Pulleys

An Application of Angular and Linear Velocity


In the following Flash interactive, change the radius of each pulley and observe the effect on the linear velocity of the belt and the angular velocity of each pulley.

Notice that the smaller pulley has the higher angular velocity and that the linear velocity for the outer edge of the 2 pulleys is the same each time (It has to be, or the belt would break).

Also, notice that the ratio of the angular velocities is the inverse of the ratio of the radius of the two pulleys.

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