angular momentum - 2025 ACF Winter

Question

In a letter to his wife, James Maxwell described throwing cats out of windows at Cambridge to investigate this quantity. For 10 points each:

[10e] The fact that cats can turn around in mid-air to land on their feet is an apparent contradiction of the conservation of this quantity. This quantity, symbolized L, equals rotational inertia times angular velocity.

ANSWER: angular momentum [reject “momentum” or “linear momentum”]

[10m] The apparent violation comes from treating the cat as one of these objects. The distance between all pairs of points is constant in these non-deformable objects.

ANSWER: rigid bodies

[10h] Falling cats are an example of a system that [emphasize] lacks this property. Systems with this property have the same number of degrees of freedom as generalized coordinates.

ANSWER: holonomic system

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Summary


California	Main	Y	5	18.00	100%	60%	20%
Canada	Main	Y	6	18.33	100%	67%	17%
Florida	Main	Y	12	15.00	83%	50%	17%
Great Lakes	Main	Y	6	11.67	67%	50%	0%
Lower Mid-Atlantic	Main	Y	6	18.33	100%	67%	17%
Midwest	Main	Y	10	14.00	80%	50%	10%
North	Main	Y	10	12.00	70%	50%	0%
Northeast	Main	Y	5	22.00	100%	100%	20%
Overflow	Main	Y	4	10.00	100%	0%	0%
Overflow	Main	Y	1	10.00	100%	0%	0%
Pacific Northwest	Main	Y	12	15.83	100%	58%	0%
South Central	Main	Y	2	10.00	50%	50%	0%
Southeast	Main	Y	12	16.67	92%	67%	8%
UK	Main	Y	4	17.50	100%	75%	0%
Upper Mid-Atlantic	Main	Y	8	17.50	88%	75%	13%
Upstate NY	Main	Y	8	16.25	100%	63%	0%
2025 ACF Nationals	2025-08-09	Y	1	10.00	100%	0%	0%
2024 ARCADIA at UC Berkeley	04/19/2025	Y	4	10.00	75%	25%	0%

