KINEMATICS OF PARTICLES

CHAPTER 02
Engineering Mechanics - Dynamics
J.L. Meriam (6th Edition)

Muhammad Usman
MED – The University of Lahore
 INTRODUCTIO
N
 Kinematics is the branch of dynamics which describes the motion of bodies
without reference to the forces which either cause the motion or are
generated as a result of the motion
 Kinetics is the study of the relationships between motion and the
corresponding forces which cause or accompany the motion.
 PARTICLE MOTION
 Particle is a body whose physical dimensions are so small compared with
the radius of curvature of its path
CONSTRAINED & UNCONSTRAINED MOTION
 If the particle is confined to a specified path its motion is said to be
constrained

 If there are no physical guides, the motion is said to be unconstrained

 CO-ORDINATE SYSTEMS
 Rectangular co-ordinates is a coordinate
system that specifies each point uniquely in
a space by three numerical coordinates,
which are the signed distances to the point
from three fixed perpendicular directed lines
x, y, z
 Cylindrical coordinate system is a three-
dimensional coordinate system that specifies
point positions by the distance from a
chosen reference axis, the direction from the
axis relative to a chosen reference direction,
and the distance from a chosen reference
plane perpendicular to the axis
r, θ, z
 Spherical coordinate system is a coordinate
system for three-dimensional space where the
position of a point is specified by three
numbers: the radial distance of that point from
a fixed origin, its polar angle measured from a
fixed zenith direction, and the azimuth angle of
its orthogonal projection on a reference plane
that passes through the origin and is
orthogonal to the zenith, measured from a
fixed reference direction on that plane
R, φ, θ
 MOTION ANALYSIS
TYPES
 The motion of particles (or rigid bodies) can be described by using
coordinates measured from fixed reference axes, its called absolute motion
analysis

 The motion of particles (or rigid bodies) described by using coordinates

measured from moving reference axes, is called relative motion analysis
 RECTILINEAR MOTION
 Consider a particle P moving along a straight line
 Its distance s measured from some convenient reference point O fixed on the
line
 The change in the position coordinate during the interval ∆t is called the
displacement ∆s of the particle
 The average velocity of the particle during the interval ∆t is vav = ∆s/ ∆t
 Instantaneous velocity: v = ds/ dt =
 The average acceleration of the particle during the interval ∆t is aav = ∆v/ ∆t
 Instantaneous acceleration: a = dv/ dt = or a = d2s/dt2 =
 dt = ds/ v & dt = dv/ a
ds/ v = dv/ a
v dv = a ds
or

 These are differential equations for the rectilinear motion of a particle.

 Problems in rectilinear motion involving finite changes in the motion

variables are solved by integration of these basic differential relations

 The positive directions for v and a are the same as the positive direction for s
 INTEGRATION
 Position coordinate s for all values of time can be differentiated with respect
to t to get the velocity v and acceleration a

 In many problems, however, the functional relationship between position

coordinate and time is unknown

 So we must determine it by successive integration from the acceleration

 Acceleration is determined by the forces which act on moving bodies

 Depending on the nature of the forces, the acceleration may be specified as a

function of time, velocity, or position coordinate
 PLANE CURVILINEAR MOTION
 The vast majority of the motions of particles
encountered in engineering can be
represented as planar motion

 If we let the plane of motion be the x-y plane,

for instance, then the coordinates z and φ are
both zero, and R becomes the same as r

 Much analysis in dynamics utilizes the time

rates of change of vector quantities

 So, we must grip the concept of time

derivative of a vector
 Consider now the continuous motion of a particle along a plane curve

 The displacement of the particle during time ∆t is the vector ∆r

 ∆r represents the vector change of position and is clearly independent of the

choice of origin

 The distance actually traveled by the particle is the scalar length ∆s

 Thus, we distinguish between the vector displacement ∆r and the scalar

distance ∆s
 VELOCITY OF PARTICLE
 The average velocity of the particle between A and A’ is defined as vav = ∆r/ ∆t
 Its direction is that of ∆r and whose magnitude is ∆r divided by ∆t
 The average speed of the particle is the scalar quotient ∆s/ ∆t
 The instantaneous velocity v of the particle is defined as the limiting value of
the average velocity as the time interval approaches zero

