Q 7.23 A man stands on a rotating platform, with his arms stretched horizontally holding a
weight in each hand. The angular speed of the platform is revolutions per
minute. The man then brings his arms close to his body with the distance of each
weight from the axis changing from to . The moment of inertia of the
man together with the platform may be taken to be constant and equal to .
(a) What is his new angular speed? (Neglect friction.)
Moment of inertia when hands are stretched :
So the moment of inertia of system (initial ) = 7.6 + 8.1 = 15.7 Kg m2.
Now, the moment of inertia when hands are folded :
Thus net final moment of inertia is : = 7.6 + 0.4 = 8 Kg m2.
Using conversation of angular momentum we can write :
or