Chapter8: Rotational equilibrium and rotational dynamics

8.1 Torque
8.2 The Two Conditions for Equilibrium
8.5 Relationship Between Torque and Angular Acceleration
8.5 Moment of Inertia
8.6 Rotational Kinetic Energy

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8.1 Torque
• Torque is the reason behind making the object rotating around itself, likewise the
force is the reason behind the linear motion of the object

• Torque is defined mathematically as the following:

Ԧ 𝐹Ԧ = 𝑟 𝐹 sin(𝜃)
𝜏 = 𝑟𝑥
Where 𝜏 : Torque, r: Position vector (distance from the axis of rotation),
F:Force, 𝜃 : Angle between F and r.

• The unit for Torque (𝜏) is N.m

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8.1 Torque
• Torque conventional signs:

Counter Clockwise: + 𝜏 Clockwise: - 𝜏

• Torque is maximized when the applied force F is perpendicular to the position

vector r so that the angle between them θ= 90°

• Net torque 𝜏𝑛𝑒𝑡 is the resultant of all the present torques that affecting the object
(You could have more than one torque affecting the object at the same time).

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8.2 The Two Conditions for Equilibrium

• We call the object in equilibrium if the object has no acceleration at all.

• The two conditions for achieving that equilibrium state :
1) ෍ 𝐹 = 0

2) ෍ 𝜏 = 0

1. The net external forces is zero, meaning that there is no linear

acceleration
2. The net external torques is zero, meaning that there is no angular
acceleration

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8.5 Moment of Inertia

• Moment of inertial is the rotational equivalent to mass.

• Moment of inertia is a measure of how much difficult to rotate an object, likewise
the mass is measure of how much difficult to move an object.
• Moment of inertia for a small particle can be defined mathematically as the
following:
𝐼 = 𝑚𝑟 2
Where 𝐼 : moment of inertia, m: mass of object, r: distance from axis of rotation
CAUTION: The above formula is applicable only for small particles while for large
objects the problem statement should provide you with the right equation.

• The unit for moment of inertia (𝐼) is : 𝑘𝑔. 𝑚2

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Newton Second Law for a rotating object

𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎
𝐹 𝜏
𝑚 𝐼
𝑎 𝛼
𝜏 = 𝐼𝛼

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Part A Part B
 8.6 Rotational Kinetic Energy
1
𝐾. 𝐸𝑡 = 𝑚𝑣 2
2
𝑚 𝐼
𝑣 𝜔
1 2
𝐾. 𝐸𝑟 = 𝐼𝜔
2
Conservation of mechanical Energy will be modified to include the rotational kinetic energy (K.Er)

(KEt + KEr + PEg )i = (KEt + KEr + PEg )f

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