Final answer:
The high school physics question asks about finding the angular velocity of an assembly after a collision, which can be solved using the conservation of angular momentum. The initial angular momentum is zero and after the collision, it is equal to the moment of inertia times the angular velocity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question addresses a concept within the realm of physics, more specifically within the topic of rotational dynamics and the conservation of angular momentum.
The scenario described involves a collision between a mass m1 and a massless bar, where the aim is to find the angular velocity of the assembly post-collision. To address such a problem, we work within the framework of the law of conservation of angular momentum, which states that if no external torques act on a system, the total angular momentum of the system remains constant.
To find the angular velocity after the collision, we would assume that the initial angular momentum of the system is zero since the bar is at rest.
When mass m1 strikes and adheres to the bar, the angular momentum just after the collision should be equal to the moment of inertia of the system multiplied by the angular velocity. For a point mass that sticks to the end of a rod at a distance r from the pivot, the moment of inertia is m1*r^2, and the conservation of angular momentum requires that m1*u*r = m1*r^2*omega, where u is the initial linear velocity of mass m1 and omega is the angular velocity after the collision.