Assignment 5: Rotation of Rigid Bodies

Due: 2:00am on Saturday, October 16, 2010

Note: To understand how points are awarded, read your instructor's Grading Policy. [Switch to Standard Assignment View]

Constant Angular Acceleration in the Kitchen

Dario, a prep cook at an Italian restaurant, spins a salad spinner 20.0 times in 5.00 seconds and then stops spinning it. The salad spinner rotates 6.00 more times before it comes to rest. Assume that the spinner slows down with constant angular acceleration. Part A What is the angular acceleration of the salad spinner as it slows down? Hint A.1

How to approach the problem Hint not displayed

Hint A.2

Find the angular velocity of the salad spinner while Dario is spinning it Hint not displayed

Hint A.3

Find the angular distance the salad spinner travels as it comes to rest Hint not displayed

Hint A.4

Determine which equation to use Hint not displayed

Express your answer numerically in degrees per second per second.

ANSWER: = -480 Correct

Part B How long does it take for the salad spinner to come to rest? Hint B.1

How to approach the problem Hint not displayed

Hint B.2

Determine which equation to use Hint not displayed

Express your answer numerically in seconds.

ANSWER: = 3.00 Correct

Weight and Wheel

Consider a bicycle wheel that initially is not rotating. A block of mass allowed to fall a distance Part A Consider the case that the string tied to the block is attached to the outside of the wheel, at a radius is attached to the wheel and is about its rotation axis. . Assume that the wheel has a moment of inertia

. Find case.

, the angular speed of the wheel , for this

after the block has fallen a distance

Hint A.1

How to approach this problem Hint not displayed

Hint A.2

Initial energy of the system

Initially, the wheel is not rotating. The initial energy of the system consists of the gravitational potential energy stored in the block, since it is not moving either. Supposing that the gravitiational potential energy of the block is zero at "ground level," find the initial energy of the system. ANSWER: = Answer not displayed

Hint A.3

Final energy of block

Find the final energy of the block. Hint A.3.1 Final velocity of the block

Hint not displayed Express the final energy of the block in terms of given quantities (excluding unknown final angular velocity of the wheel,
ANSWER: = Answer not displayed

) and the

Hint A.4

Final energy of wheel

Find the final kinetic energy of the wheel.

Find the final kinetic energy of the wheel.

Express your answer in terms of

ANSWER:

(the wheel's moment of inertia) and

= Answer not displayed

Express
ANSWER:

in terms of

, and

Correct

Part B Now consider the case that the string tied to the block is wrapped around a smaller inside axle of the wheel of radius . Find , the angular speed of the wheel after the block has fallen a distance , for this case.

Hint B.1

Similarity to previous part Hint not displayed

Express
ANSWER:

in terms of

, and

Correct

Part C Which of the following describes the relationship between Hint C.1 and ?

How to approach this question Hint not displayed

ANSWER:

Correct
This is related to why gears are found on the inside rather than the outside of a wheel.

Loop the Loop with a Twist

In this problem you will consider the motion of a cylinder of radius without losing contact with the track. Unless otherwise stated, assume that friction is sufficient that the cylinder rolls without slipping. of the cylinder is much smaller The radius than the radius of the loop. that is rolled from a certain height shown in the figure so that it "loops the loop," that is, rolls around the track with a loop of radius

Part A Compared to an object that does not roll, but instead slides without friction, should a rolling object be released from the same,a greater, or a lesser height in order just barely to complete the loop the loop? Hint A.1

How to approach the question

In order just to complete the loop without falling off, each object will need a certain critical speed at the top of the loop. The value of will be the same for all objects. Each object will need to be dropped from a certain height most straightforward way to find in order to achieve a speed at the top of the loop. The is to use conservation of mechanical energy.

