Duke University,
EGR 244L Dynamics Pratt School of Engineering Spring 2024
Homework 4
1. A roller coaster car can be modeled as a point mass m moving along a sinusoidal track
y = sin x, where x is the horizontal position of the mass, and y is the vertical position.
The car is propelled with a known force F directed along the track, such that the car
moves with instantaneous speed v and an instantaneous rate of change of speed v̇.
~u2
P
v
g
O ~u1
a) Write the velocity and acceleration vectors from O to P . (These expressions should
be general, for anywhere along the track, and only in terms of the above given
variables or constants.)
b) Use Newton’s second law to derive scalar equations and solve for v̇ and the normal
force.
c) Consider the moment the car is at x = ⇡/2 at the top of the hill. If the roller
coaster is most exhilarating when the normal force on the car is zero at the top of
the hill, find the magnitude of the velocity at this point.
1
Duke University,
EGR 244L Dynamics Pratt School of Engineering Spring 2024
2. One way to measure acceleration is by taking potentiometer data from a pendulum
that may be accelerating, called a “pendulous accelerometer.”
x
O0
O ~u1
` g
✓
~u2
Consider a box at O0 a distance x away from O as the box accelerates at a constant
rate ẍ = a.
a) Choose one or two additional reference frames and draw them on a figure modeling
the system.
b) Find the equation of motion in ✓.
3. A car is being transported in a trailer at speed v(t) when it is jostled loose and rolls
down an attached 3 m high, 4 m long ramp. Let the bottom of the ramp be point O0
(fixed to the ramp). Model the car as a point mass (particle) of mass m at point P ,
and x is measured from O0 to P .
v
~u2
x P
I
3m
~u1
O O0 4m
a) Find the magnitude of the normal force on the car and write the equations of motion
for the car in x.
b) What condition(s) must be satisfied for a reference frame fixed at O0 to be inertial?
2
Duke University,
EGR 244L Dynamics Pratt School of Engineering Spring 2024
4. A package is slipping on a conveyor belt as the belt accelerates at a constant a.
~u2 a a
I ~b2
µs , µk µs , µk
B xb
x
~b1
30o O0 30o
~u1
O
(a) Inertial reference frame, x measured from (b) Reference frame B fixed to the belt, xb
O. measured from O0 .
a) Using coordinate x defined from O to the package, find the magnitude of the normal
force on the package.
b) Find the equation of motion in x.
c) Using coordinate xb defined from O0 to the package, find the magnitude of the
normal force on the package.
d) Find the equation of motion in xb .
e) Reconcile your two equations of motion and state which approach you prefer.