PHYS131 Mechanics

Lecture 21: Rotational Motion

• Angular displacement
• Vector form of angular quantities
• Angular velocity
• Angular acceleration
• Period and frequency
• Angular and linear quantities
• Rotational inertia
• Angular momentum
• Rotational kinetic energy

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 Rotation
• A sphere rotates about a rotation axis
Rotation
• It is a rigid, extended body axis
• It has purely rotational motion, i.e. it
rotates but its centre of mass is stationary,
so it does not have translational motion
• Every point in the body moves in a circle
P
with its centre on the axis

View from above,

looking down the Point P moves in a
O 𝑟 circle with radius r
rotation axis at the
plane of rotation axis P and centre O

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 Angular Position

• As the body rotates, point P moves

through an angle (in radians) given by
𝑙
𝜃=
𝑟
• This is the angular position of P
• Arc length 𝑙 is the linear distance that
P moves from its starting position
• Distance moved is 𝑙 = 𝑟𝜃

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 Vector Form of Angular Quantities

• Each angular quantity that

follows is the scalar component
of a vector e.g 𝜔 in diagram
• Vector direction is along the
rotation axis, found by “right
hand rule”: curl right hand
fingers in direction of rotation,
and then thumb points in
direction of vector
• We will just work with the
scalar component along the
rotation axis

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 Angular Displacement
• A radial line rotates from initial
angular position 𝜃1 to final angular
position 𝜃2
• The line undergoes an angular
displacement given by
Δ𝜃 = 𝜃2 − 𝜃1
• This is a signed scalar quantity, i.e.
it can be +ve, 0 or ve
• Unit: rad

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 Angular Kinetic Quantities

Scalar quantities defined over a time interval Δ𝑡:

• Angular displacement Δ𝜃 = 𝜃2 − 𝜃1 (unit: rad)

Δ𝜃
• Average angular velocity 𝜔 = (unit: rad s1)
Δ𝑡
Δ𝜃
• Instantaneous angular velocity 𝜔 𝑡 = lim
Δ𝑡→0 Δ𝑡
• Angular speed 𝜔
Δ𝜔
• Average angular acceleration 𝛼 = (unit: rad s2)
Δ𝑡
Δ𝜔
• Instantaneous angular acceleration 𝛼 𝑡 = lim
Δ𝑡→0 Δ𝑡

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 Period and Frequency
• The time for one rotation cycle is the period T (unit: s)
• The number of cycles per unit time is the frequency f, related
to T by
1
𝑓=
𝑇
• Unit of frequency: hertz (Hz), where 1 Hz = 1 s1
• Angular speed 𝜔 is also called the angular frequency
• During one cycle a point has Δ𝜃 = 2𝜋, so if 𝜔 is constant then
2𝜋
𝜔= = 2𝜋𝑓
𝑇
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 Angular and Linear Quantities
• During angular displacement Δ𝜃, point P moves a linear
distance
Δ𝑙 = 𝑟Δ𝜃
• Tangential (or linear) velocity component is given by
Δ𝑙 𝑟Δ𝜃
𝑣= = = 𝑟𝜔
Δ𝑡 Δ𝑡
• Tangential acceleration component is given by
Δ𝑣 𝑟Δ𝜔
𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑛 = = = 𝑟𝛼
Δ𝑡 Δ𝑡
• Also:
𝑣2 𝑟𝜔 2
𝑎𝑐 = = = 𝜔2 𝑟
𝑟 𝑟
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 Angular and Linear Velocity

Every point on a
rotating rigid body has
an angular velocity 𝜔
and a linear velocity 𝑣Ԧ

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 Rotational Inertia
• The mass 𝑚 is acted on by force 𝐹Ԧ
• Torque about O is 𝜏 = 𝑟𝐹
• Newton 2: 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎
• Multiply by 𝑟:
𝑟𝐹 = 𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑛 = 𝑚𝑟 2 𝛼
• Define rotational inertia (or moment
of inertia) for the point object, about O
O, as:

𝐼 = 𝑚𝑟 2
• Unit: kg m2
• Then we can write:

𝜏 = 𝐼𝛼
• The equation 𝜏 = 𝐼𝛼 is the rotational
analogue of 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎
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 Rotational Inertia of an Extended Object

• For a system of particles, or an extended object regarded as a

system of particles, rotational inertia about a specified axis is
found by adding contributions from all particles:

𝐼 = ෍ 𝑚𝑖 𝑟𝑖2
𝑖
• Many objects (rods, spheres, discs, etc) have formulae for 𝐼

These two objects have the same

mass, but the one on the left has a
greater rotational inertia about the
rotation axis, as more of its mass is
far from the axis of rotation.

