Final answer:
To calculate the required torque to stop a flywheel, one must determine the initial angular velocity, calculate the angular deceleration, and apply Newton's second law for rotation using the moment of inertia for a disk.
Step-by-step explanation:
Stopping a Flywheel with a Torque
The question requires solving for the constant torque needed to bring a spinning flywheel to a stop within a given time. To find this torque, one must understand the concepts of rotational motion, specifically angular acceleration and torque in the realm of Physics. The flywheel's initial angular velocity (ωi) can be determined from its given rotational speed in revolutions per minute (rpm) and converting that to radians per second. The final angular velocity (ωf) will be zero since the flywheel comes to a stop. The angular deceleration can be found by dividing the change in angular velocity by the time interval. Finally, the torque (τ) can be found using Newton's second law for rotation: τ = I*α, where I is the moment of inertia of the disk and α is the angular acceleration.
Since a disk's moment of inertia is given by I = 0.5*M*r2, where M is the mass and r is the radius of the flywheel, we can apply the formula with the known values provided. The challenge is rooted in applying the correct Physics formulas and converting units appropriately to arrive at the torque required to stop the flywheel.