Answer the following about the study of falling cats, for 10 points each.
[10h] The study of falling cats began since treating cats as a single rigid body means the cat-righting reflex is a violation of this law. This law holds when the partial derivative of the Lagrangian with respect to theta is zero.
ANSWER: conservation of angular momentum [accept angular momentum is conserved; prompt on conservation; prompt on Kepler’s second law; reject “conservation of momentum”; reject “conservation of linear momentum”]
[10m] In Kane and Scher’s solution to the problem, cats are modeled as two of these solids. Radial, azimuthal, and height coordinates make up this 3 dimensional shape’s coordinate system.
ANSWER: cylinders [accept cylindrical coordinates]
[10e] To control the speed of their rotation, falling cats extend and retract their legs, which changes their value for this quantity. It is the angular analogue of mass.
ANSWER: moment of inertia [or rotational inertia; prompt on I; reject inertia]
<Physics>