Scattering A Rigit Straw

As shown in the diagram above, a uniform, rigid, U-shaped straw frame of uniform mass density rests on a frictionless horizontal surface. The straw has three sides, each of length 2 a . 2a.

Suddenly, an impulse J J is applied to one of its sides, as indicated by the red arrow. Let ω \omega be the angular velocity of the system, and v P v_P be the velocity of point P P at the moment the system has rotated through 9 0 90^\circ .

Find the ratio ω / v P \omega / v_P (in units of rad / m \si[per-mode=symbol]{\radian\per\meter} ).

Details and Assumptions:

  • a = 9 m . a = \SI[per-mode=symbol]{9}{\meter}.
  • P P is the midpoint of A B . AB.


The answer is 0.2.

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1 solution

Mark Hennings
Nov 10, 2016

Set up a coordinate system so that the vertices of the frame are (initiialy) at ( a , 0 ) (-a,0) , ( a , 2 a ) (-a,2a) , ( a , 2 a ) (a,2a) , ( a , 0 ) (a,0) . Then the centre of mass of the frame has coordinates ( 0 , 4 3 a ) (0,\tfrac43a) . If each straight section of the frame has mass m m ,.then each "side arm" of the frame has moment of inertia 1 3 m a 2 + m ( ( 1 3 a ) 2 + a 2 ) = 13 9 m a 2 \tfrac13ma^2 + m\big((\tfrac13a)^2 + a^2\big) \; = \; \tfrac{13}{9}ma^2 about the frame's centre of mass, while the "central arm" of the frame as moment of inertia 1 3 m a 2 + m ( 2 3 a ) 2 = 7 9 m a 2 \tfrac13ma^2 + m\big(\tfrac23a\big)^2 \; = \; \tfrac79ma^2 about the frame's centre of mass, and hence the whole frame has moment of inertia 11 3 m a 2 \tfrac{11}{3}ma^2 about its centre of mass. If the velocity of the centre of mass after the collision is ( 0 , V ) (0,V) , and if the angular velocity after the collision is ω \omega , then J = 3 m V 11 3 m a 2 ω = J a J \; = \; 3mV \hspace{2cm} \tfrac{11}{3} ma^2\omega \; = \; Ja so that V = 1 3 m J ω = 3 11 m a J V \; = \; \tfrac{1}{3m}J \hspace{2cm} \omega \; = \; \tfrac{3}{11ma}J and so the velocity of P P , after a 9 0 90^\circ turn, is ( 0 , v P ) (0,v_P) , where v P = V 2 3 a ω = 5 33 m J v_P \; = \; V - \tfrac23a \omega \; = \; \tfrac{5}{33m}J and hence ω v P = 9 5 a = 0.2 \tfrac{\omega}{v_P} \; = \; \tfrac{9}{5a} \; = \; \boxed{0.2}

its exactly the intended solution :)

Prakhar Bindal - 4 years, 7 months ago

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