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  4. Can we improve the standard units of rotational quantities?

Poll

Can we improve the standard units of rotational quantities?

No. They are already perfect. Any change will only make them worse.
4 (80%)
No. They have some known problems, but there is no possible solution.
0 (0%)
Yes. They have some known problems, and there are some possible solutions.
0 (0%)
Yes. They have some known problems, and one solution can solve them all.
1 (20%)

Total Members Voted: 5

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Can we improve the standard units of rotational quantities?

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Offline alancalverd

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #280 on: 12/02/2025 18:08:02 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 12/02/2025 13:40:03
Then where does the radian go in the unit of torque?
The radian does not appear in the unit of torque, any more than the kilogram appears in the unit of currency.

If you want to twist a torsion bar, you need to apply a torque of x newton meters per radian that you want to twist it. If you want to buy apples they cost y dollars per kilogram that you want to buy.
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Offline alancalverd

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #281 on: 12/02/2025 18:09:41 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 12/02/2025 13:38:09
Here's a list of units for angular distance,
"Angular distance" is meaningless. Angle is a measure of rotation, distance is a measure of linear separation.
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Offline hamdani yusuf (OP)

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #282 on: 13/02/2025 06:52:01 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 12/02/2025 18:09:41
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 12/02/2025 13:38:09
Here's a list of units for angular distance,
"Angular distance" is meaningless. Angle is a measure of rotation, distance is a measure of linear separation.
It's never too late to learn a new thing.
Quote
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_distance
Angular distance or angular separation is the measure of the angle between the orientation of two straight lines, rays, or vectors in three-dimensional space, or the central angle subtended by the radii through two points on a sphere. When the rays are lines of sight from an observer to two points in space, it is known as the apparent distance or apparent separation.

Angular distance appears in mathematics (in particular geometry and trigonometry) and all natural sciences (e.g., kinematics, astronomy, and geophysics). In the classical mechanics of rotating objects, it appears alongside angular velocity, angular acceleration, angular momentum, moment of inertia and torque.
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Offline hamdani yusuf (OP)

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #283 on: 13/02/2025 06:54:31 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 12/02/2025 18:08:02
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 12/02/2025 13:40:03
Then where does the radian go in the unit of torque?
The radian does not appear in the unit of torque, any more than the kilogram appears in the unit of currency.

If you want to twist a torsion bar, you need to apply a torque of x newton meters per radian that you want to twist it. If you want to buy apples they cost y dollars per kilogram that you want to buy.
Then why you use radian for unit of torque?
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Offline hamdani yusuf (OP)

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #284 on: 13/02/2025 06:57:18 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 12/02/2025 18:01:52
The intended reference point was the vice screw at, say, r1, the eventual  reference point was the foot of the bench at r2. Ignoring the mass of the vice, if the bench length was L and it weighed B newton then the applied torque to lift it was Fr2 > BL/2, roughly.
Human intentions should not determine the measure of a physical quantity. What if my intention were to bend the wrench half way?
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Offline alancalverd

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #285 on: 14/02/2025 17:13:56 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 13/02/2025 06:54:31
Then why you use radian for unit of torque?
I didn't. A torsion bar requires a specified torque in order to twist a specified amount. The unit of torque is the newton meter, the unit of twist is a radian, so you specify the torsion bar (or clock spring, or torsion suspension of a galvanometer....)  as newtonmeters per radian (in a car suspension)  or, more likely when talking about the sensitivity of  taut-band meter (yes, I like analog displays!) , radians per newtonmeter.
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Offline alancalverd

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #286 on: 14/02/2025 17:15:16 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 13/02/2025 06:57:18
Human intentions should not determine the measure of a physical quantity.
Of course they do. If my intention is to unscrew a bolt, the torque I apply will be quite different (like negative) from the torque I applied to tighten it.

Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 13/02/2025 06:57:18
What if my intention were to bend the wrench half way?
Then you'd need to increase B to prevent the bench lifting, so that BL > the limiting torque of the wrench.
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Offline alancalverd

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #287 on: 14/02/2025 19:26:18 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 13/02/2025 06:52:01
Angular distance or angular separation is the measure of the angle between the orientation of two straight lines
In other words, angle. Why use two long words when the meaning is conveyed by one short word? 

Worse still, "angular distance" implies some measure of length such as 2r sin (θ/2) or rθ.
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Offline hamdani yusuf (OP)

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #288 on: 15/02/2025 01:07:09 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 14/02/2025 17:13:56
I didn't.
Quote from: alancalverd on 12/02/2025 18:08:02
If you want to twist a torsion bar, you need to apply a torque of x newton meters per radian
You can gaslight us in verbal communication. But it's harder when it's written.
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Offline hamdani yusuf (OP)

