ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

College of Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Engineering Mechanics II
MEng2102
Dr. Abdulbasit M.
March 2024
Plane Curvilinear Motion
 When a particle moves along a curve other than a straight line,
we say that the particle is in curvilinear motion.
 Plane Curvilinear motion:
 The analysis of motion of a particle along a curved path that lies
on a single plane.
 Consider the continuous motion of a particle along a plane curve.
• - At time t, the particle is at position P, which is located by the
position vector r measured from some convenient fixed origin
o.
 t  t , the particle is at P’ located by the position
- At time

vector r  r .
- The vector Δr joining p and p’ represents the change in the
position vector during the time interval Δt (displacement) .
• The distance traveled by the particle as it moves along the
path from P to P’ is the scalar length Δs measured along the

path.

• The displacement of the particle, that represents the vector

change of position and is clearly independent of the choice of
origin.
• The average velocity of the particle between P and P’ defined as:
r
V av 
t
• which is a vector whose direction is that of  r.
• The instantaneous velocity, v

r dr 
v lim vav lim  r
t  0 t  0 t dt
Note: As ∆t approaches zero, the direction of r approaches to the
tangent of the path. Hence the velocity V is always a vector tangent to
the path.
ds 
v v  s
dt

• The derivative of a vector is itself a vector

having both a magnitude and a direction.
Note: there is a clear distinction between the magnitude of the
derivative and the derivative of the magnitude.

- The magnitude of the derivative.

- The derivative of the magnitude


dr
 r  v v  speed
dt
d r dr 
 r
dt dt
 
r
- The rate at which the length of the position vectorr
is changing.

• The magnitude of the vector v is called the speed of the particle.

'
pp s
v lim lim
t  0 t t  0 t

ds
v
dt
 Consider the following figure
v
- let the velocity at p be 
- let the velocity at p’ be v
 Let us draw both vectors v and v’ from
the same origin o’.
 The vector ∆v joining Q and Q’
represents the change in the velocity of
the particle during the time interval ∆t.
• Average acceleration, of the particle
v
between P and P’ is defined as t ,
which is a vector and whose direction
is that of ∆v.
v
aav 
t
 • Instantaneous acceleration, a
 
v dv
a lim aav lim  v  r
t dt
Note: The direction of the acceleration of a particle in curvilinear
motion is neither tangent to the path nor normal to the path.
 Rectangular co-ordinates (x-y-z)

 This is particularly useful for describing motions where the x,y

and z-components of acceleration are independently
generated.
 When the position of a particle P is defined at any instant by its
rectangular coordinate x,y and z, it is convenient to resolve the
velocity v and the acceleration a of the particle into
rectangular components.
 Resolving the position vector r of the particle into rectangular
components,

 Differentiating

 dr d
v   ( xiˆ  yˆj  zkˆ )
dt dt
  
v x i  y j  z k
• All of the following are equivalent:

 dr d
v   ( xiˆ  yˆj  zkˆ )
dt dt
dx ˆ dy ˆ dz ˆ
 i j k
dt dt dt
x iˆ  y  ˆj  z kˆ
v x iˆ  v y ˆj  v z kˆ
• Since the speed is defined as the magnitude of the velocity, we have:

v  v x2  v y2  v z2
 Similarly,

 dv d
a  (v x iˆ  v y ˆj  v z kˆ)
dt dt
dv x ˆ dv y ˆ dv z ˆ
 i j k
dt dt dt
v x iˆ  v y ˆj  v z kˆ
xiˆ  yˆj  zkˆ
• The magnitude of the acceleration vector is:
a  a x2  a y2  a z2
 From the above equations that the scalar components of the
velocity and acceleration are
 

vx x vy  y vz z
  
ax x ay y az  z
 The use of rectangular components to describe the position, the
velocity and the acceleration of a particle is particularly effective
when the component ax of the acceleration depends only upon t,x

and/or vx, similarly for ay and az.

 The motion of the particle in the x direction, its motion in the y

direction, and its motion in the z direction can be considered
separately.
Projectile Motion
 An important application of two – dimensional kinematic theory

is the problem of projectile motion.

 To illustrate the kinematic analysis, consider a projectile

launched at point (xo, yo), with an initial velocity of vo, having

components (vo)x and (vo)y

 Assumptions

 Neglect the aerodynamic drag or air resistance , the earth

curvature and rotation,
 The altitude range is so small enough so that the acceleration
due to gravity can be considered constant, therefore;
 Rectangular coordinates are useful for the trajectory analysis.
 In the case of the motion of a projectile, it can be shown that
the components of the acceleration are


a x  x 0

a y  y  g

a z  z 0
Boundary conditions at

Position
x  x0  v x 0 t
1
y  y0 v y 0 t  gt 2
2
z  zo  v z ot
 Velocity 
v x  x v x 0

v y  y v y 0  gt

v z  z v zo
2 2
vy v yo  2 g ( y  yo )
 But for two dimensional motion of the projectile,
x  x0  v x 0 t
1
y  y0 v y 0 t  gt 2
2
 
v x  x v x 0

v y  y v y 0  gt
2 2
vy v yo  2 g ( y  yo )

