A Historical Discussion of Angular Momentum and

its Euler Equation

Amelia Carolina Sparavigna1
1
Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Abstract: We propose a discussion of angular momentum and its Euler equation, with the aim of giving a short
outline of their history. This outline can be useful for teaching purposes too, to amend some problems that
students can have in learning this important physical quantity.

Keywords: History of Physics, History of Science, Physics Classroom, Euler’s Laws

1. Introduction of his Principia: “Projectiles persevere in their motions,

When we are teaching the laws concerning angular so far as they are retarded by the resistance of the air,
momentum to the students of a physics classroom, we or impelled downwards by the force of the gravity. A
are usually proposing them as the angular version of top, whose parts, by their cohesion, are perpetually
Newton’s Laws, in particular when we are discussing drawn aside from rectilinear motions, does not cease its
the rotational motion. To illustrate it we need several rotation otherwise than it is retarded by the air”. He
concepts and physics quantities: angular velocity and also linked spinning tops and planets, telling that the
acceleration, cross product of vectors, torques and “greater bodies of the planets and comets, meeting with
moments of inertia. Therefore, the discussion of less resistance in more free spaces, preserve their
angular momentum is rather complex, and requiring a motions both progressive and circular for a much
large number of examples in order to have the student longer time” [2].
confident with this important physical quantity.
Of course, spinning tops had been mentioned in
Besides examples and exercises, a short history of this literature quite before Newton [3]. Plato talks of them
concept can help the students to highlight the links in his Republic (360 BC) when he is discussing of rest
between celestial mechanics of planets and rigid body and motion. He tells that when we see a man standing
mechanics. In this paper then, we propose a discussion still but moving his hands and head, we can tell that
of angular momentum and its Euler’s equation in the this man is at the same time at rest and in motion. We
framework of a short outline of their history. Let us observe the same in spinning tops. Tops, in a certain
start from the concept of angular momentum and from manner, stand still as a whole and, at the same time are
an object well known from the ancient past, the in motion when, with the peg fixed in one point, they
spinning top. revolve. “The same is true of any other case of circular
motion about the same spot” (of course we are not
2. Angular momentum and spinning tops considering repose and movement in relation to the
In physics, angular momentum is important because it same parts of the objects). “We would say that there
is a conserved quantity. In fact, this physical quantity was a straight line and a circumference in them and
remains constant unless acted on by an external torque. that, in respect of the straight line, they are standing
Before given in its modern form by means of Noether’s still since they do not incline to either side, but in
theorem [1], the conservation of the angular respect of the circumference they move in a circle”.
momentum was discussed in two manners, linked to When, during their revolution, tops “incline the
the rotational inertia of bodies and to the motion of perpendicular to right or left or forward or back, then
revolution of planets. they are in no wise at rest” [4]. A spinning top is
therefore having an “equilibrium mobile” [4], which
For what concerned rotational motion, an object was disappears when we have the precession, that is, when
quite attractive in the past, the top and its endless spin. the axis of the top is moving.
Isaac Newton wrote about it in the following passage

