Physics 430: Lecture 23

Inertia Tensor and Principal

Axes
Dale E. Gary
NJIT Physics Department

10.3 The Inertia Tensor

For the case of a body rotating about a fixed axis, we are always free
to arbitrarily call the axis the z axis, so that what we have discussed
up to now (e.g. Ixz, Iyz, Izz) is sufficent.
However, objects may not be constrained to rotate about a fixed axis,
e.g. a tumbling object in free-fall. We can still take the instantaneous
rotation axis as the z axis, but the axis itself can be changing with
time.
In addition, there are certain spin axis directions for which the angular
momentum L and the rotation axis are in the same direction. These
are called principal axes.
Finally, as invariably happens, any symmetries of the object make
these principal axes obvious, and the calculations are a lot easier
when symmetries can be taken advantage of.
What we will find is that one can calculate a single inertia tensor
through a point that takes account of the shape of the object
independent of the axis of rotation, and once that is established, the
angular momentum about any axis through that point can be
determined.
We will also find that there are certain coordinate axes, the principal
axes, for which the inertia tensor becomes especially simple.
November 24, 2009

Angular Momentum for an

Arbitrary Angular Velocity
as
( x , y , z ).
We will write an arbitrary angular velocity vector
The angular momentum is then
L m r v m r
r .

r
( r )
For any position r = (x, y, z), the terms
can be explicitly
written in the rather ugly form
r
r [( y 2 z 2 ) x xy y xz z ,
yx x ( z 2 x 2 ) y yz z ,

zx x zy y ( x 2 y 2 ) z ].
A double cross-product like this can be written down with the aid of
A (rule
B C() B( A C) C( A B)
the BAC-CAB
). Try it.
Then the general expression for the angular momentum has
components
Lx I xx x I xy y I xz z
I xx m ( y2 z2 )

Ly I yx x I yy y I yz z .
I x y m x y .
where
Lz I zx x I zy y I zz z
etc.
November 24, 2009

Simpler Forms

We can write this equation for L in simpler forms. Instead of writing x,

y, z, we can use subscripts 1, 2, 3 to get
3

Li I ij j . or just Li I ij j in Einstein summation notation.

j 1

Or, we can write it in matrix form

L I,
I xx I xy I xz
Lx
x
where I I yx I yy I yz , y , and L Ly .

I zx I zy I zz
Lz
z

In this form, I is known as the inertia tensor. To distinguish this from

the identity tensor you may be familiar with, the text uses

1 0 0
1 0 1 0 .
0 0 1
Note that the term tensor refers to a higher-order vector. A vector is
written as a column, as in L and above, while a tensor is written as a
matrix.
November 24, 2009

Properties of the Inertia Tensor

You can see from the elements of the moment of inertia tensor
I xx m ( y2 z2 )

I x y m x y .
etc.
that it has the property that Iij = Iji. The elements Iii are called the
diagonal elements, so we can say that the inertia tensor is
unchanged by swapping off-diagonal elements mirrored about the
diagonal.
Such a swap (replacing Iij with Iji and vice versa) is an operation
I Tmatrix,
.
called taking the transpose of Ithe
so we can say
A matrix that is its own transpose is said to be symmetric, and this
symmetric property plays a key role in the mathematical theory of
the moment of inertia tensor.

November 24, 2009

Example 10.2: Inertia Tensor for

Cube
Lets find the moment of inertia
tensor for a solid cube of mass M and

side a, rotating about a corner. By rotating about, we mean to take

the origin at the corner, but we do not have to specify a rotation axis.
Once we know the inertia tensor, we can specify
rotation
axisL I.
( xany
,y ,
z ),
and find
z
Since the mass of the cube is evenly distributed, we need to
convert the sums to integrals. For example, the upper-left
y
a
a
a
element becomes:I xx dx dy dz%
( y 2 z 2 ),

% M / a

O
x
where
denotes
the
mass
density.
I
use
the
symbol
%
to
distinguish from the cylindrical coordinate (although
that is not used here).
In principal, we have to do 9 such integrals (not a happy prospect), but
you can see by symmetry that Ixx = Iyy = Izz, and similarly for the offdiagonal elements.
a
a
a
a
The above integrala is easy
toa do, and
gives
I xx % dx y 2 dy dz dx dy z 2 dz 23 %
a 5 23 Ma 2 .

