Rotational Motion (which is totally not the same thing as centripetal motion)

Throw back to centripetal: Picture two kids standing on a merry-go-round. One is standing at the outer edge and the
other is standing at the center. The merry-go-round completes one complete revolution. Did both kids have the same
speed? Well, that depends on what type of speed you’re referring to: Linear (aka Tangential) or Angular. We covered
linear speed (which is the speed tangent to the circle) of objects moving in a circle in the centripetal motion chapter. In
that unit you learned that in order for an object to move in a circle there had to be a net centripetal force acting on the
object (that force is aka a radial force since it points along the radius of the circle). If that force were to suddenly
disappear, the object would fly off in a straight line tangent to the
point in their motion where the centripetal force went away. Now,
going back to the original question: Do both kids have the same
speed? The child toward the outer edge clearly has a greater linear
(tangential) speed because that particular child had a greater
distance to travel in the same amount of time than the child closer
to the center (they both went around the circle in the same time
since they were on the same merry-go-round). But, if we look at it
through the goggles of Rotational Motion, they both had the same
Angular speed. They were both slicing through the same angle
in the same amount of time. This unit is entirely about describing
the motion of spinning objects with angular velocities, angular
accelerations, angular KE, and angular momentum. Read on….

Anything that is spinning on an axis is in a state of rotational motion. As the earth moves/revolves around the sun it also
spins (or rotates) on its axis. In the Centripetal Motion unit you became familiar with objects moving in a circle (like the
earth around the sun or a car around a curve). In this unit you will become familiar with objects spinning about an axis
(and, yes, the entire object might be also moving in a circle as it does so---like the Earth, it both spins (angular) and
revolves (centripetal) ;)

Translational motion: An object moving along a path in a

line, in a circle, as a projectile, etc., but not spinning as it is
moving. All points within the object (all the atoms that
make it up) travel parallel to each other at all times. (ex, the
Earth centripetally and translationally moves around the sun
in about 365 days its translational centripetal period is
365 days; the whole object moves in a circle around the sun
in 365 days)

Rotational Motion: An object spinning about an internal axis (but it might also be moving with translational
motion…like a football thrown in the air that has a spin on it---it is both a projectile in translational motion AND it is
spinning with a rotational motion). (ex, the Earth revolves about its axis in 24 hours = 1 day; its rotational period is 24
hours while it is simultaneously centripetally and translationally moving around the sun in
365 days)

1 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley

Terms to review:
Position (x or Y)---where an object is relative to some other point.

Displacement (d) ---a change in position; unit is the meter is (usually defined with an angle and a distance, ex: 5m at 300)

Linear/Tangential Velocity (v)---the rate that position is changing (m/s)

Linear/Tangential or Centripetal Acceleration (a)---the rate that linear velocity is changing (m/s/s)

New Stuff for Angular (kind of---most of you have likely had this already in Precal)
Angular Position (θ, in rads) ---the position an object is at in its motion around a circle; measured in radians (where 2π
radians = 3600); unit (kind of) is the radian (rad)

How we convert from degrees to radians (should be a

review?):

A radian is defined as the arc length (s, which is just

the distance of the curve on the outer edge of the circle
the point moved through) divided by the radius of the
circle (the ratio of arc length to radius)

So, if a point rotating in a circle moves once completely around the circle (so 3600), the arc length (distance) the
point moved through is simply the circumference of the circle s = 2πr.

The Conversion Between Degrees and Radians

For a full revolution:
 for 1 revolution  3600 = (the r’s will cancel) 3600 = 2π radians

3600 = 2π radians (know this conversion) (and 2π = 6.283rads)

This is your conversion between degrees and rads if the units are in anything other than rads for
this unit.

Angular velocity (ω, omega—how fast the angular position in changing; how much of a circle it slices through
each second)—vector!!

 , the units are rads/sec

HUGE Important Note: If an object has a speed of 200 rpm you need to remember that “rpm” stands for
“revolutions per minute”. In order to do the problems in this unit you will need to convert the “revolutions per
minute” into “rad/sec” (which are the units of rotational velocity, ω)

So…….

