Rotational

Kinematics
Kinematics

 is the description of motion. It is concerned with the description of motion

without regard to force or mass.

 But what exactly is rotational kinematics? From the word, you can describe that
it’s all about any object that can rotate or spin. It’s different from linear motion
when an object simply moves forward or backward.
 The kinematics of rotational motion describes the relationships among rotation
angle (θ), angular velocity (ω), angular acceleration (α), and time (t). You will
find that translational kinematic quantities, such as displacement, velocity, and
acceleration have direct analogs in rotational motion.
Axis of Rotation

 
 In activity 1.1, you have listed some types of rotating objects and their importance
to society, right? Everything that you have listed is all rotating about a line
somewhere within the object called the axis of rotation. We are also going to
assume that all these objects are rigid bodies, that is, they keep their shape and are
not deformed in any way by their motion. Look at Figure 1.1. It shows the wheel
and axle of a bike. Is the axle (axis of rotation) part of the wheel (rigid body)? The
answer is NO. If you were to spin the wheel around its center, the axis of rotation
(axle) would be pointing perpendicular to the motion of the wheel.
Angular Displacement

 The symbol generally used for angular displacement is θ pronounced "teta" or

"theta."  θ is the angle swept by the radius of a circle that points to a rotating
object. Look at the circle below and assume it’s rotating about its middle so the
axis of rotation is pointing out of the page. Start with a piece of the circle at point
A. as the circle rotates counterclockwise, the piece of the circle reaches point B.
The point traveled a distance of s along the circumference and swept out an angle
θ. We can also say that the angle θ “subtends’ an arc length of s. Note that points
A and B are always at the same distance, r, from the axis of rotation.
  
 We will now define the angle of rotation (θ) as the ratio of the arc length (s) to the
radius (r) of the circle. We call this angle of rotation (θ) the angular
displacement. We denote angular displacement as Θ (theta). In symbol,

where: θ is the angle of rotation,

s is the arc length, and
r is the radius.
 
 Angular displacement is unitless since it is the ratio of two distances but, we will
say that the angular displacement is measured in radians. We know degrees, and
we know that when a point on a circle rotates and comes back to the same point, it
has performed one revolution; let us say from point A, and rotate until we come
back to point A.
 Refer to Figure 1.2, what distance (s) was covered? How many degrees were
swept by this full rotation? The point moved around the entire circumference, so it
traveled 2πr, while an angle of 3600 was swept through. Using the angular
displacement definition
 When an object makes one complete revolution, it sweeps out an angle of 360 0 or
2π radians. One radian is the angle at which the arc has the same length as the
radius r.
 1 radian = 57.30
 
 The radian is frequently abbreviated as rad.
Sample Problems

1. An object travels around a circle 10 full turns in 2.5 seconds.  Calculate (a) the
angular displacement, θ, in radians.
Given:
# of turns/complete rotations = 10 turns
Time = 2.5 seconds
Find: Angular displacement (θ) in radians
 
*Note that 1 complete rotation = 3600 = 2π radians = 6.28 rad
 
Solution:
Θ = 10 turns (6.28 rad/turn) = 62.8 radians.
 2. A girl goes around a circular track that has a diameter of 12 m. If she runs
around the entire track for a distance of 100 m, what is her angular displacement?
 Given:
 Diameter of the curved path = 12m;
 *Note that diameter, d = 2r, therefore,
 r= d/2 = 12m/2= 6m
 arc length, s = 100 m
 Find: Angular displacement, θ
 Solution:
 θ = s/r θ = 100m/6 m = 16.67 radians
 Angular displacement can now be related to linear displacement. Working on
kinematics problems with linear displacement was tackled in your previous
lessons. What other quantities played a key role in linear displacement?
Angular Velocity
 In linear motion, velocity (v) is defined as the rate of change of the object's
position with respect to a frame of reference and time, that is, . 
 On the other hand, acceleration (a) is the rate of change of velocity. In symbol, we
have:  
;   
 In rotational motion, angular velocity (ω) is defined as the change in angular
displacement (θ) per unit of time (t). In symbol, 

 
The symbol ω, pronounced "omega", is used to denote angular velocity.
 We usually describe the angular velocity as revolution per second (rev/sec, rps),
or radian per second. See Figure 1.3. You will often have to convert this number
since it is usually given as a frequency (revolutions per time frame).
From linear velocity conversion, we have:
ω = v/r,
where:
ω is the angular velocity (rad/s),
v is the tangential velocity (m/s), and
r is the radius in circular path (meters).
Sample Problems
 1. If an object travels around a circle with an angular displacement of 70.8 radians
in 3.0 seconds, what is its average angular velocity ω in (rad/s)?
Given:  Δθ = 70.8 rd ; Δt = 3 s
Find: ω = ?
 
Solution:   ω = Δθ/Δt = 70.8 rad/3.0 s = 23.6 rad/s.
 2. A bicycle wheel, with a radius of 0.28 m, starts from rest and accelerates at a
rate of 3.5 rad/s2 for 8 s. What is its final angular velocity?
Given: r = 0.28 m; α = 3.5 rad/s2 t = 8 s
Find: ω =?
Solution: From the equation α = ω/t, we can have
ω = αt = 3.5 rad/s2 (8s) = 28 rad/s
Angular Acceleration

 If the angular velocity of the rotating object increases or decreases with time, we
say that the object experiences an angular acceleration, α. The angular
acceleration of a rotating object is the rate at which the angular velocity changes
with respect to time. It is the change in the angular velocity divided by the change
in time. The average angular acceleration is the change in the angular velocity
divided by the change in time. The angular acceleration is a vector that points in a
direction along with the rotation.
 The magnitude of the angular acceleration is given by the formula below. The unit of angular acceleration is rad/s 2.

