Lecture 21 - Angular Momentum

Question 1

what is angular momentum?

Answer 1

• rotational inertia of an object multiplied by its angular velocity
• how hard it will be to stop the object

Question 2

what is torque in relation to angular momentum?

Answer 2

• torque = the time rate of change of angular momentum

Question 3

what is angular impulse?

Answer 3

• quantity of torque times time

Question 4

what happens to angular momentum in the air?

Answer 4

• constant, no reaction forces

Question 5

what is gyroscopic stability?

Answer 5

• when an object is rotating about an axis, with angular momentum
• requires torque to change the direction of the axis of rotation

Question 6

how can you control angular speed?

Answer 6

• change shape/orientation of body segments
• smaller = rotates faster