MASSACHVSETTS INSTITVTE OF TECHNOLOGY

	   Classical Mechanics 6.946, 8.351, 12.620, 12.008

Week 4: 

 Assignment 4: Due 9 October 2009
   Exercises: 2.2, 2.3a, 2.3b, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6

   Note: The project on the double pendulum, exercise 1.39,
      is also due 2 October 2009.


 Read: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5
 9: Kinematics of rigid bodies, Moments of inertia

 Read: 2.6, 2.7
 10: Generalized coordinates for rigid bodies

 Read: 2.8, 2.9
 11: Motion of a free rigid body  

Week 5:

 Assignment 5: Due 16 October 2009
   Exercises: 2.11 2.12, 2.13

   Begin project 2.21, on the rotation of Mercury, which
    will be due on 23 October 2009.

 Read: 2.10
 12: Axisymmetric top             

 Read: 2.11, 2.12
 13: Spin-orbit coupling          

 Read: Notes
 14: Vector Fields and Form Fields


Week 6:

 Note: Monday is Columbus Day Holiday, but Monday class is on Tuesday!

 15: Poincare Equations

 Read: 3.1 up to 3.1.1
 16: Hamilton's equations                       

 Assignment 6: Due 23 October 2009
    Exercises: 3.1, 3.3, 3.4 parts a and c, 3.5

 Choose one of the following two projects.  These projects are quite a
 bit of work, so the problem sets for the next few weeks are small.

      Exercise 3.14: The Periodically-Driven Pendulum
    or
      Exercise 3.15: Spin-orbit Surfaces of Section

 Your write-up of one of these is due on 13 November 2009.

 Read: 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3
 17: Legendre transformation and Hamiltonian Action