Chapter 1 .

Rotational Equilibrium and Rotational dynamic

Moment of Inertia
Moment of inertia is defined as the quantity expressed by the body resisting angular acceleration
which is the sum of the product of the mass of every particle with its square of a distance from
the axis of rotation. Or in more simple terms, it can be described as a quantity that decides the
amount of torque needed for a specific angular acceleration in a rotational axis. Moment of
Inertia is also known as the angular mass or rotational inertia. The SI unit of moment of inertia is
kg m2.

Moment of inertia is usually specified with respect to a chosen axis of rotation. It mainly
depends on the distribution of mass around an axis of rotation. MOI varies depending on the axis
that is chosen.
Moment of inertia is defined with respect to a specific rotation axis. The moment of inertia of a
point mass with respect to an axis is defined as the product of the mass times the distance from
the axis squared. The moment of inertia of any extended object is built up from that basic
definition. The general form of the moment of inertia involves an integral.

Moment of Inertia, General form

Since the moment of inertia of an ordinary object involves a continuous distribution of mass at a
continually varying distance from any rotation axis, the calculation of moments of inertia
generally involves calculus, the discipline of mathematics which can handle such continuous
variables. Since the moment of inertia of a point mass is defined by
then the moment of inertia contribution by an infinitesmal mass element dm has the same form.
This kind of mass element is called a differential element of mass and its moment of inertia is
given by

Note that the differential element of moment of inertia dI must always be defined with respect to
a specific rotation axis. The sum over all these mass elements is called an integral over the mass.

Usually, the mass element dm will be expressed in terms of the geometry of the object, so that
the integration can be carried out over the object as a whole (for example, over a long uniform
rod).
Having called this a general form, it is probably appropriate to point out that it is a general form
only for axes which may be called “principal axes”, a term which includes all axes of symmetry
of objects. The concept of moment of inertia for general objects about arbitrary axes is a much
more complicated subject. The moment of inertia in such cases takes the form of a mathematical
tensor quantity which requires nine components to completely define it.

Sample exercises:
1. A string is wrapped several times round a solid cylinder and then the end of the string is held
stationary while the cylinder is released from rest with an initial motion. The acceleration of the
cylinder and tension in the string will be
2. The moment of inertia of a body rotating about a given axis is 12.0kgm2 in the SI system.
What is the value of the moment of inertia in a system of units in which the unit of length is 5cm
and the unit of mass is 10g?
3.Let I be the moment of inertia, of a uniform square plate about an axis AB that passes through
its center and is parallel to two of its sides. CD is a line in the plane of the plate that passes
through the center of the plate and makes an angle Θ With AB as shown in the figure. The
moment of inertia of the plate about the axis CD is then
Torque
Torque is a measure of the force that can cause an object to rotate about an axis. Just as force is
what causes an object to accelerate in linear kinematics, torque is what causes an object to
acquire angular acceleration.
Torque is a vector quantity. The direction of the torque vector depends on the direction of the
force on the axis.
Anyone who has ever opened a door has an intuitive understanding of torque. When a person
opens a door, they push on the side of the door farthest from the hinges. Pushing on the side
closest to the hinges requires considerably more force. Although the work done is the same in
both cases (the larger force would be applied over a smaller distance) people generally prefer to
apply less force, hence the usual location of the door handle.

Figure.1 Opening a door with a maximum torque

Torque can be either static or dynamic.

A static torque is one which does not produce an angular acceleration. Someone pushing on a
closed door is applying a static torque to the door because the door is not rotating about its
hinges, despite the force applied. Someone pedaling a bicycle at constant speed is also applying a
static torque because they are not accelerating
The drive shaft in a racing car accelerating from the start line is carrying a dynamic torque
because it must be producing an angular acceleration of the wheels given that the car is
accelerating along the track.
The terminology used when describing torque can be confusing. Engineers sometimes use the
term moment, or moment of force interchangeably with torque. The radius at which the force
acts is sometimes called the moment arm.