This article is published at: http://www.ijsciences.com/pub/issue/2015-07/

Article Number: V4201507786; Online ISSN: 2305-3925; Print ISSN: 2410-4477

DOI: 10.18483/ijSci.786
Spinning top is appearing also in a Saint Basil’s time [7]. “A line whose length is proportional to the
Hexaemeron (Homily 5) [3]. “Let the earth bring magnitude of the angular momentum, and whose
forth”. It is this command (of God) “which, still at this direction is perpendicular to the plane of motion of the
day, is imposed on the earth, and in the course of each body and of the fixed point, and such that, when the
year displays all the strength of its power to produce motion of the body is viewed from the extremity of the
herbs, seeds and trees. Like tops, which after the first line, the radius-vector of the body seems to have right-
impulse, continue their evolutions, turning upon handed rotation”. In 1872 edition of the same book,
themselves when once fixed in their centre; thus nature, Rankine stated that the term “angular momentum” was
receiving the impulse of this first command, follows introduced by R.B. Hayward [7]. Rankine was
without interruption the course of ages, until the probably referring to Hayward's article “On a direct
consummation of all things” [5]. In fact, Basil’s method of estimating velocities, accelerations, and all
discussion seems a conservation law of nature. similar quantities with respect to axes moveable in any
manner in space with applications” [7]. Hayward's
During the Medieval period, we find spinning top article apparently was the first use of the term “angular
mentioned by Jean Buridan (1295-1358) as a momentum”; previously, angular momentum was
counterexample to Aristotelian “doctrine of typically referred to as "momentum of rotation" in
antiperistasis” [6]. Then, the puzzling verticality of this English.
rotating body appeared in the books of Italian
Renaissance writers. Giovanni Battista Benedetti As previously told, Euler linked the idea of angular
(1530-1590), for instance, is arguing that the reason for momentum to the rotation of the bodies. Before talking
the spinning top to remain for some time erect over its about Euler and his laws concerning rigid bodies, let us
tips is in the natural rectilinear tendency of it parts, consider an important fact. We are used to define the
which increasing with the speed of rotation, angular momentum of a particle as a cross product of
overwhelms the natural tendency downwards [6]. its position vector and its linear momentum. However,
However, this tendency is never wholly obliterated by Euler, like Newton, did not use vectors in physics.
the tangential tendency, and then Benedetti argued that They, of course, considered vectorial quantities but
a body becomes lighter the more swiftly it is spinning never the concept of a vector. The systematic study and
[6]. use of vectors were a 19th and early 20th century
phenomenon [12].
After Newton, the angular momentum was considered
in terms of the conservation of areal velocity, a result 3. Straight motion and angular momentum
of the analysis of Kepler's Second Law of planetary Sometimes, students are surprised that a particle
motion [7]. During the motion of a planet, the line moving on a straight line can have an “angular
between the Sun and the planet sweeps out equal areas momentum”. To help them, it is possible to use the
in equal intervals of time. Newton derived a proof of polar coordinates to show that an “angular” variation
this law, using geometry and demonstrated that the exists and that, consequently, we have to observe an
attractive force of the Sun was the origin of all of angular momentum also in this case. In fact, we can
Kepler's Laws. use a historical approach too, telling them that the
position vector of the particle sweeps out equal areas in
As told in [7], many scientists and philosopher equal intervals of time, when the particle is moving on
considered the conservation of the angular momentum a straight line with a constant speed. Let us give a fixed
mainly viewed like a conservation of areal velocity. In origin O of position vectors in a plane containing the
1746, both Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782) and Leonhard particle trajectory, as shown in the Figure 1; the
Euler (1707-1783) gave the proof of the conservation position vector of the particle sweeps out equal area in
of the angular momentum (conservation of the equal time intervals.
momentum of rotational motion [8]) for a point-like
mass sliding along a smooth tube in a horizontal plane
[9]. As we will see in the following, Euler considered
also the angular momentum of rigid bodies and
proposed an equation for it in his works on mechanics
[10,11].

We have to wait until 1803, to see a representation of

the angular momentum similar to that we are using
today with a cross product of vectors. In fact, that year, Figure 1: A particle is moving on a straight line with
Louis Poinsot proposed representing the rotations as a constant speed. The position vector of the particle
line segment perpendicular to them. He also elaborated sweeps out equal area in equal time intervals. The three
some discussions on the "conservation of moments" triangle A, B and C, have the same base, given by
[7]. It was in 1858, in the William Rankine's Manual of speed times the interval of time, and the same altitude,
Applied Mechanics, that we can find the angular therefore their areas are the same.
momentum defined in the modern sense for the first

