PHSY221 Lab 7 – Rotational Motion

and the Moment of Inertia

Instructional Goals:
Goals:
• Get an understanding of rotational motion and its relation to linear motion.
• Gain experience in measuring, calculating and evaluating rotational quantities.
• Apply concepts already learned (e.g. conservation of mechanical energy) to a new situation.
• Analyze forces applied as torques to a rotating body.

What You Turn In:

• Pre-Lab prior to your lab meeting.

• A full lab report.

Background Reading:
Relevant background can be found in the lecture notes and
Chapters 10 and 11 of Walker, 4th or 5th edition.

Equipment provided by the in-class lab:

• Metal poles: 1 long, 1 short, and a right-angle clamp.
• Table clamp (or table post mount)
• PASCO motion sensor with protective basket
• PASCO rotary motion sensor with pulley
• String
• Weight hanger and 50g mass
• Circular and rectangular aluminum plates
• Digital caliper
• Digital or triple beam balance

Equipment provided by the student:

• PC/Mac with PASCO Capstone, MS Excel and Zoom To weight hanger,
• Notebook motion sensor and
• Pen or Pencil basket.

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PHYS221 – Lab 7 Rotational Motion and The Moment of Inertia
Background:
Torque and Rotation
Consider a mass m attached to a rotation axis by a rigid but
massless rod of length r as shown to the right.

Suppose a force F is applied to the mass. The only

component of the applied force that can cause rotation is
that which is perpendicular to both the rotation axis and the
rigid, but massless, rod. Denote the magnitude of this
component as F⊥ . In the plane perpendicular to the
rotation axis, the setup (with only the component of force
F⊥ shown) is

Where viewing from directly above as in the drawing above, it is clear that F⊥ = F sin  .

From Newton’s second law,

F⊥ = ma⊥
Multiplying both sides by the distance from the axis of rotation, r, at which the force acts,
rF⊥ = mra⊥
Since at a⊥ = r , we have for this mass,

rF⊥ = mr 2 = I

The quantity, rF⊥ , is known as the torque caused by the applied force F . Thus we can define the left side of the
equation as  = rF sin  , or in vector notation, τ = r  F , where it the magnitude is given as before. On the
right side we have the moment of inertia, I, which is I = mr 2 . This is a quantity that depends on the distribution
of mass in an object. That is, the resulting rotation and changes in rotation are dependent on where each little
bit of mass is located in the system relative to the axis of rotation (or pivot). We will examine this more in the
next lab, but for now it is sufficient to define this quantity and know that it is intrinsic to the object and the position
about the object’s center of rotation.
Thus, Newton’s second law of motion, in a rotational sense for a point of mass is  = I .
We can recast Newton’s 2nd law for the case of rotation of an extended object about a pivot as  net = I , where
I is the summed total of all the moments of intertia for the entire object. In practice it is calculated using calculus
methods. It can also be viewed as the rotational analog of mass, just as  is the rotational analog of force and
 is the rotational analog of acceleration.

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PHYS221 – Lab 7 Rotational Motion and The Moment of Inertia
Kinetic Energy of Rotation and the Moment of Inertia
The kinetic energy of a rotating rigid body is determined by summing up the kinetic energy of all the points in the
body
1
K =  mi vi2
i 2

Since we are concerned with rigid bodies, we would need to apply calculus to find the kinetic energy of a solid
rotating body due to the continuous change in radial distance of a continuous body. This causes the sum to be
replaced by an integral
1 2
K = v dm v = r
body 2
1 2 2 2
K = r  dm =  r 2 dm
body 2 2 body

Since the rotational speed is  , we can define a quantity called the moment of inertia,
I = r 2 dm
body

which is specific to the body’s mass distribution and the axis about which the rotation occurs. We will not calculate
these directly, but use a list as generated by these methods:

VARIOUS MOMENTS OF INERTIA

http://gauss.vaniercollege.qc.ca/pwiki/images/1/15/Rot_KE_Mom_Inertia_7.png

Others can be found as a table in your text.

Conservation of Mechanical Energy in Rotating Systems.

