Working mass Working mass Working mass, also referred to as reaction mass, is a mass against which a system operates in order to produce acceleration. In the case of a rocket, for example, the reaction mass is the fuel shot backwards to provide propulsion. All acceleration requires an exchange of momentum, which can be thought of as the "unit of movement". Momentum is related to mass and velocity, as given by the formula "P = mv," where "P" is the momentum, "m" the mass, and "v" the velocity. The velocity of a body is easily changeable, but in most cases the mass
Rigid body dynamics the rigid body. The velocity of the points R along their trajectories are where ω is the angular velocity vector of the body. Work is computed from the dot product of each force with the displacement of its point of contact If the trajectory of a rigid body is defined by a set of generalized coordinates "q", "j" = 1, ..., "m", then the virtual displacements δr are given by The virtual work of this system of forces acting on the body in terms of the generalized coordinates becomes or collecting the coefficients of δq For simplicity consider a trajectory