PHYS 211 Lecture 11 - Rotating coordinate systems 11 - 1

Lecture 11 - Rotating coordinate systems

Text: similar to Fowles and Cassiday, Chap. 5

We start our discussion of rotating coordinate systems with the case of pure rotation
about a common origin. The notation is as follows

Stationary system: Cartesian unit vectors i, j, k

Rotating system: Cartesian unit vectors i', j', k'

Thus a point P can alternately be described by the vector r = xi + yj + zk or

r' = x'i' + y'j' + z'k', where (x, y, z) do not necessarily have the same numerical values
as (x', y', z'):
y r(x, y, z) or r'(x', y', z')
y'
x'

z z'

The notation is subtle. The vectors r and r' represent the same point, and have the
same magnitude |r| = |r'|, but the triple of points (x', y', z') do not have the same
appearance in their respective frames. As a two-dimensional example, consider the
point (x, y) = (1,1) as seen in a frame rotated by 45o counter-clockwise:

y y'
y' x'

(x, y) = (1,1)
(x' , y' ) = (√2,0)
x x'

Further, the velocities do not have the same magnitudes: |v| ≠ |v'|, as we show later.

The moving system rotates about an axis with an angular velocity , defined by the
usual convention that points towards the viewer when the motion down the rotational
axis is counter-clockwise.

© 2001 by David Boal, Simon Fraser University. All rights reserved; further copying or resale is strictly prohibited.
PHYS 211 Lecture 11 - Rotating coordinate systems 11 - 2

y'
x'

z'

Let’s examine how i', j', k' behave as seen by the stationary system. Since the
coordinate system rotates, then clearly i', j', k' may be time-dependent. Hence, their
time derivatives like di' / dt may be non-zero.

As we discussed in Lecture 1 in a similar context, the change in i' in time ∆t,

defined as ∆i', cannot be along i' since it is a unit vector. In fact, the change in i' must
be perpendicular to the plane formed by i' and , and in the direction of xi' (note the
order in the cross product).

k'

axis
magnitude of the
j' projection of i' is
projection of i'
sin = | xi'| / ω ∆ swept out in time ∆t
i'
∆i' ∆i' = ∆ ( xi')/

If we look down the axis, then the projection of i' on a plane perpendicular to the
-axis is sin , where is the angle between and i'. Now ∆i' equals the projection of
i' (i.e., sin ) times the angle ∆ that the i'-axis sweeps out in time ∆t : But sin = | xi'|
/ , so that
∆i' = [( xi') / ] • ∆ .

Dividing both side by ∆t and using = ∆ /∆t , we find

∆i' /∆t = [( xi') / ] • ∆ /∆t = [( xi') / ]

or applying the infinitesimal limit

di' /dt = xi' (the order of the cross-product is important)

Similar relationships apply to the other vectors as well

dj' /dt = xj' dk' /dt = xk'

© 2001 by David Boal, Simon Fraser University. All rights reserved; further copying or resale is strictly prohibited.
PHYS 211 Lecture 11 - Rotating coordinate systems 11 - 3

Next we determine how a velocity vector behaves in a rotating frame. We start with the
position vector
r = r'

which in component language reads

xi +yj + zk = x' i' + y' j' + z' k'

and take the derivative

(dx / dt) i + (dy / dt) j + (dz / dt) k
= (dx' / dt) i' + (dy' / dt) j' + (dz' / dt) k' + x' (di' / dt) + y' (dj' / dt) + z' (dk' / dt)

Substituting v = vx i + vy j + vz k and the definition v' = vx ' i' + vy ' j' + vz ' k' gives

v = v' + x' (di' / dt) + y' (dj' / dt) + z' (dk' / dt).

Next, replace the time derivatives of the rotating basis vectors:

v = v' + x' ( xi') + y' ( xj') + z' ( xk')

and rearrange
v = v' + x(x' i' + y' j' + z' k')
v = v' + xr' (1)

Clearly, it's not just a matter of v being rotated with respect to v': they have completely
different magnitudes.

