General Physics 101

Department of General Studies Laboratory script

Moment of Inertia

Objective:
To calculate the rotational inertia of a uniform thin disk by investigating the dependence
of the angular acceleration of the disk on the applied torque.

Introduction:
In this laboratory experiment, the objective is to calculate the rotational inertia of a thin
uniform disk. Rotational inertia refers to the object's tendency to resist changes in its
rotational motion. The experiment involves measuring the angular accelerations of the
disk and the torque applied to it. The relationship between torque, angular acceleration,
and rotational inertia is expressed by the equation τ = Iα. For a uniform disk rotating
around its center of mass, the rotational inertia is given by I_disk = (1/2)MR^2.
Questions:
Q1: Determine the moment of inertia of a disk rotates around its Z-axis with 5 rad/s 2
angular acceleration by applying torque of 20 N.m
2
20 m 2
τ =Iα= =4 N . /s
5 rad

Procedure:
1. Set up the experiment as shown in Figure 1. The light barrier with counter must
be connected with the holding device.
2. Make sure that the turntable is adjusting to be horizontal using circular level.
3. Fix the silk thread to the holder in one end and to the wheels of the grooves of
radius 15 mm on the other end.
Note: make sure that the tread, the wheel, the pulley and the groove are aligned.
4. Adjust the angle  from the release point to be π .
5. Add 10 g to the hanger that its weight is 10 g.
6. Reset the counter then release the holder to allow the turntable to rotate around its
Z-axis.
7. Measure the time t necessary to the disk to rotate about the angle  by selecting
the mode “ “ of the light barrier.
8. Repeat the steps 4 to 6 at different masses from 20 g to 80 g.
9. Measure the mass of the turntable and its radius.
10. Record all the measured values in Table 1.
Result and Calculation:

r = 0.015 m. Δθ = π rad

m 2∆θ
Fg(N) τ =mgr t1 t2 t3 t avg t avg2 α= 2
(kg) t avg
−3 31.58 2
0.02 0.196 2.94 × 10 N . m 5.542s 6.007s 5.312s 5.620 0.199 rad / s
8
−3 19.67 2
0.03 0.294 4.41 ×10 N . m 4.400s 4.545s 4.363s 4.436 0.319 rad / s
8
−3 15.05 2
0.04 0.392 5.88 ×10 N . m 3.957s 3.838s 3.845s 3.88 0.417 rad /s
4
−3 10.81 2
0.05 0.49 7.35 ×10 N . m 3.286s 3.260s 3.318s 3.288 0.581 rad / s
0
−3 2
0.06 0.588 8.82 ×10 N . m 3.019s 3.007s 3.047s 3.024 9.176 0.685 rad / s

−2 2
0.07 0.686 1.03 ×10 N . m 2.808s 2.824s 2.805s 2.812 7.909 0.794 rad /s

−2 2
0.08 0.784 1.18 ×10 N . m 2.577s 2.581s 2.581s 2.581 6.661 0.943 rad / s

Table 1

Data analysis:
1. Plot the relation between the applied torque  (y-axis) and angular acceleration  (x-
axis) and calculate the slope of the line which is the value of disk moment of inertia.

α τ τ vs.α
0.199 0.00294 0.014
0.319 0.00441 0.012
0.417 0.00588 0.01
0.581 0.00735
0.008
0.685 0.00882
τ N.m

0.006
0.794 0.0103
0.004
0.943 0.0118
0.002

0.01193723 0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
SLOPE= 6
α rad/s^2
2. Calculate the theoretical value of turntable’s moment of inertia using the formula.

1 2
I disk = M R .
2
1 2 2
I disk = ( 112 )( 0.015 ) =0.0126 kg . m
2

3. Calculate the percentage error in energy using the following formula.

I th −I exp 0.0126−0.0126
Error % = ∗100 %= ∗100 % = 0%
I th 0.0126
Where: Ith = 0.0126 kg·m2

Conclusion:

The experiment aimed to determine the rotational inertia of a thin uniform disk. By
measuring angular accelerations and applied torques at various masses, the moment of
inertia was calculated. The experimental value of 0.0119 kg·m² closely matched the
theoretical value of 0.0126 kg·m², with a small discrepancy potentially due to timer
inaccuracy. Overall, the experiment successfully achieved its objective of determining the
rotational inertia of the disk.

Reference:
1. Walker, J., Halliday, D., Resnick, R. (2007) Fundamental of Physics, 10 th edn.,
United State Of America: This book was set in 10/12 Times Ten by cMPreparé,
CSR Francesca Monaco, and was printed and bound by Quad Graphics.The cover
was printed by Quad Graphics.

2. Phywe (2010) Moment of inertia and angular acceleration, Available

at: https://repository.curriculab.net/files/versuchsanleitungen/p2131305/
p2131305e.pdf(Accessed: 2d March, 2018).