1.

OBJECTİVE
The main aim of this experiment is to investigating dynamics of rotating disc and investigating the
conservation of angular momentum and mechanical energy, also to finding the value of inertia of a
rotating disc.

2. BACKGROUND
Rotational motion is the motion of an object moving through a circle or circular line like in figure 1.
Since velocity is a vector quantity, we note that an object has acceleration due to its scale being linear
velocity ( v ) which does not change according to its motion, but the direction is constantly changing.
This acceleration is called gravitational acceleration and is defined as:
2
v⃗
a⃗ = ( 1)
r

Figure-1: Rotational motion of an object that moving through a circle.

The linear velocity and centripetal acceleration of the object p.

In equation
^
v⃗ =v x i+v ^
y j(2)
We have v x =−v sin θ and v y =−v cos θ . So, the velocity can define as:

⃗v = −v (
yP
r
^
i+(v
xP
r )
) ^j(3)
If we make a derivation of equation 3, the acceleration of the object will be:

a⃗ =
dt (
d ⃗v −v dy P ^ v dx P ^
=
r dt
i+(
r dt )
) j(4)
dy P dx P
If we put =v y and =v x in equation 4 we will get equation 5 like equation 3:
dt dt

( )
2 2
−v ^ −v sinθ) ^j (5)
a⃗ = cosθ i+(
r r
Angular velocity (ω) is an average of a rotating object is defined as:
∆θ
ω avg= (6)
∆t
The instantaneous velocity is defined as:
∆ θ dθ
ω z = lim = (7)
∆t→ 0 ∆ t dt

The direction of the angular velocity of an object can be found by the right-hand rule and the hand
must be curled in the direction of the linear velocity.
 Angular acceleration (α ): is the change of velocity in a given time that give us the average of angular
acceleration:
∆ω
α avg= ( 8)
∆t
And the instantaneous acceleration when ∆ t →0 is:
∆ ω dω dθ2
a z = lim = = (9)
∆t→0 ∆ t dt dt 2
If the angular velocity of a rotating object about x-y axis increases, then the direction of the
angular acceleration is in the same direction with the angular velocity (z-axis). If it decreases
it is in opposite direction (-z -axis)

tangential linear velocity

component
of linear
acceleration centripetal component
of linear acceleration

angular velocity
linear acceleration

Figure-2:
Linear velocity → v=rω
Tangential component of linear acceleration→ atan =rα
2
Centripetal component of linear acceleration→ arad =ω r

Rotational Energy and Moment of Inertia: A rigid body that is in form of system of particles
has a mass and kinetic energy.
M =m1 +m 2+ …
i particle of that body has a velocity vi , mass m i and rotating radius r i . The velocity of that particle
th

here is the angular velocity of that particle and then we define the kinetic energy as:
1 2 1 2
K= mi v i = mi (r i ω) (10)
2 2
Then the total kinetic energy will be:
1 2 2 1 2 2 1 1
K= m1 r 1 ω + m2 r 2 ω + m3 r 3 ω +…=∑ i mi r i ω (11)
2 2 2 2
2 2 2 2
1 1
K= ( m1 r 12 +m2 r 22 +m3 r 32+ … ) ω 2= ( ∑ i mi r i2 ) ω2 (12)
2 2
The equation in parentheses describes 'the moment of inertia' and symbolized with 'I'
I =( m1 r 12+ m2 r 22 +m3 r 32 +… )=∑ i mi r i2 (13)
The value of moment of inertia of an object depends on its shape and rotating axis.
I =∫ r dm=ρ∫ r dV (14)
2 2

