Solution to 1996 Problem 32


The moment of inertia about an axis through A and perpendicular to the page is

\begin{align*}I_A = \left(2/3\sqrt{3/4}l\right)^2 m^2 \cdot 3 = m l^2\end{align*}
The moment of inertia about an axis through B and perpendicular to the page is
\begin{align*}I_B = 2 l^2 m\end{align*}
The kinetic energy is given by
\begin{align*}K = \frac{1}{2} I \omega^2\end{align*}
So, the desired ratio is
\begin{align*}\frac{K_B}{K_A} = \frac{\displaystyle\frac{1}{2} I_B \omega^2}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2} I_A \omega^2} = \frac{...
Therefore, answer (B) is correct.


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