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 of bases. For example, changing to the mobile frame: where formula_46 are unit vectors for the frame fixed in the moving body. This example has been made using the Z-X-Z convention for Euler angles. The angular velocity vector formula_47 defined above may be equivalently expressed as an angular velocity tensor, the matrix (or linear mapping) "W" = "W"("t") defined by: This is an infinitesimal rotation matrix. The linear mapping "W" acts as formula_49: A vector formula_51 undergoing uniform circular motion around an axis satisfies: Given the orientation matrix "A"("t") of a frame, whose columns are the moving orthonormal coordinate vectors