AMME2500

MODULE 1 – DYNAMICS
OF POINT-MASS SYSTEMS
Lecture 1.1 Kinematics of Particles

Matthew Cleary
School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic
Engineering, University of Sydney
 Overview
• Kinematics of particles:
• Rectilinear Motion
• Basic techniques of computer-based problem solving
• Curvilinear motion

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 2

 What is “Engineering Dynamics”?
Mechanics:
the behavior of objects/bodies subjected to force and displacement

Statics:
the study of objects/bodies in a state of force equilibrium (no motion)

Dynamics:
When forces/torques are no longer balanced, objects/bodies move

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 3

 Kinematics
• Dynamics: the principles governing the state of motion or
rest of bodies under the influence of applied force and
torque
• Kinematics: the “geometry” of motion:
the relationships between position,
velocity, acceleration and rotation and
bodies joined by linkages and other
constraints
• Kinetics: the relationship between motion and it’s cause due to
force, torque, mass and inertia

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 4

 Rectilinear Motion: Position
• A particle travels along a straight line path defined by the
coordinate axis s.
• The position of the particle at any instant, relative to the
origin, O, is defined by the position vector 𝑟⃑ or 𝒓, or the
scalar s. Scalar s can be positive or negative.
• 𝑟⃑ and s have dimensions of length, with SI unit of metre (m).

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 5

 Rectilinear Motion: Position
• The displacement of the particle is defined as its change in
position.
• The total distance travelled by the particle, sT, is a positive
scalar that represents the total length of the path over which
the particle travels.

Vector form: D r = r’ - r Scalar form: D s = s’ - s

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 6

 Rectilinear Motion: Velocity
Velocity: rate of change in the position of a particle. It is a vector
quantity (it has both magnitude and direction). The magnitude of
the velocity is called speed, with units of m/s.

The average velocity of a particle

during a time interval Dt is:
vavg = Dr / Dt Speed is the magnitude of velocity:
The instantaneous velocity is the v = ds / dt = | v |
time-derivative of position (limit as ∆𝑡 → 0):
v = dr / dt
AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 7
 Rectilinear Motion: Velocity
Velocity: rate of change in the position of a particle. It is a vector
quantity (it has both magnitude and direction). The magnitude of
the velocity is called speed, with units of m/s.

Average speed is the total distance traveled divided by elapsed time:

(vsp)avg = sT / Dt

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 8

 Rectilinear Motion: Acceleration
Acceleration is the rate of change in the velocity of a particle. It is a
vector quantity. Units are m/s2.

The instantaneous acceleration is the

time derivative of velocity.

Vector form: a = dv / dt

Scalar form: a = dv / dt = d2s / dt2

Acceleration can be positive (speed

increasing) or negative (speed
decreasing).

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 9

 Example Problem 1.1.1
The position of a particle
is described by:
s(t) = 2t3 – 24t + 6

Find
(a) time required to reach
v = 72 m/s
(b) acceleration at v = 30
m/s
(c) net displacement from
t = 1 to t = 4s

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 10

 Example Problem 1.1.1
The position of a particle
is described by:
s(t) = 2t3 – 24t + 6
(a) v = ds/dt, v = 6t2 – 24 m/s
Find 72 = 6t2 – 24, t = ± 4 = 4 s
(a) time required to reach
v = 72 m/s (b) 30 = 6t2 – 24, t = 3 s
(b) acceleration at v = 30 a = dv/dt, a = 12t m/s2
m/s a(t=3s) = 36 m/s2
(c) net displacement from
t = 1 to t = 4s (c) Δs = s(t=4) – s(t=1)
= 38 – (-16) = 54 m

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 11

 Solving Position and Velocity using Integration
• Integrate acceleration for velocity and position

a = dv/dt v = ds/dt

Where so and vo represent the initial position and velocity of the particle
at t = 0.

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 12

 Solving Position and Velocity using Integration
• Integrate acceleration for velocity and position

dt = ds/v,
a = dv/dt v = ds/dt dt = dv/a,

Where so and vo represent the initial position and velocity of the particle
at t = 0.

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 13

 Solving Position and Velocity using Integration
• Integrate acceleration for velocity and position

dt = ds/v,
a = dv/dt v = ds/dt dt = dv/a,
v dv = a ds

Where so and vo represent the initial position and velocity of the particle
at t = 0.

