I'm taking AP Physics C and right now in our rotation unit I am confused about why angular momentum is constant in certain cases.
The situation involves the angular momentum of an object moving at constant velocity in a straight line that does not pass through the origin.
Why is it constant? While the linear velocity is constant, the angular velocity of the particle relative to a circle centered on the origin, and a radius such that the point is on the circumference changes as the particle moves. If the particle had an extremely high x, wouldn't most of the velocity vector point towards the circle instead of tangent to it, there by making mot of the linear velocity not angular velocity?