PLANE CURVILINEAR MOTION

Plane curvilinear motion has to do with the motion of a particle along a curved path in a
single plane. For a particle undergoing continuous motion along a curves plane path as
shown in the Fig. 2 below, at time t, the particle is at position A which is specified by the
position vector ‘r’ measured from a convenient fixed origin ‘O’. At time t+ ∆ t , the particle
has moved to position A’ specified by the vector r + ∆ r .

Fig. 2

The displacement of the particle during time interval ∆ t is therefore the vector ∆ r (vector
change in position from A to A’).

Velocity and Acceleration

The average velocity of a particle undergoing plane curvilinear motion is given by

∆r
v av =
∆t
The instantaneous velocity v of the particle (that is, the limiting value of the average velocity
as it approaches zero) is given by
∆r dr
v= lim or v= = ṙ (13)
∆t→0 ∆ t dt

The average accelaeration of a particle undergoing plane curvilinear motion is given by

∆v
a av =
∆t
The instantaneous acceleration, a of the particle (that is, the limiting value of the average
acceleration as it approaches zero) is given by
∆v dv
a= lim or a= =v̇ (14)
∆ t →0 ∆ t dt

Substituting equation (13) into equation (14)

2
d r
a= 2
dt

The derivative (a) acts tangent to an hodograph by definition as shown in the figure below
and not the path of motion
 In curvilinear motion, three different coordinate systems are commonly used for describing
the vector relationships of a particle in a plane, vis:

i. Rectangular cooordinates
ii. Normal and tangential coordinates
iii. Polar coordinates

i. Rectangular Coordinates (x-y)

This is a system of describing motion of a particle in a plane curvilinear path when the x,y
and z components of acceleration are independently determined or generated. The
curvilinear motion resulting from the arrangement is a vector combination of the individual
x, y and z components of the position vector, velocity and acceleration. Therefore using unit
vectors i, j and k for the x, j and z components respectively, we can write

r =xi+ yj+ zk
v=ṙ= ẋ i+ ẏ j+ z̈ k
a=v̇ =r̈= ẍ i+ ÿ j+ z̈ k
(14)

The direction of ‘r’ is specified by the unit vector ur

r
ur =
|r|
The magnitude of the velocity is therefore
v=√ v x + v y +v z
2 2 2 2 2 2 2
v =v x + v y +v z or (15)
The direction of ‘v’ is specified by the unit vector uv
v
ur =
|v|
a=√ a x + a y +a z
2 2 2 2 2 2 2
a =a x + a y +a z or
The direction of ‘a’ is specified by the unit vector ua
a
ua =
|a|

The x and y coordinates are independent function of time, that is, x=f 1 ( t ), y=f 2 ( t ) and
z=f 3 (t ) which can be combined to obtain the r. Also, we can combine the first and second
 derivatives of x,y and z to obtain velocity (v) likewise the combination of the second
derivatives of x, y and z gives the acceleration (a). Conversely, the acceleration components
ax, ay and az can be integrated separately with respect to time (t) once to give velocity
components vx and vy respectively which can be further integrated with respect to time to
give x and y respectively.
Therefore, the rectangular coordinate representation of curvilinear motion is a combination
of two simultaneous rectilinear motions in the x and y directions.

Examples
2.1 At time t = 10 s, the velocity of a particle moving in the x-y plane is v=+0.1 i+ 2 jm/ s
. By time t = 10.1 s, its velocity has become v=−0.1 i+1.8 jm/ s. Determine the
magnitude aav of its average acceleration during this time interval and the angle θ
made by the average acceleration with the positive x-axis.
2.2 A particle is constrained to travel along the path. If x = (4t 4) m, where t is in seconds,
determine the magnitude of the particle's velocity and acceleration when t = 0.5 s .

Practice Problems

1. The motion of a vibrating particle is defined by the position vector

r =10 ( 1−e ) i+ ( 4 e sin 15t ) j , where r and t are expressed in millimeters nd seconds
−3 t −2 t

respectively. Determine the velocity and acceleration when () t = 0, (b) t = 0.5 s.

