Moment of Inertia Lab
Lab Partners: Max McCandless, Kyle Higgins
Date: 4-22-14
Lab Partners: Max McCandless, Kyle Higgins
Date: 4-22-14
Purpose:
The purpose of this lab is to predict the moment of inertia of a system consisting of a hanging mass applying tension to a spinning rod with masses hanging on it.
The purpose of this lab is to predict the moment of inertia of a system consisting of a hanging mass applying tension to a spinning rod with masses hanging on it.
Theory:
When we initially began our deriving for this problem we knew that we would have to know that:
Next we solved the sum of all the forces acting on the object for another unknown tension.
We then set these two equations solved for tension equal to each-other.
With some rearranging we can solve for inertia in terms of things we already know.
When we initially began our deriving for this problem we knew that we would have to know that:
- Sum of torque = Inertia * Velocity
- Torque = Radius * Force
- Sum of force = Mass * Acceleration
- Rotational acceleration = Tangential Acceleration / Radius
- Weight = Mass * Gravity
Next we solved the sum of all the forces acting on the object for another unknown tension.
We then set these two equations solved for tension equal to each-other.
With some rearranging we can solve for inertia in terms of things we already know.
Experimental Technique:
- Attach Rotary motion sensor to both laptop and to table so that the spinning wheel faces upward.
- Attach a mass to the end of a thin thread.
- Wrap this thread around the pulley attached to the rotary motion sensor.
- Attach the rod with masses onto the pulley on the rotary motion sensor.
- Run thread over pulley that is tangential to the horizontal pulley .
- Prepare Data Studio to record data.
- Start Data Studio and drop the mass.
- Use Data Studios smart tool to find the slope of the line that was just recorded, this is your angular acceleration.
Data:
Analysis:
Conclusion:
In this lab we used information including angular acceleration, radius of pulley, and masses of the hanging mass to solve for the inertia of a system. We did this by deriving multiple equations to solve for inertia. When we compare what we solve inertia for to what we calculated inertia to be we can see that they are fairly similar. Some possible sources of error would be the the wind resistance encountered as the apparatus spins, difficulty in precisely measuring some values, error in measuring equipment, and shaking as the hanging mass fell.
In this lab we used information including angular acceleration, radius of pulley, and masses of the hanging mass to solve for the inertia of a system. We did this by deriving multiple equations to solve for inertia. When we compare what we solve inertia for to what we calculated inertia to be we can see that they are fairly similar. Some possible sources of error would be the the wind resistance encountered as the apparatus spins, difficulty in precisely measuring some values, error in measuring equipment, and shaking as the hanging mass fell.
Resources:
The Physics Classroom.com. Retrieved on April 22nd, 2014, from http://www.physicsclassroom.com
The Physics Classroom.com. Retrieved on April 22nd, 2014, from http://www.physicsclassroom.com