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Imagine riding On a merry-go-round at the center. As you walk to the outer edge, the merry-go-round slows in order to conserve angular momentum. True or false?

User Beewest
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Answer: True

Step-by-step explanation:
When riding at the center, the angular momentum is
Iω²
where I = rotational inertia
ω = angular velocity.

When you move away from the center to a radius r, you add to the rotational inertia by mr², where m is your mass.
The new rotational inertia becomes I + mr².

If the new angular velocity is ω₁. then
(I + mr²)ω₁² = Iω²
Therefore
ω₁² = Iω²/(I + mr²)

Therefore ω₁ < ω in order to conserve angular momentum.

User Nitin Savant
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