Angular Momentum Vector
Like linear momentum, angular momentum is fundamentally a vector in . The definition of the previous section suffices when the direction does not change, in which case we can focus only on its magnitude .
More generally, let denote the 3-space coordinates of a point-mass , and let denote its velocity in . Then the instantaneous angular momentum vector of the mass relative to the origin (not necessarily rotating about a fixed axis) is given by
where denotes the vector cross product, discussed in §B.4.12 above. The identity was discussed at Eq.(B.17).
For the special case in which is orthogonal to , as in Fig.B.4, we have that points, by the right-hand rule, in the direction of the angular velocity vector (up out of the page), which is satisfying. Furthermore, its magnitude is given by
In the more general case of an arbitrary mass velocity vector , we know from §B.4.12 that the magnitude of equals the product of the distance from the axis of rotation to the mass, i.e., , times the length of the component of that is orthogonal to , i.e., , as needed.
It can be shown that vector angular momentum, as defined, is conserved.B.22 For example, in an orbit, such as that of the moon around the earth, or that of Halley's comet around the sun, the orbiting object speeds up as it comes closer to the object it is orbiting. (See Kepler's laws of planetary motion.) Similarly, a spinning ice-skater spins faster when pulling in arms to reduce the moment of inertia about the spin axis. The conservation of angular momentum can be shown to result from the principle of least action and the isotrophy of space [270, p. 18].
The matrix is the Cartesian representation of the mass moment of inertia tensor, which will be explored further in §B.4.15 below.
In summary, the angular momentum vector is given by the mass moment of inertia tensor times the angular-velocity vector representing the axis of rotation.
Note that the angular momentum vector does not in general point in the same direction as the angular-velocity vector . We saw above that it does in the special case of a point mass traveling orthogonal to its position vector. In general, and point in the same direction whenever is an eigenvector of , as will be discussed further below (§B.4.16). In this case, the rigid body is said to be dynamically balanced.B.24
Mass Moment of Inertia Tensor