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HomeAP Physics 1PhysicsRotational Motion and Angular Momentum › A bicycle turned upside down and spun does not t…

A bicycle turned upside down and spun does not travel, but on its wheels the same angular acceleration would first produce:

AAcceleration along ground
BAn immediate full stop
CMotion straight upward
DNo motion at all here
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. Acceleration along ground
1. Angular acceleration of a wheel becomes linear motion when the wheel grips the ground. 2. If the bicycle in the example had been on its wheels instead of upside-down, it would first have accelerated along the ground. 3. It would then come to a stop as the wheel slowed. 4. Upside down, the same spin produces no translation at all. 5. The link between the two is the tangential relationship at the rim. _Source: OpenStax College Physics for AP(R) Courses 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 10 'Rotational Motion and Angular Momentum', sections 10.1-10.7_
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