With the wedge fixed, let be the signed gap between the cylinder bottom and the surface, positive outwards. The centre height is . Retaining all three coordinates before imposing constraints gives
Use the holonomic constraints and . With the convention , the Lagrange multiplier equations are
The constraint gradients identify , the normal reaction, and , the uphill static friction force. The latter supplies the rolling torque. Setting and yields
The static friction condition therefore becomes
for . Static friction is required to create rotation, but does not dissipate energy here because the contact point is instantaneously at rest on the fixed plane.
Figure 1.
Coordinates for a rolling cylinder on a moving wedge and the normal, friction and weight forces for the fixed-wedge case
. Details.
Keep the signs of part i. The tension has horizontal component but still has counterclockwise torque , since it is tangent to the axle. Thus
Solving these equations gives the critical pulling angle of a rolling spool law
The zero-acceleration angle is therefore
At this angle the line of action of the pull passes through the ground contact, so its torque about that point vanishes. A spool initially at rest stays at rest while the contact constraints hold; one already rolling has zero acceleration, rather than being brought to rest.
For equilibrium the vertical normal force is and . The static friction inequality becomes
Hence, for ,
At this limit the normal force is still nonnegative; for finite and positive it is positive. For , the numerator of is negative. Released from rest, the spool rolls leftward, away from the pulling hand, with counterclockwise rotation, provided the assumed rolling without slipping and ground contact remain possible. The nonzero acceleration is not obtained by assuming that friction simply opposes the centre's motion.
Take rightward translation as positive and counterclockwise angular acceleration as positive. Let denote signed ground friction, positive to the right. The source's lower-tangent winding makes the tension exert counterclockwise torque . For a horizontal pull, translation and rotation obey
The final relation is the rolling without slipping constraint. Eliminating and gives
Thus the requested magnitude of static friction is
It acts leftward. Released from rest, the spool accelerates rightward, toward the pulling hand, and rotates clockwise. There is no contradiction between leftward friction and rightward motion: static friction prevents slipping of the contact point, and the horizontal tension is larger than because .
Let be the center of mass acceleration downhill and the uphill static friction. Translation and rotation about the center of mass obey
The rolling without slipping constraint is . For the coin's moment of inertia , this gives , so
The normal force is . Static friction can enforce rolling without slipping only if , giving
The static friction acts uphill to provide the torque; it is not automatically equal to , attaining that limiting value only at the threshold. For finite the result lies between and .
For rolling without slipping through height , conservation of energy gives
A uniform solid sphere has , a solid cylinder , and a pipe . Thus the ball is fastest, then the solid cylinder, then the pipe. A smaller moment of inertia leaves more energy in translation. This assumes release from rest through the same height, adequate static friction and negligible rolling resistance; a thin pipe has .
Integrating coaxial cylindrical shells gives
Rolling without slipping has spin speed , so .
For the rolling-cylinder loop contact threshold, set , the radius of the centre's circular path, and let run from the loop bottom. The centre starts above its lowest centre position. Its height gain from the bottom is . Energy conservation gives
At the top, contact requires , hence . Inserting the energy relation proves the limiting condition
The same condition keeps elsewhere on the circle, since
is smallest at the top.
For the centre's acceleration, the inward normal component is and the tangential component is . If and ,
This convex quadratic has its largest endpoint value at . The maximum on the circular loop is at the bottom, directed vertically upward. For the limiting release height,
The approach track's curvature is unspecified, so a global bound for an arbitrary approach shape cannot be proved from the sketch alone; the result above concerns the specified circular part and the usual smooth approach interpretation.
The finite-friction qualification of a marginal rolling loop also matters: the contact threshold presumes the stated no-slip idealization. At equality, near the top, required tangential friction vanishes linearly with angular distance from the top but vanishes quadratically. Thus any finite coefficient of static friction requires a release height above this limiting bound to maintain rolling everywhere; no coefficient is provided. This does not change the requested ideal contact criterion.
The PDF's apex angle is , so each contacted face makes with the vertical. Let N be the inward normal force per face. Its vertical component is downward, ; limiting upward static friction contributes . Symmetric contacts cancel horizontal forces and torque. Incipient lift consequently requires
This is the usual normal gripping force convention, using . Friction can lift the prism only if , which is satisfied here.
If “force applied” means the magnitude of the entire finger-contact resultant, including its tangential component, the normal versus resultant force in a frictional pinch gives
The optimal resultant lies at the limiting friction angle from the inward normal. Stating which force is being measured avoids confusing these two legitimate quantities.
