PHY3111-01 Homework : Central Force Motion

INSTRUCTION
Due date : 10/12/2012 23:59
Please write down the following sentence on your answer papers with
your signature.
I pledge my honor that I have taken this home work honestly without
copying the solutions. Signature:
Problem 1 (20pt)
Derive the eq.(8.39) by performing the integration (8.38).
(The integration constant must be chosen carefully when you dene the ori-
gin of .)
Problem 2 (20pt) (MT prob.8-1)
In section 8.2, we showed that the motion of two bodies interacting only
with each other by central forces could be reduced to an equivalent one-body
problem.
L =
1
2
m
1
| r
1
|
2
+
1
2
m
2
| r
2
|
2
U(|r
1
r
2
|) L =
1
2
| r|
2
U(r)
Note that this beautiful reduction cant be accomplished in general situation.
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Show by explicit calculation that such a reduction is also possible for bodies
moving in an external uniform gravitational eld.
Problem 3 (20pt) (MT prob.8-7)
Show that the areal velocity is constant for a particle moving under the
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For example, consider three particles m1, m2 and m3 with the following Lagrangian
L =
1
2
m1| r1|
2
+
1
2
m2| r2|
2
+
1
2
m3| r3|
2
U(|r1 r2|) U(|r2 r3|) U(|r3 r1|)
Can you reduce the above Lagrangian into less degrees of freedom by adopting the center of mass R =
m
1
r
1
+m
2
r
2
+m
3
r
3
m
1
+m
2
+m
3
? Think and try! You will nally realize that this reduction is non-trivial procedure.
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inuence of an attractive force given by F(r) = kr. Calculate the time
averages of the kinetic and potential energies and compare with the results
of the virial theorem.
(The virial theorem states that
T =
n + 1
2
U ,
when the potential is of the form
U = kr
n+1
.
where A is the average value of A over a period. T and U are the kinetic
and potential energy, respectively.)
Problem 4 (20pt) (MT prob.8-34 with supplementary questions)
Consider the problem of the particle moving on the surface of a cone, as
discussed in Examples 7.4 and 8.7.
(a) Show that the eective potential is
V
e
(r) =
l
2
2mr
2
+mgr cot ,
and draw a graph of V
e
versus r.
Beware! Here r is the radial coordinate in cylindrical coordinates.
(b) Show that the turning points of the motion can be found from the so-
lution of a cubic equation in r. Show further that only two of the roots are
physically meaningful, so that the motion is conned to lie within two hori-
zontal planes that cut the cone.
(c) Is a circular motion possible? If then, nd the radius r
0
of the circular
orbit. And check whether the motion is stable or not.
Problem 5 (20pt) (Application of the Binet equation)
Consider a particle moving under the inuence of a central force, and the
orbit is determined by r = constant.
(a) Determine the potential energy as a function of r.
(b) Determine r(t) and (t) and discuss on the periodicity of the particle. Is
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the motion periodic?
Problem 6 (20pt) (Determination of the orbit from the potential)
It has been found that the interaction between the atoms and diatomic
molecules can be described quite well by the Morse potential.
2
U(r) = D(e
2r
2e
r
)
with D, > 0.
By expanding the exponentials in a Taylors series one can see that for r 1
the potential is approximately harmonic(i.e., U(r) r
2
). This means that
the potential behaves like a spring at short distance. However, this is very
limited case. In general, the oscillation is nonlinear and the period depends
on the total energy of the system.
(a) Draw a graph of U(r).
(b) Consider a particle of mass m in the one-dimensional version of the Morse
potential.(There is no potential barrier due to the angular momentum.) Solve
for r(t), the motion of the particle, obtaining expressions for r(t) in the three
energy regions E < 0, E = 0, and E > 0, respectively.
(where E is the total energy.)
In particular, show that the motion is unbounded for E 0 but bounded for
E < 0.
(c) Find the minimum possible value for E and the turning points for the
motion.
(d) Draw a phase portrait
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of the motion.
Problem 7 (15pt) (Review on the LRL vector)
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Consider a mass in a Coulomb potential U(r) = k/r with the angular
momentum L and the momentum p.
(a) Show that the Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector
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See Karplus,M., and Porter,R.N., Atoms and Molecules, Benjamin/Cummings, Boston(1970)
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What is the phase portrait? See MT section 3.4. All possible phase paths of the system are depicted in two-
dimensional plane r(t) versus r(t) in this case.
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Here is nothing new. Youve already seen all the details on the blackboard! For the physical meaning of the LRL
vector, see the references in YSCEC cyber class
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A = p L k
r
r
is a constant of motion.
(b) Show that the vector A lies in the plane of the orbit.
(c) Calculate the inner product of A and r to obtain the equation of the orbit
and show thereby that the eccentricity is given by = A/k. And show that
A points along the major axis of an elliptical orbit. (Be rigorous! Calculate
the magnitude of A to compare with the eq.(8.40) of MT)
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