Why does an ice skater spin faster when they hold in their arms?
-
This phenomena is a result of the conservation of angular momentum: An isolated system's rotational intertia does not change.
-
Angular momentum is given mathematically by L = r x p, by decreasing r, p = mv must correspondingly increase for L to remain constant.
GL
Related Physics A Level answers
All answers ▸State what is meant by a Doppler shift and describe how it was used to study the movement of galaxies.
Using Newton's law of universal gravitation, show that T^2 is proportional to r^3 (where T is the orbital period of a planet around a star, and r is the distance between them).
Describe the photoelectric effect and what it tells us about the properties of light .
Why is the index of refraction important for light passing between two materials?