Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2003/ia/paper-4/11e/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 ia Paper 4 11E Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The parallel axis theorem states for two parallel axes, one through the centre of mass and the other a perpendicular distance away. To see this, expand the squared distance to the translated axis in the mass integral; its mixed term vanishes because the centroidal first moment is zero.
For a uniform solid hemisphere, the moment about a diameter in its flat face is half the corresponding full-sphere moment. With full-sphere mass , it is . The original PDF gives the centroidal displacement ; the TeX's is incorrect. Moving the diameter axis to its parallel centroidal axis therefore yieldsThis is the moment of inertia of a uniform solid hemisphere, not that of a thin hemispherical shell.
Take a cross-section perpendicular to the rotation axis. Let be the underlying sphere centre, the centre of mass and the contact point. During rounded-surface contact, vertically and points toward the curved face, with downward component . ThereforeFor rolling without slipping, is instantaneously at rest and the body rotates about it with angular speed . Thus the centroid speed is . Translation and rotation contributeThe initial vertical base has and , so conserved energy is . Equating the later to this value givesOn the initial roll toward the lowest centroid position, . Static contact friction does no work because the contacting material point is at rest; its coefficient must be large enough for the assumed no-slip motion. The formula describes the rounded-contact phase of the rolling uniform solid hemisphere and should not be continued through a change of contact geometry without another model.
Rolling hemisphere centroid and contact geometry, and scattering under a repulsive inverse-cube force
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