The Lagrangian Method

Engineering Physics

Student: Ognjen Grozdanović

Preface
The goal of this seminar is to introduce the principle of the Euler-Lagrange equation to solve the
problems in classical mechanics. In agreement with proffesor Bazso Filip, this seminar is going
to be written in english because i would like to practice on my english language. This seminar is
divided in two chapters. Chapter 1 is going to explain the basic principle of the Euler-Lagrange
equation, and in chapter 2 some more advanced problems are going to be solved with the Euler-
Lagrange equation.
Contents
Introduction to the Euler-Lagrange equation

Worked Problems

References
 Introduction to the Euler-Lagrange equation

Many interesting models can be created from classical mechanics problems in which the simple
motions of objects are studied. There are many ways in which you can create models from these
simple systems. The most general is to use the Euler-Lagrange equations. To use these, you must
compute the energy of the system you want to study. There are two kinds of energy: potential
energy which is stored energy such as when a spring is compressed or an object is lifted up a
height; and kinetic energy which derives from the motion of the object.
There are many sources of potential energy. Two most common are:
Gravitational Energy. This is simply Eg = mgh where m is the mass, h is the height, and g is
gravity.
Spring energy. This is the energy held by compressing a spring or extending it. The simplest
(Hooke’s law) spring has an energy, Eh = (½)K(l – l0)2 where K is a constant and l0 is the rest
length of the spring.
In general, kinetic energy is a sum of terms of the form, (mv2)/2 where v is the velocity. If things
are in more than one dimension, then all the component velocities must be taken.
Kinetic energy will be denoted with the letter T and potential energy with letter V in the
following. The difference between the the kinetic energy and the potential energy is called the
Lagrangian and it is denoted with the capital letter L.
L = T-V (KE-PE)
If the equation of motion of some particular mechanical system is to be described then we can
solve the problem using the Euler-Lagrange equation:

d ∂L
(
dt ∂ ̇ ẋ ) - ∂∂ Lx = 0
where ẋ and x are velocity and displacement in generalized coordinates, respectevely.

The best way to understand this equation is to do some examples.

Example 1. A body with mass m is in free fall from a vertical distance y (figure 1.1). Determine
the equations of motion with Euler-Lagrange equation.

Figure 1.1

The kinetic energy of the body is equal to (1/2)mv2 and the potential energy is mgy.
The velocity v is going to be written in the generalized coordinate, therefore v = ẋ, and y = x.
1
The lagrangian is equal to L = KE-PE = T-V = m ẋ2 – mgx
2

∂L ∂L d ∂L
∂x
= -mg
∂̇ ẋ
= m ẋ (
dt ∂ ̇ ẋ ) = mẍ
The Euler-Lagrange equation states that:

d ∂L ∂L
(
dt ∂ ̇ ẋ )- ∂x
=0
Therefore:

mẍ - (-mg) = 0
mẍ + mg = 0
 ẍ + g = 0
ẍ = -g
The acceleration of the body is –g, so a = -9.81 (m/s2).
The velocity is goint to be:

ẋ = ∫ ẍ = -gt + c
When t = 0 the velocity is going to be V0, then:

V = V0 – gt
The displacement is goint to be:
2
X = ∫ ẋ = V0 t – g2t + C
When t=0 the displacement is going to be y0, then:

gt2
y = y0 + V0 t –
2
Example 2. A body with mass m is connected to a spring with the spring constant k (figure 1.2).
Determine the equations of motion using the Euler-Lagrange equation.

Figure 1.2
 1 1
The kinetic energy of the body is going to be T = mv2 = mẋ2
2 2
1
The potential energy of the body is going to be V = kx2
2
1 1
The lagrangian is equal to L = KE – PE = T – V = mẋ2 – kx2
2 2

∂L ∂L d ∂L
∂x
= -kx
∂̇ ẋ
= m ẋ (
dt ∂ ̇ ẋ ) = mẍ
The Euler-Lagrange equation states that:

d ∂L
(
dt ∂ ̇ ẋ ) - ∂∂ Lx = 0
Therefore:

mẍ - (-kx) = 0
mẍ + kx = 0
k
ẍ + m x = 0

k k
w=
√ m
is the angular frequency, and w2 =
m

ẍ + w2x = 0
x=Acos(wt), where A is amplitude.
 Worked problems
Problem 1. A block of mass m is held motionless on a frictionless plane of mass M
and angle of inclination θ (figure 2.1). The plane rests on a frictionless horizontal surface. The
block is released. What is the horizontal acceleration of the plane?

