SPA5304 Physical Dynamics Lecture 5-6

David Vegh

16 January 2019

1 Many particles
[Ref: Goldstein §1.2]
Consider multiple particles labeled by i = 1, 2, . . .

1.1 Internal vs. external forces

(e)
• Particle i may feel an external force F~i
e.g. External electric field, when the particles are charged

• Particle i may feel an internal force exerted by particle j F~ji

e.g. Coulomb force between particle i and j.

1.2 Newton’s laws

Newton’s 2nd law for particle i:

N
(e)
X
p~˙i = F~i + F~ji
j6=i

Here the sum excludes j = i. But we can include j = i if we define F~ji = 0. This will be understood
henceforth.

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 • Newton’s 3rd law:

F~ji = −F~ij

1.3 Total momentum

X X
p~ ≡ p~i = mi~vi
i i

Sum the 2nd law equation over i:

˙ X X (e) X
P~ = p~˙i = F~i + F~ji
i i i,j
| {z }
=0 by 3rd law

Thus,

˙ X (e)
P~ = F~i = total external force ≡ F~
i

1.4 Center of mass

P
~ ≡ mi~ri
i
R
M

where

X
M≡ mi
i

is the total mass.

R~ is the average position weighted by mass.

X
~ =
MR mi~ri
i

~˙ =
X X
MR mi~r˙i = p~i = P~ total momentum
i i

~¨ = ˙
X X (e)
MR mi~r¨i = F~i = P~ = F~ total external force
i i

2
 Hence,

~˙
P~ = M R

and

˙ ~¨ = F~
P~ = M R

• The COM (center of mass) moves as if it were a particle with mass M , acted on by a force F~ .
• If the total force vanishes (F~ = 0), then the total momentum is conserved: P~ = const.

1.5 Total angular momentum

Angular momentum of particle i about ~r = 0: ~ i = ~ri × p~i
L
Total angular momentum about ~r = 0:

X X
~ ≡
L ~i =
L ~ri × p~i
i i

~
What is the time evolution of L?
 
~˙ i = ~r˙i × p~i +~ri × p~˙i = ~ri × F~ (e) +
X
L i F~ji 
| {z }
=0 j

Let’s sum over i:

~˙ =
X˙ X (e)
X
L ~i =
L ~ri × F~i + ~ri × F~ji
i i i,j

Since i and j are dummy variables, we can swap them and write the second term as
X 1X 1X 1X
~ri × F~ji = ~ri × F~ji + ~rj × F~ij = (~ri − ~rj ) × F~ji
i,j
2 i,j 2 i,j |{z} 2 i,j
−F~ji
by 3rd law

Assuming the “strong law of action and reaction” we can write the internal force as

~ri − ~rj
F~ij = r̂ij fij r̂ij =
|~ri − ~rj |

and fij = fji is some scalar function. This means that the force vector lies along the straight line joining
particles i and j.

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 Hence (~ri − ~rj ) × F~ji = 0 and thus

~˙ =
X˙ X (e)
L ~i =
L ~ri × F~i (1)
i i
| {z }
total external torque

1.6 Role of COM in total angular momentum

The time evolution of the total linear momentum P~ had a nice interpretation in terms of the center of mass
vector R ~˙ What about the total angular momentum L?
~ (namely P~ = M R). ~

Let’s decompose ~ri as

~ + ~ri 0
~ri = R
where ~ri 0 is the relative position w.r.t. the center of mass.
Take the time-derivative:
~˙ + ~r˙i 0
~r˙i = R
and multiply by mi
~˙ +
mi~r˙i = mi R mi~r˙i 0
|{z} | {z }
=~
pi pi 0
≡~
by definition

Then,
~˙ + p~i 0 =
X X  
~ =
L ~ri × p~i = ~ + ~ri 0 ) × mi R
(R
i i
! !
~˙ +R ~˙ +
X X X X
~×
=R mi R ~× p~i 0 + mi~ri 0 ×R ~ri 0 × p~i 0 (2)
i i i i
| {z }
~
=P