2 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley

Like translational linear(tangential) velocity, angular velocity is vector, too. Its direction will either be clockwise or
counter clockwise (in the problems) and that will translate to either negative or positive. Too determine the direction, use
your right hand:

Angular displacement AND angular velocity are considered to be vectors with their directions pointing along the axis of
rotation (see picture to the left, the thumb is in the plane of the axis). In order to
figure out the direction of the vector (this is a little weird) you use what is called a
right hand rule. To find which way the velocity (or displacement) vector points
along the axis of rotation, curl your fingers of your right hand in the way that the
object has rotated and your thumb of the right hand points in the direction of the
vector (so the plane of rotation is not the same plane as the direction of the vector of
rotation---they are perpendicular to each other. It’s weird, just go with it).

If a disk spins counterclockwise as seen from above, its angular velocity vector
points upwards (+ y-axis, see picture left) and is defined as positive. Similarly, the
angular acceleration vector (which you’ll learn about below) points along the same y-
axis of rotation in the same manner that the angular velocity and displacement vectors point (it might be in the opposite
direction (-y), but it will be in the same plane). +y = positive, -y = negative.
Counterclockwise = Positive, Clockwise = Negative (It’s the same convention for how we view degree
angles…positive angles are counterclockwise angles (measured from 00), negative angles are clockwise from 00)

Angular Acceleration ( α, alpha---how fast the angular velocity is changing)---it’s vector, too.

 , the units are rads/sec/sec or rads/s2

When the angular acceleration is constant, the LINEAR PROPERTY ANGULAR PROPERTY
five quantities angular displacement ( ), initial time (t, in s) time (t, in s)
angular velocity ( ), final angular velocity distance (d, in m) angular displacement (θ, in rads)
( ), angular acceleration ( ), and time velocity (v, in m/s) angular velocity (ω, in rads/sec)
( ), can be related by four kinematic equations: acceleration (a, in m/s2) Angular acceleration (α, in rads/s2)

Translational Motion Eqn’s re-worked for Angular (they’re really easy and just re-stating the obvious)

Kinematic Constant linear Angular Constant Acceleration

acceleration equations: Equations
vf = vi + at

1
d= ( vf + vi)t ( )
2
d = vi t + 1 a t2
2
2 2
vf = vi + 2ad

3 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley

The Directions of the Velocity and Acceleration of a Spinning Object
Large Block = Large Mass, Small Block = Small mass

Let’s talk about the directions of both the linear and angular
velocity and acceleration again:
Scenario (a): Mass on left is moving up and would (obviously) be
slowing down. It has an upward linear velocity with a downward
linear acceleration. The pulley is rotating clockwise so it has a
negative angular velocity but since it is slowing down the angular
acceleration is opposite so it is positive.
Scenario (b): Mass on left is moving down and speeding up so both its
linear velocity and acceleration are in the same direction (down). The
pulley is rotating counterclockwise and it is speeding up so both its
angular velocity and acceleration are positive.
Scenario (c) : Mass on right is moving down and speeding up so both
its linear velocity and acceleration are in the same direction (down).
The pulley is rotating clockwise and it is speeding up so both its
angular velocity and acceleration are negative.
Scenario (d): Mass on right is moving up and would (obviously) be
slowing down. It has an upward linear velocity with a downward
linear acceleration. The pulley is rotating counterclockwise so it has a
positive angular velocity but since it is slowing down the angular
acceleration is opposite (clockwise) so it is negative.

Get it???? Say yes. 

The diagram on the left is showing how the linear velocity of each
dot depends on how close you are to the center of rotation (your
radius). While each dot has a different linear velocity, they each
have the same angular velocity.

