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Non-Inertial Reference Frames: 1 Motivation

This document discusses non-inertial reference frames and how to modify Newton's laws of motion to apply them in non-inertial frames. It introduces fictitious forces that arise due to the acceleration of the reference frame. The key fictitious forces are the centrifugal force, Coriolis force, and azimuthal force. It also discusses rigid body motion and defines the moment of inertia tensor to calculate angular momentum for continuous mass distributions.

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Marco San Martín Hormazábal
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45 views

Non-Inertial Reference Frames: 1 Motivation

This document discusses non-inertial reference frames and how to modify Newton's laws of motion to apply them in non-inertial frames. It introduces fictitious forces that arise due to the acceleration of the reference frame. The key fictitious forces are the centrifugal force, Coriolis force, and azimuthal force. It also discusses rigid body motion and defines the moment of inertia tensor to calculate angular momentum for continuous mass distributions.

Uploaded by

Marco San Martín Hormazábal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Non-Inertial Reference Frames

Adrian Down
November 03, 2005

Motivation

Definition (Non-inertial reference frame). A non-inertial reference frame is


one that is accelerating.
Acceleration can be any change in the velocity vector, including translation and rotation or any combination thereof.
Our goal is to see how to modify Newtons laws in order to apply them
to non-inertial frames. To do so, we introduce fictitious forces. These are
not actual forces, but rather consequences of the acceleration of the reference
frame.
Sometimes it is easier to work in a non-inertial reference frame. For
example, the surface of the Earth is not an inertial system. Since we collect
data in the Earth system, we would like to be able to use Newtons laws in
this non-inertial refence frame.

Acceleration in non-inertial frames

2.1

Definitions

~ is the vector from the origin of the space coordinates to the origin of
R
the body coordinates.
~r is the vector from the origin of the body coordinates to the particle.
~rI is the vector from the origin of the space frame to the particle.

We have the relation,


~ + ~r
~rI = R
Writing out the vectors explicitly,
~ = X xI + Y yI + Z zI
R
~rI = xI xI + yI yI + zI zI
~r = x
x + y y + z z

2.2

Velocity

We want to find ~r to determine the acceleration of the particle in the body


~
system. First, we find the first time derivative of an arbitrary vector A
observed in the non-inertial system.
~ = Ax x + Ay y + Az z
A
Taking the time derivative,
dAy
dAz
d
x
d
y
d
z
d ~ dAx
A=
x +
y +
z + Ax
+ Ay
+ Az
dt
dt
dt
dt
dt
dt
dt
~ in the body coordinates as
Define the derivate of A
~
A
dAx
dAy
dAz
=
x +
y +
z
dt
dt
dt
dt
The changing of the unit vectors is a rotation, since the magnitude of these
vectors is fixed. From our previous work on rotations, we can write the
rotation in terms of a cross product.
~
d ~ A
~
A=
+
~ A
dt
dt
This applies to an arbitrary vector in a non-inertial frame.
In the notation of Hand and Finch,
~
~
dA
dA
=
+
~ ~r
dt space
dt body
2

2.3

Acceleration

We want the second derivative,


~
A
dt

~
d2 A
d
=
2
dt
dt
Substitute the expression for
derivative,

~
A
dt

!
+

~
d~
dA
~+
A
~
dt
dt

from above into the equation for the time



~
~ d~
~
~
2A
A
A
d2 A
~+
~
=
+

A
~

A
dt2
dt2
dt
dt
dt
Combining like terms and rearranging,


~
~
~ d~
2A
A
d2 A
~
~
=
+

A
+
2~

+
A
dt2
dt2
dt
dt
Applying this equation to ~r,
2~r
~r d~
d2~r
=
+
~ (~ ~r) + 2~
+
~r
2
2
dt
dt
dt
dt
In the notation of Hand and Finch,
d2~r
d~r
d~
d2~r
=
+
~ (~ ~r) + 2~
+
~r
2
2
dt space
dt body
dt body dt