Hint A.2

The difference between a sliding and a rolling object

The object that slides will have only translational kinetic energy. The rolling object, however, will have both translational kinetic energy and rotational kinetic energy. ANSWER:

The rolling object should be released from a greater height. The rolling object should be released from a lesser height. The rolling object should be released from exactly the same height. The answer depends on the moment of inertia of the rolling object. Correct

Part B Find the minimum height of radius Hint B.1 . that will allow a solid cylinder of mass and radius to loop the loop

How to approach the problem

First, determine the minimum speed the cylinder needs to have at the top of the loop in order to stay in contact with the track. Then, compute the total mechanical energy of the cylinder at the top of the loop (potential plus kinetic energy). Apply conservation of energy to find the height from which the object must be released. Hint B.2

Find the critical speed at the top of the loop

at the top of the .

To stay in contact with the track, the cylinder must exceed some critical speed loop. Find an expression for

Hint B.2.1 How to approach the problem

Hint not displayed

Hint B.2.2 Find the acceleration at the top of the loop

Hint not displayed

Hint B.2.3 Find the sum of vertical forces

Hint not displayed Express your answer in terms of the loop's radius .
ANSWER: = Answer not displayed

and the acceleration due to gravity

Hint B.3

Find the potential energy at top of loop

of the cylinder at the top of the loop, taking the gravitational

Find the potential energy

potential to be zero at the bottom of the loop.

Express your answer in terms of

ANSWER:

, and

= Answer not displayed

Hint B.4

Find the kinetic energy at the top of the loop Hint not displayed

Express
ANSWER:

in terms of the radius

of the loop.

Correct

Axis of Rotation and Moment of Inertia Ranking Task

Two identical uniform solid spheres are attached by a solid uniform thin rod, as shown in the figure. The rod lies on a line connecting the centers of mass of the two spheres. The axes A, B, C, and D are in the plane of the page (which also contains the centers of mass of the spheres and the rod), while axes E and F (represented by black dots) are perpendicular to the page.

Part A Rank the moments of inertia of this object about the axes indicated. Hint A.1

Comparing axis A and axis C

Imagine grabbing the illustrated dumbbell shape along axis A and rotating the dumbbell first clockwise and then counterclockwise. The difficulty in doing this corresponds to the moment of inertia. Now imagine grabbing the dumbbell at one end, perhaps along axis C, and doing the same thing. If it is more difficult to rotate about axis C, then the moment of inertia is greater about axis C; if it is less difficult to rotate, then the moment of inertia is smaller about axis C. To understand this mathematically, recall that moment of inertia is defined as . Call the distance from axis A to one of the weights . Thus, the moment would be , where . Plug

is the mass of one of the weights. The distance from the top weight to axis C would be this into the formula for to determine which axis gives the greater moment of inertia.

Rank from largest to smallest. To rank items as equivalent, overlap them.

ANSWER:

View Correct

Rotational Kinetic Energy and Conservation of Energy Ranking Task

The five objects of various masses, each denoted , all have the same radius. They are all rolling at the

same speed as they approach a curved incline. Part A Rank the objects based on the maximum height they reach along the curved incline. Hint A.1

Using energy conservation Hint not displayed

Hint A.2

Moment of inertia Hint not displayed

Rank from largest to smallest. To rank items as equivalent, overlap them.

ANSWER:

View Correct

Visualizing Rotation
Learning Goal: To be able to identify situations with constant angular velocity or constant angular acceleration by watching movies of the rotations.
Recall that angular velocity measures the angle through which an object turns over time. If a disk has constant angular velocity and it makes a quarter revolution in one second, then it will make another quarter revolution the next second. If the disk turns in the clockwise direction, it has, by definition, negative angular velocity. The magnitude of the angular velocity is the angular speed. This applet, which

