ROTATIONAL VECTORS AND

ANGULAR MOMENTUM
11
EXERCISES
Section 11.1 Angular Velocity and Acceleration Vectors
12. If we assume that the wheels are rolling without slipping (see Section 10.5), the magnitude of the angular velocity
is With the car going north, the axis of rotation of the wheels is
east-west. Since the top of a wheel is going in the same direction as the car, the right-hand rule gives the direction
of as west.
13. INTERPRET The problem asks about the angular acceleration of the wheels as the car traveling north with a speed
of 70 km/h makes a left turn that lasts for 25 s.
DEVELOP The speed of the car is Assuming that the wheels are rolling without
slipping, the magnitude of the initial angular velocity is

With the car going north, the axis of rotation of the wheels is east-west. Since the top of a wheel is going in the
same direction as the car, the right-hand rule gives the direction of as west. In unit-vector notation, we write

After making a left turn, the angular speed remains unchanged, but the direction of is now south (see sketch).
In unit-vector notation, we write
EVALUATE Using Equation 10.4, we find the angular acceleration to be

The magnitude of is

and points in the south-east direction (in the direction of the vector

ASSESS Angular acceleration points in the same direction as

14. Suppose that the x-axis is horizontal in the direction of the final angular velocity and the y-axis is
vertical in the direction of the initial angular velocity Equation 11.1 implies that
Its magnitude is
at an angle to the x axis (i.e., below the horizontal).

11.1
11.2 Chapter 11

15. INTERPRET The problem asks about the angular velocity of the wheels after an angular acceleration has been
applied within a time interval.
DEVELOP Take the x-axis east and the y-axis north, with positive angles measured CCW from the x-axis. In unit-
vector notation, the initial angular velocity and the angular acceleration can be expressed as

The final angular velocity can be found by using Equation 10.8.

EVALUATE Using Equation 10.8, the angular velocity at is

The magnitude and direction of are

and

or 18.8 west of north.

ASSESS Since the x-component of the angular acceleration is negative, is also negative. On the other hand,
a positive yields
Section 11.2 Torque and the Vector Cross Product
16. Equation 11.2 (and the definition of the cross product) gives into the page.

17. INTERPRET In this problem we want to find the direction of the torque produced by an applied force. Finding the
direction involves taking a cross product.
DEVELOP The torque vector is defined as where is the force vector and is the position vector
which points from the axis of rotation to the point where the force is acting. The direction of is determined by the
right-hand-rule.
EVALUATE The displacement from the origin to the point of application of the force is (in distance
units), so the direction of the torque is the direction of the cross product where we write
with being a unit vector in the direction of the force.
(a) For the direction of the torque is
(b) For the direction of is
(c) For the direction of is which makes an angle of (or 315) CCW
from the x-axis.
ASSESS The torque vector is perpendicular to both and It points in the direction normal to the plane formed
by and
 Rotational Vectors and Angular Momentum 11.3

18. Equation 11.2 and the definition of the cross product give: (a)
(b) (c) (magnitude 37.9 in the x-y
plane, clockwise from the x axis).

19. INTERPRET We are asked to find the torque produced by an applied force. The problem is about taking a cross
product.
DEVELOP The torque vector is defined as where is the force vector and is the position vector
which points from the axis of rotation to the point where the force is acting. The direction of is determined by the
right-hand-rule.
EVALUATE (a) Here we have Therefore, with the torque is

(b) Here we have Therefore, the torque is

ASSESS The torque vector is perpendicular to both and It points in the direction normal to the plane formed
by and
Section 11.3 Angular Momentum
20. (a) The units of angular momentum are those of distance times momentum, or This can
also be expressed as (b) or (c) as
21. INTERPRET We are given the motion of the ball and asked to find the corresponding angular momentum.
DEVELOP The angular momentum of an object about a point is defined as (see Equation 11.3)

where is the linear momentum and is the position vector of the object relative to that point. We may also
express as

where is the angle between and and is a unit vector perpendicular to both and
For our problem, we assume the ball is traveling in a circle of radius r and speed v. Since the velocity of the ball,
is perpendicular to the magnitude of the angular momentum about the center is
EVALUATE From the problem statement, we have and Therefore,

