A child on a merry-go-round moves from the edge to the center. What happens to the angular momentum of the system?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
A child on a merry-go-round moves from the edge to the center. What happens to the angular momentum of the system?
Increases
Decreases
Remains the same
Becomes zero
Angular momentum is conserved; it remains the same as there are no external torques.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: A child on a merry-go-round moves from the edge to the center. What happens to the angular momentum of the system?
Solution: Angular momentum is conserved; it remains the same as there are no external torques.
Steps: 5
Step 1: Understand what angular momentum is. It is a measure of how much motion an object has when it is rotating.
Step 2: Recognize that the child is moving from the edge of the merry-go-round to the center.
Step 3: Note that there are no outside forces (external torques) acting on the merry-go-round system.
Step 4: Remember the principle of conservation of angular momentum, which states that if no external torques act on a system, its total angular momentum remains constant.
Step 5: Conclude that as the child moves to the center, the angular momentum of the system does not change.
