Moment of Inertia

EXPERIMENT 203: MOMENT OF INERTIA

VIRAY, Kristoffer K. Group No. 5
ECE-
PHY11L-A4 August 14, 2014

ANALYSIS

The moment of Inertia is the quantity that describes angular inertia. The Mach
Principle states that Inertia here arises from mass there. Moment of inertia is
abbreviated with the letter I. Based on theories, an object may be considered to be
composed of many particles of mass. Each particle provides some resistance to
change in angular motion. The resistance is equal to the mass of the particle times
the square of the radius from the particle to the axis of rotation. The sum of all the
particles resistances to the rotation is the total moment of Inertia of the object.
In this experiment, the scalar form of moment of Inertia was considered.
Mass moment for inertia is expressed by:
I = mr
2

Where: m = mass of the particle
r = shortest or perpendicular distance relative to the axis of rotation.
The equation of the mass moment of inertia of the rigid body is:
I =

Moment of Inertia


Recall that p = dm / dv
Therefore the equation of the body in uniform is,
I = p

Derivation:
I =

I =

I =

I =

(r
2
4
-r
1
4
)
I =

(r
2
2
-r
1
2
)(r
2
2
+r
1
2
)

Recall that M = V =L(r
2
2
-r
1
2
)

Therefore,
I =

M(r
2
2
+r
1
2
)

Part 2 of the experiment requires solving for the Moment Inertia of the Disk.
This is almost similar to the hollow disk.

Derivation:
I =

I =

Moment of Inertia

I =

I =

(r
4
)

Recall, M = V and Volume of the disk = r
2
L
Therefore,
I =

MR
2

Newtons Second Law for Rigid Body
Mathematically,
= Fd

Experimental Moment of Inertia
From Newtons Second Law of Motion

net
= I, Tr = I
(mg-ma)r = I, =

(mg-ma)r= I(

),

Therefore, the experimental value of Inertia,
I =
()

Where:
m = mass added plus mass of pan
a = acceleration (from smart timers reading)
r = radius of shaft which the thread is wound
Moment of Inertia


In this experiment, the mass of inertia of a disk and ring was determined with the
use of a rotating platform, photogate, pulley and timer. The acceleration was
recorded and was used to solve for the moment of Inertia. The comparison of the
moment of Inertia of solid disk rotated at two different axes was illustrated.
To begin with the experiment, a disk was placed using a rotating platform and the
rod and the photogate was attached for the recording of the acceleration. A mass
hanger was connected to a thread and was looped along the vertical shaft. Before
performing the experiment, the platform was properly leveled on the table. The
picture below shows the leveling of the rotating platform.

In order to level the rotating platform, notice that there is a bubble inside the tube
which contains a green fluid. Adjust the rotating platform until the bubble in the
tube is at the center.
Moment of Inertia

On the first part, a ring was placed on the disk and certain mass was added to the
mass hanger. With the use of a vernier caliper, the diameter of the shaft was
measured. The picture below shows the measuring of the diameter using the
vernier caliper
.
Using the smart timer, the acceleration was determined. Three trials were
performed in the first part of the experiment.




Moment of Inertia

The picture below shows the measuring of the acceleration of the disk using the
smart timer.

Below is the table of the data acquired from the first part of the experiment.
Mass of disk (M
disk
) = 1400.2 grams
Mass of ring (M
ring
) = 1430.0 grams
Radius of disk (R
disk
) = 11.50 cm
Inner radius of ring (R
1
) = 5.37 cm
Outer radius of ring (R
2
) = 6.38 cm
Friction mass = 25 grams
Radius (r) = 1.25 cm

Moment of Inertia

(m) Acceleration (a) Experimental
value of moment
of Inertia
Trial 1 30 grams 0.3 cm/s
2
153078.13 gcm
2
Trial 2 40 grams 0.4 cm/s
2
153062.50 gcm
2

Trial 3 45 grams 0.5 cm/s
2
137742.19 gcm
2


The actual value of moment of Inertia of disk and ring was solved using the
equation below:
I
TOTAL
=I
DISK
+ I
RING
I
TOTAL
=*M
DISK
(R
2
) + M
RING
(R
1
2
+ R
2
2
)
I
TOTAL
= *(1400.2)(1.25)
2
+ *1430.0(5.37
2
+6.38
2
)
I
TOTAL
= 142310.25 g-cm
2

The experimental value of moment of Inertia was determine by the equation
below:
I = ((m(g-a)r
2
))/a
Where g is the specific gravity which is equal to 980 cm/s
2
r is the radius which is equal to 1.25 cm
a is the acceleration
For trial 1 :
I = ((30(980-0.3)(1.25)
2
)/0.3)
Moment of Inertia

