Paper 3, Section I, B

Variational Principles | Part IB, 2012

For a particle of unit mass moving freely on a unit sphere, the Lagrangian in polar coordinates is

L=12θ˙2+12sin2θϕ˙2.L=\frac{1}{2} \dot{\theta}^{2}+\frac{1}{2} \sin ^{2} \theta \dot{\phi}^{2} .

Find the equations of motion. Show that l=sin2θϕ˙l=\sin ^{2} \theta \dot{\phi} is a conserved quantity, and use this result to simplify the equation of motion for θ\theta. Deduce that

h=θ˙2+l2sin2θh=\dot{\theta}^{2}+\frac{l^{2}}{\sin ^{2} \theta}

is a conserved quantity. What is the interpretation of hh ?

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