Physics 0 Rotational Mechanics a.

Chapter 11 Rotational Mechanics

Study Notes

Move or rotate: when force acts on an object, there are two possible motions: i) rotation, and ii) movement. Rotational mechanics: Study the factors that affect rotation.

b. 1

Torque a. b. c. Force and torque: force makes an object move while torque makes an object rotate. Force produce acceleration while torque produce rotation. Leverage: A torque is produced when a force is applied with leverage. The direction of the force is perpendicular to the lever. Lever arm: When the force is perpendicular, the distance from the turning axis to the point of contact is called the lever arm. If the force is not at a right angle to the lever arm, then only the perpendicular component of the force F, will contribute to the torque. Definition: torque = lever arm x perpendicular force or

d.

= d x F

The SI unit for torque is newton-meters. e. Work and torque: The unit of both work and torque are newton-meters, but they are different. What contributes to work is the force along the direction of motion; what contributes to torque is the force perpendicular to the lever arm.

Balanced Torques a. b. c. Balance: A pair of torque can balance each other. When the clockwise torque is equal to the counter-clockwise torque, i.e., the netthe lever arm remains horizontal. Examples: seesaw and scale balances that work with sliding weight are balanced based on balanced torques, not balanced masses. Counterclockwise (ccw) torque = clockwise (cw) torque:

ccw = cw
(d x F )ccw = (d x F )cw 3 Torque and Center of Gravity a. b. Toppling: If the CG of an object extends beyond the area of support, the object will topple because there is a torque. CG and rotation: If the force is applied in line with the CG of an object, it will move without rotation. If the force is applied not in line with the CG, it will also rotate.

Rotational Inertia a. b. Inertia: An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to remain moving in a straight line with constant speed. Inertia law of rotation: An object rotating about an axis tends to keep rotating about that axis. A non-rotating object tends to stay non-rotating.

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Physics c.

Chapter 11 Rotational Mechanics

Study Notes

Rotational inertia: The resistance of an object to change in its rotational motion is called rotational inertia (also called moment of inertia, mass moment of inertia or the angular mass). The SI unit of rotational inertia is kg m2. Torque changes rotational state: It takes a force to change the linear state of motion of an object; a torque is required to change the rotational state of motion of an object. Distribution of mass: The linear inertia depends on mass, while the rotational inertia depends on the distribution of mass. The greater the distance between the bulk of the mass and the axis, the greater the rotational inertia. The short pendulum will swing back and force more frequently than the long pendulum. Change of rotational inertial: The rotational inertia will be greater when the mass within the object is extended from the axis of rotation. Formulas for rotational inertia: i) Simple pendulum: I = mr2 I = mr2 I = mr2 I = mr2 I = 1/12 mL2 I = 1/3 mL2 I = 2/5 mr2 ii) Hoop about normal axis: iii) Hoop about diameter: iv) Solid Cylinder: v) Stick about CG: vi) Stick about end: vii) Solid sphere about CG

d. e.

f. g.

h.

Rolling: Any solid cylinder will roll down an incline with more acceleration than any hollow cylinder, regardless of mass or radius. A hollow cylinder has more laziness per mass than a solid cylinder. Because all objects of the same shape have the same laziness per mass ratio.

Rotational Inertia and Gymnastics a. Three principal axes of rotation: Each axis is at right angle to the others (mutually perpendicular), coincides with a line of symmetry of the body, and passes through the center of gravity. The rotational inertia of the body differs about each axis: i) Longitudinal axis: vertical head-to-toe axis, least rotational inertia because most of the mass is concentrated along this axis, and the rotation about the longitudinal axis is the easiest. The rotational inertia when both arms are extended is about three times more than when the arms are tucked in. With your leg extended as well, you can vary your spin rate by six times.

b.

ii) Transverse axis: when you perform a somersault or flip. The rotational inertia when both arms and legs are fully extended in a line is five times more than when the tuck position. The rotational inertia when swing from a horizontal bar with the body fully extended is up to 20 times greater than the tuck position. iii) Medial axis: front-to-back axis, is a less common axis of rotation, and is used in executing a cartwheel. 6 Angular Momentum a. b. Angular momentum: All moving objects have inertia of motion or linear momentum (p = mv). Similarly, the rotational inertia of rotational objects is called angular momentum (L). Rotational velocity: Both linear momentum (p) and angular momentum (L) are vector quantities. When a direction is assigned to a rotational speed (v), it is called rotational velocity (v). The

