Chapter 10, Problem 27P

On an old-fashioned rotating piano stool, a woman sits holding a pair of dumbbells at a distance of 0.60 m from the axis of rotation of the stool. She is given an angular velocity of 3.00 rad/s, after which she pulls the dumbbells in until they are only 0.20 m distant from the axis. The woman’s moment of inertia about the axis of rotation is 5.0 kg·m² and may be considered constant. Each dumbbell has a mass of 5.00 kg and may be considered a point mass. Ignore friction. (a) What is the initial angular momentum of the system? (b) What is the angular velocity of the system after the dumbbells are pulled in toward the axis? (c) Compute the kinetic energy of the system before and after the dumbbells are pulled in. Account for the difference, if any.