Student handout: Angular Momentum in Polar Coordinates

Central Forces 2023
Students learn how to express Angular Momentum as a vector quantity in polar coordinates, and then in Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates
What students learn
  • How to understand general expression for velocity and angular momentum
  • Refreshes relevant ideas like positions vectors, cross products, and curvilinear coordinate systems from Static Fields Paradigm

Find an expression for angular momentum in polar coordinates.


Keywords
Angular momentum velocity polar coordinates curvilinear coordinates vectors cross product spherical coordinates cylindrical coordinates
Learning Outcomes
  • ph426: 1) Explain the consequences of energy and angular momentum conservation in a system of interacting particles.