When rotating about a high bar a gymnast's centre of mass is 0.724 m away from the bar, and their body angle changes from 48° to 56.7° in 0.04 s. Calculate: i) the angular velocity in both deg/s and rad/s; and ii) the centripetal acceleration.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

First the angular velocity at each time point needs to be found using finite differences (i.e. using the angles and times before and after the required time point). Next, the angular velocity (in deg/s) needs to be converted to rad/s, before the centripetal acceleration is found ( = tangential velocity2/radius of rotation).

When Rotating About a High Bar a Gymnast's Centre of Mass