Data Analysis

K. Banwart & A. Suiter & A. Navale

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
50011 USA
Dated: 30 January 2014
We report on a new way method in which to find the moment of inertia of a
symmetric object. We found the new method using the conservation of momentum
equation. Our results rely on the change in angle a piece rotates about its axis of
rotation.

I. Introduction
Every object that can roll and
obeys Newtons laws has a
moment of Inertia. This value can
be quantified by
I=mr^2 [Eq 1]
Where I is the moment of inertia, m
is mass and r is the distance from
the axis of rotation to the outside.
Depending on the objects shape
formula 1 is multiplied by a
constant for example with a
cylinder formula 1 would be
multiplied by . Formula 1 can be
applied to objects that only have
uniformly distributed mass.
Moment of Inertia quantifies how
much force is needed to rotate the
body about its axis.
II. Method
We have a particular piece
rotating in an engine with an axil
that goes through point P. With a
previous experiment we
determined the center of mass is at
a distance d= 32.3 cm below the
pivot point and the mas of the
piece M = 3.24 kg. We attached
the piece to a rotational motion
detector which goes through point
P. The rotational motion detector

was connected to our computer

which we collected our data from.

Figure 1: The piece of the engine attached to the

rotational motion detector that we discussed earlier.

III. Data
See appendix A.
IV. Analysis
Upon starting the experiment
determined that max is when the
piece is at the bottom of its
rotation. Due to conservation of
momentum we start with
Mgh= I2 [Eq 2]
And for h we substitute (r-(r*sin
(90-))) which is a function of
height as changes. This changes
formula 2 to
Mg(r-(r*cos())) = I2 [Eq 3]
after that we solve for I and we get
I=2(Mgr(1-cos()))/ 2 [Eq 4]
Using Eq. 4 and the slope of the
best fit line in Table 2 the
calculated moment of inertia was:
I=
V. Conclusions

Based on the data from Table

2 and Eq. 4, we can see that the
moment of inertia of the object can
be measured knowing only the
angular velocity and angle of
displacement. This proves our
hypothesis of a new means for
calculating the moment of inertia
of a rotating body.
VI. Acknowledgements
We would like to thank
Professor Mayer for bestowing his

knowledge of physics upon our

information hungry minds.

VII.
Appendix A

Table 1. This table contains the values of theta and omega max for the
experiment as well as the graph of omega max versus theta.
Table 2. This table contains the values for omega squared versus the cosine
of theta, as well as the graph of those points.