A wheel is rolling on a plane surface. The speed of a particle on the highest point of the rim is . The speed of the particle on the rim of the wheel at the same level as the center of the wheel, will be:
- A
- B
- C
- D
A wheel is rolling on a plane surface. The speed of a particle on the highest point of the rim is . The speed of the particle on the rim of the wheel at the same level as the center of the wheel, will be:
Correct answer:A
Standard Method
Given: A wheel is rolling without slipping on a plane surface. The speed of the particle at the highest point of the rim is .
Find: The speed of the particle on the rim at the same level as the center of the wheel.
For pure rolling, the speed of the highest point is twice the speed of the center.
At the point on the rim which is at the same level as the center, the translational velocity and the rotational velocity are perpendicular to each other.
Substituting ,
Therefore, the speed of the particle is . The correct option is A.
Velocity Geometry
Given: The speed at the highest point of the rim is .
Find: The speed at the point on the rim level with the center.
In rolling without slipping, the highest point has speed , so the center moves with speed . At the side point of the rim, the translational and rotational velocity vectors have equal magnitude and are perpendicular. Hence the resultant speed is
Therefore, the correct option is A.
Taking the speed at the side point as is incorrect. Only the highest point has translational and rotational velocities in the same direction. At the side point, these two velocities are perpendicular, so use vector addition.
Using as the center speed is wrong. The given is the speed of the highest point, which equals in pure rolling. First find the center speed as .
Adding the two equal speeds arithmetically to get is incorrect. Since the velocity components are perpendicular at the side point, the correct magnitude is found by the Pythagorean theorem.
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