Sunday, 6 September 2020

homework and exercises - $F=ma$ contest problem on angular momentum



Problem #25 from the 2009 $F=ma$ contest:




Two discs are mounted on thin, lightweight rods oriented through their centers and normal to the discs. These axles are constrained to be vertical at all times, and the discs can pivot frictionlessly on the rods. The discs have identical thickness and are made of the same material, but have differing radii $r_1$ and $r_2$. The discs are given angular velocities of magnitudes $\omega_1$ and $\omega_2$, respectively, and brought into contact at their edges. After the discs interact via friction it is found that both discs come exactly to a halt. Which of the following must hold? [...] Ignore effects associated with the vertical rods.



Diagram here: http://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/2010/upload/2009_F-maSolutions.pdf


PIC


Probably conservation of angular momentum is useful here, but I am not clear how it can be applied. There are two distinct axes of rotation, one for each disc, so we cannot talk about conservation of angular momentum about one axis. If the two disks rotated about the same axes then the solution is straightforward, but this is not the case.




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