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Moment of Inertia PDF
Moment of Inertia PDF
OF
INERTIA
Contents
1) Moment of Inertia 3
Radius of Gyration 3
7) Principal Moments 17
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For translator motion, value of inertia depends only on the mass of the body. The kinetic energy in such
motion depends on the mass and linear velocity of the body.
When a body rotates about an axis, the kinetic energy of rotation is determined not only by its mass and
angular velocity but also upon the position of the axis about which it rotates and distribution of mass
about this axis.
Let us consider a body of mass rotating about an axis with angular velocity . All its particles
have the same angular velocity but as they are at different distances from the axis of rotation, their linear
velocities are different. Hence, we get
Radius of Gyration
If the entire mass of the body is supposed to be concentrated at a point such that the kinetic energy of
rotation is the same as that of the body itself, then the distance of that point from the axis of rotation is
called the radius of gyration of the body about that axis.
where, is the number of particles each of mass into which the given mass is divided.
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The moment of inertia of a plane lamina about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the lamina is equal to
the sum of the moment of inertias of the lamina about the two axes at right angles to each other in its own
plane intersecting each other at the point where the perpendicular axis passes through it.
Let and be two perpendicular axes in the plane of the lamina. Let be the mass of a particle at
point at distance from an axis through origin perpendicular to plane .
Moment of inertia of the particle about - axis =
Moment of inertia of the particle about - axis =
If we divide the whole lamina into a number of particles of masses at distances
from the axis. Hence, the moment of inertia about - axis and - axis are given as,
=
=
is sum of the moments of all the particles about passing through , the centre of gravity.
Since the body is balanced about the centre of mass , algebraic sum of all the moments about is zero.
Therefore, . Hence,
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Circular Disc
a) About an axis through the centre of the disc perpendicular to its plane
Let us consider a circular disc of radius . Let us consider an elementary ring of radius and
width . The area of the disc is given as . Mass per unit area of the circular disc is
. Hence, mass of the elementary ring is given as,
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Solid Cylinder
a) About its own axis of symmetry
Let us consider a solid cylinder of mass , length and radius . The volume of the cylinder is
given as, . Hence, the mass density of the cylinder is . Now let us consider a coaxial
cylinder of width at distance from the axis of symmetry . Hence, the volume of the
coaxial cylinder is . Hence, the mass of the coaxial cylinder is given as,
b) About the axis passing through the centre and perpendicular to its own axis of symmetry
Let be the axis of symmetry and be the axis perpendicular to . Let us consider a
circular disc of width at a distance from axis. Mass per unit length of the cylinder is
. Hence the mass of the disc is . Moment of inertia of this disc about the diameter of the
rod is,
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Annular Ring
a) About an axis passing through the origin and perpendicular to its plane
Let us consider a ring having inner radius and outer radius having mass . Area of the face
of the ring is . Mass per unit area of the ring is given as, . Let us now
consider a ring having radius and . Face area of this ring is . Mass of this ring is,
Hollow Cylinder
a) About its own axis of symmetry
Let us consider a hollow cylinder of mass , length and inner radius and outer radius . The
volume of the cylinder is given as, . Hence, the mass density of the cylinder is
. Now let us consider a coaxial cylinder of width at distance from the axis of
symmetry. Hence, the volume of the coaxial cylinder is . Hence, the mass of the coaxial
cylinder is given as,
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b) About the axis passing through the centre and perpendicular to its own axis of symmetry
Let be the axis of symmetry and be the axis perpendicular to . Let us consider a
circular disc of width at a distance from axis. Mass per unit length of the cylinder is
. Hence the mass of the disc is . Moment of inertia of this disc about the diameter of the
rod is,
Solid Sphere
a) About its diameter
Let us consider a solid sphere of radius and mass . Consider a thin circular slice of radius,
. The volume of the slice is . Let be the mass per unit volume of
the sphere. Hence, mass of the slice is given as, . Moment of inertia of this slice
about a diameter is given as,
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Hence, the moment of inertia of the disc about its diameter is,
b) About a tangent
Let be a tangent at .
By the theorem of parallel axes,
Let us consider a thin spherical shell of radius and mass . The mass per unit area of the shell
is given as, . Let us consider a thin element of shell bounded by two parallel planes
& at and . Let the radius of the shell be
and its thickness be .
