Lecture 11 Dynamics of Rigid Bodies

We now consider the motion of rigid bodies, extended objects whose sizes and shapes are fixed. The
assumption of rigidity is equivalent to assuming that the elastic moduli (resistance to elastic
deformations are infinite. The motion of rigid bodies can be decomposed into that of their centers of
mass and rotations about this point, which are characterized by ! angles in ! dimensions (such as the
"uler angles.
Inertia tensor
We distinguish between the position of particles in a fixed (inertial coordinate system and a system
rotating about a fixed point in the rigid body (the body or rotating system. #f r
$
is the position of
particle $ with respect to the fixed point P, the velocity of the particle in the fixed coordinate system is%
where V is the velocity of the fixed point and is the rotation vector about an axis parallel to that
passes through P. The &inetic energy can be expressed in terms of this velocity%
The position of the center of mass is%
where M is the total mass. #f P is chosen to be the center of mass, the middle term in the above
expression vanishes and the &inetic energy can be decomposed into translation and rotational
components%
'sing the vector identity%
the rotational &inetic energy can be rewritten as%
We define the summation over $ as the inertia tensor%
yielding%
#n the limit that is an eigenvector of I, this reduces to our traditional expression for the &inetic energy
in terms of the momenta of inertia and angular rotation. The inertia tensor is symmetric( its diagonal
elements I
ii
are called the moments of inertia while the negative of its off)diagonal elements )I
ij
are
called the products of inertia. *or a continuous body, the inertia tensor is given by%
Example: inertia tensor of a uniform cube about a corner
#f we have a cube of density , side b, and mass M =b
3
, the above equation yields%
This gives us the desired inertia tensor.
ngular momentum
The angular momentum about a point P in the body coordinate system is%
where in the last equation we have made use of the vector identity%
Two convenient choices for this point are a point that is fixed in the inertial frame or the center of mass.
#f we expand the above expression for L in index notation, we can show%
This shows that the angular momentum L and rotation will not be parallel unless is an eigenvector
of I. We will explore this possibility in later examples. This definition of L also shows that%
Example: fre!uency of pendulum "it# $ masses
+et,s consider a pendulum of length b with a bob of mass m
1
suspended at its end and a second mass m
2
suspended halfway down its length. What is the frequency of small oscillations-
+et,s use +agrangian methods. To construct the +agrangian, we first must find the &inetic and potential
energies. To find the &inetic energy, we need to find the inertia tensor. We define this tensor about the
pivot point P of the pendulum, using a .artesian basis with the x direction to the right and the y
direction being vertical. *rom the expression above, this tensor is%
#f rotations are restricted to the z direction%
the &inetic energy is%
The potential energy is%
The +agrange equation is therefore%
*or small oscillations sin / /, the frequency of oscillations is therefore%
%rincipal axes of inertia
"xpressions involving the inertia tensor are greatly simplified when a fixed point P and axes are chosen
such that the inertia tensor is diagonalized. These axes are &nown as the principal axes of inertia. #f
the inertia tensor is diagonal%
implying that a rotation about one of the principal axes will lead to L 00 . *inding the principal axes of
inertia is thus equivalent to finding the eigenvectors of I. The three eigenvalues I
1
, I
2
, and I
3

corresponding to these eigenvectors are &nown as the principal moments of inertia. 1ince the inertia
tensor is 2ermitian, it has three orthogonal eigenvectors with real eigenvalues. 3n inertia tensor with
three degenerate eigenvalues (I
1
= I
2
= I
3
is &nown as a sperical top, if two eigenvalues are
degenerate (I
1
= I
2
! I
3
it is called a symmetric top, and if all three eigenvalues are distinct (I
1
! I
2
! I
3

it is called an asymmetric top. 1ymmetric tops with (I
1
" I
3
are prolate (li&e a football while those
with (I
1
# I
3
are oblate (li&e a frisbee.
