School of Engineering and Architecture

Civil Engineering Department

School Year 2020-2021

Energy and
Momentum
Lecture 5 – Dynamics of Rigid Bodies
Week 15-17

Objective At the end of this module, the student must know the principles of
forces and accelerations in the plane motion of a rigid body as well
as be able to apply it in solving problems theoretically.

Content In this module, the following will be discussed:

• Principle of Work and Energy for Rigid Body
• Conservation of Energy
• Principle of Impulse and Momentum
• Conservation of Momentum
• Impact

Activities Within this module, students will perform graded activities.

Quiz, class discussions, problem set computations, and recitations
are to be expected.

References L.G. Kraige and J.L. Meriam, (2012). Engineering Mechanics

Volume 2 Dynamics 7th Edition. Massachusetts, USA: John Wiley
& Sons, Inc.

R.C. Hibbeler, (2010). Engineering Mechanics Statics & Dynamics

Twelfth Edition. New Jersey, USA: Pearson Prentice Hall

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Dynamics of Rigid Bodies School of Engineering

Lecture 5 and Architecture

Civil Engineering Department
School Year 2020-2021

I. PRINCIPLE OF WORK AND ENERGY FOR RIGID BODY

Work of a Force. Force F will do work on a particle only when the particle undergoes a displacement in
the direction of the force.
U = Fd

Energy. Energy is defined as the capacity for doing work.

 Gravitational Potential Energy. If a particle is located at a distance above a reference

line, the particle’s weight, W has positive gravitational potential energy. Likewise, if the
particle is located at a distance below the reference line, gravitational potential energy is
negative.
GPE = mgh

 Kinetic Energy. Is the work that must be done on the particle to bring it from a state of
rest to a speed v.
KE = (1/2) mv2

 Elastic Potential Energy. When an elastic spring is elongated or compressed at a

distance s from its un-stretched position, elastic potential energy, Ve can be stored in the
spring.

EPE = Ve = (1/2) ks2

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Dynamics of Rigid Bodies School of Engineering

Lecture 5 and Architecture

Civil Engineering Department
School Year 2020-2021

II. CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

Conservation of Energy states that during the motion the sum
of the particle’s kinetic and potential energies remains
constant. For this to occur, kinetic energy must be
transformed into potential energy, and vice versa.

∑ 𝑈𝑈𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 = ∑ 𝐶𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸

∑ 𝑈𝑈𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 = ∆𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 + ∆𝐾𝐾𝐾𝐾 + ∆𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸

 Change in Gravitational Potential Energy:

∆𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚(ℎ𝑓𝑓 − ℎ𝑖𝑖)

 Change in Kinetic Energy:

1
∆𝐾𝐾𝐾𝐾 = 𝑚𝑚(𝑣𝑣𝑓𝑓2 − 𝑣𝑣𝑖𝑖2)
2

 Change in Elastic Potential Energy:

1 1
∆𝐾𝐾𝐾𝐾 = 𝑘𝑘(𝑥𝑥𝑓𝑓2 − 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖2) = 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘2
2 2

Note: The force that the spring exerts when

it is compressed or elongated is equal to,

𝐹𝐹𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
Where:
FSP = Force from the spring
k = spring constant
s = change in length of the spring

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 Dynamics of Rigid Bodies School of Engineering

Lecture 5 and Architecture

Civil Engineering Department
School Year 2020-2021

III. PRINCIPLE OF IMPULSE AD MOMENTUM

Impulse. Is the integral of a force, F, over the time interval, t, for which it acts.

I = Ft
Momentum. Product of the mass of a particle and its velocity. Isaac Newton’s second law of motion
states that the time rate of change of momentum is equal to the force acting on the particle.

M = mv
To derive, use the formula from Newton’s Second Law of Motion:
F = ma
Remember:
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑎𝑎 =
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
Therefore:
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝐹𝐹 = 𝑚𝑚
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝑡𝑡𝑓𝑓 𝑣𝑣𝑓𝑓
∫ 𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 = ∫ 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 𝑣𝑣𝑖𝑖

𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑓𝑓 − 𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖) = 𝑚𝑚(𝑣𝑣𝑓𝑓 − 𝑣𝑣𝑖𝑖)

∆ 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 = ∆ 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀

IV. CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM

States that the momentum before impact is equal to the momentum after impact.

