Questions

1. The values for moment of inertia in experiments 1& 2 do not depend on the weight of the hanging mass, because it only depends on the mass and structure of the systems: ( ) . We only used the weight of the hanging mass to indirectly calculate

the moment of inertia of each system. 2. Experimental moment of inertia for metal disk:

Experimental moment of inertia for metal ring:

These values are bigger than the theoretical values by about Reasons for the discrepancy:

).

a. Frictions between different items: the thread with the clear pulley, the thread with the black pulley, the clear pulley and rod/metal disk with the attachment. b. Drag of the air with the rolling system (rod with point masses/metal disk/metal ring) and with the hanging mass c. Small weights of the black pulley, the thread and the mass hanger 3. Because we directly measured the angular acceleration of the RMS pulley (clear pulley), we do not consider the moment of inertia of the Super Pulley. 4. In part 3, we found the ratio between the final and initial angular velocities to be . This value should be the reciprocal of the ratio of final to initial moment of inertia of the system:

The ratio does not depend on the initial angular velocity of the disk. It only depends on moments of inertia of the metal disk and ring.

The experimental value is larger than the theoretical value by about 0.011. Possible reasons for the discrepancy are a. Frictions between the metal ring and disk, between the metal disk, clear pulley and the attachment rod. b. When dropping the metal ring to the metal disk, the metal ring may not stay in the middle, creating a non-symmetric system around the pivot point. Therefore, the actual moment of inertia of the final system may not equal to c. Drag between air and the system d. Small mass of the clear pulley 5. In part 3, we assume that the disk-ring system is isolated, having a zero net torque from the initial to final time. It means there is no friction and drag affecting on the system. This assumption is valid because the friction between the items and the drag are very small.