4 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley

The link between linear (tangential) and angular displacements, velocities, and accelerations in rigid/solid objects are
below (and we only study rigid objects in here) . A rigid object is simply an object whose molecules do not move around
inside the object as the object is rotating or rolling----a water balloon is NOT a rigid object.

 s=θr Linear arc distance is equal to θ times radius; remember, “s” is just a linear
distance/displacement/change in position
v= ω r Linear velocity is equal to angular velocity times radius
a=αr Linear acceleration is equal to angular velocity times radius

Important for the unit: So, if you had the linear/tangential speed of an object on a merry-go-round and you had the
radius of its motion (how far it is to the center of the axis of rotation), you could figure out its angular velocity (and vice-
versa). The same goes to convert the tangential/linear acceleration into rotational acceleration and the totally distance
traveled into total radians traveled through.

To answer a question you should be having about now: So how does this relate to centripetal motion that we studied a
few units ago? Back to the merry-go-round scenario: If an object is on a merry-go-round, in order to stay moving in a
circle there has to be a net centripetal force (aka a radial force since it points along the radius) acting on it to give it a
centripetal acceleration (most likely static friction) to constantly change its direction. But while it is moving in a circle, it
might be moving with either a constant tangential speed (so it rotational velocity will be constant and it will have no
angular acceleration) or it’s rotational velocity might be increasing (it might be moving faster and faster in a circle) so it
will have a rotational acceleration. But in order to move faster and faster in a circle and still stay in the circle the
centripetal force must increase, too (so the static friction between the object and the merry-go-round must increase, too).
In order to move in a circle there must be a net centripetal force (and acceleration) but there also might be an angular
acceleration if the object is getting faster and faster (or slower) as it moves in a circle. Does that help a little?

Review so Far:

5 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley

Ready for the Forces, Momentum, and KE? Rotational Dynamics!
Mass: A measure of an object’s inertia (in kg).

Inertia: An object’s ability to resist a change in its motion (objects with more inertia resist changes in their motion more
readilty than objects with less mass/less inertia).

Center of Mass
1. The center of mass of an object is the point the object will rotate around if gravity is the only force acting on
it; the center of mass will remain motionless while all the other points rotate around it; this will typically be
the axis of rotation in the problems.
2. Also, center of mass is the point at which all the mass of the object can be considered to be concentrated
when analyzing translational motion (like we have in all the previous units up to now).
3. For regularly shaped objects the center of mass is the exact geometric center of the object (which is pretty
much going to be all of our objects in this class---yay!
4. So a rotating object has rotational motion about its center of mass.

Moment of Inertia
You know how an object has more inertia if its mass is bigger (and vice versa)? Well the same is true if the
object is spinning ---but with a catch: It also depends on the geometric distribution of the majority of mass
around the axis of rotation (meaning: Is the majority of mass close to the axis or
is the majority of mass further from the axis). Also, the inertia of a
rotating/spinning object is called “the moment of inertia” rather than just plain
old inertia. The symbol for moment of inertia is I and it is simply a measure of
the object's resistance to changes in its rotational motion. The bigger the I the
more resistant the object is to having its motion change (it will take longer to
speed up or slow down). The moment of inertia is measured in kilogram “times”
meter² (kg· m²) (versus just Kg for translational inertia). It directly depends on
the object's mass ( increasing the mass of an object increases the moment of
inertia)---BUT it also depends on the distribution of the mass; distributing the
mass further from the center of rotation (a bigger “r”) increases the moment of inertia by an even greater
(exponential) amount. For any object of mass m with a radius r from the axis of rotation, the moment of inertia
is given by:
, where “k” is some number (typically a fraction; the larger the fraction the more
rotational inertia the rotating object has and the slower an object will accelerate)

Example: Picture the three rods to the left. Each of the three is the same rod (same mass) but is rotated about a different
axis ---the mass is distributed at different r’s so they all have different
moment of inertias (I). Different I’s = different degrees of easy vs. hard
to get it rotating or stopping.

Easy: Not a large moment of inertia (I). It has its mass but a small r (the
mass is not far from the axis)  small moment of inertia (easy to spin,
easy to stop it spinning).

Hard: Same mass but the mass is distributed further from the axis than
in the “easy” case (same mass, larger r )  larger I than the 1st example
(harder to get it spinning, harder to get it to stop spinning).

