Rotational Inertia Lab

February 17, 2016

Authored by Charley Diemer
Data collected by Ben OBrian, Charley Diemer, and Isabel Gheytanchi
on Feb 2-3, 2016

Objective:
The purpose of this lab was to determine the rotational inertia of
a wheel. In the experiment, time varied as a result of the distance each
cylindrical mass was placed away from the center of the wheel. This
distance acted as the independent variable, and time was the
independent variable. It was hypothesized that as the distance each
cylindrical mass was placed from the center of the wheel increased,
the time elapsed would also increase.
Materials:
The following materials were used to conduct the lab.

Wheel

Screw-on cylindrical masses

String

Masses

Quadruple beam balance

Measuring tape

Trip timer

Toothpick

Theory/Design:

In the experiment, a hanging mass was attached to and

wrapped around a wheel by use of a string. Two trip timer sensors were
placed at different locations along the wheels circumference. A
toothpick of negligible mass was fixed to the wheels circumference in
order to trip the timer. The hanging mass was then dropped a constant
measured distance, and the time the mass took took to travel that
distance was recorded. Four screw-on cylindrical masses were attached
at varying distances along the wheels radius.

Experimental Setup:

Using the second kinematic equation for constant acceleration, it

can be determined that , where a is the acceleration of the hanging
mass, h is the distance the hanging mass fell, and t is the time
elapsed. Through Newtons second law, , where m is the hanging mass,
g is the acceleration due to gravity, and is the force of tension.
Consequently, . The calculations also utilize the rotational equivalent of
Newtons second law, , where is the sum of the torques, is the moment
of inertia, and is the angular acceleration. In this system, , where R is
the radius perpendicular to the force. Assuming there is no slippage, .
So, after substituting for the force of tension, . Given that , where is the
rotational inertia of the wheel, M is the mass of a screw-on cylindrical
mass, and D is the distance from each cylindrical mass to the center of
the wheel, . After further simplifying, . Next, was substituted for a, so

that . Because t acted as the dependent variable, it was isolated on the

left side of the equation. Therefore, . Thus, when is plotted versus , the
y-intercept of the line is equal to . Accordingly, is equal to subtracted
from the value of the y-intercept.

Data/Calculations:

The following data was collected during the experiment.

kg +/- .000005kg, kg +/- .000005kg, m +/- .001m,

m +/- .001m

Distan
ce D (m)

.074
+/- .001

.124
+/- .001

.174
+/-.001

Trial

Time
(s)

Time
(s)

Time
(s)

Time
(s)

.8668

.9334

1.039

1.187

.8760

.9123

1.048

1.184

.8465

.9192

1.032

1.178

.8261

.9277

1.030

1.184

.8223

.9315

1.054

1.192

.8674

.9321

1.053

1.192

.8509

.9269

1.043

1.186

Averag
e Values

The following table represents the data points plotted on the

graph.

4MD2 (kgm2)

.0325

.005

.0385

.015

.0488

.030

.0631

(kgm2)

The relationship between 4MD2 and is displayed below.

The rotational inertia of the wheel is equal to subtracted from the

y-intercept. The y-intercept of the graph is (0, 0.033), and . Because,
the rotational inertia of the wheel is 0.029 kgm2.

Conclusion:

The data collected supports the initial hypothesis because

as masses were added and moved further away from the center of the
wheel, the time required for the hanging mass to drop the specified
distance increased. These results suggest and support that as mass is
moved further away from the point of rotation, the system gains more
rotational inertia, meaning a greater resistance to motion. There exists,
however, unavoidable error in the experimental design. Specifically, it
was assumed that the string had no slippage as it caused the wheel to
rotate. Slippage would result in incalculable differences in motion.
Additional data points in the lab would provide a better estimation of
the rotational inertia. A more in depth experiment may begin by
varying, in addition to the distance masses are placed from the wheels
center, the weight of the hanging mass, so as to compare more values.