cylinder on a frictionless inclined plane

jp

I just have a question about cylinder. If a cylinder is on a frictionless inclined plane, does it spin as it comes down? I guess on a level surface, frictional force is required for a cylinder to roll, but I'm not sure about inclined plane.

Doc Al

If the cylinder is started from rest, it will just slide down without rolling. A friction force is required to exert the torque needed to start it spinning about its center.

HallsofIvy

More precisely, since gravitational force acts on every point of the object, it is the same as if it acted only on the "center of gravity"- since the net force is through the center of gravity there is not torque and so no rotation.

himanshu121

Since all the forces are passing through COM and there is no physical interaction due to friction hence it must slide