ROTATIONAL

DYNAMICS
Which one is difficult to
rotate?
Dumbbell B is easier to rotate in
spite of its large masses
because these are NEAR ITS
AXIS OF ROTATION; hence, the
dumbbell’s moment of inertia is
smaller. The opposite can be
said of dumbbell A.
MOMENTS
OF
INERTIA
 Inertia
• It is also known as the
“ROTATIONAL INERTIA” or
“ANGULAR MASS.”

• It is a property of any
object which can be
 Inertia
• It depends on the distribution
of the mass.
• “A small mass which is at a
greater distance from the axis
of rotation, has a greater
moment of inertia than a large
mass which is near the axis of
•Which has greater
moment of inertia?
 Inertia
• “The larger the moment of inertia
of a body, the more difficult it is
to put that body into rotational
motion or, the larger the moment
of inertia of a body, the more
difficult it is to stop its rotational
motion.”
order of increasing moment
of inertia?
Inertia
•Why do you
bend your legs
when you run?
Inertia
• You bend your legs when
running to reduce their
rotational inertia, making
it easy for you to swing
them to and pro. This
also allows you to run
with quicker strides but
it also decreases the
Inertia
•If you walk along
the top of a fence,
why would
extending your
arms out help you
to balance?
Inertia
•It increases the
moment of inertia,
thus, keeping your
body in state of
balance.
 Inertia
For a single particle, the definition of
moment of inertia is
I  mr 2

m is the mass of the single particle

r is the rotational radius

• SI unit of moment of inertia is kg.m2

 Inertia
• What is the moment of Inertia of the spindle?
 Inertia
• For a composite particle, the definition of
moment of inertia is:
2 2 2 2 2
I   mi ri  m1r1  m2 r2  m3 r3  m4 r4  ...

mi is the mass of the ith single particle

ri is the rotational radius of ith particle

• SI units of moment of inertia are kg.m2

Sample Problem:
1. A 100-gram ball, m1, and a 200-
gram ball, m2, connected by a rod with
a length of 60 cm. The mass of the rod
is ignored. The axis of rotation is
located at the center of the rod. What
is the moment of inertia of the balls
about the axis of rotation?
Sample Problem:

2. A 200-gram ball , m1, and a

100-gramm ball, m2, connected
by a rod with length of 860
millimeter. Ignore rod’s mass.
The axis of rotation located at
ball m2. What is the moment of
inertia of the balls?
 How can we find
the rotational
inertia of complex
shapes/ rigid
objects?
• Find the moment of inertia
of a solid cylinder of mass
3000 g and radius 0.50 m,
which is free to rotate
about an axis through its
center.
• Lito is spinning a
basketball with a radius of
12 cm on the tip of his
finger. Determine the mass
of the ball if its moment of
inertia is 0.005568 kg.m2.