ASSESS The direction of is along the axis of rotation. It is perpendicular to both and
22. If we regard the gymnast as a rigid body rotating about a fixed (instantaneous) axis, Equation 11.4 gives
as her angular speed about that axis.
23. INTERPRET We are given the rotational inertia and angular velocity of the hoop and asked to find the
corresponding angular momentum.
DEVELOP For an object rotating about a fixed axis, its angular momentum can be expressed as (see Equation 11.4)

where I is the moment of inertia of the object, and its angular velocity about the axis. This is the equation we
shall use to calculate
EVALUATE In this problem, the rotational inertia of a hoop about its central axis (perpendicular to the plane of
the hoop) is Therefore, with the magnitude of is

The direction of is along the axis of rotation according to the right-hand rule.
ASSESS The angular momentum vector points in the direction of
11.4 Chapter 11

24. Equation 11.4 and Table 10.2 give the magnitude of the angular momentum about the spin axis of the baseball as
(Recall that units
Section 11.4 Conservation of Angular Momentum
25. INTERPRET We want to find the angular speed of a spinning wheel after a piece of clay is dropped onto it and
sticks to its surface.
DEVELOP If the clay is dropped vertically onto a horizontally spinning wheel, the angular momentum about the
vertical spin axis is conserved. Conservation of angular momentum is expressed as

EVALUATE Given that and the final angular velocity is

ASSESS The clay increases the total rotational inertia of the system, and therefore, the angular speed is decreased,
as required by angular momentum conservation.

26. (a) If we assume conservation of angular momentum (about the vertical axis of the merry-go-round),
where is the rotational inertia of the merry-go-round, and
is that of the four children. Then (b) The change in
kinetic energy is where we used the conservation of angular momentum
above, and set Changing 0.5 rev/s to we find

27. INTERPRET In this problem we are asked about the period of a star formed by a collapsing cloud.
DEVELOP If we assume there are no external torques and no mass loss during the collapse of the star-forming
cloud, its angular momentum is conserved.

The equation allows us to solve for or

EVALUATE For a uniform sphere of constant mass, implies that

Since the angular velocity is one rotation divided by one period, and

ASSESS In current models of star formation, the collapsing cloud does not maintain a spherical shape, forming a
flattened disk instead, and the central star retains just a fraction of the original cloud’s mass.

28. If the skater is twirling on frictionless horizontal ice, his angular momentum about the vertical rotation axis is
conserved, The rotational inertia is that of the skater’s body plus for the weights, and if we
assume that the latter are essentially pulled into the axis of rotation,

29. INTERPRET We find the angular speed of a merry-go-round after a boy jumps onto it. Angular momentum is
conserved. We will solve for the final speed of the merry-go-round.
DEVELOP The initial angular momentum of the merry-go-round is where we are told that
and A boy with mass leaps onto the merry-go-round. His initial speed is
directed towards the axis of the merry-go-round, so he has no angular momentum initially. We will use
 Rotational Vectors and Angular Momentum 11.5

where includes the boy rotating with the merry-go-round at a radius of Since the direction of does
not change, we will neglect the vector nature of

EVALUATE

ASSESS We did not convert the angular speed to “normal” rad/s units, but as long as we keep track of what the
units are, we’re okay.
PROBLEMS
30. The displacement from the bolt (the origin) to the point of application of the force is so
the torque is
The cross
products of unit vectors can be calculated as in Exercise 17, or the general result in Problem 32 can be used. (The
orientation of the axes are not specified in this problem, but with the x axis to the right and the y axis up in the
plane of the page, the z axis is out of, and the above torque is into, the page, respectively.)
31. INTERPRET The problem asks about the direction of a vector given the directions of another vector and their
cross product
DEVELOP The cross product, is perpendicular to the plane of and Since according to the problem
statement, these vectors lie in the x-y plane. For simplicity, let’s write the two vectors as

where and are measured counterclockwise from the x axis. Using the above expressions, the cross
product is