Data


Berkeley B	Berkeley E	10	0	0	10
Stanford A	Berkeley F	10	10	10	30
Berkeley C	Stanford B	10	10	0	20
Berkeley D	Stanford C	10	10	0	20
Berkeley A	UCSC	10	0	0	10
UCSB	UCLA B	10	0	0	10
UCLA D	UCSD Two Running Violet V Forms	10	10	0	20
UCSD Vices and Virtues	Claremont Pitzer	10	10	0	20
UCLA A	UCSD What Hath God Wrought	10	10	10	30
UCLA C	Claremont Scripps	10	10	0	20
USC	UCI	10	0	0	10
McGill C	Toronto D	10	10	0	20
Guelph A	Queen's A	10	0	0	10
McMaster C	McGill A	10	10	0	20
Toronto C	Queen's B	10	0	0	10
Toronto A	Toronto E	10	10	10	30
Toronto H	Toronto G	10	10	0	20
Ottawa	Toronto I	10	0	0	10
McGill B	Toronto J	10	0	10	20
Carleton	Toronto K	10	10	0	20
McMaster B	Toronto Metropolitan	0	10	0	10
Guelph B	Western Ontario	0	0	0	0
McMaster A	Toronto F	10	0	0	10
ERAU A	Melbourne A	10	0	0	10
ERAU B	FSU	10	10	0	20
UCF B	UF A	10	0	0	10
UF D	Melbourne B	0	0	0	0
UCF A	UF E	0	10	0	10
FIU	USF	10	10	0	20
Pitt A	OSU B	10	10	0	20
CWRU B	MSU B	10	10	0	20
OSU A	CWRU C	10	0	0	10
Pitt B	MSU A	10	0	0	10
CWRU A	Pitt C	10	10	10	30
OSU C	Kenyon A	10	10	0	20
Clemson A	Tennessee B	10	10	10	30
Liberty B	Clemson B	0	0	0	0
Liberty C	James Madison	0	0	0	0
Liberty A	Roanoke	10	10	0	20
Tennessee A	NC State	10	0	0	10
South Carolina A	North Carolina A	10	10	0	20
Virginia A	Tusculum	10	10	0	20
Virginia B	North Carolina C	10	10	0	20
North Carolina B	Virginia Tech A	10	0	0	10
South Carolina B	Virginia Tech B	10	0	0	10
George Mason C	Georgetown B	0	0	0	0
George Mason A	George Washington B	10	10	0	20
George Washington A	Maryland D	0	0	0	0
Maryland A	NYU B	10	10	0	20
Notre Dame E	Maryland B	10	0	0	10
Penn A	Johns Hopkins A	10	10	0	20
Penn B	Johns Hopkins C	10	10	0	20
Catholic University	UMBC A	0	10	0	10
VCU A	Johns Hopkins B	10	0	0	10
Georgetown A	NYU A	10	0	0	10
Columbia A	Columbia B	10	10	0	20
Lehigh A	Swarthmore A	10	10	0	20
Princeton A	Lehigh B	10	10	0	20
Rutgers B	Vassar A	10	10	0	20
Rutgers C	Rowan A	10	10	10	30
WashU B	WashU A	10	0	0	10
SIUE	William Woods	10	0	0	10
Missouri B	WashU D	10	0	0	10
Missouri B	WashU D	10	0	0	10
Missouri B	WashU C	10	0	0	10
Missouri B	WashU C	10	0	0	10
Missouri B	WashU D	10	0	0	10
Missouri B	WashU D	10	0	0	10
Missouri B	WashU C	10	0	0	10
Missouri B	WashU C	10	0	0	10
WashU C	Truman State	10	0	0	10
Indiana A	Chicago C	10	10	0	20
Illinois A	Chicago B	10	0	0	10
Illinois C	Chicago A	10	10	0	20
Notre Dame B	Indiana B	10	0	0	10
Louisville B	Michigan C	10	10	0	20
Michigan A	Kentucky	10	10	0	20
Louisville A	Michigan D	10	0	0	10
Purdue A	Notre Dame A	10	10	0	20
Illinois B	Purdue B	10	10	0	20
Notre Dame C	Purdue C	10	0	0	10
Michigan B	UIC	10	0	0	10
Carleton	Iowa State	10	0	0	10
Minnesota A	Macalester B	0	10	0	10
Chicago D	Notre Dame D	10	10	0	20
MIT A	Bowdoin B	10	10	0	20
Yale A	Amherst B	10	0	0	10
Tufts A	BC A	10	10	10	30
Bowdoin A	Brandeis Lloyd George	0	0	0	0
Cornell-UG	Brandeis Orlando	10	10	0	20
Brandeis Wilson	Yale B	10	0	0	10
Brown A	Brandeis Clemenceau	10	10	0	20
BU	Brown B	10	10	0	20
BC B	Brown C	10	10	0	20
Harvard	MIT B	10	10	0	20
Dartmouth	Tufts B	10	0	0	10
Amherst A	Williams	10	10	0	20
British Columbia A	British Columbia C	10	0	0	10
British Columbia D	British Columbia B	10	10	0	20
Washington A	Alberta	10	10	0	20
Washington B	Simon Fraser	10	10	0	20
Arizona State A	Ohio	10	10	10	30
Alberta B	Texas B	10	10	0	20
UTD A	Northwestern C	10	10	0	20
Rose State	Arizona State B	0	0	0	0
UCO	Texas A	10	10	0	20
Tulsa	Northwestern B	10	0	0	10
McGill D	UTD B	10	10	0	20
Northwestern A	Iowa	10	10	0	20
Georgia Tech D	Alabama A	10	10	0	20
Georgia Tech A	Auburn B	10	0	0	10
Auburn A	Georgia Tech C	10	10	0	20
Alabama B	Huntsville A	10	10	0	20
Georgia Tech B	Mississippi State A	10	10	0	20
UAB A	Bruin A	10	0	0	10
Vanderbilt A	Sewanee A	10	0	0	10
Vanderbilt B	Huntsville B	10	10	0	20
Imperial A	Cambridge A	10	0	0	10
Binghamton B	ESF	10	0	0	10
RIT A	Binghamton A	10	10	0	20
Cornell-DII	RIT B	10	0	0	10
Syracuse	Rochester	0	0	0	0