FT 1301 – Physics

Angular Momentum

Faculty of Technology
University of Colombo

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Force vs. Torque

• Forces cause accelerations

• Torques cause angular accelerations

• Force and torque are related

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Torque

• The door is free to rotate about an axis through O

• There are three factors that determine the
effectiveness of the force in opening the door:
• The magnitude of the force
• The position of the application of the force
• The angle at which the force is applied

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Torque
• Torque, t, is the tendency of a force to rotate an
object about some axis.
• Torque is a vector, but we will deal with its magnitude
here:
• t = r F sin f = F d
• F is the force
• f is the angle the force makes with the horizontal
• d is the moment arm of the force

• The component of the force perpendicular to the position

vector will cause it to rotate
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Torque
• The moment arm, d:
d = r sin Φ

•The horizontal component of the

force (F cos f) has no tendency to
produce a rotation.
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Example

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Direction of Torque
• Torque is a vector quantity
• The direction is perpendicular to the plane determined by
the position vector and the force

• If the turning tendency of the force is counterclockwise,

the torque will be positive

• If the turning tendency is clockwise, the torque will be

negative

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Right Hand Rule

• Point the fingers in the direction of

the position vector

• Curl the fingers toward the force

vector

• The thumb points in the direction of

the torque

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Multiple Torques
• When two or more torques are acting on an
object, the torques are added
• As vectors

• If the net torque is zero, the object’s rate of

rotation doesn’t change

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Net Torque

•The force F will tend to cause a

1

counterclockwise rotation about

O.

•The force F will tend to cause a

2

clockwise rotation about O.

•St = t1 + t2 = F1d1 – F2d2

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Torque Units

•The SI units of torque are N.m.

• Although torque is a force multiplied by a distance, it is
very different from work and energy.

• The units for torque are reported in N.m and not

changed to Joules.

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 Torque summary

• When the force is parallel to the position vector, no rotation occurs

• When the force is at some angle, the perpendicular component causes
the rotation

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Torque and Equilibrium
• First Condition of Equilibrium
• The net external force must be zero

SF = 0 or
SFx = 0 and SFy = 0

• This is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to

ensure that an object is in complete mechanical
equilibrium
• This is a statement of translational equilibrium

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Torque and Equilibrium
• To ensure mechanical equilibrium, you need to
ensure rotational equilibrium as well as
translational

• The Second Condition of Equilibrium states

• The net external torque must be zero

St = 0

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Equilibrium Example
• The woman, mass m, sits on the
left end of the see-saw

• The man, mass M, sits where the

see-saw will be balanced

• Apply the Second Condition of

Equilibrium and solve for the
unknown distance, x

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Axis of Rotation
• If the object is in equilibrium, it does not matter
where you put the axis of rotation for calculating
the net torque
• The location of the axis of rotation is completely
arbitrary
• Often the nature of the problem will suggest a
convenient location for the axis
• When solving a problem, you must specify an axis of
rotation
• Once you have chosen an axis, you must maintain that choice
consistently throughout the problem

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Example

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Example

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Moment of Inertia
• The angular acceleration is inversely proportional to
the analogy of the mass in a rotating system
• This mass analogy is called the moment of inertia, I,
of the object
I =  ri mi 2

• SI units are kg m2

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Newton’s Second Law for a Rotating Object
• The angular acceleration is directly proportional to the net
torque

• The angular acceleration is inversely proportional to the

moment of inertia of the object

St = I

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More About Moment of Inertia

• There is a major difference between moment of inertia

and mass: the moment of inertia depends on the quantity
of matter and its distribution in the rigid object.

• The moment of inertia also depends upon the location of

the axis of rotation

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Moment of Inertia of a Uniform Ring

• Image the hoop is divided into a

number of small segments, m1
…

• These segments are equidistant

from the axis

I = Smi ri2 = MR2

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Moment of Inertia
•For a continuous rigid object, imagine the object to be
divided into many small elements, each having a mass of
Δmi.
•We can rewrite the expression for I in terms of Dm.
I = Dmi lim0  ri 2 Dmi =  r 2dm
i

•With the small volume segment assumption,

I =  r r 2dV

•If r is constant, the integral can be evaluated with known

geometry, otherwise its variation with position must be
known.

