Related papers: Bead moving on a uniformly rotating rod studied fr…
The motion of a bead on a rotating circular hoop is investigated using elementary calculus and simple symmetry arguments. The peculiar trajectories of the bead at different speeds of rotation of the hoop are presented. Phase portraits and…
We consider a mechanical system consisting of an infinite rod (a straight line) and a ball (a massless point) on the plane. The rod rotates uniformly around one of its points. The ball is reflected elastically when colliding with the rod…
The study of the motion of a rigid body on a plane (RBP motion) is usually one of the most challenging topics that students face in introductory physics courses. In this paper, we discuss a couple of problems which are typically used in…
A magnetized bead in a magnetic field seeks to minimize its magnetic free energy by aligning its magnetic moment with the field direction and by moving towards the maximum of the field's intensity. However, when the bead is coupled to a…
The evergreen problem of a bead on a rotating hoop shows a multitude of bifurcations when the bead moves with friction. This motion is studied for different values of the damping coefficient and rotational speeds of the hoop. Phase…
We describe a simple mechanical system that operates as a ponderomotive particle trap, consisting of a circular hoop and a frictionless bead, with the hoop rotating about a horizontal axis lying in the plane of the hoop. The bead in the…
We investigated the common difficulties that students have with concepts related to rotational and rolling motion covered in the introductory physics courses. We compared the performance of calculus- and algebra-based introductory physics…
We analyze the frictionless motion of a point-like particle that slides under gravity on an inverted conical surface. This motion is studied for arbitrary initial conditions and a general relation, valid within 13%, between the periods of…
A single frictional elastic disk, supported against gravity by two others, rotates steadily when the supports are vibrated and the system is tilted with respect to gravity. Rotation is here studied using Molecular Dynamics Simulations, and…
We analyze stability of a thin inextensible elastic rod which has non-vanishing spontaneous generalized torsions in its stress-free state. Two classical problems are studied, both involving spontaneously twisted rods: a rectilinear beam…
We analyze the motion of a rod floating in a weightless environment in space when a force is applied at some point on the rod in a direction perpendicular to its length. If the force applied is at the centre of mass, then the rod gets a…
In the problem of cylinder rolling without slipping on a horizontal floor, both the cylinder and floor are generally treated as rigid bodies in normal textbooks. When the air resistance is ignored, the equation of motion has a solution with…
Mechanical instabilities can be exploited to design innovative structures, able to change their shape in the presence of external stimuli. In this work, we derive a mathematical model of an elastic beam subjected to an axial force and…
We study the Brownian motion of a rigid rod threading through a small fixed ring while the ring can freely rotate. We derive the distribution function for the sliding displacement and the unit vector along the rod both at equilibrium and…
The relativistic motion of an arbitrary point of an accelerated rigid rod is discussed for the case when velocity and acceleration are directed along the rod's length. The discussion includes the case of a time-dependent force applied to a…
A new general equation to explain bending of arbitrary rods (from arbitrary materials, cross sections, densities, strengthnesses, bending angles, etc) was proposed. This equation can solve several problems found in classical equations,…
We investigate the nonlinear effect of a pendulum with the upper end fixed to an elastic rod which is only allowed to vibrate horizontally. The pendulum will start rotating and trace a delicate stationary pattern when released without…
One of the many surprising results found in the mechanics of rotating systems is the stabilization of a particle in a rapidly rotating planar saddle potential. Besides the counterintuitive stabilization, an unexpected precessional motion is…
Suppose a projectile collides perpendicularly with a stationary rigid rod on a smooth horizontal table. We show that, contrary to what one naturally expects, it is not always the case that the rod acquires maximum angular velocity when…
One of the most challenging and basic problems in elastic rod dynamics is a description of rods in contact that prevents any unphysical self-intersections. Most previous works addressed this issue through the introduction of short-range…