Angular velocity of a merry go round after a child has jumped onto it

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on calculating the angular velocity of a merry-go-round after a child jumps onto it. The merry-go-round has a diameter of 2.85 m, a mass of 212 kg, and is initially spinning at 22.5 rpm. The child, weighing 33.7 kg and running at 5.76 m/s, jumps onto the edge, prompting a need to apply the conservation of angular momentum principle. Participants debate the correct moment of inertia formula for the merry-go-round, ultimately agreeing on using 1/2MR^2 for a uniform disk. After correcting initial calculation errors, the final angular velocity is determined to be approximately 2.76 rad/s.
Tina20
Messages
37
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



A merry-go-round is a common piece of playground equipment. A 2.85 m diameter merry-go-round with a mass of 212.0 kg is spinning at 22.5 rpm. John runs tangent to the merry-go-round at 5.76 m/s, in the same direction that it is turning, and jumps onto the outer edge. John's mass is 33.7 kg. What is the merry-go-round's angular velocity, in rad/s, after John jumps on?

Homework Equations



Iiwi = Ifwf

where i = initial, f = final
I = moment of inertia
w = angular velocity

The Attempt at a Solution



Ijwj = Ifwf
Ijohn*wjohn = (Ijohn + Imgr)wf

I know that momentum of John = Iw = mvr, so

mvr = (Ijohn + Imgr)wf

Ijohn = mr^2 where r is the radius of the merry go round
Imgr --> I don;t know how to calculate the moment of inertia of the merry go round...is it mr^2 or do I assume that the merry go round is like a disk with its axis about the center being 1/2MR^2?

Then I need to solve for wf...I did that, but unfortunately I got the wrong answer. Is my equation set up incorrectly? Or it may be that my moment of inertia for the merry go round is incorrect.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Looks good. I would use the 1/2MR^2 since no better value is given.
A little over 3 for angular velocity?
 
Yeah, that's what I got but the computer says its wrong :( Any ideas why?
 
Don't know. Might be worth comparing our answers.
Since the question is pretty casual about moment of inertia, I wonder if the person's mass is supposed to be simply added to the mass of the merry-go-round, assuming the whole thing is a uniform disk?
 
Ok, so I tried adding John's weight and the weight of the merry-go-round and inputted that as the weight for the moment of inertia final. Below is my calculation. It is still wrong. I think I need to incorporate the initial momentum of the merry-go round and john's initial momentum as well?

Ijwj = (Imgr+j)(wf)
mvr = 1/2MR^2(wf)
(33.7)(5.76)(1.425) = 1/2(212+33.5)(1.425)^2(wf)
276.609 = 249.259wf
1.109 = wf

The above answer is wrong. Would this seem like an ideal equation to solve the question:

Iiwi = Ifwf
Ijwj + (Imgr)(wmgr) = (Imgr + j)wf
mvr + (1/2MR^2)w = 1/2(Mmgr + Mj)R^2 *wf
 
Iiwi = Ifwf
Ijwj + (Imgr)(wmgr) = (Imgr + j)wf
276.6 + 507 = (.5*M*r² + m*r²)wf
783.6 = (.5*212 + 33.7)r²*wf
783.6 = 139.7*1.425²*wf
2.76 = wf

The first time through I got 3.12 due to using .5*106 instead of .5*212; just one of those slips!
 
Thank you so much, it worked!

Two questions left for me to solve today :)
 
Back
Top