Example: find t#e principal moments of inertia and principle axes of a cube about its corner
"arlier in this lecture, we calculated the inertia tensor of a cube about one corner and found%
The principal moments of inertia are the eigenvalues 4 of this tensor, which can be found solving the
equation%
We see that the cube is an oblate symmetric top. The minor axis is in the direction of the eigenvector
corresponding to the eigenvalue 4 5 Mb
2
$6%
i.e. along the cube,s diagonal, while the other two principal axes of inertia span the plane perpendicular
to this vector, for example%
#n this basis, the inertia tensor becomes%
&teiner's parallel(axis t#eorem:
#f we change the fixed point in the body system from r to R 5 r 7 a without rotating the axes, the
inertia tensor becomes%
2owever, if the inertia tensor I was defined about the body,s center of mass, the !
rd
term on the right)
hand side vanishes. This implies that if we &now the inertia tensor ) about any point, we can find the
inertia tensor I about the center of mass%
where a is the vector pointing from the center of mass to the point about which ) is defined.
Example: find t#e inertia tensor about a cube's center of mass
"arlier, we found the inertia tensor ) about a corner of the cube. The vector from the center of mass to
the corner is%
#nserting these expressions into the right)hand side of 1teiner,s parallel)axis theorem yields%
We see that a cube is a spherical top about its center of mass( the principal moments of inertia are
Mb
2
$% about any axis and any choice of orthogonal axes can serve as principal axes. The inertia tensor
about the center of mass contains insufficient information to distinguish spheres from cubes.
*ransformation properties of t#e inertia tensor:
We have shown that the inertia tensor relates the angular momentum and angular velocity vectors%
8equiring L and are to transform as vectors under rotations fixes the transformation properties of the
inertia tensor. #f vectors transform under rotations + li&e%
then%
#f we matrix multiply both sides of the above equation by + on the left%
where in the 9
nd
equation we have made use of the fact that rotation matrices are unitary%
and we have defined%
#n much simpler matrix notation%
implying%
This is how ran&)9 tensors transform, so we have shown that the inertia tensor is in fact a tensor. This
equation should loo& familiar from your linear algebra class. 1ince I is a real, symmetric matrix, we
can always find a matrix +
t
of orthonormal eigenvectors that that diagonalizes I'. The diagonal
elements of the matrix I' are the principal moments of inertia of the inertia tensor I.
Example: diagonali,ing t#e inertia tensor for a cube "it# origin at its corner
We showed in a previous example that the inertia tensor of a cube of uniform density with origin at its
corner has three orthogonal principal axes, with the non)degenerate axis along the cube,s diagonal. We
can rotate explicitly into a basis with x
1
along this diagonal. 8otating about an axis perpendicular to the
plane spanned by the x
1
and x&
1
axes is accomplished by the matrix%
We can place the x&
1
axis along the diagonal by first rotating by :; degrees about the x
1
axis, then
rotating by cos
)<
(9=!
<=9
about the new x&
2
axis. These rotations are accomplished by the combined
rotation matrix%
When we use this matrix to calculate I' according to the above transformation formula, we indeed find%
Eulerian angles
#n the general case, the axes in the inertial coordinate system x' will not be aligned with those in the
body coordinate system x. #n three dimensions, we need three angles to fully specify a rotation to
transform from the inertial to body coordinate systems. 3lthough there is no unique choice of these
three angles, the "ulerian angles first defined by +eonhard "uler in <>>6 are often a convenient choice.
The first of the three rotations is by an angle ? about the x
<
, axis%
The second rotation is by an angle / about the new x
<
,, axis, called the line of nodes%
The third and final rotation is by an angle @ about the new x
!
,,, axis%
The application in succession of these three rotations yields a total rotation given by the matrix%
Aecause infinitesimal rotations commute, angular velocities can be expressed as vectors including
rotations described by the "ulerian angles%
#t will be useful to express this rotation in the x (body coordinate system%
Euler's e!uation for a rigid body
+et us begin by considering force)free motion, in which case we can boost to a frame in which the
center of mass is at rest (no translation &inetic energy. #n this case%
where the body axes have been chosen to be the principal axes. We can choose the three "ulerian
angles as our generalized coordinates, in which case the +agrange equation associated with @ is%
'sing the above expressions for and ', we find%
2owever, our decision to label a particular principal axis x
!
