THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
2023/2024 ACADEMIC YEAR LECTURE NOTES

INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS PH 110

CHAPTER 8
ROTATIONAL MOTION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
• Understand the concept of rotation (or rotational motion)
• Distinguish between rotation and circular motion.
• Define the axis of rotation.
• Describe angular quantities and equations and relate them to their linear counterparts.

• Identify, define and locate the center of mass for an object with continuous mass
distribution.

• Define a rigid body and describe general motion of a rigid body.

• Define moment of inertia (or rotational inertia) and derive the expression for the moment
of inertia of a rigid body.
• Define the radius of gyration of a body about a given axis.
• State and apply the parallel axis theorem to calculate the moment of inertia of a body about
any axis
• Derive the equation for rotational kinetic energy.
• Understand the analogy between force and torque, mass and moment of inertia, and linear
acceleration and angular acceleration.
• Understand the relation between angular momentum and moment of inertia.
• Understand and apply the law of conservation of angular momentum.
• Understand the analogy between angular quantities and linear quantities.

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Figure 8.1 A colourful ferris wheel. As a whole, a ferris wheel has rotatory motion because it
moves about its own fixed axis, but riders have a circular path in which they move and have
circular motion. (Credit: Dreamstime)
In this chapter, we deal with the rotational motion of a rigid body about a fixed axis. This
motion will be described in terms of rotational kinematics and dynamics. In addition, the
concept of torque will also be revisited. Rotational motion or simply rotation refers to the
motion about a fixed point. Rotation is the motion of wheels, of gears, of motors, of the hands
of clocks, of the rotors of jet engineers and of helicopter blades. It is the motion of spinning
electrons and atoms, of hurricanes, and of spinning planets, stars, and galaxies. It is the motion
of acrobats, of high divers, and of orbiting astronauts. Rotary motion is all around us.

8.1. Types of Rotational Motion

Rotational Motion can be divided into three types
1. Motion about a fixed axis: Is also known as pure rotation and describes the rotation of
an object around a fixed point. Some examples are the rotating of fan blades or the rotating
of hands on an analog clock as both rotate about a central fixed point.
2. A combination of rotational and translational motion. This motion describes an object,
whose components can rotate about a fixed point, while the object itself travels along a
linear path. An example is the rolling of wheels on a car. The wheels have two velocities,
one as a result of the rotating wheel and another due to the car's translational motion.
3. Rotation about an axis of rotation. This motion describes objects that rotate about an
axis while also rotating around another object. An example is Earth orbiting around the
sun while it also rotates about its own axis.

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8.2. Axis of Rotation
Being able to identify the axis of rotation is essential in understanding rotational motion and
solving associated problems. An axis of rotation is a line passing through all the fixed points
of a rotating rigid body around which all other points of the body move in circles.
An axis of rotation is perpendicular to the plane in which the body is moving. For the earth, its
axis of rotation about itself is its center to the poles.

8.3. Differences between Rotation and Circular Motion

From the previous chapter, we studied circular motion of an object. Now let us discuss some
of the differences between rotational and circular motion. The following are some of the
differences between rotation and circular motion;
➢ Rotational motion is spin motion (turning around itself) whereas circular motion is orbital.
➢ Circular motion is associated with centripetal force whereas rotational motion is associated
with torque.
➢ In rotational motion, the orientation of the axis of rotation can change whereas in circular
motion, the orientation of the axis of rotation does not change.

8.4 Angular Quantities

8.4.1 Angular displacement
The angular displacement (or rotation angle) 𝜃 of the particle is the angle turned by a rotating
body from some reference line and is analogous to linear distance. Angular displacement is a
vector quantity, measured in radians or degrees. Sometimes it is specified in terms revolutions
(revs). It is dimensionless.
One radian (1 rad) is the angle subtended at the center of a circle of radius 𝑟 by an arc of length
𝑠 equal to the radius of the circle. Generally, if 𝜃 (in radians) represents any arbitrary angle
subtended by an arc of length 𝑠 on the circumference of a circle of radius r, then the following
relation must be satisfied:
𝑠
𝜃=
𝑟
The following are the conversions involving angular displacement:
1 𝑟𝑒𝑣 = 2𝜋 𝑟𝑎𝑑 = 360 𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠
8.4.2 Angular velocity
Angular velocity 𝜔 of an object in circular motion is defined as the time rate of change of its
angular displacement. It is given by:
Angle traced
Angular velocity =
Time taken
∆𝜃
𝜔=
∆𝑡

