Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.
Moment of Inertia
Moment of inertia is a measure of an object's resistance to changes in its rotational motion. It depends on the mass distribution relative to the axis of rotation. For a rigid body, it is calculated by summing the products of each mass element and the square of its distance from the axis. In this case, the flywheel's moment of inertia is given as 1.60 kg/m².
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Intro to Moment of Inertia
Torque
Torque is a measure of the rotational force applied to an object, causing it to rotate about an axis. It is calculated as the product of the force applied and the distance from the axis of rotation (lever arm). In this problem, we need to determine the constant torque required to accelerate the flywheel to a specified angular speed within a given time.
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Net Torque & Sign of Torque
Angular Acceleration
Angular acceleration is the rate of change of angular velocity over time. It is calculated by dividing the change in angular velocity by the time taken for that change. In this scenario, we need to find the angular acceleration required to increase the flywheel's speed from rest to 400 revolutions per minute in 8 seconds, which will then be used to calculate the necessary torque.
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Conservation of Angular Momentum