Tensor of inertia: a simple example Let us rst consider a cylinder of radius R and height 2h.

We choose the origin of the coordinate system at the centre of mass of the cylinder with the z axis parallel to the axis of the cylinder.
z R

2h x

It is straightforward to compute the components of the tensor of inertia using polar coordinates in the xy plane. The sums in the denition of the various components become integrals. For instance Ixx =
i 2 mi (yi + zi2 ) C

dx dy dz (y 2 + z 2 ) ,

where is the density of the cylinder, i.e. its mass per unit volume, which we assume to be constant. The integral is over the volume of the cylinder and using polar coordinates in the xy plane, r = (r cos , r sin , z ) we have
h 2 R

dx dy dz = r dr d dz ,

Ixx =
h

dz
0 h

d
0 2

dr r(r2 sin2 + z 2 )
R h 2 R

=
h

dz z 2
0

d
0

dr r +
h

dz
0

d sin2
0

dr r3

= The density, , is

2 3 R2 R4 h 2 + 2h 3 2 4

M . 2R2 h 1

Therefore we get 1 1 (1) Ixx = M h2 + M R2 . 3 4 The other components of the tensor of inertia can be computed in a similar way. For the two other moments of inertia we get Iyy =
i 2 mi (x2 i + zi )

M 2R2 h

dz
h 0

d
0

dr r(r2 cos2 + z 2 )

= and Izz =
i

1 1 M h2 + M R2 = Ixx 3 4

(2)

2 mi (x2 i + yi ) h 2 R

M 2R2 h

dz
h 0

d
0

dr r(r2 cos2 + r2 sin2 ) (3)

=
h

dz
0

d
0

1 dr3 = M R2 2

The calculation of the products of inertia, i.e. the o-diagonal terms in the tensor of inertia, is analogous.
h 2 R

Ixy = Iyx =
i

mi xi yi
h

dz
0

d
0

dr r3 sin cos = 0 ,

because
0

d cos sin = 0 . Similarly

h 2 R

Ixz = Izx =
i

mi xi zi
h

dz
0

d
0

dr z r2 cos = 0 ,

and Iyz = Izy =

i

mi yi zi
h 2 2

dz
0

d
0

dr z r2 sin = 0 ,

because
0

d cos =
0

d sin = 0 .

The only non-zero components are those on the diagonal. This is due to the symmetry of coincide with the principal axes of the solid we are considering. The Cartesian axes, , , k, 1 the cylinder .
Notice that there is an ambiguity in the choice of the principal axes. Given a set of axes, a rigid rotation about the z axis produces a new set of axes and the tensor of inertia is diagonal with respect to these new axes as well. This is again a consequence of the symmetry of the body.
1

The tensor of inertia is therefore Ixx 0 0 = 0 Iyy 0 , I 0 0 Izz where the three non-zero entries are given in (1), (2) and (3). Now let us assume that the cylinder rotates with angular velocity about the z axis. Thus the angular velocity vector for the solid is 0 = 0 . The angular momentum of the system is in this case 0 0 Ixx 0 0 , = 0 Iyy 0 0 = 0 = 1 M R2 k L=I 2 Izz 0 0 Izz in agreement with the result we found when studying purely rotational motion about a xed axis. The kinetic energy of the system is K= 1 1 1 L = Izz 2 = M R2 2 . 2 2 4

Since L is constant as a vector, the torque vanishes, = dL = 0. dt

Hence the system can continue spinning about the z axis without the need to apply any torque to maintain it in this state. Now let us consider the eect of attaching a point-like particle of mass m to the edge of

the upper face of the cylinder.

z zm rm xm x 2h R

ym

Let us compute the tensor of inertia of the system of cylinder plus particle. To do this we assume that the particle is rotating with the cylinder and that it lies in the xz plane at time t = 0. This means that the position of the particle at generic time t is rm = (xm , ym , zm ) = (R cos(t), R sin(t), h) . The components of the tensor of inertia of the system are simply obtained adding to the ones previously computed the contribution of the point-particle. So we get 1 1 (m) 2 2 Ixx = Ixx + m(ym + zm ) = M h2 + M R2 + m[R2 sin2 (t) + h2 ] , 3 4 where the superscript (m) indicates quantities referring to the system of cylinder plus (m) point-particle. The moment of inertia Ixx receives an additional contribution and is now time dependent. (m) For the Iyy component we nd 1 1 (m) 2 2 2 2 2 2 Iyy = Iyy + m(x2 m + zm ) = M h + M R + m[R cos (t) + h ] . 3 4 Izz also gets a new contribution, but it remains time independent, 1 2 2 2 2 (m) 2 Izz = Izz + m(x2 m + ym ) = M R + m[R cos (t) + R sin(t)] = 2 M + m R2 . 2
(m)

The most important eect of adding the small mass m is to produce non-zero o-diagonal elements in the tensor of inertia. In fact we get
(m) (m) = Iyx = mxm ym = mR2 cos(t) sin(t) , Ixy (m) (m) Ixz = Izx = mxm zm = mRh cos(t)

and
(m) (m) Iyz = Izy = mym zm = mRh sin(t) .

Notice that the o-diagonal components are proportional to m, i.e. they are bigger if the point particle is heavier. We can now compute the angular momentum of the system with respect to the origin. (m) (m) (m) (m) Ixz Ixx Ixy Ixz 0 (m) (m) (m) (m) 0 = L = Iyx Iyy Iyz Iyz . (m) (m) (m) (m) Izz Izx Izy Izz So L is not parallel to the angular velocity, which is purely in the z direction, but it has non-zero components along x, y and z . Explicitly we have Lx = mRh cos(t) , Ly = mRh sin(t) , Lz = M + m R2 . 2

Adding the small mass breaks the symmetry of the rigid body. As a consequence the angular momentum is time dependent and not parallel to the angular velocity. This is similar to the result we found for the rotating skew rod. The angular momentum has a constant component in the z direction and time dependent components in the x and y directions. The vector L rotates spanning a cone. The fact that the angular momentum is not constant implies that a non-zero torque needs to be applied to the rotating body (cylinder plus particle) to maintain the axis of the cylinder parallel to the z axis. The torque has non-zero components in the xy plane. From the equation dL =, dt we obtain the components of the torque at time t, x (t) = +mRh 2 sin(t) , y (t) = mRh 2 cos(t) , z (t) = 0 .

Without the mass m attached the principal axes of the cylinder coincided with the coor In the presence of the point-particle the principal axes are found dinates axes, , and k. (m) . In this case they do not have xed orientation, but instead diagonalising the matrix I rotate with the body. Their orientation is obtained computing eigenvalues and eigenvectors (m) . Since the magnitude of the o-diagonal terms in the tensor of the tensor of inertia, I of inertia grows with m, intuitively one expects that the direction of the principal axes will dier more from the directions of the coordinate axes if the point particle is heavier. The explicit calculation of eigenvalues and eigenvectors is straightforward, but the formulae are rather complicated and not particularly enlightening.