Using the information given in the problem statement, the angle can be calculated.
EVALUATE The problem states that The right-hand rule implies that the angle between and
measured clockwise from is less than 180, i.e., or
The magnitude of is (as given, with ), so

or or 150. When this is combined with the given value of and the range of one finds that
or (i.e., along the x-axis or 120 clockwise from the x-axis).
ASSESS The vector corresponding to can be written as Similarly, for we have

With the cross products are

and

Both results indeed agree with the condition given in the problem statement.
32. Expand and use the properties of the unit vectors. Then
11.6 Chapter 11

33. INTERPRET In this problem we are asked to verify a vector identity:

DEVELOP The key to the proof is to realize that the cross product is perpendicular to and
EVALUATE Let If is perpendicular to and then their scalar products must vanish:

(Recall that where is the angle between and

ASSESS An alternative approach is to use the component forms. Let’s write the vectors as

The cross product is

The dot product then becomes

In general, is called the triple scalar product and i.e., the “dot” and the “cross”
in the triple scalar product can be interchanged. This is equivalent to a cyclic permutation of the three vectors,

On the other hand, interchanging any two vectors introduces a minus sign,

34.
35. INTERPRET The problem is about finding the angular momentum of the weightlifter’s barbell, given its rotational
motion.
DEVELOP We use Equation 11.4, to compute the angular momentum. The rotational inertia of the
weights and bar about the specified axis is (see Table 10.2)

EVALUATE With the angular momentum about this axis is

ASSESS The greater the angular speed, the larger the angular momentum.
36. The magnitude of the particle’s angular momentum about point P, for any position along its trajectory, is
where is the magnitude of the particle’s linear momentum and is the
 Rotational Vectors and Angular Momentum 11.7

perpendicular distance from point P to the line of motion (called the impact parameter in a scattering experiment).
The direction of is also the same, for any position along the trajectory (in this case, into the page as sketched).

37. INTERPRET Our system consists of two identical cars moving in the opposite direction on a highway. We want to
find the angular momentum of the system about a point on the centerline of the highway.
DEVELOP The position of a particle with respect to some point can always be expressed in terms of components
perpendicular and parallel to its direction of motion (i.e., momentum p). Thus, Equation 11.3 can be written as

since For straight line motion, is a constant. For the two cars which we regard as particles located at
their respective centers of mass, we have and (for any point on the center line), so the total
angular momentum of their centers of mass is

EVALUATE From the problem statement, the magnitude of is (with

and its direction is out of the plane of Fig. 13.30.

ASSESS In general, the magnitude of the particle’s angular momentum about point P, for any position along its
trajectory, is where is the magnitude of the particle’s linear momentum and
is the perpendicular distance from point P to the line of motion (called the impact parameter in a scattering experiment).
38. (a) The rotational inertia of the bat about point P is
(see Equation 10.17). Its angular velocity (direction parallel to the axis of swing) about P is
Therefore, the angular momentum about P (also directed along the
axis of swing) is (b) For constant torque along the axis of swing, implies
(if we assume that the bat is initially at rest).
39. INTERPRET The problem asks about the new rotational inertia of a tire if the design reduces the angular
momentum by a certain percentage, while keeping the linear speed fixed.
DEVELOP The linear speed of the car is related to its angular speed as (see Equation 10.3). Keeping v
fixed implies

Using the fact that the angular momentum is related to rotational inertia as the new rotational inertia can be
computed.
EVALUATE The new specifications require that

