written by Wolfgang Christian and Mario Belloni

The EJS Slipping and Rolling Wheel Model shows the motion of a wheel rolling on a floor subject to a frictional force as determined by the coefficient of friction μk. The simulation allows the user to change the initial translational and rotational velocities of the wheel, v and ω, and the mass, radius, and mass distribution, R, m, and C of the wheel. By controlling these variables, the dynamics of the wheel can be changed to show the sliding, then rolling without slipping, of the wheel.  


The Slipping and Rolling Wheel Model was created using the Easy Java Simulations (EJS) modeling tool.  It is distributed as a ready-to-run (compiled) Java archive.  Double clicking the ejs_mech_newton_SlippingRollingWheel.jar file will run the program if Java is installed.  The user can modify this simulation if EJS is installed by right-clicking within the plot and selecting "Open Ejs Model" from the pop-up menu item.

• Download ejs_mech_newton_SlippingRollingWheel.jar - 1716kb Java Archive File

Last Modified June 12, 2014

This file has previous versions.

The source code zip archive contains an XML representation of the Slipping and Rolling Wheel Model.  Unzip this archive in your EJS workspace to compile and run this model using EJS.

• Download ejs_mech_newton_SlippingRollingWheel.zip - 61kb Compressed File

Published February 4, 2009
Last Modified March 6, 2009