Rotation

Abstract
Rotational motion can be analyzed by similar tools and concepts that are used in analyzing linear motion. One big difference, though, is the rotational motion depends on which point the force is acted upon. We will learn how to deal with angular velocity, angular acceleration, and torque, that are rotational equivalent of velocity, acceleration, and force, respectively. Also, we will learn how energy is conserved when rotational motion is involved.

Theory
Torque and angular acceleration You must have experienced that it is much harder to open the swinging door when you push it on the position close to the rotational axis. Even with the same amount of force applied, the angular acceleration you get is different depending on the point you exert the force. The concept of torque is very handy to understand this phenomenon.

Torque is defined as a vector product between displacement and force vectors. It is also a vector quantity, but when you only care about its magnitude, it can be obtained by multiplying force (F) with its normal distance to the axis (dA). The torque defined this way is now directly proportional to its angular acceleration ( ), and we call the proportionality constant a rotational inertia (I). Rotational Energy When an object is in rotational motion, it has an energy corresponding to its angular velocity and its mass distribution. The energy is obtained as E = I 2, in similar form with the kinetic energy m v2 for linear motion. Actually there is a very good analogy between linear and rotational motion, as shown in the table below. Mass (m) Velocity (v) Acceleration (a) Force (F) Kinetic energy ( m v2) Rotational Inertia (I) Angular velocity ( ) Angular acceleration ( ) Torque ( ) Rotational energy ( I
2

Linear momentum (mv)

Angular momentum (I )

Procedure

The rotation apparatus is set up as shown above. Note that we are using a photogate instead of the smart pulley drawn above. For both angular acceleration and rotational energy experiments, make sure the rotation apparatus is leveled by using the bubble level attached on the apparatus.

Angular Acceleration

1. Attach a thread (~2 meter) to the step pulley and wind it up on the smallest of the three spindles. Make the thread parallel to platter as shown below.

2. Attach the mass holder to the other end of the thread. Add additional mass of your choice, between 20~100g. Note the mass holder itself has mass of 5g. 3. Attach a small piece of cardboard on the step pulley so that it blocks the light of photogate timer once a revolution. 4. Wind the step pulley so the hanging mass gets close to the top of the table, and slowly unwind it until the cardboard is positioned right before it blocks the light of photogate. Use

the red indicator on the photogate, which turns on when the light is blocked.

Initial position of the step pulley (top view), red dot indicates the beam position of photogate

5. Set the photogate in PULSE mode and press RESET. 6. Gently let go of the step pulley and wait until it completes one revolution. Stop the step pulley and record the time it took for one revolution. Repeat this three times and record the average value as T1. 7. Rewind the string by rotating step pulley and go back to the initial position in the above diagram. 8. Set the photogate in GATE mode and press RESET. Set the MEMORY to ON so that it records two consecutive time measurement (see Appendix for Photogate Timer operation). 9. Let go of the step pulley and measure the two time durations, t1 and t2, over which the paper is passing through the beam. Do it three times and record the average value in the table. The timing diagram is below to help your understanding.

10. Calculate the initial and final angular velocity, 1 and 2 respectively, by dividing the angle the paper width is covering by the time duration. In other words, 1= /t1 and 2= /t2 where is paper width divided by pulley radius. 11. Calculate the average angular acceleration =( 2 1)/T1. 12. Repeat the whole step many times with different mass and different step pulley radius. Calculate and plot the torque vs. angular acceleration on the graph, and see if data points show linear dependence. 13. Calculate the slope of above graph and compare it with the known rotational inertia of the step pulley.

