Angular Momentum: mud hitting door

In summary, a 1.00m wide and 2.00m high solid wood door with a mass of 42.0kg is struck at its center by a 0.500kg mass of sticky mud traveling at 14.0m/s. To find the angular speed of the door after impact, the initial angular momentum of the system must equal the final angular momentum, with the door and mud each having their own moment of inertia. The moment of inertia for the door can be calculated as 1/3 of its mass multiplied by the square of its radius, which is 1.00m in this case. With this calculation, the final angular speed of the door is found to be 0.966 rad
  • #1
PirateFan308
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Homework Statement


A solid wood door 1.00m wide and 2.00m high is hinged along one side and has a total mass of 42.0kg. Initially open and at rest, the door is struck at its center by a handful of sticky mud with mass 0.500kg, traveling perpendicular to the door at 14.0m/s just before impact.
Find the angular speed of the door.


Homework Equations


[itex]L_{initial}=L_{final}[/itex]

[itex]L=Iw=rp[/itex]


The Attempt at a Solution


[itex]L_{initial}=L_{door}+L_{mud}=0+mvr=(0.5)(14)(0.5)=3.5[/itex]

[itex]L_{final}=I_{total}+w_{f}[/itex]

[itex]I_{total}=I_{door}+I_{mud}[/itex]

I'm not sure how to calculate [itex]I_{door}[/itex], which gets me stuck here.
I had read online that it is:

[itex]I_{door}=\frac{1}{3}(42)(0.5)^2=3.5[/itex]

Mud I know:

[itex]I_{mud}=Iw=(0.5)(0.5)^2=1.125[/itex]

Assuming I calculated the door correctly,

[itex]L_{initial}=L_{final}[/itex]

[itex]3.5=(3.5+0.125)w_{f}[/itex]

[itex]w_{f}=0.966[/itex]

But this is wrong, and I'm not sure where I messed up. Thanks in advance!
 
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  • #2
I figured out the correct answer, but in order to get it, I needed to say that

[itex]I_{door}=\frac{1}{3}(42)(1)^{2}[/itex]

I don't understand why I should use 1 for the radius of the door, when the force was applied to the centre of the door.
 

Related to Angular Momentum: mud hitting door

1. What is Angular Momentum?

Angular momentum is a physical quantity that describes the rotational motion of an object. It is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction, and is dependent on an object's mass, velocity, and distance from its axis of rotation.

2. How is Angular Momentum related to mud hitting a door?

In the case of mud hitting a door, the mud has both linear and rotational motion. When the mud hits the door, it sticks to the surface and starts rotating around the point of impact. This rotational motion is described by the concept of angular momentum.

3. What happens to the Angular Momentum when the mud hits the door?

According to the principle of conservation of angular momentum, the total angular momentum of a system remains constant unless acted upon by an external torque. This means that the angular momentum of the mud before and after hitting the door will be the same.

4. How does the mass of the mud affect the Angular Momentum?

The mass of the mud affects the angular momentum in two ways. First, the more massive the mud is, the greater its initial angular momentum will be. Second, the mass of the mud determines how much torque is needed to change its angular momentum.

5. What is the relationship between Angular Momentum and the distance from the axis of rotation?

The closer an object is to the axis of rotation, the smaller its angular momentum will be. This is because the distance from the axis of rotation is a factor in the calculation of angular momentum. Therefore, the closer the object is to the axis, the smaller the lever arm and the smaller the angular momentum.

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