How Do Forces Act on Rotating Masses in a Parallelepiped?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a physics problem involving a massless rectangular parallelepiped with equal masses at its vertices, rotating around its major diagonal with a constant angular velocity. Participants are exploring the forces acting on the vertices along the axis of rotation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants are questioning the nature of the forces acting on the rotating masses, particularly in relation to the concept of centripetal forces. There is confusion regarding the implications of finding forces on the vertices and whether this relates to torque and angular velocity.

Discussion Status

Some participants have offered insights into the types of forces involved, specifically centripetal forces, and are discussing the setup of the problem. There is an ongoing exploration of the geometry of the parallelepiped and how it affects the forces acting on the masses.

Contextual Notes

Participants are considering the assumption that the parallelepiped is a wire-frame structure and are discussing the implications of this on the forces experienced by the rotating masses. There is also a focus on the distances of the particles from the axis of rotation as a relevant factor in the problem.

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I have this question I am having trouble with.
A massless rectangular parallelepiped with sides [tex]a, a[/tex] and [tex]\sqrt{a}[/tex] has equal masses attached to its vertices. It is rotating around its major diagonal with a constant velocity [tex]\Omega[/tex]. Find the forces acting on the two vertices on the axis of rotation.
I'm confused by the fact that I am trying to find a force even though its rotating with a constant angular velocity. Would this force not create a torque hence changing the angular velocity.
A hint or bit of explanation to get me going would be very helpful please :smile:
 
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Can you say what forces are acting on any of the masses ?
 
Centripetal forces? But if that is the case, why does it say find the force acting on the two VERTICES. That confuses me... Or is vertices correct? If so then the problem is basicall one of finding the distance of each particle from axis of rotation yea?
 
Yes. It's centripetal forces that are acting on the masses that are not on the axis of rotation.

I'm asssuming that the parallelepiped is a wire-frame composed of massless wires where the centripetal force on each rotating mass is resolved along the three wires attached to each vertex/"rotating mass."
These resolved forces will then "meet up" at one of the non-rotating masses.

In addition, you will need to find that distance you mentioned.

This parallelepiped. It is an orthogaonal one, yes ? i.e. a cuboid.
 
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