Chapter 8 Rigid Body Rotation: Axis Direction Fixed

Chapter 8 begins the discussion of rigid bodies, a system of particles with xed relative
positions. Previously we have dealt with movement of a particle: if a rigid body does not
rotate it usually can just be treated by these earlier techniques. In Chapter 8 we discuss
only rotations about an axis of rotation that has a xed orientation so that the rigid body
rotates in a xed plane. We will dene again the things you saw in University Physics,
center of mass, moment of inertia, Newtons second law for rotation, angular momentum
for this situation. We will extend the ideas from that course.
After Chapter 8 we will jump to Chapter 10, but then return to Chapter 9 that discusses
rigid body rotation about a general axis. In that case the moment of inertia becomes a
tensor, angular momentum and angular velocity are not necessarily parallel, and we will
be able to discuss gyroscopes and tops.
1 Center of Mass of a Continuous Rigid Body
In Chapter 7 we dened the center of mass for a system of particles as
x
cm
=

x
i
m
i

m
i
(1)
with similar expressions for y and z coordinates.
For a continuous body the summation becomes an integral and we can write
x
cm
=
_
x dm
_
dm
(2)
where we envision the continuous object broken into small pieces of mass dm and coordinate
x. But how do we evaluate this integral? We must write dm in terms of space-variables,
and to do so we use the density and the volume. The density is a function of position,
(x, y, z) and in Cartesian coordinates the volume is dv = dx dy dz. Then
x
cm
=
_
x dv
_
dv
y
cm
=
_
y dv
_
dv
z
cm
=
_
z dv
_
dv
(3)
1
In practice there are several things we can do to make calculation simpler.
1. Look to see if an object can be considered as a combination of simpler objects: a
sledge hammer can be considered as a solid cylinder (the handle) with a second
cylinder (the head) mounted perpendicular to the rst.
2. Look for symmetry. If there is a plane of symmetry, the center of mass must be
located on that plane. If there is an axis of symmetry the center of mass must be
located on that axis.
3. Look for ways to convert the 3D integral into a 2D or 1D integral.
Example Consider a planar half circle of radius R and uniform density. Locate the center
of mass.
Since the object is planar, the center of mass must lie in the plane. Also there is
an obvious symmetry line. Lets call the symmetry axis y. The areal density is
= M/(
1
2
R
2
) =
2M
R
2
.
Consider a horizontal slice located at a height y above the base and of height dy.
The width of the slice is 2
_
R
2
y
2
and this times dy is the area. Therefore
dm =
4M
R
2
_
R
2
y
2
dy
Hence
y
cm
=
1
M
_
R
0
y
4M
R
2
_
R
2
y
2
dy =
4R
3
e.g. 1 Find the center of mass of a cylinder of radius r and length L.
e.g. 2 Find the center of mass of a uniform planar triangle with a base of w and a length
of . Give answer measured from the tip.
e.g. 3 Suppose we make a strange hammer using a cylinder of mass m, radius r, and
length L, with a triangular head mounted at right angles to the cylinder with center
of base at center of cylinder end, mass 3m, base w and length . Find the center of
mass
e.g. 4 Find the center of mass of a solid hemisphere of radius R, measured from the at
base.
e.g. 5 Find the center of mass of a hemispherical shell of radius R, measured from the
at base.
2
1.1 Numerical Integrals in Mathematica
In some cases a closed integral form is not practical. If you can write the integral, you can
use Mathematica (or Maple) to do the integral. For example, look at the Solid Cone of
Variable Density example in the text, the center of mass of a solid unit cone with density
=
_
x
2
+ y
2
. The rst task is guring out the limits of the integrals.
Once that is done, Mathematica can be used to evaluate the integral by typing
NIntegrate[z Sqrt[x
2
+y
2
], {x, 1, 1}, {y, Sqrt[1x
2
], Sqrt[1x
2
]}, {z, Sqrt[x
2
+y
2
], 1}]
Here the capital letters and form of the brackets, [ or {, must be used. This returns the
answer 0.418879.
For free you can go to http://integrals.wolfram.com/index.jsp to do integrals.
2 Kinetic Energy and Moment of Inertia: Rotation About
a Fixed Axis
Consider a at object in the x-y plane (a laminar object) rotating about the z-axis,

k,
perpendicular to the lamina. A point at location r
i
has a speed of v
i
= r
i
where is the
angular speed common to all points on the lamina. The angle between the position and
velocity vectors for a rigid object is always 90

