Rotational-to-Translational Kinetic Energy Transfer for a Rolling Spool.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Minkin, Leonid; Zable, Anthony,
- Source
- Physics Teacher; Dec2023, Vol. 61 Issue 9, p788-791, 4p
- Subject
- Kinetic energy
Energy transfer
Energy dissipation
Energy conversion
Mechanical energy
- Language
- ISSN
- 0031921X
This article explores the concept of kinetic friction and its role in converting mechanical energy into heat. It challenges the misconception that mechanical energy loss due to kinetic friction is the same as translational kinetic energy loss. The article presents an experiment using a rolling spool to demonstrate the conversion of rotational kinetic energy to translational kinetic energy. It also addresses errors in a previous study and provides a detailed analysis of the mechanical energy loss and conversion in the spool experiment. The report concludes that the fraction of kinetic energy loss depends on the ratio of the spool's radii, with larger ratios resulting in greater energy loss. The efficiency of converting rotational kinetic energy to translational kinetic energy also depends on the ratio of the radii, with a maximum efficiency of 33% when the ratio is 4. The report also identifies inaccuracies in a previous study, including the claim that all rotational energy is converted to translational energy during the slippage phase. [Extracted from the article]