Question

A beetle with a mass of 15.0 g is initially at rest on the outer edge of a horizontal turntable that is also initially at rest. The turntable, which is free to rotate with no friction about an axis through its center, has a mass of 75.0 g and can be treated as a uniform disk. The beetle then starts to walk around the edge of the turntable, traveling at an angular velocity of 0.0500 rad/s clockwise with respect to the turntable.

What is the angular velocity of the turntable (with respect to you)? Use a positive sign if the answer is clockwise, and a negative sign if the answer is counter-clockwise.

Answer 1

- 8.33 x 10⁻³ rad /s ( anticlockwise)

Step-by-step explanation:

The rotational movement of beetle and turntable is caused by torque generated by internal forces , we can apply conservation of angular momentum.

That is ,

I₁ ω₁ = I₂ω₂ , ω₁ and ω₂ are angular velocity of beetle and turntable respectively.

ω₁ + ω₂ = .05 radian /s ( given )

Momentum of inertia of beetle I₁ = mass x (distance from axis)²

= 15 x 10⁻³ x R² ( R is radius of the turntable )

Momentum of inertia of turntable I₂ =1/2 mass x (distance from axis)²

= 75/2 x 10⁻³ x R² ( R is radius of the turntable )

I₁ ω₁ = I₂ω₂ ,

15 x 10⁻³ x R² x ( .05 - ω₂ ) = 75/2 x 10⁻³ x R² ω₂

15 x ( .05 - ω₂ ) = 75/2 x ω₂

.75 - 15ω₂ = 37.5ω₂

.75 = 52.5 ω₂

ω₂ = - 14.3 x 10⁻³ rad /s ( anticlockwise)