Let increase down the ramp. On a plane, static friction acts uphill. Translation and rotation give
With , elimination yields . Static friction does no work at the stationary contact point.
For a sphere rolling in a symmetric groove, the distance from the centre to the instantaneous contact axis AB is , so . The kinetic energy and work-energy equation are
Hence
For the stated angles this is . Using and a one-second descent,
On the level floor the rolling radius becomes , so an energy-preserving change of rolling radius gives . Therefore
The floor speed exceeds the groove speed because less of the same total kinetic energy is rotational. Holding the translational speed fixed at the transition would violate the stipulated energy balance with the new no-slip constraint.
Take positive when the hanging mass descends and the other mass moves uphill. For the sliding block, Newton's second law gives and . Therefore
For the pulley coupled to a rolling disc, tension and weight act through its centre; the contact normal is perpendicular to the slope. Static friction provides the torque required for rolling without slipping. Define signed down the slope, so for uphill acceleration.
Figure 1.
Original force diagram for an uphill-accelerating disc: centre-applied tension and weight, contact normal and downslope static friction
. Details.
The rotational equation and rolling constraint give , hence . The translational equations become and , giving
Thus the threshold remains : the moment of inertia increases the effective mass but does not change the sign of the driving force. For downhill acceleration reverses. The normal force is ; static friction does no work at the stationary contact point and sufficient roughness is assumed.
Axial moment of inertia. In the original diagram is the outer radius and the inner radius. For uniform mass density , a coaxial annulus of thickness has . Therefore the axial moment of inertia of a hollow cylinder is
Since , factorizing the fourth-power difference gives
For a solid cylinder , giving . For a thin cylindrical shell with fixed mass and , . The latter limit agrees with every mass element being at radius .
Undamped rolling oscillations. Let be axle displacement from the spring equilibrium. Rolling without slipping imposes . The sum of translational and rotational kinetic energy is
The potential energy is . Differentiating in the absence of damping, or applying the force and torque equations below, gives
For the thin shell , the effective inertia is , and the angular frequency of the simple harmonic motion is
Static contact friction supplies the required torque but does no work when the contact point is instantaneously stationary.
Damped force balance. Take rightward force as positive and counterclockwise rotation as positive. Write for the signed static friction at the bottom contact. Then
Eliminate and use :
Here has units , so has units and units . The stated drag force is interpreted as acting through the axle, with no additional viscous torque. An oil bath could also exert such a torque physically, but its magnitude is not specified by this force-only model.
Light damping. Substitution of into the differential equation gives . In the underdamped regime ,
Taking real linear combinations gives the general damped harmonic oscillator displacement
The constants are fixed by the initial displacement and velocity. For example, release from rest at gives and . Light damping means , in which case and the envelope decays slowly compared with an oscillation.
Translation and rotation. For particles constituting a rigid body, the total linear momentum is
Thus the total external force governs the motion of the centre of mass. About that centre of mass, the angular momentum and applied torque are
where primes denote relative positions and velocities. The derivative of the vector is taken relative to nonrotating axes. The inertia tensor relates angular momentum to angular velocity, . For rotation about a fixed unit direction , the moment of inertia is ; it measures the resistance to changing that rotation and gives rotational kinetic energy . The simpler vector relation applies when the rotation axis is a principal axis, not for every orientation of an arbitrary rigid body. These translational and rotational balances must be applied together; a nonzero torque does not replace the net-force equation.
Gyroscope precession. A rapidly spinning gyroscope has a large angular momentum approximately along its spin axis. The torque component parallel to this vector changes its magnitude, while the perpendicular component turns its direction. If the vector undergoes precession with angular velocity , then over its change is the infinitesimal rotation . Hence
This describes direction-changing precession at constant ; any spin-up contribution must be added separately. For perpendicular torque and angular momentum, the precessional component perpendicular to is . The familiar tendency of a supported gyroscope to turn sideways is this vector balance, not the absence of gravitational force.
Wheel-lift threshold without the flywheel. Let be the centre of mass height, half the wheel separation, and the bend radius. The required inward force is , provided by static friction. Let be the summed outer and inner wheel normal forces. Vertical balance gives . Moment balance about the centre of mass gives
The inner wheels lift when . Thus the vehicle rollover threshold is
The stated mass cancels. This assumes the rigid geometry and sufficient static friction specified in the paper; the threshold is set by loss of contact, not by sliding.