.
As a vector equation =

k and
v
i
= r
i
(4)
The system kinetic energy due to the rotation is (I could use integral signs and a dierential
mass elements dm rather than summations)
T
rot
=

1
2
m
i
v
2
i
=
1
2
_

m
i
r
2
i
_

2
(5)
We dene the moment of inertia about the z-axis to be
I
z
=

m
i
r
2
i
=

m
i
(x
2
i
+ y
2
i
) =
_
(x
2
+ y
2
) dm (6)
This is a constant for the object that depends on the choice of axis. It does not require a
laminar object. Then
T
rot
=
1
2
I
z

2
(7)
3
Similarly we can compute the angular momentum about the axis of rotation and nd
that
L
z
=
_
[r dm v ]
z
=
_
r
2
dm = I
z
(8)
Since we have

N =
d

L
dt
(9)
we can write for a rigid object
N
z
= I
z
d
dt
(10)
CAVEAT: Once we get to Chapter 9 life is NOT this simple! I will be a tensor, and

L will
not be in the same direction as .
3 Calculating the Moment of Inertia for a Rigid Object
About a Fixed Axis
First let us dene the word moment. A moment is a weighted sum (integral) of a quantity
multiplied by its position raised to some power. The center of mass is related to the rst
moment of mass.
First Moment =

m
1
r
1
i
=
_
r dm (11)
We use the second moment
Second Moment =

m
1
r
2
i
=
_
r
2
dm (12)
to nd the moment of inertia. To evaluate the integral, we express dm in terms of coordi-
nates and density,
I =
_
r
2
dm =
_
r
2
dv (13)
e.g. 1 Find the moment of inertia for a thin uniform rod of mass m, length a about (a) an
axis at one end (b) an axis through its center of mass. The axis is perpendicular to
the rod. Note that unlike mass, the moment of inertia is dependent on the location
of the origin of the coordinate system.
e.g. 2 Find the moment of inertia of a ring of mass m, radius a about an axis through
center perpendicular to the plane of ring.
e.g. 3 Find the moment of inertia of a solid disk of mass m, radius a about an axis through
center perpendicular to the plane of disk.
4
e.g. 4 Find the moment of inertia of a solid cylinder of mass m, radius a, height L about
an axis through center perpendicular to the plane of end of the cylinder.
e.g. 5 Find the moment of inertia of a solid sphere of mass m, radius a, about an axis
through center.
3.1 Perpendicular Axis Theorem for Lamina
For a laminar object in the x-y plane (z = 0) rotating around the z-axis,
I
z
=

m
i
(x
2
i
+ y
2
i
) (14)
If we rotate the lamina around the x-axis instead, and use z
i
= 0,
I
x
=

m
i
y
2
i
(15)
Therefore for a lamina
I
z
= I
x
+ I
y
(16)
e.g. 1 Find the moment of inertia of a solid disk of radius a, mass m about an axis through
its diameter.
e.g. 2 Find the moment of inertia of a rectangular lamina of mass m and dimensions a, b
about an axis through the center of mass and perpendicular to the slab.
3.2 Parallel Axis Theorem
Consider an object rotating about a z-axis located arbitrarily. The distance from this axis
to a parallel axis passing through the center of mass will be denoted .
I
z
=

m
i
(x
2
i
+ y
2
i
) =

m
i
_
(x
ic
+ x
cm
)
2
+ (y
ic
+ y
cm
)
2
_
(17)
Expanding this out we will get 4 terms, two of which sum to 0, leaving
I
z
= m
2
+

