How to Calculate Angular Momentum

Picture a small child on a spinning playground ride, such as a merry-go-round, and she’s yelling that
she wants to get o . You have to stop the spinning ride, but it’s going to take some e ort. Why?
Because it has angular momentum.

In physics, you can calculate angular momentum in the same way that you calculate linear
momentum — just substitute moment of inertia for mass, and angular velocity for velocity.

What is angular momentum?

Angular momentum is the quantity of rotation of a body, which is the product of its moment of
inertia and its angular velocity.

Linear momentum, p, is de ned as the product of mass and velocity:

p = mv

This is a quantity that is conserved when there are no external forces acting. The more massive and
faster moving an object, the greater the magnitude of momentum.

The angular momentum equation

Physics also features angular momentum, L. The equation for angular momentum looks like this:

The angular momentum equation features three variables:

L = angular momentum

/ = the moment of inertia

W = the angular velocity

Note that angular momentum is a vector quantity, meaning it has a magnitude and a direction.
the thumb of your right hand points when you wrap your ngers around in the direction the object
is turning).

in the MKS (meter-kilogram-second) system.

The important idea about angular momentum, much as with linear momentum, is that it’s
conserved.

The principle of conservation of angular momentum states that angular momentum is

conserved if no net torques are involved.

This principle comes in handy in all sorts of problems, such as when two ice skaters start o
holding each other close while spinning but then end up at arm’s length. Given their initial angular
velocity, you can nd their nal angular velocity, because angular momentum is conserved:

If you can nd the initial moment of inertia and the nal moment of inertia, you’re set. But you also
come across less obvious cases where the principle of conservation of angular momentum helps
out. For example, satellites don’t have to travel in circular orbits; they can travel in ellipses. And
when they do, the math can get a lot more complicated. Lucky for you, the principle of conservation
of angular momentum can make the problems simple.
Angular momentum example problem

Say that NASA planned to put a satellite into a circular orbit around Pluto for studies, but the
situation got a little out of hand and the satellite ended up with an elliptical orbit. At its nearest
point to Pluto,

the satellite zips along at 9,000 meters per second.

at that point? The answer is tough to gure out unless you can come up with an angle here, and
that angle is angular momentum.

Angular momentum is conserved because there are no external torques the satellite must deal
with (gravity always acts parallel to the orbital radius). Because angular momentum is conserved,
you can say that

Because the satellite is so small compared to the radius of its orbit at any location, you can
consider the satellite a point mass. Therefore, the moment of inertia, I, equals mr2. The magnitude
of the angular velocity equals v/r, so you can express the conservation of angular momentum in
terms of the velocity like so:

You can put v2 on one side of the equation by dividing by mr2:

You have your solution; no fancy math involved at all, because you can rely on the principle of
conservation of angular momentum to do the work for you. All you need to do is plug in the
numbers:

At its closest point to Pluto, the satellite will be screaming along at 9,000 meters per second, and at
its farthest point, it will be moving at 2,700 meters per second. Easy enough to gure out, as long as
you have the principle of conservation of angular momentum under your belt.