E203: MOMENT OF INERTIA

POLICIOUS, Mark Angelo F.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this experiment is the
determination of moment of inertia of disk and a
ring including the variables influencing it to
rotate. The capacity of a certain body to turn or
the moment of inertia of the two things combined
is done at the same time. The object is permitted
to turn in its axis with the help of loads which
serves as the strain making it turn. The Inertia of
a circle is to apply Newton's second law regarding
the change in volume. This clarifies the
dissimilarity of the volume and density of an
object can be the reason why inertia decreases or
increases.
A moment of inertia refers to the force needed to
cause a rotating object to change speeds. In
1730, moment of inertia was introduced by
Leonhard Euler, a mathematician and a physicist.
He stated For bodies with an indefinite shape
and no apparent constant, a series of
experiments can help to determine the rate.
In real life, there are manyapplications for
moment of inertia. Car manufacturers study it
carefully to determine how quickly a car will spin
out of control especially in wet and slippery road.
Divers that are concerned about the angles of
spin in water that makes to maneuver fast and
less moment. Baseball players and golfers both
work to create an effective swing or turn, to hit
the ball and make a goal. A skater who wants to
spin faster and smoother needs inertia.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experiment is partitioned into three parts.
The first part is the setting up the apparatus. The
second part is the determination of Moment of
Inertia of Disk and Ring (rotated about the
center). The last part is the determination of
Moment of Inertia of Disk (rotated about the
diameter). The gathered data is correlated with
other experiments. The apparatus needed for

this experiment are vernier calliper, rotating

platform with shaft, smart timer, smart pulley,
rod, photogate head, mass hanger, loads, disk
and ring.
Setting-up
apparatus:

the

The
apparatus
were making sure
it
is
complete.
Smart
timer
is
connected to the
head
photogate
and a 220V outlet.
The
rod
was
attached to the
cylinder along the shaft and the other end is to
the mass hanger. The rod must be placed
tangent to the smart pulley. The disk was placed
horizontally leveled in the shaft. Other gadget
was used in order to make the disk leveled.
Determination of moment of inertia of disk and
ring:
First
and
foremost,
the
diameter of the
shaft
was
measured by a
vernier
calliper
where the rod is
attached
and
diameter of the disk and the inner and outer ring
was also measured. The mass of the ring and the
disk was already given. Double checking is
advised especially to the position or level of the
disk. The ring was placed to the disk. Friction
mass was determined by adding load into the
mass hanger. Friction mass would be constant for
all the parts of the experiment. Then, the
experiment first trial was begun. The acceleration
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was measured by a smart timer. Smart timer

must be set to acceleration, linear pulley.
Constant increase of mass must be load for every
trial must be done to obtain uniformity of the
acceleration. Solve for the
experimental moment of
inertia of the disk and ring.
The friction mass was not
included in the computation.
From then, the ring was
removed and the procedure
was applied again until the
data will be complete. The
Determination of moment of
inertia of ring will be based on calculation since
IRing is the difference of the ITotal to IDisk.

Constant data:
MDISK

1415.4

grams

MRING =

1413

grams

RDISK =

11.4

cm

R1 =

5.37

cm

R2 =

6.375

cm

friction
mass:

grams

Actual value of moment of inertia of disk and ring

ITOTAL =

IDISK + IRING

ITOTAL =

Determination of Moment of Inertia of Disk

rotated about the diameter:
To
begin
with,
relocate
the
disk
from
the
vertical
shaft. Rotate the
disk and embed the
D-shaped opening on
the hole to the shaft.
Repeat
the
procedures done in
the second part of
the experiment. Add
a load to the mass
hanger (mass hanger
has a constant load
of 5 grams), set the smart timer to accelartion,
linear pulley, drop the mass hanger and the
smart timer will do its place. Added mass must
be put in every trial. Again, constant increase of
mass must be load for every trial to obtain
uniformity increase of the acceleration.

141058.5634

radius, r =
R2
6.37
=
5
Fmass 5
:
TRIAL

1
2
3

g-cm

0.835
cm

cm

radius
0.835
c
,r=
m
acceleration, a EV of
moment
in inertia
0.2
cm/s 153706.7374
gcm

gram
s

(mass of
pan +
mass
added), m
45 gram
s
65 gram
s
85 gram
s

0.3

cm/s

0.4

cm/s

147998.7887
gcm
145137.8421
gcm
148947.7894
gcm
5.4407
gcm

avera
ge
%
Diff.