m
i
(x
2
ic
+ y
2
ic
) (18)
e.g 1 Find the moment of inertia of a thin rod about one end by using the parallel axis
theorem.
e.g. 2 Find the moment of inertia of a pendulum consisting of a rod of length and mass
m
1
attached to a disk of radius a and mass m
2
. Assume that the center of the disk
is attached to the end of the rod. Use an axis at the far end of the rod.
e.g. 3 Find the moment of inertia of a solid cylinder of length b, radius a, mass m, rotating
about an axis through the center of mass but perpendicular to the rod.
5
3.3 Conservation of Energy With Rotation About a Fixed Axis
We include rotational kinetic energy in our expressions for the energy of a system, and
then providing that non-conservative forces do no work, T
i
+ V
i
= T + V .
Example Suppose I have a solid sphere of radius a and mass m supported on an ideal
pivot (no friction) through a horizontal axis through its center of mass. A chain of
mass m/4 is wrapped around the top half ( radians) of the sphere almost perfectly
in balance, but the single link of the chain will start the sphere rotating. At the
instant the chain leaves the sphere, nd the angular speed of the sphere. Assume
that the chain does not slip on the sphere.
The normal force at the pivot does no work, so we can use conservation of energy.
4 Radius of Gyration and the Physical Pendulum
All the moments of inertia that we have calculated can be summarized as
I = mk
2
(19)
where k has units of length. Thus for a rod pivoted around one end, k
2
= a
2
/3, for a
sphere about an axis through a diameter, k
2
= 2a
2
/5. The quantity k is called the radius
of gyration and depends on the geometry of the object and the location of the axis. Table
1 has values of k
2
. We will now look at the physical pendulum and get its period (small
angle oscillations rst) in terms of the radius of gyration.
A rigid body rotates about an axis located a distance from the center of mass. The
gravitational torque is

N =

mg (20)
with magnitude
N = mg sin (21)
This is a restoring torque, so we can write Newtons Law as
I = mg sin

=
g
k
2
sin
0 =

+
g
k
2
sin (22)
6
Table 1: Squares of Radius of Gyration for Some Objects
Body Axis (through cm unless noted) k
2
Thin rod, length a Normal to rod
a
2
12
Normal to rod at end
a
2
3
Rectangular lamina, a b Parallel to b
a
2
12
Normal to lamina
a
2
+b
2
12
Circular lamina, radius a Plane of lamina
a
2
4
Normal to lamina
a
2
2
Laminar hoop, radius a Plane of hoop
a
2
2
Normal to hoop a
2
Thin cylindrical shell, radius a, length b Longitudinal axis a
2
Solid cylinder, radius a, length b Longitudinal axis
a
2
2
Normal to longitudinal axis
a
2
4
+
b
2
12
Thin spherical shell, radius a A diameter
2
3
a
2
Solid spherical shell, radius a A diameter
2
5
a
2
Rectangular parallelepiped, a b c Normal to ab face
a
2
+b
2
12
4.1 Small Angle Oscillations
For small angle sin so we have
0 =

+
g
k
2
(23)
with solution
=
0
cos(2f
0
t ) (24)
where
2f
0
=
_
g
k
2
(25)
7
The phase constant, , and amplitude,
0
, are determined by the initial conditions. The
period is
T
0
= 2

k
2
g
(26)
A simple pendulum consists of a small massive ball at the end of a string of length = L
of negligible mass so that k
2
= L
2
and the period is
T
0
= 2

L
g
(27)
Hence a physical pendulum has the same period as a simple pendulum of length L
sp
=
k
2
/.
e.g. 1 A thin meterstick is pivoted about one end. What is the length of the equivalent
simple pendulum? Well check this out experimentally.
We can cast the parallel axis theorem in terms of the radius of gyration, with k and k
cm
being the radii of gyration about a general axis and about an axis through the center of
mass respectively.
k
2
= k
2
cm
+
2
(28)
Thus
T
0
= 2

