Question

Suppose you exert a force of 185 N tangential to the outer edge of a 1.73-m radius 76-kg grindstone (which is a solid disk).

Required:
a. What torque is exerted?
b. What is the angular acceleration assuming negligible opposing friction?
c. What is the angular acceleration if there is an opposing frictional force of 20.0 N exerted 1.50 cm from the axis?

Answer 1

a. 320.06 Nm b. 2.814 rad/s² c. 2.811 rad/s².

Step-by-step explanation:

a. The torque exerted τ = Frsinθ where F = tangential force exerted = 185 N, r = radius of grindstone = 1.73 m and θ = 90° since the force is tangential to the grindstone.

τ = Frsinθ

= 185 N × 1.73 m × sin90°

= 320.05 Nm

So, the torque τ = 320.05 Nm

b. Since torque τ = Iα where I = moment of inertia of grindstone = 1/2MR² where M = mass of grindstone = 76 kg and R = radius of grindstone = 1.73 m

α = angular acceleration of grindstone

τ = Iα

α = τ/I = τ/(MR²/2) = 2τ/MR²

substituting the values of the variables, we have

α = 2τ/MR²

= 2 × 320.05 Nm/[76 kg × (1.73 m)²]

= 640.1 Nm/227.4604 kgm²

= 2.814 rad/s²

So, the angular acceleration α = 2.814 rad/s²

c. The opposing frictional force produces a torque τ' = F'r' where F' = frictional force = 20.0 N and r' = distance of frictional force from axis = 1.50 cm = 0.015 m.

So τ' = F'r' = 20.0 N × 0.015 m = 0.3 Nm

The net torque on the grindstone is thus τ'' = τ - τ' = 320.05 Nm - 0.3 Nm = 319.75 Nm

Since τ'' = Iα

α' = τ''/I where α' = its new angular acceleration

α' = 2τ/MR²

= 2 × 319.75 Nm/[76 kg × (1.73 m)²]

= 639.5 Nm/227.4604 kgm²

= 2.811 rad/s²

So, the angular acceleration α' = 2.811 rad/s²