Rotational Motion and Dynamics

Module 3 –
Rotation
(Credit: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/88825
Introduction
After learning the types of motions along a straight line, we will now address
rotational motion about a fixed axis and applications for the rotation of a rigid body.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this section you will be able to:
- Identify and describe the physical meaning of rotational variables

- Explain the relation between angular velocity and tangential velocity
- Calculate instantaneous angular velocity
- Calculate the instantaneous angular acceleration
ROTATION ABOUT A FIXED AXIS
• In a uniform circular motion, a particle moves along the path of a circle at
constant
speed.
• In figure the below the variables,, s, and 𝜃 describe the motion of a particle along
a circular path.
• In a uniform circular motion, the vector retains its magnitude , but changes its
direction at a function of time.
• The angle 𝜃, determines the angular position of the particle.
• And the arclength s is traced as the particle moves.
Angular Position
Using vectors to denote direction (and position), the arclength is related to the
angle and the position vector as
Angular Position
Using vectors to denote direction (and position), the arclength is related to the
angle and the position vector as
Angular Position
Angular Velocity
The angular velocity is just the rate of change of the angular position:
• The SI unit for the angular position is radians, therefore, the SI unit for the angular
velocity is radians per second.
The magnitude of the angular velocity is called the angular speed:
Angular Velocity
The angular velocity has the same direction with the angular displacement.
Relation between Tangential Velocity and Angular velocity
Tangential Speed
Exercise/Example:
Rotation of a Flywheel
Exercise/Example:
a.
b. Using the right hand rule the direction of the angular displacement is towards the
z-axis (pointing towards the reader), and so as the angular velocity.
Exercise/Example:
c.
d.
Angular acceleration
𝜔𝑓
𝛼
𝜔𝑖
Relation between the Tangential Acceleration and Angular acceleration
Relation between the Tangential Acceleration and Angular acceleration
Example Problem
Example Problem
a) The average angular acceleration in rad/s2?
Example Problem
b) By breaking to cause an angular acceleration of -100 rad/s 2, how much time is needed for a
full stop?
Example Problem
Example Problem
a) What are the directions of the acceleration and angular velocity vectors?
Answer:
Since the rotation is counter-clockwise, then the direction of the angular velocity is pointing
out of the page (set this as towards the +z-axis). Consequently,
For , the direction of the acceleration is towards or negative z-axis or into the page. This make
sense since the angular acceleration needs to be in the opposite direction with the angular
velocity to decrease the angular speed.
Example Problem
b) What is the average angular acceleration?
,
Example Problem
c) What is the instantaneous angular acceleration at 𝑡=0.0 s,20.0 s,50.0 𝑠?
Rotations with Constant Angular Acceleration
LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Derive kinematic equations for rotations with constant angular acceleration
• Use the appropriate equations in solving for the unknowns in systems with a
fixed-axis of rotation
• Use solutions from the kinematic equations to verify the graphical analysis of
systems with constant angular acceleration about a fixed axis of rotation
There are similar results that we will find for rotational kinematics as we found in the
motion of point masses in several dimensions.
Angular Kinematics
Starting from the general expression for the angular acceleration:
And consider the case where is constant. Then
For simplicity, set the initial time . So the instantaneous angular velocity as a
function of time is:
In this case, the instantaneous time t is equal to the time elapse of the considered
motion.
From the definition of the angular velocity:
Angular Kinematic Equations not as a function of time:
From the definition of the average angular acceleration:

Angular Motion Linear Motion

Example Exercise
Example Exercise
a) What is the final angular velocity of the reel after 2 s?
Example Exercise
b) How many revolutions does the reel make in 2 s?
=
Example Exercise
Example Exercise
a) Find the angular acceleration of the propeller
Example Exercise
a) Find the angular acceleration of the propeller
Equation of motion:
Example Exercise
Graph generated using Geogebra

Example Exercise
b) Find the angle at which the propeller rotates after 5s
Components of Acceleration in Rotational Motion
Components of Acceleration in Circular Motion
• In uniform circular motion, although the magnitude of the tangential velocity (the
tangential speed) is constant, the direction of the tangential velocity is varying.
• The change in direction of the tangential velocity is induce by the centripetal
acceleration.
• In non-uniform circular motion, both the magnitude and direction of the tangential
velocity changes.
• The change in direction of the tangential velocity is cause by the centripetal acceleration,
while the tangential acceleration causes the change in the magnitude of the tangential
velocity.
• The tangential acceleration and centripetal acceleration are perpendicular with each other.
• Therefore, the total instantaneous linear acceleration is composed by these two components:
and its magnitude is:

