A child sitting at the edge of a merry-go-round moves towards the center. What happens to the angular momentum of the system?

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Q: A child sitting at the edge of a merry-go-round moves towards the center. What happens to the angular momentum of the system?

Solution: Angular momentum remains constant if no external torque acts on the system.

Steps: 6

Step 1: Understand what angular momentum is. It is a measure of how much motion an object has when it is rotating around a point.
Step 2: Recognize that the child is moving from the edge of the merry-go-round towards the center.
Step 3: Know that when the child moves towards the center, they are changing their distance from the center of rotation.
Step 4: Remember that angular momentum depends on both the mass of the child and their distance from the center.
Step 5: If no outside forces (torques) are acting on the merry-go-round, the total angular momentum of the system must stay the same.
Step 6: As the child moves closer to the center, they will spin faster to keep the angular momentum constant.