negative angular velocity. The magnitude of the angular velocity is the angular speed. This applet, which shows a few rotating disks and lists their angular velocities, should help you to get a feel for how different angular velocities look. Angular acceleration measures how the angular velocity changes over time. If a disk has constant angular velocity, then it has zero angular acceleration. If a disk turns a quarter revolution one second and a half revolution the next second, then its angular velocity is changing, and so it has an angular acceleration. This applet shows two disks and lists their initial angular velocities and angular accelerations. This should help you to get a feel for how different angular accelerations look. Just as with linear accelerations, if a positive angular velocity decreases, that indicates a negative angular acceleration. If a negative angular velocity becomes more negative (i.e., its magnitude increases), that also indicates a negative angular acceleration. This applet shows six disks rotating with constant angular acceleration. No two have the same initial angular velocity and angular acceleration. To answer the following questions, number the disks starting from the top. That is, call the yellow disk "1" and go sequentially down to the red disk, which will be "6". In the following questions, you will be asked to determine whether the disks' angular velocities and accelerations are positive, negative, or zero. Keep in mind that angular velocity is considered positive if rotation is in the counterclockwise direction. Angular acceleration is positive if the rotation is in the counterclockwise (positive) direction and the angular speed is increasing, or if rotation is the clockwise (negative) direction and the angular speed is decreasing (thus the angular velocity is becoming less negative). Negative angular acceleration is defined analogously. Part A Which of the disks have positive initial angular velocity?

Write down the numbers, in order, that correspond to the disk(s) that you believe are correct, without commas or spaces between them. For example, if you think that the yellow disk and the gray disk are the correct ones, then you should enter 15.
ANSWER:

Answer not displayed

Part B Which of the disks have negative initial angular velocity?

Write down the numbers, in order, that correspond to the disk(s) that you believe are correct, without commas or spaces between them. For example, if you think that the yellow disk and the gray disk are the correct ones, then you should enter 15.
ANSWER:

Answer not displayed

Part C Which of the disks have zero angular acceleration?

Write down the numbers, in order, that correspond to the disk(s) that you believe are correct, without commas or spaces between them. For example, if you think that the yellow disk and the gray disk are the correct ones, then you should enter 15.
ANSWER:

Answer not displayed

Part D Which of the disks have positive angular acceleration?

Write down the numbers, in order, that correspond to the disk(s) that you believe are correct, without commas or spaces between them. For example, if you think that the yellow disk and

without commas or spaces between them. For example, if you think that the yellow disk and the gray disk are the correct ones, then you should enter 15.
ANSWER:

Answer not displayed

Part E Which of the following characterizes the initial angular velocity disk 4? ANSWER: and the angular acceleration of

Answer not displayed

Rotational Kinematics Ranking Task

The figure shows angular position versus time graphs for six different objects.

Part A Rank these graphs on the basis of the angular velocity of each object. Rank positive angular velocities as larger than negative angular velocities. Hint A.1

Determining angular velocity from an angular position versus time graph Hint not displayed

Rank from largest to smallest. To rank items as equivalent, overlap them.

ANSWER:

Answer not displayed

Part B

Part not displayed

The Rotational Kinetic Energy of the Earth

The Earth can be approximated as a sphere of uniform density, rotating on its axis once a day. The mass of the Earth is 5.971024 , the radius of the Earth is 6.38106 , and the period of rotation for the Earth is 24.0 Part A What is the moment of inertia of the Earth? Use the uniform-sphere approximation described in the introduction. Hint A.1 .

The moment of inertia for a uniform sphere Hint not displayed

Express your answer in kilogram meters squared to four significant figures.

ANSWER: = Answer not displayed

By studying the Earth and its interactions with other celestial bodies, scientists have concluded that the actual moment of inertia for the Earth is about twenty percent smaller than the moment of inertia you calculated in the previous part of the problem. Part B

Part B Consider the following statements, all of which are actually true, and select the one that best explains why the moment of inertia of the Earth is actually smaller than the moment of inertia you calculated. ANSWER:

The Earth is an oblate spheroid rather than a perfect sphere. For an oblate spheroid, the distance from the center to the equator is a little larger than the distance from the center to the poles. This is a similar shape to a beach ball resting on the ground, being pushed on from above. The Earth does not have uniform density. As the planet formed, the densest materials sank to the center of the Earth. This created a dense iron core. Meanwhile, the lighter elements floated to the surface. The crust of the Earth is considerably less dense than the core. While the Earth currently has a period of 24 hours, it is in fact slowing down. Once it was rotating much faster, giving days that were closer to 20 hours than 24 hours. In the future, it is expected that days will become longer.

