The equation of evolution of the angular momentum and the

instantaneous axis of rotation

Claudia G. Giribet
a
and Martn C. Ruiz de Aza
b
Department of Physics, acultad de Ciencias !"actas y #aturales, $ni%ersity of &uenos
Aires, Ciudad $ni%ersitaria, Pab. ', ()*+,- &uenos Aires, Ar.entina.
(Recei%ed
/e present a discussion about the 0instantaneous a"is of rotation1 as an ade2uate ori.in
of momenta in the e2uation of e%olution of the an.ular momentum, a sub3ect that usually
is ill interpreted at the under.raduate le%el. 4hree simple e"amples are presented that can
contribute to a better understandin. of the topic.
PAC56 *7.*8.9f, *7.78.93
I. INTRODUCTION
'n the discussion about the an.ular momentum
O
L

of a system of particles in
!lementary Mechanics, a sub3ect that al:ays deser%es special attention is the choice of an
ade2uate ori.in of momenta
)
. 'n particular, the e2uation of e%olution of
O
L

has different
forms, accordin. to this choice. /e ha%e obser%ed that in many te"tboo;s
+,<,*,7,=
, this
sub3ect is not dealt :ith in a complete :ay and a full discussion is a%oided, perhaps in
order to present it at a more elementary le%el. >o:e%er, :e obser%e that this 0simplified1
treatment of the topic may lead, in .eneral, to some misinterpretations, by most students
a
!lectronic mail6 .iribet?df.uba.ar
b
!lectronic mail6 azua?df.uba.ar
in under.raduate courses. 'n particular, the correct e2uation of motion of
O
L

in ri.id
body dynamics ta;in. the 0instantaneous a"is of rotation1 ('AR- as ori.in is a sub3ect that
must be considered :ith care, as a superficial analysis can lead to erroneous conclusions.
/e present here a discussion, based on t:o simple e"amples, that, :e belie%e sheds some
clarity about this particular sub3ect.
Equation of evolution of the angular momentum
4he an.ular momentum of a system of # particles about an ori.in @ is e"pressed
as6

=
=
N
i
i O i O
p r r L
)
- (

()-
:here i
r

is the position of mass mi, i

p

is its linear momentum and O

r

is the position of
point @, all of them relati%e to the reference frame. Assumin. that point @ is mo%in. :ith
%elocity
- (t v
O

, :e can deri%e an e2uation of e%olution for the an.ular momentum

O
L

=
+ =
N
i
i O i
i
O i
O
p v v
dt
p d
r r
dt
L d
)
- ( - (

(+-
'n this last e"pression, 8

=
i i
p v and

+ =
i j
ij
ext
i
i
F F
dt
p d

, :here
ext
i
F

is the resultant of
e"ternal forces actin. on mi and

i j
ij
F

is the sum of internal forces on particle i, due to

the rest of the particles. 't is easy to see that
8 - (
)


=

= i j
ij
N
i
O i
F r r
, if internal forces
are collinear :ith the relati%e position of each pair of particles. 4herefore6

= =
=
N
i
N
i
i O
ext
i O i
O
p x v F x r r
dt
L d
) )
- (

(<-
and thus, the time rate of chan.e of the an.ular momentum about a certain mo%in. ori.in
@ of a system of particles is6
CM O O
O
P t v N
dt
L d

= - ( (*-
:here
O
N

stands for the sum of all e"ternal tor2ues actin. on the system about the same
point as
O
L

,
- (t v
O

is the linear %elocity of the ori.in @ and

CM
P

is the linear
momentum of the system.
!2. * is reduced to the :ell9;no:n form6
O O
N L
dt
d

=
(7-
in particular cases, i.e., if and only if the ori.in @ is chosen as a- a fi"ed point in space,
b- the center of mass (CM- of the system, or c- a point in space that mo%es relati%e to the
reference frame, :ith its %elocity
- (t v
O

