3/10 Angular Impulse and Angular Momentum

In addition to the equations of linear impulse and linear momentum, there exists a parallel set of
equations for angular impulse and angular momentum.

Angular Momentum: Figure 3/14a shows a particle P of mass m moving along a curve in
space. The particle is located by its position vector r with respect to a convenient origin O of fixed
coordinates x-y-z. The velocity of the particle is v = 𝐫̇ , and its linear momentum is G = mv.

The moment of the linear momentum vector mv about the origin O is defined as the angular
momentum HO of P about O and is given by the cross-product relation for the moment of a vector

The angular momentum then is a vector perpendicular to the plane A defined by r and v. The
sense of HO is clearly defined by the right-hand rule for cross products. The scalar components
of angular momentum may be obtained from the expansion
Each of these expressions for angular momentum may be checked easily from Fig. 3/15, which
shows the three linear-momentum components, by taking the moments of these components
about the respective axes.

To help visualize angular momentum, we show in Fig. 3/14b a two dimensional representation in
plane A of the vectors shown in part a of the figure. The motion is viewed in plane A defined by
r and v. The magnitude of the moment of mv about O is simply the linear momentum mv times
the moment arm r sin θ or mvr sin θ which is the magnitude of the cross product HO = r × mv.
Angular momentum is the moment of linear momentum and must not be confused with linear
momentum.
In SI units, angular momentum has the units kg ∙ (m/s) ∙ m = kg ∙m2/s = N∙ m∙ s.
In the U.S. customary system, angular momentum has the units [lb/(ft/sec2)][ft/sec][ft]= lb-ft-sec.

Rate of Change of Angular Momentum

We are now ready to relate the moment of the forces acting on the particle P to its angular
momentum.
If ΣF represents the resultant of all forces acting on the particle P of Fig. 3/14, the moment MO
about the origin O is the vector cross product

where Newton’s second law ΣF = m𝐯̇ has been substituted.

We now differentiate Eq. 3/29 with time, using the rule for the differentiation of a cross product
and obtain

The term v × mv is zero since the cross product of parallel vectors is identically zero.
Substitution into the expression for ΣMO gives

Equation 3/31 states that the moment about the fixed point O of all forces acting on m equals
the time rate of change of angular momentum of m about O. This relation, particularly when
extended to a system of particles, rigid or non-rigid, provides one of the most powerful tools of
analysis in dynamics.
Equation 3/31 is a vector equation with scalar components

The Angular Impulse-Momentum Principle

Equation 3/31 gives the instantaneous relation between the moment and the time rate of change
of angular momentum.
To obtain the effect of the moment ΣMO on the angular momentum of the particle over a finite
period of time, we integrate Eq. 3/31 from time t1 to time t2.
Multiplying the equation by dt gives ΣMO dt = dHO, which we integrate to obtain

Where

The product of moment and time is defined as angular impulse, and Eq. 3/33 states that the total
angular impulse on m about the fixed point O equals the corresponding change in angular
momentum of m about O.
Alternatively, we may write Eq. 3/33 as
Which states that the initial angular momentum of the particle plus the angular impulse applied
to it equals its final angular momentum.
The units of angular impulse are clearly those of angular momentum, which are N ∙ m ∙ s or
kg ∙ m2/s in SI units and lb-ft-sec in U.S. customary units.
As in the case of linear impulse and linear momentum, the equation of angular impulse and
angular momentum is a vector equation where changes in direction as well as magnitude may
occur during the interval of integration.
Under these conditions, it is necessary to express ΣMO and HO in component form and then
combine the integrated components. The x-component of Eq. 3/33a is

Where the subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the values of the respective quantities at times t1 and t2.
Similar expressions exist for the y- and z-components of the angular impulse-momentum
equation.

Plane-Motion Applications
The foregoing angular-impulse and angular-momentum relations have been developed in their
general three-dimensional forms.
Most of the applications of interest to us, however, can be analyzed as plane-motion problems
where moments are taken about a single axis normal to the plane of motion. In this case, the
angular momentum may change magnitude and sense, but the direction of the vector remains
unaltered.
Thus, for a particle of mass m moving along a curved path in the x-y plane, Fig. 3/16, the angular
momenta about O at points 1 and 2 have the magnitudes

respectively.
In the illustration both (HO)1 and(HO)2 are represented in the counterclockwise sense in accord
with the direction of the moment of the linear momentum.
The scalar form of Eq. 3/33a applied to the motion between points 1 and 2 during the time
interval t1 to t2 becomes

This example should help clarify the relation between the scalar and vector forms of the angular
impulse-momentum relations.
Whereas Eq. 3/33 clearly stresses that the external angular impulse causes a change in the
angular momentum, the order of the terms in Eqs. 3/33a and 3/33b corresponds to the natural
sequence of events.
Equation 3/33a is analogous to Eq. 3/27a, just as Eq. 3/31 is analogous to Eq. 3/25.
As was the case for linear-momentum problems, we encounter impulsive (large magnitude, short
duration) and non-impulsive forces in angular-momentum problems.
Conservation of Angular Momentum
If the resultant moment about a fixed point O of all forces acting on a particle is zero during an
interval of time, Eq. 3/31 requires that its angular momentum HO about that point remain
constant. In this case, the angular momentum of the particle is said to be conserved.
Angular momentum may be conserved about one axis but not about another axis. A careful
examination of the free-body diagram of the particle will disclose whether the moment of the
resultant force on the particle about a fixed point is zero, in which case, the angular momentum
about that point is unchanged (conserved).
Consider now the motion of two particles a and b which interact during an interval of time. If the
interactive forces F and - F between them are the only unbalanced forces acting on the particles
during the interval, it follows that the moments of the equal and opposite forces about any fixed
point O not on their line of action are equal and opposite.
If we apply Eq. 3/33 to particle a and then to particle b and add the two equations, we obtain
ΔHa + ΔHb = 0 (where all angular momenta are referred to point O). Thus, the total angular
momentum for the system of the two particles remains constant during the interval, and we
write

which expresses the principle of conservation of angular momentum.