In: Physics
A 4.0 ? diameter merry-go-round (mass 270 ??) is spinning at 15 ???. A child of 35.0 ?? runs tangent to the merry-go-round at 3.0 ?/?, in the same direction that it is turning, and jumps onto the outer edge. Calculate the merry-go-round’s angular velocity, immediately after the child jumps on.
This is a problem in conservation of angular momentum. The sum of the initial angular momenta of the merry-go-roud and boy will be equal to their combined angular momenta.
Initial angular momenta
Since its a disk, it moment of inertia is
It angular velocity is
Therefore, its angular momentum is
Considering the boy as a point mass, his angular momentum is
The total initial angular momentum is
Final angular momentum
The moment of inertia of the combined bodies, considering the boy to be a point mass is
Let the final angular velocity be
Therefore, the final angular momentum is
Equating the two, we get