Science Common Sense

1667 - What is the relationship between the change in angular momentum of a particle and the torque acting on it?

Imagine you're spinning around with your arms out. If someone pulls on your arm, you start spinning faster or slower, right? That's kind of like what torque does.

The relationship between the change in angular momentum of a particle and the torque is:

Torque = Change in Angular Momentum / Time

Or in shorter form: τ = ΔL / Δt

This means that if there's a torque (or "pulling force") on a spinning object, the object's angular momentum will change. The bigger the torque or the longer it's applied, the bigger the change in angular momentum.