Lectures On Classical Mechanics

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lectures on
classical mechanics
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lectures on
classical mechanics
berthold-georg englert
National University of Singapore, Singapore
World Scientific
NEW JERSEY
LONDON
SINGAPORE
BEIJING
SHANGHAI
HONG KONG
TA I P E I
CHENNAI
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World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
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USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601

UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
LECTURES ON CLASSICAL MECHANICS

Copyright 2015 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval
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For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance
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ISBN 978-981-4678-44-5
ISBN 978-981-4678-45-2 (pbk)
In-house Editor: Christopher Teo
Printed in Singapore
Christopher - Lectures on Classical Mechanics.indd 1
6/2/2015 4:54:56 PM

To my teachers, colleagues, and students

May 2, 2013
14:6
PSTws

Preface
Classical Mechanics is the branch of theoretical physics that deals with

the motion of massive bodies under the influence of forces, whereby one
should add relativistic effects or quantum effects are not important in the
physical situation under consideration. The nonrelativistic circumstances
require that all speeds are very small compared with the speed of light; but
there is, of course, an extension of classical mechanics to the relativistic
domain. When disregarding quantum effects we refrain from applying the
methods of classical mechanics to phenomena on the scale set by atoms;
but there is, of course, quantum mechanics for that purpose. Both relativistic mechanics and quantum mechanics turn into classical mechanics when,
respectively, the speeds are small or the scales are large.
To quite some extent, classical mechanics deals with the physical phenomena that are the most familiar and the most intuitive, such as falling
stones and swinging pendulums. As a natural tradition, then, the physics
students first exposure to theoretical physics is in lectures on classical mechanics. This has historical reasons because classical mechanics has its roots
in the 16th and the 17th century and pre-dates all branches of Physics in
maturity, but it also has factual reasons: In classical mechanics the student
encounters for the first time universal principles that apply throughout all
of physics and learns about concepts of general importance and usefulness.
A solid knowledge of classical mechanics is the basis for all subsequent
studies of physics.
The course on classical mechanics plays yet another important role in
the physics curriculum. It is the students first serious encounter with
physics spoken in its natural tongue, the language of mathematics: A solid
command of calculus and linear algebra is indispensable for the physicist,
and so is a good knowledge of trigonometry and the basic special functions. While students are expected to be somewhat familiar with these
vii

viii
Lectures on Classical Mechanics
mathematical tools when embarking on classical mechanics, good skills and

confidence in using the tools are only developed by lots of practice. It is
important that the learning student works out many of the exercises that
are included here or can be found in textbooks. You do not learn to play
the violin by watching a violinist perform; you must try your own hands
on the instrument.
These Lectures on Classical Mechanics grew out of a set of lecture notes
for a second-year undergraduate course that I taught at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in recent years. The presentation is rather
detailed and does not skip intermediate steps that as experience shows
are not so obvious for the learning student.
Prior to this course, students would have gone through the usual firstyear overview of physics, partly a review of pre-university physics and partly
a preview of coming attractions, and thus know quite a bit about classical
mechanics, albeit in simple contexts and handled with elementary mathematical methods. Accordingly, the reader is expected to know basic facts,
concepts, and notions of physics. Some of that material is covered here
as well, in particular matters that are central to classical mechanics and
deserve a systematic exposition.
A set of lecture notes is not a monograph on the subject and is not
meant to be one. Rather, its purpose is to give a solid introduction and
prepare the student for further studies on her own. Accordingly, there is no
ambition of, and no attempt at, treating each and every aspect of classical
mechanics in these notes they just represent what I could and would deal
with in one semester. The material of this book is my personal selection for
that one-semester second-year course, presented in full during twenty-three
two-hour lectures. Other lecturers will surely omit some of the material of
my choice in favor of topics that I did not choose to include. What I selected
is, in fact, much material for one semester; one might wish to spread it out
over one and a half semesters and cover additional topics in the remaining
half of the second semester, perhaps introducing the students to relativistic
mechanics or deterministic chaos.
The feedback I received from students in class, from the Ph.D. students
and postdoctoral fellows who conducted tutorial sessions, and from colleagues in the NUS Department of Physics and elsewhere was invaluable
and led to many improvements of the text. While I am much obliged to
all of them, I can only name a few: Dai Jibo, Han Rui, Hu Yu-Xin, Le
Huy Nguyen, Lee Kean Loon, Len Yink Loong, Li Xikun, Hui Khoon Ng,
Seah Yi-Lin, Shang Jiangwei, and Ye Luyao represent this large crowd.
(31 December 2014)

