From equation 1.

1 it is also possible to derive the linear impulse-

momentum principle. If the force acting on the particle is a known
function of time, the second law of Newton can be integrated in
time:

t
2
Fdt=

t
2
madt=[mV]
2
1
=m(V
2
V
1
) (1.8) t1 t1
where the momentum of a particle moving along a (possibly
curved) line is defined as mV. The term

t
2

Fdt is called the
impulse. This equation therefore shows that the difference
t
1
in momentum between t
2
and t
1
is equal to the impulse acting on
the particle. It is often
used for forces that result in a large acceleration in a short time
interval or when the force is known as a function of time.
Now looking at the moment of a force acting on a particle at a
certain distance from a reference point, the angular momentum
principle can be derived.
The moment due to the force about reference point A, as shown in
figure 1.1, is: M
A
= r
BA
F
Using equation 1.1, this can be written as: M
A
=r
BA
ma=r
BA
m
dV

dt
(1.9)
(1.10) It is possible to take the time derivative on the right hand
side outside the cross-product:

M
A
=
d
(rmV)m
dr
V=
d
(rmV)VmV=
d
(rmV) (1.11)
dtdtdt dt
The angular momentum of a particle is defined as: D
A
= r dmV
(1.12)

r
4
Chapter 1. Dynamics


dD = r dmV dm
dI = dmV

Figure 1.2: Angular momentum, two dimensional
dt
This expression can be integrated over time resulting in: (D
A
)
2
=
(D
A
)
1
+

t
2
M
A
dt
t
1

therefore M
A
=
d
D
A

(1.13)
r

(1.14) A particle can be a mass element that is part of a rigid body.
The momentum of such a
mass element dm with place vector r is defined as: dI = dmV =
dm (1.15)
The angular momentum dD of a mass element dm that is part of a
rigid body rotating about a fixed point is defined as:
dD = r dm (1.16)
In figure 1.2 an example is given of the angular momentum of a
mass element that is part of a two-dimensional rigid body. The
angular momentum of the mass element is a vector perpendicular
to the page, pointing towards the reader. The velocity of the mass
element can be written as:
= r ( 1 . 1 7 ) The angular momentum becomes:
dD=rdm =rdm(r) (1.18)
1.1 Newtonian Dynamics 5
The angular momentum of a mass element as defined in equation
1.16 can be differentiated in time:
d
d D = d m + r d m r ( 1 . 1 9 ) dt
The first term is a cross product of one vector with itself. This is
always equal to zero. The second term can be rewritten using
Newton, resulting in a cross product of the position times the force
acting on the mass element. This is the same as the moment about
the rotation point:
d
dD = r F = M
0
(1.20) dt
This shows that the derivative of the angular momentum of the
mass element with respect to time is equal to the moment about the
rotation point.
Rigid bodies
When looking at a rigid body, Newtons second law must be valid
for all particles. The forces acting on particle i are external forces
F
i
as well as internal forces exerted by the other particles on
particle i: f
ij
. Therefore:
N F
i
+

f
ij
=m
i
a
i
(1.21)
j j i
where N is the total number of particles in the rigid body. Taking
the sum over all particles leads to:
NNNN

F
i
+

f
ij
=

m
i
a
i
(1.22) i=1 i=1
j=1
i=1
j i As a consequence of Newtons third law, the summation of
f
ij
becomes zero, resulting in:

NN

F
i
=

m
i
a
i
i=1 i=1
This equation can be rewritten as:
(1.23)
(1.24)

N
d
2

N
F
i
=
dt
2
m
i
r
i/O i=1 i=1


6
Chapter 1. Dynamics
where r
i/O
is the position of mass element i relative to an inertial
point O. The right hand side term is related to the position of the
centre of mass:
N mr
cg/O
=

m
i
r
i/O
(1.25)
i=1 where r
cg/O
is the position of the centre of gravity of the rigid
body relative to an inertial
point O. This gives:
N

F
i
= ma
cg
(1.26) i=1
with m the total mass of the rigid body. This equation shows that
the sum of all forces acting on a rig