 If the projectile is fired from the

origin O, we have xo= yo= 0 and
the equation of motion reduced
to
x v x 0 t
1 2
y v y 0 t  gt
2

v x v x 0
v y v y 0  gt
Normal and tangential coordinates
 When a particle moves along a curved path, it is sometimes
convenient to describe its motion using coordinates other than
Cartesian.
 When the path of motion is known, normal (n) and tangential
(t) coordinates are often used.
 They are path variables, which are measurements made along
the tangent t and normal n to the path of the particle.
 The coordinates are considered to move along the path with the
particle.
 In the n-t coordinate system, the origin is located on the particle
(the origin moves with the particle).
 The t-axis is tangent to the path (curve) at the instant
considered, positive in the direction of the particle’s motion.
 The n-axis is perpendicular to the t-axis with the positive
direction toward the center of curvature of the curve.
 The coordinate n and t will now be used to describe the
velocity v and acceleration .
 Similarly to the unit vectors i and j introduced in rectangular coordinate
system, unit vectors for t-n coordinate system can be used.
 For this purpose we introduce unit vector

ut -directed toward the direction of motion.

un-directed toward the center of curvature of the path.

• et or ut in the t-direction

• en or un in the n-direction
• During the differential increment of time dt, the particle
moves a differential distance ds along the curve from A to A’.

• With the radius of curvature

of the path at this position

designated by ρ, we see that

 velocity
 The magnitude of the velocity is:-
 ds d d
v v   
dt dt dt

 Since it is unnecessary to consider the differential change

in  between A and A’,
   
v vet  et ........................(1)
 Acceleration
 The acceleration a of the particle was defined by:
 dv d
a  vet 
dt dt
 Now differentiate the velocity by applying the ordinary rule
(chain rule) for the differentiation of the product of a scalar and
a vector.
 dv d dv det
a  vet   et  v
dt dt dt dt
  
a v et  v et
 Where the unit vector et now has a derivative because its
direction changes.
 dv det
a  et  v
dt dt . . . . . . . . . . . (1)

det
 To find the derivative of consider the following figure
dt
 Using vector addition

 Since the magnitude

| e’t |= | et | = 1

 The magnitude of det

 Dividing both sides by
2 sin d
det 2

d d

det
 As dβ→0, is tangent to the path; i.e, perpendicular to et .
d
 Taking the limit as

det sin d
lim  lim 2 1
d  0 d  d  0 d
2
 The vector obtained in the limit is a unit vector along the
normal to the path of the particle.

det det
lim  1
d  0 d d
 det
 But 1.en
d
det
 en   det d .en
d
 Dividing both sides by
det d
 .en
dt dt
 Then
det 1 ds det v
 .en   en
dt  dt dt 
 Equation (1) becomes
det dv v2 dv
a v  et  a  .en  .et
dt dt  dt
 We can write a an en  at et
 
v 2  2
where, an    and at v  

a a  an2  at2
Note:

• an is always directed towards the center of curvature of the path.

• at is directed towards the positive t-direction of the motion if the

speed v is increasing and towards the negative t-direction if the

2
speed v is decreasing. v

• At the inflection point in the curve, the normal acceleration,

goes to zero since ρ becomes infinity.

 Special case of motion

 Circular motion
2 
v but and v r 
an 


an r 2

dv d   d
at    r   r
dt dt   dt

at r 
  2
a r  et  r  en
• The particle moves along a path expressed as The radius of
curvature, , at any point on the path can be calculated from

3
 dy 2  2
1  ( ) 
 dx 
 xy  2
d y
2
dx
APPLICATIONS
Cars traveling along a clover-
leaf interchange experience
an acceleration due to a
change in speed as well as
due to a change in direction
of the velocity.
 Example 1

 At any instant the horizontal position of the weather balloon

in Fig. below is defined by x = (8t) ft, where t is in seconds. If
the equation of the path is y = x2/10, determine the
magnitude and direction of the velocity and the acceleration
when t = 2 s.
 Example 2

 The chipping machine is designed to eject wood chips at Vo =

25 ft/s as shown in Fig. If the tube is oriented at 30° from the
horizontal, determine how high, h, the chips strike the pile if at
this instant they land on the pile 20 ft from the tube.
 Example 3
• Starting from rest, a motorboat travels around a circular path of r
= 50 m at a speed that increases with time, v = (0.2 t2) m/s. Find

the magnitudes of the boat’s velocity and acceleration at the

instant t = 3 s.
 Example 4

 A jet plane travels along a vertical

parabolic path defined by the equation
y = 0.4x2. At point A, the jet has a
speed of 200 m/s, which is increasing
at the rate of 0.8 m/s2. Find the
magnitude of the plane’s acceleration
when it is at point A.
 Example 3

• A race traveling at a speed of 250km/h on the straightway

applies his brakes at point A and reduce his speed at a uniform
rate to 200km/h at C in a distance of 300m. Calculate the
magnitude of the total acceleration of the race car an instant
after it passes point B.
 Example 4

The motion of pin A in the fixed circular slot

is controlled by a guide B, which is being
elevated by its lead screw with a constant
upward velocity vo=2m/s for the interval of
its motion.
Calculate both the normal and tangential
components of acceleration of pin A as it
passes the position for which .