Preface
ix
I am sincerely grateful for the professional help by the staff of World

Scientific Publishing Co., which was crucial for the completion; in particular, I acknowledge Christopher Teos competent support. Chai Jing Hao,
Nguyen Duy Quang, and Seah Zuo Sheng typed the original set of notes
and thus provided the electronic version that I could then work on, and Do
Thi Xuan Hung helped me prepare the figures; I thank them cordially.
This book would not exist without the outstanding teachers, colleagues,
and students who taught me so much. I dedicate these lectures to them.
I wish to thank my dear wife Ola for her continuing understanding and
patience by which she is giving me the peace of mind that is the source of
all achievements.
Singapore, January 2015
BG Englert
(31 December 2014)

May 2, 2013
14:6
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Contents
Preface
vii
Glossary
1.
2.
xvii
Kinematics
1.1 Vectors and all that . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.1 Cartesian coordinates . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.2 Scalar product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.3 Vector product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.4 Dyadic product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.5 Three-vector product . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.6 Double vector product . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.7 Infinitesimal rotations . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.8 Finite rotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.9 An application: Motion on a circle . . . .
1.1.10 Polar coordinates, cylindrical coordinates
1.1.11 Spherical coordinates . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2 Fields and their gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3 Surface and volume elements . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3.1 Surface elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3.2 Volume elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dynamics
2.1 Newtons equation of motion
2.2 Elementary examples . . . .
2.2.1 Force-free motion . .
2.2.2 Constant force . . . .
2.2.3 Frictional forces . . .
2.2.4 Linear restoring force:
xi
. . . . . .
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Harmonic
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1
1
3
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28
33
37
37
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oscillations
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xii

2.2.5 Damped harmonic oscillations . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.2.6 Damped and driven harmonic oscillations . . . . . .
(a) Periodic harmonic force: Resonance . . . . . . .
(b) Impulsive force: Heavisides step function and
Diracs delta function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(c) Arbitrary driving force: Greens function . . . .
(d) Periodic impulsive force: Cyclically steady state
51
56
57
60
66
69
3.
Conservative Forces
73
3.1 One-dimensional motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.1.1 Kinetic and potential energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.1.2 Bounded motion between two turning points . . . . 75
(a) Small-amplitude oscillations . . . . . . . . . . . 76
(b) Large-amplitude oscillations . . . . . . . . . . . 77
(c) Potential energy inferred from the energydependent period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.1.3 Unbounded motion with a single turning point . . . 82
3.1.4 Unbounded motion without a turning point . . . . . 85
3.2 Three-dimensional motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.2.1 Kinetic energy, potential energy . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.2.2 Conservative force fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
(a) Necessity of vanishing curl . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
(b) Sufficiency of vanishing curl Stokess theorem 90
3.2.3 Extremal points of the potential energy: Maxima,
minima, saddle points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.2.4 Potential energy in the vicinity of an extremal point 99
3.2.5 Example: Electrostatic potentials have no maxima
or minima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.
Pair Forces
4.1 Reciprocal forces: Conservation of momentum . . . . . . .
4.2 Conservative pair forces: Conservation of energy . . . . . .
4.3 Line-of-sight forces: Conservation of angular momentum .
4.4 Conservative line-of-sight forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5 Additional external forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5.1 Transfer of momentum, energy, and angular momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5.2 Center-of-mass motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5.3 Conservative external forces . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(31 December 2014)
107
107
109
111
112
113
113
114
117
xiii
Contents
5.

