Suppose the Sun were suddenly to shrink in size but that its mass remained the same. According to the law of conservation of angular momentum, what would happen?
A)The Sun's rate of rotation would slow.
B)The Sun's angular size in our sky would stay the same.
C)The Sun would rotate faster than it does now.
D)This could never happen, because it is impossible for an object to shrink in size without an outside torque.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to the law of conservation of angular momentum, the product of an object's moment of inertia and its rotation rate must remain constant unless an external torque acts on it. If the Sun were to shrink in size while maintaining its mass, its moment of inertia would decrease, causing its rotation rate to increase in order to conserve angular momentum. Therefore, the Sun would rotate faster than it does now.

Suppose the Sun Were Suddenly to Shrink in Size but That