Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/ii/paper-4/8e/a/solution

Let be a principal body frame, let be the corresponding principal moments of inertia, and write the angular velocity as . The body-frame components of the angular momentum are
No external torque acts, so is constant in the fixed space frame. Since a body-fixed basis vector satisfies ,
Taking body-frame components gives the Euler equations for a torque-free rigid body:

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