Moment of Inertia

Assignment-2
Topic: Rotation about fixed axis : Dynamics

PHYSICS PREPARED BY : UPVAN MITTAL

1. Consider a light rod with two heavy mass particles at its ends. Let AB be a line perpendicular to the rod as
shown in figure. What is the moment of inertia of the system about AB?

2. Three particles, each of mass 200g, are kept at the corners of an equilateral triangle of side 10 cm. Find the
moment of inertia of the system about an axis
(a) joining two of the particles and
(b) passing through one of the particles and perpendicular to the plane of the particles.

3. Particles of masses 1g, 2g, 3g.... 100g are kept at the marks 1cm, 2cm, 3cm,..., 100 cm respectively on a metre
scale. Find the moment of inertia of the system of particles about a perpendicular bisector of the metre scale.

4. The moment of inertia of a uniform rod of mass 0.50 kg and length 1m is 0.10 kg-m 2 about a line perpendicular
to the rod. Find the distance of this line from the middle point of the rod.

5. Two uniform identical rods each of mass M and length  are joined to form a cross as shown in figure. Find the
moment of inertia of the cross about a bisector as shown by the dotted line dotted in the figure.

6. Three rods each of mass m and length  are joined together to form an equilateral triangle as shown in figure.
Find the moment of inertia of the system about an axis passing through its centre of mass and perpendicular
to the plane of the triangle.

7. A rod of length  is pivoted about an end. Find the moment of inertia of the rod about this axis if the linear
mass density of rod varies as =ax2 + b kg/m.

8. A thin wire is bent to form a circular ring of radius R. The linear density of the wire varies as
 = 0ek, 0  < 2
where 0 and k are constants and  is the angle shown in figure.

Find the moment of inertia of the ring about an axis passing through it’s centre and perpendicular to its plane.
1
9. A thin uniform wire is bent to form a spiral whose equation is given by :
r = r0 ek, 0  <2
Find the moment of inertia of the spiral piece of wire about z-axis (see figure). Linear density of wire is .

r

x

10. Find the moment of inertia of the rod AB about an axis Y as shown in figure. Mass of the rod is m and length is
.

11. A thin steel wire is bent into the shape shown. Denoting the mass of the wire by m, determine by direct
integration the moment of inertia of the wire with respect to each of the coordinate axes. ( Hint: there is
symmetry in x, y).

12. A flat rectangular plate has variable superficial density given by

 = 0x
where 0 is a constant and x is the distance measured along x-axis. (see figure)

Find the moment of inertia of the plate about :

(i) y-axis, (ii) x-axis, (iii) z-axis
13. Determine the moment of inertia about x and y axes, of a thin plate of superficial density 0 shown in the
figure.
14. Determine the moment of inertia of an ellipse of semi-axes a and b, about (i) the major axis and (ii) the minor
axis. Use the perpendicular axis theorem to determine the moment of inertia of the ellipse about an axis
perpendicular to the plane of the ellipse through the centre.

15. Determine the moment of inertia of a laminar circular sector of radius R and mass M, making an angle of 60° at
the centre, about an axis passing through the centre of the outermost rim x and perpendicular to the plane of
the sector.

16. The mass of circular disk is m. A circular hole is now cut into it as shown in figure. Find the moment of inertia
of the remaining part about an axis passing through point A perpendicular to the disk’s plane.

17. The surface density (mass/area) of a circular disc of radius a depends on the distance from the centre as
(r)=A + Br. Find its moment of inertia about the line perpendicular to the plane of the disc through its centre.

18. A flat semicircular disk of radius R has variable surface density given by
 = 0 y
where 0 is a constant and y is the distance measured along y-axis. Find the moment of inertia of the plate
about :
(i) x-axis, (ii) y-axis, (iii) z-axis

19.. A flat circular disk of radius R has variable density given by

 = 0 sin2
where 0 is a constant and  is the angle made with x-axis. Find the moment of inertia of the disk about an axis
passing through its centre, perpendicular to it’s plane.

20. The solid cylinder has an outer radius R, height h, and is made from a material having a density that varies
from its center as =k + ar2, where k and a are constants. Determine the mass of the cylinder and its moment
of inertia about the z-axis.

21. Find the moment of inertia of a truncated cone about its axis, the radii of its ends being a and b.
22. The paraboloid is formed by revolving the shaded area around the x-axis. Determine the radius of gyration k x.
The material has a constant density .

23. The area shown is revolved about the x axis to form a homogeneous solid of revolution of mass m. Using
direct integration, express the moment of inertia of the solid with respect to the x-axis in terms of m and h.

24. Find the moment of inertia of a hollow sphere about a diameter, its external and internal radii being a and b.
25. Determine the moment of inertia of the homogeneous triangular prism with respect to the y axis. Express the
result in terms of the mass m of the prism.

26.. Find the moment of inertia of a uniform, right circular cylinder about an axis passing through its centre of
mass, perpendicular to its axis of symmetry. Mass of cylinder is m, its radius is R, its height is h.

27... Find moment of inertia of solid cube of edge length a and mass m about one of its body diagonals.
 Answers
1. I=m1r12 + m2r22 2. (a) 1.5 x 10-3 kg-m2 (b) 4.0 x 10-3 kg-m2
3. 0.43 kg-m2 4. 0.34 m 5. m2/12
5
a b 3
 0R 3 2 k
6. I=m2/2 7. I= + 8. I (e  1)
5 3 k

r03  6 k
9. I [e  1] 10. I=m2/3 sin2  11. Ix = Iy = ma2/4; Iz = ma2/2
3k

0ab4  a3b2 ab0  a2 b2 

12. (i) Iy  , (ii) Ix  0 , (iii) Iz  2  3  2 
4 6  
30 1
13. Ix  ab3 , Iy  0 a3b 14. (i) b2m/4 (ii) a2m/4; (a2 + b2)m/4
10 6
45  Aa4 Ba5 
15. (3 - 8)mR2/2 16. mR2 17. 2   
32  4 5 
4 0 5 2 5 2 5
18. (i) Ix  R , (ii) Iy  0 R , (iii) Iz  0 R
15 15 5
0 R 4 hR 4 k  2aR  2  aR 2 
2

19. I 20. I2=   , m= hR  k  

4 2  3   2 
3M a5  b5 a
21. 22. kx = 23. 1.329 mh2
10 a3  b3 3
2M a5  b5 m
24. 25. Iy = (a2+h2)
5 a3  b3 6
1 mR 2 mh 2
26. I M (3R 2  h2 ) . Note: I OR I are wrong answers. If you have got these,
12 4 12
then you have made one of the popular errors.
27.