Retired Physics Curriculum: Rotational Mechanics

Objectives, reading, homework and equations for the unit.

I always started with a quick leccture on the rotational variables, and then basic questions.

Then a quick lecture kconnecting the rotational variables to the linear variables, with problems.

An easy lab to get a conceptual feeling of torque. Then It will be officially defined.

These are all static problems so the net torque is always zero.

A lab to find the reelationship between torque and acceleration.

Some initial (non-calculus) questions on moment of inertia.

This just does out the integrals to determine the moments of inertia for a few shapes.

Shows that the kinetic energy of an object is broken down into a translational part and a rotational part.

A mass hanging from a string wrapped around a bicycle wheel. I gave the Logger Pro data for the mass falling, and asked for the moment of inertia of the wheel. I gave the data because I did not have a class set of bicycle wheels.

Problems involving rolling.

Conceptual questions looking at the direction of friction when an object rolls. This can be pretty tricky actually.

Simple lab involving a rotational collision.

This uses ballistic pendulums that go with the rotaty motion sensors.

Just some pictures to help remember the right hand rules.

These are 4 reasonably involved questions. No rolling or angular momentum, but lots of torques, energy and moments of inertia.

I wrote this after it showed up on an AP exam, which I think is a little ridiculous.

I like this, but it is a little long as written. It looks at diferent shapes rolling down an incline.