This solution was submitted by Andrei from Tudor Vianu National
College, Bucharest, Romania.
To determine the position of the centre of gravity of the body,
knowing the position of the centre of gravity for the individual
bodies (i.e. the hemisphere and the circular cone), I have firstly
to determine the masses of the bodies, assuming both have the same
density,
.The total mass is:
I use the positions of their centres of gravity for the two distinct
bodies from the hint. Taking moments about the centre of gravity of
the hemisphere I obtain:
where the distance
is measured from the centre of gravity of the
hemisphere. This gives
from the vertex of the
cone.Label the vertex of the cone as
, the centre of this
circular face (on the axis of symmetry) as
and the point where
the axis of symmetry cuts the curved surface of the hemisphere as
.
(i) If
, then the centre of gravity is situated in the
interior of the hemisphere at a distance
from the
centre of the circular base. For this position of the centroid (and
all points inside the hemisphere) the body rolls to rest with the
lowest point of the hemisphere
in contact with the table. The
equilibrium corresponding to this position is stable, because if the
body is displaced from this position, the torque of the
gravitational force in respect to the point of contact with the
horizontal plane, which is the point in respect to which the body
could rotate, determines the body to come back to its initial
position.
(ii) For
the centre of mass of the solid is at a distance
from
inside the cone. For this position of the centre of
mass (and all positions inside the cone) the body will roll to a
position of equilibrium with a generator of the cone in contact with
the table. The only exceptions are when it is placed on
or
with the axis of symmetry vertical which are unstable positions of
equilibrium.
(iii)If the body remains in equilibrium with any point of the
hemisphere in contact with the plane then the centre of gravity must
be at O so that the centre of gravityis always vertically above the
point of contact. This gives
. In this vase the cross
section of the cone by a plane of symmetry
will be an equilateral triangle, so the angle of the cone will be
.
The
equilibrium is unstable when the point of contact is on the rim
between the hemisphere and the cone, and stable for all other points
of contact between the hemisphere and the table.
(iv) In summary
* for
the body comes to rest with
in contact with
the table and equilibrium is stable;
* for
the body will rest in stable equilibrium if it
is placed on the table either with a point of the hemisphere in
contact with the table or with a generator of the cone in contact
with the table. If it is placed with a point on the rim between the
cone and the hemisphere in contact with the table then the
equilibrium is semi-stable; if tipped towards the cone it will fall
to rest on a generator, if tipped the other way it will rest
wherever it is moved to with the hemisphere in contact with the
table.
* for
the body will roll to a stable equilibrium
position with a generator in contact with the table. The exceptional
cases are unstable equilibrium with
or
in contact with the
table.