The centrifuge at NASA Ames Research Center has a radius of 8.8 m and can produce forces on its payload of 20 gs or 20 times the force of gravity on Earth. (a) What is the angular momentum of a 20-kg payload that experiences 10 gs in the centrifuge? (b) If the driver motor was turned off in (a) and the payload lost 10 kg, what would be its new spin rate, taking into account there are no frictional forces present?
Angular Momentum
The momentum of an object is given by multiplying its mass and velocity. Momentum is a property of any object that moves with mass. The only difference between angular momentum and linear momentum is that angular momentum deals with moving or spinning objects. A moving particle's linear momentum can be thought of as a measure of its linear motion. The force is proportional to the rate of change of linear momentum. Angular momentum is always directly proportional to mass. In rotational motion, the concept of angular momentum is often used. Since it is a conserved quantity—the total angular momentum of a closed system remains constant—it is a significant quantity in physics. To understand the concept of angular momentum first we need to understand a rigid body and its movement, a position vector that is used to specify the position of particles in space. A rigid body possesses motion it may be linear or rotational. Rotational motion plays important role in angular momentum.
Moment of a Force
The idea of moments is an important concept in physics. It arises from the fact that distance often plays an important part in the interaction of, or in determining the impact of forces on bodies. Moments are often described by their order [first, second, or higher order] based on the power to which the distance has to be raised to understand the phenomenon. Of particular note are the second-order moment of mass (Moment of Inertia) and moments of force.
The centrifuge at NASA Ames Research Center has a radius of 8.8 m and can produce forces on its payload of 20 gs or 20 times the force of gravity on Earth. (a) What is the
Trending now
This is a popular solution!
Step by step
Solved in 4 steps
