Angular Velocity Direction: Perpendicular or Parallel to the Plane of Motion?

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
6 replies · 2K views
Boomzxc
Messages
25
Reaction score
0
Hi all, please help me here!
Im confused, is direction of angular velocity perpendicular to the plane of motion, or along the plane of motion??

From hyperphysics
- http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/rotq.html
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/dpeisla93d6mv71/Screenshot_2015-11-22-09-51-40-1.png?dl=0

And wikipedia
https://www.dropbox.com/s/13g86di3prid46h/Screenshot_2015-11-22-09-37-03-1.png?dl=0

Please also provide explanation if possible!
Thank you!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Boomzxc said:
Hi all, please help me here!
Im confused, is direction of angular velocity perpendicular to the plane of motion, or along the plane of motion??

From hyperphysics
- http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/rotq.html
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/dpeisla93d6mv71/Screenshot_2015-11-22-09-51-40-1.png?dl=0

And wikipedia
https://www.dropbox.com/s/13g86di3prid46h/Screenshot_2015-11-22-09-37-03-1.png?dl=0

Please also provide explanation if possible!
Thank you!
It is perpendicular to the plane of motion (following the right hand rule). This is chosen so that the torque is given by
## \vec{\tau} = I \vec{\alpha} ## and ##\vec{\alpha} = \frac{d\vec{\omega}}{dt} ##.
 
Boomzxc said:
Im confused, is direction of angular velocity perpendicular to the plane of motion, or along the plane of motion??

The rotation is in the plane of motion, but the angular velocity vector is perpendicular to that plane.

##\vec{\omega}=\vec{r} \times \vec{v}##
 
Mister T said:
The rotation is in the plane of motion, but the angular velocity vector is perpendicular to that plane.

##\vec{\omega}=\vec{r} \times \vec{v}##

It is the other way round: ##\vec{v}=\vec{\omega} \times \vec{r} ##

See also
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_velocity

f79c5cb53b731791abb0dc6d12f63d94.png
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Boomzxc
Mister T said:
Oh, yeah! Sorry. Where did that come from?
For the first, see it in a textbook, Landau's Mechanics, for example. For the second, go to the link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_velocity or expand the cross product
##\vec r \times \vec{v}=\vec r \times [\vec{\omega} \times \vec{r}]##
Your formula is dimensionally incorrect.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Boomzxc
I meant, where did my mistake come from. As soon as you pointed it out I saw that of course it's dimensionally incorrect. I suppose I'm so used to dealing with ##\vec{L}=\vec{r} \times \vec{p}## and ##\vec{\tau}=\vec{r} \times \vec{F}## that it just came out of my brain that way.