Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 4 11C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The area element in plane polar coordinates is . Thus the axial moment of inertia isFor the removed material, the angular width is , andIts moment of inertia is therefore , leavingThe torque equation gives constant angular acceleration, so the time to reach the prescribed angular speed from rest is
To find the centre of mass after removing material, let point along the bisector of the missing sector in the disc. The original disc has zero first mass moment about its centre. The missing sector has zero transverse first moment by reflection symmetry, while its component along isbecause the radial integral is . The remaining first moment is . Dividing by the given mass gives the body-fixed centre of massIt lies away from the missing sector. In the inertial frame, let be the moment the applied torque stops and let give the orientation of that sector's bisector. Then, with ,The centre of mass has inward centripetal acceleration of magnitude . The required real force is the constraint reaction exerted by the fixed rod and its support. Its horizontal resultant is ; a zero applied axial torque does not imply a zero resultant force.