 In symbol
 where:
 α = angular acceleration, (rad/s2)
 Δω = change in angular velocity (rad/s)
 Δt = change in time (s)
 ω1 = initial angular velocity (rad/s)
 ω2= final angular velocity (rad/s)
 t1 = initial time (s)
 t2= final time (s).
 The symbol α is pronounced as "alpha". The unit of measure is radian per second
squared (rad/s2).
 All points in the object have the same angular acceleration. Every point on a
rotating object has, at any instant, a linear velocity (v) and a linear acceleration
(a). Look at the illustration in Figure 1.4 below, we can relate the linear quantities
(v and a) to the angular quantities (ω and α). Linear velocity and angular velocity
are related.
 v = rω
where; v is the linear velocity,
r is the radius of the object, and
ω is the angular acceleration.

It is not only the point (that we measure) that moves in that angular velocity. All
points in the object rotate with the same angular velocity. Every position in the object
moves through the same time interval. Conventionally, an object moving
counterclockwise has a value of positive (+) angular acceleration, while the one
moving in the clockwise direction has a negative (-) value.
 Angular acceleration occurs when the angular velocity changes over time. It acts
in the direction of rotation in a circular motion (not the same as centripetal
acceleration). In this case, we must also introduce tangential acceleration a t, since
the tangential velocity is changing. If there is angular acceleration, there will also
be a tangential acceleration
 and
 where:
 at is the tangential (linear) acceleration (m/s2)
 r is the radius of circular path (meters)
 α is the angular acceleration (rad/s2);
 ar is the radial (centripetal) acceleration (m/s2); and
 ω is the angular velocity (rad/s).
 ω1 = 0 ω2
=
160 rad/s S
Find: olution:
Angular acceleration (α)

Sample Problems =?

  A disc in a DVD player starts from rest, and when the user presses “Play”, it

begins spinning. The disc spins at 160 radians/s after 4.0 s. What was the average
angular acceleration of the disc?
 Given:
 t1 = 0 t2= 4.00 s
 ω1 = 0 ω2 =160 rad/s
 Find:
 Angular acceleration (α) =?
Solution:
Between the initial and final times, the average angular acceleration of the disc was
40.0 radians/s2.
 A car tire is turning at a rate of 5.0 rad/s as it travels along the road.  The driver
increases the car's speed, and as a result, each tire's angular speed increases to 8.0
rad/s in 6.0 sec.  Find the angular acceleration of the tire.
 Given: ω1 = 5.0 rad/s; ω2 = 8.o rad/s; Δt = 6.0 s
 Find:  α=?
 Solution:  α = Δω/Δt    
= (ω2 - ω1) /Δt   
= (8.0 rad/s - 5.0 rad/s)/6.0s  
= 0.50 rad/s2
 
 Putting these definitions together,
you observe a very strong parallel
between translational kinematic
quantities and rotational kinematic
quantities (see Table 1.1).

It’s quite straightforward to translate

between translational and angular
variables as well when you know
the radius (r) of the point of interest
on a rotating object.
 The rotational kinematic equations (see table below) can be used the same way as
you used the translational kinematic equations to solve problems. Once you know
three of the kinematic variables, you can always use the equations to solve for the
other two.

 The above Kinematics equations allowed you to explore the relationship between
displacement, velocity, and acceleration. You can develop a corresponding set of
relationships for angular displacement, angular velocity, and angular acceleration.
The equations follow the same form as the translational equations, all you have to do
is replace the translational variables with rotational variables.
 Activity 1.2 Match Me Right
 Match column A with column B according to their meaning. Write the letter of
your answer on the space provided before each number.

Column A Column B
(Meaning/Definition) (Term/s)

1. A measure of how angular velocity changes over time. A. Angular position

2. The imaginary or actual axis around which an object may rotate. B. Linear velocity
3. It is the change in linear velocity divided by time. C. Axis of rotation
4. It is half of the circle’s circumference D. Tangential Acceleration
5. The orientation of a body or figure with respect to a specified reference position as expressed by the
amount of rotation necessary to change from one orientation to the other about a specified axis. E. Angular Velocity

6. The rate of rotation around an axis usually expressed in radian or revolutions per second or per
F. Kinematics
minute.
7. A property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless
acted upon by some external force. G. Angular Acceleration

8. Branch of dynamics that deals with aspects of motion apart from considerations of mass and force. H. Radian
9. It is the rate of change of the position of an object that is traveling along a straight path. I. Angular Displacement
10. It is an angle whose corresponding arc in a circle is equal to the radius of the circle J. Radius
Solve the following in a clean sheet of paper. Show your solution and box your final answer.

 1 As a car starts accelerating (from rest) along a straight road at a rate of 2.4 m/s2,
each of its tires gains an angular acceleration of 6.86 rad/s2.  Calculate (a) the
radius of its tires, (b) the angular speed of every particle of the tires after 3.0 s,
and (c) the angle every particle of its tire travels during the 3.0-second period. 
 2.) Mark bought a large pizza with a radius of 0.5 m. He unmindfully pours pizza
sauce along the pizza edge for a distance of 80 cm. Calculate the angular
displacement of the pizza sauce.
 3.) What is the angular velocity of an object traveling in a circle of radius 0.75 m
with a linear speed of 3.5 m/s?
 4.) What is the angular acceleration of a ball that starts at rest and increases its
angular velocity uniformly to 5 rad/s in 10 s?