Recent content by zizzle

Ah, I understand now! I'm not sure why that was difficult for me to wrap my head around, since I've dealt with "split problems" just like this one in linear motion scenarios. As soon as rotational motion comes into play, my brain seems to shut off. Thanks so much for the help :)

So, I got the correct answer, but I still have some questions. I first realized that angular momentum would be conserved (even though the energy wasn't conserved until after the hit). So Li=mvir, and Lf=Iwf+vfmr. Thus mvir=Iwf+vfmr. Solving for vi...

Assuming no friction, it'd keep moving in a circle forever due to conservation of angular momentum, would that tie into anything? Would I have to use rotational kinematics? I can't seem to find a way to do that since the angular acceleration wouldn't be constant, right? (due to the weight force...

For this problem, since the weight force on the "particle" (child) is not always aligned with the tangential circular path of the disks, I couldn't think of a way to use rotational kinematics equations. As such, I tried to solve the problem using work principles (namely, that the change in...