what is angular momentum”
momentum is how we quantify the tendency for an object in (linear) motion to remain in (linear) motion. so momentum tell us how much force we must use (and for how long) to stop the object. angular momentum is how we quantify the tendency for a spinning object to keep spinning. so angular momentum tells us how much torque we must use (and for how long) to stop the object.
From: Dr. Ed G (Avatar) 28/07/99 6:50:44 Subject: re: Angular momentum post id: 26577 Typical, just when I think I have a basic understanding of the Universe, a bloody physical chemist comes along and makes me feel like a goon with a damn fool question like that… oh well, let’s see what a dog’s breakfast I can make of this by trying to nut it out from first principles. I don’t have a textbook that deals with this using integrals, but given that calculus is the only way one can generalise about these sorts of things I’ll try and make it up as I go along… First, the basic definition, which is… Angular momentum is a rotational property of a system that is conserved in all interactions so long as there is no net torque (force acting perpendicular to the centre of mass) acting from outside the system. To quantify the angular momentum of a system we first need to define the centre of mass (I think…) of the system, which is given by, r0 = volume_integral[rho(r).r.dV] / volume_integral