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Physics

Chapter 11 Rotational Mechanics

Study Notes

rotational velocity vector (v) and the angular momentum vector (l) have the same direction and lie along the axis of rotation. c. Definition: angular momentum = rotational inertia x rotational velocity, or angular momentum L = I , is the counterpart of linear momentum: linear momentum p = m v d. Gyroscope: Angular momentum keeps the wheel axle almost horizontal when a torque supplied by Earths gravity acts on it. Instead of toppling, the torque causes the wheel to slowly precess about a vertical axis. For objects that is small compared with the radial distance, such as pendulum, I = mr2 Angular momentum (L) = I x = mr2 x = mr2 x (v/r) = r x mv = r x p = radius x liner momentum f. Change angular momentum: Just like external net force is required to change the liner momentum of an object, an external net torque is required to change the angular momentum of an object. An object or system of objects will maintain its angular momentum unless acted upon by an unbalanced external torque.

e.

g.

Conservation of Angular Momentum a. b. c. The law of conservation of angular momentum: If no unbalanced external torque acts on a rotating system ( net = 0), the angular momentum of that system is constant. Formulas: L before = L after or (I x ) before = (I x ) after

Zero-angular-momentum-twist: the total angular momentum remains zero and it is not turning at the end.

Torque, Rotational Inertia and Angular Momentum Problems

a. Suppose that a 10-N uniform meter-stick is supported at the 30-cm mark, a 30-N block is hung at the 60-cm mark and a 20-N block is hung at the 80-cm mark. Another block of unknown weight just balances the system when it hung at the 10-cm mark. What is the weight of the unknown block?
10 cm 30 cm 60 cm 80 cm

?N

30 N

20 N

b.

Hanging in front of the doctors office is a sign that weights M newtons and is suspended at the end of a L-meter-long uniform support beam that weight N newtons, as shown. What is the tension in the supporting wire that holds the sign at an angle of ?

Dentist

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Physics

Chapter 11 Rotational Mechanics

Study Notes

c.

Daribel is designing a mobile to hang over the school lobby. She hangs a 4.0-kg sphere 1.0 meter from the left end and 1.0-kg block 2.0 meters from the right end of a uniform bar 6-meters long. If the bar itself is 1.0 kg, where must the support string be placed so that the bar balances?
1.0 m 6.0 m 4.0 kg 1.0 kg 2.0 m

d.

Angel and Kacper carry a 60-kg man from the scene of an accident to a waiting ambulance on a uniform 2.0kg stretcher held by the ends. The stretcher is 2.0 m long and the mans center of mass is 0.8 m from Angel. How much force must Angel and Kacper each exert to keep the man horizontal?
2.0 m Angel 0.8 m Kacper

2.0 kg 60.0 kg

e.

On the Wheel of Fortune game show, a contestant spins the 10.0-kg wheel that has radius of 1.0 m and the wheel spins 2 cycles per second. (a) What is the rotational inertia of this disk-shaped wheel? (b) What is the angular momentum of the wheel?
1.0 m 10.0 kg

f.

A pair of identical 1000-kg space pods in outer space are connected to each other by a 1000-m-long cable. They rotate about a common point. Calculate the rotational inertia of each pod about the axis of rotation. (a)What is the rotational inertia of the two-pod system? Express your answers in kg.m2. (b) If the two-pod system rotate 1.2 RPM to provide artificial gravity for its occupants. If one of the pods pulls in 200 m of cable bringing the pods closer together, what will be the systems new rotational rate?

1000 kg 1000 m 1000 kg 800 m 1.2 RPM

Homework: 1. 2. Reading: Conceptual Physics, chapter 11. Concept Physics, p. 165-167, Question # 1, 7-8, 11-12, 15, 19, 22, 32, 34, and 35-39.

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