(k
2
cm
+
2
)
g
(29)
4.2 Measuring g: Katers pendulum
We can use pendula to determine g. Period can be measured accurately by measuring os-
cillations with an electronic timer for an extended period of time. Providing the amplitude
is small we might expect a timing accuracy of 0.01 s during a measurement of 500 s, or 2
parts in 10
5
.
If we employ a simple pendulum we need to measure its length precisely and trust that
it meets the criteria for a simple pendulum. The length measurement is less precise than
the time measurement since the string might stretch, and we need to have a hole in the
pendulum bob making the location of its center of mass more dicult to determine.
The same caveats apply to a physical pendulum, but more so. We need to measure the
distance from pivot to center of mass accurately, thus must have a very precise measure of
center of mass, and have the moment of inertia precisely determined. This is hard to do
to match the precision in timing.
8
Figure 1: Katers pendulum from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katers pendulum. Knife
edges are points a. Parts b and c are the coarse and ne adjustments for the position of
the second mass.
Katers Pendulum is an approach that allows us to get very precise measurements of g
without having to measure/compute the center of mass or the moment of inertia.
A Katers Pendulum, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katers_pendulum, is a physical
pendulum that has at least one part adjustable in position. The pendulum has two knife
edges toward either end of the pendulum. When supported from knife edge 1 the distance
to the center of mass is
1
and the period is T
1
. When supported from knife edge 2 the
distance to the center of mass is
2
and the period is T
2
.
We can write the period using the radii of gyration and the parallel axis theorem,
T
2
1
= 4
2
(k
2
cm
+
2
1
)
g
1
T
2
2
= 4
2
(k
2
cm
+
2
2
)
g
2
(30)
Rearrange these to solve for k
2
cm
and equating the two to eliminate this variable, results
in
g
4
2
_

1
T
2
1

2
T
2
2
_
=
2
1

2
2
= (
1
+
2
)(
1

2
) (31)
Rearranging
8
2
g
=
2(
1
T
2
1

2
T
2
2
)
(
1
+
2
)(
1

2
)
(32)
Now express the numerator of the right side as

1
T
2
1
+
1
T
2
1

2
T
2
2

2
T
2
2
+
2
T
2
1

2
T
2
1
+
1
T
2
2

1
T
2
2
(33)
And factoring terms this is
(
1
+
2
)(T
2
1
T
2
2
) + (
1

2
)(T
2
1
+ T
2
2
) (34)
and substituting back,
8
2
g
=
T
2
1
+ T
2
2

1
+
2
+
T
2
1
T
2
2

2
(35)
9
To get g from this we would still need the values of
1
and
2
, BUT if we now adjust the
movable mass so that T
1
= T
2
= T,
8
2
g
=
2T
2

1
+
2
(36)
We have already discussed how to measure the period with precision, say 2 parts in 10
5
.
We can also measure knife edge to knife edge with precision by using a traveling microscope
for example and determine it to within 0.05 mm for a 500 mm separation or 1 part in 10
5
.
Thus combining the errors we can expect a precision of 3 parts in 10
5
!
Fowles and Cassiday refer to two axes on a physical pendulum that have identical periods
as centers of oscillation. This seems to be a non-standard term, I have found it in no other
texts, and Google returns results that say center of oscillation is synonymous with radius
of gyration.
4.3 Large Angle Oscillations and the Elliptic Integral
In the small angle approximation we have the period of oscillation of a physical pendulum
about an axis a distance from the center of mass is
T
0
= 2

k
2
g
(37)
To get the result for large angles we start with the energy equation, E = T + V . For
potential energy, V = mgh and we will choose h = 0 when the pendulum is in equilibrium.
When the pendulum is rotated through an angle , the center of mass rises a distance
h = (1 cos ). When the pendulum reaches maximum angle
0
it has no kinetic energy.
We can thus write
1
2
I

2
+ mg(1 cos ) = mg(1 cos
0
) (38)
With a little algebra this becomes
d
dt
=
_
2g
k
2
(cos cos
0
) (39)
We choose t = 0 to be when = 0 and we can rearrange and integrate this equation to get
the time taken to reach an angle
t =

k
2
2g
_

0
d

cos cos
0
(40)
10
It is convenient to introduce a change in variables here. Let
sin =
1
K
sin

