Experiment 10

Moment of Inertia (Steiner’s Theorem)

1 Apparatus:
Torsion axle, V-shape stand base, circular disc, stopwatch, masses
2 Purpose of experiment:
i) To study the proportionality between the moment of inertia of the weights and the square
of the distance, and to determine the restoring torque of the torsion axle;
ii) 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.
3 Basic Methodology:
(1) The period of oscillation of a transverse rod 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 per
unit angle of the torsion axle can be deduced;
(2) 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 distances from the symmetry axis
and the experiment can be repeated. This data will be used to verify Steiner’s theorem.

1 Theory
“Moment of inertia” of a rigid body is a quantitative measure of the rotational inertia of that
body. It quantifies 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 (linear) motion.
In rotational oscillations, the torque is given by:
Experiment 10. Moment of Inertia (Steiner’s Therorem)

𝑑2 𝜃
𝜏 = 𝐼 𝑑𝑡 2 , (1)
where 𝐼 is the moment of inertia of the body about the axis of rotation and 𝜃 is the angle through
which it is rotated. If 𝐷 is the restoring force per unit angle 𝜃, then:

𝜏 = −𝐷𝜃, (2)
which gives:

𝑑2 𝜃
𝐼 𝑑𝑡 2 + 𝐷𝜃 = 0. (3)

This represents simple harmonic motion in the angle 𝜃.

For the above equation of simple harmonic motion, the frequency of oscillations is given by
𝜔 = √𝐷/𝐼, and the period of oscillation is given by 𝑇 = 2𝜋√𝐼/𝐷. Thus, in rotational oscillations,
the period of oscillation is larger for larger moment of inertia.
The moment of inertia of a point like mass 𝑚 moving on a circular path with radius 𝑟 is:

𝐼1 = 𝑚𝑟 2. (4)
So, 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 . (5)
In both cases, the moment of inertia is proportional to the square of the distance 𝑟. In the present
experiment, the rigid connection between the two equal masses is established by means of a thin
rod whose middle is fixed to the torsion axle (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Thin rod with two equal masses.

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After deflection from the equilibrium position, the system oscillates with the period of oscillation
𝑇. The relation between the moment of inertia and the period, as seen earlier, is:

𝑇 2
𝐼 = 𝐷 (2𝜋) . (6)

Since 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, we have:

𝐼 = 𝐼0 + 2𝑚𝑟 2, (7)
Thus, we have:

𝑇 2 𝑇 2
𝐷 (2𝜋) = 𝐷 (2𝜋0 ) + 2𝑚𝑟 2, (8)

or:

8𝑚𝜋 2
𝑇 2 = 𝑇02 + 𝑟 2, (9)
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.
8𝑚𝜋 2
From the slope (𝑆) of the straight line, 𝑆 = , the restoring torque per unit angle (𝐷) can be
𝐷
calculated if the mass 𝑚 is known:

8𝑚𝜋 2
𝐷= 𝑆
. (10)

Now, consider a rigid body rotating about an axis (see Figure 2). 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 = ∫ 𝜔𝑟 2 𝑑𝑚 = 𝐼𝜔, (11)

where 𝐼 = ∫ 𝑟 2 𝑑𝑚 is the moment of inertia of the body about the axis of rotation of the body.

Figure 2. Rigid body.

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Experiment 10. Moment of Inertia (Steiner’s Therorem)

Consider a rigid body (as shown in Figure 3) whose mass elements ∆𝑚𝑖 have the distances 𝑟𝑖 from
the axis of rotation A. The moment of inertia 𝐼𝐴 of the body will be 𝐼𝐴 = ∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 𝑟𝑖2. If the axis of
rotation does not pass through the centre of mass of the body, application of the above equation
leads to an involved calculation. Often it is easier to calculate the moment of inertia 𝐼𝑆 with
respect to the axis S, which is parallel to the axis of rotation and passes through the centre of
mass of the body.

Figure 3. Disc and different axis of rotation.

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. In this plane, the vector 𝒂
points from the axis of rotation to the centre-of-mass axis, the vector 𝒓𝒊 points from the axis of
rotation to the mass element ∆𝑚𝑖 , and the vector 𝒔𝒊 points from the centre-ofmass axis to the
mass element. Thus 𝒓𝒊 = 𝒂 + 𝒔𝒊 . Thus, we have:

𝐼𝐴 = ∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 𝑟𝑖2 = [∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 ]𝑎2 + 2[∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 𝑠𝑖 ]𝑎 + ∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 𝑠𝑖2 . (12)
In the first summand, ∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 = 𝑀, which is the total mass of the body. In the last summand
∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 𝑠𝑖2 = 𝐼𝑠 , which is the moment of inertia of the body with respect to the centre-of-mass
axis. In the middle summand ∑𝑖 ∆𝑚𝑖 𝑠𝑖 = 0 due to symmetry because the vector 𝒔𝒊 start from the
axis through the centre of mass. Thus, Steiner’s theorem follows from the above equation as:

𝐼𝐴 = 𝐼𝑆 + 𝑀𝑎2 . (13)
Since the two axes are parallel to each other, this theorem is also referred to as “Parallel axes
theorem”. Steiner’s theorem will be verified in the present experiment with a flat circular disc 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
disc is attached. As 𝐼𝐴 = 𝐷(𝑇/2𝜋)2 , where 𝐷 is the restoring torque of the torsion axle. Eq. (13)

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describes a linear relation between 𝐼𝐴 and 𝑎2 with the slope 𝑀 (the mass of the disk) and the
intercept of the ordinate 𝐼𝑆 .