Very Hard: Same mass but the mass is distributed the furthest from the axis than the first two scenarios (same mass,
largest r)  largest I of the three cases (hardest to get spinning, hardest to get it to stop spinning).
6 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley
Since mass is a measure of
the inertia that resists changes
in translational motion, plain
old inertia and moment of
inertia are totally similar to
each other. The difference
between plain old inertia and
moment of inertia, though, is
that moment of inertia of an
object also depends on the
object's shape (i.e., how
much mass there is AND
how that mass is distributed
about the axis or rotation---
meaning, is the object a flat
disk, a hoop, a solid sphere,
etc).

In translational inertia (like a box), the inertia doesn’t change with how you move the object (you could move it to the left,
up, down, etc, and its inertia will still be the same). BUT…the moment of inertia (rotational inertia) CAN change
depending on where the axis of rotation is (i.e., if the axis is in the center of the object or if it is toward the outer edge)
and how the mass is distributed within the object (is it a disk, a hoop, a rod, etc). So, knowing this, here is a chart that
contains all the different moment of inertias that you will absolutely need in order to solve these crazy problems (do NOT
memorize these---they will be given to you within the problems on the AP exam or you will have a chart with the info in
it):
Note: The moment of inertia is smaller when the mass is more concentrated near the axis of rotation.

Type of Spinning Object Moment of Inertia Equation

Particle (like a person) or a little mass-blob I = Mr2
Hoop or ring (hollow center, all the mass on exterior) I = Mr2
Flat Disk (Frisbee, CD, record, cylinder) I = ½ Mr2
Solid sphere (ball-bearing, planet) I = 2/5 Mr2
Hollow Sphere (like a basketball) I= 2/3 Mr2
Rod (spinning at the center of mass, like if it’s rotating I = 1/12 Ml2 (l = length of rod)
in its center)
Rod (rotating at its end) I = 1/3 Ml2 (l = length of rod)
And….now that we know spinning things have inertia (resistance to a change in rotational motion), that means that forces
are necessary to change their motion and since they are moving they must also have momentum and Kinetic Energy. Here
comes the BIG part of the unit!

Torque
Torque is the rotating effect that a force F can cause in an object. Torques cause
rotational motion. A net torque will cause an angular acceleration just like a net
linear/tangential force will cause a linear/tangential or net centripetal/radial force will
cause a centripetal acceleration. In order for there to be a torque, the force has to be
some-kind-of-perpendicular to the radius of an object and that force will want to
cause an object to rotate about an axis. The distance between the exact spot the force is
applied and the axis of rotation is the radius, “r” (also called the “lever arm”). Torque
causes a door to open and rotate on its axis, a torque causes a wrench to tighten a nut,
7 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley
torques cause your arm to bend when you’re doing curls in a gym (or moving the bow across your violin for those who
have never set foot in a gym). If the force wants to cause something to rotate or spin about an axis, that force is
really producing a torque. Torque is calculated by taking the amount of the force that is perpendicular to the radius of
an object and multiplying it by the distance the force is from the axis of rotation (simply the radius). The unit of torque is
the Nm (Newton x meter).

Torque depends on the amount of force applied and where this force is applied (how far the force is from the axis of
rotation; this distance is called the lever arm, r). Torque also depends on the angle between a force and lever arm ; only
the amount of the force that is perpendicular to the object contributes to the torque.

Torque is a vector!
 Torques that produce counterclockwise rotation are defined to be positive
 Torques that produce clockwise rotations are defined to be negative
 Since torques can work in opposite directions, all torques on an object need to be considered when determining
the net torque that will cause any rotational motion.

Newton's Second Law for Rotation

Just like a net translational force (either a linear/tangential Fnet or a
radial/centripetal Fc) can cause and object with inertia (mass) to accelerate
(either linearly/tangetially or centripetally), a net Torque can cause an object
with rotational inertia (I) to experience an angular acceleration (α).

Have you realized yet that this whole unit is just a bunch of equations parallel to
the ones you already know (or should already know)???

