Chapter 9, Problem 38P

An airplane propeller is 2.08 m in length (from tip to tip) with mass 117 kg and is rotating at 2400 rpm (rev/min) about an axis through its center. You can model the propeller as a slender rod. (a) What is its rotational kinetic energy? (b) Suppose that, due to weight constraints, you had to reduce the propeller’s mass to 75.0% of its original mass, but you still needed to keep the same size and kinetic energy. What would its angular speed have to be, in rpm?