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Angular velocity is measured in rad/s or rev/s. Angular velocity 𝜔 is analogous to linear
velocity 𝑣.
8.4.3 Angular acceleration
Angular acceleration of a particle in circular motion is defined as the time rate of change of its
angular velocity. It is given by:
Δ𝜔
𝛼=
Δ𝑡
The units of angular acceleration are rad/s2.
Angular acceleration 𝛼 is analogous to linear acceleration 𝑎. If the angular acceleration α is
constant, we have the following equations;
𝜔 = 𝜔𝑜 + 𝛼𝑡
𝜔2 = 𝜔0 2 + 2𝛼𝜃
1
𝜃 = 𝜔0 𝑡 + 𝛼𝑡 2
2
(d) Relationship between linear and angular quantities

We now look at the relationship between linear (tangential) and angular quantities.
• Linear displacement (𝑠) and angular displacement (𝜃)
𝒔 = 𝒓𝜽

• Linear velocity (𝑣) and angular velocity (𝜔)

𝒗 = 𝒓𝝎

• Linear acceleration (𝑎) and angular acceleration (𝛼)

𝒂 = 𝒓𝜶
8.5. Center of Mass
The motion of a system can be described in terms of its center of mass. For a system of particles
of total mass M, the center of mass point exists as if all the mass M were concentrated at that
point and all the external forces acted on the same point. In other words, center of mass of a
system is a point that moves as though all the mass were concentrated there and all the external
forces were applied there. In symmetrical bodies in which the distribution of mass is
homogeneous, the center of mass coincides with the geometrical center or center of symmetry
of the body.
If a system consists of N particles of masses m1, m2, m3, …, mn whose position vectors are ⃗⃗⃗
𝑟1,
⃗⃗⃗ 𝑟3 , …, ⃗⃗⃗
𝑟2 , ⃗⃗⃗ 𝑟𝑛 respectively then the position vector of center of mass is given by:
𝑚1 𝑟1 + 𝑚2 𝑟2 + 𝑚3 𝑟3 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑁 𝑟𝑁
𝑟=
𝑚1 + 𝑚2 + 𝑚3 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑁

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 ∑𝑁
𝑖=1 𝑚𝑖 𝑟𝑖
𝑟= 𝑁
∑𝑖=1 𝑚𝑖

where m1 + m2 + m3 + ⋯ + mn = M, is the total mass of the system.

The position of center of mass is independent of the coordinate system chosen, but depends
upon the shape of the body and distribution of mass. The center of mass changes its position
only under translatory motion. There is no effect of rotatory motion on center of mass of the
body.

8.6. Rigid Body

It is a body with fixed geometric shape and size, both of which do not change during motion.
In other words, a rigid body is a body that can rotate with all the parts locked together and
without any change in its shape. The distance between particles constituting the body does not
change on application of external force. A rigid body in general may have both translatory and
rotatory motions. Depending on the external forces, these two motions will be related to one
another.

8.7. Moment of Inertia or Rotational Inertia

Moment of inertia plays the same role in rotational motion as mass plays in linear motion. It is
the property of a body due to which it opposes any change in its state of rest or of uniform
rotation. In other words, the moment of inertia is a measure of how hard it is to change an
object's angular velocity. Moment of inertia depends on mass, distribution of mass and on the
position of axis of rotation. Moment of inertia is a tensor quantity and the S.I unit is kgm2.
8.7.1 Moment of inertia of a single particle
Moment of inertia of a particle about an axis is the product of the mass m of a particle and the
square of the distance r of the particle from the axis of rotation. It is given by:
I = mr2

8.7.2 Moment of inertia of a rigid body

If we consider a rigid body of mass M made up of large number of particles (discrete
distribution) of masses m1, m2, m3, …, mn, which are at distances r1, r2, r3, …, rn respectively
from the axis of rotation, then its moment of inertia is given by:

8.7.3 Moment of inertia of some regular bodies

Figure 8.2 shows the moment of inertia of some regular bodies about the specific axes.

