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Angular Impulse and Angular Momentum

The document discusses angular impulse and angular momentum. It defines angular momentum and describes how to calculate it for planar and three-dimensional motion. It relates the time rate of change of angular momentum to the moment of forces applied, and introduces the concept of angular impulse as the integral of applied moments over time. Conservation of angular momentum occurs when the net applied moment is zero.

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66 views4 pages

Angular Impulse and Angular Momentum

The document discusses angular impulse and angular momentum. It defines angular momentum and describes how to calculate it for planar and three-dimensional motion. It relates the time rate of change of angular momentum to the moment of forces applied, and introduces the concept of angular impulse as the integral of applied moments over time. Conservation of angular momentum occurs when the net applied moment is zero.

Uploaded by

mesfin snow
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Angular Impulse and Angular Momentum

Definition: The angular momentum of a particle


about point O is defined as the “moment” of the
particle’s linear momentum about O.
Since this concept is analogous to finding the
moment of a force about a point, the angular
momentum, HO, is sometimes referred to as the
moment of momentum.
Plane (2D) Motion: If a particle moves along a
curve lying in the x–y plane, Fig.1, the angular
momentum at any instant can be determined
about point O (actually the z axis) by using a
scalar formulation. The magnitude of HO is

Fig.1
Here d is the moment arm or perpendicular distance from O to the line of action of mv. The
direction of HO is defined by the right-hand rule. As shown, the curl of the fingers of the right
hand indicates the sense of rotation of mv about O, so that in this case the thumb (or HO) is
directed perpendicular to the x–y plane along the +z axis.

Space (3D) Motion: Fig. 2a shows a particle P of mass m moving along a curve in space. The
particle is located by its position vector r with respect to a convenient origin O of fixed
coordinates x-y-z. The velocity of the particle is ̇ , and its linear momentum is mv. The
moment of the linear momentum vector mv about the origin O is defined as the angular
momentum HO of P about O and is given by the cross-product relation for the moment of a
vector,

Eq. (1)

To help visualization of angular momentum, we


shown in Fig. 2b a two dimensional representation
in plane A of the vectors shown in part a of the
figure. The motion is viewed in plane A defined by
Fig. 2 r and v.
Page 1 of 4
Thus, the angular momentum is a vector perpendicular to the
plane A defined by r and v. The magnitude of the moment of
mv about O is simply the linear momentum mv times the
moment arm or , which is the magnitude
of the cross product HO = r × mv.

The sense of HO is clearly defined by the right-hand rule for


cross products. The scalar components of angular momentum
may be obtained from the expansion

Fig. 3

Each of these expressions for angular momentum may be checked easily from Fig. 3, which
shows the three linear-momentum components, by taking the moments of these components
about the respective axes.

Relation Between Moment of a Force and Time Rate of change of Angular Momentum

The moments about point O of all the forces acting on the


particle in Fig. can be related to the particle’s angular
momentum by applying the equation of motion. If the mass
of the particle is constant, we may write

The moments of the forces about point O can be obtained by


performing a cross-product multiplication of each side of
this equation by the position vector r, which is measured
from the x, y, z inertial frame of reference. We have

Fig. 4
The derivative of angular momentum, can be written as

Page 2 of 4
The first term on the right side, ̇ ̇ ̇ , since the cross product of a vector
with itself is zero. Hence, the above equation becomes

Eq. (2)
which states that the resultant moment about point O of all the forces acting on the particle is
equal to the time rate of change of the particle’s angular momentum about point O.

This relation, particularly when extended to a system of particles, rigid or nonrigid, provides one
of the most powerful tools of analysis in dynamics. Eq. (2) is a vector equation with scalar
components

The Angular Impulse-Momentum Principle

Eq. (2) gives the instantaneous relation between the moment and the time rate of change of
angular momentum. To obtain the effect of the moment ∑ on the angular momentum of the
particle over a finite period of time, we integrate Eq. (2) from time t1 to time t2.

If eq. (2) is rewritten in the form ∑ and integrated from time t1 to time t2 we
have

Rearranging, we have

Eq. (3)
This equation is referred to as the principle of angular impulse and momentum. The initial and
final angular momenta (HO)1 and (HO)2 are defined as the moment of the linear momentum of
the particle (HO = r × mv) at the instants t1 and t2, respectively. The second term on the left side,
∑MOdt, is called the angular impulse. It is determined by integrating moments of all the forces
acting on the particle with respect to time, over the time period t1 to t2. Since the moment of a
force about point O is MO = r × F, the angular impulse may be expressed in vector form as

Page 3 of 4
Scalar Formulation: In general, the equations
of linear and angular impulses and moments
can be expressed in x, y, z component form.
But, if the particle is confined to move in the
x–y plane, then three scalar equations can be
written to express the motion, namely,

Conservation of Angular Momentum

If the resultant moment about a fixed point O of all forces acting on a particle is zero during an
interval of time, Eq. (2) requires that its angular momentum HO about that point remain constant.
In this case, the angular momentum of the particle is said to be conserved.

Angular momentum may be conserved about one axis but not about another axis. So, a careful
examination of the free-body diagram of the particle will disclose whether the moment of the
resultant force on the particle about a fixed point is zero, in which case, the angular momentum
about that point is unchanged (conserved).

Thus, Eq. (3) reduces to the following simplified form,

Page 4 of 4

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