Question

A paddlewheel is made by attaching 4 thin uniform blades of length L and massmo to the exterior of a solid wooden disk of mass M and radius R. The paddlewheel isfree to spin about an axis through its center, on frictionless bearings. A particle pf massm, moving horizontally at speed vo impinges on the outer edge of the vertically-alignedbottom blade of the stationary paddlewheel. Uniform gravity g is present.

Assume m, is made of clay and sticks to the'blade. What is vo such that thepaddlewheel almost rotates by 180 degrees (i.e. the blade with clay attached nearlyreaches the top) after the collision?

Answer 1