2
(41)
where K = sin

0
2
. The text uses lower case k, but that can be confused with the radius
of gyration, so I will use capital K. With some work (guess what will be on next problem
set) the integral can be written
t =

k
2
2g
_

0
d
_
1 K
2
sin
2

k
2
2g
F(K, ) (42)
and the F is the incomplete elliptic integral of the rst kind. F must be compute numer-
ically, and tables of values are available. An online calculation tool for elliptic integrals
is at http://keisan.casio.com/ and look in the Special Functions section (or search on
keisan casio elliptic). If you want an incomplete integral of the rst kind at this site, you
must use arguments of k = sin(
0
/2) and x = sin .
When we reach the amplitude
0
, we have = /2. The time from the above equation is
1/4 of the period, so we can write
T = 4

k
2
2g
_
/2
0
d
_
1 K
2
sin
2

k
2
2g
F(K, /2) (43)
and this is called the complete elliptic integral of the rst kind. It is denoted commonly as
K(k).
e.g. A physical pendulum is made from a solid sphere of diameter 32 cm and given the
amplitude of 120

. Find the period of the pendulum and compare to the result obtained
from the small angle approximation.
4.4 Elliptic Integrals of second and third kind
Other elliptic integrals exist and are used in other applications. The incomplete elliptic
integral of the second kind is
E(K, ) =
_

0
_
1 K
2
sin
2
d (44)
The incomplete elliptic integral of the third kind is
(K, n, ) =
_

0
d
(1 + nsin
2
)
_
1 K
2
sin
2

(45)
In both of these, K < 1. For the third integral, n is an integer.
11
5 Laminar Motion of A Rigid Body
Thus far we have had an axis of rotation that was xed, both in location and orientation.
We now move to laminar motion, such as a ball rolling down a ramp, where the axis of ro-
tation remains xed in orientation, but where the axis can move and even accelerate.
We start with the relation between torque and angular momentum in an inertial frame
d

L
dt
=

N (46)
or
d
dt

r
i
m
i
v
i
=

r
i

F
i
(47)
Now suppose we evaluate the torques and angular momenta relative to a reference frame
O

that is allowed to accelerate. Refer to Figure 8.5.1 to see

r
i
= r
0
+r

i
v
i
= v
0
+v

i
(48)
where r
0
, v
0
are the position and velocity of the non-inertial frame relative to the inertial
one. In the inertial frame we have Newtons Second Law,

F
i
= d(m
i
v
i
)/dt and hence can
calculate the torque relative to the non-inertial frame.

N

=

r

1


F
i
=

r

i

d
dt
m
i
(v
0
+v

i
)
=
_

m
i
r

i
_

dv
0
dt
+

_
r

i

d
dt
m
i
v

i
_
=

v
0

m
i
r

i
+
d
dt

_
r

i
m
i
v

i
_
(49)
The time derivative can come out of the second term because in the chain rule (dr

i
/dt)
v

i
= 0. The summation in the second term is just the angular momentum evaluated about
O

so we have

N

=

r
0

m
i
r

i
+
d

L

dt
(50)
This is more complicated than Equation 46, but in three special cases the rst term dis-
appears.
1. The acceleration,

r
0
, of O

is zero. This covers rotation about a xed axis as well as

rotation about an axis having constant velocity.
12
2. O

is at the center of mass. For O

at the center of mass, by denition

m
i
r

i
= 0.
This lets us write the non-inertial torque equation as

N

cm
=
d

L

cm
dt
= I
cm

(51)
3. O

passes through the point of contact between a rolling object and the support, and
there is rolling without slipping.

