Angular acceleration 2026-10-06
Angular acceleration is the time derivative of angular velocity, . For rotation about a fixed axis, its signed scalar component obeys when the axial moment of inertia is constant and is the total applied torque about that axis.
A transformed radial equation containing becomes a full planar central-force orbit by choosing . For and old angular velocity , this gives . Keeping the old angle generally fails to preserve the stated transformed angular momentum.
Angular speed 2026-10-06
Angular speed is the nonnegative magnitude of angular velocity: . It measures the rate of rotation about an instantaneous axis without specifying its direction. For uniform circular motion of radius , the ordinary speed is .
Bead on a horizontal hoop rotating about its rim Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
For a smooth horizontal circular hoop of radius , rotated at constant angular velocity about a vertical axis through a rim point, measure at that pivot from the diameter toward the bead. In rotating Cartesian coordinate system coordinates, . The tangential component of the centrifugal acceleration gives the displayed equation; the Coriolis acceleration is normal to the hoop. The farthest point is stable for , with small oscillation angular frequency . The pivot itself is unstable. This geometry differs from a vertical rotating hoop and has no tangential gravitational term.
If a vector is fixed in space while a body frame rotates with angular velocity , its body-frame components satisfy
Centrifugal potential of cylindrical rotation Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
For angular velocity depending only on cylindrical radius, the centrifugal acceleration is a gradient. Steady barotropic balance is , hence specific enthalpy satisfies . On an invertible equation-of-state branch, mass density and pressure are functions of . Cylindrical rotation is essential to this scalar centrifugal-potential representation.
Derivative of a body-fixed basis vector Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
If is fixed in a rigid body with angular velocity , then its derivative in the fixed space frame is
For uniform angular velocity , potential , and additional forces doing no work in the rotating frame,
The Coriolis force does no work; the centrifugal potential accounts for the remaining apparent force. This energy is conserved precisely when the potential has no explicit time dependence in the rotating coordinates. An inertial time-independent conservative force need not meet that condition unless its potential is also invariant under the frame's rotation. The balance prevents applying a rotating-frame conservation law to a nonaxisymmetric stationary inertial potential.
For inner radius , mean gap , fixed eccentricity parameter , gap , and inner angular velocity , the constant circumferential flux is
It follows by integrating the lubrication theory relation over a full period. The leading holding force is horizontal:
Integration by parts computes this force without a closed-form pressure. The fluid couples about the separate cylinder axes obey ; moments about a common axis balance exactly at this order.
A freely translating inner axle with prescribed positive angular velocity and downward load has full-film journal bearing force balance equations
where are the squeeze resistance of an eccentric journal bearing. Rotation supplies tangential fluid force . The equilibrium lies horizontally to the right and satisfies . Linearization there has imaginary eigenvalues: the prescribed rotating axle continuously supplies energy, so viscous dissipation does not imply settling. For an initially concentric axle, putting and gives the closed orbit
This follows by eliminating time and integrating . It applies to the leading inertia-free full-film model; adding cavitation, constraints or finite-length leakage changes the prediction.
Inertia tensor Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The inertia tensor about a point is
It maps angular velocity to angular momentum.
Particle on a uniformly rotating inclined plane Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
For a smooth plane at inclination rotating about a vertical axis at constant angular velocity , choose rotating coordinates horizontally and uphill, with their cross product the upward normal vector. A sliding particle under gravity satisfies
The normal reaction is while contact is maintained. The Coriolis force does no work in the rotating frame, giving the conserved specific energy
The last term is the centrifugal potential; this quantity need not equal the inertial mechanical energy.