We must consider the motion and potential energy of all parts of the system in our experiment. As always, it is
the change in energy that is important. Each component can change, but if total mechanical energy is conserved,
the total energy must be the same at all times.
In the system you are observing, the loss of energy to friction and drag forces is small, particularly over the short
period during which the hanging mass is falling. Taking the mechanical energy to be constant, the total mechanical
energy when the mass is about to fall is equal to the total energy anywhere during its descent:

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PHYS221 – Lab 7 Rotational Motion and The Moment of Inertia
E0 = E f
1 1 2 1 1 2
mh vh2,0 + mh gyh ,0 + I 0 = mh vh2, f + mh gyh , f + I f
2 2 2 2
grav . pot . energy grav . pot . energy
kinetic energy of the hanger rot . kinetic energy kinetic energy of the hanger rot . kinetic energy
of the hanger of the disk of the hanger of the disk

initial state final state

We will measure the mass hanger’s location and velocity. We will simultaneously measure the angular velocity of
the rotating disk (or plate). If we know the mass of the hanger, we can calculate the moment of inertia of the
rotating disk (or plate) and then compare it to the directly calculated value determined solely from the disk/plate
mass and geometry.

Torque Applied to an Object.

If a torque is applied to an object, its angular motion accelerates according to Newton’s Second Law in angular
form  net = I . If we can determine the force applied at a particular distance from the axis of rotation, we can
determine the applied torque. If the angular acceleration is measured, once again, we can find the moment of
inertia.

Simulation Procedure:
Make sure to include answers to posed questions, graphs, etc. in your lab report in a standard format.
Go to https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/legacy/torque. Download and run the Java file (you will need
JAVA installed on your PC/Mac) and familiarize yourself with the controls. The PhET simulation is called Torque.
Do the activities following filling in the blanks with your answers. Show your work for partial credit, where
applicable.
1. Click the Moment of Inertia tab
at the top. Towards the bottom
left, you should see a box titled
Angle Units. It should
automatically be set to degrees.
Change it to radians.
2. Towards the left, you should see
a section titled Controls. Under
this section set
a. R = Outer Radius to
between 3.1m and
4.0m.
b. r = Inner Radius to 0 m
c. Platform Mass to
between 0.1 kg and 0.25
kg
d. Force of Brake to 0 N
Before beginning the simulation, calculate the moment of inertia for this platform mass by hand. Hint:
Consider which moment of inertia equation you would use considering the shape of the mass and about
which axis it’s rotating.

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PHYS221 – Lab 7 Rotational Motion and The Moment of Inertia
3. Set the Torque between 5.0 Nᐧm and 10 Nᐧm and run the simulation for at least 5 seconds. Take a screenshot
of your graphs.
4. Regardless of where the force is drawn, assume it is at the edge of the disk. Calculate what the applied force
parallel to the edge must have been to produce this torque. Show ALL your calculations. (Hint: Which
equation relates torque, radius, and force?)
5. Calculate the moment of inertia of the disk from the angular acceleration and torque. Show ALL your
calculations and compare to the graph. Does your value match with the graph’s value? Compare this to your
direct calculation from the mass and size of the disk.

Experimental Procedure:
Instructions in gray are for conducting the lab in-person and are provided for reference only!
Refer to the Introduction video (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8xoUMuFYFHnNTJJRy1EdWd4TU0) to see
the lab apparatus in use.
A. Setup Capstone to read the Rotary Motion sensor and the Motion sensor.
1. Open the file “Moment of Inertia-DataSet (your group number).cap” (or similar) and the associated MS
Excel file.
The Excel file contains the measurement errors for the sensors and the
physical dimensions of the rotating disk and plate.
2. Make sure the 550 Universal Interface is powered on and start Capstone.
3. In “Hardware Setup” verify/add the Rotary Motion sensor to digital PasPort
1. Verify/add the Motion Sensor to PasPort 2. Make sure the devices are
plugged into the science workshop interface properly.
4. Set the recording rate to a common rate of 40.00 Hz or whatever value
suggest by your lab instructor.
5. If not already present, drag a “Graph” display to the screen and set it to
show three displays:

Figure: There are six tabs on the

top corresponding to six data
runs.
Position of Motion Sensor II.
Velocity of Motion Sensor II.
Angular Velocity of the Rotary
Motion sensor.

6. Open the MS Excel® file “Moment of Inertia – DataSet (your group number).xlsx” to record your data.
Remember not to type in the blue calculation cells.

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PHYS221 – Lab 7 Rotational Motion and The Moment of Inertia
B. Measure and align the apparatus.

1. On one side of the Rotary Motion sensor is a pully that slides on the axle. The string is attached such
that it can wind about the inner or outer pulley.
a. Determine the radius of each. (Hint: Use the digital caliper to measure the diameters.)
b. Slide the pulley back onto the axle.
c. Attach the weight hanger to the other end of the unwound string and position the motion detector
directly below.

d. Make sure the motion detector is set in wide beam mode and cover with the protective wire
basket. (Depending on your particular setup,
narrow mode may be better.)
2. Measure the physical characteristics of the notches
aluminum plate and disk.
a. Measure and record the mass of each.
b. Measure the diameter of the aluminum disk. rout
c. Mesuare the length and width of the plate.
The size of the object parallel to the axis of
rotation does not enter into the calculation of rin
its moment of inertia. (Why?)
3. Complete Analysis section A.