 The velocity v is always a vector tangent to the path

 The magnitude of v is called the speed and is the scalar
MAGNITUDE OF THE DERIVATIVE AND THE DERIVATIVE OF THE MAGNITUDE

 If the magnitude of a quantity is decreasing then its derivative will be negative

 However, the magnitude of any quantity including a derivative is always positive
 The magnitude of the derivative │dr/dt │ represents the magnitude of the
velocity or speed
 The derivative of the magnitude is written d │r │/dt represents the rate at which
the length of the position vector r is changing
 There is a vector change in the velocity during the time t

 The velocity v at A plus (vectorially) the change ∆v must equal the velocity at
A’
v’ - v = ∆v

 ∆v depends both on the change in magnitude of v and on the change in

direction of v
 ACCELERATION OF PARTICLE
 The average acceleration of the particle between A and A’ is defined as ∆v/ ∆t
 Its direction is that of ∆v and magnitude is ∆v divided by ∆t
 The instantaneous acceleration a of the particle is defined as the limiting value
of the average acceleration as the time interval approaches zero

 As the interval t becomes smaller and approaches zero, the direction of the
change v approaches that of the differential change dv and, thus, of a
 The acceleration a, then, includes the effects of both the change in magnitude
of v and the change of direction of v
 RECTANGULAR CO-ORDINATES
 Three different coordinate systems are commonly used for describing the vector
relationships for curvilinear motion of a particle in a plane
 Rectangular coordinates, normal and tangential coordinates, and polar
coordinates
 Rectangular coordinates system is particularly useful for describing motions
where the x- and y-components of acceleration are independently generated
 PROJECTILE MOTION
 An important application of two-dimensional kinematic theory is projectile
motion
 We neglect aerodynamic drag and the curvature and rotation of the earth
 We assume that the altitude change is small enough so that the acceleration
due to gravity can be considered constant

ax = 0 and ay = - g
 Integration of these accelerations follows the results obtained previously for
constant acceleration

 We see that the x- and y-motions are independent for the simple projectile
conditions under consideration

 Considering the ignored factors introduce complexity into the motion

equations, and numerical integration of the acceleration equations becomes
necessary
 NORMAL AND TANGENTIAL COORDINATES (N-T )
 These coordinates provide a very natural description for curvilinear motion
and
are frequently the most direct and convenient coordinates to use.
• A particle advances from A to B to C. The positive direction for n at any
position is always taken toward the center of curvature of the path.
• The positive n-direction will shift from one side of the curve to the other side if
the
curvature changes direction.
 VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION
We now use the coordinates n and t to describe the velocity v and acceleration a.
For this purpose, we introduce unit vectors e n in the n-direction and et in the t-
direction.
 CIRCULAR MOTION
Circular motion is an important special case of plane curvilinear motion where
the radius of curvature becomes the constant radius r of the circle and the
angle is replaced by the angle measured from any convenient radial
reference to OP
POLAR COORDINATES (R-Θ)
Geometric
Interpretation
CIRCULAR
MOTION
MOTION RELATIVE TO A FRAME IN
TRANSLATION
Till now, we have used a single frame of reference to describe the motion
of a particle. In most cases this frame was attached to the earth and was
considered as fixed

Note:
• If the frame is attached to the earth, it will be called a fixed frame of
reference
• Other frames not attached to the earth will be referred to as moving
frames of reference

• Also note that, however, the selection of a fixed frame of reference is

purely arbitrary
• Consider two particles A and B moving in space
(figure on right)
• The vectors rA and rB define their positions at any
given instant with respect to the fixed frame of
reference Oxyz
• The vector rB/A joining A and B defines the
position of B relative to A
• The position vector rB of particle B is the sum of
the position vector rA of particle A and of the
position vector rB/A of B relative to A
Vector equation:

Also, after differentiating with respect to time: