ENGINEERING DYNAMICS

LECTURE 3

Ayaz Mahmood Khan

Plane Curvilinear Motion
 Motion of a particle along a curved path which lies in
a single plane
 If we let the plane of motion as x-y

plane then the coordinates z and

Φ are both zero and R becomes
the same as r
Plane Curvilinear Motion
 Consider Continuous Motion of particle along a plane curve
 At time t particle is at position A, which is located by Position vector r
measured from fixed origin O.
 If both the magnitude and direction of Position vector r are known at time t
then the position of particle is completely specified.
Plane Curvilinear Motion
 At time t+∆t the particle is at A’, located by position vector r+ ∆r. The
displacement of the particle during time ∆t is the vector ∆r which represents
the vector change of position and is clearly independent of the choice of
origin.
 The distance actually travelled by the particle as it moves from A to A’ is
the scalar length ∆s measured along its path so ∆s is the scalar distance
while ∆r is the vector displacement.
Note : If origin chosen was
at different location then
the position vector r would
be changed but ∆r would
remain the same
Velocity
 The average velocity of the particle between A and A’ is defined as
Vav = ∆r/ ∆t
 Vav is a vector whose direction is that of ∆r and magnitude is the
magnitude of ∆r/ ∆t
 The average speed of the particle between A and A’ is the scalar
quotient ∆s/ ∆t
Instantaneous Velocity
 The instantaneous velocity v of the particle is defined as the limiting
value of the average velocity as the time interval approaches zero.
The magnitude of v is called the speed and is scalar.

 The direction of ∆r approaches that of the tangent to the path as ∆t

approaches zero
 Thus velocity v is always a vector tangent
to the path
Magnitude of derivative and derivative of
magnitude
 The Magnitude of Derivative can be written as :

 Above all relations represent the magnitude of velocity, or the

speed of particle.
 The Derivative of Magnitude can be written as :

 The above represents the rate at which the length of position

vector r is changing
Change in Velocity
 ∆v = v’-v
 ∆v depends on both on the change in magnitude
( length) and on the change in the direction of v
Acceleration
 Average acceleration of the particle between A and A’ is defined as ∆v/ ∆t
 The instantaneous acceleration a of the particle is defined as the limiting
value of the average acceleration as the time interval approaches zero :

 By definition of derivative ,we write

 Note that the direction of acceleration of a particle in curvilinear motion is
neither tangent to the path nor normal to the path
 However the acceleration component which is normal to the path points
towards the center of curvature of path.
Visualization of Motion
 The position vectors to three arbitrary positions on the path of the
particle are shown in the figure
 There is a velocity vector tangent to the path corresponding to each
position vector and the relation is
Hodograph
 If the velocity vectors from the previous slide are plotted from
some arbitrary point C, a curve called hodograph is formed as
shown
 The derivatives of these velocity vectors
will be acceleration vectors
 The acceleration vectors are tangent to
the hodograph
Coordinate Systems
 Three different coordinate systems are commonly
used for describing the vector relationships for
curvilinear motion of a particle in a plane. These are :
a. Rectangular Coordinates
b. Normal and tangential coordinates
c. Polar coordinates
Rectangular Coordinates
 Useful for describing motions where x- and y-
components of acceleration are independently
generated or determined.
 The Resulting Curvilinear motion is then obtained by
a vector combination of the x- and y- components
of the position vector , the velocity and acceleration
Vector Representation
 Consider the particle path along with x- and y-axis
 Using the unit vectors i and j, the position vector r,
the velocity v and the acceleration a can be written
in terms of their x- and y- components :
Formulae's derived from the figure
 Time Derivatives of unit vectors are zero because their magnitudes
and directions remain constant
 The Scalar values of the components of v and a are :

 Other relations are as under :

A Note
 Rectangular coordinate representation of
Curvilinear motion is merely the superposition of the
components of 2 simultaneous rectilinear motions in
the x- and y-directions.
 Foregoing above , the relations earlier derived for
rectilinear motion can be applied separately to the
x-motion and to the y-motion.
Projectile Motion
Assumptions
 Neglecting Aerodynamic Drag.
 Assume that the altitude change is small enough so
that the acceleration due to gravity can be
considered constant.
 With these assumptions Rectangular coordinates are
useful for the trajectory analysis
Projectile Motion
 ax =0 , ay =-g The subscript zero indicates initial
conditions (i.e. conditions at launch)
Sample Problem 2/5
 The Curvilinear Motion of a particle is defined by
vx = 50-16t and y=100-4t2 where vx is in m/s, y is
in meters and time is in seconds . It is also known
that x=0 when t=0. Plot the path of the particle
and determine its velocity and acceleration when
the position y=0 is reached.
SOLUTION
 STEP 1

x=50t-8t2 m

 STEP 2 :
ax =d/dt (50-16t)
ax = -16m/s2
SOLUTION
STEP 3 : The y-components of velocity and acceleration
are found as under :
 vy=d/dt (100-4t2) , vy = -8t m/s
 ay=d/dt (-8t) , ay = -8 m/s2
 STEP 4 : We have equations for both x and y
 x=50t-8t2 m y=100-4t2 .Thus graph between x and y for
the particle is plotted by substituting various values of t.
The same is shown on the next slide.
SOLUTION
STEP 4
 When y=0 ,t=5s so velocity and
Acceleration for this time is obtained :
vx=50-16(5) = -30m/s
vy = -8(5) m/s = -40m/s
SOLUTION
STEP 5
 Plotting Velocity and acceleration components and
their resultants for point A , where y=0 .Thus :
 v = -30i-40j m/s

 a = -16i-8j m/s2
Sample Problem 2/6
 A Rocket has expended all its fuel when it reaches position A, where
it has a velocity u at an angle θ with respect to the horizontal. It then
begins unpowered flight and attains a maximum added height h at
position B after travelling a horizontal distance s from A.
 Determine the expressions for h and s,
 the time t of flight from A to B,
 and the equation of the path.
 Assume constant g and neglect air resistance
SOLUTION
 STEP 1

 STEP2
SOLUTION
 STEP 3

 STEP 4
At Maximum height B, the velocity (vy)will be zero.
SOLUTION
 Thus,

 STEP 5
Now to find maximum altitude attained, substitute
the above equation in the equation for y
SOLUTION

h=u2sin2θ/2g
 STEP 6
To find the horizontal distance we use the following
expression and substitute t :
SOLUTION

 Note when θ=450 s is maximum.

SOLUTION
 Find the equation of path by eliminating t from the
expressions of x and y