Engr Help

Euler’s Second Law Click here for an overview of Strategy

Key Concept: Euler’s second law requires that the sum of the moments of the external forces
and external couples acting on the rigid body equals the change in the angular momentum of

the rigid body.

In a Nut Shell: Euler’s second law governs the rotational motion of a rigid body. Apply it in combination with Euler’s first law to solve for the motion of a rigid body in a plane. Note: In

general plane motion combines both translation and rotation.

Consider a rigid body of mass, m, located at its center of mass, C. Then the expression for Euler’s second Law in a general form is

Σ M_C = dH_C/dt

Euler’s Second Law – form 1

where Σ M_C is the sum of all external moments acting on the rigid body about its mass center

dH_C/dt is the rate of change of the angular momentum of the rigid body about its

center of mass

Click here to continue with discussion and other forms of Euler’s Second Law.

Return to Notes on Dynamics