There are many treatises in the field of analytical mechanics that have been written in this century. This book is different in that it presents a new and fresh approach to the central problem of the motion of discrete mechanical systems. A system of point masses differs from a set of point masses in that the masses of a system satisfy certain constraints. This book primarily deals with the statement and analytical resolution of the problem of constrained motion and we provide the explicit equations of motion that govern large classes of constrained mechanical systems. The simplicity of the results has encouraged us to write a text which we hope will be well within the grasp of the average college senior in science and engineering.

We assume that the student has had an elementary level course dealing with statics and dynamics, and some exposure to elementary linear algebra, though the latter is not essential, because most of what is needed is contained in Chapter 2 of this book. Being pitched at the junior/senior undergraduate level, we have tried to take pains in introducing concepts slowly, gradually building them up in depth through a continual process of revisitation. We have also restricted our “For Further Reading List” at the end of each chapter principally to two books (those by Pars and Rosenberg), though there are also many other excellent treatises on analytical dynamics.