2 Experimental Setup and Procedure

Part A: Determination of the restoring force (of the spring) per unit angle
The experimental setup (supplied by LEYBOLD) is shown in the figure below.

Figure 4. Experimental setup for Part A.

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. Rotate the transverse rod to the right by about 180° and release it. [Note that unlike in a
normal suspended pendulum, in a torsion pendulum, there is no restriction that the angle has to
be small, as no such approximation was made in the derivation].
3. Start the time measurement as soon as the transverse rod is released and stop the
measurement after five complete oscillations.
4. Repeat the measurement four times, alternately deflecting the rod to the left and to the
right.
5. Calculate the period of oscillation 𝑇 from the mean value of the five measured values.
6. One after another reduce the distance to 25 cm, 20 cm, 15 cm, 10 cm and 5 cm, each time
repeating the measurement.
7. Remove the weights, and repeat the measurement for the rod without weights.
8. Determine the value of the restoring force per unit angle and the value of 𝑇0 from the
intercept and compare it with your experimental value of 𝑇 for 𝑚 = 0.

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Experiment 10. Moment of Inertia (Steiner’s Therorem)

Part B: Verification of Steiner’s Theorem (Parallel axes theorem)

The experimental setup is shown in the figure below.

Figure 5. Experimental setup for Part B.

1. Fix the centre of the circular disc to the torsion axle 𝑎 = 0.

2. Rotate the circular disc by about 180° from the equilibrium position and release it.
3. Start the time measurement as soon as the circular disc is released and stop the
measurement after five oscillations.
4. Repeat the measurement four more times alternately deflecting the disc to the left and
to the right.
5. Calculate the period of oscillation 𝑇 from the mean value of the five 5𝑇 measurements.
6. Remount the circular disc on the torsion axle so that its centre is at a distance of 𝑎 = 2 𝑐𝑚
from the axle.
7. Repeat the measurements for other distances 𝑎 from the axis of symmetry.
8. Using the value of 𝐷 obtained in Part A, calculate 𝐼𝐴 from the measured values of 𝑇.
9. Plot 𝐼𝐴 vs 𝑎2 , using this plot find the mass 𝑀 of the disc and compare it with its actual
value (given or measured). Calculate the value of the moment of inertia of the disc around its
centre.

3 Exercises and Viva Questions

1. What is moment of inertia? Can you derive the moment inertia of a thin rod and of a thin
disc?
2. What is Steiners’ theorem about.
3. Apply Steiner’s theorem to find the moment of inertia of a thin rod spinning at its edge.

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4 Some interesting things about moment of inertia:

1. Steiner’s theorem is named after the Swiss mathematician Jacob Steiner. It is also called
“Huygens-Steiner” theorem (after Christian Huygens, well known for his contribution in Optics).
2. As it involves two parallel axes, it is also called “Parallel axes theorem”.
3. There is also a “Perpendicular axes theorem” for planar, laminar (2-D) bodies, which
states that “the moment of inertia of a planar body about an axis perpendicular to the plane of
the lamina, is equal to the sum of the moments of inertia of the lamina about the two mutually
perpendicular axes passing through the plane, and intersecting each other at the point where the
perpendicular axis passes through it.”
4. The perpendicular axes theorem tells us that the moment of inertial of the disc (used in
our experiment) about an axis passing through its centre and in the plane of the disk, will be
simply half the value you obtained (𝐼𝑆 ) about the axis perpendicular to the plane, passing through
its centre (i.e. 𝐼⟘ = 𝐼𝑆 /2).
5. There is also a rule called “Stretch rule” or “Routh’s rule” which says that if an object is
stretched in the direction of the axis of rotation (which is a principle axis), keeping the mass and
radius unchanged, its moment of inertial will remain unchanged.
6. What the above rules implies is that if we have e.g. a metal cylinder of radius 𝑅 and mass
𝑚 and length 𝐿𝑚 and another wooden cylinder of radius 𝑅 and mass 𝑚 and some length 𝐿𝑊 ,
then both will have the moment of inertia about the axis of the cylinder, irrespective of their
lengths.

5 References
1) An Introduction to Mechanics, D. Kleppner and R. J. Kolenkow, Tata McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi, 2007.
2) Leybold Physics experiments manual.
3) Wikipedia (for general information).