Work and Power Using Torque

The net work done by a net torque acting on an object equals the magnitude of the net torque times the angle through
which the torque is applied:
W = Fd 
And…..the power produced by a torque is equal to the work done by the torque per unit time:
P = W/t  P = Fd/t  P =Fv 

See? It’s just reusing old equations that you already know but for spinning things rather than non-spinning things. Easy
peasy lemon squeazy.

The simplest case of rotation around a fixed axis is that of constant angular speed. But if the angular speed is constant then
the total torque is zero. There had to be a torque to get the thing rotating in the first place, but one it was spinning if the
torque is removed it will continue to spin forever and ever with a constant angular velocity (in the absence of friction).
Newton said it and I believe it. So should you. For the example of the Earth rotating around its axis, there is very little
friction (no external torque, no friction so constant speed, …continues to move due to its rotational inertia). For a ceiling
fan to stay rotating with a constant speed, the motor applies a torque to compensate for friction.

8 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley

Angular Momentum
Remember how any object with mass (and therefore inertia!) that is moving has momentum? And the greater its mass (or
inertia!) or the faster it moved the greater its momentum?
Well…spinning things have momentum, too! The faster it is
spinning and the greater its moment of inertia the greater its
momentum and the larger the torque necessary to get it to stop.

Linear (and translational) momentum (p) is defined as the vector

product of an object’s mass (m, inertia) and velocity (v). Angular
momentum (L) is defined as the product of a rotating object's
moment of inertia (I) and angular velocity (ω) about an axis. Get
it?? Say yes.

(units Ns)  (units are Ns m)

Momentum = mass × velocity  angular momentum (L) = moment of inertia (I) × angular velocity (ω)

Note: Another way to represent the angular momentum of a point particle is

L= Iω  mr2 (v/r)  mvr

And….remember how a net force would need to be applied to

change an object’s linear (or translational) momentum?
Well…..if there is a net external torque acting on an object its
angular momentum (L) will change, too! But if the net
external force or net external torque is zero, neither the linear
(translational) nor the angular momentum of the object
changes---This is the Law if Conservation of Angular
Momentum. Makes sense, huh??

Since angular momentum is a conserved quantity (it won’t change unless a net external torque is applied), if the momenta
of inertia decreases (so, if the r decreases, for example), the angular velocity will increase (it will spin faster). Think of an
ice skater….get it???
 The equivalent of linear momentum in rotational motion is angular momentum. The greater the angular
momentum of the spinning object, such as a top, the greater its tendency to continue to spin.
 The Angular Momentum of a rotating body is proportional to its
moment of inertia (I, mass and radius) and its angular velocity
(ω, how rapidly it is turning).
 And since angular momentum depends on moment of inertia,
that means it also depends on how the mass is distributed
relative to the axis of rotation: Objects where the mass is
located further away from the axis of rotation have greater
moment of inertias so they have greater angular momentums (so
it is harder to get these things to change their rotations).
 Example: A flat disk, such as a solid Frisbee, has less angular
momentum than a hollow cylinder of the same mass and velocity
of rotation.(simply due to how this mass is distributed to create a different moment of inertia). Get it???

Another example: Like linear momentum, since angular momentum is a vector quantity and its conservation implies that
the both the speed and direction of the spin axis tends to remain unchanged, a spinning top remains upright whereas a
stationary one falls over immediately. Like regular old momentum, the angular momentum L can also be thought of as a
9 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley
measure of the difficulty of bringing a rotating object to rest. Objects with larger momentums (either linear or angular)
require a greater force to bring them to rest than objects with smaller momentums. That makes sense, right??

Principle of Conservation of Angular Momentum –The total angular momentum of a system is conserved (remains
constant) if the net external torque acting on the system is zero. And remember that it is a vector quantity (so direction of
the rotating objects matters)

Example: Picture a spinning disk. Someone drops a smaller disk straight down on top of it as it is spinning but this
increased mass does not apply a torque. This is like a little collision and we all know that in any collision momentum is
conserved (as long as no outside forces are messing up our physics problem, like a hand applying an external torque to it
to increase or decrease the total momentum). So, if the total mass increased (but the radius didn’t change), that means the
moment of inertia (I) had to increase, too. According to the Law of Conservation of momentum,
Li = Lf.  I.i ωi = If ωf , where If = (m total ) r2

So, what happened to the disk? It had to slow down--- its angular velocity decreased. Get it?

