Rigid-body motion. Non-inertial coordinate systems

This chapter addresses the inertia tensor and its relation with the mass quadrupole moment tensor, the principal axes and the principal moments of inertia, evolution of the period of the Earth’s rotation around its axis due to the action of tidal forces, and the motion of the gyrocompass at a given latitude. The chapter also addresses precession of a symmetric top, the stability of rotations of an asymmetric top, “motion” of a plane disk which rolls in the field of gravity over a smooth horizontal plane, and the displacement from the vertical of a particle which is dropped from a given height with zero initial velocity. Finally, the chapter discusses the Lagrange point in the Sun-Jupiter system.