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 14

 Solving Position and Velocity using Integration
• Integrate acceleration for velocity and position

dt = ds/v,
a = dv/dt v = ds/dt dt = dv/a,
v dv = a ds

Where so and vo represent the initial position and velocity of the particle
at t = 0.
Be careful, it may be necessary to separate variables, see Ex. 2.3
AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 15
 Example Problem 1.1.2
The velocity of a particle is described by:
v(t) = 3t2 + 2t

Find the position at t = 3 s.

Assume that the position at t = 0 is s = 0.

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 16

 Example Problem 1.1.3
• A boat is moving at 8 m/s when its engines are stopped.
If it takes 10 minutes for the boat to slow down to 4 m/s,
and the deceleration of the boat a = -kv2, where k is
constant, determine an equation for the velocity of the
boat as a function of time and the value of k

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 17

 Example Problem 1.1.4
• A metallic particle is subjected to the influence of a
magnetic field between A and B, such that its
acceleration is a = (4s) m/s2. If the particle is
released from rest at point A (s = 0.1 m), determine
the velocity of the particle when it reaches point B:

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 18

 Example Problem 1.1.4

Firstly, which integral relationship would be most useful to solve

this problem?

(A) (B) (C)

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 19

 Solving Position and Velocity using Integration
• General approach to solving problems:
1. Acceleration given as a function of time
2. Acceleration given as a function of position
3. Acceleration given as a function of velocity

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 20

 Solving Position and Velocity using Integration
• General approach to solving problems:
1. Acceleration given as a function of time
2. Acceleration given as a function of position
3. Acceleration given as a function of velocity

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 21

 Solving Position and Velocity using Integration
• General approach to solving problems:
1. Acceleration given as a function of time
2. Acceleration given as a function of position
3. Acceleration given as a function of velocity

Solve using separation of variables

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 22

 Constant Acceleration
The three kinematic equations can be integrated for the special case
when acceleration is constant (a = ac) to obtain very useful equations.
A common example of constant acceleration is gravity; i.e., a body
freely falling toward earth. In this case, ac = g = 9.81 m/s2 downward.
These equations are:

v t

ò dv = ò acdt
vo o
yields v = vo + ac t

s t

ò ds = ò v dt yields s = so + v o t + (1/2) ac t 2
so o
v s

ò v dv = ò acds v2 = (vo) + 2ac(s - so)

2
yields
vo so

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 23

 Computer-based problems
• As problems become more complicated, equations of
motion can become difficult to solve using analytical
methods
• Numerical methods are one way of approximating the
behaviour of systems in dynamics in this case
• Numerical methods are ways of approximating the
solution to ordinary and partial differential equations, such
as those encountered in the equations of motion of
dynamic systems
• In this course, we will use Python and you should have
installed it by now.

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 24

 Solving Dynamics Problems using Numerical Methods
• Consider a system with behaviour specified by:

• A first-order approximation of the derivative, using a finite

difference (here the forward time finite difference):

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 25

 Euler’s Method for Integration
• If we define a step size in time (dt), and a discrete
sequence of times t = t0, t0+dt, t0 + 2dt, t0 + 3dt, … we can
setup a recursive method for solving the value of y(t) at
any one of these time steps:

• As dt -> 0, the solution provided by this procedure

approaches the true value of y(t)
• This recursive procedure is easy to implement for
computer-based calculation

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 26

 Example 1.1.5
• Find the value of y(t) at t = 10.0, if y(t=0) = 3.0 and:

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 27

 Example 1.1.5
• Let’s look at Example 1_1_5.ipynb

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 28

 Solving Dynamics Problems using Numerical Methods
• The code is on Canvas at a jupyter notebook. Play around with
it. What happens if you increase dt to a large value ? Why?

