Kinematics of a spinning wheel

Let's put some of our rotational kinematics into action by computing some properties of a spinning wheel. I'll bring one real bicycle wheel to the front of the classroom and measure its radius.



      radius of wheel   R  =       


Now, I'll spin the wheel rapidly, and we'll measure the time T for it to complete exactly 10 revolutions.



   time to complete 10 rev    T  =        


Now it's your turn to answer some questions.

  1. What is the angular displacement of the wheel during this time?
  2. What is the average angular speed of the wheel?
  3. What is the average LINEAR speed of the outer rim of the wheel?
  4. How far did a piece of tape on the outer rim of the wheel move during this time? There are two possible answers:
    1. What was the linear displacement from start to finish?
    2. What was the linear distance travelled along the journey?