One more thing: You will (seriously, you will) get

conservation of momentum problems when an
apparently linearly/tangentially moving object collides
with an object and sets that object into a spinning
rotation. When this happens both linear momentum
AND angular momentum are conserved. In order for
linear momentum to be conserved one (or both)
object(s) will have to be moving with a linear
momentum after the collision. Makes sense, right? But
the angular momentum might be more difficult to see since the original object didn’t appear to have angular momentum
prior to the collision. BUT…in order to see an object moving toward another object, you have to rotate your head to
follow it, right? Well, in order to have to do this the object must have angular momentum. To calculate the angular
momentum of the translational moving object prior to the collision, you take its linear momentum (mv) and multiply it by
the radius of the center of mass (of the object that will begin to rotate) at the point of contact (the distance between the
point of contact and the center of the rotating mass).

Click this link to see what I am speaking about:

[Link]
0%3A19&turl=http%3A%2F%[Link]%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608035165926326511%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=htt
p%3A%2F%[Link]%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQAMidHWf8u0&tit=Direct+Measurement+Physics%3A+Marble
+Collides+with+Wood+Block&c=1&sigr=11a79mcp4&sigt=11rs0iho9&ct=p&age=0&b=31&hsimp=yhs-
fullyhosted_003&hspart=ironsource&tt=b

10 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley

BIG HUGE EXAMPLE: More than one object in the system (examples going a little further than above):

1. A merry-go-round (with the angular momentum of a big disk/cylinder) rotates at the rate of 0.2 rev/s with an 80 kg man
(with the angular momentum of a particle) standing at a point 2.0 m from the center. What is the new angular speed when
the man walks to a point 1.0 m from the center? Assume the merry go round is a solid 25 kg cylinder with a radius of 2.0
m.
Li = Lf.  I.i ωi = If ωf
Ii = (Iman +Idisk)  mr2 + ½ mr2  (80kg) (2m)2 + ½ (25kg) (2m)2
If = (Iman +Idisk)  (80 kg) (1m)2 + ½ (25kg) (2m)2
ωi = 0.2 rev/sec  convert this to rad/sec (remember: 1 rev = 2π rad)
ωf = ?
2. A 2 kg bike wheel with a radius of 0.3 m turns at a constant angular speed of 25 rad/s when a 0.3 kg reflector is at a
distance of 0.15 m from the axle. What is the angular speed of the wheel when the reflector slides to a distance of 0.25 m
from the axle? Li = Lf.  I.i ωi = If ωf

This is pretty much the same conservation of angular momentum problem from above EXCEPT that the tire is a hoop and
not a disk so you would need to use the correct I for a hoop I = mr2

.Kinetic energy in Spinning Objects (almost finished!)

Any moving object (with mass) has KE. The faster it moves, the greater its KE (but in order to move faster some kind of
work has to be done on it). For translational objects, the greater the mass (and the greater the inertia!), the greater the KE
and the greater the force (and work) required to bring it to rest (or change its motion and decrease both its KE and
momentum). Spinning objects are pretty much the same, but rather than “mass” in the equation, you’ll see “moment of
inertia, I”. And, rather than speed “v” in the equation, you’ll get angular velocity “ω” (but you knew, that, right???).
Since it is an energy, the units are still a Joule (and these will always be the units of energy---until we get to modern
physics where you learn a couple more ways to express energy ).
 Rotating objects have rotational kinetic energy, KErot
 If they are also moving forward they have translational KEtrans
 Rotational kinetic energy is defined as the energy of an object due to its rotational motion
 The equation for rotational kinetic energy:
Ktrans = 1⁄2mv2  KErot = ½Iω2

