Phys104 W15 Midterm exam solutions

1). (10 points) Prove that the shortest path connecting two points in the x-y plane is a straight line.

This is the Calculus of Variations example that we did repeatedly in class.

We want to find the function (or path), y(x), that minimizes the distance between two points,
(x1 , y1 ) and (x1 , y2 ). That distance is S, which is just the line integral of a set of infinitesimal steps
along the path.
Z
S = ds

We can write ds in terms of its x and y components as

p
ds = (dx)2 + (dy)2
Factoring out a dx from the square root we get
r
dy 2
ds = dx 1+( )
dx
dy
We recognize dx
as the derivative of the function y with respect to x, which we can write as y 0 . So,
Z x2 p
S= dx 1 + y 02
x1

pfunction y(x) that minimizes this using the Euler-Lagrange equation on the functional
We can find the
0
f (y, y ; x) = 1 + y 02 , i.e.,
!
∂f d ∂f d y0
0= − =0−
∂y dx ∂y 0
p
dx 1 + y 02
!
d y0
0= p
dx 1 + y 02
So, the quantity in parentheses is a constant, which I’ll call C.
p
y 0 = C 1 + y 02
y 02 = C 2 + C 2 y 02
y 02 = C 2 /(1 − C 2 )
√
y 0 = C/ 1 − C 2
The quantity on the right is a constant, which I’ll label as m. So,
y0 = m
Integrating with respect to x, and calling the constant of integration b, we get that
y = mx + b
That is the equation of a line. This proves that the function, y(x), which minimizes the distance
between the two points is a straight line.
2). (15 points) A simple pendulum (mass M and length L) is
suspended from a cart (mass m) that can oscillate horizontally
on the end of a spring of force constant k, as shown at right.
Write the Lagrangian in terms of the two generalized coordi-
nates x and φ, where x is the extension of the spring from its
equilibrium length, and determine the equations of motion.

Since there are two objects to keep track of, the cart and the pendulum bob, in 3D, we need 6
coordinates. However, the motion is constrained to a plane so we can set z = 0 for both objects
leaving only 4 coordinates. Then, the cart moves only horizontally, so we can set its y coordinate to
zero. Finally, the pendulum is constrained to have a constant radius, which adds another constraint.
After all these constraints, we are left with only 2 degrees of freedom. As suggested in the problem,
we can use x and φ as the coordinates to describe them. However, I’ll use y as the vertical direction
to find the Lagrangian and then apply the constraints.

The kinetic energy of the cart in cartesian coordinates is

1
1
T = m ẋ2 + ẏ 2 + ż 2 = mẋ2
2 2
where I used the constraint that there is no motion in either the y or z directions.
The kinetic energy of the pendulum bob in cartesian coordinates is
1
1
T = M x˙p 2 + yx˙ p 2 + zx˙ p 2 = M x˙p 2 + yx˙ p 2


2 2
where I used the constraint that there is no motion in the z direction. Note that I label its position
with xp and yp since they are different from the cart’s coordinates. They are, however, related by the
following:

xp = x + L sin φ & yp = −L cos φ

Taking the time derivative of these gives

ẋp = ẋ + Lφ̇ cos φ & ẏp = Lφ̇ sin φ

So we can write the pendulum bob’s kinetic energy as

1  
T = M (ẋ + Lφ̇ cos φ)2 + L2 φ̇2 sin2 φ
2
1  
= M ẋ2 + L2 φ̇2 cos2 φ + 2Lẋφ̇ cos φ + L2 φ̇2 sin2 φ
2
1  
= M ẋ2 + L2 φ̇2 + 2Lẋφ̇ cos φ
2
where I used sin2 + cos2 = 1 to combined terms in the last step.

So the total kinetic energy is

1 1  
T = mẋ2 + M ẋ2 + L2 φ̇2 + 2Lẋφ̇ cos φ
2 2
 We’ll define the potential energy of the pendulum as zero at its pivot point, so the potential energy
of the spring and pendulum together is
1
U = kx2 − M gL cos φ
2
Putting that together, the Lagrangian is

1 1   1
L = mẋ2 + M ẋ2 + L2 φ̇2 + 2Lẋφ̇ cos φ − kx2 + M gL cos φ
2 2 2

With two degrees of freedom, we have two Euler-Lagrangian equations, one for x and one for φ.
Starting with x, we have
∂L d ∂L d  
0= − == −kx − mẋ + M ẋ + M Lφ̇ cos φ
∂x dt ∂ ẋ dt
= −kx − mẍ − M ẍ − M Lφ̈ cos φ + M Lφ̇ sin φφ̇
= −kx − mẍ − M ẍ − M Lφ̈ cos φ + M Lφ̇2 sin φ