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 Figure 8.2 The moment of inertia of some regular bodies about the specific axes

8.8. Radius of Gyration

Radius of gyration of a body about a given axis is the perpendicular distance of a point from
the axis, where if whole mass of the body were concentrated, the body shall have the same
moment of inertia as it has with the actual distribution of mass.
When the square of radius of gyration is multiplied with the mass of the body, we get the
moment of inertia of the body about the given axis. That is;

where k is called the radius of gyration.

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8.9. Parallel Axis Theorem
It states that the moment of inertia of a body about any axis is equal to the sum of the moment
of inertia of the body about a parallel axis passing through the center of mass and the product
of its mass and square of the distance between the axes. i.e.
I = ICM + Md2
where;
ICM ≡ Moment of inertia of a body about any axis passing through center of mass
M ≡ Mass of the body
d ≡ Distance between the two axes of rotation

8.10. Kinetic Energy of Rotation

1
Analogous to translational kinetic energy (𝐾 = 2 𝑚𝑣 2 ), an object that rotates about an axis is
said to have rotational kinetic energy. Using this analogy between translational and rotational
motions, where 𝑚 ⇔ 𝐼 and 𝑣 ⇔ 𝜔, one would expect that the rotational kinetic energy will
1
be given by the expression 𝐾 = 2 𝐼𝜔2 . We can show that this expression is indeed true

Consider a rigid body rotating about an axis through O, with uniform angular velocity 𝜔. We
know that the relationship between angular velocity ω and linear velocity 𝑣 is given by:
𝑣 = 𝜔𝑟
By definition, the kinetic energy of a particle is
1
𝐾= 𝑚𝑣 2
2
Substituting the expression for linear velocity in the kinetic energy equation, we obtain:
1
𝐾= 𝑚(𝜔𝑟)2
2
1 1
𝐾= 𝑚𝜔2 𝑟 2 = 𝑚𝑟 2 𝜔2
2 2
We know that the moment of inertia of a single particle is given by:
𝐼 = 𝑚𝑟 2
Then, we have:
1 2
𝐾= 𝐼𝜔
2
This is the expression for the kinetic energy of rotation of a particle, which can be generalized
to a rigid body of mass M made up of large number of particles (discrete distribution).

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8.11. The Torque
We know from our everyday experience that, when an object rotates about an axis, the rate of
this rotation depends on the magnitude and direction of the exerted force and how far this force
is applied away from the rotation axis. This dependence is measured by a vector quantity called
torque (or moment) τ (Greek tau “τ”).
The torque about the fixed-point O is the turning effect of the force about that point and is
measured as the product of the force F and the perpendicular distance (also called lever arm or
moment) r between the fixed point and the line of action of the force. Mathematically the torque
is given by:

𝜏 = 𝐹 ×⊥ 𝑑
The equation for torque can be written in the same form as Newton's second law, 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎, and
is expressed as
𝜏 = 𝐼𝛼
where 𝐼 is the moment of inertia and 𝛼 is angular acceleration. Torque can be expressed this
way as it is the rotational equivalent of force. Torque is the cause of rotatory motion and in
rotational motion it plays the same role as the force plays in translatory motion, i.e. torque is
the rotational analogue of force.