Using we obtain
11.8 Chapter 11

ASSESS The general condition is

A decrease in angular momentum ( ) can be achieved by either decreasing or In our problem, the
ratio actually is increased. However, this change is accompanied by a greater
decrease of the rotational inertia
40. (a) We suppose that “spinning freely” means that there are no external torques acting about the axis of rotation,
so that the total angular momentum of the turntable and mouse in this direction is constant, or
Initially, the rotational inertia of the mouse, mr2, must be added to that of the turntable, but we assume the
mouse contributes nothing when at the center, so
(b) The work
done by the mouse (when it exerts reaction forces to friction between its feet and the turntable) can be found from
the work-energy theorem, where we used the conservation
of angular momentum from part (a). Numerically,
41. INTERPRET This problem is about the relative motion with respect to the ground, of a dog walking around a
turntable. The key concept here involves conservation of angular momentum.
DEVELOP Walking once around relative to the turntable, the dog describes an angular displacement of
relative to the ground, and the turntable one of in the opposite direction, such that We
suppose that the vertical component of the angular momentum of the dog and turntable is conserved (which was
zero initially), so that

where the angular velocities (which are in opposite directions) have been rewritten in terms of the angular
displacements and the common time interval. The equation allows us to solve for
EVALUATE The rotational inertias about the axis of rotation are

and Eliminating we find

or

In other words, is 63% of a full circle relative to the ground.

ASSESS We find that the angular displacement relative to the ground, decreases with This is what we
expect from angular momentum conservation.
42. (a) Since the turntable is frictionless, there are no external torques about its axis, and the z component of angular
momentum is conserved. Initially, this is all spin of the wheel, When the wheel is
inverted, the student and turntable acquire angular momentum, such that or If is the
total rotational inertia about the z-axis, or
Now includes the inertia of the turntable, the student (a cylinder), and CM of the
wheel, mh2 (which can be neglected if the axes of the wheel and turntable coincide, and the spin axis is
frictionless). Then or (b) The work done (by the student’s
muscles) equals the change in kinetic energy, (the kinetic energy of the spinning wheel is
unchanged, as is the gravitational potential energy). Therefore:
 Rotational Vectors and Angular Momentum 11.9

43. INTERPRET This problem is about the rotational motion of the skaters, given their linear speed and radius of the
circle they traverse. The key concept here is conservation of angular momentum.
DEVELOP The force that abruptly stops the skater at one end exerts no torque about that skater (point P), so the total
angular momentum about a vertical axis through P is conserved. Initially, the angular momentum of each of the other
seven skaters about P is where b is the perpendicular distance from the original
straight-line motion to the point P. For these seven skaters, where and so

where we have used Once L is known, we can readily calculate the angular speed as well as the
linear speeds of the skaters.
EVALUATE (a) When the skaters rotate rigidly about P with angular speed their angular momentum is

where we have used Since L is constant,

This gives

(b) The linear speed of the outermost skater is

(c) The force is the centripetal force,

ASSESS The angular speed is the same for all skaters, but the linear speed is given by

This shows that the speed of the outermost skater is the greatest. Similarly, the centripetal force experienced by
each skater is

Again we see that the force on the outermost skater is the greatest.
44. The given relationship means that so
45. INTERPRET We find the angular velocity of a spinning bird feeder after a bird lands on it. The feeder is initially
spinning. The bird lands tangentally to the rim of the feeder, so it must have some initial angular momentum
relative to the feeder’s rotational axis. We will use conservation of angular momentum. Since the bird and the
11.10 Chapter 11

feeder have opposite angular momenta, it is possible that the direction of the feeder’s angular momentum will
change; so we will keep track of the direction by the sign of
DEVELOP The radius and rotational inertia of the feeder are and respectively. The
initial angular velocity is and we will define the initial angular velocity of the feeder
to be in the positive direction. The bird, with mass and speed lands on the rim with
angular momentum where the negative sign indicates that the bird is moving opposite the feeder. We use
conservation of angular momentum,
EVALUATE

