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Lesson 1 - Normal and Tangential Components

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Noel Himolatan Bolair Jr.
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6 views

Lesson 1 - Normal and Tangential Components

Uploaded by

Noel Himolatan Bolair Jr.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MODULE 3(cont.

):
CURVILINEAR MOTION
OF PARTICLES
NORMAL AND TANGENTIAL
COMPONENTS
NORMAL AND TANGENTIAL COMPONENTS

• When the path along which a particle travels is 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛, then it is often convenient to describe the
motion using 𝑛 and 𝑡 coordinate axes which act normal and tangent to the path, respectively, and at
that instant, considered to have their 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒.

• Planar Motion. Consider the particle


shown in Fig. a, which moves in a plane
along a fixed curve, such that at a given
instant it is at position 𝑠, measured from
point 𝑂.

• We will now consider a coordinate system that has its origin at a fixed
point on the curve, and at the instant considered this origin happens to
coincide with the location of the particle.

• The 𝑡 axis is 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡 to the curve at the point and is positive in the
direction of 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠. We will designate this positive direction with the
unit vector u𝑡
NORMAL AND TANGENTIAL COMPONENTS

• A unique choice for the 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠 can be made by noting that geometrically the curve is constructed
from a series of differential arc segments 𝑑𝑠, Fig. b.
• Each segment 𝑑𝑠 is formed from the arc of an associated circle having a
radius of curvature 𝜌 (rho) and center of curvature 𝑂.

• The 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠 𝑛 is perpendicular to the 𝑡 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠 with its positive sense
directed toward the center of curvature 𝑂, Fig. a.

• This positive direction, which is always on the


concave side of the curve, will be designated by
the unit vector u𝑛

• The plane which contains the 𝑛 and 𝑡 axes is referred to as the embracing or
𝑜𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒, and in this case, it is fixed in the plane of motion.
NORMAL AND TANGENTIAL COMPONENTS

• Velocity. Since the


particle moves, 𝑠 as a
function of time, the
particles velocity v has a
𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 that is always
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ , Fig.
c,

• and a 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 that is determined by taking the time derivative of the


path function 𝑠 = 𝑠(𝑡), i.e., 𝑣 = 𝑑𝑠/𝑑𝑡. Hence,

v = 𝑣u𝑡
• Where,
𝑣 = 𝑠ሶ
NORMAL AND TANGENTIAL COMPONENTS

• Acceleration. The acceleration of the particle is the time rate of change of the velocity. Thus,

a = 𝐯ሶ = 𝐯u
ሶ 𝑡 + 𝑣 𝐮ሶ 𝑡

• In order to determine the time • As shown in Fig. e, we require


derivative 𝐮ሶ 𝑡, note that as the 𝐮ሶ 𝑡 = u𝑡 + 𝑑u𝑡. Here 𝑑u𝑡 stretches
particle moves along the arc 𝑑𝑠 in between the arrowheads of u𝑡
time 𝑑𝑡, u𝑡 preserves its and u𝑡, which lie on an
magnitude of unity; however, its infinitesimal arc of radius u𝑡 = 1.
𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 changes, and becomes
𝐮ሶ 𝑡, Fig. d.
• Hence, 𝑑u𝑡 has a magnitude of
𝑑u𝑡 = (1) 𝑑𝜃, and its direction is
defined by un

• Consequently, 𝑑 u 𝑡 = 𝑑𝜃 u n , and therefore the time


ሶ n.
derivative becomes 𝐮ሶ 𝑡 = 𝜃u
NORMAL AND TANGENTIAL COMPONENTS

• Since 𝑑𝑠 = 𝜌𝑑𝜃, Fig. d, then 𝜃 = 𝑠/𝜌, and therefore

ሶ n = 𝑠ሶ un = 𝑣 un
𝐮ሶ 𝑡 =𝜃u 𝜌 𝜌

• Substituting into a = 𝐯u
ሶ 𝑡 + 𝑣𝐮ሶ 𝑡, a can be written as the sum of the components,

a = 𝑎𝑡u𝑡 + 𝑎𝑛u𝑛
• Where,
𝑎𝑡 = 𝒗ሶ or 𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑠 = 𝑣 𝑑𝑣

• And
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑣2/𝜌
NORMAL AND TANGENTIAL COMPONENTS

• These two mutually perpendicular components are shown in Fig. f.

• Therefore, the magnitude of acceleration is the positive value of

𝑎= 𝑎𝑡2 + 𝑎𝑛2
NORMAL AND TANGENTIAL COMPONENTS

• To better understand these results, consider the following two special cases of motion.

1. If the particle moves along a straight line, then 𝜌 → ∞ and from 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑣2/𝜌, 𝑎𝑛 = 0. Thus 𝑎 = 𝑎𝑡 = 𝒗,ሶ
and we can conclude 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 represents the
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦.

2. If the particle moves along a curve with a constant speed, then 𝑎𝑡 = 𝒗ሶ = 0, and 𝑎 = 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑣2/𝜌.
Therefore, the 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 represents the
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦. Since 𝑎𝑛 always acts towards the center of
curvature, this component is sometimes referred to as the 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑙 (or center seeking)
𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
NORMAL AND TANGENTIAL COMPONENTS

• As a result of these interpretations, a particle moving along the curved path will have accelerations
directed as shown in the figure.

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