November 24, 2009

Example 10.2, Contd

The off-diagonal elements have the form

a
a
a
a
a
a
I xy dx dy dz%xy, % xdx ydy dz 14 %
a 5 14 Ma 2 .
0

Again, by symmetry, all of the off-diagonal elements have the same

value. Thus, the moment of inertia tensor is
23 Ma 2 14 Ma 2 14 Ma 2
8 3 3
2
Ma

. [about a corner]
2
2
2
1
I 14 Ma 2
Ma

Ma

3
8

3
3
4

12
2
2
2
1
1
2
4 Ma 4 Ma

3 3
8
3 Ma

Once we have the inertia tensor, we can find the angular momentum
for rotation about any axis through this corner.
L not in same
Examples:
direction as
axis
Rotation about x axis ( = (, 0, 0)): L = I = Ma2/12 (8, 3, 3rotation
)
= Ma2 (2/3, 1/4, 1/4).
L is in same
Rotation about diagonal throughO( / 3 (1, 1, 1)
):
direction as
8 3 3 1
2
2
2
2
Ma
1 Ma 2 Ma . rotation axis
L I

3
8

3

12 3
12 3
6
3 3
2
8 1

November 24, 2009

Example 10.2, Contd

While we are on the cube problem, lets illustrate an important point.

If we shift the origin to the center of the cube, the diagonal element
integrals are just as easy, simply change the limits, e.g.

I xx

a /2

a /2

dx

a /2

a /2

y dy
2

a /2

a /2

dz

a /2

a /2

dx

a /2

a /2

dy

a /2

a /2

z 2 dz 2 23 %
a 2 (a / 2)3 16 Ma 2 .

but the off-diagonals are all odd functions, so when we change the
limits they all go to zero, e.g.

I xy

a /2

a /2

dx

a /2

a /2

dy

a /2

a /2

dz%xy, %

a /2

a /2

xdx

a /2

a /2

ydy

a /2

a /2

dz 0.

The inertia tensor is then diagonal, i.e.

1 0 0
2
Ma
Ma 2

I
0 1 0
1.
6
6
0 0 1
Note that, no matter what direction is, L is always parallel to it:
Ma 2
L I
.
6

November 24, 2009

Example 10.3: Inertia Tensor for

Cone
Lets do one more exampleFind
the moment of inertia tensor I for

a spinning top that is a uniform solid cone (mass M, height h, and

base radius R) spinning about its tips. Choose the z axis along the
axis of symmetry of the cone, as shown in the figure. For an
R
arbitrary angular velocity , what is the tops angular momentum
L?
z
The Izz element is given by the integral:
I zz dV %
( x 2 y 2 ),
h
V
r=Rz/h
where the volume density is
% M / V 3M / R 2 h .
y
O
x
This is most easily solved in cylindrical polar coordinates,

(, , z), where 2 = (x2 + y2). NB: The two rhos are different!
Then
4
h
2
Rz / h
h
Rz / h
h
%

R
3

4
2
I zz % dz d d 2 2% dz 3 d
z
dz
,

MR
.

0
0
0
0
0
0
2 h
10

The Ixx and Iyy elements are equal, and are

I xx % dV ( y 2 z 2 ) 203 M ( R 2 4h 2 ).
V

November 24, 2009

Example 10.3: Contd

All of the off-diagonal elements are zero. Note that symmetry about
any two axes guarantees that all of the off-diagonal elements are
zero. Then, the moment of inertia tensor is:
R 2 4h 2
0
0
1 0 0
3

I
M
0
R 2 4h 2
0 0 2 0 .
20
2

0 0 3
0
0
2
R

The last form is just for further discussion. A matrix with all zero offdiagonal elements is, as we said, called a diagonal matrix. We can
then write
L I (1 x , 2 y , 3 z ).

What this means is that whenever points along one of the three
coordinate axes, L and are parallel. This brings us (finally) to the
concept of principal axes of inertia.

November 24, 2009

10.4 Principal Axes of Inertia

Whenever L and point in the same direction, this marks a principal

axis for the body. For principal axes, we can express this parallelism
as L = . But since L = , that means the constant of proportionality
is the moment of inertia about that axis, so is called a principal
moment.
Recall that when
0
1I is0diagonal
I 0 2 0 ,
L I (1 x , 2 y , 3 z ).
then
0 0 3
Thus, each of the i are principal moments, and are in fact THE
principal moments for rotations about a particular origin.
If a body has an axis of symmetry about any origin, then that axis is a
principal axis. Furthermore, there are always two additional principal
axes perpendicular to such a symmetry axis (even though there is no
further symmetry about those additional axes).
Although symmetry makes it easier to spot a principal axis, it is NOT
required. Any body, symmetrical or not, has three principal axes
about any origin, for which the inertia tensor I is diagonal.
November 24, 2009

Principal Axes of Inertia-2

The appendix shows how to diagonalize any matrix, and since such
a diagonalized matrix represents three principal axes, any choice of
axes for which the matrix starts out non-diagonal can be
transformed into a new set of axes (called eigenvectors) for which
the matrix is diagonal.
Before going on to discuss this further, we first make a point about
determining the kinetic energy of a rotating body. Our old form of
kinetic energy (valid only when L and are aligned, which we called
the z axis) is most properly given
T 12 now
I zz 2 .as

