Experiment 103

Moment of Inertia

Prof. Ramil R. Jimenez

Instructor
 EXPERIMENT NO. 103: MOMENT OF INERTIA

Table 1. Moment of Inertia of a Solid Disk Pulley

mass of pulley M = _____0.2____ kg

radius of pulley R = _____0.05_____ m

moment of inertia (computed) IC = ____0.00025______

kg.m2
TRIAL Moment of
final time t linear falling Inertia angular
velocity v (s) acceleration mass m (experimental) acceleration Torque
(m/s) a (m/s2) (kg) IE (kg.m2) (rad/s2) (Nm)

1 1.950 0.400 4.875 0.100 0.00025 97.5 0.0243

2 2.200 0.370 5.945 0.150 0.00024 118.9 0.0285

3 2.300 0.350 6.571 0.200 0.00024 131.42 0.0315

4 2.390 0.335 7.134 0.250 0.00024 143.46 0.0315

5 2.440 0.331 7.371 0.300 0.00024 147.42 0.0353

I. Screenshots of Trial 1 (Set Up and v vs. t graph):

 II. Sample Computation of Trial 1 (a, IC and IE):
m m
1.950 −0
𝑎= s s = 4.875 m/s2
0.400 𝑠
(0.2 𝑘𝑔)(0.05 𝑚)2
𝐼𝑐 = = 0.00025 𝑘𝑔 𝑥 𝑚2
2
(0.100 kg)(9.8 m/s2 − 4.875 m/s2 )(0.05 𝑚)2
𝐼𝐸 = = 0.000252 𝑘𝑔 𝑥 𝑚2
4.875 m/s2

III. Analysis: Based from the data in Table 1, answer the following questions.
a. What factors determine the moment of inertia of a solid disk pulley?
• The radius, mass of the pulley, gravity, and acceleration are where the moment of
inertia of a solid disk pulley depends on.
b. What effect does the falling mass have on the moment of inertia of the solid disk pulley?
• The pulley's angular acceleration (α) increases as the falling mass's linear
acceleration (a) rises, as the a = rα. Then, the pulley's moment of inertia is increased
by the falling mass, as per T = Iα.
c. What effect does increasing/decreasing the falling mass m have on linear acceleration?
• As the falling mass is increased, the linear acceleration rises. Similar to this, as the
falling mass is reduced, the linear acceleration also decreases.
IV. Conclusion:

In conclusion, after conducting the Experiment 103, Moment of Inertia of a Solid Disk pulley, we
conclude that when the moment of inertia of the object increases, its angular acceleration decreases.
And when the moment of inertia of the object decreases, its angular acceleration increases.
Therefore, we conclude that the moment of inertia of the objects is inversely proportional to its
angular acceleration.

In addition, based on the data gathered, we observed that there are factors that determine the
moment of inertia of a solid disk pulley. These are the radius, the mass of the pulley, the earth’s
gravity, and the acceleration.
Table 2. Moment of Inertia of a Ring Pulley
mass of pulley M = ____0.100_____ kg

Inner radius of pulley r = _____0.050_____ m

outer radius of pulley R = _____0.100_____ m

moment of inertia (computed) IC = ___0.00063_ kg.m2

TRIAL Moment of
final time t linear falling Inertia angular
velocity v (s) acceleration mass m (experimental) acceleration Torque
(m/s) a (m/s2) (kg) IE (kg.m2) (rad/s2) (Nm)

1 2.250 0.361 6.232 0.100 0.00062 62.32 0.0386

2 2.350 0.338 6.952 0.150 0.00061 69.52 0.0424

3 2.450 0.326 7.515 0.200 0.00060 75.15 0.0450

4 2.500 0.320 7.812 0.250 0.00063 78.12 0.0492

5 2.550 0.314 8.121 0.300 0.00062 81.21 0.0503

I. Screenshots of Trial 1 (Set Up and v vs. t graph):

 II. Sample Computation of Trial 1 (a, IC and IE):
m m
2.250 −0
𝑎= s s = 6.232 m/s2
0.361 𝑠
(0.100 kg)((0.050 m)2 + (0.100𝑚)2 )
𝐼𝑐 = = 0.00063 𝑘𝑔 𝑥 𝑚2
2
(0.100 kg)(9.8 m/s2 − 6.232 m/s2 )(0.100 𝑚)2
𝐼𝐸 = = 0.00063 𝑘𝑔 𝑥 𝑚2
6.232 m/s2

III. Analysis: Based from the data in Table 2, answer the following questions.
a. What factors determine the moment of inertia of a ring pulley?
• The mass, inner and outer radius, gravity, and acceleration are where the moment of inertia of
a ring pulley depends on.

b. What effect does the falling mass have on the moment of inertia of the ring pulley?
• As we can see, the ring pulley's moment of inertia decreases as an object's weight increases.
Therefore, the moment of inertia of the pulley and the falling mass have a inversely
proportional relationship.

c. What effect does increasing/decreasing the falling mass m have on linear acceleration?
• When the falling mass increases, the linear acceleration also increases. When the falling mass
decreases, the acceleration also decreases. So, we conclude that in this experiment, the falling
mass has a directly proportional relationship with the linear acceleration.

IV. Conclusion:

In conclusion, after conducting Experiment 103, Moment of Inertia of a Ring Pulley, we conclude
that when the object’s weight increases, the moment of inertia decreases. And when the object’s
weight decreases, the moment of inertia increases. Based on the experiment, they are inversely
proportional to each other. On the other hand, the relationship between the falling mass and the
linear acceleration is directly proportional, since when we increase the linear mass, the linear
acceleration also increases.

In addition, the factors that determine the moment of inertia of a ring pulley are the mass, inner
and outer radius, gravity, and acceleration.