CHAPTER 5
  ToC


 
 

MECHANICAL SYSTEMS
Overview      Phenomena      Activities      Readings      Materials







 

What this chapter is all about…

 
 

Here we introduce rotational and translational motion in analogy to fluids and electricity. In mechanical processes, objects exchange spin (angular momentum) and/or quantity of motion (momentum), respectively. The principles of balance of spin and momentum are at the heart of the phenomenon of motion. Nature provides us with many examples of motion. Fly-wheels, clock pendulums, bungee jumping, train switching, or space travel will serve as intersting cases that provide the background for our study of motion.

 

 

Phenomena and applications…

 
 

Rotational collisions. Fly-wheels and energy. Torsion oscillators and resonance. Collision with magnets. Falling muffin cups. Steel balls bouncing on a cushion of air. Bungee jumping. Projectile motion. Wave propagation in air. Rolling cylinders. Physical pendulums. An inverted pendulum and chaos. Starting rockets at the surface of the Earth. Parking spacecraft at L2. And much more…