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35
Another students’ difficulty is the explicit calculation 
of the value of angular momentum, with respect to a
r  OP  OO'  O' O"  O" P (2)
given point in the space. Let us consider a Cartesian
frame (x,y,z), and a mass m moving along the x-axis, Vectors OO' and O" P are parallel to the velocity
with constant speed. Let us find the angular momentum vector. Therefore, the only vector contributing to the
of the particle with respect to a fixed point having
coordinates (a,b,c) for instance. In a Poinsot or Rankine cross product is O'O" :
approach, the momentum is a line segment    
perpendicular to the plane of rotation, determined by
 LO  r  mv  O' O"  mv
position vector r and by x-axis, as shown in Figure 2.
The position vector changes with time as the particle is iˆ ˆj kˆ
moving, but, to evaluate the angular momentum, it is
important its projection in the plane perpendicular to

 m 0  b  c  mv  c ˆj  bkˆ  (3)

the axis of motion. v 0 0

This is the same result shown in the Figure 2.

4. Euler’s equation
The laws concerning the motion of a rigid body are the
Euler's Laws. Usually seen as the angular version of
Newton’s Laws, they were proposed by Euler in 1736,
in his book entitled “Mechanica, sive motus scientia
analytice exposita”, about 50 years after Isaac Newton
formulated his laws [11]. Euler was the first to discuss
the general motion of a rigid body, showing that we
Figure 2: The angular momentum is perpendicular to
can see it as motion of its “center of inertia” (center of
the plane given by position and velocity vectors.
mass), and rotation about an axis passing through it
[8,10]. In fact, Euler started the development of his
laws from the recognition that any infinitesimal motion
of a body can be decomposed into a translation and a
rotation [10].

One of the Euler’s Laws tells that the angular

momentum of a system of particles or of a rigid body
changes because of the torques applied on it. The rate
of change of the angular momentum depends only on
the torques of external forces, because the sum of
internal torques is zero. This law, governing the rate of
change of angular momentum, is also known as
“Balance Equation” [13]. In Italian Academy, we
usually call it the “Second Cardinal Equation” [14].
The “First Cardinal Equation” is concerning the
acceleration of the center of mass (see Appendix).
Figure 3: In the angular momentum, the position
vector has its origin from a given point O. In the figure,
Using a Google search among books, we can see that
this point has coordinates (a,b,c) in the space having
the Euler’s law is defined as “Second Cardinal
the frame of reference with origin O”. O’ is the
Equation” in an Italian book of 1912 [15], and used for
projection of O on the plane (y,z).
determining the equilibrium of bodies: “Per la seconda
equazione cardinale dell'equilibrio, il momento del
In the Figure 3 we can see O, its projection O’ on the
sistema delle forze motrici esterne rispetto ad ogni
plane (y,z) and the origin O” of the frame of reference.
punto, come polo, deve essere nullo” [15]. It seems that
The position vector, having its origin in O, gives the
this is the first book in which the Euler’s law is called
position of a particle, which, in our example, is moving
in this manner.
on the x-axis with a constant speed. We have the
angular momentum:
Of course, the Euler’s law appear in older Italian book.
   For example, we have it in a book printed in 1828 [16],
LO  r  mv (1) where it is discussed the problem of a balance. Being S
However, we can write the position vector as the sum the moment of inertia of the balance, about its rotation
of three vectors: axis, the time derivative of the angular velocity  is
given by the torque divided by S. It is therefore clear
the fact that this balance equation is connected to the