Sample Computation:
ACTUAL VALUE:

OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS

TABLE 1.
Determination of Moment of
Inertia of Disk and Ring (rotated about the
center)

I
[(

1
1
M DISK R 2 M RING R12 R22
2
2
)(

)((

) )]

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EXPERIMENTAL VALUE:

m g a r 2
a

EXPERIMENTAL VALUE:

)(

m g a r 2
a

)(

PERCENT DIFFERENCE:
(

PERCENT DIFFERENCE:

TABLE 2. Determination of Moment of

Inertia of Disk (rotated about the center)
friction
mass:
TRIAL

grams

(mass of pan + mass added),

m
45 grams

65

grams

85

grams

TABLE 3. Determination of Moment of

Inertia of Ring (rotated about the center)
Actual value of moment of inertia of ring
IRING =

MRING (R1 + R)

IRING =

acceleration, a

experimental value of
moment in inertia

unit

0.3

cm/s

102460.6999

gcm

0.5

cm/s

88781.1454

gcm

0.7

cm/s

82910.5109

gcm

average

91384.1187

gcm

ACTUAL VALUE:

[(

1
M DISK R 2
2
)(

) )]

g-cm

Sample Computation:
Experimental value of moment of inertia (by
difference)
IRING =
ITOTAL(EXPTL) IDISK(EXPTL)
IRING =
57563.6707 gcm
% difference

Sample Computation:

I DISK

49169.2444

15.7298%

ACTUAL VALUE:

I RING

1
M RING R12 R22
2

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)((

[(

ACTUAL VALUE:

) ))]

I DISK

1
M RING R 2
4

[((

)(

) )]

EXPERIMENTAL VALUE:

I RING I TOTAL I DISK

EXPERIMENTAL VALUE:

m g a r 2
a

)(

PERCENT DIFFERENCE:
(

)
PERCENT DIFFERENCE:

TABLE 4. Determination of Moment of

Inertia of Disk (rotated about the diameter)
MDISK =

1415.4

cm

RDISK =

11.4

cm

ACCEPTED VALUE

IDISK =

1
MDISKR

4
IDISK =

DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION

45986.346

g-cm
Moment of inertia of an object is a signal of the

friction
mass:
TRIAL

acceleration, a

level of force has to be applied in able to keep an

EV

object in movement and motion. Moment of

(mpan +
madded),

Inertia was derived from Newtons second law.

45

0.6

cm/s

51214.7

gcm

65

cm/s

44367.9

gcm

85

1.4

cm/s

41425.6

gcm

average

45669.4

gcm

0.6916

Sample Computation:

Higher moments of inertia demonstrate that

more force must be connected or put on in order
to cause a turn whereas lower moments of inertia
means that only small forces are required.
Masses that are further far from the axis of
rotation have the greatest moment of inertia.
The moment of inertia can be calculated by its
volume and mass. By the application of Newton's
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Second Law of Motion, we could determine the

numerical estimation of Inertia (I). The force
present to the hanging mass is its own particular
weight and tension plus the gravitational force
while the force that makes the disk rotating is the
tension due to the mass hangs on the hanger.
The heavier the load in the mass hanger, the
faster it rotates. On the data observed, adding
constant amount of mass in every trial will result
to a consistent increase of acceleration.
As the hanging mass increases, the acceleration
increases. This was observed by the smart timer.
As seen in gathered data, the variation of the
smart timer can produce great error. Again,
double checking is advice due to the different
result at a same value produce by the smart
timer. This can be the source of error in the
experiment. Other thing is the disk is not in
leveled or 0o. Error is expected. The acceleration
by the smart timer is changing due the friction

lesser inertia occur when the distribution of the

mass is reduced as it rotated to the diameter.
Like the case in Moment of inertia of disk
(rotating about the diameter).
ACKNOWLEDGMENT & REFERENCE
I would like to acknowledge my responsible
group mates for teamwork, unity and able to
finished the experiment with a worthily. Again,
the ideas of the experiment cannot be done
without them.
Thanking the Physics lab assistants for always
being polite in lending and getting the
apparatuses. Their clues and hints about the
experiment were well-appreciated.
Finally, I would like to show appreciation to our
professor Ricardo De Leon for imparting us his
insight and understanding about this experiment.
His patience and being approachable is enduring.
Sources:

and the time it takes to fully distribute the mass

around the platform.
The moment of Inertia of Disk and Ring is greater
than the moment of Inertia of Disk, for which to
able to rotate a heavy object it needs a lot of
tension to perform. Therefore, the heavier the
object the, slower the acceleration it is at a
constant tension or mass. As shown in the
computation. Another, when a body is rotated
vertically, the mass is lesser compared than it
is rotated horizontally and the acceleration is
faster.

https://afoolsinclination.wordpress.com/2
012/10/15/moment-of-inertia/
http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php
?f=1&t=32815
http://www.wired.com/2012/08/divingand-the-moment-of-inertia/
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/mom
ent-inertia-torque-d_913.html
http://www.bsharp.org/physics/spins
http://btc.montana.edu/olympics/physbio/
glossary/g17.html
http://www.quintic.com/education/Case%
20Study%2014%20%20Moment%20of%20Inertia.pdf

With all the information accumulated, I can say

that the moment of inertia is the measure of the
capacity of a certain body to turn in a given axis.
It displays the rotation of a rigid body. This can
be applied by the skater who wanted to turn. The
moment of inertia has the same relationship to
angular acceleration.
Greater inertia comes on the maximize
distribution of mas in the object rotated. While,
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