CHAPTER 17

Plane Motion of Rigid Bodies:

Energy and Momentum
 17.1 Introduction
• Method of work and energy and the method of impulse and
momentum will be used to analyze the plane motion of rigid
bodies and systems of rigid bodies.

• Principle of work and energy is well suited to the solution of

problems involving displacements and velocities.
T1  U12  T2

• Principle of impulse and momentum is appropriate for

problems involving velocities and time.
 t2    t2  
L1    Fdt  L2 H O 1    M O dt  H O 2
t1 t1

• Problems involving eccentric impact are solved by supplementing

the principle of impulse and momentum with the application of
the coefficient of restitution.
17.2 Principle of Work and Energy for a Rigid Body
• Method of work and energy is well adapted to
problems involving velocities and displacements.
Main advantage is that the work and kinetic energy
are scalar quantities.
• Assume that the rigid body is made of a large
number of particles.
T1  U12  T2
T1 , T2  initial and final total kinetic energy of
particles forming body
U12  total work of internal and external forces
acting on particles of body.
• Internal forces between particles A and B are equal
and opposite.
• In general, small displacements of the particles A
and B are not equal but the components of the
displacements along AB are equal.
• Therefore, the net work of internal forces is zero.
17.3 Work of Forces Acting on a Rigid Body
• Work of a force during a displacement of its
point of application,
A2  s
 2
U12   F  dr   F cos ds
A1 s1
 
• Consider the net work of two forces
 F and  F
forming a couple of moment M during a
displacement of their points of application.
     
dU  F  dr1  F  dr1  F  dr2
 F ds2  Fr d
 M d
2
U12   M d
1
 M  2  1  if M is constant.
Forces acting on rigid bodies which do no work:
• Forces applied to fixed points:
- reactions at a frictionless pin when the supported body
rotates about the pin.

• Forces acting in a direction perpendicular to the displacement

of their point of application:
- reaction at a frictionless surface to a body moving along
the surface
- weight of a body when its center of gravity moves
horizontally

• Friction force at the point of contact of a body rolling without

sliding on a fixed surface.
dU  F dsC  F vc dt   0
17.4 Kinetic Energy of a Rigid Body in Plane Motion
• Consider a rigid body of mass m in plane motion.
T  12 mv 2  12  Δmi vi 2
 12 mv 2  12  ri2Δmi  2
 12 mv 2  12 I  2

• Kinetic energy of a rigid body can be separated into:

- the kinetic energy associated with the motion of
the mass center G and
- the kinetic energy associated with the rotation of
the body about G.

• Consider a rigid body rotating about a fixed axis

through O.
T 1
2  ii
Δm v 2 1
2  Δmi ri ω 
2 1
2
 r
i
2

Δmi ω2
 21 I O ω2
 17.5 Systems of Rigid Bodies
• For problems involving systems consisting of several rigid bodies, the
principle of work and energy can be applied to each body.

• We may also apply the principle of work and energy to the entire system,
T1  U12  T2 T1 ,T2 = arithmetic sum of the kinetic energies of
all bodies forming the system
U12 = work of all forces acting on the various
bodies, whether these forces are internal
or external to the system as a whole.

• For problems involving pin connected members, blocks and pulleys

connected by inextensible cords, and meshed gears,
- internal forces occur in pairs of equal and opposite forces
- points of application of each pair move through equal distances
- net work of the internal forces is zero
- work on the system reduces to the work of the external forces
 17.6 Conservation of Energy
• Expressing the work of conservative forces as a
change in potential energy, the principle of work
and energy becomes
T1  V1  T2  V2
• Consider the slender rod of mass m.
T1  0, V1  0
T2  12 mv22  12 I  22

   
2
2 1 ml
 12 m 12 l  12 1 ml  
12
2 2
 2
2 3
V2   12 Wl sin    12 mgl sin 

T1  V1  T2  V2
1 ml 2 2 1
0 ω  mgl sin θ
• mass m 2 3 2
• released with zero velocity 1

• determine  at   3g  2
ω sin θ 
 l 
 17.7 Power
• Power = rate at which work is done
 
• For a body acted upon by force F and moving with velocity v ,
dU  
Power   F v
dt

• For a rigid body rotating with an
 angular velocity  and acted
upon by a couple of moment M parallel to the axis of rotation,
dU M d
Power    M
dt dt
17.8 Principle of Impulse and Momentum
for the Plane Motion of a Rigid Body
• Method of impulse and momentum:
- well suited to the solution of problems involving time and velocity
- the only practicable method for problems involving impulsive
motion and impact.

Sys Momenta1 + Sys Ext Imp1-2 = Sys Momenta2

 Principle of Impulse and Momentum
• The momenta of the particles of a system may be reduced to a vector
attached to the mass center equal to their sum,
L   mi vi  mv
and a couple equal to the sum of their moments about the mass center,
H G   ri mi vi
• For the plane motion of a rigid slab or of a rigid body symmetrical with
respect to the reference plane,
 
H G = Iω
 Principle of Impulse and Momentum
• Principle of impulse and momentum for the plane motion of a rigid slab
or of a rigid body symmetrical with respect to the reference plane
expressed as a free-body-diagram equation,

• Leads to three equations of motion:

- summing and equating momenta and impulses in the x and y
directions
- summing and equating the moments of the momenta and impulses
with respect to any given point
Principle of Impulse and Momentum
• Noncentroidal rotation:
- The angular momentum about O
I O  I   mv r
 I   mr  r
 
 I  mr 2 

- Equating the moments of the momenta and

impulses about O,
t2
I O1    M O dt  I O 2
t1
 17.9 Systems of Rigid Bodies
• Motion of several rigid bodies can be analyzed by applying
the principle of impulse and momentum to each body
separately.

• For problems involving no more than three unknowns, it may

be convenient to apply the principle of impulse and
momentum to the system as a whole.

• For each moving part of the system, the diagrams of momenta

should include a momentum vector and/or a momentum couple.

• Internal forces occur in equal and opposite pairs of vectors and

do generate zero net impulses.
17.10 Conservation of Angular Momentum
• When no external force acts on a rigid body or a system of rigid
bodies, the system of momenta at t1 is equipollent to the system
at t2. The total linear momentum and angular momentum about
any point are conserved,
 
L1  L2 H 0 1  H 0 2

• When the sum of the angular impulses pass through O, the

linear momentum may not be conserved, yet the angular
momentum about O is conserved,
H 0 1  H 0 2

• Two additional equations may be written by summing x and

y components of momenta and may be used to determine
two unknown linear impulses, such as the impulses of the
reaction components at a fixed point.
 17.11 Impulsive Motion
► Rigid bodies in impulsive motions are well
suited for methods involving impulse and
momentum.
► Since the time periods are very short,
the rigid bodies can be assumed to have
not moved during the those times.
 17.12 Eccentric Impact

u A n  uB n
Period of deformation Period of restitution
 
Impulse   Rdt Impulse   Pdt

• Principle of impulse and momentum is supplemented by



e  coefficient of restitution  
Rdt
 Pdt
vB n  vA n

v A n  v B n