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36
ancient problem of equilibrium of torques. “momentum” of inertia then, but it seems he was the
first to call it, in Latin, “momentum inertiae” [23].
In [17], we have at Page 133, the Euler’s equation Euler used this term in his book entitled “Theoria
given in a Corollary; we are reproducing it in the Motus Corporum Solidorum” [23]. “Ratio hujus
following. “Coroll.2. But if the action of the force F is denominationis ex similitudine motus progressive est
continual, the rotatory motion will be accelerated, and desumta: quemadmodum enim in motu progressivo, si
we shall have a vi secundum suam directionem sollicitante
d a F acceleretur, est incrementum celeritatis ut vis
 . (4) sollictitans divisa per massam seu inertiem; ita in motu
dt S gyratorio, quoniam loco ipsius vis sollicitantis ejus
For, let d be the increment which the angular momentum considerari oportet, eam expressionem
velocity receives, in the instant of time dt . The
r
2
dM , quae loco inertiae in calculum ingreditur,
increment of velocity, which the element
dM receives, will be r d ; whence its accelerating momentum inertiae appellemus, ut incrementum
celeritatis angularis simili modo proportionale fiat
force will be rd / dt , and its moving force will be momento vis sollicitantis diviso per momentum
r. d. dM / dt . Now, all these forces, acting in a inertiae.” Euler also demonstrated that the moment of
contrary direction, must counterbalance the force F, inertia of a rod, L long, turning about a perpendicular
and, therefore the sum of their momentums  aF . axis passing through one of its ends is equal
d 2 S d
2
to ML / 3 , in a letter from Berlin, 20 May 1755 [24].
Hence
dt  r dM 
dt
 aF . ” [17].
6. Conclusion
Let us conclude this discussion on the history of Euler
5. Moment of inertia equation, remembering that Euler and Segner were
The physical quantity S is the moment of inertia. In
among those scientists that, working on theoretical and
fact, in the Corollary we find the letter S to tell that it is
technological problems of the rotatory motion, paved
a sum on the element of mass dM . We can find the the way for inventions and developments of the
moment of inertia in determining the motion of a boat Industrial Revolution. Therefore, after discussing with
[18], because Euler was involved in nautical students the Euler’s Laws of motion, it would be
engineering problems too (let us note that he called S interesting to illustrate them the use of the flywheels
the “momentum of inertia” [19]). [25] in machines and steam engines of Industrial
Revolution, to have a stronger link between the physics
In the book of Venturoli [17] we can find also a of fluids and thermodynamics to the Eulerian
discussion on the principal axes of inertia. In fact, mechanics.
Euler demonstrated that each body has three mutually
orthogonal axes, the directions of which are defining Appendix
the so-called principal axes of rotation. These axes are The Second Cardinal Equation has a general form:
special because, when the body rotates about one of 
them, the angular momentum vector becomes parallel dL A  (e)  
to the angular velocity vector. Moreover, a rigid body   A  v A  MvCM (A1)
dt
admits a stationary rotation about any one of the
A is the origin of position vectors (pivot), not
principal axes (a motion of a body, under which its
necessarily at rest in the inertial frame of reference.
angular velocity remains constant, is called a stationary 
rotation) [20]. vCM is the velocity of the centre of mass. M is the
mass of the system of particles or of the rigid body.
Let us stress that, as told in [8], the theorem of the The torques relevant in this equation are only those of
three principal axes had been already proposed and the external forces.
demonstrated, before Euler, by János András Segner
(1704-1777). Actually, it was the study of Segner on Usually, the pivot is chosen so that the term
  
the gyroscopic motion, which led Euler to the v A  M vCM is zero. This happens when v A  0 or
formulation of the laws of rigid bodies [21]. Moreover, 
besides introducing the moment of inertia, Segner also when vCM  0 . Moreover, it happened when pivot A
demonstrated that if the axis of rotation of a rigid body and the centre of mass are coincident. The term is also
in rotary and translational motion, goes across its null when the pivot and the centre of mass have the
 
centre of mass, then the rotary and translational same velocity: v A  vCM .
motions are independent from one another [21].
Besides these fundamental results, Segner invented a
horizontal waterwheel, of which he discussed in some This term exists: let us illustrate the role of
 
letter with Euler [22]. v A  M vCM in a specific example. Let us have a
disk rolling without slipping on a horizontal surface.
Euler was not to first to invent the moment or

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