12 L. 10.33)
The general expression is (seeT problem

L (11 , 22 , 33 ),
Using a set of principal axes, we have
kinetic energy becomes:
T 12 (112 222 332 ).

so the

November 24, 2009

10.5 Finding the Principal Axis

Eigenvalue Equations

The recipe for finding the principal axes through some origin O is as
follows: Find the inertia tensor by choosing some axes. If the inertia
tensor is diagonal, we are done. We have already found the principal
axes. If not, we need to diagonalize the tensor matrix.
How do we do that? The clue is that the equation
I ,
must be satisfied for some as yet unknown number . This is called an
eigenvalue equation, and the number is called the eigenvalue. The
vector is called an eigenvector, and will be one of our principal axes.
In practice, we want to know three eigenvalues, and three
eigenvectors, which will give us our three principal axes. As it turns
out, we can find all three at once. The trick is to recognize that we can
convert the number into a matrix by multiplying by the identity
leads to cubic for ,
matrix 1. Since
I 1,
with three roots
(I 1
) 0,
we must have
whose
solution is
det(I only
1) non-trivial
0.
November 24, 2009

Example 10.4: Principal Axes for

Cube about a Corner
Find the principal axes and corresponding moments for the cube of
Symbolic
Example 10.2, rotatingMatlab
about its
corner. Math
>> syms x y;
Solution:
>> We
A = found
[8*x-y, in
-3*x,
-3*x; -3*x,
-3*x;-3*x,
-3*x,
8*x-y]
example
10.28*x-y,
that the
inertia
tensor
about the
three edges of the cube
were:
[ -3*x, 8*x-y, -3*x]

8-3*x,
3 8*x-y]
3
8 3

>> det(A)
Ma
=
3
ans
I = 242*x^3-165*y*x^2+24*x*y^2-y^3

3
8

3
8

>> factor(det(A))
12
3 3
3 3
ans = (2*x-y)*(11*x-y)^2
8
Using det(I A
we have
8*x-y,
-3*x, -3*x]
1=) [ 0,
[

-3*x,

8 3
3 8

The obvious solutions are

1 2 16 Ma 2

3
3 .

3
3 (2 )(11 ) 2 0
8
and

11
2 3 11 12
Ma 2 .

In this case, two of the roots are a repeated root. These are the
eigenvalues (moments), but what are the eigenvectors? Plug back into

(I 1
) 0.

November 24, 2009

Example 10.4: Contd

We have to solve this equation three times, once for each eigenvalue
(although in the present case where two solutions are repeated, we just
have to do it twice). First,insert
2 ,

3
8 3

(I 1
) 0 3 8

3
3 8

y
z

6 3 3 x

3 6 3 y 0.

3 3 6
z

This yields the simultaneous set of equations:

2 x y z 0

x 2 y z 0
x y 2 z 0.
The solution to this is x = y = z, hence the unit
vector along this
direction
is
e1 13 (1,1,1),
which is the diagonal of the cube.
3 3 3
x
The other solution is surprising:

x y z
1
Since
3

3 3 3
y 0 x y z 0.
3 3 3
z
0,this means any axis perpendicular to e .
1

Any perpendicular axes e2 and e3 that are also perpendicular to e1 work!

November 24, 2009

10.6 Precession of a Top due to

We now know enough to doTorque
some interesting problems. Take the case of a

spinning top (say the cone we just looked at), spinning freely about its tip.
We will take the axes x, y, z to be fixed to the ground, and take the principal
axes of the top to be e1, e2 and e3, with e3 along the symmetry axis.
Lets first ignore gravity and consider the top to be spinning
around the e3 principal axis (i.e. = e3). Then the angular z
momentum is fixed, as
With gravity off,
L 3 e3 3 .
there is no torque, and L = constant.
Lets now assume that there is a small amount of gravity.
What actually happens is that there is now some
x
torque, so starts to change, and and are no

e3
R

Mg

longer zero. However, lets consider the case where the effect of gravity is
so small that we can ignore these changes.
The torque is R Mg, with magnitude RMg sin . Note that the direction
is perpendicular to R (or e3), hence the direction of e3 begins to change, but
not the magnitude of , i.e.

R Mg L& 3e&3 .

November 24, 2009

Precession of a Top due to Torque2noting Rthat

Re and g gz ,
Solving for the changing e , and

e&3
where

MgR
z .
3

MgR
z e
3 e
3

This is the angular velocity of precession of the top. When gravity

becomes greater, so that we cannot ignore the changes in and ,
then we will find another wobble of the top, called nutation (see
section 10.10).
The Earth displays exactly these same motions, in this case due to
non-central forces by the Sun and Moon. The precession of the
equinoxes takes about 23,000 years, and over time makes the north
pole of the Earth point to different pole stars. The current pole
star, Polaris, will cease being the north star over time.

November 24, 2009