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11.4: Equations of Motion

  • Page ID
    9617
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    The equations of motion for two bodies interacting via a conservative two-body central force can be determined using the center of mass Lagrangian, \(L_{cm},\) given by equation \((11.3.3)\). For the radial coordinate, the operator equation \(\Lambda _{r}L_{cm}=0\) for Lagrangian mechanics leads to

    \[\frac{d}{dt}\left( \mu \dot{r}\right) -\mu r\dot{\psi}^{2}+\frac{\partial U}{ \partial r}=0\]

    But

    \[\dot{\psi}=\frac{l}{\mu r^{2}}\]

    therefore the radial equation of motion is

    \[\mu \ddot{r}=-\frac{\partial U}{\partial r}+\frac{l^{2}}{\mu r^{3}}\]

    Similarly, for the angular coordinate, the operator equation \(\Lambda _{\psi }L_{cm}=0\) leads to equation \((11.3.5)\). That is, the angular equation of motion for the magnitude of \(p_{\psi }\) is \[p_{\psi }=\frac{\partial L}{\partial \dot{\psi}}=\mu r^{2}\dot{\psi}=l\]

    Lagrange’s equations have given two equations of motion, one dependent on radius \(r\) and the other on the polar angle \(\psi\). Note that the radial acceleration is just a statement of Newton’s Laws of motion for the radial force \(F_{r}\) in the center-of-mass system of \[F_{r}=-\frac{\partial U}{\partial r}+\frac{l^{2}}{\mu r^{3}}\]

    This can be written in terms of an effective potential

    \[U_{eff}(r)\equiv U(r)+\frac{l^{2}}{2\mu r^{2}}\label{11.33}\]

    which leads to an equation of motion

    \[F_{r}=\mu \ddot{r}=-\frac{\partial U_{eff}(r)}{\partial r}\label{11.34}\]

    Since \(\frac{l^{2}}{\mu r^{3}}=\mu r\dot{\psi}^{2}\), the second term in Equation \ref{11.33} is the usual centrifugal force that originates because the variable \(r\) is in a non-inertial, rotating frame of reference. Note that the angular equation of motion is independent of the radial dependence of the conservative two-body central force.

    9.4.1.PNG
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The attractive inverse-square law potential \((\frac{k}{r})\), the centrifugal potential \((\frac{l^2}{2\mu r^2})\), and the combined effective bound potential.

    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\) shows, by dashed lines, the radial dependence of the potential corresponding to the attractive inverse square law force, that is \(U=-\frac{k }{r}\), and the potential corresponding to the centrifugal term \(\frac{l^{2}}{ 2\mu r^{2}}\) corresponding to a repulsive centrifugal force. The sum of these two potentials \(U_{eff}(r)\), shown by the solid line, has a minimum \(U_{\min }\) value at a certain radius similar to that manifest by the diatomic molecule discussed in example \((2.12.1)\).

    It is remarkable that the six-dimensional equations of motion, for two bodies interacting via a two-body central force, has been reduced to trivial center-of-mass translational motion, plus a one-dimensional one-body problem given by \ref{11.34} in terms of the relative separation \(r\) and an effective potential \(U_{eff}(r)\).


    This page titled 11.4: Equations of Motion is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Douglas Cline via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.