
Honors Physics 1Class 14 Fall 2013 • The rotating skew rod • Rotational Inertia Tensor • Stability of spinning objects • The spinning top in gravity
The angular momentum vector and angular velocity do not necessarily point in the same direction • Consider a rigid body consisting of two particles of equal mass on the ends of a massless rigid rod of length 2l . The midpoint of the rod is attached to a vertical axis which rotates at angular speed . The rod is skewed at an angle from the axis. Find the angular momentum of the system.
Stability of spinning objects • Applications: Rolling hula hoops, flying saucers, footballs, rifle bullets... F