Dynamics of the Tippe Top via Routhian Reduction

M. C. Ciocci, B. Langerock

Published 2007-04-10, updated 2010-02-26Version 3

We consider a tippe top modeled as an eccentric sphere, spinning on a horizontal table and subject to a sliding friction. Ignoring translational effects, we show that the system is reducible using a Routhian reduction technique. The reduced system is a two dimensional system of second order differential equations, that allows an elegant and compact way to retrieve the classification of tippe tops in six groups as proposed in [1] according to the existence and stability type of the steady states.