cid 4d5bd267b9c39419d9d0580afebdbbf3759b50418fc3439c868073cbd41612a9 · original · open access · via wikipedia
Title: Angular momentum Authors: Venue: Wikipedia Year: unknown Canonical: wiki:angular-momentum URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_momentum Collector: wikipedia OA: true ABSTRACT Angular momentum is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity – the total angular momentum of a system upon which zero net external force and zero net external torque acts is constant. Angular momentum has both a direction and a magnitude, and both are conserved. Bicycles and motorcycles, flying discs, rifled bullets, and gyroscopes owe their useful properties to conservation of angular momentum. Conservation of angular momentum is also why hurricanes form spirals and neutron stars have high rotational rates. In general, conservation limits the possible motion of a system, but it does not uniquely determine it.