PHYS-137

GENERAL PHYSICS-1
Week 11
EXAMPLES

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Remember that:

When a force is exerted on a rigid object pivoted about an axis,

the object tends to rotate about that axis. The tendency of a
force to rotate an object about some axis is measured by a
quantity called torque (റτ)

We define the magnitude of the torque associated with the

force 𝑭 around the axis passing through O by the expression

where r is the distance between the rotation axis and the point of
application of 𝑭 and d is the perpendicular distance from the
rotation axis to the line of action of of 𝑭 .
(SJ-2014) It is seen that
The quantity d is called the moment arm (or lever arm) of 𝑭 .

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Example 1

(SJ-2014)

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Example 2
A particle moves in the xy plane in a circular path of radius r as shown in the
Figure. Find the magnitude and the direction of its angular momentum
relative to an axis through O when its velocity is 𝑣.
റ

(SJ-2014)
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Remember that:

The motion of an object that is free to rotate about a fixed axis:

The cause of changes in rotational motion of this object is torque applied to the object and, in
parallel to Newton’s second law for translation motion, the torque is equal to the product of the
moment of inertia of the object and the angular acceleration:

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 Example 3
A wheel of radius R, mass M, and moment of inertia I is mounted on a frictionless,
horizontal axle as in the Figure. A light cord wrapped around the wheel supports an
object of mass m. When the wheel is released, the object accelerates downward, the cord
unwraps off the wheel, and the wheel rotates with an angular acceleration. Find
expressions for the angular acceleration of the wheel, the translational acceleration of the
object, and the tension in the cord.
Use (1 ) and (2), and the
relation of 𝑎 = 𝛼R :

Solving for T and a , one gets:

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(SJ-2014)
 Example 4
A uniform rod of length L and mass M is attached at one end to
a frictionless pivot and is free to rotate about the pivot in the
vertical plane as in the Figure . The rod is released from rest in
the horizontal position. What are the initial angular
acceleration of the rod and the initial translational acceleration
of its right end?

A rod is free to rotate around a pivot at

the left end. The gravitational force
on the rod acts at its center of mass.

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(SJ-2014)
Note that:
where

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(SJ-2014)
 Note that:
The Moment of a force is a measure of its tendency to cause a body to rotate
about a specific point or axis. This is different from the tendency for a body to
move, or translate, in the direction of the force.

• Note that The magnitude of the moment of a force acting about a

point or axis is directly proportional to the distance of the
force from the point or axis. It is defined as the product of
the force and the moment arm. The moment arm or lever
arm is the perpendicular distance between the line of action
of the force and the center of moments.

Moment = Force x Distance

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Torque is the product of Force and the length of the Lever Arm.
 A sphere of mass 𝑚1 and a block of mass 𝑚2 are connected by a light cord that passes over a pulley as shown
in the Figure. The radius of the pulley is R, and the mass of the thin rim is M. The spokes of the pulley have
negligible mass. The block slides ona frictionless, horizontal surface. Find an expression for the linear
acceleration of the two objects, using the concepts of angular momentum (L) and torque (τ) .
Example 5 What is the L of the pulley? At any instant of time, the sphere and the block have a common speed v, so the
L of the sphere about the pulley axle is 𝑚1 vR and that of the block is 𝑚2 vR. At the same instant, all points
on the rim of the pulley also move with speed v, so the L of the pulley is MvR.
What is the total external τ acting on the system about the pulley axle? Because it has a moment arm of
zero, the force exerted by the axle on the pulley does not contribute to the τ. Furthermore, the normal force
acting on the block is balanced by 𝑚2 𝑔, റ so these forces do not contribute to the net torque. The
gravitational force 𝑚1 𝑔റ acting on the sphere produces a τ about the axle equal in magnitude 𝑚1 g R, where
R is the moment arm of the force about the axle. The result is the external τ about the pulley axle; σ 𝜏𝑒𝑥𝑡 =
𝑚1 g R

(SJ-2014)
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 Each particle of the object rotates in the xy plane about the z axis with
an angular speed v . The magnitude of the angular momentum of a particle of mass
Note that: mi about the z axis is : 𝐿𝑖 =

We can now find the angular momentum (which in this situation has only a z
component) of the whole object by taking the sum of Li over all particles:

When a rigid object rotates about an axis, the

angular momentum 𝐿 is in the same
direction as the angular velocity 𝜔
according to the expression 𝐿 = 𝐈 𝜔 .
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 Estimate the magnitude of the angular momentum
Example 6 of a bowling ball spinning at 10 rev/s as shown in the Figure
Remember that: A typical bowling ball might have a mass of 7.0 kg and a radius
of 12 cm.

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 Example 7
A disk with moment of inertia I1 rotates about a frictionless, vertical axle with
angular speed 𝜔𝑖 . 𝐴 second disk, with inertia I2 initially not rotating, drops
onto the first. Because of friction between the surfaces the two eventually reach
the same angular speed 𝜔𝑓 . Calculate 𝜔𝑓 and 𝐾𝑓 / 𝐾𝑖

Conservation of L for the isolated system of two disks requires:

Isolated System

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Example 8

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(SJ-2014)