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Ch. 11 - Angular Momentum; General Rotation
Giancoli Douglas - Physics for Scientists and Engineers 5th edition
Giancoli Douglas5th editionPhysics for Scientists and EngineersISBN: 9780137488179Not the one you use?Change textbook
Chapter 11, Problem 68

A merry-go-round with a moment of inertia equal to 860 kg·m² and a radius of 3.0 m rotates with negligible friction at 1.70 rad/s. A child initially standing still next to the merry-go-round jumps onto the edge of the platform straight toward the axis of rotation causing the platform to slow to 1.25 rad/s. What is her mass?

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Start by identifying the principle of conservation of angular momentum, which states that the total angular momentum of a system remains constant if no external torques act on it. Here, the system includes the merry-go-round and the child.
Write the expression for the initial angular momentum of the system. Since the child is initially stationary, only the merry-go-round contributes to the initial angular momentum: \( L_{initial} = I_{merry-go-round} \cdot \omega_{initial} \), where \( I_{merry-go-round} = 860 \; \text{kg·m}^2 \) and \( \omega_{initial} = 1.70 \; \text{rad/s} \).
Write the expression for the final angular momentum of the system. After the child jumps onto the edge, the system's angular momentum is the sum of the merry-go-round's angular momentum and the child's angular momentum: \( L_{final} = (I_{merry-go-round} + m \cdot r^2) \cdot \omega_{final} \), where \( m \) is the child's mass, \( r = 3.0 \; \text{m} \) is the radius, and \( \omega_{final} = 1.25 \; \text{rad/s} \).
Set the initial angular momentum equal to the final angular momentum to apply the conservation law: \( I_{merry-go-round} \cdot \omega_{initial} = (I_{merry-go-round} + m \cdot r^2) \cdot \omega_{final} \).
Solve for the child's mass \( m \) by isolating it in the equation: \( m = \frac{I_{merry-go-round} \cdot (\omega_{initial} - \omega_{final})}{r^2 \cdot \omega_{final}} \). Substitute the known values for \( I_{merry-go-round} \), \( \omega_{initial} \), \( \omega_{final} \), and \( r \) to calculate \( m \).

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Moment of Inertia

Moment of inertia is a measure of an object's resistance to changes in its rotational motion. It depends on the mass distribution relative to the axis of rotation. For a rigid body, it is calculated by summing the products of each mass element and the square of its distance from the axis. In this scenario, the merry-go-round's moment of inertia is crucial for understanding how it responds to the addition of the child's mass.
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Conservation of Angular Momentum

The conservation of angular momentum states that if no external torque acts on a system, the total angular momentum remains constant. In this case, the initial angular momentum of the merry-go-round and the child before the jump must equal the final angular momentum after the child jumps on. This principle allows us to relate the initial and final states of the system to find the child's mass.
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Angular Velocity

Angular velocity is a vector quantity that represents the rate of rotation of an object around an axis, measured in radians per second. It indicates how quickly an object is rotating and in which direction. In this problem, the initial and final angular velocities of the merry-go-round are essential for applying the conservation of angular momentum to determine the mass of the child.
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Related Practice
Textbook Question

A toy gyroscope consists of a 170-g disk with a radius of 5.5 cm mounted at the center of a thin axle 21 cm long (Fig. 11–42). The gyroscope spins at 45 rev/s. One end of its axle rests on a stand and the other end precesses horizontally about the stand. How long does it take the gyroscope to precess once around?

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Textbook Question

The position of a particle with mass m traveling on a helical path (see Fig. 11–48) is given by r\(\overrightarrow{r}\) = R cos (2πz/d) î + R sin (2πz/d) ĵ + zk̂ where R and d are the radius and pitch of the helix, respectively, and z has time dependence z = v𝓏t where v𝓏 is the (constant) component of velocity in the z direction. Determine the time-dependent angular momentum L\(\overrightarrow{L}\) of the particle about the origin.

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Textbook Question

On a level billiards table a cue ball, initially at rest at point O on the table, is struck so that it leaves the cue stick with a center-of-mass speed v₀ and ω₀ a “reverse” spin of angular speed (see Fig. 11–41). A kinetic friction force acts on the ball as it initially skids across the table. If ω₀ is 10% smaller than ωC , i.e., ω₀ = 0.90ωC, determine the ball’s cm velocity vCM when it starts to roll without slipping.

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Textbook Question

A boy rolls a tire along a straight level street. The tire has mass 8.0 kg, radius 0.32 m and moment of inertia about its central axis of symmetry of 0.83 kg·m². The boy pushes the tire forward away from him at a speed of 2.1 m/s and sees that the tire leans 12° to the right (Fig. 11–49). How will the resultant torque due to gravity and the normal force FN\(\overrightarrow{F_{N}\)} affect the subsequent motion of the tire? 

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Textbook Question

The time-dependent position of a point object which moves counterclockwise along the circumference of a circle (radius R) in the xy plane with constant speed υ is given by r\(\overrightarrow{r}\) = î R cos ωt + ĵ R sin ωt where the constant ω = v/R. Determine the velocity v\(\overrightarrow{v}\) and angular velocity w\(\overrightarrow{w}\) of this object and then show that these three vectors obey the relationv=ω×r\(\overrightarrow{v}\)=\(\overrightarrow{\omega}\[\times\]\overrightarrow{r}\).

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Textbook Question

Suppose the solid wheel of Fig. 11–42 has a mass of 260 g and rotates at 85 rad/s; it has radius 6.0 cm and is mounted at the center of a horizontal thin axle 25 cm long. At what rate does the axle precess?

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