ASSESS The sign of the final answer is the same as the initial sign of the angular momentum, so angular
momentum does not change direction in this case.
46. From and one finds Therefore
and and if then
47. INTERPRET The problem is about the rotational motion of the turntable. Tossingg a piece of clay onto its surface
slows down the rotation. We are asked to find the mass of the clay.
DEVELOP There are no external torques in the direction of the turntable’s axis, so the vertical angular momentum
of the turntable/clay system is conserved. The horizontal forces, which cause the clay to stick to the turntable, are
internal forces. If we take the sense of rotation of the turntable to define the positive direction of vertical angular
momentum, then the system’s initial angular momentum is

where I is the rotational inertia of the turntable, v the horizontal component of the velocity of the mass, m, of clay,
and b the perpendicular distance to the axis of rotation. After the clay lands, this angular momentum equals

Equating with allows us to determine m.

EVALUATE Solving for the mass, we find

where we assumed and have the same sense.

ASSESS The clay increases the total rotational inertia of the system, and therefore, the angular speed is decreased,
as required by angular momentum conservation.
Note that if the sense of rotation of the turntable were reversed after impact of the clay, i.e.,
one can show that the mass of the clay would have been A bigger piece of clay would be needed to
change the sense of rotation.

48. If we neglect external gravitational torques, the total angular momentum of the asteroid and meteoroid is conserved
(at least during the collision). Since the meteoroid is moving in the asteroid’s equatorial plane, its angular
momentum about the center of the asteroid (assumed to be much more massive) is in the same direction as the
rotational angular momentum of the asteroid. (We assume that the rotation after impact is in the same direction as
before, so the angular speed, increased.) Looking at a sketch of the impact in the equatorial plane, we
have and Setting solvi
ng for m, and using the period of rotation instead of the angular speed, we find:
 Rotational Vectors and Angular Momentum 11.11

(If the direction of rotation had been reversed by the impact, the meteoroid’s mass would have been 20.5 times greater.)
49. INTERPRET In this problem we are asked to estimate how much of the solar system’s angular momentum about
its center is associated with the Sun.
DEVELOP The planets orbit the Sun in planes approximately perpendicular to the Sun’s rotation axis, so most of
the angular momentum in the solar system is in this direction. We can estimate the orbital angular momentum of a
planet by where m is its mass, v its average orbital speed, and r its mean distance from the Sun.
Compared to the orbital angular momentum of the four giant planets, everything else is negligible, except for the
rotational angular momentum of the Sun itself. The latter can be estimated by assuming the Sun to be a uniform
sphere rotating with an average period of (The Sun’s period of rotation at the surface varies from
approximately 27 days at the equator to 36 days at the poles.)
EVALUATE The numerical data in Appendix E results in the following estimates:
ORBITAL ANGULAR MOMENTUM (mvr) %
Jupiter 59.7
Saturn 24.4
Uranus 5.2
Neptune 7.8
ROTATIONAL ANGULAR MOMENTUM
Sun 2.8
Total 99.9
ASSESS With we find that more than 97% of the total angular momentum of the solar system comes
from the orbital angular momentum. In particular, the orbital motion of Jupiter alone accounts for roughly 60% of
the total angular momentum.

50. Since the planetary mass (M) and density are constant, the volume of the original sphere (radius R0) is the same as
the volume of the new spherical shell (outer radius R, inner radius Thus, or
(a) The ratio of the outer surface area of the new to old planet is
(b) Since the angular momentum is also constant, or
where T is the planetary rotation period (length of day) and I the rotational inertia about the axis of
rotation. For a solid uniform sphere, while for the uniform shell,
so the ratio is
51. INTERPRET This problem looks just like an inelastic collision, but instead of using conservation of linear
momentum, we will use conservation of angular momentum.
DEVELOP The masses of disk 1 and 2 are and respectively. The radii are
and The initial angular speed of disk 1 is We will use
to find the final angular speed of both disks stuck together, and where to find the
fraction of energy lost.
EVALUATE
(a) The initial angular momentum is The final angular momentum is
Conservation of angular momentum tells us that

