Rotational Inertia and Conservation of Angular Momentum Courtney Paxson Day and Date Performed: 11/05/12 Day and

Date Due: 11/12/12 Day and Date Handed in: 11/12/12 Laura Buongiorno, Andrew Shaffer

Introduction

Data Part 1 Mass of the disk (M): 1.467 kg Radius of the shaft (r): 0.00604 m Inner radius of ring (R1): 0.051 m Table 1. Disk Alone: Force of Kinetic Friction fk (N) Angular Acceleration (rad/s2) Final angular velocity (rad/s) Tension T in string (N) T fk (N) Net torque =r(T-fk) (Nm) Moment of inertia I=1/2 MR2+1/2 m(R12+R22) (kgm2) 0.009 Moment of inertia I=/=r(Tfk)/ (kgm2) 0.00924 Radius of the disk (R): 0.1135 m Mass of ring (m): 1.435 kg Outer radius of ring (R2): 0.0605 m

0.245

1.794

13.04

2.99

2.745

0.017

Table 2. Disk + Ring: Force of Kinetic Friction fk (N) Angular Acceleration (rad/s2) Final angular velocity (rad/s) Tension T in string (N) T fk (N) Net torque = r(T-fk) (Nm) Moment of inertia I=1/2 MR2+1/2 m(R12+R22) (kgm2) 0.0135 Moment of inertia I=/=r(Tfk)/ (kgm2) 0.0132

0.343

0.7578

8.513

2.01

1.667

0.01

Table 3. Part 2: Angular velocity before ring is dropped (i) (rad/s) Angular velocity after ring is dropped (f) (rad/s) Moment of inertia of disk (I=1/2MR2) (kgm2) Moment of inertia of disk I=1/2 MR2+1/2 m(R12+R22) (kgm2) Angular momentum before ring is dropped (L=Iii) (kgm2/s) 0.1007 Angular momentum after ring is dropped (L=Iff) (kgm2/s) 0.0987

11.189

7.311

0.009

0.0135

Sample Calculations:

Calculating Force of Kinetic Friction:

Calculating Tension (T) in the String:

Calculating Net Torque:

Calculating Experimental Moment of Inertia:

I = 0.00924

Calculating Moment of Inertia:

Calculating Moment of Inertia of Disk & Ring:

Calculating Angular Momentum:

Calculating Percent Difference:

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Graphs/Charts:

Figure 1: Angle (radians) versus Time (seconds) for the rotating disk.

Figure 2: Velocity (radians/second) versus time (seconds) for the rotating disk.

Figure 3: Angle (radians) versus the time (seconds) for the rotating disk and ring.

Figure 4: Velocity (radians/second) versus the Time (seconds) for the rotating disk and ring

Figure 5: Angle (radians) vs. time (seconds) for the demonstration of the conservation of momentum

Figure 6: Velocity (radians/second) versus time (seconds) for the demonstration of the conservation of momentum.

Questions:

Part 1: 1. In your data table in Part 1, you have two values for the moment of inertia. One if found from the theoretical equation for moment of inertia that is introduced in the Theory section and the other is an experimental value obtained using Newtons 2nd law for rotational motion, =I, in conjunction with the definition of torque, =rF. How well do your two values agree with each other? What is the percent difference?

The percent difference between the experimental moment of inertia (0.00924) and the calculated moment of inertia (0.009) was only 2.63%. Therefore, these values do indeed agree with one another strongly.

Part 2: 2. How do your values for the angular momentum before and after the ring is dropped onto the disk compare? What is the percent difference?

The angular momentum before and after the ring was dropped was indeed similar. The percent difference was 2.01%.

3. Does there appear to be an inverse relationship between moment of inertia and angular velocity?

Yes, there appears to be an inverse relationship between moment of inertia and angular velocity. This agrees with law of conservation of momentum. As moment of inertia increases, angular velocity decreases and vice versa.

4. How well do your results support the theory of conservation of momentum?

The results from this experiment highly support the theory of conservation of momentum. This is shown through the low percent difference between the angular momentum before ring is dropped and the angular momentum after ring is dropped.