NAME/ID:

PHYS 111 F21 Week 10 TOPIC:

ANGULAR
WORKSHEET #2 MOMENTUM

ANGULAR MOMENTUM: A skater with arms outstretched spins at 0.30 rev/s. The body of the skater can be approximated as a 50
kg cylinder of radius 12 cm. The hands are each 0.5 kg point masses on the end of 1.0 m arms (neglect the mass of the arms). If
the skater folds their arms such that their body is now approximated by a cylinder of mass 51 kg and radius 12.5 cm, what is the
new angular velocity of the skater? What work was done by the skater?
The following exercise will step you through the solution to this problem above.
1. Make a sketch of the skater in each position (initial versus final) according to the approximations given above. Label important
parameters and add in any values.
2. For the initial case:
a. Write down an expression for the total initial moment of inertia, then solve.
b. Write down an expression for the initial angular momentum.
3. For the final case:
a. Write down an expression for the total final moment of inertia, then solve.
b. Write down an expression for the final angular momentum.
4. What concept will allow you to solve this problem? Using this concept and the equations from #2 and #3, rearrange an
expression to find and solve for the final angular velocity.
5. Let’s now look at the work done by the skater.
a. Find the initial and final rotational kinetic energy of the skater and solve.
b. Is energy conserved during this action by the skater?
c. If not, what happens to the energy, and why?
d. Calculate the work done by the skater.

Initial Final

KAREN CUMMINGS