Divide into threee groups. Each group should select one of Newton's three laws of motion (each group should select a different law) and restate it in a form suitable for circular motion.
Is the total moment of inertia of an object equal to the moments of inertia of its parts?
Pick up a chair or a book. Try to rotate it about different axes. Is the moment of inertia the same about each axis? How can you tell a large moment of inertia from a small one? Discuss the parallel axis theorem on page 281 of the text. Can you think of a body that has the same moment of inertia for all possible axes? If so, give an example. Can you think of a body that has the same moment of inertia for all axes passing through a certain point? If so, give an example and indicate where that point is located.
You hang a thin hoop of radius R over a nail at the rim of the hoop. You displace it to the side through an angle beta from its equilibrium position. What is its angular speed when it returns to its equilibrium position? [Seems simple enough, huh? Hint: this one uses center-of-mass, rotational kinetic energy, energy conservation, moment of inertia, and the parallel axis theorem!]
Put a line of pennies along the length a meter stick. Supporting the stick at one end, let the other end go so the pennies all fall as the meter stick rotates freely about the supported end. Why is it that pennies on the far end of the stick lose contact with the stick while those close to the axis of rotation do not?
The radius of a spoked wagon wheel is 0.300 m, and the rim has a mass of 1.60 kg. Each of the eight spokes, which lie along a diameter and are 0.300 m long, has a mass of 0.320 kg. What is the moment of inertia of the wheel about an axis through its center and perpendicular to the plane of the wheel? (Use the information in Table 9-2 on p. 278 of the text.)
A meter stick with a mass of 0.060 kg is pivoted about one end so that it can rotate without friction about a horizontal axis. The meter stick is held in a horizontal position and released. As it swings through the vertical, calculate a) the change in gravitational potential energy that has occurred; b) the angular velocity of the stick; c) the linear velocity of the end of the stick opposite the axis. d) Compare the answer in part (c) to the speed of a particle that has fallen 1.00 m, starting from rest.