In: Physics
A person of mass 74 kg stands at the center of a rotating merry-go-round platform of radius 3.5 m and moment of inertia 880 kg⋅m2 . The platform rotates without friction with angular velocity 0.90 rad/s . The person walks radially to the edge of the platform.
Calculate the angular velocity when the person reaches the edge.
Calculate the rotational kinetic energy of the system of platform plus person before and after the person's walk.
Solution:
Given the data
The mass of the person,
The radius of the marry-go-round,
Moment of inertia of the merry-go-round,
The initial angular velocity of the platform,
Let us consider the final angular velocity is
This we can get by using the law of conservation of angular momentum
Now, the initial and final rotational kinetic energy can be calculated as follows
This is the initial rotational kinetic energy of the system
The final rotational kinetic energy can be calculated as follows