6.
7.
8.
9.
Two-Body Systems
5.1 Center-of-mass motion and relative motion,
5.2 Keplers ellipses and Newtons force law . .
5.3 Motion in a central-force field . . . . . . .
5.3.1 Bounded motion . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.2 Unbounded motion . . . . . . . . .
5.3.3 Scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
reduced mass
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121
121
124
132
132
137
139
Gravitating Mass Distributions

6.1 Gravitational potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2 Monopole moment and quadrupole moment dyadic . .
6.3 Newtons shell theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.4 Greens function of the Laplacian differential operator
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145
145
149
151
155
Variational Problems
7.1 Johann Bernoullis challenge: The brachistochrone
7.2 EulerLagrange equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.3 Solution of the brachistochrone problem . . . . . .
7.4 Jakob Bernoullis problem: The catenary . . . . .
7.5 Handling constraints: Lagrange multipliers . . . .
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159
159
161
164
166
169
Principle of Stationary Action

8.1 Lagrange function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.1.1 One coordinate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.1.2 More coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.1.3 Change of description, cyclic coordinates
8.2 Time and energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.3 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.3.1 Two masses strung up . . . . . . . . . . .
8.3.2 Two coupled harmonic oscillators . . . .
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173
173
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177
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180
180
184
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Small-Amplitude Oscillations
9.1 Near an equilibrium: Lagrange function and equations
motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9.2 Characteristic frequencies and normal modes . . . . . .
9.3 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9.3.1 Pendulum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9.3.2 Double pendulum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9.3.3 Linear triatomic molecule . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(31 December 2014)
189
of
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189
192
194
194
197
200

xiv
10.
From Lagrange to Hamilton

10.1 Time as a coordinate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.2 Endpoint variations: Momentum and Hamilton function
10.3 Five remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.3.1 Natural variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.3.2 The minus sign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.3.3 Legendre transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.3.4 Many coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.3.5 Kinetic and canonical momentum . . . . . . . .
10.4 Cyclic coordinates and constants of motion . . . . . . .
10.4.1 Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.4.2 Total momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.4.3 Total angular momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.5 Hamiltons equations of motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.6 Poisson bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.7 Conservation laws and symmetries. Noethers theorem .
10.8 One-dimensional motion; two-dimensional phase space .
10.9 Phase-space density. Liouvilles theorem . . . . . . . . .
10.10 Velocity-dependent forces and Schwingers action . . . .
10.11 An excursion into the quantum realm . . . . . . . . . .
207
207
210
213
213
213
214
215
215
217
218
219
221
222
226
228
229
232
236
240
11.
Rigid Bodies
11.1 Inertia dyadic. Steiners theorem. Principal axes
11.2 Eulers equation of motion . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11.2.1 The general case . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11.2.2 No torque acting . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(a) Two equal moments of inertia . . . .
(b) Rotation about a principal axis . . .
11.3 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11.3.1 Physical pendulum . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11.3.2 Thin rod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11.3.3 Symmetric top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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243
248
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250
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251
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253
254
258
Earth-Bound Laboratories
12.1 Coriolis force, centrifugal force . .
12.2 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12.2.1 Foucaults pendulum . . . .
12.2.2 Deflection of a falling mass
12.2.3 Gyrocompass . . . . . . . .
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12.
(31 December 2014)
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xv
Contents

Exercises with Hints

281
Exercises for Chapters 112 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Appendix
A On conic sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A.1 Foci; vertices; cartesian coordinates; ray optics
A.2 Eccentricity; directrices; polar coordinates . . .
A.3 Plane sections of a cone . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B On the exercise for the reader in Section 5.2 . . . . .
C On the exercise for the reader in Section 11.2.2 . . .
Index
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323
323
323
325
328
332
334
339
(31 December 2014)

