5: A merry-go-round is a playground ride that consists of a large disk mounted to that it can freely rotate in a horizontal plane. The merry-go-round shown is initially at rest, has a radius R = 1.1 meters, and a mass M = 226 kg. A small boy of mass m = 42 kg runs tangentially to the merry-go-round at a speed of v= 1.1 m/s, and jumps on.
Angular Momentum
The momentum of an object is given by multiplying its mass and velocity. Momentum is a property of any object that moves with mass. The only difference between angular momentum and linear momentum is that angular momentum deals with moving or spinning objects. A moving particle's linear momentum can be thought of as a measure of its linear motion. The force is proportional to the rate of change of linear momentum. Angular momentum is always directly proportional to mass. In rotational motion, the concept of angular momentum is often used. Since it is a conserved quantity—the total angular momentum of a closed system remains constant—it is a significant quantity in physics. To understand the concept of angular momentum first we need to understand a rigid body and its movement, a position vector that is used to specify the position of particles in space. A rigid body possesses motion it may be linear or rotational. Rotational motion plays important role in angular momentum.
Moment of a Force
The idea of moments is an important concept in physics. It arises from the fact that distance often plays an important part in the interaction of, or in determining the impact of forces on bodies. Moments are often described by their order [first, second, or higher order] based on the power to which the distance has to be raised to understand the phenomenon. Of particular note are the second-order moment of mass (Moment of Inertia) and moments of force.
The boy then crawls towards the center of the merry-go-round along a radius. What is the angular speed in radians/second of the merry-go-round when the boy is half way between the edge and the center of the merry go round?
- The boy then crawls to the center of the merry-go-round. What is the angular speed in radians/second of the merry-go-round when the boy is at the center of the merry go round?
- Finally, the boy decides that he has had enough fun. He decides to crawl to the outer edge of the merry-go-round and jump off. Somehow, he manages to jump in such a way that he hits the ground with zero velocity with respect to the ground. What is the angular speed in radians/second of the merry-go-round after the boy jumps off?
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