1.

Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to investigate the moment of inertia and
different techniques for determining inertia.
2. Introduction
To calculate inertia, the torque is required
T =rF
where r - distance to center and F - Force.
For a point mass, the moment of inertia can be calculated by using the
formula
2

I =r m
where I inertia, r distance with respect to axis, m mass.
However, with different objects, there are different formulas to calculate the
moment of inertia.
For a long thin rod with rotation axis through center
I=

1
M L
12

where L is the length of the rod.

For a solid sphere,
2
I = mr 2
5
where r is the radius of the sphere.
For a disc,
1
2
I = mr For a cylindrical shell
2
I =mr

There are other ways to calculate the inertia using the spring constant and
oscillation time. Inertia can be calculated using the formula

T =2

l
k

where T is the oscillation period in s, I is the inertia and K is the spring

constant.
To calculate the relative uncertainty of inertia, the standard deviation for
each value such as mass or time also needed.
The relative uncertainty for inertia can be calculated
I =z ( x , y ) =x ay b
Standard deviation for time

s=

( x x )2

N =1

N1

Relative uncertainty for inertia

2
uT + s T
uK 2
uI= (
2) +( )
T
K

Experimental Setup:

I Spiral Spring

II Sphere, Cylinder and hollow cylinder (To analyze how the inertia changes
for different forms)
III Timer (To measure the restoring points)
IV Additional weights (To analyze what happens to the inertia when weights
are attached to the radius)
V Tubular dynamometer (Measures the restoring force)
An axle with a spring was set up so that different objects as shown in figure 1
could be mounted on the top of the axle to perform a rotational oscillation.
All objects provided were able to be fixed onto the axle directly accept for
the massive cylinder and cylindrical shell. These two objects needed an
additional fixing plate therefore for the measurement of the inertia, the
additional fixing plate was taken into account. The period of the oscillation
was measured with a stopwatch and the size of the objects was measured
with a measuring tape.
1st type of measurement: Rotation of a point mass.
A level was used to make sure the tripod base was adjusted horizontally, so
that the rotation axle was vertically oriented. A rod was fixed on the rotation
axle. The spiral spring was turned -90 (counterclockwise) and the force
was measured with a spring scale at 3 different distances from the axis of
rotation. The measurements were repeated for an angle of +90
(clockwise). The experiment was repeated with these 5 measurements for
angular deflections of 180 , 270 , and 360 .
2nd type of measurement:Measurement of the moment of inertia for
different bodies
The mass and the size of the solid cylinder, the hollow cylinder, the sphere
and disk were measured. The fixing plate was mounted on the axle and
deflected clockwise by 180 and then released. The time taken for 5
oscillations was measured using a stopwatch. This was repeated 5 times. The
whole experiment was repeated by placing the hollow cylinder on the fixing
plate, followed by the massive cylinder. After that the fixing plate was
removed and replaced by the disk and sphere. The same measurement
procedures followed.
3rd type of measurement:Measurement of the moment of inertia of a
rod with weights.
The mass and length of the rod and the mass of the two additional weights
was measured. The rod was fixed to the axle and deflected clockwise by 180

and released. The time taken for 5 oscillations was recorded. The

measurements were repeated 5 times. Now the two weights was placed on
opposite sides of the rod with the same distances from the axis. The distance
of the weights to the axis was measured. The measurements for the
oscillations were repeated. Distances were changed and the measurements
were repeated. The whole experiments was repeated with one weight on one
side of the rod.
4th type of measurement:Measurement of the moment of inertia for
different rotational axes.
A disk with diametrical holes was given. The distances of each hole to the
middle hole were measured. The size and the mass of the disc were
measured as well. The disc was fixed in the middle of the axis and then
deflected clockwise by 180 and released. The time taken for 5 oscillations
was measured using a stopwatch.

Angle in
degrees

Distance
in m
-90
-90

0.1
0.2

Force
in N
0.5
0.24

Angle in
Radians
1.5707963
27
1.5707963

Moment in
Nm
-0.05
-0.048

Mean of moment
in Nm
0.0506

-90

0.3

0.18

-180

0.1

0.95

-180

0.2

0.45

-180

0.3

0.31

-270

0.1

0.13

-270

0.2

0.138

-270

0.3

0.144

90

0.1

0.51

90

0.2

0.25

90

0.3

0.16

180

0.1

0.9

180

0.2

0.42

180

0.3

0.275

270

0.1

1.4

270

0.2

0.71

270

0.3

0.5

Uncertainty

27
1.5707963
27
3.1415926
54
3.1415926
54
3.1415926
54
4.7123889
8
4.7123889
8
4.7123889
8
1.5707963
27
1.5707963
27
1.5707963
27
3.1415926
54
3.1415926
54
3.1415926
54
4.7123889
8
4.7123889
8
4.7123889
8