(b) The initial kinetic energy is The final kinetic energy is

11.12 Chapter 11

ASSESS Note that the fractional energy loss doesn’t depend on the initial energy. For this particular set of disks,
26.5% of the initial energy will be lost in the collision regardless of how fast the bottom disk is spinning!
52. INTERPRET This problem describes a rotational “explosion.” Initially, there is zero angular momentum, with a
spring compressed at the edge of a frictionless turntable. The spring is released, and it pushes a block off the
turntable at an angle of 90° to the radial vector.
Two things are conserved: the kinetic energy, and the angular momentum. We will use both in order to solve for
the linear speed of the mass and the rotational speed of the turntable.
DEVELOP Conservation of energy tells us that the initial energy of the spring, is equal to the final
combined kinetic energies of the mass and turntable, Conservation of angular momentum tells
us that the angular momentum is zero before and after the release of the spring, so where
These two equations will allow us to solve for the two variables v and
EVALUATE Conservation of energy gives us Conservation of angular
momentum gives us
(a) We solve the first equation for and substitute into the second:

Take this value for v and put it back into the equation for

ASSESS We can check to see that this makes conceptual sense by letting the mass be very small compared to I.
In that case, and is zero, as we would expect. If b is zero, then is also zero and again.

53. INTERPRET A solid spinning ball drops onto a frictional surface. At first it slides, but due to friction it will slow
down its spin and increase its linear motion until it is purely rolling without sliding. We want to find the ball’s
angular speed when it begins purely rolling, and how long it takes.
DEVELOP From the problem statement, we see that the ball’s mass is M, its radius is R, and its initial angular
velocity around the horizontal axis is The coefficient of kinetic friction between the ball and the surface is
so the frictional force is
There is a torque on the ball due to the frictional force, acting on the edge. This torque serves to slow
the ball’s rotation: we can use to find the angular acceleration and then use to find the
resulting angular speed.
The frictional force on the ball also accelerates the ball, so we can use and to find the speed of
the ball.
The ball is no longer sliding when
 Rotational Vectors and Angular Momentum 11.13

EVALUATE so

so We set Solving this for t gives us

and plugging this value into our equation for gives us

So for part (a) and for part (b)

ASSESS The answer to part (a) is surprising—it says that no matter what the size or speed of the ball, or the
coefficient of friction, the angular speed of the ball when it stops sliding is of its original value! The time, in part
(b), does depend on the details of the situation, but (a) does not.
54. INTERPRET We develop a relationship between the angular momenta about parallel axes. This problem is purely
symbolic in nature: we use the definitions of angular momentum and rotational inertia.
DEVELOP We want to show that the rotational inertia around the second axis is where is the
system’s linear momentum and is the displacement vector from the first axis O to the second axis We will use
and
EVALUATE

If the point O is the center of mass, then and

ASSESS Authors: The problem does not stipulate that O is the center of mass. I think this should be stipulated, but I’m
willing to be shown my error.
55. INTERPRET We find the torque due to gravity for a rod that can pivot at one end, given an angle with the
horizontal. We use an integral for the torque, although we might expect that this torque was equal to the torque
acting on the center of mass of the rod. We also find the angle such that the initial acceleration of the end of the rod
is equal to g.
DEVELOP The rod has mass M and length L, and pivots at one end. The angle it makes with the horizontal is
The torque on a mass element is We integrate this over the length of
the rod, where For the second part, we use and The rotational inertia of a rod
rotating around one end is
EVALUATE

(a)

(b) Set so

ASSESS As expected, the torque was the same as if the rod were a point mass located at the center of mass of the rod.
56. INTERPRET We are given the coefficient of kinetic friction between a disk and a rotating turntable. If the disk is
initially stationary, how far will the turntable rotate before the disk is rotating at the same speed as the turntable?
11.14 Chapter 11