2. The motion of a vibrating paricle is defined by the position vector
r =( 4 sin ρt ) i+ ( cos 2 ρt ) j where r is expressed in millimeters and t is in seconds.
Determine the velocity and acceleration when t = 1s (b) show that the path of the particle
is parabolic.
3. The position of a particle is r ={( 3 t 3−2 t ) i−( 4 t 1/ 2+t ) j + ( 3 t 2−2 ) k } m, where t is in
seconds. Determine the magnitude of the particle’s velocity and acceleration when t = 2s.
4. The position vector of a point which moves in the x-y plane is given by

( )
4
2 3 3 2 t
r = t − t i+ j where r is in meters and t is in seconds. Determine the angle
3 2 12
between the velocity (v) and acceleration (i) when a t = 2s (ii) t = 3s
5. A particle originally at rest and located at point ( 3 m ,2 m ,5 m ), is subjected to an
acceleration a=( 6 ti+12 t 2 k ) m/s2 . Determine the particles position (x, y, z) when t = 2s.
6. A particle which moves with curvilinear motion has coordinates in millimeters which
2 2 1 3
vary with the time t in seconds according to x=3 t −4 t∧ y=4 t − t . Determine the
3
magnitudes of the velocity v and acceleration a and the angles which these vectors make
with the x axis when t = 2 s.
7. The curvilinear motion of a particle is defined by Vx = 50 – 16t and y = 100 – 4t 2 where
Vx is in m/s , y in meters, and t in seconds. It is known that x = 0, when t = 0. Determine
the velocity and acceleration of the particle when position y = 0 is reached.

Projectile Motion
An important application of the rectangular coordinate representation of the motion of a
particle undergoing plane curvilinear motion is the projectile motion. A projectile motion is
a form of motion experienced by a particle tht is lunched near the surface of the earth which
moves along a curved path under the influence of the force of gravity alone. The kinematic
analysis of such motion can be analysed by considering a projectile which is launched at
position (xo, yo) with velocity vo having components (vo)x and (vo)y as shown in Fig. 3 below.
The following assumptions are made in the treatment of the subject matter
 The effects of aerodynamic drag, curvature and rotation of the earth are neglected.
 The change in altitude is small enough to assume that the acceleration due to gravity is
constant.

The only force acting on the projectile is its weight which causes the projectile to have a
constant downward acceleration a c =g=9.81 m/ s2

Fig. 3

Horizontal Motion (since ax = 0)

⃗
+¿ ¿ v=v o+ ac t ; v x =( v o ) x

1 2
⃗
+¿ ¿ x=x o + v o t + a c t ; x=x o + ( v o ) x t (16)
2
⃗
+¿ ¿
2 2
v =v o +2 a c ( x−x o ); v x =( v o ) x

The first and last equations above indicate that the horizonatal components of velocity
remains constant throughout the motion.

Vertical Motion (since ay = -g)

+↑ v=v o+ ac t ; v=( v o ) y −¿

1 2 1 2
+↑ y= y o+ v o t+ ac t ; y= y o+ ( v o ) y t− g t (17)
2 2
2 2 2 2
+↑ v =v o +2 a c ( y − y o ) v y =( v o ) y −2 g ( y− y o )

Examples

1. The ball is kicked from point A with the initial velocity vA = 10 m/s. Determine the
height h reached, range R, and the speed when the ball strikes the ground.

2. A projectile is fired with an initial velocity of vA = 150 m/s off the roof of the building.
Determine the range R where it strikes the ground at B.

Practice Problems
1. The projectile is launched with a velocity vo. Determine the time of flight, the time to
reach the maximum height, the maximum height h attained and the range R. Express the
results in terms of the angle θ and vo. The acceleration due to gravity is g.

