Lab Rotational Inertia

Nesta M Hardin
Objective is to determine the rotational inertia of a wheel using three different methods.
Procedures
This experiment required three different methods in order to determine the rotational inertia. The first
method the dimensions of the wheel were measured and the volume was calculated along with the density
then each individual inertia was calculated, followed by the net inertia. For method two, a mass was hung
from a string and allowed to drop from an initial height recording how long it took to drop then measured
how far the mass returned. From these measurements, angular velocity was calculated, and then using
conservation of energy the inertia was determined. In method three used working acceleration, and in
order to determine linear acceleration that a mass falls from the end of the rotating disk and how many
times the disk took to rotate a certain set number of rotations.
Data
Method 1
R1
R2
R3
Disk Weight

1.455cm
11.195cm
1.445
296.8g

L1
L2
L3

6.91
0.89
6.90

V=4.5277x10-5 m3
V=3.5042x10-4 m3
V=4.5262x10-5 m3
= 6730.019 kg/m3
Inertia
2
3
net

0.3051 kg
2.3583 kg
0.3046 kg
3.1848 x10-5 kgm2
0.0148 x10-5 kgm2
3.1802 x10-5 kgm2
0.01484 kgm2

Method 2
T1 (s)

h (cm)

Vavg=0.10894m/s

7.16

67.5

= 15.0784

6.72

67.6

I=0.099195 kgm2

7.39

67.7

7.13

68.0

6.94

67.7

Avg 7.068

Avg 6.77 cm

m*=150g

h=77cm

Method 3

t (s)

= 0.6326

3.329

4.198

4.887

10

5.460

12

6.041

14

6.544

I= 0.033526 kgm2

Graph

vs. t2
16
14

f(x) = 0.32x + 0.47

R = 1

12
10

8
6
4
2
1.8

6.8

11.8

16.8

21.8
t2

Calculations

26.8

31.8

36.8

41.8

46.8

Conclusion
After completing all the calculations for the moment of inertia of the wheel it appears that the method that
is the most accurate is the first method using the dimensions of the wheel, which had a calculated inertia

of 0.01484 kgm2. The least accurate method appears to be the third method using torque and acceleration
which had a calculated inertia of 0.033526 kgm2 . The reason I believe that the first method is most
accurate is it has the least room for error that being only a device used to measure the diameter in the with
the accuracy taken while making the measurements. The reason I believe the third method using torque
and acceleration is the least accurate is that it has the most room for error being the errors that it could
occur each time recording the time it took for the wheel to make the number of rotations being measured.
In addition to the use of the best-fit slope also adds to the rate of error within the calculations.