Moment of Inertia

Moment of inertia is the name given to rotational inertia, the rotational analog of mass for linear
motion. It appears in the relationships for the dynamics of rotational motion. The moment of inertia
must be specified with respect to a chosen axis of rotation. For a point mass the moment of inertia is
just the mass times the square of perpendicular distance to the rotation axis, I = mr2. That point mass
relationship becomes the basis for all other moments of inertia since any object can be built up from a
collection of point masses.

Angular Position, Theta

The angle of rotation is a measurement of the amount (the angle) that a figure is rotated about a fixed
point— often the center of a circle. Angular position is the angle in radians (degrees, revolutions)
through which a point or line has been rotated in a specified sense about a specified axis.

When objects rotate about some axis—for example, when the CD (compact disc) rotates about its
center—each point in the object follows a circular arc. Consider a line from the center of the CD to its
edge. Each pit used to record sound along this line moves through the same angle in the same amount
of time. The rotation angle is the amount of rotation, and is analogous to linear distance. We define the
rotation angleΔθΔθ to be the ratio of the arc length to the radius of curvature:

Δθ=Δs/rΔθ=Δs/r (illustrated in ).

Rotation Angle: All points on a CD travel in circular arcs. The pits along a line from the center to the edge
all move through the same angle Δ in a time Δt.
In mathematics, the angle of rotation (or angular position ) is a measurement of the amount (i.e., the
angle) that a figure is rotated about a fixed point (often the center of a circle, as shown in ).

Angle θ and Arc Length s: The radius of a circle is rotated through an angle Δ. The arc length Δs is
described on the circumference.

The arc length Δs is the distance traveled along a circular path. r is the radius of curvature of the circular
path. We know that for one complete revolution, the arc length is the circumference of a circle of radius
r. The circumference of a circle is 2πr. Thus, for one complete revolution the rotation angle is:

Δθ=(2πr)/r=2πΔθ=(2πr)/r=2π.

This result is the basis for defining the units used to measure rotation angles to be radians (rad), defined
so that:

2π rad = 1 revolution.

If ΔθΔθ = 2π rad, then the CD has made one complete revolution, and every point on the CD is back at
its original position. Because there are 360º in a circle or one revolution, the relationship between
radians and degrees is thus 2π rad=360º, so that:

1rad = 360º/2π = 57.3º.

Angular Velocity, Omega

Angular velocity ω is the rate of change of an angle, mathematically defined as ω = ΔθΔθ/Δt/Δt.

where an angular rotation Δ takes place in a time Δt. The greater the rotation angle in a
given amount of time, the greater the angular velocity. The units for angular velocity are
radians per second (rad/s).

Angular velocity ω is analogous to linear velocity v. To find the precise relationship

between angular and linear velocity, we again consider a pit on the rotating CD. This pit
moves an arc length Δs in a time Δt, and so it has a linear velocity v = Δs/Δt.

From Δθ=(Δs)/rΔθ=(Δs)/r we see that Δs=r⋅ ΔθΔs=r⋅Δθ. Substituting this into the
expression for v gives v=(r⋅ Δθ)/(Δt)=r(Δθ/Δt)=rωv=(r⋅Δθ)/(Δt)=r(Δθ/Δt)=rω.
We can write this relationship in two different ways: v=rω or ω=v/r.

The first relationship states that the linear velocity v is proportional to the distance from
the center of rotation, thus it is largest for a point on the rim (largest r), as you might
expect. We can also call this linear speed v of a point on the rim the tangential speed.
The second relationship can be illustrated by considering the tire of a moving car, as
shown in the picture below. Note that the speed of the point at the center of the tire is
the same as the speed v of the car. The faster the car moves, the faster the tire spins—
large v means a large ω, because v=rω. Similarly, a larger-radius tire rotating at the
same angular velocity (ω) will produce a greater linear speed (v) for the car.