2. A helicopter is flying with a constnt horizontal velocity of 180 km/hr and is directly
above point A when a loose part begins to fall. The part lands 6.5 s later at point B on
an inclined surface. Determine (a) the distance d between points A and B (b) the initial
height h.

3. With what minimum horizontal velocity u can a boy throw a rock at A and have it just
clear the obstruction at B?

4. Milk is pour into a glass of 140 mm and inside diameter of 66 mm. If the initial velocity
is 1.2 m/s at n angle of 40° with the horizontal, determine the range of values of the
height h fr which the milk will enter the glass.
5. A rocket is released at point A from a jet aircraft flying horizontally at 1000 km/hr at an
altitude of 800 m. if the rocket thrust remains horizontal and gives the rocket a horizontal
acceleration of 0.5g, determine the angle θ from the horizontal to the line of sight of
target

6. An oscillating garden sprinkler which discharges water with an initial velocity v o of 8 m/s
is used to water a vegetble garden. Determien the distance d to the farthest point B that
will be watered and the corresponding angle α when (a) the vegetable are just beginning
to grow, (b) the height h when the corn is 1.8 m.

7. A projectile is launched with an initial speed of 200 m/s at an angle of 60° with respect to
the horizontal. Compute the range R measured up the incline.
8. The catapult is used to launch a ball such that it strikes the wall of the building at the
maximum height of its trajectory. If it takes 1.5 s to travel from A to B, determine the
velocity vA at which it was launched, the angle of release u, and the height h.

9. The velocity of the water jet discharging from the orifice can be obtained from √ 2 gh
where h = 2 m is the depth of the orifice from the free water surface. Determine the time
for a particle of water leaving the orifice to reach point B and the horizontal distance x
where it hits the surface.

ii. Normal and Tangential Coordinates (n-t)

When the path along which a particle travels is known, it is often convenient to describe the
motion using normal (n) and tangential (t) coordinates which acts normal and tangential to
the path. This system describes curvilinear motions in which measurements are made along
the tangent (t) and normal (n) to the path of the particles.
For a particle shown in Fig. 4 below which moves in a plane along a fixed curve such that at
a given instant, it is at a position s, measured from a convenient point ‘0’. Taking a
coordinate system that has its origin at a fixed point on the curve at the instant being
considered coinciding with the location of the particle. The t axis is tangent to the curve and
is positive in the direction of increasing ‘s’. This positive direction may be designated with
the unit vector ut. The normal axis ‘n’ is perpendicular to the tangential axis with the
positive sense directed towards the center of curvature 0’. This positive direction which is
always on the concave side of the curve is designated as un.
Velocity
The velocity of the particle is always tangent to the curve and its magnitude determined by
taking the time derivative of the path function
 v=ds /dt = ṡ

Fig. 4
Therefore v=v ut

Acceleration
The acceleration defines the time rate of change of the velocity Therefore,
a=v̇ =v̇ ut + v u̇t

For the determination of the time derivative u̇, note that as the particle moves along the arc
ds in time dt , the magnitude of the unit vector ut is preserved but its direction changes and
therefore becomes u't as shown in a part of the Fig. 5 below. From the b part of the figure
below u't =ut + d u t where d ut is between the arrowheads of ut ∧u't and lies on the
infinitesimal arc of radius ut =1. Therefore d ut has a magnitude of d ut =( 1 ) dθ with its
direction defined by un. Consequently, d ut =d θu n and the time derivative becomes u̇=θ̇u n
However, ds=ρdθ from the figure (a), then θ̇=ṡ / ρ

(a)
(b)
Fig. 5

Therefore,

ṡ v
u̇t =θ̇ un= = un
ρun ρ

Substituting for the acceleration equation

a=a t u t +a n u n

Where a t= v̇ or a t ds=vdv
2
v
and a n=
ρ
a t∧an are mutually perpendicular components and the magnitude of acceleration is always
positive.
magnitude of acceleration , a=√ a2n +a 2t

