If the wheel were sliding without friction along the road then that would be true. Then the wheel could be modeled as a point mass M moving past the point of interest at a perpendicular distance R.Warlic said:
I see, thank you. So if the object is not rotating, I can use L=MRV, where R is the distance to the center of mass of the object?gneill said:
Yes. Then it's just a non-rotating rigid body undergoing linear motion.Warlic said:
Yes, L= r x p can be used to find angular momentum in any situation where the position vector and momentum vector are known. It is a general formula that can be applied to any object in motion.
The units for angular momentum when using L= r x p are kilogram-meter squared per second (kg*m2/s).
Yes, the direction of the angular momentum vector does matter. It follows the right hand rule, where the direction of the vector is perpendicular to both the position and momentum vectors.
Yes, L= r x p can be used for both linear and rotational motion. When applied to linear motion, the position and momentum vectors are in the same direction, resulting in a zero angular momentum. When applied to rotational motion, the position and momentum vectors are perpendicular, resulting in a non-zero angular momentum.
Changing the position or momentum vectors will change the magnitude and direction of the angular momentum. This is because L= r x p is a vector equation, meaning any changes to the position or momentum vectors will also change the resulting angular momentum vector.