Relation between translational motion and rotational motion:
2
𝑎𝑐= 𝜔 𝑟
Example Exercise
Example Exercise
What is the total acceleration of a point at the tip of a point of the centrifuge at
𝑡=39.0 𝑠?
Answer:
We need the angular acceleration to determine the tangential acceleration, tangential
speed at t=39.0 s, and consequently the centripetal acceleration at that instant
Example Exercise
𝑡=39.0 𝑠?
Answer:
We need the angular acceleration to determine the tangential acceleration, tangential
speed at t=39.0 s, and consequently the centripetal acceleration at that instant
Example Exercise
𝑡=39.0 𝑠?
Answer:
Therefore,
Example Exercise
What is the angle of the total acceleration vector?
Answer:
Therefore,
⃗𝑐
𝑎
⃗
𝑎
𝜙
⃗𝑡
𝑎
Moment of Inertia and Energy Considerations
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Describe differences between rotational and translational kinetic energy

- Define the physical concept of the moment of inertia based on the mass
distribution about the rotational axis
- Explain how the rotational kinetic energy is affected by the moment of inertia for
rigid bodies
- Use the conservation of mechanical energy to describe and analyze the motion
of systems undergoing curved motion, that is, having both translational and
rotational motion
- Calculate the angular velocity of a rotating system due to nonconservative forces,
which contributes to energy losses
• In analyzing rotational dynamics, we will need to define and understand two helpful
quantities, the moment of inertia and rotational kinetic energy.
• We have already learned how to calculate the kinetic energy of a moving particle
with mass. As all masses that move has kinetic energy, we shall extend this notion
for a rigid body undergoing rotation.
• However, for such an extended body, the points in this body may have different
velocities and different masses depending on the density of the body and there may
be different types of energies involved.
Example
A rotating grinding gears may have considerable energy that is spent in different forms
due to its motion, the production of heat, light, vibration and sound, although most of
this energy is in the form of rotational kinetic energy.
Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/
Rotating Point-Mass System
⃗𝑡 2
𝑣
𝑚2
If all point masses rotates with the same angular
speed of :
𝑚1
𝑣
⃗
𝑡3
⃗𝑡1
𝑣
𝑚
3
In general, for n number of point-masses with the same angular speed
or
where
is the total moment of inertia with an SI unit of

Rotational Translational Motion

Motion
Rotating Rigid Body
Rigid bodies have a continuous mass distribution
where all infinitesimal mass rotates at the same
angular speed.
where
𝑑𝑚
Image Credit: University of Physics 12th ed., Young and Freedman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_moments_of_inertia
Example Exercise
Example Exercise
a.
Treat the four beads as point masses located at their center. Consider a x-coordinate where the axis of
rotation is located at the origin. Therefore, the location of the center of the beads are given by:
Example Exercise
Note that the beads have equal mass, i.e, 𝑚 = 𝑚1 = 𝑚2 = 𝑚3 = 𝑚4 = 0.025 𝑘𝑔. Hence, the
moment of inertia for this system is:
Example Exercise
b) The resulting moment of inertia, when the two inner beads are removed.
Example Exercise
Example Exercise
Example Exercise
Example Exercise
Example Exercise
Example Exercise
𝐾 𝑟𝑜𝑡 7.3 × 10
5
𝐽
≈ ≈ 2.4
𝐾 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠 3.0 × 10
5
𝐽
Example Exercise
Example Exercise
Moment of inertia for solid objects:
For the calculation of the moment of inertia for solid objects,
since solid objects have continuous mass distribution.
In this expression, assumes continuous values from zero at the axis of rotation to
specific values at the location of points away from the axis with the associated
infinitesimal masses .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_moments_of_inertia
Uniform thin rod with the axis of rotation at the middle
If the mass is distributed uniformly throughout the span

of the rod’s length, then the mass per length is constant:
where is the linear density of the rod.

Uniform thin rod with the axis of rotation at the middle
If the mass is distributed uniformly throughout the span

of the rod’s length, then the mass per length is constant:
where is the linear density of the rod.

