Centripetal acceleration 2026-10-06
For uniform circular motion of radius and angular speed , the acceleration is directed toward the centre and has magnitude . Writing for the position relative to the centre gives . The required resultant force is ; it may be supplied by a normal force, gravity, or another physical interaction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 4 11C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The area element in plane polar coordinates is . Thus the axial moment of inertia isFor the removed material, the angular width is , andIts moment of inertia is therefore , leavingThe torque equation gives constant angular acceleration, so the time to reach the prescribed angular speed from rest is
To find the centre of mass after removing material, let point along the bisector of the missing sector in the disc. The original disc has zero first mass moment about its centre. The missing sector has zero transverse first moment by reflection symmetry, while its component along isbecause the radial integral is . The remaining first moment is . Dividing by the given mass gives the body-fixed centre of massIt lies away from the missing sector. In the inertial frame, let be the moment the applied torque stops and let give the orientation of that sector's bisector. Then, with ,The centre of mass has inward centripetal acceleration of magnitude . The required real force is the constraint reaction exerted by the fixed rod and its support. Its horizontal resultant is ; a zero applied axial torque does not imply a zero resultant force.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 46 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the mostly-plus Minkowski metric, and write for equality on the constraint surface. Assume that the mechanical constraints are locally independent. They are first-class constraints whenThus their Poisson brackets vanish on the constraint surface, and their Hamiltonian flows preserve that surface. The structure functions of a constraint algebra may depend on the phase space point. The finite real span of the constraints is a Lie algebra if it closes with constant structure coefficients, in a suitable choice of generators. The Jacobi identity then gives the usual conditions on the structure constants of a Lie algebra. With general structure functions the finite real span need not close, even though the Poisson bracket of all smooth functions is itself a Lie bracket.
To see the gauge invariance directly, let generate a canonical gauge transformation:The variation of the phase-space action integrand isThe second term cancels without using the equations of motion. Taking to vanish at the temporal boundaries leaves the action invariant. Arbitrary functions therefore relate different descriptions of the same physical motion. This reasoning also works with structure functions; constant structure coefficients are only needed for the finite-dimensional Lie algebra claim.
For a closed string, choose and periodic fields. A convenient Nambu-Goto phase-space action isHere and are Lagrange multipliers. The Nambu–Goto phase-space constraints are and , with canonical Poisson bracketsLet . Differentiating the periodic Dirac delta function givesThe opposite signs in and cancel these terms, so . Replace the original constraints by the equivalent chiral densitiesTheir mixed Poisson brackets vanish. Choose opposite Fourier orientations for the two sectors:The chiral constraint algebra of a closed string isEach is the Witt algebra: the vector fields on a circle satisfy . Fourier expansion identifies each real algebra, with , with the Lie algebra of vector fields on the circle. The two commuting copies give , not a quantum central extension.
For an open string, allowed boundary conditions must remove the endpoint term in the variation of the action, consistently with the allowed endpoint variations. The spatial boundary term isIt expresses the open-string endpoint momentum flux. In the temporal gauge for a string , take a boundary-adapted parametrization with at the ends. Fixing gives , a Dirichlet boundary condition. At the other end allow arbitrary spatial variations; for nonzero these require , a Neumann boundary condition. Also in this temporal gauge for a string, so . The constraint at this free-end string boundary condition reduces to . Hamilton's equation consequently gives there. Since , the free endpoint has spatial speed one. This is the null motion of a free string endpoint.
A straight rotating string with one fixed endpoint supplies the required solution in at least two spatial dimensions. Set , , andTake . The Hamilton's equations become , which holds because both second derivatives give . The Nambu–Goto phase-space constraints are satisfied byThe endpoint at stays at the origin, while at and the endpoint moves around a circle of radius with angular speed . At each time the whole string lies on a straight radial segment. Its spatial proper length isThe velocity is everywhere perpendicular to the segment, so this also equals the sum of local rest-frame lengths. The induced worldsheet metric becomes degenerate at the null free endpoint, as expected for the limiting free-end solution.