We will need to find the total torque on the disk, (which we might guess to be the frictional force times half
the radius) and we will find it by integrating the torque over each infinitesimal “ring” that makes up the disk.
DEVELOP The speed of the turntable, and the final speed of the disk, is The radius of
the disk is and the coefficient of friction is We will also use M for the total mass of the disk and
for the areal density.
We will divide the disk into concentric rings of radius r and thickness dr, so each ring will have mass
The torque due to each ring is We can integrate this
from 0 to R to find the total torque and then use and to find the time it takes the record to get
to speed From the time and the turntable speed, we can find the angle that the turntable rotates while bringing
the record up to speed.
EVALUATE We solve this for to obtain

The time to reach angular speed is given by In

this time, the turntable turns an amount

ASSESS Our original guess of the torque was not correct! The actual torque is

rather than the we predicted.

57. INTERPRET We are asked to show that the precessional speed of a gyroscope is We do so by using
making sure that we keep track of directions.
DEVELOP We will call the change in angle of the gyroscope as it precesses The radius of the
circle around which the center of mass of the gyroscope precesses is where is the angle that makes
with the vertical. The torque due to gravity is with direction into the page in Figure 11.9.

(shown as in Figure 11.9) is the change in due to the gravitational torque, so Finally,

EVALUATE
ASSESS The faster the top spins the larger is L and the slower the precessional speed.
58. INTERPRET We use conservation of angular momentum to find the radius of a white dwarf star. We know the
initial radius, mass, and rotational speed; so this gives us the initial angular momentum. The final angular
momentum will be the same, so we use it to find the radius knowing the final mass and angular speed.
DEVELOP Angular momentum is given by where I in this case is the rotational inertia of a sphere,
(We are assuming that the sphere is uniform and solid.) We will use units of solar masses, so the initial
mass of the star is and the final mass is The initial rotational period of the star is
and the final rotational period is The initial radius is
One complicating factor is that the mass changes significantly. We cannot assume that the lost mass gives the star
all of its angular momentum before leaving. The best approach is to calculate the initial angular momentum of the
inner 60% of the star, since that’s the part that stays around, and use that angular momentum in the conservation
equation. First we will find the radius that encloses 60% of the original star. We will use this radius and the 60% of
the mass that doesn’t get blown off to calculate the initial angular momentum. Then we’ll use conservation of
angular momentum to find the final radius.
EVALUATE The radius that holds 60% of a sphere’s volume is found by:
We use this to find the rotational inertia of the portion of the star that becomes a white dwarf:

The initial period is so the initial angular speed is and the

initial angular momentum is
 Rotational Vectors and Angular Momentum 11.15

The final angular speed is and the angular momentum is

Solving this for gives us
ASSESS This radius is about 2/3 the radius of the Earth, and 166 times smaller than the original star.
59. INTERPRET We use the definition of angular acceleration to find the angular acceleration, given the initial
angular speed, the final angular speed, and the time. Is the value we find between the given limits?
DEVELOP The initial value of is and the final value is The time it takes to
change is
EVALUATE
ASSESS This angular acceleration is below the desired limit, which was 0.75
60. INTERPRET What force is required, at the rim of a disk of known radius, to apply a specified torque on that disk?
DEVELOP We can use the definition of torque, A motor providing is available:
will that provide of torque on the rim of a disk with radius To find out, we solve for F.
EVALUATE
ASSESS The motor is sufficient.
61. INTERPRET We are to find the angular momentum of a device moving at a given speed. We can calculate the
rotational inertia given the size and shape of the device, and then find the angular momentum.
DEVELOP There are 4 small cups, each of mass These are located from the center, and
we can ignore the mass of the supporting rods. We will use and The angular speed is

EVALUATE
ASSESS I’m not sure how this information will help us design the support, but we’ve calculate what was required.
The units work out, and the numeric value is reasonable for a small rotor such as this.