• The moment of inertia is greater when the axis of rotation is at one end compared
when it is in the center.
• The reason for this is that there are more masses located at larger radius in the
right image. Take note that the moment of inertia of an infinitesimal mass is much
larger when it is at higher radius. Note:
Parallel Axis Theorem
Suppose a body of mass m is rotated about an
axis z passing through the body’s center of mass. The body
has a moment of inertia Icm with respect to this axis.
The parallel axis theorem states that if the body is made to

rotate instead about a new axis z′, which is parallel to the
first axis and displaced from it by a distance d, then the
new moment of Inertia about this new axis is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_axis_theorem
Example
1 2
𝐼 𝐶𝑀 = 𝑚𝐿
12
By Parallel Axis Theorem:

Example
Example
Example
Example
Rotational Dynamics
Torque
- In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force.
- It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment).
- It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of
the body.
- The concept originated with the studies by Archimedes of the usage of levers,
which is reflected in his famous quote: "Give me a lever and a place to stand and I
will move the Earth".
- Just as a linear force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist to an
object around a specific axis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque
Rotational Dynamics
• In opening the door you know intuitively that you will require less effort when you
pull on the door perpendicular to the plane of the door. .
• There is also lesser effort as you pull further from the axis of rotation where the
hinges are located.
Rotational Dynamics
• is the position vector form from the axis of rotation to the application of force as
shown in the figure.
• is the lever arm. It is the length perpendicular to the force opposite the angle
between the force vector and the position vector where the force is applied.
• is the angle between the force vector and position vector .
Direction of Torque
• Using the right-hand rule, the direction of the torque is
perpendicular to the position vector and the applied
force.
𝜏 𝑟×⃗
⃗=⃗ 𝐹
Rotation Dynamics
Rotation Dynamics
Test your understanding: A ship tilts as shown above. How much is the
torque applied about the bottom of the ship? The applied force is 45,000
N, and the magnitude of the position vector is r 30 m, and is 60⁰.
Solution
Net Torque
Several torques about a given axis can be added to produce a net
torque:
• For two-dimensional problem, there are only two direction of

torque: counter-clockwise () and clockwise () which can be
determine by the right-hand rule.
• Since, the direction of the torque lies only in the z-axis, we

can set counter-clockwise as positive while clockwise as
negative.
Net Torque
Let the common axis of rotation to point out of the page (towards the
reader). And we set the angle .
The forces act on a flywheel are as shown above, have the following
values:
The magnitude of the position vectors (from the common axis of

rotation) are all the same,
Net Torque
However, the angle between the forces and the position vectors vary.
Using the right-hand rule:
Note that this is a two-dimensional problem.
Therefore:
Newton’s Second Law of Motion for Rotation
Using the analogy:
Newton’s second for rotating body is given by:
which is analogous to
Note that
Rotational Equilibrium (Newton’s First Law for
Rotation)
If the net torque of a body is zero, i.e
then the body won’t experience any angular acceleration
Therefore, you know that the sum of torques on the body is zero if it has no angular
acceleration
Example
Example
Example
a.) The torque is
Example
b. Then from equation for the angular acceleration
Work and Power Considerations
The total work done on rotating a rigid body can easily be obtained by using the
analogy:
Therefore, if the work done in displacing an object by is given by the integral:
Then the work done in rotating a body by is given by the integral:

Then the work done in rotating a body by is given by the integral:
For constant torque, the work done simplifies to a dot product

Work-Energy Theorem
When a body is rotating, it possess a rotational kinetic energy which is equivalent

to:
The work done on rotating a rigid body is equal to the change of rotational kinetic
energy of the body, i.e.
Given: From work-energy theorem:
Let us first calculate then use work-energy theorem to

determine .
In physics, power is the rate of change of applied work:
Therefore, the associated power in translational and rotational motions are given by:
Given: The unwound length of the string is equivalent to the arc
distance. Therefore, the angular distance can be obtained using
the kinematic equation:
Now, we are ready to calculate the work done by the applied

In this configuration, the force and the radial vector is force,
perpendicular, so the magnitude of the torque is:
Using the work-energy theorem, the angular velocity of the
pulley after 1.5 m of string is unwound is:
As stated in the module, the power associated can be

calculated using:
Summary of relations between translational and
rotational motion:
𝜃=𝜃 0+ 𝜔 𝑡
Summary of relations between translational and
rotational motion:
Rigid body rotation
about a moving axis
• The movement of a rigid body
consists of both the linear motion of
its center of mass and the rotational
motion around that center.
• The kinetic energy possessed by a

rigid body undergoing both rotational
and translational motion is
K = 1/2 Mvcm2 + 1/2 Icm2.