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 Centre of Mass
In (a), the diver’s motion is pure translation; in (b) it is translation
plus rotation. There is one point that moves in the same path a
particle would take if
subjected to the
same net force as the
diver. This point is
called the centre of
mass (CoM).
 Calculation of Centre of Mass
For two particles shown below, the Centre of Mass is

𝑚𝐴 𝑥𝐴 + 𝑚𝐵 𝑥𝐵
𝑥𝐶𝑀 =
𝑚𝐴 + 𝑚𝐵
 Angular Momentum
• Angular momentum (scalar component) is defined as:
𝐿 = 𝐼𝜔
• Unit: kg m2 rad s1
• For the point particle:
𝐿 = 𝑚𝑟 2 𝜔 = 𝑚𝑣𝑟
Δ𝑝
• Just as 𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = ,
so we have the rotational analogue:
Δ𝑡
Δ𝐿 Δ 𝐼𝜔 Δ𝜔
𝜏𝑛𝑒𝑡 = = =𝐼 = 𝐼𝛼
Δ𝑡 Δ𝑡 Δ𝑡
• Therefore, if 𝜏𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 0, then 𝐿 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
• Angular momentum of an isolated system is conserved

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 Angular Momentum - Illustration
Since 𝐿 is conserved, we have 𝐼0 𝜔0 = 𝐼𝜔, so systems that can
change their rotational inertia will also change their rate of
rotation:

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 Rotational Kinetic Energy
• The point particle has kinetic energy 𝐾𝐸 = 12𝑚𝑣 2
2
• Since 𝑣 = 𝑟𝜔, we have 𝐾𝐸 = 12𝑚 𝑟𝜔 = 12 𝑚𝑟 2 𝜔2
• Therefore, rotational kinetic energy of the particle is:
1 2
𝐾𝐸 = 2
𝐼𝜔
• Note the analogy with linear 𝐾𝐸 = 12𝑚𝑣 2
• The same formula applies to an extended object

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 Example
• A computer hard drive rotates at 7200 rpm (revolutions per minute).
• (a) What is its angular velocity?
• (b) The reading head is located 3.00 cm from the rotation axis. What is the linear
speed of the platter at this location?
• (c) How much time does it take to rotate through 90?
• (d) What are the frequency and period of rotation?
• (e) If it took 1.5 s to rotate to this angular velocity from rest, what was the
average angular acceleration?

• [Done in class]

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 Figure 8-30
Example 8-15

A small mass m attached to the end of a string revolves in a circle on a

frictionless table. The other end passes through a hole in the table. Initially
the mass revolves with speed v1 = 2.4 m/s in a circle of radius r1 = 0.89 m.
The string is then pulled slowly through the hole so that the radius is
reduced to r2 = 0.48 m. What is the new speed v2 of the mass?

[Done in class]
 Example
Two masses are connected by a 4.0 m rod, where m1 = 3.0 kg and m2 = 7.0 kg.

(a) How far from m1 is the CoM of the system?

(b) Calculate the rotational inertia about the CoM
(c) Calculate the rotational inertia about an axis through the centre of the rod

Now suppose that the masses rotate about an axis perpendicular to and through the
centre of the rod, with period T = 0.2 s.

(d) Using I from (c) find the rotational kinetic energy of the system. Also find the sum
of the rotational kinetic energy of each mass about the axis, and compare.
(e) Using I from (c), find the angular momentum of the system. Also find the sum of
the angular momentum of each mass about the axis, and compare.

m1 m2
L=4m

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