Engine flywheel. The moment of inertia of a uniform disc gives
Its spin angular speed, spin angular momentum, and turn angular speed at are
The transverse flywheel axis is perpendicular to the vertical turn axis, so
To specify its direction, use right-handed axes forward, to the car's left, and upward, and consider a left turn. Then . Choose the flywheel angular momentum to the car's right, . The car must apply
to obtain the required precession. This gyroscopic roll torque in a turning vehicle opposes the outward roll tendency in a left turn. By the right-hand rule, the flywheel must turn counterclockwise viewed from the car's right side toward its centre, opposite to the rotation of wheels rolling forward. Reversing flywheel spin would aggravate the outward roll. Reversing the turn reverses both roll and gyroscopic torques, so the same flywheel spin remains helpful.
Figure 1.
Gyroscope vector directions for a left-turning car and the flywheel spin needed to oppose outward roll
. Details.
For comparison, the outward inertial roll moment at the stated speed is , and the limiting gravitational restoring moment is . The gyroscopic reaction is about of the former and of the latter, so it is appreciable for this large flywheel. If this ideal model is extended to include the favorable gyroscopic reaction in the wheel-lift condition, it gives , or about rather than . This quantifies a useful but finite increase in the rollover threshold.
Constraint and example. A holonomic constraint can be written , with no irreducible dependence on velocities. A velocity relation is holonomic if it integrates to such an equation. For example, a particle constrained to a stationary circle satisfies , reducing its two Cartesian degrees of freedom to one angle. A nonholonomic constraint cannot be integrated in this way.
Kinematics and kinetic energy. Set . In the plane of the original diagram, choose the orbital angle positive counterclockwise from vertically downward. The marked radius of the inner cylinder then has absolute orientation measured from the same downward direction. Its signed spin angular velocity is , while
The moment of inertia of a uniform solid cylinder is . Applying the kinetic energy decomposition about the center of mass gives
No slip. With tangential unit vector , the inner contact point has velocity . The fixed wall requires this to vanish. Hence
Because are constant, integration gives
where the integration constant is zero with the marked-dot reference in the diagram and continuously unwrapped angles. This is a holonomic constraint, even though it was first obtained from a condition on velocities.
Oscillations. The gravitational potential energy above the lowest position is . Eliminating gives the reduced Lagrangian
The Euler-Lagrange equation becomes
Thus the bottom is a stable equilibrium, and for there is simple harmonic motion, with
The extra rotational kinetic energy reduces the frequency compared with a particle sliding without friction along the same circular path. The small oscillations inside a circular cylinder formula applies with inertia ratio .
Friction and energy. Let be the signed tangential contact force in the direction. Applying Newton's second law to translation and the torque equation to rotation gives
Using the rolling without slipping condition yields
Except at special instants, static friction is needed to produce the spin acceleration. There is no sliding at the contact point, whose instantaneous velocity is zero; therefore this force does no total work. Its translational and rotational powers cancel: . The stationary normal reaction likewise does no work. With a rigid wall, adequate static friction, and no rolling resistance, conservation of energy gives
Angular momentum. The cylinder's spin angular momentum is generally not conserved because the contact friction exerts a torque about its center of mass. About the fixed outer-cylinder center , the angular momentum decomposition about the centre of mass gives
Gravity and friction exert the external torque
Thus the rolling cylinder does not generally conserve angular momentum, although it conserves mechanical energy. There is a special geometric cancellation at : then and its torque vanish identically for this planar motion. Angular momentum of a larger isolated system including the wall and Earth is a separate conservation statement.
Scope of the holonomic reduction. The integrated constraint is exact at every angle for planar rolling without slipping with sustained contact; it is not restricted to small oscillations. Completing a full turn requires tracking angle winding rather than reducing each angle separately modulo . This global bookkeeping does not make the local velocity relation nonintegrable.
However, arbitrary initial conditions need not sustain this ideal rolling motion. The inward normal reaction and the required friction are
Contact requires , and a finite coefficient of static friction requires . If either fails, the cylinder detaches or slips and the one-coordinate rolling Lagrangian no longer applies. Slipping contact allows and to be independent; detachment removes the fixed center-distance constraint. These changes alone do not establish a nonholonomic constraint. Allowing general three-dimensional reorientation can introduce nonintegrable rolling constraints, but that motion is outside the diagram's two-angle planar model. Thus the stated planar rolling constraint is holonomic throughout its regime of validity; it cannot be imposed on every physically possible motion.
