Constrained motion is of paramount importance in the design and analysis of mechanical systems and central to the study of analytical dynamics. The problem of constrained motion was first posed over two hundred years ago, and it has been worked on vigorously ever since. This book offers a fresh approach to the subject. Eminently readable, it is written as an introduction to analytical dynamics, with emphasis on fundamental concepts in mechanics. The connection between generalized inverses of matrices and constrained motion is a central theme. The book begins with a description of the motion of a particle subjected to holonomic and nonholonomic constraints and presents explicit equations of motion. Examples are provided throughout the book, and carefully formulated problems at the end of each chapter reinforce the material covered. This computationally appealing approach will be useful to students in engineering and the applied sciences.

This book offers a fresh, readable approach to the analysis of mechanical systems. It is written as an introduction to analytical dynamics, with an emphasis on fundamental concepts in mechanics. The book begins with a description of the motion of a particle subjected to constraints, and presents explicit equations of motion that govern large classes of constrained mechanical systems with refreshingly simple results. The authors provide examples throughout the book, as well as carefully formulated end-of-chapter problems that reinforce the material covered.