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hanburger
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Homework Statement
A square shaped block of mass m travels to the right with velocity v on a frctionless surface. The block has side-length 2d. The block hits a very small, immovable obstacle on the floor and starts to tip.
The block has moment of inertia Icm=2/3md^2 about an axis through its center of mass and perpendicular to its face.
Assume the block is traveling slow enough such that it does not tip over. To what maximum height does the block's center-of-mass rise?
Please see included picture below. I also uploaded it to imgur (http://imgur.com/qptv9Iw)
Homework Equations
Conservation of Angular Momentum
L_i = L_f
L_i = Iw + mrvsin(theta)
The Attempt at a Solution
I took the axis to be the obstacle on the ground. This gave me an initial angular momentum of L_i = mvd. For the final angular momentum, I have I_square*omega. I was thinking that omega would equal v/h. Since this approach was not correct, I attempted to use conservation of energy, even though I don't think conservation of energy applies in this case because I think the obstacle absorbs some of the energy of the square. I solved for omega using the first approach then plugged it into my conservation of energy equation (setting the gain in gravitational potential energy equal to the square's rotational energy). Still have yet to reach a solution.
This question may be more (or less) complicated than I think but I just can't get it. I'll appreciate any help or tips!
http://imgur.com/qptv9Iw
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