In: Physics
A figure skater presses off the ice to begin spinning with her
arms close to her body. After completing 2 turns in 0.8 seconds she
moves her arms further away from her body, what will her new
angular velocity be?
a. <16.6 rad/s
B. 18 rad/s
C. 20 rad/s
D. 24 rad/s
The skater turned 2 turns in 0.8 seconds
2 turns means 2* = radians.
So, the angular velocity initially is
Now, the angular momentum is given by
Where r is the radius of rotation.
When the person stretches the arms out, the radius r changes.
But according to the law of conservation of angular momentum,
L will remain the same.
So, the new angular velocity will be
Since r2 > r1
The new angular frequency will be less than 15.7 rad/s
So, option A is correct
Note: There must be some error is the values provided. The answer a should have been <15.7 exactly or the value of time is different. However, the steps and the answer remains the same