EXPERIMENT 11: Moment of Inertia (Steiner’s Theorem)

Apparatus
Torsion axle, V-shape stand base, Circular disc, stop clock, masses

Objectives of the experiment

i) To study the proportionality between the moment of inertia of the weights and the square
of the distance
ii) To determine the restoring torque of the torsion axle
iii) To determine the moment of inertia of a circular disk for various distances between the axis
of rotation and the axis of symmetry and to confirm Steiner’s theorem (Parallel axes
theorem

Basic Methodology
i) The period of oscillation of a transverse road with weights on a torsion axle is measured for
different distances of the weights and the proportionality between the moment of inertia of
the weights and the square of the distance is checked. From the data the restoring torque of
the torsion axle can be deduced.
ii) The centre of a circular disc is fixed to the torsion axle and the period of oscillation is
measured. The circular disc can then be mounted at different distanced from the symmetry
axis and the experiment can be repeated. The data will be used to verify Steiner’s theorem.

(a) (b)

Fig. 1 Experimental set ups

Theory
Moment of inertia, is quantitative measure of the rotational inertia of a body— the opposition that the
body exhibits to having its speed of rotation about an axis altered by the application of a torque. It
corresponds to the inertial mass in the case of translational motions.
In rotational oscillations, the torque,

𝜏 = 𝐼 ̈ …………… (1)
where 𝐼 is the moment of inertia of the body about the axis of rotation and  is the angle
through which it is rotated. If 𝐷 is the restoring force per unit , then

𝜏 = −𝐷 ………….(2)
Equating (1) and (2)

𝐼̈ = −𝐷 ………………….(3)

𝐼̈ + 𝐷 = 0 ……………. (4)

𝐷
This implies the frequency of oscillations, 𝜔 = √ 𝐼 ,

𝐼
then 𝑇 = 2𝜋√ ……………….. (5)
𝐷

Hence in rotational oscillations, for example, the period of oscillation 𝑇 is the greater, the
greater the moment of inertia I of the oscillating system is.

The moment of inertia of a point like mass 𝑚 moving on a circular path with radius 𝑟 is

𝐼1 = 𝑚𝑟 2 ………………….. (6)
The moment of inertia of two equal masses 𝑚 that are rigidly connected and have the same
distance 𝑟 from the axis of rotation is

𝐼2 = 2𝑚𝑟 2…………………… (7)

In both cases, the moment of inertia is proportional to the square of the distance 𝑟 .

In the experiment, the rigid connection between the two masses is established by means of a
thin rod whose middle is fixed to the torsion axle (see Fig. 2).
 Fig. 2

After deflection from the equilibrium position, the system oscillates with the period of
oscillation 𝑇. From Eq. (5) it follows that

𝑇 2
𝐼 = 𝐷 [ ] …………………. (8)
2𝜋

However, the moment of inertia is composed of the moment of inertia 𝐼2 of the two weights
and the moment of inertia 𝐼0 of the rod:

𝐼 = 2𝑚𝑟 2 + 𝐼0…………….. (9)

Therefore from equations (8) and (9)

𝑇 2 𝑇 2
𝐷 [ ] = 2𝑚𝑟 2 + 𝐷 [ 0 ] ……... (10)
2𝜋 2𝜋

or
8𝑚𝜋 2
𝑇2 = 𝑟 2 + 𝑇02……………… (11)
𝐷

where 𝑇0 is the period of oscillation of the rod with no weights attached . Thus a linear relation
between the square of the period of oscillation 𝑇 and the square of the distance 𝑟 is obtained.
From the slope of the straight line,
8𝑚𝜋 2
𝑎= …………………… (12)
𝐷

the restoring torque 𝐷 can be calculated if the mass 𝑚 is known.

Now, consider a rigid body rotating about an axis, as in Figure 3.

 Fig. 3

If the angular velocity is ω, each point in the body will move with linear speed rω where r is the
perpendicular distance of the point from the rotational axis. The total angular momentum L of
the rotating body points along the axis and is equal in magnitude to

𝐿 = ∫ 𝑟𝑣𝑑𝑚 = ∫ 𝑟 2 𝜔𝑑𝑚 = 𝜔 ∫ 𝑟 2 𝑑𝑚 = 𝐼𝜔 ………. (13)

where 𝐼 = ∫ 𝑟 2 𝑑𝑚 ……………. (14)

is the moment of inertia of the body about the axis of rotation of the body.

