EXPERIMENT 103

MOMENT OF INERTIA

ANALYSIS

The moment of inertia or also known as rotational inertia, of a rigid body is

a quantity that determines the torque needed for a desired angular acceleration
about a rotational axis; similar to how mass determine the force needed for a
desired acceleration. It depends on the body's mass distribution and the axis
chosen, with larger moments requiring more torque to change the body's rotation
rate. It is an extensive property, for a point mass the moment of inertia is just the
mass times the square of the perpendicular distance to the rotation axis. The
moment of inertia of a rigid composite system is the sum of the moments of
inertia of its component subsystems.

To fully grasp the knowledge about moment of inertia, some important

term shall be discussed first such as angular velocity and acceleration, rotational
energy and rigid bodies. First is the rigid body, is a solid body in which
deformation is zero or so small it can be neglected. The distance between any two
given points on a rigid body remains constant in time regardless of external forces
exerted on it. A rigid body is usually considered as a continuous distribution of
mass. It is also defined as a definite amount of matter of which it is fixed in a
certain position relative to each other.

In order to fully understand rigid body and its moment of inertia, it is

important to learn about rotational kinematics. By learn and understanding the
kinematics of rotational motion, we can begin to see how rotational quantities
like θ, ω, and α are related to one another. The kinematics of rotational motion
describes the relationships among rotation angle, angular velocity, angular
acceleration, and time. A fixed axis is an axis that is at rest in some inertial frame
of reference and does not change direction relative to that frame in which the
rigid body rotates to a fixed axis.

FIGURE 1.

In Figure 1, it shows a rigid rotating about a fixed axis. The axis passes
through point O and is perpendicular to the plane of the diagram. One way to
describe the rotation of this body would be choose a particular point P on the
diagram.

The angular coordinate θ of a rigid body rotating around a fixed axis can be
positive or negative. The angle θ is positive if the positive angle to be measured is
counter-clockwise from the positive x-axis. On the other hand, it would negative if
the rotation would be clockwise. It is important to remember that, in describing
rotational motion, the most natural way to measure the angle θ is in radians (rad).

The formula for calculating the angle θ of a rotating rigid body is shown in
Equation (1), where θ is the angle of rotation, or known as the angular
displacement, s is the arc length of the circle of the rotation, and r is the radius of
the circle.
 EQUATION (1)

Similar to angular kinematics, the angular velocity is defined as the study of

rotational motion in the absence of forces. The equations of angular kinematics
are extremely similar to the usual equations of kinematics, with quantities like
displacements replaced by angular displacements and velocities replaced by
angular velocities. Just as kinematics is routinely used to describe the trajectory of
almost any physical system moving linearly, the equations of angular kinematics
are relevant to most rotating physical systems.

In purely rotational (circular) motion, the equations of angular kinematics

are showed in Equation (2). The tangential velocity vt describes the velocity of an
object tangent to its path in rotational motion at angular frequency ω and radius
r. This is the velocity an object would follow if it suddenly broke free of rotational
motion and traveled along a straight line. The rate of change of this velocity is the
tangential acceleration a.

The centripetal acceleration is a second acceleration experienced by

rotating objects, because changing the direction of a velocity vector requires
acceleration. Since the direction of the velocity vector changes constantly in
rotational motion, rotating objects must be continuously accelerated towards the
axis of rotation by some force providing a centripetal acceleration.

v=rω, ac=−rω2, a=rα (2)

 From the above equations, the usual kinematic equations hold in angular
form. If an object undergoes constant angular acceleration α , the total angular
displacement is showed in Equation (3).

θ−θ0=ω0t+1/2αt^2 (3)

Though the above derivation gives the magnitudes of angular quantities

correctly, it does not capture the fact that angular quantities are also vector
quantities. The direction in which the angular velocity points can be found from
the right-hand rule: curving the fingers of your right hand along the direction of
rotation, your thumb points in the direction of the angular velocity vector, along
the axis of rotation.

Now, in general, rotational kinematics can be co-relate to linear kinematics.

