This is an old revision of the document!
Example: Rotational Angular Momentum of a Bicycle Wheel
A bicycle wheel has a mass of 0.8kg and a radius of 32cm. If the wheel rotates in the xz plane, spinning clockwise when viewed from the +y axis, and making one full revolution in 0.75 seconds, what is the rotational angular momentum of the wheel?
Facts
Lacking
Approximations & Assumptions
Representations
Solution
The direction of $\vec{\omega}$ is -y.
$I = MR^{2} = (0.8kg)(0.32m)^2 = 0.082 kg \cdot m^2$
$\omega = \frac{2\pi}{0.75s} = 8.38 s^{-1}$
$\mid\vec{L}_{rot}\mid$ = $(0.082 kg \cdot m^2)(8.38 s^{-1}) = 0.69 kg \cdot m^2/s$
$\vec{L}_{rot} = \langle 0, -0.69, 0 \rangle kg \cdot m^2/s$