ROTATIONAL KINEMATICS

for General Physics 1 - SHS (STEM)

Quarter 2 / Week 1.e
 FOREWORD

In our study of linear motion, we found out that straight-line

motion is particularly simple when the acceleration is constant. This
is also true of rotational motion about a fixed axis.

When the angular acceleration is constant, we can derive

equations for angular velocity and angular position using exactly the
same procedure that we used in our study of straight-line or also
referred to as translational motion.

In this lesson we will learn how closely translational motion and

rotational motion quantities are similar.

Let us start!

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 Lesson

5 ROTATIONAL KINEMATICS
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
1. Observe the kinematics of rotational motion.
2. Derive rotational kinematic equations.
3. Evaluate problem solving strategies for rotational kinematics.
1.

LEARNING COMPTENCY:
➢ Apply the rotational kinematic relations for systems with constant
angular accelerations. STEM_GP12RED-IIa-6

I. WHAT HAPPENED

What do you think? BRAIN CHALLENGE!

Directions. Answer the following questions in 1-2 sentences only. Use a

separate sheet of paper for your answers. (3 points for each acceptable
answer.)

Scenario: You are watching your friend riding on his/her bicycle. Focus your
attention to the spinning wheel as it rotates relative to its axis of rotation.

1. Relative to the ground, is the center of the wheel moving? Why or

why not?
2. Relative to the wheels’ axis or point of rotation, is the center of the
wheel moving? Why or why not?
3. Which question can be explained with translational motion?
4. Which question can be explained with rotational motion?
5. At the point where the wheel touches the ground while spinning, the
translational velocity is zero, meaning, the wheel is not in motion. Is that
true? Why or why not?

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II. WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

At this point, we covered a lot of the basics about how things move. But we’ve
mostly been focusing on only one type of motion…translational motion. If you can
recall, translational motion is that which something moves through space but doesn’t
rotate. For example, a soccer player kicks a soccer ball. In translational motion, we are
perhaps interested in calculating how fast the ball is moving and the distance it would
cover. However, in the game of soccer, it also important to study how the ball is rotating
around its axis as it also does affect its movement through space.
In rotational motion, similar to translational motion, we will still be discussing
familiar quantities like position or displacement, velocity and acceleration. Many of
the equations we used in our study of rotational motion will surely be familiar to you
already although with some important differences. For example, instead of positions,
there are angles in rotational motion and instead of following points along a line, we
shall look at points along an arc.
Just by using our intuition, we can begin to see how rotational quantities like θ
(theta), ω (omega) and (alpha) are related to one another. For example, if a
motorcycle wheel has a large angular acceleration for a fairly long time, it ends up
spinning rapidly and rotates through many revolutions. In more technical terms, if the
wheel’s angular acceleration, , is large for a long period of time t, then the final
angular velocity, ω, and angle of rotation θ are large. The wheel’s rotational motion is
exactly analogous to the fact that the motorcycle’s large translational acceleration
produces a large final velocity, and the distance traveled will also be large.
Kinematics is the description of motion. The kinematics of rotational motion
describes the relationships among rotation angle, angular velocity, angular
acceleration, and time.
Let us start by finding an equation relating ω, and t. To determine this equation,
we recall a familiar kinematic equation for translational, or straight-line, motion:

v = vo + at ; (a is constant)
Note that in rotational motion a = at, and we shall use the symbol a for tangential
or linear acceleration from now on. As in linear kinematics, we assume a is constant,
which means that the angular acceleration (alpha) is also constant, because a = r .
Now, let us substitute v = rω and a = r into the linear equation above:

rω = rωo + r t
The radius r cancels in the equation, yielding ω = ωo + t, where ωo is the initial
angular velocity. This last equation is a kinematic relationship among ω, and t --- that
is, it describes their relationship without reference to forces or masses that may affect
rotation. It is also precisely analogous in form to its translational counterpart.

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 Kinematics for rotational motion is completely analogous to translational
kinematics. Kinematics is concerned with the description of motion without regard to
force or mass. We will find that translational kinematic quantities, such as displacement,
velocity, and acceleration have direct analogs in rotational motion.

