6.

5 Angular Momentum
angular momentum | angular impulse | conservation of angular momentum | collisions
LVL 1
1. Match the variable to its definition, symbol, and units.
___ , ___ , ___ linear momentum a. a result of a force applied for a period of time 1. L i. kg • m/s

___ , ___ , ___ linear impulse b. a measure of how difficult it is to stop a 2. p ii. kg • m​2​/s
spinning object

___ , ___ , ___ angular c. a result of a torque applied for a period of 4. ΔL

momentum time

___ , ___ , ___ angular impulse e. a measure of how difficult it is to stop an 5. Δp

object moving in a straight line

2. An object is said to have angular momentum in two cases:

a. when it is rotating about an _________________ axis
b. and you consider an object moving with respect to ____________________ fixed point

3. Complete the following equations associated with momentum:

p= Δp = L= L= ΔL =

linear momentum linear impulse angular momentum angular momentum angular impulse
(external axis) (internal axis)

4. Rewrite conservation of momentum for rotation:

Law of conservation of momentum for linear motion → Law of conservation of momentum theorem for rotation

The total linear momentum of a system must remain

the same unless a net external force acts over a
period of time to add or remove momentum from the
system. →
Σpsys = 0
Σpi = Σpf
Δp1 = − Δp2

5. Momentum and mass have a _____________________ relationship, just as angular momentum and
_____________________ have a _____________________ relationship.

6. Momentum and linear velocity have a _____________________ relationship, just as angular momentum and
_____________________ have a _____________________ relationship.

7. If the total linear momentum of a system is conserved while the system’s mass doubles, then the linear velocity must
_____________________, just as if the total angular momentum of a system is conserved while the system’s
_____________________ doubles, then the angular velocity must _____________________.

LVL 2
8. Competitive divers pull their limbs in and curl up their bodies when they do flips. Just before entering the water, they
fully extend their limbs to enter straight down. Explain the effect of both actions on their angular velocities and their
angular momenta.

9. Suppose a child walks from the outer edge of a rotating merry-go round to the inside. Does the angular velocity of the
merry-go-round increase, decrease, or remain the same? Explain your answer.

10. A turntable is rotating in a counterclockwise direction. A ladybug lands on the turntable, about halfway between the
center of the turntable and its edge. Select all of the possible choices that will increase the total angular momentum
for the bug and turntable system:
a. Bug moves toward the center of the turntable
b. Bug moves away from the center of the turntable
c. Bug starts to run around the turntable in a clockwise direction
d. Bug starts to run around the turntable in a counterclockwise direction
e. A person comes by and applies a torque to spin the disk faster and faster

11. Suppose a child gets off a rotating merry-go-round. Does the angular velocity of the merry-go-round increase,
decrease, or remain the same if: (a) He jumps off radially? (b) He jumps backward to land motionless? (c) He jumps
straight up and hangs onto an overhead tree branch? (d) He jumps off forward, tangential to the edge? Explain your
answers.

12. A ball of putty, traveling at a constant speed to the left, collide with a rod and sticks to it. Explain why the following
would happen:
a. The ball and putty will move translationally to the left with a smaller speed.

b. The putty and rod system will also rotate about its center of mass.

LVL 3
13. I start pushing a merry-go-round with a torque of 10 Newton-meters. It has a moment of inertia of 100kg⋅m​2​. What is
its rotational speed after 3 seconds assuming it starts at rest?

14. A satellite is rotating once per minute. It has an moment of inertia of 10,000kg⋅m​2​. Erin, an astronaut, extends the
satellite's solar panels, increasing its moment of inertia to 30,000kg⋅m​2​. How quickly is the satellite now rotating?

15. An ice skater spins about an axis of rotation that passes through her body’s center of mass. With her arms out and
spinning at an angular speed of 3.5rad/s, she has a rotational inertia of 4.5kg m​2​. When she folds her arms in, her
rotational inertia changes to 3.2kg m​2​.
a. Why did her rotational inertia decrease when she folded her arms in?

b. What is her new angular speed?

16. A disc with moment of inertia 1kgm​2​ spins about an axle through its center of mass with angular velocity 10rad/s. An
identical disc which is not rotating is slid along the axle until it makes contact with the first disc. If the two discs stick
together, what is their combined angular velocity?

17. A flywheel rotates without friction at an angular velocity of 600rev/min

on a frictionless, vertical shaft of negligible rotational inertia. A
second flywheel, which is at rest and has a moment of inertia three
times that of the rotating flywheel, is dropped onto it. Because friction
exists between the surfaces, the flywheels very quickly reach the
same rotational velocity, after which they spin together.
a. Use the law of conservation of angular momentum to
determine the angular velocity of the combination.

b. What fraction of the initial kinetic energy is lost in the coupling of the flywheels?

LVL 4
18. A blob of clay of mass M is dropped on top of a rotating disk's edge of mass 2M spinning at a speed of ω​0​. What will
the resulting rotational speed ω be?

19. Consider a 30kg disk with a radius of 20cm rotating with an angular speed of 12rad/s. At a later time, a 15kg ring with
a radius of 14cm is suddenly placed on top of the disk. Calculate the new angular speed of the system.

20. A bullet of mass m=2.0g is moving horizontally

with a speed of 500.0m/s. The bullet strikes and
becomes embedded in the edge of a solid disk
of mass M=3.2kg and radius R=0.5m. The
cylinder is free to rotate around its axis and is
initially at rest. What is the angular velocity of
the disk immediately after the bullet is
embedded?

21. A rectangular rod on a horizontal table top is shown in the left side
of the diagram. The rod is hinged at one end, as shown. It rotates
in such a way that it hits a stationary ball as shown in the diagram's
right side. The rod rotates without friction at a rate of
40radians/second until it contacts the ball. As a result of the
collision, the rod comes to rest and the ball moves to the right. The
mass of the rod is 0.2kg. The mass of the ball is 0.067kg. The
length of the rod is 0.15m. The moment of inertia of a rod rotated
about the end is: I=⅓ mL​2​. What is the ball's speed as a result of the collision?