Angular velocity

In physics, angular velocity (symbol ω or , the

lowercase Greek letter omega), also known as the Angular velocity
angular frequency vector,[1] is a pseudovector
representation of how the angular position or
orientation of an object changes with time, i.e.
how quickly an object rotates (spins or revolves)
around an axis of rotation and how fast the axis
itself changes direction.[2]

The magnitude of the pseudovector, ,

represents the angular speed (or angular Common symbols ω
frequency), the angular rate at which the object SI unit rad ⋅ s−1
rotates (spins or revolves). The pseudovector In SI base units s−1
direction is normal to the
Extensive? yes
instantaneous plane of rotation or angular
Intensive? yes (for rigid body only)
displacement.
Conserved? no
There are two types of angular velocity: Behaviour under pseudovector
coord transformation
Orbital angular velocity refers to how fast a
point object revolves about a fixed origin, i.e.
Derivations from ω = dθ / dt
other quantities
the time rate of change of its angular position
relative to the origin. Dimension
Spin angular velocity refers to how fast a
rigid body rotates with respect to its center of rotation and is independent of the choice of
origin, in contrast to orbital angular velocity.
Angular velocity has dimension of angle per unit time; this is analogous to linear velocity, with
angle replacing distance, with time in common. The SI unit of angular velocity is radians per
second,[3] although degrees per second (°/s) is also common. The radian is a dimensionless
quantity, thus the SI units of angular velocity are dimensionally equivalent to reciprocal
seconds, s−1, although rad/s is preferable to avoid confusion with rotation velocity in units of
hertz (also equivalent to s−1).[4]

The sense of angular velocity is conventionally specified by the right-hand rule, implying
clockwise rotations (as viewed on the plane of rotation); negation (multiplication by −1) leaves
the magnitude unchanged but flips the axis in the opposite direction.[5]

For example, a geostationary satellite completes one orbit per day above the equator (360
degrees per 24 hours)a has angular velocity magnitude (angular speed) ω = 360°/24 h = 15°/h
(or 2π rad/24 h ≈ 0.26 rad/h) and angular velocity direction (a unit vector) parallel to Earth's
rotation axis ( , in the geocentric coordinate system). If angle is measured in radians, the
linear velocity is the radius times the angular velocity, . With orbital radius 42,000 km
from the Earth's center, the satellite's tangential speed through space is thus v = 42,000 km ×
0.26/h ≈ 11,000 km/h. The angular velocity is positive since the satellite travels prograde with
the Earth's rotation (the same direction as the rotation of Earth).

^a Geosynchronous satellites actually orbit based on a sidereal day which is 23h 56m 04s, but
24h is assumed in this example for simplicity.

Orbital angular velocity of a point particle

Particle in two dimensions

In the simplest case of circular motion at radius , with
position given by the angular displacement from
the x-axis, the orbital angular velocity is the rate of
change of angle with respect to time: . If is
measured in radians, the arc-length from the positive
x-axis around the circle to the particle is , and
the linear velocity is , so that .

In the general case of a particle moving in the plane,

the orbital angular velocity is the rate at which the
position vector relative to a chosen origin "sweeps out"
angle. The diagram shows the position vector from
the origin to a particle , with its polar coordinates The angular velocity of the particle at P
with respect to the origin O is determined
. (All variables are functions of time .) The
by the perpendicular component of the
particle has linear velocity splitting as , velocity vector v.
with the radial component parallel to the radius,
and the cross-radial (or tangential) component
perpendicular to the radius. When there is no radial component, the particle moves around the
origin in a circle; but when there is no cross-radial component, it moves in a straight line from
the origin. Since radial motion leaves the angle unchanged, only the cross-radial component of
linear velocity contributes to angular velocity.

The angular velocity ω is the rate of change of angular position with respect to time, which can
be computed from the cross-radial velocity as:

Here the cross-radial speed is the signed magnitude of , positive for counter-clockwise
motion, negative for clockwise. Taking polar coordinates for the linear velocity gives
magnitude (linear speed) and angle relative to the radius vector; in these terms,
, so that
These formulas may be derived doing , being a function of the
distance to the origin with respect to time, and a function of the angle between the vector and
the x axis. Then:

which is equal to:

(see Unit vector in cylindrical coordinates).

Knowing , we conclude that the radial component of the velocity is given by , because
is a radial unit vector; and the perpendicular component is given by because is a
perpendicular unit vector.

In two dimensions, angular velocity is a number with plus or minus sign indicating orientation,
but not pointing in a direction. The sign is conventionally taken to be positive if the radius
vector turns counter-clockwise, and negative if clockwise. Angular velocity then may be termed
a pseudoscalar, a numerical quantity which changes sign under a parity inversion, such as
inverting one axis or switching the two axes.

Particle in three dimensions

In three-dimensional space, we again have the position
vector r of a moving particle. Here, orbital angular
velocity is a pseudovector whose magnitude is the rate
at which r sweeps out angle (in radians per unit of
time), and whose direction is perpendicular to the
instantaneous plane in which r sweeps out angle (i.e.
the plane spanned by r and v). However, as there are
two directions perpendicular to any plane, an additional
condition is necessary to uniquely specify the direction
of the angular velocity; conventionally, the right-hand
The orbital angular velocity vector
rule is used. encodes the time rate of change of
angular position, as well as the
Let the pseudovector be the unit vector perpendicular instantaneous plane of angular
to the plane spanned by r and v, so that the right-hand displacement. In this case (counter-
rule is satisfied (i.e. the instantaneous direction of clockwise circular motion) the vector
angular displacement is counter-clockwise looking from points up.
the top of ). Taking polar coordinates in this
plane, as in the two-dimensional case above, one may define the orbital angular velocity vector
as:
where θ is the angle between r and v. In terms of the cross product, this is:

[6]

From the above equation, one can recover the tangential velocity as:

Spin angular velocity of a rigid body or reference

frame
Given a rotating frame of three unit coordinate vectors, all the three must have the same angular
speed at each instant. In such a frame, each vector may be considered as a moving particle with
constant scalar radius.

