Problem 6-2: Conversion of units from rpm to revolutions per second and radians per second


Microwave ovens rotate at a rate of about 6 rev/min. What is this in revolutions per second? What is the angular velocity in radians per second?


Solution:

This is a problem on conversion of units. We are given a rotation in revolutions per minute and asked to convert this to revolutions per second and radians per second.

For the first part, we are asked to convert 6 rev/min to revolutions per second.

\begin{align*}
\frac{6 \ \text{rev}}{\text{minute}} & =  \frac{6 \ \text{rev}}{\bcancel{\text{minute}}} \times \frac{1 \ \bcancel{\text{minute}}}{60 \ \text{seconds}} \\ \\
& = 0.1 \ \text{rev/second} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right)
\end{align*}

For the next part, we are going to convert 6 rev/min to radians per second.

\begin{align*}
\frac{6 \ \text{rev}}{\text{minute}} & =  \frac{6 \ \bcancel{\text{rev}}}{\bcancel{\text{minute}}} \times \frac{2\pi \ \text{radians}}{1 \ \bcancel{\text{rev}}} \times \frac{1 \ \bcancel{\text{minute}}}{60 \ \text{seconds}} \\ \\
& = 0.6283 \  \text{rad/sec} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right)
\end{align*}

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