-0.054
-0.095

0.0926

-0.09
-0.093
-0.013
-0.0276

0.0497

-0.0432
0.051
0.05
0.048

0.0847

0.09
0.084
0.0825
0.14
0.142
0.15

0.145

uI=

s
=0.0221kgm2
N

Measurements part 2
4. Evaluation and Result
Measurements for
Oscillation time for
mass point

Oscillation time in s

Rod without
8.82 8.88 8.91
masses
Rod with masses at 13.2 12.9 12.9
0.05m
8
0
3
Rod with masses at 16.7 17.0 17.0
0.10m
8
1
6
Rod with masses at 21.8 21.5 21.6
0.15m
1
3
3
Rod with masses at 25.8 24.0 25.2
0.20m
8
9
3
Table 4. Oscillation time for mass point
Average
time in s

9.00

8.93

13.1
6
17.1
9
21.6
7
25.1
4

13.1
2
17.0
9
21.0
2
25.9
5

Inertia in
kg*m^2

Rod without
8.908
0.0028
masses
Rod with masses at 13.07
0.0031
0.05m
Rod with masses at 17.02
0.0054
0.1m
Rod with masses at 21.53
0.0098
0.15m
Rod with masses at 25.25
0.0175
0.2m
Table 5- Inertia for the rod and the masses attached
Example of calculation
*K= angular restoring constant = 0.0303Nm

Standard
deviation for
inertia in %
17
16
16
17
16

T =2

I
K

KT
I=
4 2

Example of calculation for:

Standard deviation for time

s=

( x x )2

N =1

N1

Relative uncertainty for inertia

2
uT + s T
uK 2
uI= (
2) +( )
T
K

Figure 2. The moment of inertia against squared distance

Extracting the axis offsets and the slope
*Y-intercept = 0.0021 kgm2
*Slope = 0.3557 kg

Objects

Dimensions in
m
Length
Radius
Rod
0.61
Solid Sphere
X
0.070
Disc
X
0.108
Cylindrical shell x
0.05
Cylindar
X
0.05
Table 6. Dimensions of different objects

Mass in kg

0.132
0.797
0.229
0.236

4.2.2
Object
Inertia in kg*m2
Rod
0.00410
Solid Sphere
0.00156
Disc
0.00134
Cylindrical Shell
0.00059
Table 7. Inertia of different objects based on mass and dimension
Example of calculation
For a disc,

1
I = mr 2
2
2

For a cylindrical shell

I =m r

For a solid sphere,

2
I= mr 2
5

For a rod
Object

1
I= M L
12

Relative
uncertainty of
dimension in %
Rod
0.16
Solid Sphere
1.43
Disc
0.93
Cylindrical Shell
2.00
Table 8. Relative uncertainty

Relative
uncertainty of
mass t in %
0.09
0.01
0.04
0.04

Relative
uncertainty of
inertia in %
0.34
2.86
1.85
4.00

Inertia based on oscillation time

Average Oscillation
Inertia in kg*m2
time in s
Rod
2.5
0.00283
Solid Sphere
1.6
0.00116
Disc
1.5
0.00102
Cylindrical shell
1.1
0.00055
Table 9. Inertia of different objects based on oscillation time
Object

Example of calculation
K= angular restoring constant = 0.0179Nm
I=

KT 2
4 2

Object

Standard deviation of
time in s
Rod
0.071
Solid Sphere
0.100
Disc
0.100
Cylindrical Shell
0.089
Table 10. Uncertainty Calculation
Standard deviation for time

s=

( x x )2

N =1

N1

Relative uncertainty for inertia

uT =
Conclusion

s
N

Relative uncertainty
of inertia in %
20.8
20.0
20.6
23.0

Comparison of values of inertia obtained from dimensions-masses and

oscillation times

Figure 3 Inertia obtained from dimensions-masses and from oscillation times

Looking at the measured moment of inertia derived from the oscillation time
is always smaller compared to the theoretical value calculated from the
masses and dimensions, even in the range of the error bar. It might be due
to friction, which leads to damping. It is also because of the human error in
starting and stopping the stopwatch. Therefore, our oscillation time is not
accurate, which affects the measurements a lot.
Comparison of 2 techniques
Objects

Rod
Solid
Sphere
Disc
Cylindrical
Shell

Inertia
based
on
dimensions and masses
Inertia
in Relative
2
kg*m
uncertaint
y in %
0.00410
0.34
0.00156
2.86

Inertia
based
on
oscillation time
Inertia
in Relative
2
kg*m
uncertaint
y in %
0.00283
20.8
0.00116
20.0

0.00134
0.00059

0.00102
0.00055

1.85
4.00

20.6
23.0

The inertia calculated based on dimensions and masses is always bigger with
much lower relative uncertainty (around2%-3%) than the inertia based on
oscillation time with the uncertainty of above 20%. Therefore the 1 st
technique is more accurate and should be applied.