Converting a screw's linear speed to rotational

AI Thread Summary
To convert a screw's linear speed to its rotational speed, the pitch of the screw thread is crucial, as it determines how far the nut moves with each revolution. Given a linear speed of 0.3 m/sec and a pitch of 4mm, the formula involves calculating the revolutions per second (RPS) based on the distance the nut travels. By determining that the nut needs to travel 300mm, the calculations yield 75 RPS, which converts to 4500 RPM. This method effectively illustrates the relationship between axial speed and rotational speed. The final calculation of 4500 RPM is confirmed as accurate.
Femme_physics
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Suppose I have a screw that makes some sort of frictionless ball bearing move at 0.3 m/sec

That means that to find the RPM of the screw I do

pi x mean diameter of the screw x rotation per minutes / 60000

and I get the answer?
 
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You need to know the pitch of the screw thread. eg how many turns per meter.

If the thread has a very coarse pitch the ball will move a long way for each revolution. If the thread has a very fine pitch it will move only a short distance for each revolution.

EDIT: I assume by "linear speed" you mean the speed along the threaded rod parallel to it's axis not the velocity around the rod? Perhaps I misunderstand what you mean?
 
By linear speed I do mean axial speed, yes.

I know the pitch (it's 4mm)

I just can't find the formula that relates it to rotational speed, taking the axial speed of the nut into consideration
 
The pitch is the distance the nut will move if the screw rotates once.

So you can work out how many times it rotates for the nut to travel 300 mm.

This gives revs per second, so you can work out how many revs per minute that is.
 
4mm x RPS = 300mm
RPS = 75
RPM = 75 x 60 = 4500 [RPM]

Is that right?
 
Femme_physics said:
4mm x RPS = 300mm
RPS = 75
RPM = 75 x 60 = 4500 [RPM]

Is that right?

4500 RPM looks good.
 
Thank you all :-)
 
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