- #1
Kites
- 39
- 0
Homework Statement
Consider a particle of mass m and a particle of mass 2m. They are connected by a horizontal, massless, rigid rod of length 2a. The rod is fixed to a vertical stick that connects to the rod's midpoint. The stick is spinning with constant angular speed.
Consider a point P, located on the stick a distance d below the rod. Show that angular momentum of the two particle system, when taken about point P, is not conserved.
Homework Equations
L = r X p
theta = 90 degrees
The Attempt at a Solution
So what I've done is find angular momentum for either mass, separately.
Doing the following:
L_1 = R x P
= |r||p| sin(theta)
= (a^2+d^2)^(1/2)* ma(omega)
L_2 = R x P
= |r||p| sin(theta)
= (a^2+d^2)^(1/2)*2ma(omega)
What I want to do... by intuition... is just add these two together. but they're magnitudes not vectors... so i am a bit confused if I can.
If not, what the heck do I do?
Last edited: