Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A thin, smooth rod of length lies in a horizontal plane. A motor turns it about a vertical axis through one end O at a steady . A small bead of mass is threaded on the rod. It starts from O, at rest relative to the rod, as shown in the figure (a view from above). The rod stays horizontal, so gravity has no part along it.
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Plan. Use the rod's rotating frame for the motion along the rod. Use angular momentum about the axis for the sideways force, and energy for the work.
Step 1. Along the rod. The rod is smooth, so it can only push the bead at right angles to itself. In the rod's frame, the bead moves only along the rod, and the only force along the rod is the centrifugal force , outwards. Forces at right angles to the rod do no work in this frame. So
Step 2. Over the ground. The bead also goes round with the rod, at , at right angles to . So .
Step 3. The sideways force. The bead's angular momentum about the axis is (only the sideways part of its velocity, , counts). is fixed, but grows, so . This needs a torque, and the only force that gives one is the rod's horizontal sideways push , at distance . (The rod also holds the bead up against its weight, but that vertical force has no torque about the vertical axis.) , so
Step 4. Work. In the ground frame, the rod's push is the only force that does work on the bead. So the work equals the gain in kinetic energy. At the start the bead moves at :
This is : half of it, , went into the motion along the rod and half into the motion round the axis.
Answer: (a) . (b) . (c) . (d) .
Check. Along the rod, , and fits it with the bead starting at rest. It reaches the end when , after , with , the same as in Step 1.
Watch out. Over the ground, nothing pushes the bead outwards: the rod only pushes it sideways. The bead tends to keep going straight, while the rod turns under it, so it slides out along the rod.
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