Imagine that you throw a boomerang vertically so that its axis of rotation is ho
ID: 2175408 • Letter: I
Question
Imagine that you throw a boomerang vertically so that its axis of rotation is horizontal and the boomerang rotates counterclockwise when viewed by someone to your left. Because each blade moves faster with respect to the air when it is on top than it does when it is on the bottom, whichever blade is on top will exert more lift than the blade on the bottom. This exerts a torque on the boomerang around its center of mass. What will this do to the boomerang's axis of rotation? (Hint: Due to this effect, the boomerang travels in a horizontal circle back to the thrower.)Explanation / Answer
since the blade at top exerts more lift than blade at bottom ,this exerts a torque on the boomerang around its center of mass as a result of which this unbalanced torque tends to change the inclination of the axis of rotation of the boomerang Initially,the axis of rotation was horizontal.As its inclination starts changing ,because of the sine term the torque experienced will start increasing and subsequently as the boomerang returns to you,its axis of rotation would have become horizontal since this is the most stable state in which net torque experienced is zero