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #289 on: 15/02/2025 01:38:18 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 14/02/2025 17:13:56
A torsion bar requires a specified torque in order to twist a specified amount. The unit of torque is the newton meter, the unit of twist is a radian, so you specify the torsion bar (or clock spring, or torsion suspension of a galvanometer....)  as newtonmeters per radian (in a car suspension)  or, more likely when talking about the sensitivity of  taut-band meter (yes, I like analog displays!) , radians per newtonmeter.
In Newton meter unit, the meter specifies the length of the trajectory in the direction of the force. If that's not the case, you need to determine the conversion factor. In the case of rotational motion, the trajectory is the arclength, which is equal to rotational angle times the radius of rotation. In other words, radius of rotation equals length of trajectory divided by angle of rotation. The numerical value of this conversion factor is exactly 1 only if the angle of rotation is measured in radian, and they use the same unit for length.
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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #290 on: 15/02/2025 10:37:43 »
Torque has nothing to do with trajectory. It is simply the product of force x distance. The torque applied to a bolt can be the same whether the bolt rotates or not, depending on how rusty it is.
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Offline Bored chemist

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #291 on: 15/02/2025 12:03:33 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 12/02/2025 13:38:09
Here's a list of units for angular distance, according to chatGPT.
Quote
Radians are commonly used in mathematics and physics, while degrees, arcminutes, and arcseconds are often used in astronomy and navigation.
Angular distance can be measured in rotations (revolutions, turns). Rotations are often used in engineering, mechanics, and rotational motion physics, especially when dealing with cycles and periodic motion (e.g., gears, wheels, and circular motion in physics).
Wiki does a lot better- it doesn't forget grads etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle#Units

Perhaps more interestingly, that page also reminds us that "In the International System of Quantities, an angle is defined as a dimensionless quantity, and in particular, the radian unit is dimensionless. "
« Last Edit: 15/02/2025 12:05:36 by Bored chemist »
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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #292 on: 15/02/2025 13:18:53 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 15/02/2025 10:37:43
Torque has nothing to do with trajectory. It is simply the product of force x distance. The torque applied to a bolt can be the same whether the bolt rotates or not, depending on how rusty it is.
What happens to the equation
τ= I. α, when α=0?
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 11/02/2025 04:28:07
Torque is defined as rotational counterpart of force.
F= m. a
τ= I. α
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Offline hamdani yusuf (OP)

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #293 on: 15/02/2025 13:21:02 »
Quote from: Bored chemist on 15/02/2025 12:03:33
Perhaps more interestingly, that page also reminds us that "In the International System of Quantities, an angle is defined as a dimensionless quantity, and in particular, the radian unit is dimensionless. "
Dimensionless doesn't mean unitless. 1 radian is different from 1 microradian. It's different from 1 rotation.
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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #294 on: 15/02/2025 14:31:08 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 15/02/2025 13:18:53
What happens to the equation
τ= I. α, when α=0?
Perhaps you can tell me, as it's your definition. I know for certain that α = 0 when the bolt is fully tightened, but I'm still applying τ > 0.
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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #295 on: 16/02/2025 11:22:52 »
Cursed Units 2: Curseder Units
Quote
Corrections: the force F in Ampere's law should be force per unit of length, and the denominator factor should be 2 instead of 4.
It describes rotational quantities at around 2:00 time stamp.
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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #296 on: 16/02/2025 14:49:30 »
Not very good. kWh/1000 hours or kWh/year are useful units because we pay for electricity per kWh but we use appliances sporadically, and automatic appliances vary their consumption even when we aren't looking, so if you want to know how much it will cost you to run a freezer, heat your house, or keep the lights on at night, you need kWh/year.

Also much confusion between units and dimensions.

You would do better to buy a physics textbook rather than consult videos and chatbots that claim at the outset to be confused.  SI units make perfect sense to those who use them every day. Indeed so did CGS and Imperial units. All absolutely selfconsistent and logical. Imperial (plus US gallons) was good enough to fly to the moon - first time. SI eventually got machines to Mars and Venus.
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Offline hamdani yusuf (OP)

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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #297 on: 16/02/2025 15:58:59 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 15/02/2025 14:31:08
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 15/02/2025 13:18:53
What happens to the equation
τ= I. α, when α=0?
Perhaps you can tell me, as it's your definition. I know for certain that α = 0 when the bolt is fully tightened, but I'm still applying τ > 0.
The equation has been around long before I was born.
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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #298 on: 16/02/2025 16:02:34 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 16/02/2025 14:49:30
SI units make perfect sense to those who use them every day. Indeed so did CGS and Imperial units. All absolutely selfconsistent and logical. Imperial (plus US gallons) was good enough to fly to the moon - first time. SI eventually got machines to Mars and Venus.
You can cherish the good things in what we currently have. But don't forget to look for things that can be made better.
Standards are primarily intended for consistency.
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Re: What's the unit of Torque?
« Reply #299 on: 16/02/2025 16:15:58 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 16/02/2025 15:58:59
The equation has been around long before I was born.
So if I apply a torque to a bolt that doesn't move, α= 0 so τ= 0? My torque wrench thinks not.

Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 16/02/2025 16:02:34
Standards are primarily intended for consistency.

And there seems to be some inconsistency here. Or maybe not?
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