The magnitude of the torque vector τ for a torque produced by a given force F r
τ =F ⋅ r sin(θ)
where r is the length of the moment arm and \thetaθtheta is the angle between the force vector
and the moment arm. In the case of the door shown in Figure 1, the force is at right angles (90∘)
to the moment arm, so the sine term becomes 1 and
τ=F•r
How torque are measured?
The SI unit for torque is the Newton-meter. In imperial units, the Foot-pound is often used. This
is confusing because colloquially the pound is sometimes used as a unit of mass and sometimes
force. What is meant here is pound-force, the force due to earth gravity on a one-pound object.
The magnitude of these units is often similar as 1 Nm ≃ 1.74 ft. lbs.
Measuring a static torque in a non-rotating system is usually quite easy, and done by measuring a
force. Given the length of the moment arm, the torque can be found directly. Measuring torque in
a rotating system is considerably more difficult. One method works by measuring strain within
the metal of a drive shaft which is transmitting torque and sending this information wirelessly
Example:
Let us consider the situation given below:

In the above diagram:

F=5N
r=4m
Sinθ = 30°
Putting these values we have,
τ = 5 x 4 x sin 30°
τ = 10 N·m
Sample exercises:
1. A force of 10 N is applied perpendicular to the end of a bar of length 0.2 m. Calculate the
torque produced by the force.
2. A wheel starting with angular velocity of 10radian/sec acquires angular velocity of
100radian/sec in 15seconds. If moment of inertia is 10kg−m2, then applied torque (in
newton-metre) is.
3. A torque of 20 Nm is applied on a wheel having angular momentum of 2kgm2/s,
calculate the angular momentum of the wheel after 4 seconds.
Rotational Kinematics
Kinematics is the study of motion without regard to the forces that created the motion, while
dynamics is the study of motion and the forces that created the motion. There are four equations
that describe linear kinematics, written in the list below, and when the variables in these
equations are translated into spherical coordinates, they describe rotational kinematics. In the
following list, the variable Δx refers to the displacement of the object in motion. The variable a
Refers to the acceleration that the moving object experiences. The velocity of the moving object
is referenced with the variable v, and the subscript i Denotes the object’s initial velocity while
the subscript f Denotes the object’s final velocity. Time is represented by the variable t.

Rotational Kinematics Equations

The rotational kinematic equations can be derived by directly substituting the rotational
variables for the linear variables. Often, when a problem presents an object that exhibits
rotational motion, the object's velocity is given as a linear velocity. Instead of using the linear
kinematic equations listed above to describe the object's motion using this linear velocity,
convert the linear velocity to an angular velocity using the conversion ω=v/r where r is the radius
of the rotation, and use the rotational kinematic formuals below to simplify the rotational motion
calculations. The following list shows each linear kinematic equation and its rotational
counterpart:
Example
1: A merry-go-round spins at 23 rad/s for 12 seconds. How far does the merry-go-round travel
when it comes to a stop?

1) Identify the variables.

−ωi=23 rad/s
−ωf=0 rad/s
− t = 12 s
2) Identify the correct rotational kinematic equation to use. In this example, both the initial and
final angular velocities are given, as is the time, so the equation is the easiest to
use.
3) Plug in the variables from the problem into 2).

4.)Evaluate the result from 3).

Sample exercises:
1. A 1 kg rock tied to a rope is swung by a boy. This rock has a constant speed of 5 m/s, and
the length of the rope is 1 m. The rock’s angular momentum is
2. A skater performs a trick whereby she runs horizontally off her practice board that is
8.3m above the ground, tuck herself into the “ball” mid-air and rotate her way down till
she meets the ground.If the average angular speed of rotation is 1.6rev/s and the air
resistance is negligible, determine how many revolutions she can make.
3. The figure below shows two pulleys attached by a belt. The smaller pulley is attached to
a motor. When the motor rotates, it spins the smaller pulley, moving the belt, and turning
the larger pulley. The larger pulley has a radius of 25cm and undergoes a constant
angular acceleration of α= 2.33 rad/s2 starting from rest. Assume the pulley belt does not
slip during this motion.

Determine the linear speed of the belt after 2.7s

Reference:
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%20Inertia,from%20the%20axis%20of%20rotation