In general plane motion, each particle in the body remains in a single plane, lines in the body rotate, and no point in the body is fixed.
This technique involves deriving geometric relationships which describe the constraints on the body and its interaction with other bodies.
Steps
- Locate some position on the body as a function of angular orientation.
- Differentiate this relationship to obtain the body's rectangular velocity and acceleration in terms of its angular velocity and acceleration.
This technique is so general that specific formulas must be derived for each problem.
This technique relies on the theory developed earlier for plane relative motion of particles, i.e.
With enough practice we will learn to choose the most convenient technique for a particular problem.