ABSTRACT

This chapter presents several fundamental concepts from analytical dynamics. The most important of these concepts is Lagrange’s equation, which we were introduced to in Chapter 4. We derive it in this chapter and use it to obtain the equations of motion for discrete and continuous systems, especially where the Newtonian free-body diagrams become more di¢ cult to apply. We will also derive Hamilton’s principle, an integral energy formulation applicable to both discrete and continuous systems, and see how it is related to Lagrange’s equation.1