𝑚𝑚𝐴𝐴𝑣𝑣𝐴𝐴 + 𝑚𝑚𝐵𝐵𝑣𝑣𝐵𝐵 + ⋯ = 𝑚𝑚𝐴𝐴𝑣𝑣′𝐴𝐴 + 𝑚𝑚𝐵𝐵𝑣𝑣′𝐵𝐵 + ⋯

Where:

mA and mB = mass of the objects

vA and vB = velocity of each object before the impact
v’A and v’B = velocity of each object after the impact

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Dynamics of Rigid Bodies School of Engineering

Lecture 5 and Architecture

Civil Engineering Department
School Year 2020-2021

V. IMPACT
Impact occurs when two bodies collide with each other during a very short period of time, causing
relatively large (impulsive) forces to be exerted between the bodies. The striking of a hammer on a nail,
or a golf club on a ball, are common examples of impact loadings.

In general, there are two types of impact. Central impact occurs

when the direction of motion of the mass centers of the two
colliding particles is along a line passing through the mass
centers of the particles. This line is called the line of impact,
which is perpendicular to the plane of contact. When the motion
of one or both of the particles make an angle with the line of
impact, the impact is said to be oblique impact.

Restitution is understood to be the amount of respective kinetic

energy lost in collision between two moving objects.

Central Impact:

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Dynamics of Rigid Bodies School of Engineering

Lecture 5 and Architecture

Civil Engineering Department
School Year 2020-2021

The ratio of the restitution impulse to the deformation impulse is called the coefficient of restitution, e.
𝑣𝑣′𝐴𝐴 − 𝑣𝑣′ 𝐵𝐵
𝑒𝑒 =
𝑣𝑣𝐴𝐴 − 𝑣𝑣𝐵𝐵

In general, e has a value between zero and one, and one should be aware of the physical meaning of
these two limits.

 Elastic Impact. (e = 1) If the collision between the two particles is perfectly elastic, the
deformation impulse is equal and opposite to the restitution impulse Although in reality
this can never be achieved, e = 1 for an elastic collision.

 Plastic Impact (e = 0). The impact is said to be inelastic or plastic when e = 0. In this
case there is no restitution impulse so that after collision both particles couple or stick
together and move with a common velocity.
From the above derivation it should be evident that the principle of work and energy cannot be used for
the analysis of impact problems since it is not possible to know how the internal forces of deformation
and restitution vary or displace during the collision.
By knowing the particle’s velocities before and after collision, however, the energy loss during collision
can be calculated on the basis of the difference in the particle’s kinetic energy.

This energy loss occurs because some of the initial kinetic energy of the particle is transformed into
thermal energy as well as creating sound and localized deformation of the material when the collision
occurs. In particular, if the impact is perfectly elastic, no energy is lost in the collision; whereas if the
collision is plastic, the energy lost during collision is at maximum.

Oblique Impact.
When oblique impact
occurs between two
smooth particles, the
particles move away
from each other with
velocities having
unknown directions

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Dynamics of Rigid Bodies School of Engineering

Lecture 5 and Architecture

Civil Engineering Department
School Year 2020-2021

as well as unknown magnitudes.

Notes:
 Momentum of the system is conserved along the line of impact, x axis, so that:

∑ 𝑚𝑚(𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥)1 = ∑ 𝑚𝑚(𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥)2

 The coefficient of restitution,

(𝑣𝑣𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵)2 − (𝑣𝑣𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴)2
𝑒𝑒 =
(𝑣𝑣𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 )1 − (𝑣𝑣𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 )1

relates the relative-velocity components of the particles along the line of impact (x axis).

 If these two equations are solved simultaneously, we obtain (𝑣𝑣𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴)2 and (𝑣𝑣𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵)2.

 Momentum of particle A is conserved along the y axis, perpendicular to the line of impact, since
no impulse acts on particle A in this direction. As a result,

𝑚𝑚𝐴𝐴(𝑣𝑣𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴)1 = 𝑚𝑚𝐴𝐴(𝑣𝑣𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴)2 or (𝑣𝑣𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴)1 = (𝑣𝑣𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴)2

 Momentum of particle B is conserved along the y axis, perpendicular to the line of impact, since
no impulse acts on particle B in this direction. Consequently:

(𝑣𝑣𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵)1 = (𝑣𝑣𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵)2