I was using a concrete diamond cutting cup attached to an angle grinder at work the other day. The disk is heavy-ish (maybe a pound or two). When I turn the power on, it feels as though the thing gains 5 pounds. What is happening?
In: Physics
Rotational inertia and the gyroscopic effect. If the disk is spinning clockwise as you hold the drill and you try to angle the bit downward, all of the particles that make up the disk will have rotational inertia – they will continue spinning in the same plane unless acted on by an outside force.
So when the drill is powered off, to move it around you only have to overcome it’s inertial mass. When its spinning, you have to overcome its inertial mass and also its rotational inertia.
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