Cardboard width = ________ Angle the cardboard occupies,

Outer radius of step pulley = _________ = _________

Step Pulley Radius, dA = ___________________

Mass m

Applied Force F = mg

Torque = F dA

T1

t1

t2

Average Angular Acceleration = ( 2 1)/T1

Rotational Energy 1. Set up the rotation apparatus and level it. 2. With 20g of mass on the hanger, carefully position the step pulley as in step 4 in previous experiment. Measure the distance of the mass from the floor. 3. Without totally letting it go, carefully release the step pulley so that it makes one revolution exactly. Measure the distance of the mass from the floor. The difference between this and previous measurement serves as height difference in the result table. 4. Wind the step pulley back to the initial position. 5. Set the photogate timer in GATE mode with MEMORY ON. Perform the step 8 9 in previous experiment to acquire t2. We do not have to keep the initial pulse width t1, since we are interested in calculating rotational energy in final state only. 6. Calculate the final angular velocity 2= /t2 and subsequently the rotational energy E=I 22 where the rotational inertia I is obtained in the first part of the experiment. 7. Repeat steps 2 6 with different number of revolutions. For example, you can measure angular velocity after two revolution by carefully moving the photogate out of range so that it misses 1st revolution, Mass m = _______ Height Difference h Gravitational Gate time Energy Lost measured Eg = m g h t2 Final Angular Velocity /t2 2= Rotational Energy Gained Er = I 22

Number of Revolutions n

Discussion
1. Is the gained rotational energy equal to the decrease of gravitational energy? If not, what other energies should be considered in order for the energy conservation to hold true? 2. What is the error in determining the angular velocity the way described in the procedure? How can we minimize the error? 3. Is there a way to calculate the rotational inertia from the geometry and density of the rotating object? What is the general formula, and what is the result for a uniform disk of radius R and density ?

Appendix Photogate Timer Operation

The PASCO ME 9215B Photogate Timer is a digital timer with a memory function. It uses a narrow beam infrared photogate in order to provide the timing signals. An LED in one arm of the photogate emits a narrow infrared beam. As long as the beam strikes the detector in the opposite arm of the photogate, the signal to the timer indicates that the beam is unblocked. When an object blocks the beam so it doesnt strike the detector, the signal to the timer changes.

The timer has three options: Gate, Pulse, and Pendulum modes. The different timing modes are explained below. Gate Mode: In Gate mode, timing begins when the beam is first blocked and continues until the beam is unblocked. Use this mode to measure the velocity of an object as it passes through the photogate. If an object of length L blocks the photogate for a time t, the average velocity of the object as it passed through the photogate was L/t.

Pulse Mode: In Pulse mode, the timer measures the time between successive interruptions of the photogate. Timing begins when the beam is first blocked and continues until the beam is unblocked and then blocked again. With an Accessory Photogate plugged into the Photogate Timer, the timer will measure the time it takes for an object to move between the two photogates. Pendulum Mode: In Pendulum mode, the timer measures the period of one complete oscillation. Timing begins as the pendulum first cuts through the beam. The timer ignores the next interruption, which corresponds to the pendulum swinging back in the opposite direction. Timing stops at the beginning of the third interruption, as the pendulum completes one full oscillation. Manual Stopwatch: Use the START/STOP button in either Gate or Pulse mode. In Gate mode the timer starts when the START/STOP button is pressed. The timer stops when the button is released. In Pulse mode, the timer acts as a normal stopwatch. It starts timing when the START/STOP button is first pressed and continues until the button is pressed a second time. The following diagram show the interval t, that is measured in each timing mode. A low signal corresponds to the photogate being blocked (or the START/STOP button pressed). A high signal corresponds to the photogate being unblocked (and the START/STOP button unpressed).

Memory Feature
When two measurements must be made in rapid succession, such as measuring the pre and post collision velocities of an air track glider, use the memory function. It can be used in either the Gate or the Pulse mode. To use the memory: 1. 2. 3. Turn the MEMORY switch to ON. Press RESET. Run the experiment. When the first time (t1) is measured, it will be immediately displayed. The second time (t2) will be automatically measured by the timer, but it will not be shown on the display. 4. Record t1, then push the MEMORY switch to READ. The display will now show the TOTAL time, t1 + t2. Subtract t1 from the displayed time to determine t2.