In these equations, the subscript 0 (zero) denotes initial values, and the average
angular velocity , and average velocity are defined as follows:

The equations in the table above can be used to solve any rotational or
translational kinematics problem in which both linear and angular accelerations are
constant.
Before we dive into some practical examples, let discuss about some important
conventions and concepts involving uniform circular motion.

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ROTATION ANGLE

When objects rotate about its axis, for example, when a CD (compact disc) in the
figure below rotates about its center, each point in the object follows a circular path,
an arc. Consider a line from the center of the CD to its edge. Each pit used to record
sound along this line moves through the same angle in the same amount of time. The
rotation angle is the amount of rotation and is analogous to linear distance. We define
the rotation angle Δθ to be the ratio of the arc length Δs, to the radius of curvature:

All points on a CD travel in circular arcs. The pits along a line from the center to
the edge all move through the same angle Δθ in a time Δt.

The arc length Δs is the distance traveled along a circular path as

shown in the figure below. Note that r is the radius of curvature of the
circular path.

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We know that for one complete revolution, the arc length is the circumference of a
circle of radius r. The circumference of a circle is 2πr. Thus for one complete revolution,
the rotation angle is

This result is the basis for defining the units used to measure rotation angles, Δθ to
be radians (rad), defined so that 2π rad = 1 revolution.

A comparison of some useful angles expressed in both degrees and radians is

shown in the table below.

If Δθ = 2π rad, the CD in our example has made one complete revolution, and every
point on the CD is back to its original position. Because there are 360 degrees in a circle
or one revolution, the relationship between radians and degrees is thus, 2π rad = 360
degrees.

So that

ANGULAR VELOCITY
How fast is an object rotating? We define angular speed, ω, as the rate of change
of an angle. In symbols, this is

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where an angular rotation Δθ takes place in a time Δt. The greater the
rotation angle in a given amount of time, the greater the angular velocity.
The units for angular velocity are radians per second (rad/s).
Angular velocity ω is analogous to linear velocity v. To get the
precise relationship between angular and linear velocity, we again
consider a pit on the rotating CD. This pit moves an arc length Δs in a time
Δt, and so it has a linear velocity

From we see that Substituting this into the

expression for v gives

We write this relationship in two different ways and gain two different
insights:

The first relationship in v = rω or ω = v/r states that the linear velocity Is proportional
to the distance from the center of rotation, thus, it is largest for a point on the rim
(largest radius, r)as you might expect. We can also call this linear speed of a point
on the rim as the tangential speed.

The second relationship in v = rω or ω = v/r can be illustrated by considering the

tire of a moving car. Note that the speed of a point on the rim of the tire is the
same as the speed v, of the car. Look at the illustration below. The faster the car
moves, the faster the tire spins --- larger speed, v, means a large ω, because v =
rω. Similarly, a larger-radius tire rotating at the same angular velocity ω, will
produce a greater linear speed for the car.

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 To sum up, angular displacement (θ), is the angle swept out by any line passing
through a rotating body that intersects the axis of rotation. This value is positive if
going counter-clockwise, negative if going clockwise and its SI unit is radians
(sometimes its rpm).

Angular velocity (ω), is derivative of the change of angular displacement over a

change of time. Counterclockwise rotation is positive angular velocity and
negative if clockwise.

Angular acceleration ( ), is the change of angular velocity per unit time and measured
in radians per second squared (rad/s2).

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Discussion points for Example 1:
This example illustrates that relationships among rotational quantities
are highly analogous to those among linear quantities. We also see in
this example how linear and rotational quantities are connected. The
answers to the questions are realistic. After unwinding for 2 seconds, the
reel is found to spin at 220 rad/s, which is 2,100 rpm. The amount of fishing
line played out is 9.00 meters, about right for when the big fish bites .

Example 2:
Now, let us consider what happens if the fisherman applies a brake to the
spinning reel, achieving an angular acceleration of -300 rad/s2. How long
does it take the reel to come to a stop?