Angular Velocity: A car moving at a velocity v to the right has a tire rotating with an angular velocity
ω. The speed of the tread of the tire relative to the axle is v, the same as if the car were jacked up. Thus the car
moves forward at linear velocity v=rω, where r is the tire radius. A larger angular velocity for the tire means a
greater velocity for the car.

Angular acceleration is the rate of change of angular velocity. In SI units, it is measured

in radians per second squared (rad/s2), and is usually denoted by the Greek letter alpha
(αα).

Consider the following situations in which angular velocity is not constant: when a skater
pulls in her arms, when a child starts up a merry-go-round from rest, or when a
computer’s hard disk slows to a halt when switched off. In all these cases, there is an
angular acceleration in which ωω changes. The faster the change occurs, the greater
the angular acceleration. Angular acceleration is defined as the rate of change of
angular velocity. In equation form, angular acceleration is expressed as follows:

α=Δω/Δtα=Δω/Δt

where ΔωΔω is the change in angular velocity and ΔtΔt is the change in time. The units
of angular acceleration are (rad/s)/s, or rad/s2. If ωω increases, then αα is positive.
If ωωdecreases, then αα is negative.
It is useful to know how linear and angular acceleration are related. In circular motion,
there is acceleration that is tangent to the circle at the point of interest (as seen in the
diagram below). This acceleration is called tangential acceleration, at.

Tangential acceleration: In circular motion, acceleration can occur as the magnitude of the velocity changes:
a is tangent to the motion. This acceleration is called tangential acceleration.

Tangential acceleration refers to changes in the magnitude of velocity but not its
direction. In circular motion, centripetal acceleration, ac, refers to changes in the
direction of the velocity but not its magnitude. An object undergoing circular motion
experiences centripetal acceleration (as seen in the diagram below.) Thus, at and ac are
perpendicular and independent of one another. Tangential acceleration a t is directly
related to the angular acceleration and is linked to an increase or decrease in the
velocity (but not its direction).

Centripetal Acceleration: Centripetal acceleration occurs as the direction of velocity changes; it is

perpendicular to the circular motion. Centripetal and tangential acceleration are thus perpendicular to each
other.
 A force may be thought of as a push or pull in a specific direction.
 When a force is applied to an object, the resulting motion of the object depends on where the force
is applied and how the object is confined.
 If the object is unconfined and the force is applied through the center of gravity, the object moves in
pure translation, as described by Newton's laws of motion.
 If the object is confined (or pinned) at some location called a pivot, the object rotatesabout the
pivot, but does not translate.
 The force is transmitted through the pivot and the details of the rotation depend on the distance
from the applied force to the pivot.
 If the object is unconfined and the force is applied at some distance from the center of gravity, the
object both translates and rotates about the center of gravity.
 The details of the rotation depend on the distance from the applied force to the center of gravity.
 The motion of flying objects is described by this third type of motion; a combination of translation
and rotation.
 A force F is a vector quantity, which means that it has both a magnitude and a direction associated
with it.
 The direction of the force is important because the resulting motion of the object is in the same
direction as the force.
 The product of the force and the perpendicular distance to the center of gravity for an unconfined
object, or to the pivot for a confined object, is^M called the torque or the moment.
 A torque is also a vector quantity and produces a rotation in the same way that a force produces a
translation. Namely, an object at rest, or rotating at a constant angular velocity, will continue to do
so until it is subject to an external torque.
 A torque produces a change in angular velocity which is called an angular acceleration.
 The distance L used to determine the torque T is the distance from the pivot p to the force, but
measured perpendicular to the direction of the force.

Relationship Between Torque and Angular Acceleration

Torque is equal to the moment of inertia times the angular acceleration.

Just like Newton’s Second Law, which is force is equal to the mass times the
acceleration, torque obeys a similar law. If you replace torque with force and rotational
inertia with mass and angular acceleration with linear acceleration, you get Newton’s
Second Law back out. In fact, this equation is Newton’s second law applied to a system
of particles in rotation about a given axis. It makes no assumptions about constant
rotational velocity.

