This lesson is all about motion!
Motion is classified as any change or movement in position over a period of time.
And since you are a student of mathematics, we need to upgrade our vocabulary a bit so we can be just like mathematicians and physicists …
…from now on, we’re going to use the word velocity to describe motion.
Velocity is defined as the rate of change in position over a given period of time.
Linear Velocity is nothing more than the velocity of an object in a straight line, whereas Angular Velocity is how much an objects spins, rotates, or turns, as nicely summarized by Chegg.
Understanding Linear Velocity Graphically
So how do we measure linear velocity and angular velocity?
Ok, so angular velocity is the rate of change of angular displacement of an object per unit of time.
What?
Basically, all this means is that angular displacement is the angle at which an object spins/rotates about a fixed point. Or, according to HyperPhysics, it’s the angle created by taking the arc length and dividing it by the radius.
Comparing Angular Velocity and Linear Velocity
In lesson we are going to discover how arc length and radians help us to find velocity, and how our well loved formula of Distance equals Rate times Time helps us to find both Linear and Angular Velocity. We will create a few useful and easy to use formulas, and see how they are all related.
Then, together, armed with these formulas, we can see the affects of propeller on a plane, how two pulleys work together, like the one you find on a bike, and how the earth rotates about the sun or a satellite rotates about the earth.
Angular and Linear Velocity – Video
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