UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL

School of Mathematics

MECHANICS 2
MATH21900
(Paper code MATH-21900)

May/June 2023 2 hours 30 minutes

This paper contains FOUR questions, each worth 25 marks.

All FOUR answers will be used for assessment.

Calculators are not permitted in this examination.

Candidates may bring four sheets of A4 notes written double-sided into the examination.
Candidates must insert these into their answer booklet(s) for collection at the end of the
examination.

On this examination, the marking scheme is indicative and is intended only as a guide to the
relative weighting of the questions.

Do not turn over until instructed.

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Cont... Mechanics-2

1. (a) A function y(x), satisfying the boundary conditions y(x1 ) = y1 , y(x2 ) = y2 renders
stationary the quantity Z x2
K= f (y(x), y 0 (x), x)dx.
x1

i. (1 marks) Write down the Euler-Lagrange equation satisfied by y(x).

ii. (5 marks) Suppose that f does not depend explicitly on x, i.e. f = f (y, y 0 ).
Show that the Euler-Lagrange equation implies that
∂f 0
f− y = const.
∂y 0

(b) Two rings with radius r are located at points x = a and x = −a on the x-axis. The
rings are parallel to the y-z-plane. They are connected by a soap film, as sketched in
the figure below.

The film has a rotationally symmetric shape, and its distance from the x-axis is given
by ρ(x). You may take as given that the area, A, of the soap film is given by the
functional
Z a p
A = 2π ρ(x) 1 + ρ0 (x)2 dx.
−a

The precise form of the soap film, i.e., the function ρ(x), is chosen such that the area
becomes minimal. Our goal is to find this ρ(x).
i. (5 marks) Show that the desired function ρ(x) satisfies the equation

ρ0 (x)2 = c2 ρ(x)2 − 1, (1)

with some constant c.

ii. (4 marks) Check that equation (1) is satisfied by
1
ρ(x) = cosh(c(x − b)),
c
where b is another constant.

Continued...
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 Cont... Mechanics-2
iii. (3 marks) Show that for the problem at hand b must be zero and c is determined
by
cosh ca = cr.
(c) (7 marks) Consider the functional
Z 1
B= (y 0 (x)2 + y(x)2 )dx,
0

where y(x) satisfies boundary conditions y(0) = 0, y(1) = 1. Let y∗ (x) be the solution
to the Euler-Lagrange equation for B with these boundary conditions. Show that
y∗ (x) corresponds to a minimum of the functional B.

Continued...

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 Cont... Mechanics-2

2. A particle of mass m1 = 3m is connected to a fixed point by a massless spring of natural

length l and spring constant k. A second particle of mass m2 = 2m is connected to the
first particle by an identical spring. The masses move along a vertical line such that mass
mi is a distance qi (t) below the fixed point with q2 > q1 > 0. Gravity acts downwards with
constant acceleration due to gravity g.

q1 k q2

3m g

2m

(a) (5 marks) Determine the Lagrangian of the system.

(b) (5 marks) Show that in equilibrium the particle positions are given by q1 = l+5mg/k
and q2 = 2l + 7mg/k.
(c) (5 marks) Now consider the behaviour near equilibrium by setting q1 (t) = l+5mg/k+
δq1 (t) and q2 (t) = 2l + 7mg/k + δq2 (t). Show that in terms of δq1 , δq2 the Lagrangian
takes the form
1 1
L = δ q̇ · M δ q̇ − δq · Kδq + const.
2 2
where δq = (δq1 , δq2 ) and M, K are constant symmetric matrices given by
   
3m 0 2k −k
M= , K= .
0 2m −k k

(d) (8 marks) Determine the normal frequencies and normal modes describing small
oscillations near equilibrium.
(e) (2 marks) Sketch the motion of the particles corresponding to each normal mode.

Continued...

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 Cont... Mechanics-2

3. The question consists of two independent parts.

(a) (6 marks) Consider a rigid body consisting of N particles in three dimensions that
is rotated aboutPan axis through the origin with angular velocity ω and angular
momentum l = N i=1 mi r i × ṙ i . Let I be the inertia tensor such that l = Iω. Show
that the kinetic energy T of the rigid body is given by
1
T = ω · Iω.
2

(b) This part of the question concerns the dynamics of a spinning object known as a
Lagrange top. You are given that the Lagrangian of this system can be written in
terms of generalised coordinates (θ, φ, ψ) as
1 1
L = I1 (θ̇2 + sin2 θφ̇2 ) + I3 (ψ̇ + cos θφ̇)2 − M gl cos θ,
2 2
where M, l are the mass and length of the top, g is the acceleration due to gravity,
and I1 , I3 are moments of inertia of the top that are left as arbitrary constants which
depend on the shape of the top.
i. (5 marks) Compute the generalised momenta pθ , pφ , pψ and the generalised en-
ergy h.
ii. (2 marks) State which (if any) of the quantities pθ , pφ , pψ , h are conserved.
iii. (6 marks) Show that the generalised energy of the system can be written as
1 2
I1 θ̇ + Ueff (θ),
2
where the effective potential Ueff (θ) takes the form

(c1 − cos θc2 )2

Ueff (θ) = + c3 + M gl cos θ,
2I1 sin2 θ
where c1 , c2 , c3 are constants.
iv. (6 marks) Show that for the special case of c1 = c2 = c then θ = 0 is a stationary
point of Ueff (θ). Further show that if c is sufficiently large then θ = 0 corresponds
to a minimum of Ueff (θ) and compute the frequency of small oscillations of θ(t)
about θ = 0.

Continued...

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 Cont... Mechanics-2
This question consists of three independent parts.

4. (a) Consider a system described by the Lagrangian

1
L = (q˙1 2 + 3q˙2 2 + 4q˙1 q˙2 ) − U (q1 , q2 ).
2
i. (4 marks) Compute the Hamiltonian of the system.
ii. (2 marks) Compute Hamilton’s equations for the system.
(b) Consider a system with one generalised coordinate q and one generalised momentum
p.
i. (1 marks) Define the Poisson bracket {F, G} of two phase space functions F (q, p)
and G(q, p).
ii. (2 marks) State the conditions for a transformation of coordinates from q, p to
Q(q, p), P (q, p) to be canonical.
iii. (6 marks) Determine whether the following transformations are canonical
Q2 P
A. q = 2
, p= Q
,
B. q = tan(Q), p = P cos(Q),
√ √
C. q = 2Qeα cos(P ), p = 2Qe−α sin(P ),
where α is an arbitrary real constant.
(c) i. (3 marks) Consider a system with d generalised coordinates collected into a
vector q = (q1 , . . . , qd ) and a one-parameter map q → Q(q, s), where s ∈ R and
Q(q, 0) = q. State the condition for q → Q(q, s) to be a continuous symmetry
of the Lagrangian, and state Noether’s theorem.
ii. (7 marks) Consider a particle of mass m = 1 in three dimensions described in
Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) by a Lagrangian
1
L = (ẋ2 + ẏ 2 + ż 2 ) − U (x + y, x + z),
2
i.e. the potential U is a function of two variables x + y and x + z. Identify a con-
tinuous symmetry of this Lagrangian and construct the corresponding conserved
quantity. Use Lagrange’s equations to explicitly verify that the quantity you have
constructed is independent of t for trajectories of the system.

End of examination.

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