MODULE 01 | ROTATIONAL MOTION

ROTATIONAL MOTION Sample Problems:

Angular Velocity Situation 1 – A carousel is initially at rest. At t = 0 it is

given a constant angular acceleration of 0.060
dθ rad/s2, which increases its angular velocity for 8.0
ω= seconds. At t = 8.0 seconds, determine the
dt
magnitude of the following quantities:
Angular Acceleration 1. The angular velocity of the carousel
2. The linear velocity of a child located 2.5 meters
2 from the center.
dω d θ
α= = 3. The tangential (linear) acceleration of that child.
dt d t 2 4. The centripetal acceleration of the child.
5. The total linear acceleration of the child.
Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration Relation
Situation 2 – Initially, a ball has an angular velocity
∝ dθ=ω dω of 5.0 rad/s counterclockwise. Sometime later, after
rotating through a total angle of 5.5 radians, the ball
Constant Angular Acceleration has an angular velocity of 1.5 rad/s clockwise.
6. What is the angular acceleration?
7. What is the average angular velocity?
ω f =ωi +α c t 8. How much time did it take for the ball to have an
angular velocity of 1.5 rad/s clockwise?
1 2 9. At some point, the angular velocity of the ball had
∆ θ=ω i t + α c t
2 to have been zero. At what angle from its initial
orientation did this occur and how long did it take?
2 2
ω f =ωi +2 α c ∆ θ
10. A car travels at a constant speed around a
circular track whose radius is 2.6 km. The car goes
If the object travels in a circular passion about the around the track in 360 seconds. What is the
center, the tangential velocity v is equal to the magnitude of the centripetal acceleration of the car?
product of angular speed ω and the radius r:
11. The car has a speed of 55 ft/s. Determine the
v T =ωr angular velocity θ of the radial line OA at this instant.

Tangential Acceleration

a t=ωr

Centripetal Acceleration Situation 3 – A centrifuge rotor is accelerated from

rest to 20,000 rpm in 30 seconds.
2 12. What is the average angular acceleration?
a n=ω r 13. Through how many revolutions has the
centrifuge rotor turned during its acceleration period,
2
v assuming constant angular acceleration?
a n=
r
Situation 4 – A race car travels around the horizontal
circular track that has a radius of 300 ft. If the car
a=√ at + an2 2

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 MODULE 01 | ROTATIONAL MOTION

increases its speed at a constant rate of 7 ft/s2,

starting from rest:
14. Determine the time needed for it to reach an
acceleration of 8 ft/s2.
15. What is its speed at this instant?