Notice the similarity to the equation for translational kinetic energy. When considering conservation of mechanical
energy, our equations now have to include a rotational kinetic energy term (but only if it’s spinning)
ME = KEtrans + KErot + PEg + PEs  ME = ½mν2 + ½Iω2 + mgh + ½ kx2
Really BIG Example (the biggest yet!)
A disk of mass m and radius r is released from rest at the top of a rough surfaced incline (so there is friction
present doing non-conservative work). If the disk rolls (no slipping) on the plane, calculate the following.

a. The linear velocity of the entire disk when

it reaches the lowest point of the inclined
plane (it linearly rolls with a velocity of v
=2πr/t  ω r).
b. The angular acceleration α and then the
linear acceleration a along the inclined
plane (you do not have time at this point).
c. The time for the disk to roll down the
ramp.
11 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley
 a) By the conservation of energy, we have
PEg = KEtrans + KE rot  mgh = ½ mv2 + ½ Iω2

where ω = v/r (from v = rω) and I is the moment of inertia of the disk (I = ½ mr2). Soooo…..

mgh = ½ mv2 + ½ I (v/r)2

Now, we can calculate the velocity of the disk when it reaches the lowest point of the inclined plane.

√ (1)

Looking at the above crazy-rearranged equation you should be able to see that the greater the moment of inertia
(I), the smaller the translational velocity (v) will be at the end of its acceleration period. That’s why a ring
(larger I) with the same mass and radius as a solid disk (smaller I) obtains a smaller translational velocity when
it rolls down and reaches the lowest point of the inclined plane (the moment of inertia equations show that for
the same m and r a ring has a larger moment of inertia thank a solid disk).

b) To find acceleration look at the forces along the inclined plane

Linear: Fnet = ma  mgsinθ − Ff = ma (2)

Since the friction provides a torque which causes the rotation of the disk we can also write

Angular: τ = Iα  Ff r = Iα  Ff = Iα/r (3)

And since the connection between linear and angular acceleration is a=αr (and α is the angular
acceleration of the disk). After solving (2) and (3), we obtain

mgsinθ - Iα/r = m α r  (4)

Substitute the moment of inertia of the disk ( I = ½ mr2 ) the above equation.

From (4), we observe that the greater the moment of inertia, the smaller will be the angular acceleration of the
rolling object when it rolls down the plane which means the smaller the angular velocity and the smaller the
translational velocity. To find the linear acceleration of the disk simply take the above angular acceleration and
multiply by r since a = r α.

c) The time for the disk to roll down is given by the relation vf = vi + at , where vi = 0 (the disk is at rest when it
starts to roll) and you have the expressions for vf and a (the time equation will be kind of crazy looking unless
you crazy simplify it…which I’m not going to do because I am tired).

12 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley

You would do the exact same thing if it was a ring or another rolling object. The only thing that would be
different is the moment of inertia expression. The moment of inertia of a ring/hoop is given by I = mr2. Since it
has a larger I, it will have a smaller acceleration (both types) so it will take longer to get down the ramp (than
the disk). This is kind of a lot…I know….I get it…just go with it.

If you compare the time for the disk and the ring to roll down the same distance, the time required for the ring to
roll down the inclined plane of the same distance is longer due to its larger moment of inertia

The End.

BIG Re-Cap for the Unit!

LINEAR PROPERTY ANGULAR PROPERTY
time (t, in s)  time (t, in s)
distance (d, in m)  angular displacement (θ, in rads)
velocity (v, in m/s)  angular velocity (ω, in rads/sec)
acceleration (a, in m/s2)  angular acceleration (α, in rads/s2)
inertia (m, in kg)  rotational inertia (I, in kg· m2)
force (F, in N)  torque (τ, in N·m)
momentum (p, in Ns or kg m/s)  angular momentum (L, in Ns·m or kg m2/s )
kinetic energy (KEtrans, in J)  rotational KE (KErot , in J)

13 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley

14 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley
An object will tip if it is tilted so that the gravitational force passes beyond its area of support.
Objects with lower centers of mass are more stable.

15 Rotational Notes AP Physics Wendy Maley