Past exam of the classical mechanics course of the University of Oxford / 2023 / 2 / b / i / Solution

For a vector $\mathbf{A}={\sum }_i{A}_i{\mathbf{e}}_i$ in the principal body frame, the derivative of a body-fixed basis vector is $(d{\mathbf{e}}_i/dt{)}_{\hat{S}}=\mathbf{\omega }\times {\mathbf{e}}_i$. Differentiating the expansion gives the rotating-frame derivative formula, also called the Coriolis formula:Apply this to angular momentum $\mathbf{L}={\sum }_i{I}_i{\omega }_i{\mathbf{e}}_i$. The principal moments of inertia are constant in the principal body frame, so external torque balance becomesResolving the cross product gives Euler's equations:All components and dotted components in this display refer to the principal body frame.