# 10.7 Newton’s second law for rotation

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By the end of this section, you will be able to:
• Calculate the torques on rotating systems about a fixed axis to find the angular acceleration
• Explain how changes in the moment of inertia of a rotating system affect angular acceleration with a fixed applied torque

In this section, we put together all the pieces learned so far in this chapter to analyze the dynamics of rotating rigid bodies. We have analyzed motion with kinematics and rotational kinetic energy but have not yet connected these ideas with force and/or torque. In this section, we introduce the rotational equivalent to Newton’s second law of motion and apply it to rigid bodies with fixed-axis rotation.

## Newton’s second law for rotation

We have thus far found many counterparts to the translational terms used throughout this text, most recently, torque, the rotational analog to force. This raises the question: Is there an analogous equation to Newton’s second law, $\Sigma \stackrel{\to }{F}=m\stackrel{\to }{a},$ which involves torque and rotational motion? To investigate this, we start with Newton’s second law for a single particle rotating around an axis and executing circular motion. Let’s exert a force $\stackrel{\to }{F}$ on a point mass m that is at a distance r from a pivot point ( [link] ). The particle is constrained to move in a circular path with fixed radius and the force is tangent to the circle. We apply Newton’s second law to determine the magnitude of the acceleration $a=F\text{/}m$ in the direction of $\stackrel{\to }{F}$ . Recall that the magnitude of the tangential acceleration is proportional to the magnitude of the angular acceleration by $a=r\alpha$ . Substituting this expression into Newton’s second law, we obtain

$F=mr\alpha .$

Multiply both sides of this equation by r ,

$rF=m{r}^{2}\alpha .$

Note that the left side of this equation is the torque about the axis of rotation, where r is the lever arm and F is the force, perpendicular to r . Recall that the moment of inertia for a point particle is $I=m{r}^{2}$ . The torque applied perpendicularly to the point mass in [link] is therefore

$\tau =I\alpha .$

The torque on the particle is equal to the moment of inertia about the rotation axis times the angular acceleration . We can generalize this equation to a rigid body rotating about a fixed axis.

## Newton’s second law for rotation

If more than one torque acts on a rigid body about a fixed axis, then the sum of the torques equals the moment of inertia times the angular acceleration:

$\sum _{i}{\tau }_{i}=I\alpha .$

The term $I\alpha$ is a scalar quantity and can be positive or negative (counterclockwise or clockwise) depending upon the sign of the net torque. Remember the convention that counterclockwise angular acceleration is positive. Thus, if a rigid body is rotating clockwise and experiences a positive torque (counterclockwise), the angular acceleration is positive.

[link] is Newton’s second law for rotation    and tells us how to relate torque, moment of inertia, and rotational kinematics. This is called the equation for rotational dynamics    . With this equation, we can solve a whole class of problems involving force and rotation. It makes sense that the relationship for how much force it takes to rotate a body would include the moment of inertia, since that is the quantity that tells us how easy or hard it is to change the rotational motion of an object.

What is concept associated with linear motion
what will happen to vapor pressure when you add solute to a solution?
how is freezing point depression different from boiling point elevation?
shane
how is the osmotic pressure affect the blood serum?
shane
what is the example of colligative properties that seen in everyday living?
shane
What is motion
moving place to place
change position with respect to surrounding
to which
to where ?
the phenomenon of an object to changes its position with respect to the reference point with passage of time then it is called as motion
Shubham
it's just a change in position
festus
reference point -it is a fixed point respect to which can say that a object is at rest or motion
Shubham
yes
Shubham
Is there any calculation for line integral in scalar feild?
yes I'm available
Mharsheeraz
what is thrust
when an object is immersed in liquid, it experiences an upward force which is called as upthrust.
Phanindra
@Phanindra Thapa No, that is buoyancy that you're talking about...
Shii
thrust is simply a push
Shii
it is a force that is exerted by liquid.
Phanindra
what is the difference between upthrust and buoyancy?
misbah
The force exerted by a liquid is called buoyancy. not thrust. there are many different types of thrust and I think you should Google it instead of asking here.
Sharath
hey Kumar, don't discourage somebody like that. I think this conversation is all about discussion...remember that the more we discuss the more we know...
festus
thrust is an upward force acting on an object immersed in a liquid.
festus
uptrust and buoyancy are the same
akanbi
Shii
a Thrust is simply a push
Shii
the perpendicular force applied on the body
Shubham
how did astromers neasure the mass of earth and sun
wats the simplest and shortest formula to calc. for order of magnitude
papillas
Distinguish between steamline and turbulent flow with at least one example of each
what is newtons first law
It state that an object in rest will continue to remain in rest or an object in motion will continue to remain in motion except resultant(unbalanced force) force act on it
Gerald
Thanks Gerald Fokumla
Theodore
Gerald
it states that a body remains in its state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by resultant external force.
festus
it that a body continues to be in a state of rest or in straight line in a motion unless there is an external force acting on it
Usman
derive the relation above
formula for find angular velocity
w=v^2/r
Eric
Why satellites don't fall on earth? Reason?
because space doesn't have gravity
Evelyn
satellites technically fall to earth but they travel parallel to earth so fast that they orbit instead if falling(plus the gravity is also weaker in the orbit). its a circular motion where the centripetal force is the weight due to gravity
Kameyama
Exactly everyone what is gravity?
the force that attrats a body towards the center of earth,or towards any other physical body having mass
hina
That force which attracts or pulls two objects to each other. A body having mass has gravitational pull. If the object is bigger in mass then it's gravitational pull would be stronger.For Example earth have gravitational pull on other objects that is why we are pulled by earth.
Abdur
Gravity is the force that act on a on body to the center of the earth.
Aguenim
what are the application of 2nd law
It's applicable when determining the amount of force needed to make a body to move or to stop a moving body
festus
coplanar force system
how did you get 7.50times
6
Mharsheeraz