= 153078.13 gcm
2
For trial 2 :
I= ((40(980-0.4)(1.25)
2
)/0.4)
= 153062.5 gcm
2

For trial 3 :
I = ((45(980-0.5)(1.25)
2
)/0.5
= 137742.19 gcm
2

The average experimental value was computed.
Average = (153078.13+153062.50+137742.19)/3
= 147960.94 gcm
2
The percent difference was also computed which is equal to 3.97%.
By using the data acquired from the experiment, it was noticed that a friction mass
is needed to overcome the kinetic friction to minimize the errors that can be
incurred during the comparison. From the data acquired, acceleration and the
increase of mass showed a direct relationship. As the mass increases, its
acceleration is greater producing a greater moment of inertia. To cut it short, there
is more resistance to rotational motion.
For the second part of the experiment, a certain mass was added to the mass hanger
and the ring was removed from the disk. The set up for the second part of the
Moment of Inertia

experiment is shown in the picture below.

The values acquired from the second part of the experiment are shown below.
Friction mass = 5 grams
(m) Acceleration (a) Experimental
value of moment
of Inertia
Trial 1 20 grams 0.33 cm/s
2
92771.78 gcm
2
Trial 2 25 grams 0.41 cm/s
2
93329.84 gcm
2
Trial 3 30 grams 0.59 cm/s
2
92643.25 gcm
2

Moment of Inertia

Experimental value for Trial 1:
I = ((20(980-0.33)(1.25)
2
)/0.33
I = 92771.78 gcm
2
Experimental value for Trial 2:
I = ((25(980-0.41)(1.25)
2
)/0.33
I = 93329.84 gcm
2
Experimental value for Trial 3:
I = ((25(980-0.50)(1.25)
2
)/0.33
I = 91828.13 gcm
2

The average of the experimental value of moment of Inertia:
Average = (92771.78 + 93329.84 + 91828.13) / 3
Average = 92643.25 gcm
2

The percent difference is 0.06%
The second part of the experiment has the similar procedure as the first part of the
experiment. The only difference is that the ring which was on top of the disk in the
first part of the experiment was removed from the system. The results show that
the greater the mass and the acceleration, the higher the moment of Inertia. Percent
difference between the actual and experimental was in an acceptable degree which
only means that neglecting the possible errors, these values might become similar.
Moment of Inertia

The last part of the experiment was done with the same procedure but this time, the
disk was placed vertically on the shaft. The set-up for the third part of the
experiment is shown below.


Using the measured radius of the ring and disk, and the mass of disk, the moment
of Inertia was then computed, and the percent difference was also calculated.



Moment of Inertia

Below is the picture of the group measuring the acceleration of the disk.

Mass of ring (M
RING
) 1430.00 grams
Inner radius of ring (R
1
) 5.37 cm
Outer radius of ring (R
2
) 6.38 cm

The actual value of moment of inertia of ring was solved by using the equation
below:
I
RING
= M
RING
(R
1
2
+ R
2
2
)
I
RING
= (1430.0)(5.37
2
+6.38
2
)
I
RING
= 49722.03 gcm
2

Moment of Inertia

The experimental value of moment of inertia is 55317.69 gcm
2
The percent difference is 10.12%
By the values shown, the actual value of the moment of Inertia of the ring is
greater than the experimental value. Errors are present while doing this part of the
experiment, thus giving us a percentage difference of 10.12%.
The moment of Inertia of the disk was computed in the previous part of the
experiment when it was rotated about the center. In this part, the disk is rotated
about the diameter of the rotating platform. The following data were acquired
during the experiment.
Mass of disk (M
DISK
) 1400.20 grams
Radius of disk (R
DISK
) 11.50 cm
Actual value of moment of Inertia of
disk (I
DISK
)
46244 g-cm
2

Friction mass 5 grams
Radius 1.22 cm

Two trials were performed during this part of the experiment. The values acquired
while performing the experiment are shown below.
m Acceleration (a) Experimental
value of moment
of Inertia
Trial 1 15 grams 0.49 cm/s
2
46851.56 gcm
2
Trial 2 25 grams 0.83 cm/s
2
46082.93 gcm
2
Trial 3 35 grams 1.15 cm/s
2
46548.59 gcm
2

Moment of Inertia


The average experimental value is:
(46851.56 + 46082.93 + 46548.59) / 3
Average experimental value = 46494.35 gcm
2

The percent difference is 0.43%.
By comparing the moment of Inertia of the disk in the second part of the
experiment and to the last part of the experiment, the data shows that the moment
of Inertia of the disk is greater because the distributed mass is far from the center
of mass. Unlike when the disk was rotated about the diameter, the mass is much
nearer to the center of mass.