Assignment 4

Tyler Shendruk
October 27, 2010

1 Marion and Thornton Chapter 7

Hamilton’s Principle - Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics.

1.1 Problem 7.37



x1 
?u
m1  x2 = a − x1
?
y2 = b − y1
y1 u?
m3
?u
m2

Figure 1: Double Atwood machine.

Fig. 1 shows a double Atwood machine. What is the tension in the strings
(here of length a and b)?
In Example 7.8 of Marion and Thornton Chapter 7 an Atwood machine is
done using the Lagrangian method. It doesn’t use Lagrange multipliers. All that
is being asked now is that we repeat the problem using Lagrangian multipliers.
We keep x2 and y2 as seen in Fig. 1 as variables and use the constraints on
rope a and rope b:
fa (x1 , x2 ) = x1 + x2 − a = 0 (1a)
fb (y1 , y2 ) = y1 + y2 − b = 0. (1b)
The Lagrangian is then
U = −m1 gx1 − m2 g (x2 + y1 ) − m3 g (x2 + y2 ) (2a)
1 1 2 1 2
T = m1 ẋ21 + m2 (ẋ2 + ẏ1 ) + m3 (ẋ2 + ẏ2 ) (2b)
2 2 2
1 1 2 1 2
L = m1 ẋ21 + m2 (ẋ2 + ẏ1 ) + m3 (ẋ2 + ẏ2 )
2 2 2
+ m1 gx1 + m2 g (x2 + y1 ) + m3 g (x2 + y2 ) (2c)
Now then the Lagrange equations of motion are

1
Lagrange Equation for y1
∂L d ∂L ∂fa ∂fb
0= − + λa + λb
∂y1 dt ∂ y˙1 ∂y1 ∂y1
d
= m2 g − [m2 (ẋ2 + ẏ1 )] + 0 + λb
dt

λb
ẍ2 + ÿ1 = g + (3a)
m2

Lagrange Equation for y2

∂L d ∂L ∂fa ∂fb
0= − + λa + λb
∂y2 dt ∂ y˙2 ∂y2 ∂y2
d
= m2 g − [m3 (ẋ2 + ẏ2 )] + 0 + λb
dt

λb
ẍ2 + ÿ2 = g + (3b)
m3

Lagrange Equation for x1

∂L d ∂L ∂fa ∂fb
0= − + λa + λb
∂x1 dt ∂ x˙1 ∂x1 ∂x1
d
= m1 g − [m1 ẋ1 ] + λa + 0
dt
= m1 g − m1 ẍ1 + λa

λa
ẍ1 = g + (3c)
m1

Lagrange Equation for x2

∂L d ∂L ∂fa ∂fb
0= − + λa + λb
∂x2 dt ∂ x˙2 ∂x2 ∂x2
d
= m2 g + m3 g − [m2 (ẋ2 + ẏ1 ) + m3 (ẋ2 + ẏ2 )] + λa
dt

λa = m2 (ẍ2 + ÿ1 ) + m3 (ẍ2 + ÿ2 ) − (m2 + m3 ) g (3d)

One last thing, notice from the constraints Eq. (1) that

ẍ1 + ẍ2 = 0 (4a)

ÿ1 + ÿ2 = 0 (4b)

2
which means that we can rewrite Eq. (3) completely in terms of x1 and y1
 
λb
ẍ1 − ÿ1 = − g + (5a)
m2
 
λb
ẍ1 + ÿ1 = − g + (5b)
m3
λa
0=g+ − ẍ1 (5c)
m1
λa = −m2 (ẍ1 − ÿ1 ) − m3 (ẍ1 + ÿ1 ) − (m2 + m3 ) g. (5d)

Substituting the first two (Eq. (5a) and Eq. (5b) ) into the last gives

λa = −m2 (ẍ1 − ÿ1 ) − m3 (ẍ1 + ÿ1 ) − (m2 + m3 ) g

   
λb λb
= m2 g + + m3 g + − (m2 + m3 ) g
m2 m3

λa = 2λb (6)

We can also add Eq. (5a) and Eq. (5b) to get ẍ1 in terms of λb or
   
λb λb λb λb
2ẍ1 = − g + − g+ = −2g − −
m2 m3 m2 m3
then substitute it into Eq. (5c) to get
λa
0=g+ − ẍ1
m1
λa λb λb
=g+ +g+ +
m1 2m2 2m3
2λb λb λb
= 2g + + +
m1 2m2 2m3
 
4 1 1
= 4g + λb + +
m1 m2 m3
4g
λb = − 4 1 1
m1 + m2 + m3

4gm1 m2 m3
λb = − . (7)
4m2 m3 + m1 m3 + m1 m2

We’ve done all the work now we just identify the forces that ensure the
constraints are met are the the tensions in the ropes a and b. The tension is the
first rope a on m1 is
∂fa
Fa = λ a = λa = 2λb
∂x1

8gm1 m2 m3
Fa = − (8a)
4m2 m3 + m1 m3 + m1 m2

3
The tension on robe b for mass m2 is
∂fb
Fb = λb = λb
∂y1

4gm1 m2 m3
Fb = − (8b)
4m2 m3 + m1 m3 + m1 m2

and of course is the same for mass m3 .

Note the solutions for λa and λb mean that
λa
ẍ1 = g +
m1
 
4m2 m3
=g 1− (9a)
4m2 m3 + m1 m3 + m1 m2
ẍ2 = −ẍ1 (9b)
 
λb
ÿ1 = − g + − ẍ1
m3
 
λb 2λb
=− g+ −g−
m3 m1
m1 + 2m3
= −2g − λb
m1 m3
m1 + 2m3 4gm1 m2 m3
= −2g +
m1 m3 4m2 m3 + m1 m3 + m1 m2
 
2m1 m2 + 4m2 m3
= 2g −1 (9c)
4m2 m3 + m1 m3 + m1 m2
ÿ2 = −ÿ1 (9d)