Understanding my Physics Book

In summary, the conversation is about a sample problem in a physics book that involves finding the linear acceleration of a rod with an angular acceleration of 3g/4. The conversation discusses using the equation a = \alpha R and clarifies why L/2 is used in determining torque due to the weight of the rod.
  • #1
UrbanXrisis
1,196
1
The sample problem in my physics book that I do not understand is http://home.earthlink.net/~urban-xrisis/clip001.jpg [Broken]

The only thing that I do not understand is the LAST sentance...
For example,the middle of the rod has an acceleration of 3g/4

I'm pretty sure that they are talking about the centripetal acceleration but they do not show how they got it. The book stops there. Any ideas of how they got 3g/4?
 
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  • #2
Yes,[tex] \alpha=\frac{3g}{2L} [/tex]

.So for the middle of the rod,the linear acceleration is:

[tex] a=\alpha\times\frac{L}{2} [/tex]

which gives the answer you asked about.

Daniel.
 
  • #3
why was (L/2) used for the original equation that asked for the linear acceleration of the whole rod?
 
  • #4
UrbanXrisis said:
why was (L/2) used for the original equation that asked for the linear acceleration of the whole rod?
What equation are you referring to? While the rod has a single angular acceleration, the linear acceleration varies along the length (as Daniel illustrated): [itex]a = \alpha R[/itex], where R is the distance from the pivot.

L/2 is used in determining the torque due to the weight of the rod, which acts at the center of mass.
 

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