Moments of Inertia of Disks and Spheres without Integration

Calculation of moments of inertia is often challenging for introductory-level physics students due to the use of integration, especially in non-Cartesian coordinates. Methods that do not employ calculus have been described for finding the rotational inertia of thin rods and other simple bodies. In t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Physics teacher Vol. 51; no. 3; pp. 139 - 140
Main Authors Hong, Seok-Cheol, Hong, Seok-In
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published American Association of Physics Teachers 01.03.2013
Subjects
Computation
Geometry
Introductory Courses
Mathematical Logic
Physics
Science Instruction
Scientific Concepts
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Summary:Calculation of moments of inertia is often challenging for introductory-level physics students due to the use of integration, especially in non-Cartesian coordinates. Methods that do not employ calculus have been described for finding the rotational inertia of thin rods and other simple bodies. In this paper we use the parallel axis theorem and the perpendicular axis theorem (both of which may be proved without calculus), along with rotational symmetry, to determine, without using integration, the moments of inertia of uniform disks and spheres. (Contains 2 figures.)
ISSN:0031-921X
DOI:10.1119/1.4792004