Is Ang. Momentum Conserved about Front wheel of car?

Question

I know that as a car accelerates on earth, for the car-earth system angular momentum is conserved.
Attached is a nice animation for simplistic proposes.
https://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/momentum.html
However, the front wheel experiences a torque due to friction. The front non-driving wheel also has angular momentum about it axle. Where is it conserved in the system? Does it get its angular momentum from earth or the car?
I can see how the forces on earth and on the car as a whole keep momentum conserved, but I am conceptually wondering how angular momentum is conserved if one includes the wheel.

dnaik · Answer

The initially stationary wheel gets its angular velocity from the ground, as the car itself exterts no torque on the front wheel. The angular momentum here obviously isn't conserved, since there is a net torque on the wheel. When the car is moving with a constant velocity, the frictional torques from the ground and from the axle of the wheel balance out, thus producing no net torque.

Answered by dnaik on January 22, 2021

Is Ang. Momentum Conserved about Front wheel of car?

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