Amity University Mumbai

Amity School of Applied Sciences

PHYSICS LAB EXPRIMENTS

SEMESTER-I

Experiment no: Date:

Division: Roll no:

Name: Course:

Moment of inertia
Aim:- To determine the moment of inertia of a flywheel.

Apparatus required:- A flywheel, Weight box, Thread, a stopwatch, a meter scale and a
Vernier calipers.

Formula used:- The moment of inertia of the flywheel I is given by

I= -

Where,

m is the mass suspended from the thread,

t is the time in which flywheel is stopped after the thread is detached from the flywheel,

n1 is the number of turn of thread, wrapped on the axle of flywheel,

n2 is the number of rotation by flywheel before coming to rest, after the thread has detached
from the flywheel,

h= 2πrn1 (h is the length of the thread wrapped on the axle) and g is the acceleration due to
gravity.
Figure:-

Theory:-

Flywheel is simply a wheel, with high moment of inertia, having a long axle. A thin and
inextensible thread is taken whose one end is attached with a peg (which can be inserted in a hole
on the axle) and other end is attached with a mass (Fig.3.2).Now thread is wrapped on the axle
evenly without any overlapping. The mass is allowed to fall gently and flywheel starts rotating
slowly. As the mass goes down, the rotational speed of the flywheel increases and finally thread
is detached from the axle and flywheel continue to rotated and in due course of time it stops.

The mass has a fall of a distance h before detaching from the flywheel so it has lost
potential energy mgh which is utilized in gibing linear kinetic energy to itself (the mass),
rotational energy to flywheel and some energy is wasted against frictioin. According to law of
conservation of energy it can be written as

Loss in potential energy of mass = gain in K.E. by the mass + gain in rotational K.E. by
the wheel + energy dissipated against friction.

mgh= mv2+ I 2
+n1F (1)

Where
 I is the moment if inertia of the flywheel about its axis of rotation.

is the angular velocity at the moment when thread is detached from the axle,

F is the energy dissipated per rotation against the friction.

When thread is detached from the axle, the rotational kinetic energy of flywheel is I
and now this energy is wasted against friction so that after n2 rotation flywheel will come to rest.
So it can be written as

I = n2F (2)

Substituting the value of F from Eq. (2) in Eq. (1), it can be obtained

mgh= mv2+ I (1+ ) (3)

Again, when thread is detached from the axle, the angular velocity was and finally it
becomes zero when the flywheel stops. Assuming uniform retardation, the average angular
velocity can be taken as (

Average angular velocity of wheel

or =

= (4)

Substituting value of from Eq.(4) in Eq.(3), and remembering v=r and h= 2πrn1 , the
moment of inertia can be given by

I= -

Procedure:-

(1) Attach a mass m at one end of the thread and the other end is attached to small peg on the
axle. Wrap the thread on the axle evenly avoiding any overlapping of thread. Count this
number of turns, this is n1. (Fig.3.2).
 (2) Allow the mass to fall down gently so that the flywheel starts rotating slowly. As the
mass will go down, the rotational speed of flywheel will increase. After some time the
thread will be detached from the axle. Start the stop watch at the time when the thread is
detached from the axle and also start counting the number of rotations made by flywheel
till it comes to rest. Record this time and number of rotation.
(3) Repeat the step (1 & 2 ) for different other masses.
(4) Find the radius of the axle with help of a Vernier calipers.

Observations:-

Number of turns of thread wrapped on the axle of flywheel (n1)=…………….

Acceleration due to gravity (g) = …………cm/sec2

Least count of the stop watch = …………..sec

Table1: For the radius of the axle of flywheel

Sr.No. Diameter along Diameter along Mean diameter Mean radius

one direction (a) perpendicular D=(a + b)/2 r= D/2
direction (b)

Table2: For the n1, n2 and I

Sr.No. Mass m n1 n2 Time, h=2πrn1 Moment of

(gm) t(sec) inertia I,
gm-cm
Calculations:-

After knowing the values of all parameters, the moment of inertia can be calculated by the
formula

I= -

Result:- The moment of inertia of the flywheel I=………gm-cm2

Precautiions:-

(1) Time and radius come in square power so it should be measured with care.
(2) The thread should be wrapped evenly and there should not be any overlapping.
(3) The ball bearing should be properly lubricated to reduce the friction.

VIVA-VOCE

Q1: What do you understand by moment of inertia?

Ans. Moment of inertia is defined as the property by virtue of which a body opposes the change
in its present state of rotatory motion or state of rest. Numerically it is defined as

Moment of inertia, I =∑

Where, m is the mass and r is the distance of mass from axis of rotation

Q2:On which factors does moment of inertia depends? What is its unit?

Ans. Moment of inertia depends upon the mass and distribution of mass about axis of rotation.
Its SI unit is Kg-m2

Q3: Which will have more moment of inertia a ring or a disc of same mass?

Ans. Moment of inertia of ring is more than that of disc. Moment of inertia of some bodies areas
follows

(i) Ring of mass M and radius R (About line passing through

Centre and perpendicular to the plane of ring ) =MR2
 Moment of inertia
Name:__________________________ Date:________________

Roll no:________________

Amity University Mumbai

Physics Practical
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Date
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Date Signature of Faculty
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Total 10