Classical Mechanics (Kibble & Berkshire) · Problem 2.23

Newton's laws of motion and the law of gravitation — T.W.B. Kibble, F.H. Berkshire

Physics — Mechanics · crank-piston-mechanism

Problem

Consider further the piston problem described in Problem 2.16. Use computer assistance to calculate the exact and approximate accelerations of the piston as functions of

\theta

. Compare the exact and approximate formulae (non-dimensionalised by

\omega^2 b

) by plotting both on the same graph against

\theta

. Show that, when

b/c < 0.5

, the two graphs are close, but when

b/c

gets close to unity, large errors occur.

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