N

O
=
d

L

O

dt
= I
O

(52)
Note that the moments of inertia are dierent in these last two equations. If in doubt,
evaluate about the center of mass for the case of laminar motion.
NOTE: this discussion was for laminar motion. More general motion such as the rotation
of a top is much more complicated as we shall see in Chapter 9.
6 Examples of Laminar Motion
We will use Equations 51 or 52 and Newtons Second Law,

F = m

r
cm
(53)
to solve problems involving laminar rotation.
E.g. Body rolling on an inclined surface. Suppose a round object having mass m,
radius a, and moment of inertia I
cm
= mk
2
cm
can roll down a surface inclined to the
horizontal by .
Choose a cartesian coordinate system with the x-axis parallel to the incline (See
Figure 8.6.1). The forces are the gravitational force, and the contact force between
the body and the surface which we conveniently decompose into normal and frictional
components.
Newtons Laws then become
m x
cm
= mg sin F
P
(54)
m y
cm
= mg cos + F
N
(55)
We constrain the object to remain on the surface, hence y
cm
= 0 and F
N
= mg cos .
Using the Rotational Newtons Second Law, Equation 51,
aF
P
= I
cm
(56)
13
We have two equations, but three unknowns, the two accelerations x
cm
, and the
frictional force F
P
. We have not yet used the constraint rolling without slipping.
Rolling Without Slipping If the coecient of static friction is large enough, the
object will roll without slipping or skidding. The simple model of friction has
an inequality for static friction, F
P

s
F
N
, so we cannot calculte the frictional
force this way. However, in this case the x-velocity and angular velocity are
related
x
cm
= a (57)
x
cm
= a (58)
The rotational equation of motion becomes aF
P
= I
cm
x
cm
/a and this allows us
to eliminate F
P
in the translational equation of motion to yield
m x
cm
= mg sin m
k
2
cm
a
2
x
cm
(59)
x
cm
=
g sin
1 + k
2
cm
/a
2
(60)
Since the acceleration is constant, this equation can easily be integrated to get
velocity and position as functions of time. Instead of choosing the center of
mass for O

we could have chosen the point of contact. This is done as Example

8.6.1 in the text.
Knowing the acceleration x
cm
we can then determine the actual value of the
static frictional force.
Rolling and skidding If the object skids, the frictional force is a kinetic one, and
we can write F
P
=
k
F
N
=
k
mg cos .
The translational and rotational equations are
m x
cm
= mg(sin
k
cos ) (61)
mk
2
cm
= mg(
k
a cos ) (62)
Integrating these to get velocities,
x
cm
= g(sin cos )t (63)
= g
_

k
a cos
k
2
cm
_
t (64)
These are both proportional to time, so we dene the ratio
=
x
cm
a
=
k
2
cm
a
2
_
tan

k
1
_
(65)
14
We have 1 with = 1 being the case of rolling without slipping. Thus the
object will roll without slipping providing

crit
=
tan
1 + (a/k
cm
)
2
(66)
To get a feel for the solution, choose a solid ball of radius 25 cm on a board
inclined by 45

with coecient of kinetic friction 0.20. We nd a center of mass

acceleration of 5.54 m/s
2
and an angular acceleration of 13.9 rad/s
2
. You can
verify that the accelerations are NOT related by x = a .
A spinning billiard ball A solid billiard ball of radius a is initially spinning about a
horizontal axis with angular speed
0
and zero center-of-mass velocity. The coecient
of kinetic friction between the ball and the table is
k
. How far does the ball travel
before it begins rolling without slipping?
The equations of motion are
x = F
P
/m =
k
g (67)
= N/I =

k
ga
k
2
cm
(68)
Integrate these once to get
x =
k
gt (69)
=
0

k
ga
k
2
cm
t (70)
Notice that the center of mass speed is increasing, while the angular speed is decreas-
ing. At the critical point where slipping stops, t
c
, the relation x = a is true.

k
gt
c
= a
_

k
ga
k
2
cm
t
c
_
(71)
Solve for time
t
c
=
a
0

k
g
_
1
1 + (a/k
cm
)
2
_
(72)
and use this in the translational kinematics equation (with our initial conditions)
x
c
=
1
2
xt
2
c
=
a
2

