Question

A diver can reduce her moment of inertia by a factor of about 3.5 when changing from a straight position to a tuck position. If she makes two rotations in 1.5s when in the tuck position, what is her rotational speed (rot/s) when in the straight position?

Answer 1

Angular momentum, which is proportional to the product of the Moment of Inertia and speed of rotation, remains constant. Her rotation rate will decrease by a factor of 3.5 in the straight position.

The rate will be (2/1.5)(1/3.5) rot/s

Answer 2

.38rad/s