NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

FIRST YEAR COMMON ENGINEERING COURSE

Experiment M3 : Moment of Inertia in Rigid Body Motion

LOG SHEET

The Rotating-mass Assembly (Fig 2)

r s= 15 mm y = 490 mm
m = 337.27 g d = 50 mm

(i) ‘Point’ mass M (M L = 0.24699_ kg, MR = 0.24651_ kg)

R (mm) T (s) t average (s) r 2 x 10 -3 (m 2 ) I exp x 10 -3 (kgm 2 )

275 0.396 0.392 0.393 0.394 75.625 45.224
225 0.341 0.340 0.344 0.342 50.625 34.066
175 0.281 0.282 0.280 0.281 30.625 23.042
125 0.230 0.228 0.228 0.229 15.625 15.259
75 0.188 0.188 0.184 0.187 5.625 10.168

Sample calculation : For r = 275 mm, t = 0.394 s

I exp = (2r s 2 y m gt 2 ) / d 2 = 45.224 kgm 2 (3 dec.)

(ii) Cylindrical discs (M L = 0.8430_ kg, MR = 0.8417_ kg)

Average radius of the disc = 100 mm

R (mm) T (s) t average (s) r 2 x 10 -3 (m 2 ) I exp x 10 -3 (kgm 2 )

120 0.390 0.383 0.375 0.383 14.400 42.732
160 0.460 0.463 0.461 0.461 25.600 62.108
200 0.542 0.541 0.544 0.542 40.000 85.832
240 0.626 0.629 0.627 0.627 57.600 114.845

Trifilar Suspension (Fig 3)

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 r = 0.075 m L = 1.70 m
mp = 1.3359 kg m object 1 = 6.1200 kg ( cyl i n der )
m object 2 = 3.7318 kg (r i n g)

(i) Empty platform

Number of oscillations Time taken t (s) Period T (s)

20 41.00 2.05
20 40.76 2.04
20 40.97 2.05

T average = 2.05 s

I p = T p 2 (m p gr 2 ) / 4π2 L = 0.00460 kgm 2 (3 s.f.)

(ii) Platform with object 1 (cylinder) :- Radius = 50 mm

Number of oscillations Time taken t (s) Period T (s)

20 28.19 1.41
20 28.05 1.40
20 28.34 1.42
Average T= 1.41 s

I object 1 = [T p 2 (m p + m 1 )gr 2 / 4π2 L ] - I p = 0.00759 kgm 2 (3 s.f.. )

Theorectical value of I object 1 = (6.12 x 0.05 2 )/2 = 0.00765 kgm 2 (3 s.f. )

(iii) Platform with object 2 (ring):- Radius i = 62.5 mm Radius o = 100 mm

Number of oscillations Time taken t (s) Period T (s)

20 28.19 1.41
20 28.05 1.40
20 28.34 1.42
Average T= 2.73 s

I object 2 = [T p 2 (m p + m 2 ) gr 2 / 4π2 L ] - I p = 0.0264 kgm 2 (3 s.f..)

Theorectical value of I object 2 (ring) = ½ m (R 2 + r 2 )

2 2

= ½ (3.7318) (0.1000 + 0.0625 )

= 0.0259 kgm 2 (3 s.f. )

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