This gives the equation of motion

(m + M )ẍ + M L(φ̈ cos φ − φ̇2 sin φ) + kx = 0

The Euler-Lagrange equation for φ gives

∂L d ∂L d  2

0= − = −M Lẋφ̇ sin φ − M gL sin φ − M L φ̇ + M Lẋ cos φ
∂φ dt ∂ φ̇ dt
 
= −M Lẋφ̇ sin φ − M gL sin φ − M L2 φ̈ + M Lẍ cos φ − M Lẋφ̇ sin φ
= ẋφ̇ sin φ + g sin φ + Lφ̈ + ẍ cos φ − ẋφ̇ sin φ

This gives the equation of motion

Lφ̈ + ẍ cos φ + g sin φ = 0

3). (20 points) A puck slides frictionlessly on the surface of a horizontal disk of radius R that is
rotating about the axis through its center. Using a coordinate system fixed to the rotating disk, specify
all the forces on the puck and determine the equations of motion. If at time t = 0 the puck is at a
distance of R/2 from the center and has a velocity, in the disk’s coordinate system, directed toward
the center, sketch its subsequent motion in the coordinate system fixed to the disk. Then sketch it
again in an external inertial coordinate system.

The simplest coordinate system to use is cylindrical coordinates (r, φ, z) with the origin fixed to
the center of the disk and rotating with the disk. The ẑ axis points up along the axis of rotation, so the
~ = Ωẑ
rotation is Ω
The forces acting on the puck are gravity downward and a normal force upward. By constraint,
these two forces cancel each other and we can ignore them henceforth. The fictitious forces acting on
the puck in the non-inertial reference frame are the centrifugal and coriolis forces:

F~ = F~cfg + F~cori = m(Ω ~ + 2m~r˙ × Ω

~ × ~r) × Ω ~

We can write this out as components using

~ = Ωẑ
Ω & ~r = rr̂ & ~r˙ = ṙr̂ + rφ̇φ̂

So the force in components is

F~ = mΩ2 r(ẑ × r̂) × ẑ + 2mΩ(ṙr̂ × ẑ + rφ̇φ̂ × ẑ)

The cross-products can be determined easily since r̂, φ̂ and ẑ form a right handed coordinate system,
i.e., ẑ × r̂ = φ̂, φ̂ × ẑ = r̂, and r̂ × ẑ = −φ̂. That makes the force

F~ = mΩ2 rr̂ − 2mΩṙφ̂ + 2mΩrφ̇r̂

The first term says that the centrifugal force points radially outward, as we’d expect intuitively. The
second term means that the coriolis force pushes the puck to the right wrt any radial velocity if Ω is
positive, i.e., counter-clockwise as viewed from above. The third term is the same thing for velocity
in the φ̂ direction.
We can find the equations of motion by writing F~ = m~a in this coordinate system. Since the
acceleration in polar coordinates is

~r¨ = (r̈ − rφ̇2 ) r̂ + (rφ̈ + 2ṙφ̇) φ̂

we get an equation of motion for each component, i.e.

m(r̈ − rφ̇2 ) r̂ = mΩ2 rr̂ + 2mΩrφ̇r̂

m(rφ̈ + 2ṙφ̇) φ̂ = −2mΩṙφ̂

Canceling the m’s and dropping the (redundant) unit vectors we get

r̈ − rφ̇2 − Ω2 r − 2Ωrφ̇ = 0 & rφ̈ + 2ṙφ̇ + 2Ωṙ = 0

We can validate these equations of motion with a simple case. Suppose that the puck is placed on the
disk such that it is at rest in the external inertial frame. The lack of real forces will make it stay at rest
in that frame. In the non-inertial rotating frame, that “stay at rest” will look like the puck has constant
r but φ̇ = −Ω. We see that putting φ̇ = −Ω in the EOM for r gives

0 = r̈ − rΩ2 − Ω2 r + 2Ω2 r

So r̈ = 0 as expected. In the same situation, we should see that φ̈ = 0. Plugging ṙ = 0 into the φ
equation of motion confirms that.
In the second part, we need to sketch the motion for a particular set of initial conditions, namely
~r(t = 0) = 21 Rr̂ and ~r˙ = −v0 r̂. We can plug that into the forces above to see what will happen.

R
F~ (t = 0) = mΩ2 ( )r̂ + 2mΩv0 φ̂
2
That means that the puck is pushed outward along r̂ by the centrifugal force, making its radial velocity
reduce. It is also pushed in the φ̂ direction by the coriolis force. (That is to the right wrt to its initial
motion.) As time progresses, it gains a velocity in the φ̂ direction. That non-zero φ̇ makes the second
coriolis force term contribute with 2mΩrφ̇r̂ that adds to the radially outward push of the centrifugal
force. The motion is thus as drawn below on the left.

The motion as viewed from an external inertial observer is, of course, a straight line since there are
no real forces acting on the puck. However, if the puck’s initial velocity is radially inward as viewed
in the disk’s rotating coordinate system, then the external observer will see the initial velocity to have
a component perpendicual to r̂ that is equal to ΩR/2 coming from the rotation of the disk. The puck
is then observed to slide with that constant velocity as shown above at right.