Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-classical-mechanics-course-of-part-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/1/d/solution

For the original Lagrangian of solution, differentiation with respect to the generalized velocities gives
In contrast, using in the nonrotating case gives , ; this is the expected momentum shift under adding a total derivative.
The Euler-Lagrange equations in the general cup frame are
These include the Coriolis and centrifugal terms when the cup axes really rotate. Set to obtain
For , its complete solution is
where the two complex constants provide the four real initial data. The driving denominator is independent of cup-axis rotation: rotation changes the coordinate description, not the physical trap frequency.
In the requested special case , an equivalent real form is
For example , , and determine the constants.
At resonance with nonzero , replace the particular term by
In the nonrotating cup frame this has components , plus the homogeneous solution. Secular growth eventually invalidates a finite cup or the neglected vertical kinetic energy. If the ride does not rotate, its forcing vanishes and ordinary free oscillations remain.
Figure 1.
Marble response in a nonrotating cup frame with a circularly accelerating origin: bounded off-resonant motion and secular resonant growth, starting at the cup center at rest
. Details.

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