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Why is the tangential speed of the top of a rotating wheel twice the translational speed at the center?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Quick Background:
This question has baffled me for a while, but when I heard a friend of mine saying that police radar detectors can double your speed it started to make sense to me. Because when I hear physics-related facts in everyday terms they sometimes make more sense.
The answer (with minimal math) is: It all depends on the relative measurement reference point.
Wheels spin, but when you put it against something, like the ground, then they start to push against each other.
If your wheels are not slipping, or sliding, then they are in contact with the ground. This seems obvious, but when you assign a relative speed to two items in contact (with no slippage, or slideage [my new made-up word of the day]), then their speed relative to each other, is ZERO (pick whatever units you want).
Zero mph
Zero kph
Zero you pick it
This is interesting because the vehicle is still moving, relative to the ground.
If the speed of the vehicle is 30 mph, then the axle of the vehicle is shooting down the road (hopefully with the rest of the car attached) at 30 mph.
The top of the wheel, relative to the road, is double the axle speed (60 mph), so that it can average out with the 0mph at the ground/tire touch poing.
I just came up with the idea, and I'm sure I'm not the first, that a wheel in motion, while contacting a surface (like the ground), is like a lever.
The lever is pulling the vehicle in a direction.
The top of the lever is moving, and in this case, the bottm is not (assuming no slippage). At the center of the lever is the car axle.
See the wheel as a lever that pushes the axle forward and all will make sense.
It's pretty cool.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
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What happens to tangential speed as rotational speed increases?
we can say that tangential speed of the object is linearly proportional to the distance from the center. Increase in the distance results in the increase in the amount of speed. As we move to the center speed decreases, and at the center speed becomes zero.
Relationship between tangential speed and distance from the center of r?
tangential speed is directly proportional to rotational speed at nay fixed distance from the axis of rotation
At a given rotational speed how does linear speed change its distance from the axis changes?
In The Center Of The Rotating Platform Right At Its Axis You Have No Linear Speed At All, But You Do Have Rotational Speed. Your Rotational Speed would Stay The Same But As You Move Away From The Center Your Linear Speed Gets Faster And Faster. If You Move Twice As Much From The Center Your Linear (Tangential) Speed Would Also Be Twice as Much
How does the tapered rim of the wheel on a railroad train allow one part of the rim to have a greater tangential speed than another part when it is rolling on a track?
Tangential speed, unlike rotational speed, depends on radial distance. At the very center of the rotating platform, you have no speed at all; you merely rotate. But, as you approach the edge of the platform, you find yourself moving faster and faster. Tangential speed is directly proportional to distance from the axis for any given rotational speed. (https://sites.google.com/site/reyesmityville/physics)
What is the unit of tangential speed and linear speed?
Tangential speed is how fast a point on a circular object is moving at a certain distance from the center whereas rotational speed is how many degrees (or radians) a point on the circle goes through in a period of time. Every point on a circle has the same rotational speed. The further out you go from the center, the higher the tangential speed is.
What is the tangential speed of the sun?
Speed, compared to what? The Sun's apparent speed in the sky, from our point of view, is approximately 15 degrees an hour. The Sun's speed around the center of the Milky Way is approximately 220 km/second. I believe that most of that is tangential speed.
What is tangential speed?
Linear speed is the distance traveled per unit of time, while tangential speed (or tangential velocity) is the linear speed of something moving along a circular path.[5] A point on the outside edge of a merry-go-round or turntable travels a greater distance in one complete rotation than a point nearer the center. Traveling a greater distance in the same time means a greater speed, and so linear speed is greater on the outer edge of a rotating object than it is closer to the axis. This speed along a circular path is known as tangential speed because the direction of motion is tangentto the circumference of the circle. For circular motion, the terms linear speed and tangential speed are used interchangeably, and both use units of m/s, km/h, and others.Rotational speed (or angular speed) involves the number of revolutions per unit of time. All parts of a rigid merry-go-round or turntable turn about the axis of rotation in the same amount of time. Thus, all parts share the same rate of rotation, or the same number of rotations or revolutions per unit of time. It is common to express rotational rates in revolutions per minute (RPM) or in terms of the number of "radians" turned in a unit of time. There are little more than 6 radians in a full rotation (2π radians exactly). When a direction is assigned to rotational speed, it is known as rotational velocity or angular velocity. Rotational velocity is a vector whose magnitude is the rotational speed.Tangential speed and rotational speed are related: the greater the RPM's, the larger the speed in meters per second. Tangential speed is directly proportional to rotational speed at any fixed distance from the axis of rotation.[6] However, tangential speed, unlike rotational speed, depends on radial distance (the distance from the axis). For a platform rotating with a fixed rotational speed, the tangential speed in the center is zero. Towards the edge of the platform the tangential speed increases proportional to the distance from the axis.[7] In equation form:where v is tangential speed and ω (Greek letter omega) is rotational speed. One moves faster if the rate of rotation increases (a larger value for ω), and one also moves faster if movement farther from the axis occurs (a larger value for r). Move twice as far from the rotational axis at the center and you move twice as fast. Move out three times as far and you have three times as much tangential speed. In any kind of rotating system, tangential speed depends on how far you are from the axis of rotation.When proper units are used for tangential speed v, rotational speed ω, and radial distance r, the direct proportion of v to both r and ω becomes the exact equationThus, tangential speed will be directly proportional to rwhen all parts of a system simultaneously have the same ω, as for a wheel, disk, or rigid wand. (The direct proportionality of vto r is not valid for planets, because planets have different rotational speeds).
What is linear speed called when something moves in a circle?
Tangential speed
What is the SI unit for tangential speed?
meters per second
Does angular speed depend on distance?
when something moves with constant angular speed (w), as in a rotating disk, the speed (v) as you move away from the center depends on distance (r), but the angular speed does not. Mathematically, v = wr.
How does speed and velocity affect cooking?
Even in a rotating restaurant, the kitchen would be located in the non-rotating center. If you had a kitchen on a rotating platform, the centrigugal forces would cause a certain amount of spillage and generally would make it harder to control the ingredients.
What state has the greatest tangential speed?
Texas because Texas has the most penises