C. Take data of the falling mass with the disk.

1 Setup the rotary motion sensor with the aluminum
disk firmly attached to the axle and the screw holding din
it tightly. dout
2 Wind the string around the larger radius pulley and
hold the weight hanger so it does not drop. Use the notches in the pulley to “catch” the string to start
winding it.
3 Begin the recording process then allow the weight to fall. Once the string has unwound, stop the
recording.
4 If the angular velocity graph does not show a steady straight line during the time period when the weight
is falling, check the setup to make sure the motion sensor is directly below the falling mass hanger and
repeat steps C.2. and C.3.

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PHYS221 – Lab 7 Rotational Motion and The Moment of Inertia
5 Using the “Multi Coordinates” tool in your graph window to measure the following:
a. The initial position and velocity of the weight hanger.
b. The initial rotational velocity of the axle (and hence aluminum disk) at the same time of the data
in C.5.a.
c. The final position and velocity of the weight hanger (just above its lowest point).
d. The final rotational velocity of the axle (and hence aluminum disk) at the same time of the data
in C.5.c.
6 Measure the angular acceleration of the sensor.
a. Use the “Highlight Range” tool to select the portion of the angular velocity data when the mass
hanger was falling. Be careful not to include endpoints. That is, each end of the data range should
be at least one point smaller than the range that looks like the straight line.
b. Use the “Apply Selective Curve Fit” tool to apply a linear fit to this data. Adjust the ends of your
highlighted data (one side at a time) such that the uncertainty in the slope is minimized.
i. The result will be the best fit values for the slope and the intercept. The intercept value
depends on how long it was between starting the data acquisition and the time you let
the weight hanger fall and as such is irrelevant to us.
ii. The slope will be the angular acceleration. (Why?)
iii. Because the rotary motion sensor is sensitive to which direction it is spinning, you may
have a positive or negative value. We only need the absolute value of this. Record the
angular acceleration and its uncertainty.
7 Complete the analysis portion for your first data run (Analysis sections B and C ).
8 Wind the string about the smaller radius pulley. Before you let the mass hanger drop, make a prediction
as to how you expect  to change from the previous trial. Complete steps C.3 through C.7.
D. Take data of the falling mass and rotating plate.

1. Attach the aluminum plate to the axle at the hole nearest to its center of mass on the opposite side
from the pulley using the screw to hold it tight to the axle. Once again, the axle and plate should spin
together and not slip.
2. Complete steps C.2 through C.8 for the aluminum plate. You should have two runs, one for the larger
radius pulley, and one for the smaller radius pulley.
E. Take data of the falling mass and rotating plate plus disk.

1. Attach the aluminum plate and aluminum disk to the axle at the hole nearest to its center of mass on
the opposite side from the pulley using the screw to hold it tight to the axle. Once again, the axle and
plate should spin together and not slip.
2. Make a prediction as the moment of inertia for the combined disk and plate system.
3. Complete steps C.2 through C.8 for the aluminum plate and the disk together.

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PHYS221 – Lab 7 Rotational Motion and The Moment of Inertia

Data description:
• 1st run: disk with outer pulley.
• 2nd run: disk with inner pulley.
• 3rd run: plate with outer pulley (larger pulley radius).
• 4th run: plate with inner pulley (smaller pulley radius).
• 5th run: plate + disk with outer pulley.
• 6th run: plate + disk with inner pulley.

Analysis:
The provided MS Excel® spreadsheet (most likely in your Lab Canvas site) will automatically calculate many
values for the experimental results you enter. Thus, you only need to manually calculate the values for
the moment of inertia for the plate and the disk (Analysis part A) and the first data run in analysis parts B
and C for the data gathered for the first run of procedure part C and D.

A. Find the moment of inertia of the disk and plate through direct computation.
1. As stated in the Background section, the moment of inertia of an object depends solely on its mass and
that distribution of mass around the axis of rotation. The objects are rotating about their center of
mass, the direct calculation of the moments of inertia is straightforward.

m plate (Wplate + L2plate ) .

1 1
I disk = mdisk Rdisk
2
I plate = 2

2 12
Record these as the directly calculated moments of inertia. The Excel spreadsheet will do this, but
include your detailed manual calculations for both the plate and disk. This shows whether or not you
can calculate the values.
B. Find the moments of inertia of the disk and plate by using conservation of mechanical energy.
As described in the Background section, use two points: one taken at near the beginning of its descent,
“initial”, and one just prior to the hanging mass reaching its lowest point, “final”, to determine the
moment of inertia of the disk/plate.

