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Dynamics

Relative Motion Is Solved by Shifting the Reference Frame

Relative velocity vB=vA+vB/A, two body points ω×r, relative acceleration α×r−ω²r, rotating frame vrel, Coriolis 2ω×vrel

Motion depends on whose eyes you watch it through. Ride on one point (or body) and another point's velocity splits as vB = vA + vB/A; if that frame also rotates, the ω×r and Coriolis terms join in.

Two objects A and B each move. Riding on A, the velocity of B is vB/A = vB − vA. Drag B's heading and the vector joining the two arrow tips is exactly that relative velocity.

For two points on one rigid body, B's relative velocity is pure rotation perpendicular to the bar, ω×rB/A. So vB = vA + ω×r — A's velocity plus the rotation gives B's velocity as the diagonal.

Acceleration works the same way but splits into two pieces. The end of a bar pinned at A feels a tangential α×r (perpendicular to the bar) and a centripetal ω²r (inward). Raise ω and the centripetal term grows with ω squared.

When the frame itself rotates, one more term appears. A bead sliding on a rotating rod has absolute velocity equal to the rod's rotation ω×r plus the sliding vrel along the rod — this vrel is the new piece in a rotating frame.

Sliding in a rotating frame adds a term not just to velocity but to acceleration too — the Coriolis acceleration 2ω×vrel. An object thrown straight outward curving sideways is the proof, and the larger ω is, the more it curves.

In PracticeTo sum up, relative motion always starts from the single line vB = vA + vB/A. If the two points lie on one rigid body, vB/A = ω×rB/A, and the acceleration splits as aB = aA + α×r − ω²r (tangential + centripetal). If the frame only translates you simply add the relative velocity and acceleration, but if the frame also rotates the sliding vrel and the Coriolis 2ω×vrel come in. The recipe is the same — pick a point you know well (usually a pin or contact) as the base O and carry over to another point through the rotation ω, α. With this, C, rigid-body kinematics, has answered how things move (position, velocity, acceleration). From D, rigid-body kinetics, we turn to why they move that way — forces and torques producing rotation through ΣM = Iα, where the moment of inertia I, a measure of how mass is spread out, plays the role of mass for rotation.
Dynamics
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