Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies

Anil V. Rao earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering and A.B. in mathematics from Cornell University, his M.S.E. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University. After earning his Ph.D., Dr Rao joined The Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles, California, where he was involved in mission support for U.S. Air Force launch vehicle programs and trajectory optimization software development. Subsequently, Dr Rao joined The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he has been involved in numerous projects related to trajectory optimization, guidance, and navigation of aerospace vehicles. Concurrently, for the past several years Dr Rao has been an Adjunct Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Boston University where he has taught the core undergraduate engineering dynamics course. Since joining BU, Dr Rao has been voted AIAA/ASME Faculty Member of the Year Award by the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department and has been voted Boston University College of Engineering Professor of the Year for outstanding teaching.

1. Introductory concepts; 2. Kinematics; 3. Kinetics of particles; 4. Kinetics of a system of particles; 5. Kinetics of rigid bodies; A. Principal-axis moments of inertia of homogeneous bodies; B. Identities, derivatives, integrals and gradient; C. Answers to selected problems; Bibliography.