Force as a spinner

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This p-prim is a rotational version of force as a mover and derives from experiences of pushing an object off-center and causing it to spin. Force as a spinner is often cued when an object has circular symmetry and/or there is circular motion - and often overrides force as a mover (linear F=ma). Thus when predicting movement of a circular object when force is applied, often students will only consider the torque analysis. They will think that forces that create spin cannot simultaneously create linear motion. A classic case of cuing force as a spinner is illustrated in FIGURE 3 below. A yo-yo resting on a table is tugged to the right, but not so strongly as to cause it to slide. When asked to predict the motion of the yo-yo, students will often only consider the counterclockwise spin of the yo-yo and predict that it will roll to the left.

edited by David Kang