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Lecture No. 13 - Applications of Hamilton's Equation

This document provides an overview of lecture 13 on "Applications of Hamilton's equations". It discusses two examples - a bead on a straight wire and Atwood's machine. For the bead on a wire, it derives the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations and compares the approaches. For Atwood's machine, it sets up the Hamiltonian formalism using the height of one mass as the generalized coordinate and derives the well-known acceleration result from the Hamiltonian equations. The document emphasizes that in the Hamiltonian approach, the key steps are to write down the Hamiltonian, express it as a function of position and momentum, and then use Hamilton's equations.

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16 views

Lecture No. 13 - Applications of Hamilton's Equation

This document provides an overview of lecture 13 on "Applications of Hamilton's equations". It discusses two examples - a bead on a straight wire and Atwood's machine. For the bead on a wire, it derives the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations and compares the approaches. For Atwood's machine, it sets up the Hamiltonian formalism using the height of one mass as the generalized coordinate and derives the well-known acceleration result from the Hamiltonian equations. The document emphasizes that in the Hamiltonian approach, the key steps are to write down the Hamiltonian, express it as a function of position and momentum, and then use Hamilton's equations.

Uploaded by

ghulamhasnaintariq
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Classical Mechanics-II (PHYS-3106)

Semester: Spring 2020

Lecture No. - 13
“Applications of Hamilton’s equations”

Instructor: Dr. GHULAM HASNAIN TARIQ


J. R. Taylor, “Classical Mechanics” Chapter. 13

T. L. Chow “Classical Mechanics”, CRC Press; 2nd Ed. Chapter 4.

G.R. Fowles & G.L. Cassiday “Analytical Mechanics” 7 th Ed. Chapter 10.

S. Thornton, J. Marion, “Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems” 5 th Ed. Chapter 7.

PROBLEM’S MANUAL:
https://www.slader.com/textbook/9781891389221-classical-mechanics/
“Applications of Hamilton’s equations”
1. A bead on a straight wire,
2. Atwood’s machine.
(Study time: 3-4 hours )
1. A bead on a straight wire;
Consider a bead sliding on a frictionless rigid straight wire lying along the x-axis, as
shown in Figure 13.1. The bead has mass m and is subject to a conservative force, with
corresponding potential energy U(x).
• Write down the Lagrangian and Lagrange's equation of motion.
• Find the Hamiltonian and Hamilton's equations, and compare the two approaches.
we take the Cartesian x as generalized coordinate q. The Lagrangian is then;

This is just the conventional mv momentum. This equation can be solved to give , which can
then be substituted into the Hamiltonian,
which is the total energy, with the kinetic term rewritten in terms of momentum as
p2/(2m). Finally, the two Hamilton equations (Lecture 12, equations 13.17) are;
2. Atwood’s machine.
Set up the Hamiltonian formalism for the Atwood
machine, shown as in Figure 13.2.
Use the height x of m1 measured downward as the one
generalized coordinate.

Figure 13.2: An Atwood machine consisting of two masses, m1and m2,


suspended by a massless inextensible string that passes over a massless,
frictionless pulley. Because the string's length is fixed, the position of the
whole system is specified by the distance x of m1 below any convenient
fixed level.
Because the string has fixed length, the heights x and y of the two masses cannot vary

independently. Rather, x+y+pR = l, the length of the string, so that y can be expressed in
terms of x as;
y = - x + constant
and =-

Here x is a generalized coordinate, the kinetic energy of the system is;

. . . . . . 13.19
= = -

(put values of T and U from 13.19)


= = -

(put values of T and U from 13.19)


= = -

(put values of T and U from 13.19)


when we combine these Hamiltonian equations, we get the well-known result for the
acceleration of the Atwood machine,

For Hamiltonian approach: (i) Always write the Hamiltonian H (just as in the Lagrangian
approach the first task is to write down L).
(ii) In the Hamiltonian approach there are usually a couple of extra steps, which are; to write
down the generalized momentum, to solve the resulting equation for the generalized velocity,
and to express H as a function of position and momentum.
Once this is done, one can use Hamilton's equations.

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