GENERAL PHYSICS 1

Name: ________________________________ Date: ______________

Grade : ________________________________ Score: _____________

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEETS Moment of Inertia

Background Information for The Learners

How was your experience when it was

your first time to ride in a Ferris wheel?
The moment it starts rotating about its
center, you feel as if you want to stop it
from rotating, isn’t it? But do you know
how much effort must be given to the
Ferris wheel to stop it from rotating? To
answer that question, first you need to
understand completely the moment of
inertia.

Concept of Moment of Inertia

Newton’s Law of Inertia says that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, and
an object in motion tends to stay in uniform motion unless acted upon by an
unbalanced force. This tendency of the object to keep whatever it is doing and
resist any change in its state of motion is called inertia.
Just like how an object continues to be in its state of rest or in its state of
uniform motion, an object rotating about its axis tends to remain rotating about the
same axis unless hindered by any external force. This property of the object to
resist any change in its rotational state of motion is called moment of inertia.
Moment of inertia is also known as rotational inertia since it appears in objects with
rotational motion. Also, it gives us the idea of how difficult to make an object rotate
and to stop an object from rotating about its axis.

1 NOTE: Practice personal hygiene protocols at all times

Calculating Moment of Inertia

In translational motion, inertia depends on the mass of the object. But in rotational
motion, moment of inertia depends on how mass is distributed around an axis of
rotation and it varies depending on the chosen rotation axis.
For a single object or point-like object, moment of inertia can be generally
expressed as:
𝑰 = 𝒎𝒓𝟐
where: I = moment of inertia
m = mass of the object
r = perpendicular distance of the object from the axis of rotation Consider a
single object rotating about a fixed axis in Figure 1. Axis of rotation is an imaginary
straight line in which all parts of the object rotates. It is always perpendicular to the
rotation of the object.

For example, the object in Figure 1 is 0.1 kg. It is

attached to a 0.5-m string and is rotated about a
fixed axis. What is the moment of inertia of the
object?

Solution:
I = mr2 = (0.1 kg) (0.5 m)2 = 0.025 kg·m2
So in rotating a 0.1 kg object moment of inertia is
0.025

kg·m2.

For a multiple-object system, where mass is not focused at a single point and it
consists of few particles, we can calculate its moment of inertia about the given axis
of rotation by adding up all the moments of inertia of all the particles present in the
system. In symbols:

𝐼 = ∑ 𝑚𝑟2 = (𝑚1𝑟21) + (𝑚2𝑟22) + (𝑚3𝑟23) + ⋯

For example, three 0.1-kg balls are attached to a string and rotated about an
axis. Balls 1, 2, and 3 are 0.5 m, 0.3 m, and 0.1 m, respectively, away from the axis
of rotation. Calculate the moment of inertia of the system.
2 NOTE: Practice personal hygiene protocols at all times
Solution:

𝐼 = ∑ 𝑚𝑟2

I = (mr2)1 + (mr2)2 + (mr2)3

= (0.1 kg) (0.5 m)2 + (0.1 kg) (0.3 m)2 + (0.1 kg) (0.1 m)2
= 0.035 kg·m2
Thus, the system’s moment of inertia is 0.035 kg·m2.

But most of the time, the object consists of a great number of particles. Using
integration in this case would be practical than using summation.

3 NOTE: Practice personal hygiene protocols at all times

 The illustration below gives the moments of inertia for various objects as a
result of integration:

Image via https://openstax.org/books/university-physics-volume-

1/pages/10-4-moment-of-inertia-and-rotational-kinetic-energyby used
under CC BY 4.0/ Modified from the original

Learning Competency
Calculate the moment of inertia about a given axis of a single-object and
multipleobject systems. (STEM_GP12REDIIa-1)

ACTIVITY 1: A Moment to Explore Rotational Inertia

Directions: Analyze the situations and then answer the questions.
Situation A: A long pole is rotated around three different rotation axes: central core
axis, midpoint axis, and one end axis as shown in figure 2. The pole is easiest to
rotate about its central core axis, and it is hardest to rotate around its one end axis.

4 NOTE: Practice personal hygiene protocols at all times

Analysis:
1. Which axis of rotation the pole obtains the greatest moment of inertia?
________________________________________________________
2. In which axis of rotation, the pole had the smallest moment of inertia?
________________________________________________________
3. How do the axes of rotation affect the rotation of the pole? (Hint:
Relate it to the moment of inertia.)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________

Situation B: Two sticks as shown in figure 3 are being held to

stand on the floor with a little inclination. When the sticks are
released, the stick without an added weight on its top end
rotates to the floor faster.

Analysis:
1. Why do the two sticks rotate to the floor at a different rate or speed? (Hint:
Use the moment of inertia.)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________

ACTIVITY 2: A Moment to Complete Rotational Inertia

Directions: Complete the table. Indicate the rank of the objects’ moment of inertia in
a descending order.
Distance, m Object (Object to Moment of
Inertia,
Mass, kg Rank
No. Rotation Axis) kg·m2

5 NOTE: Practice personal hygiene protocols at all times

 1 36 1
2 9 2
3 4 3

Question:
1. What are the factors that affect the moment of inertia of an object?
________________________________________________________

ACTIVITY 3: A Moment to Match Rotational Inertias

Directions: Match the word problem in column A with its answer in column B. Write
the letter of the answer in the blank provided before the item.
A B
_____ 1. A mass of 10 kg, which may be a A. 3.16 m
point-like object, is attached to a
rope of length 1.5 m and is being B. 1.44 kg·m2
rotated. What is the moment of
inertia of the object? C. 10 m
_____ 2. How far is the object from its axis
of rotation if it is 4 kg and has a D. 22.5 kg·m2
moment of inertia 40 kg·m2?
_____ 3. Three balls are attached to a cable E. 0.04 kg
and are being rotated. Ball A is 0.5
kg and is 1.0 m away from the axis
of rotation. Ball B is 1.0 kg and
placed 0.8 m away from the axis.
Ball C, which is 0.5 m away from
the axis, is 1.2 kg. Calculate the
total moment of inertia of the balls.
_____ 4. The moment of inertia of the ball is
0.01 kg·m2 and is rotating around
a 0.5-m string. What is the mass
of the ball?

ACTIVITY 4: A Moment to Level Up in Rotational Inertia

Directions: Read and understand the situation given below. Solve for the moment of
inertia of the system of objects and show your solution.

6 NOTE: Practice personal hygiene protocols at all times

Situation: Figure 4 shows an object consisting of
two
point-like objects of mass m connected by a
rod of length L and mass 2m. What is the
moment of inertia of the object about an
axis through its center and perpendicular to
the rod?

Solution:

Reflection

1. I learned that _________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
2. I enjoyed most on ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

3. I want to learn more on __________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

References
7 NOTE: Practice personal hygiene protocols at all times
Halliday, David, Resnick, Robert, & Walker, Jearl. Fundamentals of Physics. 6th ed.
New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2001.

Hewitt, Paul G. Conceptual Physics. 10th ed. United States of America: Pearson
Addison-Wesley, 2006.
Moore, Thomas A. Six Ideas that Shaped Physics, Unit C: Conservative Laws
Constrain Interactions. 2nd ed. New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2003.

Santos, Gil Nonato C. General Physics 1. 1st ed. Quezon City, Philippines: Rex
Book Store, 2019.

Prepared by:

April Rose B. Cadorna

Teacher 1- Bocboc NHS

8 NOTE: Practice personal hygiene protocols at all times