Rigid body dynamics The result is a set of m equations of motion that define the dynamics of the rigid body system. If the generalized forces Q are derivable from a potential energy V(q...,q), then these equations of motion take the form In this case, introduce the Lagrangian, L=T-V, so these equations of motion become These are known as Lagrange's equations of motion. The linear and angular momentum of a rigid system of particles is formulated by measuring the position and velocity of the particles relative to the center of mass. Let the system of particles P, i=1...,n be located at the coordinates
Angular velocity which shows a connection with the Lie group of rotations. We prove that angular velocity tensor is skew symmetric, i.e. formula_63 satisfies formula_64. A rotation matrix "A" is orthogonal, inverse to its transpose, so we have formula_65. For formula_66 a frame matrix, taking the time derivative of the equation gives: Applying the formula formula_68, Thus, "W" is the negative of its transpose, which implies it is skew symmetric. At any instant formula_70, the angular velocity tensor represents a linear map between the position vector formula_71 and the velocity vectors formula_72 of a point on a rigid body rotating around the