parallel to the linear momentum of the system,

CM
P

. 4he particular case of a point lyin. do:n on the 'AR of a ri.id body chosen as
ori.in of momenta is considered no: in detail.
II. THREE EX!"#E$
)- A particular case, :hich is e"plained in most elementary courses of Mechanics is that
of a ri.id cylinder :hich rolls do:n an inclined plane :ithout slidin.. 'n this case, it is
usual to refer the e2uation of e%olution of the an.ular momentum to a- the CM of the
body or b- a point lyin. do:n on the instantaneous a"is of rotation ('AR-. 'n both cases,
the dynamic e2uation considered is !2. 7, :ith the tor2ue of the un;no:n static frictional
force in the former, and the tor2ue of the (;no:n- :ei.ht force in the latter. >o:e%er, the
reason of the %alidity of this e2uation for case b- is in .eneral not .i%en e"plicitly. 4his
fact could lead to the conclusion (and most te"tboo;s o%erloo; this discussion- that !2. 7
is also %alid if the ori.in @ is a point on the 'AR, in any other situation. AetBs analyze t:o
possible interpretations for a .eneral situation6
(i- 4he e2uation of e%olution !2. 7 holds choosin. as ori.in a point @ lyin. on the 'AR,
because 8

=
O
v 6 the ori.in @ is instantly at rest.
(ii- 4he e2uation of e%olution, !2. 7, does not hold in .eneral if @ is on the 'AR, as
- (t v
O

in !2. * is the %elocity of the point of space (not the material point of the system-
ta;en as ori.in of momenta, and its %elocity is not null, in the .eneral case, althou.h the
%elocity of the material point on the 'AR is zero at e%ery instant.
As it :ill be seen, the correct ans:er is interpretation (ii-. A second e"ample :ill
illustrate this conclusion.
+- AetBs consider the mo%ement of a particle of mass m at the end of a li.ht rope, :hich
is :indin. around a fi"ed cylinder. Consider that all the mo%ement is contained in a
frictionless horizontal plane (i.ure )-. Point C is the point of contact bet:een the strin.
and the cylinder. As the cylinder is at rest and the strin. does not slip, point C on the
strin. has the same %elocity as the contact point on the cylinder, that is, a zero %elocity.
4hen, the mo%ement of mass m can be considered as an instantaneous circular motion
:ith center in point C (:hich is chan.in. :ith time-, and the (chan.in.- strin. len.th
D r l

=
is the cur%ature radius of the motion. 4herefore, the 'AR passes throu.h point C.
>ence, the tension T

in the rope is al:ays perpendicular to the %elocity v

of the mass
and the (;inetic- ener.y of the mass is conser%ed. 4herefore, it is concluded that the
speed
v

is constant. AetBs consider no: the problem analyzin. the an.ular momentum
of the mass. 4a;in. as ori.in the fi"ed point @ in i.. ), the e2uation of e%olution of the
an.ular momentum is !2. 7, :hich results6
z RT N
dt
L d
O
O
E
= =

(=-
:here the tor2ue is clearly not null. 'f no: the ori.in of momentum is ta;en as point C,
the tor2ue about this point on the 'AR is null. 4hen, if !2. 7 :as correct, it could be
concluded that
v

is not constantF 'n fact6

z L z v mr L N
dt
L d
Q Q
Q
E E
D 8 = = = =

(G-
:here L is a constant. As r chan.es :ith time, then
D mr
L
v =

:ould chan.e :ith time

too. 4he mista;e is due to interpretation (i-. As it :as already mentioned, in the .eneral
e2uation of e%olution of the an.ular momentum, !2. *,
- (t v
O

is the %elocity of the point

in space chosen as ori.in (follo:in. interpretation (ii--, and it is not the %elocity of the
material points :hich lie, in each instant, on the 'AR (interpretation (i--. 4hen, the correct
e2uation of e%olution of the an.ular momentum :ith ori.in in C is6
CM Q
Q
P t v
dt
L d

= - (
(,-
:hich leads to the same result as the ener.y conser%ation e2uation. 4his is easily seen
ta;in. into account that the rhs of !2. , is
z v mv P t v
Q CM Q
E
- ( =

(H-
and its lhs is6
z
dt
dv
r vv m z
dt
dv
r
dt
dr
v m z
dt
v mr d
dt
L d
Q
Q
E
D
E
D
D
E
- D (

