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Tutorial9_Soln

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Department of Physics PHY 112-Tutorial 9

IIT Kanpur Jan-May 2016

Figure 1: Figure for problems 1, 2, 3 and 5.

1. Oscillations in coupled systems:– Three identical springs and two masses, m1 = m


and m2 = 2m, lie between two walls, as shown in Fig. 1 (a). For our case, it will help
to solve the general case of m2 = am, where a is a constant. Later, we will analyze the
di↵erent limits of a in the last part of this question.
(a) Use the Lagrangian to derive the coupled set of equations of motions for both
masses.
(b) Find the normal modes.
(c) Check the orthogonality of the normal mode eigenvectors.
(d) What happens to the motion as i) m2 ! m1 , ii) m2 ⌧ m1 , and as m2 m2 . Note
that m2 ⌧ m1 implies a ! 0, and m2 m1 implies a ! 1.

2. Noether’s theorem at work in Atwood’s machine:– Consider the Atwood’s ma-


chine shown in Fig. 1(b). The masses are 4m, 5m, and 3m. Let x and y be the heights
of the two masses on the right pully – relative to their initial positions, as shown in
Fig. 1(b). Use Noether’s theorem to find the conserved momentum.

3. Small oscillations:– The curve y(x) = b(x/a) is rotated around the y axis with
constant frequency ! [see Fig. 1(c)]. A bead moves frictionlessly along the curve. Find
the frequency of small oscillations about the equilibrium point. Under what conditions
do oscillations exist?

4. Lorentz Force:– Consider a charged particle q of mass m moving with a velocity v in a


electromagnetic field, specified by a scalar potential and a vector potential A. Let the
potential energy of the system be specified by U = q q v · A. Calculate the equation
of motion of the x-coordinate. If we express the equation of motion in the form,

mẍ = q(E + v ⇥ B)x , (1)

then what is the expression of E and B.

Phy112: Introduction to Dynamics Rohit Medwal, Amit Agarwal


Phy112 Page 2 of 2 Tutorial 9

5. Trajectory optimization - the brachistochrone problem:– A bead is released from


rest at the origin and slides down a frictionless wire that connects the origin to a given
point, as shown in Fig. 1(d). You want to shape the wire so that the bead reaches
the endpoint in the shortest possible time. Let the desired curve be described by the
function y(x), with downward taken to be positive.
(a) Show that y(x) satisfies
1 + y 02 = B/y , (2)
with B being a constant.
(b) Show that x and y may be written as x = a(✓ sin ✓) and y = a(1 cos ✓). This is
the parametrization of a cycloid, the path taken by a point on the rim of a rolling
wheel.
(c) In general, if f (y) is a function of y, then the function y which extremizes the
integral, Z p
dxf (y) 1 + y 02 , (3)

satisfies the equation


1 + y 02 = Bf (y)2 . (4)

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