KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY,

KUMASI - GHANA

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

FACULTY OF MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LAB (ME 296)

TOPIC: FLYWHEEL AND FALLING WEIGHT

GROUP 4

DATE: MARCH 9 2022

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................ 3
OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3
APPARATUS ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3
THEORY ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3
PROCEDURE ....................................................................................................................................................................... 5
TABLE OF RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
PRECAUTION ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................................................... 7
GRAPH................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
INTRODUCTION
The flywheel consists of a heavy circular disc/massive wheel fitted with a strong axle on
two fixed supports. One end of a chord or thread is loosed and lopped a peg on the axle
and its other end carries the weight hanger. The flywheel is made to rotate by attaching
a mass to the cord.

The following mass exerts a force that is related to the torque, T and rate of the
flywheel’s angular velocity, also known as the angular acceleration α.

The constant of proportionality between the angular acceleration and the angular
velocity is called the moment of inertia, I.

The moment of inertia is dependent on the rotating object’s radius.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the moment of inertia of a flying wheel by timing a falling weight.

APPARATUS

Flywheel mounted horizontally

Low friction bearings

Weights

Cord or thread

Rule

Callipers

A stop watch

THEORY

For angular motion about a fixed axis,

Torque = moment of inertia x angular acceleration

T= Iα

For linear motion of rigid body,

Force = mass x acceleration

F=ma
For angular motion of the flywheel,

Fr – Tf = Iα 1

Where r is the radius of the axle with the thickness of the cord.

Tf is the frictional torque and F is the tension in the end.

For the falling weights, we have

mg – F = ma 2

where m is the mass of the falling weight a is the acceleration The angular

acceleration is equal to α = 𝑎 and eliminating F between equation 1 and 2,

we have

mgr – Tf= I mαr 3

Now ‘a’ is a constant with time for any mass. If S is the distance descended from rest by
the falling weight in time t, the acceleration is given by
𝑎𝑡2
From 𝑆 = 𝑢𝑡 + 2 4
Substituting 4 into 3, we have;

We have,

From 5 we see that a plot of

against 1 gives a straight line slope of and intercept Tf

PROCEDURE
1. The diameter of the spindle and cord are recorded and determined.
2. The cord was lowered to cover a distance of 100cm. The initial and final position
were marked.
3. The cord is raised to the initial position and weight of 2 is carefully slotted and
released from rest. The time taken is recorded 2 times for the same weight.
4. The process is repeated for 4I and increment of 2lb up to 10lb. Time taken is
recorded 3 times for each weight to determine the mean time.

TABLE OF RESULTS
S = 80cm = 80 𝑥10−2m
mass/kg t1/s t2/s t3/s t(avg.)/s (1/(t^2))/s^-
2

0.908 7.55 7.35 7.19 7.363333 0.18 0.018

1.816 6 6.16 5.95 6.036667 0.36 0.027
2.724 4.61 4.72 4.31 4.546667 0.542 0.048
3.632 4.21 4.1 3.86 4.056667 0.686 0.061
4.54 3.8 3.43 3.45 3.56 0.844 0.079

A- Diameter of the spindle = 38.08 mm

B- Diameter of the cord = 2.47 mm
C- Length of the cord = 80cm
D- Diameter of the spindle and cord =38.08 mm + 2. 47mm = 40.55mm

r=

From the graph, the y-axis is

Slope,

Slope,

Slope= 𝑚 = 11.54 From the theory, the

slope is equal to
𝑟

I=

I= 0.1462≈0.146

From the graph, the y- intercept, Tf=0

For the various masses, the values of I and Tf are:

mass/kg Tf
 0.907 -0.0427
1.816 -0.0587
2.724 -0.0280
3.632 -0.05216
4.540 -0.0626

mass/kg I
0.907 0.112
1.816 0.225
2.724 0.338
3.632 0.450
4.540 0.563

PRECAUTION
1. The stopwatch must be handled with care to avoid any errors in the
reading.
2. The mass should be moved up to the same height in all trails. 3. The
turns of the string must not overlap the other
4. The mass should be gently released from rest.

CONCLUSION
When the values of Tf obtained directly, and Tf from the graph are compared, there was
no significant difference between these.

The mean value of I obtained directly is I= 0.146 and the slope of the graph is 11.54.
GRAPH

NAMES INDEX

Bello Raphael Ametefe Kom 3141420

Boakye Elijha Akomea 3141820

Boakye-Turkson Kwame 3141920

Quaicoe Emmanuel 3153520

Baidoo Philomena 3141120

Awudu Prince Khalid 3140420

Daniel Albert Boye 3142220

Asiedu Ulysses Nana Owusu 3139420
Nsiah
Boakye Edmund 3141720

Avuletey Wisdom Kofi 3140220

Kotey Samuel Neequaye 3146520

Awortwe Ishmael 3140320

Azuma Jubilant Selorm 3140720

Asordaug Mishael Delwini 3139620

Asirifi Rebecca Yirenkyi 3139520

Baidoo Charles 3141020

Boahene Abena Abrafi 3141620

Bonah Alfred 3142120

Kwetey Alfred Selasi Yaw 8329819

Korley Ignacious Nii Martey 3146420

Attipoe Marcel Selorm 3139820