The rotating frame appears in the context of rigid bodies, and special tools have been developed
for it: the spin angular velocity may be described as a vector or equivalently as a tensor.

Consistent with the general definition, the spin angular velocity of a frame is defined as the
orbital angular velocity of any of the three vectors (same for all) with respect to its own center of
rotation. The addition of angular velocity vectors for frames is also defined by the usual vector
addition (composition of linear movements), and can be useful to decompose the rotation as in
a gimbal. All components of the vector can be calculated as derivatives of the parameters
defining the moving frames (Euler angles or rotation matrices). As in the general case, addition
is commutative: .

By Euler's rotation theorem, any rotating frame possesses an instantaneous axis of rotation,
which is the direction of the angular velocity vector, and the magnitude of the angular velocity is
consistent with the two-dimensional case.

If we choose a reference point fixed in the rigid body, the velocity of any point in the body
is given by

Components from the basis vectors of a body-fixed frame

Consider a rigid body rotating about a fixed point O. Construct a reference frame in the body
consisting of an orthonormal set of vectors fixed to the body and with their common
origin at O. The spin angular velocity vector of both frame and body about O is then
where is the time rate of change of the frame vector due to the
rotation.

This formula is incompatible with the expression for orbital angular velocity

as that formula defines angular velocity for a single point about O, while the formula in this
section applies to a frame or rigid body. In the case of a rigid body a single has to account for
the motion of all particles in the body.

Components from Euler angles

The components of the spin angular velocity pseudovector
were first calculated by Leonhard Euler using his Euler
angles and the use of an intermediate frame:

One axis of the reference frame (the precession axis)

The line of nodes of the moving frame with respect to the
reference frame (nutation axis)
One axis of the moving frame (the intrinsic rotation axis)
Euler proved that the projections of the angular velocity
pseudovector on each of these three axes is the derivative of
its associated angle (which is equivalent to decomposing the
instantaneous rotation into three instantaneous Euler
rotations). Therefore:[7] Diagram showing Euler frame in
green

This basis is not orthonormal and it is difficult to use, but now the velocity vector can be
changed to the fixed frame or to the moving frame with just a change of bases. For example,
changing to the mobile frame:

where are unit vectors for the frame fixed in the moving body. This example has been
made using the Z-X-Z convention for Euler angles.

Tensor
The angular velocity tensor is a skew-symmetric matrix defined by:
The scalar elements above correspond to the angular velocity vector components
.

This is an infinitesimal rotation matrix. The linear mapping Ω acts as a cross product :

where is a position vector.

When multiplied by a time difference, it results in the angular displacement tensor.

See also
Angular acceleration
Angular frequency
Angular momentum
Areal velocity
Isometry
Orthogonal group
Rigid body dynamics
Vorticity

References
1. Cummings, Karen; Halliday, David (2007). Understanding physics (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=rAfF_X9cE0EC). New Delhi: John Wiley & Sons Inc., authorized reprint to
Wiley – India. pp. 449, 484, 485, 487. ISBN 978-81-265-0882-2.(UP1)
2. "Angular velocity | Rotational Motion, Angular Momentum, Torque | Britannica" (https://www.
britannica.com/science/angular-velocity). www.britannica.com. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
3. Taylor, Barry N. (2009). International System of Units (SI) (https://books.google.com/books?i
d=I-BlErBBeL8C) (revised 2008 ed.). DIANE Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4379-1558-7.
Extract of page 27 (https://books.google.com/books?id=I-BlErBBeL8C&pg=PA27)
4. "Units with special names and symbols; units that incorporate special names and symbols" (
http://www.bipm.org/en/publications/si-brochure/section2-2-2.html).
5. Hibbeler, Russell C. (2009). Engineering Mechanics (https://books.google.com/books?id=tO
FRjXB-XvMC&q=angular+velocity&pg=PA314). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson
Prentice Hall. pp. 314, 153. ISBN 978-0-13-607791-6.(EM1)
6. Singh, Sunil K. Angular Velocity (https://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]:51fg7QFb@
14/Angular-velocity). Rice University. Retrieved 21 May 2021 – via OpenStax.
7. K.S.HEDRIH: Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) and rigid body dynamics (http://www.vti.mod.go
v.rs/ntp/rad2007/3-07/hedr/hedr.pdf)

Symon, Keith (1971). Mechanics. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. ISBN 978-0-201-07392-8.

 Landau, L.D.; Lifshitz, E.M. (1997). Mechanics. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-
2896-9.

External links
A college text-book of physics (https://archive.org/details/acollegetextboo01kimbgoog/page/
n103) By Arthur Lalanne Kimball (Angular Velocity of a particle)
Pickering, Steve (2009). "ω Speed of Rotation [Angular Velocity]" (http://www.sixtysymbols.c
om/videos/angularvelocity.htm). Sixty Symbols. Brady Haran for the University of
Nottingham.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Angular_velocity&oldid=1272359849"