Strategy for answering:

We are asked to find the time t for the reel to come to a stop. The
initial and final conditions are different from the previous problem which
involved the same fishing reel. Now we see that the initial angular veloci-
ty is ω0 = 220 rad/s and the final angular velocity ω is zero. The angular
acceleration is given to be = -300 rad/s2. Examining the available
equations, we see all quantities but t are known in ω = ω0 + t, making it
easiest to use this equation.

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Discussion points for Example 2:
Note that care must be taken with signs that indicate the directions of various
quantities. Also, note that the time to stop the reel is fairly small because the
acceleration is rather large. Fishing lines often snap because of the accelerations
involved, and fisherman often let the fish swim for a while before applying brakes on
the reel. A tired fish will be slower, requiring a smaller acceleration.

III. WHAT HAVE I LEARNED

Let’s Check It Out!

Directions: Solve problems enumerated below. Write your answers using separate
answer sheet showing the complete solution steps and box-in your final answers. Five (5)
points for each correct answer.

1. Calculate the angular velocity of a car whose tire radius is 0.300 meter when the
car travels at a linear speed of 15 m/s?

2. Large freight trains accelerates slowly. Suppose one such train accelerates from rest,
giving its 0.350-meter radius wheels angular acceleration of 0.250 rad/s2. After the
wheels have made 200 revolutions (assume no slippage):
a. How far has the train moved down the track? (5 pts)
b. What are the final angular velocity of the wheels and the linear velocity of
the train? (5 pts)

3. Honey decides to use a microwave oven to reheat a slice of pizza she bought a day
back. In the process, a sneaky fly accidentally flies into the microwave and landed
on the outer edge of the rotating plate and remained there. If the plate has a radius
of 0.15 m and rotates at 6.0 rpm, calculate the total distance traveled by the fly during
a 2-minute cooking period. (Ignore the start-up and the slowdown times)

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 REFERENCES

Kinematics of Rotational Motion, Retrieved Sep 29, 2020 from

https://course.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/10-2-kinematics-of-rotational-motion
Earthquake Hazards, Retrieved Sep 29, 2020 from
https://course.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/10--1-angular-acceleration

University Physics 9th Edition 1996, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc.

Authors: Hugh D. Young and Roger A. Freedman, Chapter 9, pp 268-276

General Physics 1st Edition 2018, Department of Education

Authors: Jose Perico H Esguerra PhD, Rommel G. Bacabac PhD, Jo-Ann M. Cordovilla,
Ranziville Marianne L. Roxas-Villanueva PhD and John Keith V. Magali, Chapter 7, pp
135-158

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The information, activities and assessments used in this material are designed to provide accessible
learning modality to the teachers and learners of the Division of Negros Oriental. The contents of this module
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 SYNOPSIS

The physics of motion is considered the oldest branch in natural philosophy

(PHYSICS). Since then, it had developed into one of the major branches in Physics
called Mechanics.
Motion can fairly be described as the changed in position of a particle from a
reference point of observation. This is relative considering that modern astronomy
dictates that “all” is in motion.
Motion is described in terms of velocity, time, distance/displacement and
acceleration. These descriptions do not include size particle and forces that cause
motion.
In this module, common experiences are used to ANSWERS KEY
amplify, clarify and simplify the physical measures of
1. ω = 50.0 rad/s
rotational motion.
To a greater extent, the mathematical
2.a. ω = 25.1 rad/s
description always accompany a verbal explanation. b. v = 8.77 m/s
This is done to further the understanding and practical
applications on the said principles. 3. θ = 12 rev or 75.4
rad
x = 11 m
ABOUT THE AUTHOR/LAY-OUT ARTIST

ANGELO JANRY EMMANUEL D. ISO is a licensed Professional

Teacher stationed in Benedicto P. Tirambulo Memorial National High
School SHS department. He is also a registered Electronics and
Communications Engineer graduated from University of San Carlos,
Cebu City.

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