Failure of intuition in elementary rigid body dynamics
Physics Education
2009-11-13 v1 Classical Physics
General Physics
Abstract
Suppose a projectile collides perpendicularly with a stationary rigid rod on a smooth horizontal table. We show that, contrary to what one naturally expects, it is not always the case that the rod acquires maximum angular velocity when struck at an extremity. The treatment is intended for first year university students of Physics or Engineering, and could form the basis of a tutorial discussion of conservation laws in rigid body dynamics.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0801.1644,
title = {Failure of intuition in elementary rigid body dynamics},
author = {Nivaldo A. Lemos},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0801.1644},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
Four pages; to appear in European Journal of Physics