radius of the density of

body volume element of
the body
the body
The rotational kinetic energy of a body or an object will be:
1 2
K= I ω (15)
2
Torque (τ ): The cross product of the applied force and the distance between applied force
and the point where the force is applied that gives us the torque:
τ⃗ =⃗r × ⃗
F (16)
We will use angular acceleration instead of linear acceleration, and this will give us the torque of i th
particle and the total torque of the body will be:
τ i =(mi α ) r i2 (17)
∑ i τ i =∑ i (mi α )ri2 (18)
Angular Momentum (L): Angular momentum of an object is described as rotation of the
linear momentum of that object relative to a point. ⃗
L=⃗r × ⃗
P (19)
With the general equation of linear momentum, we get:
⃗
L=⃗r ×(m ⃗v )(20)
The change in angular momentum that is formed by an applied force is equal to the torque
that is formed by that applied force.
d⃗L d r⃗
dt
= (dt )(
×m ⃗v + r⃗ × m
d ⃗v
dt )
=( ⃗v × m ⃗v )+(⃗r ×m ⃗a )(21)

here is the first term is equal to zero ( ⃗v × ⃗v =0 ), then:

d⃗ L
=⃗r × ⃗
F =⃗τ (22)
dt
The angular momentum (equation 21) of i th particle of a rigid body is described
as: Li=m i ( r i ω ) r i (23)
So, the total angular momentum of the whole body will be: L= ∑ i Li=¿
The expression with parentheses in equation 23 is the same with equation 13 and describes
the moment of inertia, then equation 23 will be: L=Iω(25)

3. EXPERİMENTAL PROCEDURE
 Procedure:
I. Measurement of Angular Velocity.
1. Set up the system so that the bottom dial is stationary, and the top dial is movable.
2. Set the "pulse counter" to the position where the top dial reads.
3. Turn on the compressor.
4. Hold the top disc firmly in your hand. Wait for the digital display to indicate zero.
5. Make the top disc spin using only the force once with your hand.
6. The values you read are the numbers of the bars that pass next to the sensor in one
second. Then calculate the angular velocity of the disk.
II. To Find the Rotational Moment of Inertia.
1.
III. Conservation of Angular Momentum.
4. Experimental Results

Sr. NO. Change in Time (∆ t ) Angular

angle (∆ θ ) velocity (ω)
1. 3 rad 2.1 s 1.42 rad/s

2. 3.9 rad 2.8 s 1.39 rad/s

3. 6.1 rad 4.3 s 1.41 rad/s

4. 7.3 rad 5.3 s 1.37 rad/s

5. 8.3 rad 5.9 s 1.4 rad/s

Torque Angular Acceleration

Sr. Momen
Aluminum Disk Steel Disk Aluminum Disk Steel Disk
NO t of
(Mass = 2KG) (Mass = 3KG) (Mass = 2KG) (Mass = 3KG)
Inertia
(r = (r = (r = (r = (r = (r = (r = (r =
0.8) 1.6) 0.8) 1.6) 0.8) 1.6) 0.8) 1.6)
1. 8 15.63 0.51
2. 16 7.81 2.04

Mass Initial Energy Final Energy

U bi K bi K pi Total U bf K bf K pf Total
0.4 9.6 J 0J 0J 9.6 J -0.01 J 4.27 J 5.34 J 9.61 J
0.8 19.2 J 0J 0J 12.2 J -0.3 J 12 J 7.5 J 19.5 J
1.2 28.8 J 0J 0J 28.8 J -0.38 J 20.6 J 8.58 J 29.18 J

5. Conclusion and Discussion

The aim of this experiment was to determine the effect of mass and length on the period of oscillation
of a simple pendulum. Using an imaging tool to measure the period, we have changed the mass of the
pendulum to a constant length, and we have changed the length of the pendulum to a constant mass.
The results of this experiment are in close agreement with the theory: mass had no measurable effect
on the period of the pendulum, while the period versus length data is well described by a power-law
relationship close to the theoretical dependence on the square root(Rotational Motion Dynamics -
Definition, Examples, Solved Examples, Video, and FAQs).

6. References
Rotational Motion Dynamics - Definition, Examples, Solved Examples, Video, and FAQs.
https://byjus.com/physics/dynamics-rotational-motion/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2022.