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PHYS221 – Lab 7 Rotational Motion and The Moment of Inertia
E0 = E f
K 0 + U g ,0 + K r ,0 = K f + U g , f + K r , f
1 1 1 1
mh vh2,0 + mh gyh,0 + I 02 = mh vh2, f + mh gyh, f + I  2f
2 2 2 2
Note the position of the hanging mass is yh , and its velocity is vh . The moment of inertia is I for
whatever is rotating.
1. Isolate the moment of inertia, algebraically from the above equation as all other variables have been
measured.
2. Substitute all values (except the moment of inertia found in analysis part A) to find the moment of
inertia of the disk due to the requirement that we have conservation of energy. For the error in
this, we will take it to be about 5% of the value you have computed.
3. Do this manually for the first data run of Procedure part C.
4. For the disk and the plate, compare this moment of inertia to that found in analysis part A. Use the
discrepancy method:
?
I A − IB  2 ( I A ) + ( I B )
2 2

where the subscripts A and B indicate the two different moments of inertia to be compared.
The spreadsheet will not do this for you.
5. If your calculations agree with those calculated values on the spreadsheet for the first data run. You
do not need to verify the calculations of the spreadsheet for subsequent data runs – unless the
comparison of moments of inertia (see Analysis B.4) do not agree.
6. Repeat Steps 1-5 for the plate.
C. Torque and angular acceleration.
1. Draw an extended free body diagram for the pulley and hanger system.
2. Remembering that the falling weight is undergoing acceleration (but not at g).
a. How is the linear acceleration is related to the angular acceleration?
b. How is the torque is related to force?
c. Use the non-slipping condition of the string on the pulley and the simultaneous equations from
the extended body diagram (one for the falling weight, the other for the rotating disk and/or
plate) to isolate the moment of inertia of the rotating object – just leave it as I. But all of the
other variables should be something you have measured (or the acceleration due to gravity).
3. Calculate the uncertainty in the moments of inertia of the disk and plate:
2
2 r   mh grp    2
2 2
m 
 I = I  h  + ( I − mh rp2 )  p
2
 +    
 r
 mh   p      
This is a little complicated due to how the variables are related, but it is the correct formula. Do this
manually for one of the forces in the first data run.
4. Compare the moments of inertia of the disk and plate found to the directly calculated values in
analysis part A. Use the discrepancy method:

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PHYS221 – Lab 7 Rotational Motion and The Moment of Inertia
?
I A − IB  2 ( I A ) + ( I B )
2 2

where the subscripts A and B indicate the two different moments of inertia to be compared.

D. Questions
1. Are the moments of inertia for the disk and plate in quantitative agreement regardless of method?
If not, which is the most accurate and why?
2. In analysis step C.2, we noted the hanging mass does not fall with acceleration g. Was this
significant in our setup? What would it mean if  = g / rp ?

3. Assuming the disk and plate do not change size, does a larger pulley radius make the angular
acceleration larger or smaller? What does it depend upon? (This is not a trivial question!)
4. What happens to the final speed of the falling weight (assuming it falls the same distance) when the
radius of the pulley is larger? Support your answer.

Make sure you have all the data to include in your lab report and your
analysis makes sense. You need to include the excel sheet and one
screenshot of the three Capstone graphs for any run that includes your two
selections of the multi-coordinates tool (initial and final) and your curve fit
on the angular velocity graph.
Make sure you include your names, instructor’s name and the course
with lab section number on your document!

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PHYS221 – Lab 7 Rotational Motion and The Moment of Inertia
Pre Lab Questions
(due at the beginning of your lab session)

Names______________________________________________

Lab Section__________________
1. Perform analysis steps B.1. Derive an algebraic equation for the moment of inertia of the disk/plate by
using the conservation of energy method.

The variables in your equations should be the values you can measure (e.g., mass of hanger, angular
velocities, angular acceleration, positions and/or velocities of the falling mass, etc.) and physical constants
(i.e., the acceleration due to gravity). You should do this on a separate sheet and keep a copy as you will
need it during the lab.

2. Perform analysis steps C.1. Draw extended/free body diagrams and derive an algebraic equation for the
moment of inertia of the disk/plate by using the applied torque and angular acceleration method.

The variables in your equations should be the values you can measure (e.g., radius of pulley, mass of hanger,
angular velocities, angular acceleration, positions and velocities of the falling mass, etc.) and physical
constants (i.e., the acceleration due to gravity). You should do this on a separate sheet and keep a copy as
you will need it during the lab.

©UDel Physics 11 of 11 Fall 2021