• There are alternative numerical methods for solving differential

equations which are more accurate than Euler’s method (for
example Simpson’s rule or Runge Kutta methods) that use
higher-order finite difference approximations:
• Other courses (such as AMME2000) explore these methods in more
detail

• In AMME2500, we will concentrate mostly on the use of

numerical methods as a “tool” for solving more complex
equations of motion in dynamics

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 29

 break

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 30

 Tutorials and Week 1 Canvas Quiz
• Tutorials run from week 1 to week 13 inclusive

• Please only attend your allocated tutorial time, according

to your timetable

• During Week 1:
• The Canvas page contains a Quiz with a list of questions you will
need to complete by next Monday 9am (Week 2)
• During the tutorials, tutors will run through example problems and
work through the Quiz questions with students
• You are free to complete the Quiz during the tutorial or during your
own time

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 31

 Curvilinear Motion
A particle moving along a curved path undergoes curvilinear motion.

Vectors are used to describe the motion.

A particle moves along a curve

defined by the path function, s.

The position of the particle at any instant is designated by the vector

r = r(t). Both the magnitude and direction of r may vary with time.

If the particle moves a distance Ds along the

curve during time interval Dt, the
displacement is determined by vector
subtraction: D r = r’ - r

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 32

 Curvilinear Motion: Velocity
Velocity represents the rate of change in the position of
a particle.
The average velocity of the
particle during the time increment
Dt is vavg = Dr/Dt
The instantaneous velocity is the
time-derivative of position
v = dr/dt .
The velocity vector, v, is always
tangent to the path of motion.

The magnitude of v is called the speed. Since the arc

length Ds approaches the magnitude of Dr as Dt→0, the
speed can be obtained by differentiating the path function
(v = ds/dt). Note that this is not a vector!

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 33

 Curvilinear Motion: Acceleration
Acceleration represents the rate of change in
the velocity of a particle.

If a particle’s velocity changes from v to v’

over a time increment Dt, the average
acceleration during that increment is:
aavg = Dv/Dt = (v’ - v)/Dt
The instantaneous acceleration is the time-
derivative of velocity:
a = dv/dt = d2r/dt2

A plot of the locus of points defined by the

arrowhead of the velocity vector is called a
hodograph. The acceleration vector is tangent
to the hodograph, but not, in general, tangent
to the path function.

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 34

 Rectangular Coordinates
It is often convenient to describe the motion of a particle in
terms of its x, y, z or rectangular components, relative to a
fixed frame of reference.

The position of the particle can

be defined at any instant by the
position vector
r=xi+yj+zk
The x, y, z components may all
be functions of time, i.e.,
x = x(t), y = y(t), and z = z(t)

The magnitude of the position vector is: r = (x2 + y2 + z2)0.5

The direction of r is defined by the unit vector: ur = (1/r)r

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 35

 Rectangular Coordinates: Velocity
The velocity vector is the time derivative of the position vector:

v = dr/dt = d(xi)/dt + d(yj)/dt + d(zk)/dt

Since the unit vectors i, j, k are constant in magnitude and

direction, this equation reduces to v = vx i + vy j + vz k
• • •
where vx = x = dx/dt, vy = y = dy/dt, vz = z = dz/dt

The magnitude of the

velocity vector is
v = [(vx)2 + (vy)2 + (vz)2]0.5

The direction of v is tangent

to the path of motion.

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 36

 Rectangular Coordinates: Acceleration
The acceleration vector is the time derivative of the
velocity vector (second derivative of the position
vector):
a = dv/dt = d2r/dt2 = ax i + ay j + az k
where • = •• = dv /dt, a = • = •• = dv /dt,
ax = v x x x y vy y y

az = v• = ••
z = dvz /dt
z

The magnitude of the acceleration vector is: a = [(ax)2 + (ay)2 + (az)2 ]0.5

The direction of a is usually not

tangent to the path of the particle.

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 37

 Example 1.1.6
A cannonball is fired with initial
velocity v at an angle θ from the
horizon. Determine h and s
(maximum height and horizontal
distance).
Assume constant gravitational
acceleration (y-direction), neglecting
air resistance and neglecting
curvature and rotation of the Earth.

Hint: neglection of air resistance

means that motion in each
coordinate is uncoupled

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 38

 Next Lecture
• Kinematics of particles:
• Normal Tangent coordinates
• Polar coordinates
• Relative and constrained motion
• Kinetics of particles:
• Force, mass and acceleration: Newton’s laws of motion

• Suggested Reading (Mariam and Kraige):

• Section 2/8, 2/9, 3/1

AMME2500 Engineering Dynamics | 39