Mechanics 1 version 1.

1
LECTURE 9 ANGULAR MOTION
9.1

Learning outcomes

You should be able to use the concepts of angular displacement, velocity and acceleration to solve
problems.
You should be able to calculate the cross product of two vectors.
You should be able to relate angular and linear motion.

9.2

Angular displacement

Angular displacement measures the angle and direction in which an object has rotated; the angle is
usually measured in radians (rad) where rad = 180o.
Angular displacement, like linear displacement, can be represented by a vector but now the vector
points along the rotation axis NOT in the direction of rotation. By convention this vector forms part
of a right handed coordinate system. To find its direction, hold your right hand like this:

Then curl your fingers to point in the direction of rotation. Your thumb now points in the direction of
the displacement vector.

later position

starting position

9.3

Angular velocity

Angular velocity is defined by

where t represents time.

Angular velocity is conventionally measured in rad.s-1; like angular displacement, it is a vector.

The modulus of the angular velocity is the angular speed.

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9.4

Angular acceleration

Angular acceleration is defined by

Angular acceleration is conventionally measured in rad.s-2; like angular velocity and displacement, it
is a vector.

9.5

Cross (vector) product of a vector

The cross product of two vectors, a and b, is defined by

.
where is the angle between a and b; u is a vector of unit length such that a, b and u form a righthanded set. This means if you curl the fingers of your right hand (as above) to point the direction of
rotation from a to b, your thumb points in the direction of u. Note that, unlike the dot product which
is a scalar, the cross product of two vectors is a vector.
From this definition, it follows that
.
This is because u points in opposite directions for
product is not commutative.

and

. Unlike the dot product, the cross

It also follows that

.
To speed up your calculations, you may find the diagram below helpful.
i
k

Going in the direction of the arrows (clockwise) produces a positive result for the cross product;
going in the opposite direction (anti-clockwise) gives a negative result.

9.6

Relationship between angular and linear velocity

Consider an object moving in a circular path of radius r. Its speed is given by

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.
To find a relationship between angular and linear velocity consider an object moving around the
circular path shown below.

O
r
v
The position vector of the object, with respect to the centre of the circle at O, is given by r and its
velocity is v. Then points, from O, out of the plane of the paper, towards you; since the circle
remains in the same plane, points in the same direction as . Noting the relationship between
linear and angular speed
.

9.7

Relationship between angular and linear acceleration

, for a circular path (constant r).

9.8

Further reading

Section 16.3 Rotation about a fixed axis in the Dynamics textbook (pp 314-318).

9.9

Work to do

Question 1
a) The magnitude of the angular displacement of an object is given by
rad, where t
represents time measured in seconds. Calculate the magnitude of its angular acceleration.
b) An object has an angular speed of 2 rad.s-1. How far does it rotate in 3 s?
c) An object accelerates from rest with an angular acceleration of 3t rad.s-2, where t represents
time measured in seconds. What is its angular speed after 4 s have elapsed?
d) The radius of an object moving in a spiral path is given by 2At where A is a constant and t
represents time, measured in seconds. What is its angular speed? (When answering this, and
the next question, assume that part of a spiral path resembles an arc of a circle so that the
relationship between and is applicable).
e) The path of a moving object is a logarithmic spiral whose equation is given by
where A and k are constants, t represents time in seconds and r is a polar radius. Calculate
the angular speed of the object and the magnitude of its angular acceleration.
3

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f)

At an instant in time, an object has an angular displacement of , an angular speed of

and a constant angular acceleration . What is its displacement after a time t has elapsed?
In what way does this result look familiar?

Question 2
Calculate the cross products of the following pairs of vectors:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

and
and
and
and
and
and

Question 3
Do problems 3-1 and 3-2 on page 101 of the 2014 Statics textbook.
Question 4
A bar of length 3 m rotates about a fixed pivot. Each rotation takes 2 s. Calculate the speed of the
end of the bar furthest from the pivot.
Question 5
A wheel rotates about a fixed axis. If the plane of the wheel defines the x and y axes of a Cartesian
coordinate system (which, in turn, define the directions of the unit vectors i and j), calculate the
angular velocity and angular acceleration of the wheel, after 10 s have elapsed, if rotates at 30t2 rpm
(revolutions per minute) where t represents time measured in seconds.
Question 6
An object is rotating on a circular path with a velocity
represents time, measured in seconds.

m.s-1 where t

Here i, j and k are unit vectors defining a right-handed coordinate system. At time t = 0, the starting
position of the object is given by
.
Answer the following:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

What is the position vector of the object as a function of t?

What is the radius of the circle?
What is the magnitude of the linear velocity of the object?
What is the magnitude of the angular velocity of the object?
What is the angular velocity and angular acceleration of the object?
Is the object rotating clockwise or anticlockwise?