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Lecture

Angular Momentum: Point Particle

In course

PHYS-101(en): General physics : mechanics (English)

Students will learn the principles of mechanics to enable a better understanding of physical phenomena, such as the kinematics and dyamics of point masses and solid bodies. Students will acquire the capacity to quantitatively analyze these effects with the ...

Description

This lecture covers the definition and calculation of angular momentum, using concepts of torque, rotational kinetic energy, and conservation of angular momentum to solve problems related to the kinematics and dynamics of rotating solid objects. Examples are provided to illustrate the calculation of angular momentum about different points and in circular motion. The lecture also introduces the angular momentum of a rigid body about a fixed axis, discussing symmetric objects, kinetic energy, and the application of the right-hand rule.

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Instructors (3)

Justin Richard Ball

Suliana Manley

From 2016 Associate professor, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland 2009-2016 Tenure-track assistant professor, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland 2006-2009 Post-Doctoral fellow, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA 2004-2006 Post-Doctoral fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA 1999-2004 PhD (Physics) Awarded 06/2004, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA 1993-1997 Bachelors (Cum Laude) Physics & Mathematics, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

Marcelo Baquero Ruiz

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Mechanics: Classical mechanics

Related concepts (32)

Angular momentum

In physics, angular momentum (sometimes called moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity – the total angular momentum of a closed system remains constant. Angular momentum has both a direction and a magnitude, and both are conserved. Bicycles and motorcycles, flying discs, rifled bullets, and gyroscopes owe their useful properties to conservation of angular momentum.

Angular momentum operator

In quantum mechanics, the angular momentum operator is one of several related operators analogous to classical angular momentum. The angular momentum operator plays a central role in the theory of atomic and molecular physics and other quantum problems involving rotational symmetry. Such an operator is applied to a mathematical representation of the physical state of a system and yields an angular momentum value if the state has a definite value for it.

Relativistic angular momentum

In physics, relativistic angular momentum refers to the mathematical formalisms and physical concepts that define angular momentum in special relativity (SR) and general relativity (GR). The relativistic quantity is subtly different from the three-dimensional quantity in classical mechanics. Angular momentum is an important dynamical quantity derived from position and momentum. It is a measure of an object's rotational motion and resistance to changes in its rotation.

Rotation around a fixed axis

Rotation around a fixed axis or axial rotation is a special case of rotational motion around a axis of rotation fixed, stationary, or static in three-dimensional space. This type of motion excludes the possibility of the instantaneous axis of rotation changing its orientation and cannot describe such phenomena as wobbling or precession. According to Euler's rotation theorem, simultaneous rotation along a number of stationary axes at the same time is impossible; if two rotations are forced at the same time, a new axis of rotation will result.

Kinetic energy

In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the form of energy that it possesses due to its motion. It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes. The same amount of work is done by the body when decelerating from its current speed to a state of rest.

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