Answer not displayed

Part C

Part not displayed

Recall that while energy can change forms, it is always conserved. In other words, if you start with a certain amount of energy, you must end with the same amount of energy. In Part C, you calculated how much rotational kinetic energy the Earth now has. By conservation of energy, that energy had to come from somewhere. Part D Where did the rotational kinetic energy of the Earth come from?

Select the option that best explains where the Earths rotational kinetic energy came from.
ANSWER:

The solar system formed from a massive cloud of gas and dust, which was slowly rotating. As the cloud collapsed under its own gravitational pull, the cloud started to spin faster, just as an ice skater pulling his arms in will spin faster. Because all of the material that accreted to form the planet was rotating, the planet was rotating as well. As the Earth formed, it experienced a series of collisions with asteroids and comets. These asteroids and comets hit the ball of rock that was forming into the planet off-center. Over time, the off-center collisions gradually caused the planet to rotate faster. As the Moon orbits around the Earth, it creates tides on the Earth. Over time the tides have caused the Earth to rotate faster and faster. Answer not displayed

Playing in the Field

Four children are playing in a field. The children form a line, holding hands. The player at the front of the line starts to spin around faster and faster, causing the others to run in circle, as shown in the figure.

Part A While the line of children is rotating, which of the following statements are correct? Hint A.1

How to approach the problem Hint not displayed

Hint A.2

Angular acceleration Hint not displayed

Hint A.3

Relation between linear and angular velocities Hint not displayed

Check all that apply.

ANSWER:

The player at the front of the line has the smallest angular acceleration. The player at the front of the line has the smallest linear velocity. All the children have the same angular acceleration. All the children have the same linear velocity. Answer not displayed

Part B

Part not displayed

The Parallel-Axis Theorem

Learning Goal: To understand the parallel-axis theorem and its applications
To solve many problems about rotational motion, it is important to know the moment of inertia of each object involved. Calculating the moments of inertia of various objects, even highly symmetrical ones,

object involved. Calculating the moments of inertia of various objects, even highly symmetrical ones, may be a lengthy and tedious process. While it is important to be able to calculate moments of inertia from the definition ( ), in most cases it is useful simply to recall the moment of inertia of a particular type of object. The moments of inertia of frequently occurring shapes (such as a uniform rod, a uniform or a hollow cylinder, a uniform or a hollow sphere) are well known and readily available from any mechanics text, including your textbook. However, one must take into account that an object has not one but an infinite number of moments of inertia. One of the distinctions between the moment of inertia and mass (the latter being the measure of tranlsational inertia) is that the moment of inertia of a body depends on the axis of rotation. The moments of inertia that you can find in the textbooks are usually calculated with respect to an axis passing through the center of mass of the object. However, in many problems the axis of rotation does not pass through the center of mass. Does that mean that one has to go through the lengthy process of finding the moment of inertia from scratch? It turns out that in many cases, calculating the moment of inertia can be done rather easily if one uses the parallel-axis theorem. Mathematically, it can be expressed as , where is the moment of inertia about an axis passing through the center of mass, is the total mass of the object, and is the moment of from

inertia about another axis, parallel to the one for which

is calculated and located a distance

the center of mass. In this problem you will show that the theorem does indeed work for at least one object: a dumbbell of length made of two small spheres of mass each connected by a light rod (see the figure). NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, all axes considered are perpendicular to the plane of the page.