May 2, 2013
14:6
PSTws

Glossary
Here is a list of the symbols used in the text; the numbers in square brackets
indicate the pages of first occurrence or of other significance.
Miscellanea
PSA
1; 12 , 13
!; bxc
Re (z), Im (z)
a= a
aT
a b, a b
ab
A B
Principle of Stationary Action [174]

unit dyadic [102], 2 2, 3 3 unit matrix [16,3]
factorial of number ; floor of x [70]
real, imaginary part of complex number z
length of vector a [5]
transposed row version of column vector a [100]
scalar product [3], vector product [5] of vectors a and b
dyadic product of vectors a and b [101]
two-fold vector product of dyadics A and B [294]
d
,
t dt
parametric, total time derivative [225]
r , r
f 0 (x), f 00 (x)
f 2 (x), f 1 (x)
first, second time derivative of r (t)

first, second derivative of f (x) with respect to its
argument

2
square, inverse
of
function
f
:
f
(x)
=
f
f
(x)
,

1
f f (x) = x
2
square, reciprocal of the function value: f (x)2 = f (x) ,
f (x)1 = 1/f (x)
f (t)
long-time average of f (t) [295]
V
gradient of field V (r , t) [33]
F , F curl [90], divergence [105] of vector field F (r , t)
2
Laplacian differential operator [105]
tr{A} , det{A} trace, determinant of a dyadic [293]
f (x)2 , f (x)1
xvii
xviii
{F, G}
hF i, (F )
Poisson bracket of phase-space functions F (X, P, t) and

G(X, P, t) [226]
mean value [308], variance [308] of phase-space function
F (X, P, t)

Latin alphabet
a
aeff
a, b, c, . . .
A(r , t)
b
B(r , t)
c
major half-axis of an ellipse [127]

effective length [254]
vectors
vector potential [239]
impact parameter [141]; minor half-axis of an ellipse [323]
magnetic field [236]
speed of light, c = 2.99792 108 m s1 [236]; linear
eccentricity [327]
cos, sin, . . .
cosh, sinh, . . .
dX
d
d
(dr )
dS
(dX)(dP )
D
e
ea
E, Etot
E (r , t)
f, f
F, F
F (ext) , P (ext)
g
G
G(t t0 )
G(r r 0 )
~
H(X, P, t)
i
I1 , I2 , I3
trigonometric functions; sin = sin(), sin = sin( 12 )

2
hyperbolic functions; cosh = cosh()
differential of quantity X
distance from directrix [326]
electric dipole moment [306]
volume element [39]
vectorial surface element [37]
phase-space volume element [232]
distance from focus to directrix [327]
Eulers number, e = 2.71828 . . .
local unit vector for coordinate a = x, y, z, s, , r, , . . .
energy [74], total energy [110]
electric field [105]
distance from focus [325]
force [41]
external force, its power [114]
gravitational acceleration, g
= 9.8 m s2 [43]
gravitational constant, G = 6.67 1011 N m2 kg2 [129]
retarded Greens function [66]
Greens function for the Laplacian [155]
Plancks constant/(2), ~ = 6.62607 1034 J s [214]
Hamilton function [212]
imaginary unit, i2 = 1
principal moments of inertia [247]
(31 December 2014)

Glossary
I, IR
J
kg
k
l, `, L
t)
L(X, X,
l , L; Ltot
log
m
m, mk ; m
m, M, meff
N
p, Ptot
px , py , p , . . .
P
q; qk
Q
r
r> , r<
r , rj
rk , r
R
R, V
s
s
sgn(x)
t
T
v, v ; vj
v
V (r , t), Veff (s)
W
W12 , W12
x, y, z
x0 ; x1 , x 2
X, X
inertia dyadic [245], for reference point R [246]

