What is angular momentum?

Angular momentum is defined as the product of an object's moment of inertia and its angular velocity. This concept is crucial in physics, especially in areas dealing with rotational motion.

The moment of inertia is a measure of an object's resistance to changes in its rotational motion and depends on the mass distribution of the object relative to the axis of rotation. Angular velocity, on the other hand, measures how fast the object is rotating, typically quantified in radians per second.

When these two quantities are multiplied, the result is angular momentum, which quantifies the rotational motion of the object and indicates how difficult it would be to change that motion. This principle is analogous to linear momentum, where mass and linear velocity are combined to describe motion in a straight line.

Understanding this relationship is fundamental for analyzing systems involving rotation, such as gears, wheels, or celestial bodies, making option B the correct representation of angular momentum.