One can obtain a relationship between the acceleration vectors by starting with
v = v' + xr' and taking the time derivative:
dv / dt = dv' / dt + (d / dt)xr' + x(dr'/ dt) (2)

Now, dv / dt is just the acceleration a . But dv' / dt must be found in the same way as
dr' / dt because of the rotating basis set:

dv' / dt
= (dvx' / dt) i' + (dvy' / dt) j' + (dvz' / dt) k' + vx' (di' / dt) + vy' (dj' / dt) + vz' (dk' / dt)

But, in analogy with the definition of v',

(dvx' / dt) i' + (dvy' / dt) j' + (dvz' / dt) k' = ax'i' + ay'j' + az'k' = a ',

so, after substituting for the rotating basis vectors

dv' /dt = a ' + xv' (3)

Then Eq. (2) becomes

a = a ' + xv' + (d / dt)xr' + x(dr'/ dt)

Lastly, replace dr'/ dt = v' + xr' to obtain

a = a ' + xv' + (d / dt)xr' + xv' + x ( xr')

© 2001 by David Boal, Simon Fraser University. All rights reserved; further copying or resale is strictly prohibited.
PHYS 211 Lecture 11 - Rotating coordinate systems 11 - 4

or
a = a ' + 2 xv' + (d / dt)xr' + x( xr')

Summary of notation
r, v, a are the usual kinematic quantities in the stationary frame
(x', y', z') (vx', vy', vz') are quantities observed in the rotating frame
r', v', a ' are vectors from the rotating frame
vx' = drx' / dt and ax' = dvx' / dt as expected.

Example Uniform circular motion in which frame O' is co-rotating, so v' = 0

as seen by stationary
y y'
frame

as seen by rotating
frame

x x'
=> v = v' + xR --> v = xR as expected

Since the motion is uniform, (d / dt) = 0 and a ' = dv' / dt - xv' = 0. Hence
a = a ' + 2 xv' + (d / dt)xr' + x( xr')
becomes
a = 0 + 0 + 0 + x( xR) = - 2R.
Thus, x( xr') is the centripetal acceleration.

Example Now let the particle move at constant speed in the stationary frame

as seen by stationary as seen by rotating

y y'
frame frame

x x'

In the stationary frame:

vx = v vy = 0 x = vt y = 0.

In the rotating frame

x' = vt cos( t) y' = -vt sin( t)

© 2001 by David Boal, Simon Fraser University. All rights reserved; further copying or resale is strictly prohibited.
PHYS 211 Lecture 11 - Rotating coordinate systems 11 - 5

so that
(dx' / dt) = v cos( t) -v t sin( t) (dy' / dt) = -v sin( t) -v t cos( t).

Then the magnitude of v' is

(dx' / dt)2 + (dy' / dt)2 = [v cos( t) -v t sin( t)]2 + [ -v sin( t) -v t cos( t)]2
= v 2 + v 2t 2 2
i.e.
v' 2 = (dx' / dt)2 + (dy' / dt)2 = v 2 (1 + 2t 2).

Even though |v| is constant, |v'| grows with time, since the object moves away from the
origin and the distance swept out in a turn of the coordinate system increases like t.
This expression also can be obtained from v = v' + xr', whence
v' 2 = (v - xr') 2 = v 2 + ( xr') 2 = v 2 + 2r' 2.

The acceleration in the rotating frame has two components:

2 2 1/2
-2 xv' is perpendicular to v' and increases with v (1 + t )
- x( xr') is radially outwards, and increases as vt.

Acceleration plus rotation

For the general expression for translating + rotating coordinate systems, simply add V o
and Ao to the expressions for rotating systems.
v = v' + xr' + V o
a = a ' + 2 xv' + (d / dt)xr' + x( xr') + Ao

Forces in a rotating frame

With our expression for the acceleration, it is easy to relate the forces applicable in
each frame. Transposing to separate the frame-dependent components:
ma ' = ma - 2m xv' - m(d / dt)xr' - m x( xr')
F' = F + F' cor + F' trans + F' cen

F' cor = Coriolis force = -2m xv'

F' trans = transverse force = -m(d / dt)xr'
F' cen = centrifugal force = -m x( xr')

The forces that apply in the rotating frame include several components that appear
only because of the rotating coordinate system. If F = ma were completely absent,
then fictitious forces would still be needed in the rotating frame to explain why the
object in question did not follow a straight line in that frame.

© 2001 by David Boal, Simon Fraser University. All rights reserved; further copying or resale is strictly prohibited.