The area of the thin element
And,
Area of the thin element
Mass of the thin element
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The moment of inertia about the diameter of the spherical shell is given as,
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Rectangular Lamina
About an axis perpendicular to its plane and passing through its centre of gravity
Let us consider a rectangular lamina of mass having length and breadth . The surface area
of the lamina is . Hence, the mass per unit area of the lamina is . Let us consider a thin
strip of width at a distance from the centre of gravity . The area of the strip is ,
The moment of inertia of the lamina about an axis parallel to side is given by,
Applying perpendicular axes theorem, we find the moment of inertia of the lamina about an axis
perpendicular to its plane and passing through its centre of gravity as,
Rectangular Bar
a) About an axis perpendicular to its plane and passing through its centre of gravity
Let us consider a bar having length and breadth having mass . Let us consider the bar to be
made up of laminas placed one above the other. Hence the moment of inertia of the bar about an
axis perpendicular to its plane and passing through its centre of gravity as,
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b) About an axis perpendicular to its length and passing through one of its edges
The moment of inertia of the bar through its centre of gravity is . Let us find the moment of
inertia at the edge . By the geometry of the figure,
Solid Cone
a) About its vertical axis
Let us consider a solid cone having mass , base radius and height . The mass per unit
volume of the cone is given as, . Let be the semi vertical angle of the cone. Let
us consider a small circular disc of radius at a distance from the vertex. Let the disc have a
thickness . Hence, volume of the disc is,
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Hence, the moment of inertia of the solid cone about its vertical axis is given by,
By parallel axis theorem, the moment of inertia of the disc about the axis parallel through the
vertex and parallel to the diameter of the disc is given as,
Hence, the moment of inertia of the solid cone about the axis parallel through the vertex and
parallel to the base is given as,
Let us consider a body of mass having radius rolling on a horizontal plane. Let be the linear
velocity and be the angular velocity of the body. The linear and rotational kinetic energy are given as,
Linear kinetic energy
Rotational kinetic energy
Hence, the total kinetic energy is given as,
Total energy
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Special Cases
a) Spherical Ball
For a spherical ball moment of inertia about its diameter is . Hence,
Therefore, the total kinetic energy of the rolling spherical ball is given by,
Total Kinetic Energy
Total Kinetic Energy
b) Circular Disc
For a circular disc moment of inertia about an axis through its centre and perpendicular to its
plane is . Hence,
Therefore, the total kinetic energy of the rolling circular disc is given by,
Total Kinetic Energy
Total Kinetic Energy
Let us consider a body of mass having radius rolling on a inclined plane. Let be the linear velocity
and be the angular velocity of the body. In one revolution, it will move a distance of . The total
kinetic energy of the moving body is, . In moving a distance , the vertical distance
travelled is . Hence the change in potential energy is .
Since, there is no slipping, no energy is dissipated. Hence,
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Now, is the velocity of the body and is the acceleration of the body. Hence,
Special Cases
a) Solid Cylinder
For a solid cylinder, moment of inertia about an axis through its centre is . Hence,
Therefore, the total acceleration of the rolling solid cylinder is given by,
Acceleration,
Acceleration,
b) Solid Sphere
For a solid sphere, moment of inertia about its diameter is . Hence,
Therefore, the total acceleration of the rolling solid sphere is given by,
Acceleration,
Acceleration,
c) Hollow Sphere
For a hollow sphere, moment of inertia about its diameter is . Hence,
Therefore, the total acceleration of the rolling hollow sphere is given by,
Acceleration,
Acceleration,
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Let us consider a rigid body of mass composing of particles. For any particle, angular
momentum is given by,
But, . Hence,
Since, , we get
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where,
The diagonal elements of the matrix are called the Coefficient of Moment of Inertia.
The other elements of the matrix are called the Products of Moment of Inertia.
Principal moments can be solved by finding the eigen values of the above matrix,
One can find a set of cartesian axes for which the inertia tensor will be a diagonal tensor. The axes are
called as the Principal axes and the corresponding diagonal components are called Principal moments
of inertia.
We know that, torque applied to a body is the rate change of angular momentum. Hence,
If we select the axes of rotation in the body where all the products of moment of inertia vanish, i.e.
These axes where the products of moment of inertia vanish are called the Principal Axes. Hence,
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