Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/ia/paper-4/11b/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ia Paper 4 11B ii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
The PDF gives initial position and initial rotating-frame velocity zero. Use those values; the TeX erroneously places dots over the position coordinates.
For rotation about the third axis, the supplied acceleration relation and Newton's second law give the equations of motion in a rotating frameThus . Set to combine the planar equations:The two characteristic roots are and . From and ,The triple-angle formulas therefore give the particularly simple astroid motion of a harmonic oscillator in a rotating frameThe orbit satisfies ; the zero speed at each cusp is consistent with the smooth time-parametrized motion.
Its rotating-frame speed isHence, for , the first maximum occurs at , andThe maximum repeats periodically. For a signed negative angular frequency, use and ; at the particle remains at rest.
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