Rolling without slipping
• The condition for a body to roll without slipping is vcm = R.
• The illustration below depicts the combined motion of points
along a rolling wheel.

Rolling without slipping
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eX5WnPDnvs
Angular Momentum and its Conservation
The angular momentum is just the vector product
between the position vector and momentum:
Or by analogy is
Therefore, the torque is just the time derivative of

the angular momentum
The angular momentum is just the vector product
between the position vector and momentum:
Or by analogy is
Therefore, the torque is just the time derivative of

the angular momentum
The total angular momentum for a system of particles can be calculated as the sum of all
the individual angular momenta (per particle). For instance, the total angular momentum
of an entire galaxy is the vector sum of all the angular momenta of its constituent objects.
That is,
Moreover, the time derivative of the total angular momentum is equal to the net torque
experience by the system.
The total angular momentum for a system of particles can be calculated as the sum of all
the individual angular momenta (per particle). For instance, the total angular momentum
of an entire galaxy is the vector sum of all the angular momenta of its constituent objects.
That is,
Moreover, the time derivative of the total angular momentum is equal to the net torque
experience by the system.
Example Excercise
Calculate the total angular momentum and the total torque for the following particles
at a given instant of time:
Particle 1:
; ;
Particle 2:
; ;
Particle 3:
; ;
Therefore,
For the net torque, we need to evaluate:
Note: And for the forceps
The moment of inertia of the arm is:
Therefore, the total angular momentum is:
for the rock:

From the relation of the net torque and total angular momentum:
We can see that if there is no net external torque acting on a system or body. The
angular momentum is constant (time invariant) or conserved. Mathematically, that
is
This is simply the analogous to the conservation of momentum in linear motion.

Since , then
If the system has no net external torque where is

constant, then
Therefore,
• If I increases decreases
• If I decreases increases
Since
Faster Slower
Therefore, the angular momentum is conserved, i.e:
Consequently,
Before the collision (the bullet is still not embedded), the We need to find first the total moment of inertia of the
initial angular momentum of the system with respect to disk-bullet system:
the center of the disk (axis of rotation) is:
Therefore:
After the collision, the disk-bullet system rotates at the

same angular velocity :
Since there is no external net torque acting on the system, then the total angular
momentum is conserved, i.e,
Therefore,

Rotational Motion and Dynamics

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Module 3 –

By the end of this section you will be able to:

- Identify and describe the physical meaning of rotational variables

By the end of this section you will be able to:

Starting from the general expression for the angular acceleration:

And consider the case where is constant. Then

From the definition of the average angular acceleration:

Angular Motion Linear Motion

Graph generated using Geogebra

and its magnitude is:

By the end of this section you will be able to:

- Describe differences between rotational and translational kinetic energy

is the total moment of inertia with an SI unit of

Rotational Translational Motion

Image Credit: University of Physics 12th ed., Young and Freedman

since solid objects have continuous mass distribution.

Uniform thin rod with the axis of rotation at the middle

If the mass is distributed uniformly throughout the span

where is the linear density of the rod.

Uniform thin rod with the axis of rotation at the middle

If the mass is distributed uniformly throughout the span

where is the linear density of the rod.

The parallel axis theorem states that if the body is made to

By Parallel Axis Theorem:

• For two-dimensional problem, there are only two direction of

• Since, the direction of the torque lies only in the z-axis, we

The magnitude of the position vectors (from the common axis of

Using the right-hand rule:

Note that this is a two-dimensional problem.

Newton’s second for rotating body is given by:

then the body won’t experience any angular acceleration

Therefore, if the work done in displacing an object by is given by the integral:

Then the work done in rotating a body by is given by the integral:

For constant torque, the work done simplifies to a dot product

When a body is rotating, it possess a rotational kinetic energy which is equivalent

Let us first calculate then use work-energy theorem to

Now, we are ready to calculate the work done by the applied

As stated in the module, the power associated can be

• The kinetic energy possessed by a

Image Credit: University of Physics 12th ed., Young and Freedman

Image Credit: University of Physics 12th ed., Young and Freedman

Therefore, the torque is just the time derivative of

Therefore, the torque is just the time derivative of

Therefore, the total angular momentum is:

for the rock:

This is simply the analogous to the conservation of momentum in linear motion.

If the system has no net external torque where is

Therefore, the angular momentum is conserved, i.e:

After the collision, the disk-bullet system rotates at the

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