+ =

+ = =

()8-
4herefore, !2. , also leads to
8 =
dt
dv

'n the case of the rollin. body, the e2uation of e%olution to be considered by
choosin. an ori.in lyin. do:n on the 'AR is !2. 7, because the chosen point in space
mo%es follo:in. a tra3ectory that is con.ruent to the tra3ectory of the CM of the system.
4hat is, the additional term in !2. * is zero in this case, as
- (t v
O

is parallel to
CM
P

at
e%ery instant. !"ample +, on the other hand, is a %ery simple situation in :hich the 'AR
and the CM follo: different tra3ectories, thus allo:in. a clarifyin. discussion of the
.eneral case. 4his particular e"ample :as chosen because of its simplicity and, in fact, it
in%ol%es the mo%ement of a sin.le point particle. @nce the correct :ay of handlin. this
;ind of situation is established, it is not difficult to find other e"amples.
<- Consider, for instance, an inhomo.eneous cylinder that rolls :ithout slidin. on a
horizontal plane (i.ure +-. 4he center of mass (CM- lies at a point a distance d apart
from the central a"is of the cylinder. As in the first e"ample, the 'AR of the cylinder
passes throu.h the point of contact @ :ith the surface. 4he CM rotates around the center
a"is of the cylinder, describin. a cycloid. 4herefore, points @ and CM describe %ery
different tra3ectories.
4he e2uation of motion (!@M- of the system can be readily obtained from the
conser%ation of ener.y, ta;in. into account that the mo%ement of the cylinder can be
considered, instantaneously, as a pure rotation around the 'AR passin. throu.h point @6

mgdsin
dt
d
!
O
+ =
+
- -( (
+
)
())-
:here
- (
O

is the moment of inertia of the cylinder :ith respect to the a"is passin.
throu.h @. 't is a function of because it ta;es different %alues dependin. on the position
of the CM. As
- -( (
dt
d
L
O O

=
, the conser%ed ener.y ! can be :ritten as6

mgdsin

L
!
O
O
+ =
- ( +
+
()+-
4he !@M can be obtained in terms of
- -( (
dt
d
L
O O

=
, by ta;in. the time deri%ati%e in
!2. )+. 't is obtained6
dt
d
mgd
dt
d

L
dt
dL

L
O
O
O O
O
O

cos
- (
- ( + - (
8
+
+
+ =
()<-
Rearran.ement of terms yields6
dt
d
dt
d
mgd
dt
dL
O O

- (
+
)
cos + = ()*-
't is clearly seen that the time rate of chan.e of LO does not depend only on the tor2ue of
the applied forces (first term in the rhs of !2. )*-, but there is an additional term. 't can
be pro%en that this term has the form re2uired by !2. *, i.e.6
z
dt
d
mRd "
dt
d
md x
dt
d
mdsin x
dt
d
R P t v
CM O
E
- ( cos -
E
cos
E
( -
E
( - (
+

= + =

()7-
'n fact, it is found6
- + (
+ +
Rdsin d R m
CM O
+ + + = ()=-
4a;in. into account that 8 =
dt
d
CM
, !2. )* can be re9e"pressed as6
+
- ( cos
- (
+
)
dt
d
mRd
dt
d
dt
d
O

= ()G-
:hich is e"actly the result in !2. )7. 't is therefore pro%en that the second term in the
!@M of LO in !2. )* accounts for the 0inertial1 term
CM O
P t v

- ( of !2. *.
III. CONC#U$ION$
4he sub3ect of obtainin. the correct ans:ers for the correct reasons is certainly a
fundamental one in elementary physics courses. 'n this :or; :e ha%e sho:n the
importance of clarifyin. e"plicitly the meanin. of
- (t v
O

as the time rate of chan.e of

the position of the ori.in of momenta in !2. *. 4he three e"amples presented here sho:
the ;inds of confusion that can arise if this %elocity is incorrectly interpreted as that of the
material point of the ri.id body occupyin. such position, :hen the 'AR is ta;en as ori.in
of momenta. $ne"pectedly, this misinterpretation leads to the correct results in many
te"tboo; situations. /e ha%e sho:n that this is only the case :hen the 'AR and the center
of mass of the system follo: parallel tra3ectories. /e ha%e also sho:n the correct :ay of
handlin. the problem by considerin. t:o simple situations in :hich this is not the case.
i.ure )6 A particle of mass m at the end of a li.ht cord, :indin. around a fi"ed cylinder.
All the mo%ement is in a frictionless horizontal plane.
r

v
R
%
D r

m
T

i.ure +6 An inhomo.eneous cylinder rollin. :ithout slidin. on a horizontal plane.

d
O
)
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