PHY: 102A Mechanics

Tutorial 6: Central forces

February 14, 2018

1 Turning points: Kleppner 9.5

A 2-kg mass on a frictionless table is attached to one end of a massless spring. The other end of the spring is held
by a frictionless pivot. The spring produces a force of magnitude 3r Newtons on the mass, where r is the distance
in meters from the pivot to the mass. The mass moves in a circle and has a total energy of 12 J.
(a) Find the radius of the orbit and the velocity of the mass.
(b) The mass is struck by a sudden sharp blow, giving it instantaneous velocity of 1 m/s radially outward. Show
the state of the system before and after the blow on an energy diagram.
(c) For the new, changed orbit, nd the maximum and minimum values of r.

2 rk potential (Morin: 7.4)

A particle of mass m moves in a potential given by V (r) = βrk . Let the angular momentum be L.
(a) Find the radius r0 of the possible circular orbit.
(b) If the particle is given a small kick so that the radius oscillates around r0 , nd the radius of the small
oscillations in r.
(c) Find the ratio of the frequency ωr to the frequency of the circular motion ωθ = θ̇. For what values of k does
the circular motion closes on itself? (recall the discussion in class regarding having stable orbits and the strange
coincidence for gravitational potentials.)

3 Equations and trajectories under central force:

(a) Write down the radial(r) equation of motion for a particle under central force. Use the conserved angular
momentum to get rid of any angular(φ) dependence.
(b) Dene a new variable u = 1/r and show that the radial equation can be cast as:
µ
u00 (φ) = −u(φ) − F (1)
L2 u(φ)
where µ is the eective (reduced) mass, L is the magnitude of the conserved angular momentum and F is the
magnitude of the central force.
(c) For a free particle, show that the resulting trajectory is a straight line.
(d) For forces in the form F = −β/r2 (gravitational, electrostatic) i.e. for potentials with V (r) = −β/r, show
that the resulting trajectory, for non-zero L is an ellipse.
(e) Find the trajectory for V (r) = βr2 .