Physics I

Class 15

Rotational Inertia and Torque

Review: Angular Displacement

and Angular Velocity
Use your right hand.
Curl your fingers in the direction
of rotation.

Thumb points in the direction of

and angular velocity .

Mathematically this is a cross
product of two vectors,

v r
2

Review: Definitions

Angular Position:

(always in radians)

Angular Displacement:

0 (You pick 0 for each problem.)

Angular velocity:

d
lim

dt
t 0 t

Angular acceleration:

d d

dt dt 2
t 0 t

lim

Review: Linear and Angular

Variables
s r
v r
| atangential | r
v2 2 r 2
| aradial || acentripetal |

2 r
r
r
Keeping track of radial and tangential components of
acceleration allows us to treat problems that don't
have constant angular velocity.

Energy in Rotational Coordinates

For a rigid object rotating about
an axis, each particle (atom) has

the same angular velocity, , but not the same linear velocity.
K mi vi 2 mi 2 ri 2 2 mi ri 2
1
2

1
2

1
2

We can put this in the simple form,

1
2

K I 2

by defining the rotational inertia, I, for a system of particles:

I mi ri 2
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Rotational Inertia
For a system of discrete point objects:

I mi ri 2
For a solid object, we use an integral instead of a sum:

dm dV

kg
is mass density in 3
m

I r 2 dm (r 2 )dV (r 2 )dx dy dz

Ex) Rotational Inertia of a Rod

L

For a thin rod, dm=(M/L)dx.

When rotatating about one end:
L

I rod

2
2M
r dm x
L
0

I rod

M 2
dx x dx

L 0

3
1 2
L
= ML

3 3
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Properties of Rotational Inertia

The rotational inertia of an object depends on:
Its mass.
Its shape.
The axis of rotation.
NOT the angular velocity or acceleration.
The rotational inertia is a measure of how difficult it is to get an
object to start rotating or to slow down once started.
For two or more objects rotating around a common axis, the
rotational inertia is the sum of the rotational inertia for each
object.
I Ii
8

Rigid Bodies
Spherical shapes are often confused:
solid sphere:
R

spherical shell:

2
5

M R2

2
3

M R2

Note: here R is the radius of the sphere, not the radial

coordinate!
The examples you will need are tabulated in your text.
Do not memorize the table.
You will not be asked to calculate I by doing
an integral on an exam.
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Introduction to Torque
Newton's Second Law still applies to rotation problems.
For rotation about a fixed axis, changing to rotational variables
gives a similar expression:

I
Here is torque.

Sometimes called Newton's Second Law in Angular Form

10

Correspondence Between
Linear and Rotational Motion
x
v
a
mI
F

This similarity allows you to solve many

rotation problems using the same
techniques you previously learned.

1
I 2
2

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Take-Away Concepts
1. Definitions of rotational quantities: , , .
2. Centripetal and tangential acceleration.
3. Rotational inertia: I mi ri 2

4. Rotational kinetic energy: K I 2

2

5. Introduction to torque: I
6. Correspondence
x
v
a
mI
F
12

Problems of the Day

1. A space probe is rotating about a fixed axis with constant angular acceleration.
Which one of the following statements concerning a point on the probe is true?
a) The tangential acceleration component is constant in both magnitude and direction.
b) The magnitude of the tangential acceleration component is zero.
c) The tangential acceleration component depends on the angular velocity.
d) The tangential acceleration component is equal to the radial acceleration.
e) The tangential acceleration component depends on the rate of change of the
angular velocity.

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Problems of the Day

2.

A 32 kg wheel (hoop) with radius 1.2m, is rotating at 280

rev/min. It must be brought to a stop in 15s. How much
work must be done to stop it?

a) -2.0x104 J
b) +2.0x104 J
c) -1.32x104 J/s
d) +1.32x104 J/s

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