8.12. Angular Momentum

The angular momentum 𝐿 of the rigid body is defined as the product of the moment of inertia
𝐼 and the angular velocity ω. It is analogous to linear momentum. Angular momentum is a
vector quantity. It is given by:
𝐿 = 𝐼𝜔
The SI unit of angular momentum is kgm2/s or Js
8.13. Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum
This law states that the angular momentum of a system (may be a particle or a body) remains
constant if the resultant torque acting on it is zero. That is,
𝐿 = 𝐼𝜔 = constant, if 𝜏 = 0

𝐿𝑖 = 𝐿𝑓

𝐼𝑖 𝜔𝑖 = 𝐼𝑓 𝜔𝑓

8.14. Comparison of Linear (Translatory) Motion and Rotational Motion

Rotational motion equations are direct analogs of linear motion equations. Table 8.1
summarizes the analogy between some linear and angular quantities.

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Table 8.1 Analogy between some linear and angular quantities.

EXERCISES
1. A wheel accelerates uniformly from rest to an angular speed of 25 rad/s in 10 s.
(a) Find the angular acceleration of the wheel. [2.5 rad/s2]
(b) How many revolutions has the wheel turned during this time interval? [20 rev]
(c) Find the angular deceleration of the particle if the wheel comes to a full stop after 5
revolutions. [ −9.95 rad/s2]
2. In a HCl molecule, the separation between the nuclei of two atoms is about 1.27×10-10m.
Find the approximate location of the center of mass of the molecule, given that chlorine
atom is about 35.5 times as massive as hydrogen atom and nearly all the mass of an atom
is concentrated in the nucleus. [1.24×10--10m]
3. Two masses 6 kg and 2 kg are at 6𝒊 − 7𝒋 and 2𝒊 + 10𝒋 respectively. What is the center of
mass of the system of these two masses? [𝟓𝒊 − 𝟐. 𝟕𝟓𝒋]
4. Rigid rods of negligible mass lying along the y axis connect three particles (Figure 8.3). If
the system rotates about the 𝑥 axis with an angular speed of 2.00 rad/s, find the moment of
inertia about the 𝑥 axis and the total rotational kinetic energy. [92.0 kgm2; 184 J]

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 Figure 8.3 See exercise 4

5. A grindstone has moment of inertia of 6 kg.m2 about its axis. A constant torque is applied
and the grindstone is found to acquire a speed of 150 r.p.m in 10 seconds after starting from
rest. Calculate the torque. [9.42 N.m]
6. An automobile moves on a road with a speed of 54 km/h. The radius of its wheel is 0.35 m.
What is the average negative torque transmitted by its brakes to a wheel if the vehicle is
brought to rest in 15 seconds? The moment of inertia of the wheel about its axis of rotation
is 3 kg.m2. [-8.58 N.m]
7. A flywheel of mass 500 kg and one meter diameter makes 500 r.p.m. Assuming the mass
to be concentrated at the rim, calculate
(a) the angular velocity of the wheel
(b) the moment of inertia of the wheel
(c) the energy of the flywheel. [(a)52.36 rad/s (b)125 kgm2 (c)1.75×105 J]

8. A wheel of radius 𝑅 = 40 cm, and moment of inertia 𝐼 = 0.48 kgm2 is mounted on a

frictionless horizontal axle, as in the figure below. A rope of negligible mass wrapped
around the wheel supports an object of mass 𝑚 = 3 kg. Calculate the angular acceleration
of the wheel, the linear acceleration of the object, and the tension in the cord. Take g =10
m/s2. [12.5 rad/s2; 5 m/s2; 15 N]

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 Figure 8.4 See exercise 8
9. A soldier stands with his arms stretched out at the center of a platform that rotates without
friction with an angular speed ωi = 1.8 rev/s. The rotational inertia of the soldier and
platform is Ii = 6 kg.m2. When the soldier pulls his arms close to his body, he decreases the
rotational inertia of the system to If = 4 kg.m2. What is the resulting final angular speed of
the system? Is there a gain or a loss in the rotational kinetic energy of the system; and which
of the objects, soldier or platform, gained or lost this energy? [2.7 rev/s]

Figure 8.5 See exercise 9

10. Consider a disk of radius r and mass m initially at rest on an inclined surface. Show that if
the disk rolls without slipping from a height ℎ, it reaches the bottom of the incline with
speed
4
𝑣 = √ 𝑔ℎ
3

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