The net torque about an axis of rotation is equal to the product of the rotational inertia
about that axis and the angular acceleration, as shown in Figure 1.

Relationship between force (F), torque (τ), momentum (p), and angular momentum (L) vectors in a rotating
system

Kinematics of Rotational Motion

Just by using our intuition, we can begin to see how rotational quantities like θ, ω, and α are

related to one another. For example, if a motorcycle wheel has a large angular acceleration for

a fairly long time, it ends up spinning rapidly and rotates through many revolutions. In more

technical terms, if the wheel’s angular acceleration α is large for a long period of time t, then the

final angular velocity ω and angle of rotation θ are large. The wheel’s rotational motion is exactly

analogous to the fact that the motorcycle’s large translational acceleration produces a large final

velocity, and the distance travelled will also be large.

Kinematics is the description of motion. The kinematics of rotational motion describes

the relationships among rotation angle, angular velocity, angular acceleration, and time.

Let us start by finding an equation relating ω, α, and t. To determine this equation, we

recall a familiar kinematic equation for translational, or straight-line, motion:

v=v0+atv=v0+at (constant a)

Note that in rotational motion a = at, and we shall use the symbol a for tangential or

linear acceleration from now on. As in linear kinematics, we assume a is constant,

which means that angular acceleration α is also a constant, because a = rα. Now, let us

substitute v = rω and a = rα into the linear equation above:

rω = rω0 + rat.

The radius r cancels in the equation, yielding

ω = ω0 + at. (constant a)

where ω0 is the initial angular velocity. This last equation is a kinematic relationship

among ω, α, and t —that is, it describes their relationship without reference to forces or

masses that may affect rotation. It is also precisely analogous in form to its translational

counterpart.
 MAKING CONNECTIONS
Kinematics for rotational motion is completely analogous to translational kinematics, first
presented in One-Dimensional Kinematics. Kinematics is concerned with the description of
motion without regard to force or mass. We will find that translational kinematic quantities, such
as displacement, velocity, and acceleration have direct analogs in rotational motion.

Starting with the four kinematic equations we developed in One-Dimensional

Kinematics, we can derive the following four rotational kinematic equations (presented
together with their translational counterparts):

Rotational Translational

θ=¯ωtθ=ω¯t x=¯vtx=v¯t

ω = ω0 + αt v = vo + at (constant α, a)

θ=ω0t+12αt2θ=ω0t+12αt2 x=v0t+12at2x=v0t+12at2 (constant α, a)

ω2 = ω02+ 2αθ v2 = vo2 + 2ax (constant α, a)

Table 1. Rotational Kinematic Equations

In these equations, the subscript 0 denotes initial values (θ0, x0, and t0 are initial values),
and the average angular velocity ¯ωω¯ and average velocity ¯vv¯ are defined as
follows:

¯ω=ω0+ω2 and ¯¯¯v=v0+v2ω¯=ω0+ω2 and v¯=v0+v2.

Equilibrium, Statistical

That state of a closed statistical system in which the average values of all the physical quantities
characterizing the state are independent of time. Statistical equilibrium is one of the basic concepts of
statistical mechanics, where it plays the same role as thermodynamic equilibrium in thermodynamics.
Statistical equilibrium is not balanced in the mechanical sense, since small fluctuations do not cease in
the system when this state obtains. The theory of statistical equilibrium is given in statistical mechanics,
which describes statistical equilibrium in terms of Gibbs’ microcanonical, canonical, or grand canonical
ensembles, depending on the type of contact between the system and its surroundings.

A state in which the probability distribution of states remains constant over time. This is an important idea
in statistical physics, and in Markov chains, where the existence of an equilibrium distribution is not
guaranteed. For example, in the simple two-state case with transition matrix i.e. state 1 stays in state 1
with probability 0.25 and moves to state 2 with probability 0.75 while if it is in state 2 it will move to state 1
or stay with probability 0.5. Then statistical equilibrium exists with the probabilities of being in state 1 and
state 2 respectively being 0.4 and 0.6.

