Scribd
Upload
34 views

Momentum. Similarly, The "Inertia of Rotation" of Rotating Objects Is Called Angular Momentum

Angular momentum is the rotational equivalent of linear momentum. It is defined as the product of an object's rotational inertia and rotational velocity, just as linear momentum is defined as the product of mass and velocity. Angular momentum is a measure of an object's resistance to changes in its rotational motion or axis of rotation. It remains constant unless acted on by an external torque, just as linear momentum remains constant unless acted on by an external force. Examples of systems with angular momentum include spinning bicycle wheels, planets orbiting stars, and rotating galaxies.

Uploaded by

Nath
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
34 views

Momentum. Similarly, The "Inertia of Rotation" of Rotating Objects Is Called Angular Momentum

Angular momentum is the rotational equivalent of linear momentum. It is defined as the product of an object's rotational inertia and rotational velocity, just as linear momentum is defined as the product of mass and velocity. Angular momentum is a measure of an object's resistance to changes in its rotational motion or axis of rotation. It remains constant unless acted on by an external torque, just as linear momentum remains constant unless acted on by an external force. Examples of systems with angular momentum include spinning bicycle wheels, planets orbiting stars, and rotating galaxies.

Uploaded by

Nath
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Things that rotate, whether a colony in space, a cylinder rolling down an incline, or an

acrobat doing a somersault, remain rotating until something stops them. A rotating object has
an "inertia of rotation." Remind that all moving objects have "inertia of motion" or
momentum (the product of mass and velocity). This kind of momentum is linear
momentum. Similarly, the "inertia of rotation" of rotating objects is called angular
momentum.
Angular momentum is defined as the product of rotational inertia and rotational velocity.
Angular momentum = rotational inertia x rotational velocity
It is the counterpart of linear momentum:
Linear momentum = mass x velocity
Like linear momentum, angular momentum is a vector quantity and has direction as well as
magnitude. The rotating bicycle wheel shows what happens when a torque caused by Earth's
gravity acts to change the direction of its angular momentum (which is along the wheel's
axle). The pull of gravity that normally acts to topple the wheel over and change its rotational
axis causes it instead to precess about a vertical axis.
For the case of an object that is small compared with the radial distance
to its axis of rotation, such as a tin can swinging from a long string or a
planet orbiting in a circle around the Sun, the angular momentum can
be expressed as the magnitude of its linear momentum (mv) multiplied
by the radial (r).

In shorthand notation,
Angular momentum = mvr
Angular momentum = m( r r
Angular Momentum = I
Just as an external net force is required to change the linear momentum of an object, an
external net torque is required to change the angular momentum of an object. We can state a
rotational version of Newton's first law (the law of inertia):
An object or system of objects will maintain its angular momentum unless acted upon
by an external net torque.
Our solar system has angular momentum contributed by the Sun, the spinning and orbiting
planets, and myriad other smaller bodies. The angular momentum of the solar system today
will be its angular momentum for eons to come. Only an external torque from outside the

solar system can change it. In the absence of such a torque, we say the angular momentum of
the solar system is conserved.

You might also like