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    Application of The Calculus of Variation and Lagrange Equations

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    Yahya Faiez Waqqad
    The document discusses two problems involving Lagrange's equations. The first problem involves a block sliding on a wedge, and Lagrange's equations are used to find the accelerations of the wedge and block. The second problem involves a solid cylinder rolling inside a fixed cylinder, where Lagrange's equation is derived and used to find the period of small oscillations.

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    Application of The Calculus of Variation and Lagrange Equations

    Uploaded by

    Yahya Faiez Waqqad
    115 views4 pages
    The document discusses two problems involving Lagrange's equations. The first problem involves a block sliding on a wedge, and Lagrange's equations are used to find the accelerations of the wedge and block. The second problem involves a solid cylinder rolling inside a fixed cylinder, where Lagrange's equation is derived and used to find the period of small oscillations.

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    how to use calculus of variation in solving hard proplems

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    Application of the Calculus of Variation and Lagrange Equations

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    The document discusses two problems involving Lagrange's equations. The first problem involves a block sliding on a wedge, and Lagrange's equations are used to find the accelerations of the wedge and block. The second problem involves a solid cylinder rolling inside a fixed cylinder, where Lagrange's equation is derived and used to find the period of small oscillations.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    115 views4 pages

    Application of The Calculus of Variation and Lagrange Equations

    Uploaded by

    Yahya Faiez Waqqad
    The document discusses two problems involving Lagrange's equations. The first problem involves a block sliding on a wedge, and Lagrange's equations are used to find the accelerations of the wedge and block. The second problem involves a solid cylinder rolling inside a fixed cylinder, where Lagrange's equation is derived and used to find the period of small oscillations.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 4

    Application of the Calculus of Variation and Lagrange Equations

    1- Consider a block of mass m sliding on a smooth wedge of mass M and angle α


    which itself slides on a smooth horizontal floor, as shown in Figure 12.6. The
    whole motion

    Fig. 1The block slides on the smooth surface of the wedge which
    slides on a smooth horizontal floor.
    is planar. Find Lagrange’s equations for this system and deduce (i) the acceleration
    of the wedge, and (ii) the acceleration of the block relative to the wedge.
    Solution:
    This is a standard conservative system with two degrees of freedom. Take as generalized
    coordinates x, the displacement of the wedge from a fixed point on the floor, and y, the
    displacement of the block from a fixed point on the wedge. The calculation of the kinetic
    and potential energies in terms of x, y is performed in a direct manner and gives
    If we now perform the time derivatives in the above equations and solve
    for the unknowns ¨ x, ¨y we obtain

    which are the required accelerations. They are both constant.


    These results can of course be obtained by more elementary means. For instance, we
    could solve this problem by appealing to conservation of horizontal linear momentum
    and energy. However, the Lagrange method does have the advantage that less physical
    insight is needed to solve the problem. If the system is a standard one and T and V can be
    calculated, then turning the handle produces the equations of motion.

    2- Figure 12.7 shows a solid cylinder with center G and radius a rolling on the rough
    inside surface of a fixed cylinder with center O and radius b > a. Find the
    Lagrange equation of motion and deduce the period of small oscillations about the
    equilibrium position.

    Fig. 2The small solid cylinder rolls on the inside surface of the
    large fixed cylinder
    Solution
    If the cylinder were not obliged to roll, the system would have two degrees of freedom
    with generalized coordinates θ (the angle between OG and the downward vertical)
    and φ (the rotation angle of the cylinder measured from some reference position).
    The rolling condition imposes the kinematical constraint

    This constraint is integrable and is equivalent to the geometrical constraint


    on taking φ = 0 when θ = 0. Thus, the rolling cylinder is a standard conservative
    system with one degree of freedom.
    Take θ as the generalized coordinate. Then the kinetic energy is given by

    Interestingly, this equation is identical to the exact equation for the oscillations of a
    simple pendulum of length 3(b − a)/2 as obtained in Chapter 6.
    The linearized equation governing small oscillations of the cylinder about θ = 0
    is

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