was entirely arbitrary, so we can permute
this equation to find similar equations for the remaining two components of the angular velocity%
These are the "uler equations for force free motion of an asymmetric top. #f the rigid body experiences
a torque - in the inertial (fixed frame, its angular momentum will evolve according to the equation%
The component of this equation in the x
!
direction is%
We can again permute the indices to yield the remaining two equations for the evolution of the angular
velocity due to an external torque%
Example: barbell
.onsider a barbell consisting of two masses m$2 connected by a rigid massless rod of length 9b. What
is the inertia tensor of this body, what is its angular momentum if it is rotating about a fixed axis
through its center of mass inclined at an angle $ with respect to its length, and what torque is required
to maintain this rotation-
The principal axes of this body are clearly along the rod and in the plane perpendicular to the rod. #f
we choose the x
!
direction to be along the rod and the x
2
direction to be in the plane spanned by the rod
and , we find%
The angular velocity is%
The angular momentum is therefore%
3ccording the the "uler equations for an asymmetric top, the torque required to maintain this angular
momentum is%
.orce(free motion of a symmetric top
3 symmetric top has I
1
= I
2
( according to the above "uler equations B
!
is constant and%
#f we differentiate the first equation with respect to time and substitute the second equation, we find%
We should all &now the solution to this equation by now%
We see that the vector precesses in a cone about the principal axis e
!
with nondegenerate eigenvalue
with opening angle
and precession frequency C. This precession cone is called the body cone. Aecause this is force)free
motion, both the angular momentum L and rotational &inetic energy
are constants, implying that in the inertial frame the angular velocity precesses about + on what is
called the space cone. 1ince
we &now that L, , and e
!
all lie in a plane. The motion in the inertial frame can therefore be described
as the space and body cones rolling on one another.
#f we define the x
3
& axis to point in the direction of L and the x
2
axis to lie in the plane spanned by L
and , we have in the body frame%
#f $ is the angle between and the x
3
axis, then
The angular momentum can also be written as L 5 I / , in components%
These relation imply%
#f our symmetric top is prolate (I
1
= I
2
# I
3
, this implies that $ D / and 0 and have opposite signs.
.onversely, an oblate top (I
1
= I
2
" I
3
has $ E / and 0 and have the same signs%
1otion of a symmetric top 2I
1
= I
2
I
3
3 "it# one point fixed
"xpressed in terms of the "uler angles ?, /, and @, the +agrangian for this system is
We can define conjugate momenta
1ince ( is independent of ? and @, both of these momenta are conserved. They are in fact the angular
momenta about the x
3
& and x
3
axes respectively( conservation of these angular momenta is consistent
with the torque r x ()mg being directed along the line of nodes. 1ince the system is conservative, the
energy
is conserved, as is the quantity
where we have expressed d?=dt in terms of the momenta in the last equation. We can define an
effective potential
in terms of which
This first)order ordinary differential equation can be solved to yield
from which differential equations for ?(t and @(t can be obtained from the expression for the
conserved conjugate momenta. We plot the effective potential below%
The functional form of the effective potential implies that it will have a minimum at some value /
F
only
if
#f at d/=dt 5 F at / 5 /
F
, the top will precess in a cone with fixed opening angle about x
3
&. #n the more
general case, / will undergo nutation between the turning points. The precession d?=dt may change
sign during the motion depending on the values of p
)
and p
*
.
&tability of rigid body rotation
+et us consider a fully asymmetric top (I
1
" I
2
" I
3
that is rotating about an axis that is nearly equal to
the principal axis e
<
%
where 4, G DD B
<
. #f we linearize the "uler equations in these perturbations, we find B
<
is constant and%
Hifferentiating the first of these equations and inserting dG=dt from the second yields%
Iur favorite simple harmonic oscillator stri&es againJ The solutions are%
where
1ince I
1
" I
3
and I
1
" I
2
, the argument of the square root is positive, the frequency C
<
is real, and small
perturbations oscillate but do not grow in time. Kermuting indices, we find%
and
We see therefore that C
!
is also real, but that C
9
is imaginary and therefore rotations about the principal
axis with intermediate principal moment of inertia are unstable. #f two of the principal moments are
equal, the frequencies about those axes vanish and perturbations are linearly unstable. Kerturbations
about the nondegenerate axis are stable.