Consider a rigid body (as shown in Fig. 4) whose mass elements ∆𝑚𝑖 have the distances 𝑟𝑖 from
the axis of rotation A. The moment of inertia 𝐼𝐴 of the body is

𝐼𝐴 = ∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 . 𝑟𝑖2…………………………………. (15)

If the axis of rotation does not pass through the centre of mass of the body, application of Eq.
(15) leads to an involved calculation. Often it is easier to calculate the moment of inertia 𝐼𝑠 (Fig.
4) with respect to the axis S, which is parallel to the axis of rotation and passes through the
center of mass of the body.

Fig. 4

For deriving the relation between 𝐼𝐴 and 𝐼𝑆 , the plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation
where the respective mass element ∆𝑚𝑖 is located is considered (see Fig. 4). In this plane, the
vector 𝒂 points from the axis of rotation to the center-of-mass axis, the vector 𝑟𝑖 points from
the axis of rotation to the mass element ∆𝑚𝑖 , and the vector 𝒔𝒊 points from the center-of-
mass axis to the mass element. Thus

𝒓𝒊 = 𝒂 + 𝒔𝒊 ………………… (16)
Thus from Eqn (15)

𝐼𝐴 = [∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 ]. 𝑎2 + 2. [∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 . 𝒔𝒊 ]. 𝒂 + ∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 . 𝑠𝑖2 ……………. (17)

In the first summand, ∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 = 𝑀 is the total mass of the body. In the last summand

∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 . 𝑠𝑖2 = 𝐼𝑆 …………… (18)

is the moment of inertia of the body with respect to the center-of-mass axis. In the middle
summand

∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 . 𝒔𝒊 = 0 ……………… (19)

because the vector 𝒔𝒊 start from the axis through the center of mass. Thus Steiner’s theorem
follows from the Eqn (17) as

𝐼𝐴 = 𝑀. 𝑎2 + 𝐼𝑠 ………………… (20)
This theorem will be verified with a flat circular disk as an example. Its moment of inertia 𝐼𝐴
with respect to an axis of rotation at a distance 𝑎 from the axis of symmetry is obtained from
the period of oscillation T of a torsion axle to which the circular disk is attached. We have
𝑇 2
𝐼𝐴 = 𝐷 [ ] …………..…….. (21)
2𝜋

where 𝐷 is the restoring torque of the torsion axle.

Eq. (20) describes a linear relation between 𝐼𝐴 and 𝑎2 with the slope 𝑀 and the intercept of
the ordinate𝐼𝑆 .

Setup and Procedure

Part A
The experimental setup is illustrated in Fig. 1a.
1. Fix the middle of the transverse rod to the torsion axle and arrange the weights
symmetrically at a distance of 30 cm from the torsion axle.
2. Mark the equilibrium position on the table.
3. Rotate the transverse rod to the right by 180° and release it.

4. Start the time measurement as soon as the transverse rod is released and stop the
 measurement after five complete oscillations.
5. Repeat the measurement four times, alternately deflecting the rod to the left and to the
right.
6. Calculate the period of oscillation T from the mean value of the five measured values.

7. One after another reduce the distance to 25 cm, 20 cm, 15 cm, 10 cm and 5 cm, each time
repeating the measurement.

8. Remove the weights, and repeat the measurement.

Part B
The experimental setup is illustrated in Fig. 1b.
1. Fix the center of the circular disk to the torsion axle and mark the equilibrium position on
the table.
2. Rotate the circular disk by 180° from the equilibrium position and release it.
3. Start the time measurement as soon as the circular disk passes through the equilibrium
position and stop the measurement after five oscillations.
4. Repeat the measurement four times alternately deflecting the disk to the left and to the
right.
5. Calculate the period of oscillation T from the mean value of the five measurements.

6. Mount the circular disk on the torsion axle so that its center is at a distance of 2 cm from
the axle, and, if necessary, mark the equilibrium position anew.
7. Measure the time of five oscillations five times alternately deflecting the disk to the right
and to the left.
8. Calculate the period of oscillation T.

9. Repeat the measurement for other distances a from the axis of symmetry.

References:

1. Mechanics, by Kleppner and Kolenkow , Tata McGraw-Hill (Indian ed.2007).

2. Leybold Physics experiments manual.