2
0
2
k
g
_
1
1 + (a/k
cm
)
2
_
2
(73)
Putting in some numbers, a = 2.8 cm,
0
= 24 rad/s
2
, and
k
= 0.10, we nd
t = 0.196 s and x = 1.88 cm.
15
Ladder on Smooth Surfaces A uniform ladder (think thin rod) of mass m and length
is placed at an initial angle of
0
from the horizontal against a smooth wallthe
oor is also smooth. There being no friction, the ladder will begin to move. At what
angle will the ladder leave the wall?
The forces on the ladder are the weight, mg

j, and normal forces at the wall and

oor, F
N2

i, F
N1

j. We can write the translational equations of motion as

m x
cm
= F
N2
(74)
m y
cm
= F
N1
mg (75)
For an arbitrary angle the center of mass is located at x
cm
= cos /2, y
cm
=
sin /2. Taking derivatives
x
cm
=

2
sin

(76)
x
cm
=

2
sin



2
cos

2
(77)
y
cm
=

2
cos

(78)
y
cm
=

2
cos



2
sin

2
(79)
Writing the energy equation
1
2
mv
2
cm
+
1
2
I
cm

2
+ mgy
cm
= mgy
0,cm
(80)
We can get the center of mass velocity from v
2
cm
= x
2
cm
+ y
2
cm
=
2

2
/4, and using
I
cm
= m
2
/12 and expressing all variables in terms of the energy equation can be
manipulated to

=
_
3g

(sin
0
sin ) (81)
Take the time derivative to get

=
1
2
3g

(cos )

_
3g

(sin
0
sin )
=
3g
2
cos (82)
Put the expressions for

,

into Equations 77 and 74,
F
N2
=
3mg
2
_

sin cos
2
+ cos sin
0
sin cos
_
=
3mg
2
cos
_
sin
0

3
2
sin
_
(83)
16
The ladder loses contact with the wall when the normal force F
N2
is zero, or
sin =
2
3
sin
0
(84)
For a specic case, if
0
= 75

then = 40

. It is instructive to determine the normal

force from the ground at the point the ladder leaves.
7 Rotational Impulse and Collisions
Earlier we dened linear impulse (P in our text) on an object,

J

P =
_

Fdt (85)
and the net impulse equals the change in momentum.

P = mv

mv (86)
Similarly we can dene the rotational impulse

P
rot
=
_

Ndt (87)
and for the case of laminar rotation
P
rot
= I

I (88)
If the linear impulse is applied so that its line of action is a distance from the reference
axis, then
P
rot
= P (89)
Eight Ball in the Corner Pocket What must be the height of the bumper on a pool
table to allow balls to elastically bounce o the bumper without skidding?
Call the radius of the ball a and the height of the bumper h. The ball has an initial
velocity v

i and a nal velocity v

i. A horizontal impulse P

i is supplied by the
bumper. Applying linear and rotational Impulse Momentum Theorems,
P = mv

mv (90)
P(h a) = I

I (91)
The no-skid conditions require
v = a (92)
v

= a

(93)
17
Combining,
P + mv = mv

= ma

(94)
P + ma = ma
_
P(h a)
I
+
_
(95)
P = P
ma(h a)
I
(96)
2ma
2
5
= ma(h a) (97)
h =
7
5
a (98)
In other words, the bumper height must be 7/10 of the diameter of the ball. Check
it out!
Center of Percussion Consider a baseball bat, mass M, suspended so that it is free to
move. A ball, mass m, strikes the bat at some point. What are the subsequent
motions of the bat and the ball?
Refer to gure 8.7.1. If the ball initially moves to the right along the x-axis, it
bounces o and moves at a dierent velocity in the x-axis. The motion of the bat
is more complicated, being a combination of translation and rotation.
If the ball strikes the bat at its center of mass, the bat will end up in pure translation.
Is it possible to nd a location so that some point on the bat has no translational
velocity?
There is an impulse

P between ball and bat. We can write

P = Mv
cm
(99)

P = mv
1
mv
0
(100)
From rotational impulse we can write for the bat,
0 =
P

I
cm
(101)
where

is the distance from the center of mass to the impact point. We can write the
velocity of another point a distance from the center of mass as
v
O
= v
cm
=
P
M

P

I
cm
= P
_
1
M

I
cm
_
(102)
This velocity can be zero providing

=
I
cm
M
(103)
18
So if we know where we hold the bat, O, and the distance to the center of mass, , the
center of percussion is located at

from the center of mass or +

from where we are

holding the bat.
19