Rotational Dynamics Physlet-Based Curriculum

These examples of curricular material appear in Section 8.6. Follow a link on the left to go to the individual Physlet problems found in that section and several bonus problems only available on this CD. Below is a brief description of each animation.

Chapter Problems:

8.6.1: A child sits on a merry-go-round at the position marked by the red circle.  8.6.2: A wheel rolls without slipping while pulled by a string wrapped around its circumference as shown in the animation.  8.6.3: A turntable (a flat disk) of mass 5 kg rotates at constant speed when your finger makes contact with the outer edge as shown in the animation. Friction between your finger and the turntable causes the turntable to stop. 
8.6.4: The animation depicts an idealized drivetrain for a bicycle. A large green disk (i.e. a flat cylinder) is used to rotate a small green disk of the same density and thickness via a massless chain that does not slip.  8.6.5: Two masses M=2.5kg and m=1kg are attached with a massles string over a pulley as shown in the animation. The bearings in the pulley are frictionless and the string does not slip.  

 

Additional Problems:

8.6.ap 1:  A wheel rolls as shown in the animation.  8.6.ap 2: A red disk is dropped onto a rotating yellow disk with a mass of 20 kg as shown in the animation. 
8.6.ap 3:  A coin is on a rotating turntable as shown.  8.6.ap 4:  A car starts from rest and accelerates until it is half way around a circular track after which time it moves at constant speed. 
8.6.ap 5:  An puck resting on an air hockey table is attached to a string and given an initial tangential push such that it travels in a circle at constant speed.