Module 1 -- Angular Kinematics

From PER wiki

The net torque about an axis will cause a change in rotation of a rigid object. Knowing the torques
acting on a rigid object and the distribution of the mass of the object the angular acceleration is:

In this module we will describe the angular motion of a point in a rigid body that is rotating about a
fixed axis under the influence of a net torque.

Learning Goals

After working through this module, you should be able to:

Define the angular quantities θ, ω, and α.

Define the linear quantities of a point within a rotating rigid object.
Explain why the angular quantities are the same for all the points in the rigid object
Relate the angular and the linear quantities

The Angular Quantities

Consider a disk contained in the xy plane and rotating counterclockwise about a fixed axis passing
through its center. A point B in the disk at a distance r from the center will move along the dash circle
of radius r, figure a).
Angular Position

The position of point B at an instant of time t can be described in terms of the angle θ(t) measured
from the +x axis, θ is called the angular position of the point.

Convention: the angular position is defined positive when measured counterclockwise with respect
to the +x axis.

Angular Velocity

At a later time t + dt, the point B has moved along the circle and its angular position has changed by
dθ and is now θ(t+dt) = θ(t) + dθ, figure b).

For a given time interval dt, the faster the rotation of the object larger is the change in angular
position. The angular velocity is defined as the rate of change of the angular position and its noted
with the letter omega:

The direction of the angular velocity

The angular velocity is a vector. Its direction is parallel to the axis of rotation, therefore the angular
velocity vector is perpendicular to the plane where the circle described by point B is contained.

In the figures below, the rotation of a disk is described from the point of view of an observer looking
from the +z axis. As shown in the figure:

For counterclockwise rotation

θ(t) increases with time, then ω > 0 and points towards the +z axis - towards the observer.

For clockwise rotation

θ(t) decreases with time, then ω < 0 and points towards the -z axis - away from the observer.
Note that what it looks rotating counterclockwise from one side is rotating clockwise from the other
side. To obtain the correct direction of the angular velocity vector we will use the right hand rule.

Use the right hand rule

The direction of the angular velocity vector can be obtained by the right hand rule:

Curl the fingers of your right hand along the direction of the rotation of the object, your thumb will
point to the direction of the angular velocity vector.

Test your understanding [show]

Angular Acceleration

If the angular velocity changes with time then there is an angular acceleration noted by the greek
letter α and defined as:

The direction of the angular acceleration vector

The angular acceleration is a vector and its direction is either parallel or anti-parallel to the angular
velocity vector.

In analogy to one dimensional motion, if the angular acceleration vector is in the same direction as
the angular velocity vector then the rotation is speeding up. If the vectors are in opposite direction
then the rotation is slowing down.

Test your understanding [show]

The Linear Quantities of a Point in a Rigid Body

The angular velocity and the angular acceleration are the quantities that define the state of rotation of
the rigid body. ALL the points inside the rigid body have the same angular velocity and angular
acceleration. However, the linear speed and the acceleration of a given point in the rigid body
depends on the position of the point relative to the axis of rotation. Consider again the point B in the
disk. The faster the disk rotates faster the point will move along the circle.

Between the instant t and t+dt the rigid object has rotate an angle dθ. At the same time, point B has
moved along the arc length ds which is related to the change in angular position dθ by:

The further point B is from the axis or rotation the larger is r and larger is the arc length ds that the
point must covered in the time dt.

The linear or tangential velocity

The linear or tangential velocity is the rate of change of the position vector of point B:

The term linear is used to distinguish this quantity from the angular velocity which is the rate of
change of the angular position.

The direction of the linear velocity is always tangent to the circle described by point B. For this
reason it is also called tangential velocity. From now on we will use the term 'velocity' or 'speed' of a
point when we refer to the linear or tangential velocity or speed but we will mention the term 'angular'
when we talk about ω = dθ/dt.

The magnitude of the velocity of point B can be obtained by taking the derivative with respect t time
of ds:
Note that the speed of point B is proportional to the angular speed and the distance from the center.
The further is the point from the axis of rotation, larger is its speed. A point further from the axis must
change its angular position in the same time interval as a point close to the axis of rotation, therefore
it has to cover a larger arc length in the same time interval.

The angular velocity is the same for all the points inside the rigid object

The linear velocity of a point depends on r, the distance from the axis of rotation

The linear or tangential acceleration

The acceleration vector of point B is the rate of change of the velocity vector. It has two components,
a radial component , ar, that points towards the center of the circle, and a component tangent to the
circle, atan:

The radial component is due to the change in the direction of the velocity vector and is given by:

and, the tangential component is due to the change of the magnitude of the velocity vector:

In general the acceleration of a point moving in a circle is given by:

Uniform circular motion" α = 0 and ω = constant

In the particular case of uniform circular motion when ω is constant then α = 0 and atan = 0. The
acceleration vector has only a radial component:
Derivation of the components of the angular acceleration[show]

Relating the angular quantities and the linear quantities

The angular quantities: θ, ω and α are the same for all the points within the rigid body.
The linear quantities: s, v, and atan depend on r, the distance between the point and the axis of
rotation.

A summary of the relationship between the linear and the angular quantities are shown below. Note
that the radial component of the acceleration, ar=-v2/r , does not depend on the angular acceleration
α. The radial component is the result of a change in the velocity vector. Even if the motion has zero
angular acceleration, the radial component will be different from zero.

A ladybug rotating on a disk

Simulation courtesy PhET Interactive Simulations (http://phet.colorado.edu)

at the University of Colorado (http://www.colorado.edu)
http://phet.colorado.edu

Simulation: Ladybug [show]

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_Angular_Kinematics"

This page was last modified on 1 November 2011, at 02:44.

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