In terms of linear speed in a rigid-body rotation, when a rigid body rotates about a
fixed axis, every particle in the body moves in a circular path. The circle lies in a
plane perpendicular to the axis and it is centered on the axis. The speed of a
particle is directly proportional to the body’s angular velocity; thus, the faster the
body rotates, the greater the speed of each particle. The equation for the linear
speed of a rotating rigid body is given by Equation (4)

v = rω (4)

Wherein, ω is the angular speed and r is

the radius. It is important to remember that the farther a point is from the
axis, the greater its linear speed. The direction of the linear velocity vector is
tangent to its circular path at each point, as shown in Figure 2.
 FIGURE 2.

For the linear acceleration in a rigid-body rotation, the linear

acceleration is called tangential component of acceleration or tangential
acceleration. It is defined as a measure of how quickly a tangential velocity
changes. It always acts perpendicular to the centripetal acceleration of a rotating
object. It is equal to the angular acceleration α, times the radius of the rotation.

It is the component parallel to the instantaneous velocity that acts to

change the magnitude of the particle’s velocity and it is equal to the rate of
change of speed. The equation for computing the tangential acceleration is given
by Equation (5), where r is the radius and α is the angular acceleration. This
component of a particle’s acceleration is always tangent to the circular path of
the particle. Another component for the linear acceleration of a rotating rigid-
body is the centripetal component of acceleration.

atan = rα (5)

In this Experiment 103, clearly the main subject is the moment of inertia. In
Newton's second law, F = ma the mass m of an object is a measure of its inertia.
Clearly the smaller the mass, the less force is required to change the object's
linear velocity. In rotational motion, it is the rotational inertia, often called the
moment of inertia I that determines the torque τ, required to change an object's
angular velocity. The analogue of Newton's second law for rotational motion is
showed in Equation (6) where τ net is the net torque and α is the angular
acceleration. The moment of inertia of an object depends on the shape of the
object and the distribution of its mass relative to the object's axis of rotation.

τ net =Iα (6)

A uniform disk of mass m is not as hard to set into rotational motion as a

"dumbbell" with the same mass and radius. For a symmetric, continuous body
(like a solid disk) that is rotating about an axis of symmetry, the moment of inertia
is calculated by carrying out the integral. Equation (7).

I= r^2dm (7)

where dm is the tiny bit of mass located a distance r from the axis of
rotation. For a collection of n point masses, the moment of inertia is calculated by
carrying out the sum.

The objective of this experiment 103 is to use a wheel with a step pulley to
measure the acceleration of the rotating wheel and determine the moment of
inertia of the wheel. It will also determine the moment of inertia of an extension
that you will add to the wheel.

The materials to be used were as follows: 1 set of rotating-platform, 1pc

disk, 1pc photogate, 1pc smart timer, 1pc smart pulley, 1 set weights, 1pcs mass
hanger, 1pc Vernier caliper, and 1pc ruler. While the theories to be tested in this
experiment are the theories stated above about the concept of moment of
inertia, in particular of the moment of inertia of a disk and a ring; and the idea of
Newton’s second law of motion in rotational rigid bodies.
 The equations to be used in this experiment are the equations for the
moment of inertia of a disk and ring is showed in Equation (8)

Τ = Fd (8)

The procedure for this experiment is separated into three parts:

preparation, part A, and part B. For the preparation, the first step is to attach the
mounting rod to the smart pulley and photogate head. Connect a mass hanger to
a thread and loop it around the cylinder along the vertical shaft. Then, securely
place the disk on the center vertical shaft. Connect the smart time to the
photogate head and plug it to the 220v source. For part A, mount the disk on to
the rotating platform. Use the Vernier caliper to measure the diameter of the
shaft to which the thread is wound; then record the radius of this shaft as r. Next,
to overcome kinetic friction, small amount of mass must be added on the pan and
let it drop with a constant speed. This small mass is called friction mass. Take
note, however, that it will take less friction mass to compensate the effect of
friction. For the first trial, add more mass and record its acceleration. The smart
timer must be set to ACCEL, LINEAR PULLEY. Solve for the experimental moment
of inertia of the disk using Equation (20). The friction mass is not included in the
computation of moment of inertia. Compute for the percent difference. Next, the
part B is the same with part A but the disk is plugged in sideward position.

In this experiment, we use a disk nearly uniform mass and apply a torque
by adding weight to a string attached to a step pulley at the center of the disk
shown in Figure 3. Using the data results it will determine the moment of inertia
of the disk
 FIGURE 3.

