Rotation of Rigid
Bodies
Introduction
An airplane propeller, a revolving door, a ceiling fan, and a Ferris
wheel all involve rotating rigid objects.
Real-world rotations can be very complicated because of
stretching and twisting of the rotating body. But for now we’ll
assume that the rotating body is perfectly rigid.
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
Angular coordinate
Example - A car’s speedometer needle rotates about a fixed axis.
An angle in radians is θ = s/r, as shown in the figure.
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
Average Angular velocity
The average angular velocity of a body is
The subscript z means that the rotation is about the z-axis.
We choose the angle θ to increase in the
counterclockwise rotation.
SI unit of Angular velocity is
rad/s.
Also 1 rev/s = 2π
rad/s
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
Instantaneous angular velocity
The instantaneous angular velocity is the limit of average
angular velocity as Δθ approaches zero:
When we refer simply to “angular velocity,” we mean the
instantaneous angular velocity, not the average angular velocity.
The angular velocity can be positive or negative, depending on
the direction in which the rigid body is rotating.
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
Angular velocity is a vector
Angular velocity is defined The sign of ωz for rotation along
as a vector whose
the z-axis
direction is given by the
right-hand rule.
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
Angular acceleration
𝑑 2𝜃
The instantaneous angular acceleration is 𝛼𝑧 =
𝑑𝑡2
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
Rotation with constant angular acceleration
Rotation with constant angular acceleration
The rotational formulas have the same form as the straight-line
formulas, as shown in the table below.
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
Examples
An airplane propeller is rotating at 300 rpm.
(a) Compute the propeller’s angular velocity in rad/s.
(b) How many seconds does it take for the propeller to turn
through 45º?
The angular velocity of a wheel 25.0 cm in diameter is given by the
equation .
 where t is in seconds, A = 2.75 and B = 1.50
(a) What are the units of A and B if the angular velocity is in rad/s?
(b) What is the angular acceleration (in rad/s ) of the wheel at t = 0.0 s?
2
and t = 2.0 s?
When
(c) Througha fan,
howhaving
manyblades 18.0
radians cmthe
does long, is turned
wheel off, itsthe
turn during angular speed
first 2.00 s
decreases uniformly from 10.0 rad/s to 6.00 rad/s in 5.00 s.
of its motion?
(a) What is the magnitude of the angular acceleration of the fan?
(b) Through what angle (in degrees) does it turn while it is slowing down
during the 5.00 s?
(c) If its angular acceleration does not change, how long after it is turned
off does it take the fan to stop.
Relating linear and angular kinematics
A point at a distance r from the axis of rotation has a linear speed of
For a point at a distance r from the axis
of rotation:
its tangential acceleration is
atan = rα
its centripetal (radial) acceleration
arad = v2/r = rω2
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
Examples
In the figure, point P is at rest when it is on the x-
axis.
(a) Find the linear speed of point P when it reaches
the y-axis.
(b) Find the time t, when P returns to the original
position on the x-axis and what is its linear
speed at this time?
A wheel of diameter 40.0 cm starts from rest and rotates with a constant
angular acceleration of 2.0 rad/s2.
(a) Compute the radial acceleration of a point on the rim for the instant
the wheel completes its second revolution.
(b) Compute the tangential acceleration of a point on the rim for the
instant the wheel completes its second revolution.
Rotational kinetic energy
The rotational kinetic energy of a rigid body is:

The moment of inertia, I, is obtained by multiplying the mass of
each particle by the square of its distance from the axis of
rotation and adding these products:
The SI unit of I is the kilogram-meter2 (kg ∙ m2).
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
Moments of inertia of some common bodies
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
Gravitational potential energy of an extended body
The gravitational potential energy of an extended body is the
same as if all the mass were concentrated at its center of mass:
Ugrav = Mgycm.
This athlete arches her body so that her
center of mass actually passes under
the bar.
This technique requires a smaller
increase in gravitational potential
energy than straddling the bar.
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
The parallel-axis theorem
There is a simple relationship,
called the parallel-axis
theorem, between the
moment of inertia of a body
about an axis through its
center of mass and the
moment of inertia about any
other axis parallel to the
original axis.
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
Examples
Four small spheres, each of which you can regard as a
point mass 0.20 kg, are arranged in a square 0.40 m on a
side and connected by extremely light rods. Find the
moment of inertia of the system about an axis
(a) Through the center of the square, perpendicular to its
plane;
(b) Bisecting two opposite sides of the square;
(c) That passes through the upper left and lower right
A spheres
wheel isand
turning about
through anO.
point axis through its center with constant angular
acceleration. Starting from rest, at t = 0, the wheel turns through 8.0
revolutions in 10.0 s. At 10.0 s the kinetic energy of the wheel is 36.0 J.
For an axis through its center, what is the moment of inertia of the wheel?
An object of mass m = 4.20 kg is suspended as
shown. The system is released from rest and
suspended object descends with constant
acceleration. If the suspected object moves
downward a distance of 3.0 m in 2.0 s, what is the
mass of the wheel? The wheel is a uniform disk with
