PHY 2020 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Speed, Moment Of Inertia, Acceleration
Document Summary
Linear speed, which we simply called speed in earlier chapters, is the distance traveled per unit of time. A point on the outside edge of a merry-go-round or turntable travels a greater distance in one complete rotation than does a point nearer the center. Linear speed is greater on the outer edge of a rotating object than it is closer to the axis. The linear speed of something moving along a circular path can be called tangential speed because the direction of motion is tangent to the circumference of the circle. Units of linear or tangential speed are usually m/s or km/h. Rotational speed (sometimes called angular speed) is the number of rotations or revolutions per unit of time. It is common to express rotational rates in revolutions per minutes (rpm) We say that tangential speed is directly proportional to rotational speed at any fixed distance from the axis of rotation.
