Experiment 11

Moment of Inertia
A rigid body composed of concentric disks is constrained to rotate about
its axis of symmetry. The moment of inertia is found by two methods and the
results are compared.
In the first method, the moment of inertia is
determined theoretically by applying the formula for the moment of inertia of
a single disk to each of four disks, and adding the results. In the second
method, the moment of inertia is determined experimentally by measuring
the acceleration produced by a constant torque on the body.
The experimental determination of the moment of inertia is only valid if
friction is negligible. In Part II of the experiment, an estimate of the angular
acceleration due to friction is obtained.
The validity of the above
approximation is the examined.

Theory, Part I
The moment of inertia of a homogeneous disk about the axis of
symmetry is
2
I disk = 12 M R ,

where M 1 is the mass of the disk and R 2 is the radius. The moment of
inertia of a rigid system of concentric disks is then

I = 12 M 1 R12 + 12 M 2 R 22 + = 12 M i Ri2 ,

(1)

where the sum extends over all disks, each of which has mass M i 3 and radius

Ri 4. If the mass density, 5, is uniform (i.e., constant throughout the body),

the mass of each disk is given by

2
M i = V i = wi Ri ,

where V i 6 is the volume of the disk and wi 7 is the width. Substituting this
into (1), the moment of inertia of each disk is then

Ii =

4
wi Ri ,

(2)

and the total theoretical moment of inertia is

I the =

wi Ri4 .

(3)

If the density together with the width and the radius of each disk are known,
then the moment of inertia of the body can be computed. The moment of
inertia determined in this manner will be referred to as the theoretical value (

I the 8).
The experimental value of
the moment of inertia can be
found by exerting a constant
torque on the body. A mass, m 9,
is attached to a string which is
wrapped around the body at some
radius, R 10. (Refer to Figure 1.)
R 11 will be one of the disk radii,
If m 13 is released from
rest and falls a distance, d 14,
t 15, the
during
a
time,
m
acceleration of
16 is given by

Ri 12.

of

a=

2d
t

Figure 1. Experimental determination

moment of inertia.

Once the value of the acceleration is

known, the moment of inertia is deter(4) mined by

- 1 ,
a

2
I exp = m R

(5)

assuming that friction in the supports is negligible.

Theory, Part II
A rough measure of friction in the supports can easily be found.
Suppose the body (without the mass m 17) is initially spun and N 18
revolutions occur during the time T 19 required for the body to come to rest.
Assuming the angular acceleration due to the resistance is constant, its
magnitude is then given by
f=

4N
T

(6)

This should be approximately true for the apparatus. The expression (6)
represents, in some sense, and average value of the angular acceleration due
to friction.)
The magnitude of the resistive torque due to friction in the supports is
f = I f 20. Including this torque in the derivation of the experimental
moment of inertia, the result is

1
g
- 1
,
a 1+ f

a /R

2
I exp = m R

(7)

assuming the resistive torque is constant. ( f = I f 21 is approximately true

for f 22 given by (6) when the mass is not attached to the body. In the
experimental determination of the moment of inertia, when m 23 is attached
to the body, the resistive torque will have an additional contribution that is
proportional to the tension of the string, which connects m 24 to the body.
This contribution is negligible, however, if m < < M total 25.) According to (7) the
validity of (5) rests upon the degree to which the following is true: