PHY 101: GENERAL PHYSICS 1

BY ADEBISI, A.C.

 Conservation of Angular Momentum;

 Circular Motion,
 Moments of Inertia, Gyroscopes and Precision
 Gravitation: Newton’s law of gravitation

1. Conservation of Angular Momentum

Conservation of angular momentum is a physical property of a spinning system such that its spin
remains constant unless it is acted upon by an external torque; put another way, the speed of
rotation is constant as long as net torque is zero. i.e.

(1)

(2)
If no net external torque act on the system then equation (2) becomes

Let Li and Lf be the angular momenta of a system at two different times, and suppose there is no
net external torque, so ∑ = 0. Then

Li = Lf (angular momentum is conserved)

If the moment of inertia of an isolated rotating system changes, the system’s angular speed will
change. Conservation of angular momentum then requires that

Ii I
i= f f

Note that conservation of angular momentum applies to macroscopic objects such as planets and
people, as well as to atoms and molecules. There are many examples of conservation of angular
momentum; one of the most dramatic is that of a figure 1a. Upon landing, extending her arms
and legs increases her moment of inertia and helps slow her spin as shown in figure 1b.
 Figure 1a Figure 1b

If the component of the net external torque on a system along a certain axis is zero, then the
component of the angular momentum of the system along that axis cannot change, no matter
what changes take place within the system.

The spinning volunteer, the springboard diver, Long jump etc are examples of conservation of
angular momentum.

Question 1:

A student sits on a pivoted stool while holding a pair of weights.

(See Fig. 2 .) The stool is free to rotate about a vertical axis with negligible
friction. The moment of inertia of student, weights, and stool is
2.25 kg m2. The student is set in rotation with arms outstretched, making
one complete turn every 1.26 s, arms outstretched. (a) What is the initial
angular speed of the system? (b) As he rotates, he pulls the weights inward
so that the new moment of inertia of the system (student, objects, and
stool) becomes 1.80 kg m2. What is the new angular speed of the system?
(c) Find the work done by the student on the system while pulling in the
weights. (Ignore energy lost through dissipation in his muscles.)

Question 2 Fig.2

A horizontal disk with moment of inertia I1 rotates with angular speed 1 about a vertical
frictionless axle. A second horizontal disk having moment of inertia I2 drops onto the first,
initially not rotating but sharing the same axis as the first disk. Because their surfaces are rough,
the two disks eventually reach the same angular speed . The ratio / 1 is equal to
(a) I1/I2
(b) I2/I1
(c) I1/(I1 - I2)
(d) I2/(I1 + I2).
Question 3
If global warming continues, it’s likely that some ice from the polar ice caps of the Earth will
melt and the water will be distributed closer to the equator. If this occurs, would the length of the
day (one revolution)

(a) increase,
(b) decrease,
(c) remain the same?
(d) None of the above

Question 4

Show that =

2. Circular Motion,

A particle is in uniform circular motion if it travels around a circle or a circular arc at constant
(uniform) speed. Although the speed does not vary, the particle is accelerating because the
velocity changes in direction.

Fig. 3

Figure 3 above shows the relationship between the velocity and acceleration vectors at various
stages during uniform circular motion. Both vectors have constant magnitude, but their directions
change continuously. The velocity is always directed tangent to the circle in the direction of
motion. The acceleration is always directed radially inward. Because of this, the acceleration
associated with uniform circular motion is called a centripetal (meaning “center seeking”)
acceleration. The magnitude of the acceleration is
where r is the radius of the circle and v is the speed of the particle. In addition, during this acceleration at
constant speed, the particle travels the circumference of the circle (a distance of 2πr) in time

T is called the period of revolution, or simply the period, of the motion. It is, in general, the time for a
particle to go around a closed path exactly once.

Question 5

a. Show that tan = tan (i.e a is directed along the radius r toward the circle’s center)
b. An object moves at constant speed along a circular path in a horizontal xy plane, with the center
at the origin. When the object is at x = ‒2 m, its velocity is ‒(4 m/s)j ˆ. Give the object’s (i)
velocity and (ii) acceleration at y = 2 m.
[a] –(4m/s)i and –(8 m/s2)j
[b] (4m/s)i and (8 m/s2)j
[c] –(4m/s) and –(8 m/s2)
[d] (4m/s) and (8 m/s2)

3. MOMENTS OF INERTIA

The moment of inertia is defined as the quantity expressed by the body resisting angular
acceleration, which is the sum of the product of the mass of every particle with its square of the
distance from the axis of rotation. Or, in more simple terms, it can be described as a quantity that
decides the amount of torque needed for a specific angular acceleration in a rotational axis. The
moment of inertia is also known as the angular mass or rotational inertia. The SI unit of moment
of inertia is kg m2.