Figure 2.1
Solution:

Let x1 be the horizontal coordinate of the plane (with positive x 1 to the left), and let x2
be the horizontal coordinate of the block (with positive x 2 to the right); see Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2
The relative horizontal distance between the plane and the block is x1 + x2, so the
height fallen by the block is (x1 + x2) tan θ. The Lagrangian is therefore
1 1
L= M ẋ21 + m¿
2 2
The equations of motion
d ∂L
(
dt ∂ ̇ ẋ1 )
= M ẍ 1 + m(ẍ 1 + ẍ 2 )tan 2 θ
 ∂L
=mgtan θ
∂ x1

d ∂L
(
dt ∂ ̇ ẋ2 )
= m ẍ 2 + m(ẍ 1 + ẍ 2 )tan 2 θ

∂L
=mgtan θ
∂ x2

The Euler-Lagrange equations yields

M ẍ 1 + m ( ẍ1 + ẍ 2 ) tan 2 θ=mgtanθ

m ẍ 2 + m ( ẍ1 + ẍ 2 ) tan 2 θ=mgtanθ

The difference of these two equations immediately yields

M ẍ 1−m ẍ 2=0

After some simplifications in the equations we get

mg sin θ cosθ
ẍ 1=
M +msin 2 θ
Problem 2. Two massless sticks of length 2r, each with a mass m fixed at its middle are hinged at
an end. One stands on top of the other, as shown in Figure 2.3. The bottom end of the lower stick
is hinged at the ground. They are held such that the lower stick is vertical, and the upper one is
tilted at a small angle Є with respect to the vertical. They are then released. At this instant, what
are the angular accelerations of the two sticks? Work in the approximation where Є is very small.

Figure 2.3
Solution:
Let θ1(t) and θ2(t) be defined as in Fig. 6.38. Then the position of the bottom mass in Cartesian
coordinates is (r sin θ1, r cos θ1), and the position of the top mass is (2r sin θ1 − r sin θ2, 2r cos θ1
+ r cos θ2). So the potential energy of the system is

V(θ1, θ2) = mgr(3 cos θ1 + cos θ2).

Figure 2.4

The kinetic energy of the bottom mass is simply mr2 (θ̇ 1)2 /2. Taking the derivative of the top
mass’s position given above, we find that the kinetic energy of the top mass is

1
mr 2 ((2cosθ1θ̇ 1- cosθ2θ̇ 2)2 + (-2sinθ1θ̇ 1- sinθ2θ̇ 2)2)
2

We can simplify this, using the small-angle approximations. The terms involving sinθ are fourth
order in the small θ’s, so we can neglect them. Also, we can approximate cosθ by 1, because this
entails dropping only terms of at least fourth order. So the top mass’s kinetic energy becomes
(1/2)mr2(2θ̇ 1- θ̇ 2)2.

Using the small-angle approximation cos θ ≈ 1 – θ2/2 to rewrite the potential energy, we have

1
L≈ mr 2 (5(θ̇ 1)2 - 4θ̇ 1θ̇ 2 + (θ̇ 2)2) - mgr (4- 1.5(θ̇ 1)2 – 0.5(θ̇ 2)2 )
2

The equations of motion obtained from varying θ1 and θ2 are, respectively

3g
5(θ̈ 1) - 2θ̈ 2 = θ
r 1
g
-2(θ̈ 1) + θ̈ 2 = θ2
r
At the instant the sticks are released, we have θ1 = 0 and θ2 = Є.

2 gЄ 5 gЄ
θ̈ 1 =
r
, and θ̈ 2 =
r
.

Problem 3. A pendulum consists of a mass m and a massless stick of length l.

