Tag Archives: Angular Velocity

Problem 6-5: Calculating the angular velocity of a baseball pitcher’s forearm during a pitch

A baseball pitcher brings his arm forward during a pitch, rotating the forearm about the elbow. If the velocity of the ball in the pitcher’s hand is 35.0 m/s and the ball is 0.300 m from the elbow joint, what is the angular velocity of the forearm?

Solution:

We are given the linear velocity of the ball in the pitcher’s hand, $v=35.0\ \text{m/s}$ , and the radius of the curvature, $r=0.300 \ \text{m}$ . Linear velocity $v$ and angular velocity $\omega$ are related by

v=r\omega \ \text{or} \ \omega=\frac{v}{r}

If we substitute the given values into our formula, we can solve for the angular velocity directly. That is,

\begin{align*} \omega & = \frac{v}{r} \\ \\ \omega & = \frac{35.0 \ \text{m/s}}{0.300 \ \text{m}} \\ \\ \omega & = 116.6667 \ \text{rad/s} \\ \\ \omega & = 117 \ \text{rad/s} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

The angular velocity of the forearm is about 117 radians per second.

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Problem 6-4: Period, angular velocity, and linear velocity of the Earth

(a) What is the period of rotation of Earth in seconds? (b) What is the angular velocity of Earth? (c) Given that Earth has a radius of 6.4×10⁶ m at its equator, what is the linear velocity at Earth’s surface?

Solution:

Part A

The period of a rotating body is the time it takes for 1 full revolution. The Earth rotates about its axis, and complete 1 full revolution in 24 hours. Therefore, the period is

\begin{align*} \text{Period} & = 24 \ \text{hours} \\ \\ \text{Period} & = 24 \ \text{hours} \times \frac{3600 \ \text{seconds}}{1 \ \text{hour}} \\ \\ \text{Period} & = 86400 \ \text{seconds} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

Part B

The angular velocity $\omega$ is the rate of change of an angle,

\omega = \frac{\Delta \theta}{\Delta t},

where a rotation $\Delta \theta$ takes place in a time $\Delta t$ .

From the given problem, we are given the following: $\Delta \theta = 2\pi \text{radian} = 1 \ \text{revolution}$ , and $\Delta t =24\ \text{hours} = 1440 \ \text{minutes}= 86400 \ \text{seconds}$ . Therefore, the angular velocity is

\begin{align*} \omega & = \frac{\Delta\theta}{\Delta t} \\ \\ \omega & = \frac{1 \ \text{revolution}}{1440 \ \text{minutes}}\\ \\ \omega & = 6.94 \times 10^{-4}\ \text{rpm}\ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

We can also express the angular velocity in units of radians per second. That is

\begin{align*} \omega & = \frac{\Delta\theta}{\Delta t} \\ \\ \omega & = \frac{2\pi \ \text{radian}}{86400 \ \text{seconds}}\\ \\ \omega & = 7.27 \times 10^{-5}\ \text{radians/second}\ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

Part C

The linear velocity $v$ , and the angular velocity $\omega$ are related by the formula

v = r \omega

From the given problem, we are given the following values: $r=6.4 \times 10^{6} \ \text{meters}$ , and $\omega = 7.27 \times 10^{-5}\ \text{radians/second}$ . Therefore, the linear velocity at the surface of the earth is