In general form, moment of inertia is expressed as

I = m × r2

And, integral form:

I = ∫dI = ∫0M r2 dm

where,

m = Sum of the product of the mass.

r = Distance from the axis of the rotation.

Factors on Which the Moment of Inertia Depends
 The density of the material
 Shape and size of the body
 Mass distribution about the axis of rotation
 Axis of rotation (distribution of mass relative to the axis)

Moment of Inertia of a System of Particles

The moment of inertia of a system of particles is given by,

I = ∑ mi ri2

where ri is the perpendicular distance from the axis to the ith particle, which has mass
mi.
 Moment of Inertia of Rigid Bodies
The moment of inertia of continuous mass distribution is found by using the integration
technique. If the system is divided into an infinitesimal element of mass ‘dm’, and if ‘x’ is
the distance from the mass element to the axis of rotation, the moment of inertia is:

I = ∫ r2 dm . . . . . .

Fig. 4

Moment of Inertia of Different Objects:

We know that the moment of inertia of a rigid body depends on various factors. Hence, it is
different for different rigid bodies. The moments of inertia of different rigid objects are as
follows:

 Rod – Through center: 1 ⁄ 12 Ml²

– Through end: 1 ⁄ 3Ml²
 Sphere
– Solid sphere: 2 ⁄ 5mr²
– Hollow sphere: 2 ⁄ 3mr²
 Hoop
– Hoop about diameter: 1 ⁄ 2MR²
– Hoop about symmetrical axis: MR²
 Cylinder
– Solid cylinder or disc, symmetrical axis: 1 ⁄2MR²
– Solid cylinder, central diameter: 1 ⁄ 4MR² + 1 ⁄ 12ML²
 Rectangular objects
– Solid rectangular box: 1 ⁄ 12m (h² + w²)
– Solid rectangular plate: 1 ⁄ 12 m (h² + w²)
 Ring: mr²
 Disc: 1 ⁄ 2mr²

4. GYROSCOPE AND PRECESSION

A simple gyroscope consists of a wheel fixed to a shaft and free to spin about the axis of the shaft. If one
end of the shaft of a non-spinning gyroscope is placed on a support as in Fig. 5 and the gyroscope is
released, the gyroscope falls by rotating downward about the tip of the support. Since the fall involves
rotation, it is governed by Newton’s second law in angular form, which is given by
 4.1

This equation tells us that the torque causing the downward rotation (the fall)
changes the angular momentum L of the gyroscope from its initial value of zero. 5a
The torque τ is due to the gravitational force M g acting at the gyroscope’s center
of mass, which we take to be at the center of the wheel. The moment arm relative
to the support tip, located at O in Fig. 5a, is r . The magnitude of τ is

4.2
(because the angle between Mg and r is 90°)

A rapidly spinning gyroscope behaves differently. Assume it is released with the

shaft angled slightly upward. It first rotates slightly downward but then, while it
is still spinning about its shaft, it begins to rotate horizontally about a vertical axis 5b
through support point O in a motion called precession.

Why Not Just Fall Over? Why does the spinning gyroscope stay aloft instead of falling
over like the non-spinning gyroscope? The clue is that when the spinning gyroscope
is released, the torque due to M g must change not an initial angular momentum of
zero but rather some already existing nonzero angular momentum due to the spin.
To see how this nonzero initial angular momentum leads to precession, we first
consider the angular momentum L of the gyroscope due to its spin. To simplify
the situation, we assume the spin rate is so rapid that the angular momentum 5c
due to precession is negligible relative to L. We also assume the shaft is horizontal
when precession begins, as in Fig. 5b. The magnitude of L is given

4.3
where I is the rotational moment of the gyroscope about its shaft and is the angular speed at which
the wheel spins about the shaft. The vector L points along the shaft, as in Fig. 5b. Since L is parallel to r,
torque τ must be perpendicular to L . i.e.

