Rotational Energy...Just Curious

[dennis-brodmann]

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I'm just interested to know about rotational energy if anyone would like to chime in...

If a car enters a frictionless, circular loop from the loop's lowest point and continues traveling that circular path at a constant velocity without end, would the car have constant rotational kinetic energy and potential energies relative to the bottom of the loop that change as it travels around the track?

 

[scarshapedstar]

Couldn't quite understand the part after 'relative' but I would argue:

Potential energy is constant
Rotating frame of reference: kinetic energy is constant
Stationary frame of reference: kinetic energy varies

 

[Charles Darwin]

If angular velocity and moment of inertia (mass x radius^2 for a tube) is constant, so is rotational kinetic energy. The equation for rotational potential energy requires some calculus to derive so it won't be tested on the MCAT.

 

[dennis-brodmann]

Couldn't quite understand the part after 'relative' but I would argue:

Potential energy is constant
Rotating frame of reference: kinetic energy is constant
Stationary frame of reference: kinetic energy varies

I meant that the potential energies around the loop are due to the height differences from the lowest point.

If angular velocity and moment of inertia (mass x radius^2 for a tube) is constant, so is rotational kinetic energy. The equation for rotational potential energy requires some calculus to derive so it won't be tested on the MCAT.

I just wanted to understand it conceptually for fun 😀. So would rotational potential energy just be equal to the rotational work? I've been browsing online, and I could only find "rotational kinetic energy" being explicitly discussed.

 

[Charles Darwin]

I just wanted to understand it conceptually for fun 😀. So would rotational potential energy just be equal to the rotational work? I've been browsing online, and I could only find "rotational kinetic energy" being explicitly discussed.

http://physics.tutorvista.com/energy/rotational-energy.html

Knock yourself out.