A spinning ice-skater who speeds up when she pulls in her arms is a common textbook illustration of how changing a rotating object’s moment of inertia affects its angular speed. An analogous classroom demonstration involves sitting on a rotating stool while moving handheld weights in and out. Given that students have difficulties understanding conservation of angular momentum when the moment of inertia changes,1 we wanted to add a quantitative experiment that closely resembled the typical textbook example and the in-class demonstration. A few such experiments have been published: an apparatus that moves masses radially relative to a person rotating on a stool,2 a rotating track along which model cars move radially inward or outward,3 and a modified, centripetal-force apparatus with masses that slide outward.4 The first two were more elaborate than we wanted, but the third one seemed to be a suitable experiment for an introductory...
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November 2023
PAPERS|
November 01 2023
Conservation of Angular Momentum with Slightly Modified Commercial Apparatuses
Alan J. DeWeerd
;
Alan J. DeWeerd
University of Redlands
, Redlands, CA
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Eric Hill
Eric Hill
University of Redlands
, Redlands, CA
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Corresponding author: Alan J. DeWeerd, University of Redlands, Physics, Redlands, CA 92373-0999; [email protected]
Phys. Teach. 61, 680–681 (2023)
Citation
Alan J. DeWeerd, Eric Hill; Conservation of Angular Momentum with Slightly Modified Commercial Apparatuses. Phys. Teach. 1 November 2023; 61 (8): 680–681. https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0108491
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