Engineering Mechanics · RPM and radians
The shop counts turns; physics counts radians
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The shop counts turns; physics counts radians

Every nameplate, tachometer and datasheet in a plant is written in rpm — revolutions per minute, the symbol nn. Every equation in your course is written in rad/s\mathrm{rad/s}. The two never share a value, and the bridge between them is worth memorising in one piece: ω=2πn60\omega = \dfrac{2\pi n}{60}. Revolutions become radians (×2π\times 2\pi); minutes become seconds (÷60\div 60). As one number that is a division by 9.549 — but keep it as 2π/602\pi/60 and you will never forget which way it goes.

The period TT is the other way in: the time in seconds for exactly one revolution. One revolution is 2π2\pi radians, so ω=2πT\omega = \dfrac{2\pi}{T}omega equals two pi over T. That is ω=θ/t\omega = \theta/t with the angle already filled in for you. And a nameplate speed converts straight to a period: at nn rpm one revolution takes T=60/nT = 60/n seconds.

Put a radius on it and you get the rim speed the same way: v=2πrTv = \dfrac{2\pi r}{T} — one circumference of 2πr2\pi r metres, covered every TT seconds, where rr is the radius in metres and vv is in m/s\mathrm{m/s}. If a rotational answer ever looks wrong by roughly six, you have found this bridge unpaid.