4.4
However, for a rapidly spinning gyroscope, the magnitude of L is fixed by Eq. 4.3. Thus the torque can
change only the direction of L , not its magnitude. From Eq. 4.4 we see that the direction of dL is in the
direction of τ , perpendicular to L . The only way that L can be changed in the direction of τ without the
magnitude L being changed is for L to rotate around the z axis as shown in Fig. 11-22c. L → maintains its
magnitude, the head of the L → vector follows a circular path, and τ → is always tangent to that path.
Since L → must always point along the shaft, the shaft must rotate about the z axis in the direction of τ
→. Thus we have precession. Because the spinning gyroscope must obey Newton’s law in angular form
in response to any change in its initial angular momentum, it must precess instead of merely toppling
over.

Precession: We can find the precession rate Ω by first using Eqs. 4.4 and 4.2 to get the magnitude of d L:

4.5
As L changes by an incremental amount in an incremental time interval dt, the shaft and L precess
around the z axis through incremental angle d𝜙. With the aid of Eqs. 4.3 and 4.5, we find that d𝜙 is
given by

4.6
This result is valid under the assumption that the spin rate is rapid. Note that Ω decreases as is
increased. Note also that there would be no precession if the gravitational force M g did not act on the
gyroscope, but because I is a function of M, mass cancels from Eq. 4.6; thus Ω is independent of the
mass.
Equation 4.6 also applies if the shaft of a spinning gyroscope is at an angle to the horizontal. It holds as
well for a spinning top, which is essentially a spinning gyroscope at an angle to the horizontal.

5. Gravitation: Newton’s law of gravitation

The tendency of bodies to move toward one another is called gravitation.

Let the masses be m1 and m2 and r be their separation. Then the magnitude of the gravitational force
acting on each due to the presence of the other is given by

5.1
Where G is the gravitational constant: G = 6.67 × 10−11 N · m /kg = 6.67 × 10 m3 /kg · s2.
2 2 −11

Figure 5.1: (a) The gravitational force F on particle 1 due to particle 2 is an attractive force because
particle 1 is attracted to particle 2. (b) Force F is directed along a radial coordinate axis r extending from
particle 1 through particle 2. (c) F is in the direction of a unit vector rˆ along the r axis.

Non-particles.
Although Newton’s law of gravitation applies strictly to particles, we can also apply it to real objects as
long as the sizes of the objects are small relative to the distance between them. The Moon and Earth are
far enough apart so that, to a good approximation, we can treat them both as particles—but what about
an apple and Earth? From the point of view of the apple, the broad and level Earth, stretching out to the
horizon beneath the apple, certainly does not look like a particle. Newton solved the apple–Earth
problem with the shell theorem:

A uniform spherical shell of matter attracts a particle that is outside the shell as if all the shell’s mass
were concentrated at its center.

Earth can be thought of as a nest of such shells, one within another and each shell attracting a particle
outside Earth’s surface as if the mass of that shell were at the center of the shell. Thus, from the apple’s
point of view, Earth does behave like a particle, one that is located at the center of Earth and has a mass
equal to that of Earth.

Third-Law Force Pair. Suppose that, as in Fig. 5.2, Earth pulls down on an
apple with a force of magnitude 0.80 N. The apple must then pull up on
Earth with a force of magnitude 0.80 N, which we take to act at the center
of Earth. These forces form a force pair in Newton’s third law.
Although they are matched in magnitude, they produce
different accelerations when the apple is released. The acceleration of
the apple is about 9.8 m/s2 , the familiar acceleration of a falling
body near Earth’s surface. The acceleration of Earth, however,
measured in a reference frame attached to the center of mass of the apple–Earth system, is only about
1 × 10−25 m/s2

Question 6

A particle is to be placed, in turn, outside four objects, each of mass m: (I) a large uniform solid sphere,
(II) a large uniform spherical shell, (III) a small uniform solid sphere, and (IV) a small uniform shell. In
each situation, the distance between the particle and the center of the object is d. Rank the objects
according to the magnitude of the gravitational force they exert on the particle, greatest first.

a. All tie
b. I and II
c. I and III
d. I, III and IV

Question 7

Figure (a) below shows an arrangement of three particles, particle 1 of mass m1 = 6.0 kg and particles 2
and 3 of mass m2 = m3 = 4.0 kg, and distance a = 2.0 cm. What is the net gravitational force F 1, net on
particle 1 due to the other particles?