Rotational Kinetic Energy

The kinetic energy of a rotating object is analogous to linear kinetic energy and can be
expressed in terms of the moment of inertia and angular velocity. The total kinetic
energy of an extended object can be expressed as the sum of the translational kinetic
energy of the center of mass and the rotational kinetic energy about the center of
mass. For a given fixed axis of rotation, the rotational kinetic energy can be expressed
in the form

The expressions for rotational and linear kinetic energy can be developed in a parallel
manner from the work-energy principle. Consider the following parallel between a
constant torque exerted on a flywheel with moment of inertia I and a constant force
exerted on a mass m, both starting from rest.

For the linear case, starting from rest, the acceleration from Newton's second law is
equal to the final velocity divided by the time and the average velocity is half the final
velocity, showing that the work done on the block gives it a kinetic energy equal to
the work done. For the rotational case, also starting from rest, the rotational work is τθ
and the angular acceleration α given to the flywheel is obtained from Newton's second
law for rotation. The angular acceleration is equal to the final angular velocity divided
by the time and the average angular velocity is equal to half the final angular velocity.
It follows that the rotational kinetic energy given to the flywheel is equal to the work
done by the torque.

 Angular momentum, property characterizing the rotary inertia of an object or system of

objects in motion about an axis that may or may not pass through the object or system.
 The Earth has orbital angular momentum by reason of its annual revolution about
the Sun and spin angular momentum because of its daily rotation about its axis.
 Angular momentum is a vector quantity, requiring the specification of both a magnitude and
a direction for its complete description.
 The magnitude of the angular momentum of an orbiting object is equal to its linear
momentum (product of its mass m and linear velocity v) times the perpendicular
distance r from the centre of rotation to a line drawn in the direction of its instantaneous
motion and passing through the object’s centre of gravity, or simply mvr.
 For a spinning object, on the other hand, the angular momentum must be considered as the
summation of the quantity mvr for all the particles composing the object.
 Angular momentum may be formulated equivalently as the product of I, the moment of
inertia, and ω, the angular velocity, of a rotating body or system, or simply Iω.
 The direction of the angular-momentum vector is that of the axis of rotation of the given
object and is designated as positive in the direction that a right-hand screw would advance if
turned similarly.
 Appropriate MKS or SI units for angular momentum are kilogram metres squared per second
(kg-m2/sec).
 Angular Momentum of a Particle
The angular momentum of a particle of
mass m with respect to a chosen origin is
given by

L = mvr sin θ
or more formally by the vector product

L=rxp
The direction is given by the right hand
rule which would give L the direction out of
the diagram. For an orbit, angular
momentum is conserved, and this leads to
one of Kepler's laws. For a circular orbit, L
becomes

L = mvr

STATIC EQUILIBRIUM EXPERIMENT

When all the forces that act upon an object are balanced, then the object is said to be in a state
of equilibrium. The forces are considered to be balanced if the rightward forces are balanced
by the leftward forces and the upward forces are balanced by the downward forces. This
however does not necessarily mean that all the forces are equal to each other. Consider the
two objects pictured in the force diagram shown below. Note that the two objects are at
equilibrium because the forces that act upon them are balanced; however, the individual forces
are not equal to each other. The 50 N force is not equal to the 30 N force.

Analyzing a Static Equilibrium Situation

If an object is at rest and is in a state of equilibrium, then we would say that the object is at
"static equilibrium." "Static" means stationary or at rest. A common physics lab is to hang an
object by two or more strings and to measure the forces that are exerted at angles upon the
object to support its weight. The state of the object is analyzed in terms of the forces acting
upon the object. The object is a point on a string upon which three forces were acting. See
diagram at right. If the object is at equilibrium, then the net force acting upon the object should
be 0 Newton. Thus, if all the forces are added together as vectors, then the resultant force (the
vector sum) should be 0 Newton. (Recall that the net force is "the vector sum of all the
forces" or the resultant of adding all the individual forces head-to-tail.)
OBJECTIVES
Assess the relationship between radians the the revolution of a CD
Examine how fast an object is rotating based on angular velocity
Explain the relationship between angular acceleration and angular velocity
Express the relationship between the torque and the angular acceleration in a form of equation
Observe the kinematics of rotational motion.