joule, SI unit of energy, 1 J = 1 kg m2 s2
kilogram, basic SI unit of mass
spring constant [48]
length of an object
Lagrange function [174]
angular momentum; total angular momentum [111]
natural logarithm
meter, basic SI unit of length
mass, of the kth particle; mass of the sun [129]
reduced [123], total mass [114], effective mass [257]
newton, SI unit of force, 1 N = 1 kg m s2
momentum [212], total momentum [108]
canonical momentum for coordinate x, y, , . . . [215]
collection of canonical momenta [215]
electric charge [105]; of the kth particle
quadrupole moment dyadic [150]
radial distance (spherical coordinates) [29]
larger, smaller one of r and r0 [152]
position vector [1], of the jth particle
parallel, perpendicular component of r [10]
radius of a circle, of a sphere
center-of-mass position, velocity [115]
second, basic SI unit of time
radial distance (polar, cylindrical coordinates) [20]
sign of x
time
period [51,77], radial period [135], duration
speed, velocity [18]; of the jth particle
terminal velocity [44]
potential energy [74], effective potential energy [133]
watt, SI unit of power, 1 W = 1 kg m2 s3
action, its infinitesimal change [174]
cartesian coordinates of r [2]
coordinate of potential-energy minimum; turning
points [74]
collection of coordinates [176], of velocities [215]
(31 December 2014)
xix
xx

Greek alphabet and Greek-Latin combinations

, , , . . .
jk
X
(t), (r )
(t), 0 (t)
,

jkl
(t), (t)
, (t)
1 , 2
, ,
(r ); (X, P, t)
,
d
d
, j ; (ext)
(r ), (r , t)
,
, l
coefficients
Newtonian friction coefficient [44]
delta symbol [4]
infinitesimal change of quantity X
one-dimensional, three-dimensional delta function [62,156]
model for [63], derivative of (t) [286]
very small positive quantity, very short vector
numerical eccentricity of an ellipse [127]
epsilon symbol [7]
unit step function [61], model for it [63]
polar angle (spherical coordinates) [29]; Euler angle [259]
scattering angle [140], in the lab frame [298]
air-drag friction coefficient [46]
constant of motion (area per unit time) [127]
latitude [29]
Lagrange multiplier [167], function [183]
complex frequencies (damped harmonic oscillator) [51]
parabolic coordinates [283]
Archimedess constant, = 3.14159 . . .
mass density [145]; phase-space density [232]
total [299], differential cross section [142]
characteristic time [47]
torque, of the jth particle [112]; external torque [114]
rotation angle [13]; azimuth [20]; Euler angle [259]
infinitesimal rotation vector [12]
angle parameter, phase shift [57]
angular period [136]
gravitational potential [146], scalar potential [239]
Euler angle [259]
angular velocity [19], angular velocity vector [19]
circular frequency [49], characteristic frequency [192]
circular frequency of periodic force [57]
angular velocity vector for the rotating earth [267]
solid-angle element [39]
(31 December 2014)

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UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE

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LECTURES ON CLASSICAL MECHANICS

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Christopher - Lectures on Classical Mechanics.indd 1

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To my teachers, colleagues, and students

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Classical Mechanics is the branch of theoretical physics that deals with

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Lectures on Classical Mechanics

mathematical tools when embarking on classical mechanics, good skills and

(31 December 2014)

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I am sincerely grateful for the professional help by the staff of World

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Lectures on Classical Mechanics

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2.2.5 Damped harmonic oscillations . . . . . . . . . . . .

(31 December 2014)

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Gravitating Mass Distributions

Principle of Stationary Action

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Lectures on Classical Mechanics

From Lagrange to Hamilton

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Exercises with Hints

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Principle of Stationary Action [174]

parametric, total time derivative [225]

first, second time derivative of r (t)

Lectures on Classical Mechanics

Poisson bracket of phase-space functions F (X, P, t) and

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major half-axis of an ellipse [127]

trigonometric functions; sin = sin(), sin = sin( 12 )

(31 December 2014)

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inertia dyadic [245], for reference point R [246]

(31 December 2014)

Lectures on Classical Mechanics

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