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Moment of Inertia of a Uniform Rigid Rod
•The shaded area has a mass
• dm = l dx
•Then the moment of inertia is

L/2 M
I y =  r dm =  x
2 2
dx
L / 2 L
1
I= ML2
12

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Moment of Inertia of a Uniform Solid
Cylinder

•Divide the cylinder into concentric

shells with radius r, thickness dr and
length L.
•dm = r dV = 2p(rLr) dr
•Then for I

Iz =  r 2dm =  ( 2p r L r dr 
2
r
1
Iz = MR 2
2

Section
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Other Moments of Inertia

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 Power in Rotational Motion

•The rate at which work is being done in a time interval dt is

dW d
Power = P = =t = t
dt dt
•This is analogous to P = Fv in a linear system.

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Total Kinetic Energy of a Rolling Object

•The total kinetic energy of a rolling

object is the sum of the translational
energy of its center of mass and the
rotational kinetic energy about its
center of mass.

• K = ½ ICM 2 + ½ MvCM2

• The ½ ICM2 represents the rotational kinetic

energy of the cylinder about its center of mass.
• The ½ Mv2 represents the translational kinetic
energy of the cylinder about its center of mass.

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Angular Momentum
•Angular momentum plays a key role in rotational
dynamics.

•There is a principle of conservation of angular momentum.

• In analogy to the principle of conservation of linear momentum
• The angular momentum of an isolated system is constant.
• For angular momentum, an isolated system is one in which no external torques
act on the system.

•The law of conservation of angular momentum is a

fundamental law of physics.
• Also valid for relativistic and quantum systems
Introduction
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The Vector Product

•There are instances where the product of two

vectors is another vector.
• Earlier we saw where the product of two vectors was a
scalar.
• This was called the dot product.

•The vector product of two vectors is called the

cross product.

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The Vector Product Defined
•Given two vectors, A and B

•The vector (cross) product of A and B is defined as

a third vector,
C = A B
• C is read as “A cross B”.

•The magnitude of vector C is AB sin 

•  is the angle betweenA andB

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The Vector Product and Torque
•The torque vector lies in a direction
perpendicular to the plane formed
by the position vector and the force
vector.

t = Fr
•The torque is the vector (or cross)
product of the position vector and
the force vector.

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More About the Vector Product
•The quantity AB sin  is equal to the
area of the parallelogram formed by
• A and B

•The direction of C is perpendicular

to the plane formed by A and B

•The best way to determine this

direction is to use the right-hand rule.

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Properties of the Vector Product
•The vector product is not commutative. The order in which
the vectors are multiplied is important.
• To account for order, rememberA  B = B  A

•If A is parallel to B (q = 0o or 180o), then A B = 0

• Therefore A  A = 0
•If A is perpendicular to B, then
A  B = AB

•The vector product obeys the distributive law.

A x (B + C) = A x B + A x C

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Final Properties of the Vector Product

•The derivative of the cross product with respect to some

variable such as t is

d
dt
( 
A B =
dA
dt
B + A 
dB
dt

where it is important to preserve the multiplicative order

of the vectors.

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Vector Products of Unit Vectors
ˆi  ˆi = ˆj  ˆj = kˆ  kˆ = 0
ˆi  ˆj = ˆj  ˆi = kˆ
ˆj  kˆ = kˆ  ˆj = ˆi
kˆ  ˆi = ˆi  kˆ = ˆj

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 Signs in Cross Products

•Signs are interchangeable in cross products

( 
A  -B =  A  B

( 
ˆi   ˆj = ˆi  ˆj

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Using Determinants
•The cross product can be expressed as

•Expanding the determinants gives

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 Vector Product Example

•Given A = 2ˆi + 3ˆj; B = ˆi + 2ˆj

•Find A B

A  B = (2ˆi + 3ˆj)  ( ˆi + 2ˆj)

= 2ˆi  ( ˆi ) + 2ˆi  2ˆj + 3ˆj  ( ˆi ) + 3ˆj  2ˆj
= 0 + 4kˆ + 3kˆ + 0 = 7kˆ

Section
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Torque Vector Example
•Given the force and location
F = (2.00 ˆi + 3.00 ˆj) N
r = (4.00 ˆi + 5.00 ˆj) m

