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Chapter 10

Dynamics of Rotational Motion

10.1 Torque

The word torque comes from the Latin word that means
twist. The torque !
r
of a force F
r
about a point P in space
is equal to the cross product (also called vector product)
of the position vector r
r
and the force F
r
.

F r
r
r r
! = "

The position vector r
r
is directed from the point P to
anywhere on the line of action of the force F
r
.













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For now lets use an easier definition of torque and say
that the magnitude of the torque !
r
of a force F
r
about a
point P can be written as


!
magnitude of
torque of force
r
F about point P
"
#
$
$
$
%
&
'
'
'
=
+1
or
(1
"
#
$
$
$
%
&
'
'
'
magnitude
of the force
"
#
$
%
&
'
) dis tance from
point P to line
of action of
r
F
"
#
$
$
$
%
&
'
'
'



















The perpendicular distance from the point P to the line of
action of the force is called the lever arm.

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10.2 Torque and Angular Acceleration for a Rigid
Body

The net external torque

!
r
"
#
acting on a rigid body about
a fixed axis is equal to the product of the moment of
inertia of the object about that axis with the angular
acceleration about that axis.


!
r
"
#
= I
r
$

This is the rotational analog of Newtons second law of
motion for a rigid body.

The Rigid Body in Equilibrium
For an object to be in mechanical equilibrium, two
conditions must be satisfied:
(1) The net external force acting on the object must be
zero. That is,
!
= 0 F
r


This condition ensures translational equilibrium.
(2) The net external torque about any point P must also be
zero. Thus,
!
"
P
#
= 0

This condition ensures rotational equilibrium.
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10. 5 Angular Momentum

Linear momentum of a single particle: v m p
r r
=

Linear momentum of a system of particles:
cm
V M P
r r
=

The angular momentum L
r
of a particle with respect to
point O in the figure below is

p r L
r r
r
! =

Note that

!
r
L = r psin(").















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For a rigid body rotating about a fixed axis, the angular
momentum
!
r
L of the body as the product of the moment of
inertia I of the object about that axis with is angular
velocity
!
r
" . That is,


!
r
L = I
r
"












The net external torque acting on a particle is equal to the
time rate of change of its angular momentum. Hence,

!
= "
dt
L d
r
r


where both the net torque and the angular momentum
must be specified about the same point. The last equation


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is the rotational analog of
!
=
dt
p d
F
r
r
which says that the
net force acting on a particle is equal to the time rate of
change of its linear momentum.

10.6 Conservation of Angular Momentum

From the equation
!
= "
dt
L d
r
r
we see that if the net
external torque acting on a system is zero, then the total
angular momentum of the system remains constant. This
is so because if
!
= " 0
r

!
"

!
d
r
L
dt
= 0 "
r
L = const .
That is
!
L = I" = const

10.11 Rigid Body Rotation about a Moving axis

The total kinetic energy (translational plus rotational) of
a rigid body of mass M that is rolling on a rough surface
without slipping equals the rotational kinetic energy about
the bodys center of mass plus the translational kinetic
energy of the center of mass. That is,

!
KE
total
=
1
2
I
cm
"
2
+
1
2
M v
cm
2


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For rolling without slipping, the speed of the center of
mass v
cm
of the object is related to the radius R of the
object and to its angular speed ! by

!
v
cm
= R"

and, the magnitude of the linear acceleration of the center
of mass a
cm
of the object is related to the radius R and to
the magnitude of the angular acceleration " by

!
a
cm
= R"









For rolling without slipping, the point of contact is always
at rest.







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Combined Translation and Rotation: Dynamics
We can analyze the combined translational motion and
rotational motion of a rigid body by using:


!
r
F
ext
"
= M
r
a
cm



!
r
"
axis
through
cm
#
= I
cm
r
$
provided the following two conditions are met:

(1) The axis through the center of mass must be an
axis of symmetry, and
(2) The axis of rotation must not change direction
although it is allowed to move.

Rolling Friction








Notice in figure (b) how the normal force exerts a torque
about the center of mass of the rolling body that opposes
the rotation. Also, there is some sliding of the sphere over

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the surface due to the deformation, causing mechanical
energy to be lost. Rolling friction also occurs if the rolling
body is deformable, such as an automobile tire.

10.4 Work and Power in Rotational Motion

The work done by a torque applied to a body during an
angular displacement of the body from #
i
to #
f
is

!
W
"
= " d#
#
i
#
f
$


When a torque does work on a rotating rigid body, the
kinetic energy of the body changes by an amount equal to
the work done. Thus,
!
W
total
= "
# ( )
d$
$
i
$
f
%


!
W
total
= I" d#
#
i
#
f
$


!
W
total
= I
d"
dt
d#
#
i
#
f
$

use
!
" =
d#
dt
,
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!
W
total
= I "
"
i
"
f
#
d"

!
W
total
=
1
2
I"
f
2
#
1
2
I"
i
2
= $ KE
rotation
( )

What about the power P associated with work done by a
constant torque? When a torque with respect to an axis of
rotation acts on a body that rotates with angular velocity
!, its power (rate of doing work) is equal to the product
of the torque and !.

!
dW
dt
=
d " #
( )
dt


!
dW
dt
= "
d#
dt


!
P = " #