Recent content by darkSun

Ok cool, that's what I suspected. But they kept talking about solving for the angular velocity along this and that axis, I wasn't sure. But this clears it up for me. So in the Euler equations, it's like -w x L is a pseudotorque, a consequence of looking at the top from its own spinning frame.

Thanks diazona, I guess it was a simple question after all. But that really helped me.

Thanks for your reply, Riyuki. Yes, I do mean angular velocity by wi, maybe I should have written omega_i, I meant the different components of angular velocity. My question was a little more specific, although it was probably poorly worded. In mechanics texts, when the motion of the...

One thing I remember that's interesting is that there is something called Bertrand's theorem, which specifies the conditions under which you can have closed orbits (i.e. orbits that are bounded and which trace themselves), and this can only happen if the potential is proportional to -R-1 or to...

Yeah, doesn't that just correspond to moving with an arbitrary velocity v(t)=vf(t)?

Hello, I have a question about a spinning symmetric top: When the equations of motion are solved, they are solved in two frames--the space frame and the body frame. I understand the space frame, but in the body frame you are looking at the top from a frame that is rotating with it, right? So...

You are right in just adding the two moments of inertia, that is the same as adding their angular momentum together, which you can do: if you imagine the particle was there without the disk, it would have L=mR2w, and the disk would have L=1/2 MR2w, and then to get the total you could just add...

Or would it? I'm not sure I get it, actually.

Ah, and in the case of a function like psi = cos(r*theta*phi) or something, the expansion would be the Taylor Series. thanks dude

This is taken from a text problem, but I am putting it in this section because I think my question goes beyond the problem itself: If a particle has a wave function psi = A*R(r)*cos2 (theta), for example, then if I want to find the probability that its angular momentum is l I would find the...

No problem, I hope to one day be in your position, and experience that feeling. I imagine it must be all the more sweet when you finally solve your problem, after feeling that way.

http://jcs.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/121/11/1771 That might be a good read

Thanks story645. And DarrenM, I'm in the same position because I want to do theoretical physics. But I suppose part of the process involves the professor teaching you, as people have said maybe he'll give you a bunch of stuff to read and/or summarize, and you can ask questions, and write up...

I have similar concerns, so I thought I'd post my questions in here. I want to try to do research as soon as possible, and maybe secure something for the summer. But I'm a freshmen, and I've only finished 1 semester of college. Also, I want to do theoretical physics (in grad school and...

It would help if our teacher made it more intuitive w/ geometry or something... I've had no exposure to topology so this is very new to me. But ill try to think of it like you said, and as an analogue of continuous sets. Thanks