University Physics with Modern Physics

Fifteenth Edition

Chapter 9
Rotation of Rigid
Bodies

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Learning Outcomes
In this chapter, you’ll learn…
• how to describe the rotation of a rigid body in terms of
angular coordinate, angular velocity, and angular
acceleration.
• how to analyze rigid-body rotation when the angular
acceleration is constant.
• the meaning of an object’s moment of inertia about a
rotation axis, and how it relates to rotational kinetic energy.
• how to calculate the moment of inertia of objects with
various shapes, and different rotation axes.

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Introduction
• An airplane propeller, a revolving door, a ceiling fan, and a
Ferris wheel all involve rotating rigid objects.
• Real-world rotations can be very complicated because of
stretching and twisting of the rotating object. But for now
we’ll assume that the rotating object is perfectly rigid.

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Angular Coordinate
• A car’s speedometer needle rotates about a fixed axis.

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Units of Angles (1 of 2)

• One complete revolution is

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Units of Angles (2 of 2)
• An angle in radians is as shown in the figure.

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Angular Velocity (1 of 2)
• The average angular velocity of an object is

• The subscript z means that the rotation is about the z-axis.

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Angular Velocity (2 of 2)
• We choose the angle θ to increase in the
counterclockwise rotation.

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Instantaneous Angular Velocity
• The instantaneous angular velocity is the limit of average
angular velocity as Δθ approaches zero:

• When we refer simply to “angular velocity,” we mean the

instantaneous angular velocity, not the average angular velocity.
• The z-subscript means the object is rotating around the z-axis.
• The angular velocity can be positive or negative, depending on
the direction in which the rigid body is rotating.
• Video Tutor Solution: Example 9.1
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Angular Velocity Is a Vector (1 of 2)
• Angular velocity is defined
as a vector whose direction
is given by the right-hand
rule.

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Angular Velocity Is a Vector (2 of 2)
• The sign of ωz for rotation along the z-axis

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Rotational Motion in Bacteria
• Escherichia coli bacteria are found in
the lower intestines of humans and
other warm-blooded animals.
• The bacteria swim by rotating their
long, corkscrew-shaped flagella,
which act like the blades of a
propeller.
• Each flagellum is rotated at angular
speeds from 200 to 1000 rev/min
(about 20 to 100 rad/s) and can vary
its speed to give the flagellum an
angular acceleration.

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Angular Acceleration

• The instantaneous angular acceleration is

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Angular Acceleration as a Vector

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Rotation with Constant Angular
Acceleration
• The rotational formulas have the same form as the straight-line
formulas, as shown in Table 9.1 below.
Straight-Line Motion with Fixed-Axis Rotation with
Constant Linear Acceleration Constant Angular
Acceleration
ay sub x = constant alpha sub z = constant

v sub x = v sub 0 x + ay sub x t omega sub z = omega sub 0 z + alpha sub z t

x = x sub 0 + v sub 0 x t + one-half ay sub x t squared theta = theta sub 0 + theta sub 0 z t + one-half alpha sub
z t squared

omega sub z squared = omega sub 0 z squared + 2

alpha sub z times, theta minus theta sub 0
x minus x sub 0 = one-half times, v sub 0 x + v sub x, theta minus theta sub 0 = one-half times, omega sub 0 z
times t + omega sub z, times t

• Video Tutor Solution: Example 9.3

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Relating Linear and Angular
Kinematics (1 of 2)
• A point at a distance r from the axis of rotation has a
linear speed of

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Relating Linear and Angular
Kinematics (2 of 2)
• For a point at a distance r
from the axis of rotation:
‒ its tangential acceleration
is
‒ its centripetal (radial)
acceleration is

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The Importance of Using Radians,
Not Degrees!
• Always use radians when relating linear and angular
quantities.

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Rotational Kinetic Energy
• The rotational kinetic energy of a rigid body is:

• The moment of inertia, I, is obtained by multiplying the

mass of each particle by the square of its distance
from the axis of rotation and adding these products:

• The SI unit of I is the

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Moment of Inertia (1 of 2)
• Here is an apparatus free to rotate around a vertical axis.
• To reduce the moment of inertia, lock the two equal-mass
cylinders close to the center of the horizontal shaft.

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Moment of Inertia (2 of 2)
• Here is an apparatus free to rotate around a vertical axis.
• To increase the moment of inertia, lock the two equal-mass
cylinders far from the center of the horizontal shaft.

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Moment of Inertia of a Bird's Wing
• When a bird flaps its wings, it
rotates the wings up and down
around the shoulder.
• A hummingbird has small wings
with a small moment of inertia, so
the bird can move its wings rapidly
(up to 70 beats per second).
• By contrast, the Andean condor
has immense wings with a large
moment of inertia, and flaps its
wings at about one beat per
second.

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Moments of Inertia of Some Common
Objects (1 of 4)
• Table 9.2

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Moments of Inertia of Some Common
Objects (2 of 4)
• Table 9.2

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Moments of Inertia of Some Common
Objects (3 of 4)
• Table 9.2

• Video Tutor Demonstration: Canned Food Race

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Moments of Inertia of Some Common
Objects (4 of 4)
• Table 9.2

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Gravitational Potential Energy of an
Extended Object
• The gravitational potential
energy of an extended object is
the same as if all the mass
were concentrated at its center
of mass: Ugrav = Mgycm.
• This athlete arches her body
so that her center of mass
actually passes under the bar.
• This technique requires a
smaller increase in
gravitational potential energy
than straddling the bar.
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The Parallel-Axis Theorem
• There is a simple
relationship, called the
parallel-axis theorem,
between the moment of
inertia of an object
about an axis through
its center of mass and
the moment of inertia
about any other axis
parallel to the original
axis.

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Moment of Inertia Calculations
• The moment of inertia of any distribution of mass can be
found by integrating over its volume:

• By measuring small variations in the

orbits of satellites, geophysicists can
measure the earth’s moment of inertia.
• This tells us how our planet’s mass is
distributed within its interior.
• The data show that the earth is far
denser at the core than in its outer
layers.
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