A hanging mass pulls the centre of a uniform disc of mass up an incline of angle , using a light string and light frictionless pulley. If the disc rolls without slipping and the string is parallel to the slope, its effective translational mass is . With downward hanging acceleration , . Static friction has signed downslope component and supplies the rolling torque. The acceleration threshold is unchanged from a sliding block, although rotational inertia reduces the magnitude.
Rolling constraint 2026-10-25
For a rigid body rolling on a stationary support, the instantaneous contact point has zero velocity: . For a wheel of radius moving horizontally and a counterclockwise angle , this gives , hence is constant. Maintaining this mechanical constraint generally requires sufficient static friction and a nonnegative normal force.
Rolling-cylinder loop contact threshold Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-10-25
A solid cylinder rolling inside a circular loop has centre-path radius , kinetic energy , and speed at angle from the bottom. The normal contact force is smallest at the top. Requiring gives the displayed necessary contact threshold under imposed no-slip rolling. The centre's maximum acceleration on the circle is at the bottom, and at the threshold it is upward. This is a limiting contact condition, not a guarantee for arbitrary finite static friction or an unspecified approach curvature.
Rolling-time factor on a straight incline Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-18
For a rigid body rolling from rest down a straight incline with fixed rolling radius and axial moment of inertia , translation and rotation give . A smooth slide has . Travel over the same distance from rest therefore gives the displayed time ratio. Static friction must suffice for rolling without slipping; its contact point is at rest, so this ideal friction does no work. A uniform solid cylinder has and ratio .
The sediment entrainment threshold is the bed shear stress at which resting grains begin moving. An elementary force balance using spherical grains, tangential quadratic drag, and static friction gives when the drag coefficient is defined relative to the bed shear velocity.
Shields parameter 2026-10-05
The Shields parameter is , comparing bed shear stress with a grain-scale submerged weight per area. Its critical value depends on the assumed drag coefficient, static friction, lift, and contact geometry.
First test rest. With no other tangential forces, the required uphill static friction is . Its maximum is , where is the coefficient of static friction. Thus
The tangent function is increasing on this angle range, and its inverse tangent determines the last permitted resting angle . At equality, the ideal model still permits limiting rest; a larger angle excludes it. Below the threshold, setting would incorrectly impose the maximum static friction even when less is required. Static friction on an inclined plane and inclined-plane measurement of static friction develop this onset criterion further.
For a block already sliding downhill, uphill kinetic friction has magnitude , where is the coefficient of kinetic friction. Taking downhill as positive, Newton's second law becomes
Every term in the force balance scales with mass; division by removes it. Doubling mass doubles both gravitational weight and the contact forces, while leaving this acceleration unchanged if the coefficients remain unchanged. A mass-independent result is a prediction of these assumptions, rather than a universal property of every ramp.
For an original numerical model, stipulate , , and . The critical angle is . At , the normal force is ; rest requires of uphill static friction, below its bound. A resting block can stay there. If it is already sliding downhill, however, the kinetic friction is only , giving downhill acceleration . Specifying the initial state matters.
At , the downhill component of gravitational weight is , while and the static friction bound is only . Rest is impossible. During downhill sliding,
Released from rest on a sufficiently long ramp, this ideal block covers its first in , reaching speed . As an independent energy calculation, the lost gravitational potential energy is and kinetic friction removes of mechanical energy. The remaining equals by the work-energy theorem.
Figure 1.
Rest threshold and downhill sliding acceleration for the stipulated inclined-plane model
. Original model predictions with , and ; no experimental measurements. The shaded range permits rest. The blue curve applies only while downhill contact slip persists, including inside that range. The orange curve gives the frictionless acceleration. Markers show the and examples. Details.
At , downhill sliding has zero acceleration and therefore constant velocity. Below that angle, a downhill-moving block slows; when it stops, test the static friction bound again. For uphill sliding, kinetic friction points downhill, so the signed downhill acceleration instead is . The sign follows contact slip, and the downhill formula cannot be used unchanged after a reversal.
For a uniform solid cylinder, take positive uphill and positive for uphill rolling without slipping. The velocity of the contact point is . Uphill kinetic friction gives and . Starting from , one obtains . Thus makes the assumed uphill kinetic friction self-consistent for the entire ascent and descent. Without slip the required uphill static friction is ; it is available exactly when under the same limiting coefficient.