The pendulum support oscillates horizontally with a position given by x(t) = A cos(ωt); see
Figure 2.5. What is the general solution for the angle of the pendulum as a function of time?

Figure 2.5
Solution:

Let θ be defined as in Figure 2.6. With x(t) = A cos(ωt), the position of the mass m is given by
(X ,Y )m = (x + l sin θ, −l cos θ).
 Figure 2.6
Taking the derivative to obtain the velocity, we find that the square of the speed is
(Vm)2 = Ẋ2 + Ẏ2 = l2 (θ̇ )2 + ẋ2 + 2lẋθ̇ cos θ,

which also follows from applying the law of cosines to the horizontal ẋ and tangential lθ̇ parts of
the velocity vector. The Lagrangian is therefore

1
L= m (l2(θ̇ )2 + ẋ 2 + 2lẋ θ̇ cos θ ) + mgl cos θ
2

d
(ml2(θ̇ ) + mlẋ cos θ ) = -mlẋ θ̇ sinθ –mglsin θ
dt
⇒ lθ̈ + ẍ cos θ = −g sin θ.
ẍ = −Aω2 cos(ωt)
lθ̈ −Aω2 cos(ωt) + g sin θ = 0.
A small-angle approximation gives
θ̈ + (ω0)2 θ =aω2 cos(ωt)

g A
where ω0 =
√ l
and a = . The solution is
l
where C and φ are determined by the initial conditions.
Problem 4. A rigid T consists of a long rod glued perpendicular to another rod of length l that is
pivoted at the origin. The T rotates around in a horizontal plane with constant frequency ω. A
mass m is free to slide along the long rod and is connected to the intersection of the rods by a
spring with spring constant k and relaxed length zero (see Figure 2.7). Find r(t), where r is the
position of the mass along the long rod. There is a special value of ω; what is it, and why is it
special?

Figure 2.7
Solutions:

If the l-rod makes an angle of wt with the x axis, then the coordinates of the mass are

x = l cos(wt) - r sin(wt) → ẋ = w(-l sin(wt) - r cos(wt)) - ṙ sin (wt)

y = l cos(wt) + r sin(wt) → ẏ = w(l cos(wt) - r sin(wt)) + ṙ cos (wt)

v2 = ẋ2 + ẏ2

1 1
L= m (w2 (l2 + r2)+ ṙ 2 + 2wl ṙ ) - k r 2
2 2

The equation of motion is

k
mr̈ = mw2r - kr → r̈ + ( −w2) r = 0.
m

Problem 5. A pendulum made of a spring with a mass m on the end; Figure 2.8. The spring is
arranged to lie in a straight line. The equilibrium length of the spring is l. Let the spring have
length l+x(t), and let its angle with the vertical be θ̇ (t). Assuming that the motion takes place in a
vertical plane, fint the equations of motion for x and θ̇ .
 Figure 2.8

Solution: The kinetic energy may be broken up into radian and tangential parts, so we have

1
T = 2 m(ẋ2 + (l + x)2(θ̇ )2)

The potential energy comes from both gravity and the spring, so we have

1 2
V(x, θ) = -mg(l+x)cos θ + kx
2
Lagrangian is therefore
1 1
L=T-V= m(ẋ2 + (l + x)2(θ̇ )2) + mg(l+x)cos θ - kx2
2 2
There are two variables here, x and θ.
d ∂L ∂L
(
dt ∂ ̇ ẋ )
=
∂x
→ mẍ = m (l + x)(θ̇ )2 + mgcos θ – kx

and
 d ∂L
(
dt ∂ ̇ θ̇ ) = ∂∂ θ̇L → m(l+ x) θ̈ + 2mẋ θ̇ = −mg sin θ.

References
1. Dr Luka Vujosevic “Zbirka resenih zadataka iz dinamike”
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uJaKJASKnY&list=PLX2gX-
ftPVXWK0GOFDi7FcmIMMhY_7fU9
3. John L. Troutman “Variational Calculus and Optimal Control”
4. S. Pivko “Mehanika- Dinamika”