Problem III Concern has been expressed that climate change may lead to the melting of the polar ice caps. In the (unlikely) event that all of the polar ice were to melt, enough water would be released to cover the Earth with a 30-m-thick layer of water. Assuming that the ice caps currently make a negligible contribution to the Earth's rotational inertia, estimate the change in the length of the day. Recall that the Earth's radius is RE = 6.4 106 m and its mass is ME = 6 x 1024 kg. Key 16 Problem IV = Two spherical balls of radius r 10 cm and mass m = 0.25 kg slide in a tube that spins freely about a vertical axis that is perpendicular to the tube. The system is brought to an initial angular velocity wo = 10 rad/s with the masses held in place by a string at a distance d = 0.3 m from the center. The balls are then released and move outward to the end of the tube, where they come to rest a distance D = 0.5 m from the center. You can neglect the mass of the tube and the string. 2rm m d D 1. What is wf, the final angular velocity of the system? Key 36