Note the following two special cases:

i. When the particle moves along a straight line then radius of curvature approaches
infinity, that is ρ → ∞ which implies that that normal accelerationa n=0. Therefore
a=a t= v̇ . We can then conclude that the tangential component of acceleration
represents the time rate of change in magnitude of the velocity.
ii. When the particle moves along a curve with a constant speed, then a t= v̇=0 and
2
v
a=a n= . Therefore the normal component of acceleration represents the time rate of
ρ
change in the direction of velocity. The normal component of acceleration is also
referred to as the centripetal acceleration and it acts towards the center of curvature

Examples
1. A bull-roarer is a piece of wood that produces a roaring sound when
attached to the end of a string and whirled around in a circle. Determine
the magnitude of the normal acceleration of a bull-roarer when it is spun in
a circle of radius 0.9 m at a speed of 20 m/s.

2. The boat is traveling along the circular path with a speed of v=( 0.0625 t 2 ) m/s where t
is in seconds. Determine the magnitude of its acceleration when t = 10 s

3. The car travels up the hill with a speed of v = (0.2x) m/s, where x is in meters,
measured from A. Determine the magnitude of its acceleration when it is at point s = 50
m, where ρ = 500 m.
4. The car in the figure below travels at a constant speed from the bottom A of the dip to
the top B of the hump. If the radius of curvature of the road at A is ρ A =120 m and the
car acceleration at A is 0.4g, determine the car speed v. If the acceleration at B must be
limited to 0.25g, determine the minimum radius of curvature ρ B of the road at B.

Practice Problem
1. A monorail train starts from rest on a curve of radius 400 m and
accelerates at the constant rate at. If the maximum total acceleration of the train must
not exceed 1.5 m/s2, determine (a) the shortest distance in which the train can reach a
speed of 72 km/h, (b) the corresponding constant rate of acceleration at.
2. A robot arm moves so that P travels in a circle about Point B, which is not
moving. Knowing that P starts from rest, and its speed increases at a constant
rate of 10 mm/s2, determine (a) the magnitude of the acceleration when t = 4 s,
(b) the time for the magnitude of the acceleration to be 80 mm/s2.

3. To anticipate the dip and hump in the road, the driver of a car applies her brakes to
produce uniform deceleration. Her speed is 100 km/h at the bottom A of the dip and
50 km/h at the top C of the hump, which is 120 m along the road from A. if the
passengers experience a total acceleration of 3 m/s 2 at A and if the radius of curvature
of the hump at C is 150 m. Calculate (a) the radius of curvature at A (b) the
acceleration at the point of inflection B and (c) the total acceleration at C.
4. A motorist starts from rest at point A on a circular entrance ramp when t = 0, increases
the speed of her automobile at a constant rate and enters the highway at point B.
Knowing that her speed continuesto increase at the same rate until it reaches 100 km/h
at point C, determine (a) the speed at point B, (b) the magnitude of the total
acceleration when t = 20 s

5. The car starts from rest at s = 0 and increases its speed at at = 4 m/s2. Determine the
time when the magnitude of acceleration becomes 20 m/s 2. At what position s does
this occur?

6. In the design of a timing mechanism, the motion of pin A in the fixed circular slot is
controlled by the guide B, which is being elevated by its lead screw with a constant
upward velocity vo = 2m/s for an interval of its motion. Calculate both the normal and
tangential components of acceleration of pin A as it passes the position for which θ =
30°.
7. The figure below shows two possible paths for negotiating an unbanked turn on a
horizontal portion of a race course. Path A-A follows the centerline of the road and has
radius of curvature ρ A =85 m , while path B-B uses the width of the road to good
advantage in increasing the radius of curvature to ρ B=200 m. If the drivers limit their
speeds in their curves so that the lateral acceleration does not exceed 0.8g, determine the
maximum speed for each path.

8. A golfer hits a golf ball from point A with an initial velocity of 50 m/s at an angle of 25°
with the horizontal. Determine the radius of curvature of the trajectory described by the
ball (a) at point A, (b) at the highest point of the trajectory.