Part A Using the definition of moment of inertia, calculate mass, for this object. Hint A.1 , the moment of inertia about the center of

Location of the center of mass Hint not displayed

Hint A.2

Finding the moment of inertia for each sphere. Hint not displayed

Express your answer in terms of

ANSWER:

and

= Answer not displayed

Part B

Part B Using the definition of moment of inertia, calculate , the moment of inertia about an axis through

point B, for this object. Point B coincides with (the center of) one of the spheres (see the figure). Hint B.1

Finding the contribution of each sphere Hint not displayed

Express your answer in terms of

ANSWER:

and

= Answer not displayed

Part C Now calculate for this object using the parallel-axis theorem.

Express your answer in terms of

ANSWER:

, and

= Answer not displayed

Part D Using the definition of moment of inertia, calculate point C, for this object. Point C is located a distance Hint D.1 , the moment of inertia about an axis through from the center of mass (see the figure).

Finding the contribution of each sphere Hint not displayed

Express your answer in terms of

ANSWER:

and

= Answer not displayed

Part E Now calculate for this object using the parallel-axis theorem.

Express your answer in terms of

ANSWER:

, and

= Answer not displayed

Consider an irregular object of mass

. Its moment of inertia measured with respect to axis A (parallel

to the plane of the page), which passes through the center of mass (see the second diagram), is given . Axes B, C, D, and E are parallel to axis A; their separations from axis A are shown by in the diagram. In the subsequent questions, the subscript indicates the axis with respect to which the moment of inertia is measured: for instance,

moment of inertia is measured: for instance, is the moment of inertia about axis C.

Part F Which moment of inertia is the smallest? ANSWER:

Answer not displayed

Part G Which moment of inertia is the largest? ANSWER:

Answer not displayed

Part H Which moments of inertia are equal? ANSWER:

and and Answer not displayed and No two moments of inertia are equal.

Part I Which moment of inertia equals ANSWER: ?

Answer not displayed

Part J Axis X, not shown in the diagram, is parallel to the axes shown. It is known that the following is a possible location for axis X? ANSWER: . Which of

between axes A and C between axes C and D between axes D and E to the right of axis E Answer not displayed

Moment of Inertia and Center of Mass for Point Particles

Ball a, of mass , is connected to ball b, of mass , by a massless rod of length . The two vertical dashed lines in the figure, one through each ball, represent two different axes of rotation, axes a and b. These axes are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the rod. The moment of inertia of the two-mass system about axis a is , and the moment of inertia of the system about axis b is to . It is observed that the ratio of

is equal to 3:

Assume that both balls are pointlike; that is, neither has any moment of inertia about its own center of mass. Part A Find the ratio of the masses of the two balls. Hint A.1

How to approach the problem Hint not displayed

Hint A.2

Find

Hint A.2

Find Hint not displayed

Express your answer numerically.

ANSWER: = Answer not displayed

Part B Find , the distance from ball A to the system's center of mass.

Hint B.1

How to approach the problem Hint not displayed

Hint B.2

Find

in terms of Hint not displayed

Express your answer in terms of

ANSWER:

, the length of the rod.

= Answer not displayed

Linear and Rotational Kinematics Ranking Task

The pulley in the figure represents different pulleys with outer radius and inner radius indicated in the table. The horizontal rope is pulled to the right at a constant speed that is the same in each case, and none of the ropes slips in its contact with the pulley.

Part A Rank these scenarios on the basis of the speed of the block. Hint A.1

Relating the two rope speeds Hint not displayed

Rank from largest to smallest. To rank items as equivalent, overlap them.

ANSWER:

Answer not displayed

Several points on the pulley are indicated in the figure. Each letter designates a point on either the pulley or one of the two ropes. The horizontal rope is pulled to the right at a constant speed, and neither rope slips in its contact with the pulley.

Part B Rank the designated points on the basis of their speed. Hint B.1

Determining speed Hint not displayed

Rank from largest to smallest. To rank items as equivalent, overlap them.

ANSWER:

Answer not displayed

Part C

Part not displayed

Score Summary:
Your score on this assignment is 98.9%. You received 39.55 out of a possible total of 40 points.