Quarter 2 Week 1 Activity 3: Moment of Inertia

Name: _______________________________________________ Grade 12 STEM Sec. _______________

The moment of inertia, otherwise known as the mass moment of inertia, angular mass or
rotational inertia, of a rigid body is a quantity that determines the torque needed for a desired
angular acceleration about a rotational axis; similar to how mass determines the force needed
for a desired acceleration. It depends on the body's mass distribution and the axis chosen, with
larger moments requiring more torque to change the body's rate of rotation.
It is an extensive (additive) property: for a point mass the moment of inertia is simply the
mass times the square of the perpendicular distance to the axis of rotation mathematically
expressed as:
2 2
I = mr where : I – moment of Inertia (kgm )
m – mass (kg)
2
r - distance to the axis of rotation (m )

The moment of inertia of a rigid composite

system is the sum of the moments of inertia of its
component subsystems (all taken about the same
axis). Its simplest definition is the second moment
of mass with respect to distance from an axis.
Mathematically, it could be written as
2 2 2 2
I = m1r1 + m2r2 + m3r3 + … mNrN

The equations in the table below show common Moment of Inertia of different shapes
and point of rotations. The vertical line bisecting the shapes is the axis of rotation.

Example derivation for a Solid Sphere

Is shown to the right.

SUGGESTION: WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEOS FOR MORE DETAILED DISCUSSIONS ABOUT MOMENT
OF INERTIA FOR DIFFERENT OBJECTS.
Newton’s Second Law for Rotation
In the angular version of Newton's 2nd law,
torque T takes the place of force and rotational
inertia takes the place of mass. The force acting on
the object causing the rotation is perpendicular
to radius of rotation or lever arm of the Torque.
When the rotational inertia of an object is constant,
the angular acceleration is proportional to torque
mathematically expressed as:

2
α= where α – angular acceleration (rad/s )
T – Torque ( Nm)
2
I – Moment of Inertia (kgm )
Example Problem
A solid sphere is rotated by 100 N force perpendicular to 15 cm radius. What is the angular momentum of
the point mass if it’s mass is 1 kg?

Given Equations Solution

F = 100 N T = rF T = 0.15 m (100 N) T = 15 Nm
r = 15 cm = 0.15 m
2 2
m = 1 kg I= mr I = 1 kg (0.15m)
2 2
I = kg (0.02m ) I = 0.008 kgm
2
α= α= α = 0.12 rad/s

WORD PROBLEM

1-5. A 100 g ball is attached to a 1 m string. Assuming that the ball is held at the edge of the
string and the string has negligible mass, what is the ball’s Moment of Inertia as it swings
constantly around?

6-10. Two balls are attached on a string at different portion of a string. The first ball with 100 g mass is
attached at 500 cm mark while the other ball with 200 g mass is attached at 1 m mark. What is the
Moment of Inertia of the system as it swings constantly around?

11 – 15. How much moment of inertia will a 5 kg bat with a length of 0.75 m have if it is held at
its end and swung around to hit a baseball?

16 – 20. A spinning solid bowling ball with a mass of 5 kg has a radius of 20 cm. What is its Moment of
Inertia?

21 – 30. A point mass is rotated by 10 N force perpendicular to 10 cm radius of its circular path. What is
the angular acceleration of the point mass if it’s mass is 50 g?

2
31 – 40. How much Force is needed to keep a 1 kg disc rotating with an angular acceleration of 10 rad/s if
its radius is 10 cm?