Chapter 7 :

ROTATIONAL
MOTION
 SCOPE OF STUDY
SUB - TOPICS

ROTATION TORQUE

ANGULAR
QUANTITIES
 ROTATION
Definition :The act or process of turning around a center or an axis.

The object rotates about an axis, which we will call the pivot point, and will

label 'O'.

All points on the object move in circles around the axis of rotation (“O”).

The radius of the circle is r.

All points on a straight line drawn through the axis move through the same angle

in the same time.

 ROTATION
Example : Carousel (merry-go-round) at the Mall of America in

Bloomington, Minnesota
 ROTATION
Example : Consider a particle P fixed on a disc

rotating about O.

Angular position :

where
ℓ = Rθ
θ : angle in radian
R : radius
2π rad = 360 o
= 1 rev
ROTATION
Angular displacement :

Average angular speed :

Units : rads-1, rpm (revolution per minute)

Instantaneous angular speed :
 ROTATION
Average angular acceleration : The rate of changes angular velocity.

Units :rads-2, rpm-2 (revolution per square minute)

Instantaneous angular acceleration :

ω dω
α  lim 
t 0 t dt
ANGULAR QUANTITIES
Every point on a rotating body has an angular velocity ω and a linear

velocity v.

Relation :
ANGULAR QUANTITIES
If the angular velocity of a rotating
object changes, it has a tangential
acceleration:

Even if the angular velocity is constant,

each point on the object has a
centripetal acceleration:
ANGULAR QUANTITIES
Table 1 : Relation between linear and rotational quantities.
ANGULAR QUANTITIES
Frequency : Number of complete revolutions per second:

Formula :

Unit : Hertz @ s-1

Period : Time one revolution takes.

Formula :
ANGULAR QUANTITIES
The equations of motion for constant angular acceleration are the same
as those for linear motion, with the substitution of the angular quantities
for the linear ones.
 TORQUE
Definition : A measure of how much a force acting on an object causes

that object to rotate.

Formula :
τ = r x F = r F sin θ

Depend on : Position and direction of force.

Lever arm : The perpendicular distance from the axis of rotation to the

line along which the force acts.

 TORQUE
Example :
 TORQUE
Example : A longer lever arm is very helpful in rotating objects
 TORQUE
Types :

Counterclockwise torque : F
Positive torque
r
o
Clockwise torque :
Negative torque
r
o
F
 TORQUE
Exercise 1: Lets try this!!
In a hurry to catch a cab, you rush through a frictionless swinging door and onto
the sidewalk. The force you extered on the door was 50N, applied perpendicular
to the plane of the door. The door is 1.0m wide. Assuming that you pushed the
door at its edge, what was the torque on the swinging door (taking the hinge as
the pivot point)?
Solution :
 TORQUE
Solution :

The pivot point is at the hinges of the door, opposite to where you were
pushing the door. The force you used was 50N, at a distance 1.0m from the
pivot point. You hit the door perpendicular to its plane, so the angle between
the door and the direction of force was 90 degrees. Since

τ = r x F = r F sin θ
then the torque on the door was:

τ = (1.0m) (50N) sin(90) = 50 N m

 THE END…
“Always bear in mind that your own
resolution to succeed is important
than any one thing”
-ABRAHAM LINCOLN-