3
3.1

Fictitious forces
Changing reference frames

~ + ~r and express the


Now we want to go to the inertial system using ~rI = R
results in terms of forces.
~
d2~r
d2~rI
d2 R
=

dt2
dt2
dt2
Substituting the expression for

d2 ~
r
,
dt2

multiplying by m, and rearranging,

~
2~r
d2 R
d~
~
m 2 = F m 2 m~ (~ ~r) 2m~ ~v m
~r
dt
dt
dt
3

3.2
3.2.1

Examining the resulting fictitious forces


F~

F~ is the force measured in the inertial system. All other terms in the expression for the apparent force given above are fictitious forces.
3.2.2

Translational force
~
d2 R
~
Ftrans = m 2
dt

This force results from the linear acceleration of the body frame from the
~ constant, then this force is 0.
~ or Ris
inertial space frame. If R
3.2.3

Centrifugal force
F~cent = m~ (~ ~r)

This force results from the constant rotation of the non-inertial frame.
~ ~r
is azimuthal, so
~ (~ ~r) is radially inward. Because of the negative sign,
this effective force points radially outward from the origin of the non-inertial
frame.
Example. The centrifugal force on the surface of the Earth lessens the effective force of gravity.
m~geff = m~g m~ (~ ~r)
In the case of the Earth, the Coriolis force is
m~ (~ ~r) = me R2 2 sin
We know that this correction is much less than the force of gravity in an
inertial system. Substituting values, we can see by how much,
= 7.3 105 s1
Re 6.4 106 m
At the equator,
2 Re = .003

m
.39% of g at equator
s2
4

3.2.4

Coriolis force
F~cor = 2m~ ~v

This fictitious force is unique in that it depends on the motion of the particle
in the body frame.
Example. Suppose we drop a ball from a height h. What is the effect of the
Coriolis force?
F~cor = 2m~ ~v = 2mv(t) sin eastward
Integrate twice to find the effect on the landing point of the ball.
a = 2gt sin
s
v = gt2 sin where t =

2 2 h h
sin
d=
3
g

2h
g

For a height of 100 m at the equator, the deflection is about 2 cm.


3.2.5

Azimuthal force
d~
F~azi = m
~r
dt

This force only arises when the angular velocity is changing, either in direction or magnitude.
Example. Recall the definition of angular momentum,
L = mr2
L = mr2
The time rate of change of L is equal to the torque,
= mr2 = rFazi
Fazi = mr
5

Rigid body motion

4.1

Definitions

Definition (Rigid body). A rigid body is one in which the positions of the
mass elements of the body are fixed with respect to each other.
Theorem. For a rigid body undergoing arbitrary motion, pick any point p
on the body. At any instant, the motion can be rewritten as a translation of
p and a rotation about
~ through p.
Recall from our past experience with angular momentum,
~v =
~ ~r

4.2

Moment of inertia tensor

We would like to know the angular momentum for a continuous mass distribution. Recall that for a point particle,
~ = ~r p~ = m~r (~ ~r)
L
For a continuous body, the contribution to the total angular momentum from
a differential mass element is,
~ = ~r ~p = ~r ~v m = m~r
L
~ ~r
The total angular momentum is the integral or summation ,
Z
~ = dm~r (~ ~r)
L
=

mi~ri (~ ~ri )

Writing out the cross product explicitly,



~r (~ ~r) = 1 (y 2 + z 2 ) 2 xy 3 xz x

+ 2 (x2 + z 2 ) 3 yz 1 xy y

+ 3 (x2 + y 2 ) 1 zx 2 yz z
6

Substituting back into the integral,


R
R
R 2

L1
(y R+ z 2 ) dm R xydm
R xzdm
1
2
2
L2 = xydm

(z +R x ) dm R yzdm
2
R
2
2
L3
zxdm
yz
(x + y ) dm
3
This expression can be written symbolically with the moment of inertia tensor,

~ =
L
I
~

I is a symmetric tensor that depends only on the mass distribution in the

body. The components of I can be written,


!
Z
X
x2h xi xj dV
Iij = (~r) ij
h

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