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!differentialwithangles.png|border=1! Subscripts {latex} $L_L, R, M$ {latex}{latex} M_ correspond the left half-shaft, right half-shaft, and middle gear, respectively. Three observations: \begin{enumerate} \item * When we hold the right axle fixed and turn the left axle one revolution, the middle sprocket makes half a revolution in the same angular direction. \item* Holding the middle sprocket in place and turning the left axle one revolution causes the right axle to make one revolution in the opposite direction. \item* The above observations are the same if the left and right axle are switched. \end{enumerate} The results can be summarized as such: {latex} \begin{equation} \theta_{\text{M}} = \frac{1}{2}\theta_{\text{L}} + \frac{1}{2}\theta_{\text{R}} \end{equation} {latex} where {latex} \large $\theta$ {latex} represents angular position, {latex} \large $\omega$ {latex} represents angular velocity, {latex} \large $\alpha${latex} represents angular acceleration, and {latex} \large $\tau$ {latex} represents torque. {latex} \large $r$ {latex} is the radius of the gear, and {latex} \large $v$ {latex} is the linear velocity at the edge of a gear. {latex} \begin{align} \omega_{\text{M}} =& \frac{1}{2} \left( \omega_{\text{L}} + \omega_{\text{R}} \right) \\ \omega_{\text{M}} r_{\text{M}} =& \frac{1}{2} ( \omega_{\text{L}} r_{\text{M}} + \omega_{\text{R}} r_{\text{M}}) \\ v_{\text{M}} =& \frac{1}{2} \left( \omega_{\text{L}} r_{\text{M}} \frac{r_{\text{L}}}{r_{\text{L}}} + \omega_{\text{R}} r_{\text{M}} \frac{r_{\text{R}}}{r_{\text{R}}} \right) \\ v_{\text{M}} =& \frac{1}{2} \left( v_{\text{L}} \frac{r_{\text{M}}}{r_{\text{L}}} + v_{\text{R}} \frac{r_{\text{M}}}{r_{\text{R}}} \right) \end{align} {latex} We assume that these ideal gears are frictionless and massless. Therefore, we can use conservation of energy to say that input power equals output power. Say {latex} \large $P$ {latex} represents power as a function of time. {latex} \begin{align} &P_{\text{M}} = P_{\text{L}} + P_{\text{R}} \\ &\tau_{\text{M}} \cdot \omega_{\text{M}} = \tau_{\text{L}} \cdot \omega_{\text{L}} + \tau_{\text{R}} \cdot \omega_{\text{R}} \\ &\tau_{\text{M}} \cdot \left\[ \frac{1}{2} \left( \omega_{\text{L}} + \omega_{\text{R}} \right) \right\] = \tau_{\text{L}} \cdot \omega_{\text{L}} + \tau_{\text{R}} \cdot \omega_{\text{R}} \end{align} {latex} If we consider {latex} $\omega_{\text{L}}$ {latex} and {latex} $\omega_{\text{R}}$ {latex} separately, we find that {latex} \begin{align} \frac{1}{2} \tau_{\text{M}} \omega_{\text{L}} &= \tau_{\text{L}} \omega_{\text{L}}, \;\;\; \frac{1}{2} \tau_{\text{M}} \omega_{\text{R}} = \tau_{\text{R}} \omega_{\text{R}} \\ \frac{1}{2} \tau_{\text{M}} &= \tau_{\text{L}}, \;\;\;\;\;\;\; \;\; \; \;\; \frac{1}{2} \tau_{\text{M}} = \tau_{\text{R}} \end{align} {latex} Therefore, we can conclude that the relationships between torques is the same as the relationships between angular position: the torque on the middle gear is evenly divided between the torque on the left gear and the torque on the right gear. {latex} \begin{align} \tau_{\text{M}} &= \tau_{\text{L}} + \tau_{\text{R}} \\ \tau_{\text{L}} &= \tau_{\text{R}} = \frac{1}{2} \tau_{\text{M}} \end{align} {latex} |