•Find the torque produced

t = r  F = [(4.00ˆi + 5.00ˆj)N]  [(2.00ˆi + 3.00ˆj)m]
= [(4.00)(2.00)ˆi  ˆi + (4.00)(3.00)ˆi  ˆj
+(5.00)(2.00)ˆj  ˆi + (5.00)(3.00)ˆi  ˆj
= 2.0 kˆ N  m

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Angular Momentum
•Consider a particle of mass m located at the vector position r and
moving with linear momentum p .
•Find the net torque.
dp
r   F = t = r 
dt
dr
Add the term  p ( sinceit = 0 
dt
d (r  p )
 t =
dt

•This looks very similar to the equation for the net force in terms of the
linear momentum since the torque plays the same role in rotational
motion that force plays in translational motion.

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Angular Momentum
•The instantaneous angular
momentum L of a particle
relative to the origin O is
defined as the cross product of
the particle’s instantaneous
position vector and its
instantaneous linear
momentum.

L = r p
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Torque and Angular Momentum
•The torque is related to the angular momentum.
• Similar to the way force is related to linear momentum.
dL
t = dt
•The torque acting on a particle is equal to the time
rate of change of the particle’s angular momentum.
•This is the rotational analog of Newton’s Second Law
• t and L must be measured about the same origin.
• This is valid for any origin fixed in an inertial frame.

Section
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Angular Momentum of a Particle, Example
•The vector L = r  p is pointed out of
the diagram.
•The magnitude is L = mvr sin 90o =
mvr
• sin 90o is used since v is
perpendicular to r.

•A particle in uniform circular motion

has a constant angular momentum
about an axis through the center of
its path.

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Angular Momentum of a System of Particles
•The total angular momentum of a system of particles is
defined as the vector sum of the angular momenta of the
individual particles.
Ltot = L1 + L2 + + Ln =  Li
i

•Differentiating with respect to time

dL tot dL
=  i = t i
dt i dt i

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Angular Momentum of a System of Particles
•Any torques associated with the internal forces acting in a
system of particles are zero.
dL tot
•Therefore, t ext = dt
• The net external torque acting on a system about some axis
passing through an origin in an inertial frame equals the time
rate of change of the total angular momentum of the system
about that origin.
•This is the mathematical representation of the angular
momentum version of the non-isolated system model.
•Rearranging the equation gives  ( t  dt = DL . ext tot

•This is the angular impulse-angular momentum theorem.

Section
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System of Objects

Section
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Angular Momentum of a Rotating Rigid Object
•The rigid object is a non-
deformable system.

•Each particle of the object

rotates in the xy plane about the
z axis with an angular speed of

•The angular momentum of an
individual particle is Li = mi ri2 
• L and  are directed along the
z axis.
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Angular Momentum of a Rotating Rigid Object
•To find the angular momentum of the entire object, add
the angular momenta of all the individual particles.
( 
Lz =  Li =  mi ri 2  = I
i i

•Differentiating, this gives the rotational form of

Newton’s Second Law.
dLz d
t ext = dt
=I
dt
= I

•This is the mathematical representation of the rigid

object under a net torque analysis model.

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Conservation of Angular Momentum

•The total angular momentum of a system is constant

in both magnitude and direction if the net external
torque acting on the system is zero.
• Net torque = 0 means that the system is isolated.
• This is the basis of the angular momentum version of
the isolated system model.

Ltot = constant or Li = Lf

•For a system of particles,

Ltot = L
n = constant

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Conservation of Angular Momentum
•If the system is deformable such that the mass of the
isolated system undergoes redistribution, the moment of
inertia changes.
• The conservation of angular momentum requires a
compensating change in the angular velocity.
• Ii i = If f = constant
• This holds for rotation about a fixed axis and for rotation about an axis through
the center of mass of a moving system.
• The net torque must be zero in any case.

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Conservation of Angular Momentum:
The Merry-Go-Round
•The moment of inertia of the system is the
moment of inertia of the platform plus the
moment of inertia of the person.
• Assume the person can be treated as a
particle.
•As the person moves toward the center of the
rotating platform, the angular speed will increase.
• To keep the angular momentum constant
•The system is isolated in terms of angular
momentum.
• The system is isolated in terms of energy,
but potential energy changes to kinetic
energy.

Section
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Thank You.

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