ASSESSMENT
Suppose the tension in both of the cables is measured to be 50 N and that the angle
that each cable makes with the horizontal is known to be 30 degrees. What is the
weight of the sign?

ANSWER
This question can be answered by conducting a force analysis using trigonometric
functions. The weight of the sign is equal to the sum of the upward components of the
tension in the two cables. Thus, a trigonometric function can be used to determine this
vertical component.

Since each cable pulls upwards with a force of 25 N, the total upward pull of the sign is
50 N. Therefore, the force of gravity (also known as weight) is 50 N, down. The sign
weighs 50 N.

In the above problem, the tension in the cable and the angle that the cable makes with
the horizontal are used to determine the weight of the sign. The idea is that the
tension, the angle, and the weight are related. If the any two of these three are known,
then the third quantity can be determined using trigonometric functions.

ENRICHMENT

equilibrium is the state of an object in which all the forces acting upon it are balanced.
In such cases, the net force is 0 Newton. Knowing the forces acting upon an object,
trigonometric functions can be utilized to determine the horizontal and vertical
 components of each force. If at equilibrium, then all the vertical components must
balance and all the horizontal components must balance.

CALCULATING THE DURATION WHEN THE FISHING REEL SLOWS DOWN AND
STOPS

Now let us consider what happens if the fisherman applies a brake to the spinning reel,
achieving an angular acceleration of -300 rad/s2. How long does it take the reel to come to a
stop?
Strategy
We are asked to find the time t for the reel to come to a stop. The initial and final conditions are
different from those in the previous problem, which involved the same fishing reel. Now we see
that the initial angular velocity is ω0 = 220 rad/s and the final angular velocity ω is zero. The
angular acceleration is given to be α = -300 rad/s2. Examining the available equations, we see
all quantities but t are known in ω = ω0+αt, making it easiest to use this equation.
Solution
The equation states
ω = ω0 + αt.
We solve the equation algebraically for t, and then substitute the known values as usual,
yielding
t=ω−ω0α=0−220 rad/s−300rad/s2=0.733 st=ω−ω0α=0−220 rad/s−300rad/s2=0.733 s.
Discussion
Note that care must be taken with the signs that indicate the directions of various quantities.
Also, note that the time to stop the reel is fairly small because the acceleration is rather large.
Fishing lines sometimes snap because of the accelerations involved, and fishermen often let the
fish swim for a while before applying brakes on the reel. A tired fish will be slower, requiring a
smaller acceleration.

ACTIVITY

1) A round mill stone with a moment of inertia of I = 1500 kg∙m2 is rotating at

an angular velocity of 8.00 radians/s. What is the stone's rotational kinetic
energy?
Answer: The rotational kinetic energy of the mill stone can be found using the
formula:
K = 48 000 J
The rotational kinetic energy of the mill stone is 48 000 J.
2) What is the rotational kinetic energy of a DVD (digital video disc) with a
moment of inertia of I = 1.000×10-4 kg∙m2, rotating at an angular velocity of
760.0 radians/s?
Answer: The rotational kinetic energy of the DVD can be found using the
formula:

K = 28.88 J
The kinetic energy of the rotating DVD is 28.88 J.

REFERENCES

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-physics/chapter/quantities-of-rotational-kinematics/

https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Statistical+Equilibrium

https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100529411

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/10-2-kinematics-of-rotational-motion/
 https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjwiOHSyuTkAhUWPnAK
Hbx_Ab0Qjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-
DPthKuQGyQ&psig=AOvVaw2PyVSF9bYf2KD8AKD_XSD6&ust=1569243083084235