of the
motion.
 Kinematics is often described as the “geometry of motion.”
 Some engineering applications of kinematics include the design of cams, gears, linkages,
and other machine elements to control or produce certain desired motions, and the
calculation of flight trajectories for aircraft, rockets, and spacecraft.
A thorough working knowledge of kinematics is a prerequisite to kinetics, which is the study
of the relationships between motion and the corresponding forces which cause or
accompany the motion.

Particle Motion
 A particle is a body whose physical dimensions are so small compared with the radius of
curvature of its path that we may treat the motion of the particle as that of a point.
For example, the wingspan of a jet transport flying between Los Angeles and New York is of no
consequence compared with the radius of curvature of its flight path, and thus the treatment of
the airplane as a particle or point is an acceptable approximation.
We can describe the motion of a particle in a number of ways, and the choice of the most
convenient or appropriate way depends a great deal on experience and on how the data are
given.
Let us obtain an overview of the several methods developed in this chapter by referring to Fig.
2/1, which shows a particle P moving along some general path in space.
If the particle is confined to a specified path, as with a bead sliding along a fixed wire, its motion
is said to be constrained. If there are no physical guides, the motion is said to be unconstrained.
A small rock tied to the end of a string and whirled in a circle undergoes constrained motion
until the string breaks, after which instant its motion is unconstrained.

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Choice of Coordinates
The position of particle P at any time t can be described by specifying its:-
 Rectangular coordinates x, y, z,
 Its cylindrical coordinates r, θ , z, or
 Its spherical coordinates R, θ , φ
 The motion of P can also be described by measurements along the tangent t and normal
n to the curve.
The direction of n lies in the local plane of the curve. These last two measurements are called
path variables.

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The motion of particles (or rigid bodies) can be described by using coordinates measured from
fixed reference axes (absolute-motion analysis) or by using coordinates measured from moving
reference axes (relative-motion analysis).
With this conceptual picture of the description of particle motion in mind, we restrict our
attention in the first part of this chapter to the case of plane motion where all movement
occurs in or can be represented as occurring in a single plane. A large proportion of the motions
of machines and structures in engineering can be represented as plane motion.

2/2 Rectilinear Motion

Consider a particle P moving along a straight line, Fig. 2/2.

The position of P at any instant of time t can be specified by its distance s measured from some
convenient reference point O fixed on the line.
At time t + Δt the particle has moved to Pʹ and its coordinate becomes s + Δs.
The change in the position coordinate during the interval Δt is called the displacement Δs of the
particle.
The displacement would be negative if the particle moved in the negative s-direction.

Velocity and Acceleration

The average velocity of the particle during the interval Δt is the displacement divided by the
time interval or vav = Δs/Δt.
As Δt becomes smaller and approaches zero in the limit, the average velocity approaches the
instantaneous velocity of the particle, which is

or

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Thus, the velocity is the time rate of change of the position coordinate s.
The velocity is positive or negative depending on whether the corresponding displacement is
positive or negative.
The average acceleration of the particle during the interval Δt is the change in its velocity
divided by the time interval or aav = Δv/Δt.
As Δt becomes smaller and approaches zero in the limit, the average acceleration approaches
the instantaneous acceleration of the particle, which is

The acceleration is positive or negative depending on whether the velocity is increasing or

decreasing.
Note that the acceleration would be positive if the particle had a negative velocity which was
becoming less negative. If the particle is slowing down, the particle is said to be decelerating.
By eliminating the time dt between Eq. 2/1 and the first of Eqs. 2/2, we obtain a differential
equation relating displacement, velocity, and acceleration. This equation is

 Equations 2/1, 2/2, and 2/3 are the differential equations for the rectilinear motion of a
particle.
 Problems in rectilinear motion involving finite changes in the motion variables are
solved by integration of these basic differential relations.
 The position coordinate s, the velocity v, and the acceleration a are algebraic quantities,
so that their signs, positive or negative, must be carefully observed.
 Note that the positive directions for v and a are the same as the positive direction for s.

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