Here !
X X X X
0
mi~ri = ~ =
mi (~ri − R) mi~ri − mi ~ =0
R
i i i i
| {z }
~
=M R

If we take the time-derivative, we also get X

p~i 0 = 0
i

Thus, two terms vanish in (2) and we get

X
~ =R
L ~ × P~ + ~ri 0 × p~i 0
i

• The first term is the “orbital” part and it comes from the COM motion.
• The second term will be denoted by L ~ 0 ≡ P ~ri 0 × p~i 0 . It is the “spin” part of the angular momentum.
i

(E.g. in the case of the Earth, the orbital part is the contribution to angular momentum from Earth’s
revolution around the Sun. The spin part is the contribution from Earth’s rotation.)

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1.7 ~0
Time evolution of L
~ =R
L ~ × P~ + L
~0

~˙ = R
L ~˙ × P~ +R ~˙ 0
~ × P~˙ +L
| {z } |{z}
=0 P ~ (e)
= iF i

On the other hand from eqn. (1) we have

~˙ = (e)
X
L ~ri × F~i

~˙ we get
Comparing the two expressions for L,

~˙ 0 = (e) ~ × F~ (e)
X
L ~ri × F~i − R i

~˙ 0 = (e)
X
L ~ri 0 × F~i

On the RHS is the sum of external torques about the COM.

1.8 Work done by forces in a many-body system

A “configuration” is a set of values for the position vectors {~ri }.
Let us now move the system from configuration 1 to configuration 2. The work done in the process:
 
XZ 2 XZ 2 (e)
X
W [P] = d~ri · F~i = d~ri · F~i + F~ji 
i 1 i 1 j

!
XZ t2 Z t2 Z t2 X p~i 2
d~ri ~ X p~i ˙ d
= dt · Fi = dt · p~i = dt
i t1 dt i t1 mi t1 dt i
2mi

X
= (Ti (2) − Ti (1)) = T2 − T1
i

~i 2
p
where Ti ≡ 2mi is the kinetic energy for particle i.
The result above is the same as in the 1-particle case: the (total) kinetic energy of the system changes
by the work done to the system.

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1.9 Role of the COM in the kinetic energy
Let us decompose T into the COM and relative parts

X1 X1 2 X 1  2 
~˙ + ~r˙i 0 = ~˙ + (~r˙i 0 )2 + 2R
~˙ · ~r˙i 0

T = mi~r˙i 2 = mi R mi R
i
2 i
2 i
2

1  ~˙ 2 1 X ~· d
X
= M R + mi (~r˙i 0 )2 + R mi~ri 0
2 2 i dt i
| {z }
=0

1  ~˙ 2 1 X
T = M R + mi (~r˙i 0 )2 = TCOM + T 0
2 2 i

~ =R
(Note that this decomposition is similar to that of the angular momentum L ~ × P~ + L
~ 0)

1.10 Summary
(e)
X
p~˙i = F~i + F~ji
|{z} j
external
forces | {z }
internal
forces
P
~ + ~ri 0 ~ ≡ mi ~
ri P
Decomposition: ~ri = R center of mass: R i
M total mass: M ≡ i mi .

definition decomposition time evolution

˙ P (e)
P~ = i p~i P~ = M R
~ P~ = F~ = i F~i
P
total linear momentum

~˙ = P ~ri × F~ (e)
X
total angular momentum ~ =P L
L ~ ~ = R
L ~ × P~ + ~ri 0 × p~i 0 L
i i | {z } i
“orbital” i
| {z }
“spin”
~˙ 0 = P ~ri 0 × F~ (e)
L i

 2
total kinetic energy T =
P
Ti ~˙ +
T = 12 M R 1
P
mi (~r˙i 0 )2
i 2 i