Even though the wheel is horizontal and the string passes over a second
pulley, in Figure 3. We show the wheel in a vertical position. As the hanging mass
falls, the wheel rotates counterclock-wise. This rotation is due primarily to the
torque exerted by the tension force in the string, which arises from the weight of
the hanging mass. The wheel has bearings at its axle, and there is some friction in
their movement. The torque associated with that friction force f acts to oppose
the torque produced by the tension force T in the string.

If we consider just the wheel, we can examine the two torques that are
acting, that of the friction Tf and that of the tension Ttension. The magnitude of
the torque due to the tension is shown in Equation (9) where r is the radius of the
step pulley.

T = rT (9)

Now let us consider the hanging mass m. Figure 4 shows the free body
diagram for the hanging mass. We see that the tension is opposing the force of
gravity.
 FIGURE 4.

Newton's second law written for the hanging mass is then is showed in
Equation (10) where a is the acceleration of the hanging mass, and we have
chosen the downward direction to be positive. Solving for T.

mg – T = ma (10)

All data collected from experiment part A is in Table 1 and in table 2, the
data collected for Part B is shown. All experimentation where done according to
the procedure presented on the laboratory experimental manual.

Table 1. Determination of Moment of Inertia of Disk (rotated about its centre)

Mass of disk, MDisk = 1414.5 grams Moment of Inertia of Disk

Radius of disk, RDisk = 11.4 grams I = 91,914.21 g *cm^2
Friction Mass = 10 grams Radius, r = 3 cm

(mass of pan + mass added), m Acceleration, a Moment of Inertia of Disk

30 grams 0.5 cm/s^2 99,422.7 gcm^2

% difference 7.8%
Table 2. Determination of Moment of Inertia of Disk (rotated about the diameter)

Mass of disk, MDisk = 1414.5 grams Moment of Inertia of Disk

Radius of disk, RDisk = 11.4 grams I = 45,957.105 g *cm^2
Friction Mass = 15 grams Radius, r = 3 cm

(mass of pan + mass added), m Acceleration, a Moment of Inertia of Disk

45 grams 1.5 cm/s^2 49,660.65 gcm^2

% difference 7.75%

Analyzing these collected data, the experiment showed that the moment of
inertia of the disk is greater than the ring because the radius of the disk is bigger
than the radius of the ring. The table shows the values calculated and shows
which table has the greater moment of inertia of the disk. The moment of inertia
of the disk is greater than that of the ring even their masses are almost the same
because the mass of the disk is equally distributed than that of the ring where its
weight is far from the axis of rotation. The moment of inertia of the disk is greater
when it is rotated about the center compared when it is rotated about its
diameter because the mass distributed is far from the axis of rotation.

CONCLUSION

With all the information discussed, moment of inertia is commonly defined

as the name given to rotational inertia, the rotational analog of mass for linear
motion. It appears in the relationships for the dynamics of rotational motion. The
moment of inertia must be specified with respect to a chosen axis of rotation. For
a point mass the moment of inertia is just the mass times the square of
perpendicular distance to the rotation axis. Another definition it is the opposition
that the body exhibits to having its speed of rotation about an axis altered by the
application of a torque (turning force). The axis may be internal or external and
may or may not be fixed.

In Experiment No. 103 : Moment of Inertia, the moment of inertia of the

disk is greater than the ring because the disk has a larger radius comparing to the
ring. Using the given formula in the procedure, we calculated for the values of
each table. In which the values calculated in the moment of inertia rotated
around its center is greater than the value gather in the moment of inertia
rotated about the diameter. With its different position of its axis, it played a huge
part in the difference between in the moment of inertia rotated about the center
and rotated about its diameter because it has different mass distribution.

There are other factors that affects the moment of inertia of the axis, some
factors are the positioning of its axis of rotation, the distance of the center of the
mass distributed and the applied force from its axis of rotation, and the shape of
its rigid body.

Lastly with the conclusion, based on the date gather the percent
differences may be different from other data or it has a high percent of error. It
may be cause of human error such as wrong readings of the measurements in
terms of its mass and radius of the disk that we think can affects the results of the
experiment.
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Tangential Velocity Formula. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.softschools.com/formulas/physics/tangential_velocity_formula/25/.

Rigid Body Motion. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/rigid-body-motion.