UNIT 6

Structure

MOMENT OF INERTIA AND FIXED AXIS ROTATION

6.1 Introduction
Objectives

6.2 Angular Momentum of a Rigid Body

6.2.1 Moments and Products of Inertia 6.2.2 Moments of Inertia of Simple Rigid Bodies 6.2.3 Axis Transfer Theorems 6.2.4 Calculation of Products of Inertia

6.3 Rotation of a Rigid Body about a Fixed Axis

6.3.1 Equations of Motion 6.3.2 Rotational Kinetic Energy and Power 6.3.3 Impulse Momentum Principle

6.4 Oscillations of Rigid Bodies

6.4.1 Compound (Physical) Pendulum 6.4.2 Torsional Pendulum

6.5 Summary 6.6 Answers to SAQs

6.1

INTRODUCTION

In the preceding unit, you learnt about the motion of a system of particles. It was found that many of the physical principles which were earlier found for describing the mechanics of a single particle may be generalized and used in describing the motion of a system of particles. Towards the end of the last unit we defined a special system of particles called rigid bodies. In a rigid body the relative position of any two mass points of the body does not change with time. This means that the motion of the rigid body is completely described when we find : (a) the trajectory of any one particle (e.g. the centre of mass of the body) associated with the body, and (b) the relative orientation of the body in course of its motion. It was pointed out that a rigid body is capable of two distinct types of motion, viz., a pure translation and a rotation. You have further seen that an arbitrary motion of a rigid body can be looked upon as a translation of the centre of mass ( or any other point in the body ) followed by a rotation of the body about an axis passing through the centre of mass (or the point mentioned above). In the earlier units, we have discussed in detail the translational motion of a particle. The motion of the centre of mass is therefore well understood by us. In this unit we will consider a particularly simple case of rigid body rotation, viz. the rotation of the body about an axis fixed in space. In this case, if we consider any particle in the body, its perpendicular distance from the axis of rotation remains constant in time. The trajectory of the particle is a circle and its instantaneous position is described by specifying its angular position, with respect to a reference line. We will begin by a review of the single particle rotation and recall the relationship between the angular momentum of the particle and the applied torque. One can define the angular momentum of the rigid body in a way similar to the way the momentum was defined in the last unit for a system of

partides. We will find that a quantity called the raoment of inertia plays the role of inertia in rotational motion. We will ealcalate the moment of inertia in simple cases. We will then study the condition under which the angular momentum is conserved and see some of its interesting consequences.

Object ivee After going through this unit, you should be able to :
describe the rotational kinematics of rigid bodies and solve r;imp!e dynamical problems using the torque and angular momentum (SAQs 5,7-9), find the moments of inertia of a few simple rigid bodies and appreciate the role it plays in rotational motion (SAQs I d ) , explain the relationship between work and energy as it relates to rotational motion (SAQ 6), and solve problems connected with the rotation of rigid bodies about a fixed axis (SAQs 7-11).

6.2

ANGULAR MOMENTUM OF A RIGID BODY

In Unit 5, you have seen how the definition of angular momentum for a single particle could be generalized to the case of a system of particles. A rigid body is a special case of a system of particles in which the relative distance between the constituent partides remains fixed. One may therefore define the angular momentum of a rigid body in a very similar way. Angular momentum plays a very special role in the description of the equation of motion of a rigid body. In this section we will consider the case of rotation of a rigid body about an axis which is fixed in space.

6.2.1 Moments and Products of Inertia

Consider the rotation of the rigid body shown in Fig. 6.1 about the z-axis which passes through a fixed point C in the body. As the body rotates about this axis with an angular speed w, every mass element on the body sweeps a circular path. Since the body is rigid, a l l mass elements move with the same angular speed. If a is the distance of the mass element dm from the axis, the velocity of the mass element is wa which is directed into the plane of the paper. The component of the angular momentum about the axis therefore is

Fignre 6.1 : Fixed axis rotation of a rigid body

which does not depend on the choice of the origin. The angular momentum of the body as a whole is obtained by summing over th'e angular momenta of the mass elements dm : 2 (6.1) where We may define the moments of inertia about any other axis in a similar way. It is passible to generalize the-above to obtain an expression of the ahgular momentum of the rigid body about an arbitrary axis.

Consider a set of axes (z, y, z) attached to the body with its origin located at the centre of mass of the body (Fig. 6.2). The set of space fixed axes are taken to be ( X , Y , 2) with its origin at 0. The body rotates about an axis through the centre of mass with.an angular velocity w. Since we are,interested in fixed axis rotation, we will take the position vector T', of the centre of mass with respect to the fixed set of axes as constant.

Moment d

F I X & Axb

Figure 6.2 : Rotation of a rigid body about an arbitrary fixed axis

Consider a mass element dm of the body located at the position r'with respect to the body fixed axes (z, y, z). The absolute velocity of the mass element is v'= 3 x r'. The angular momentum d c of the mass element about the centre of mass may therefore be written as r'x (dmv'). Summing over all the mass elements, the total angular momentum of the rigid body about centre of mass is given by

The double cross product in the above expression may be expanded in the component form using r' = z i + y j + zk and 3 = w,i + w,j + w,k

so that

F x ( 3 x i) = [ w * ( ~ ~ z2) - W,ZY - W,ZZ] i + [-W,YZ wy(z2+ z2) - U,YZ] j [-w,zz - w,zy w,(z2 y2)1k

The cartesian components of the angular momentum may therefore be written as

L,
L,

= -% = -a,
'

/ /

+ w,J ( 2+ z2)dm - q, / yzdm zzdm + w , / yzdm + w , /(z2+ Z)dm

zydm

(6-4)

~otatienol Dynamia

We define the moments of inedia as

Note that the integrand in each case contains the square of the .distance from the cartesian axes and hence the moments of inertia are positive. I,,, I , , and I,, are usually written as I,, I , and I , respectively. The products of inertia are defined through

I,, I ,

yrdm (6.6)

= /rzdm

Unlike the moments of inertia, the products of inertia contains the cartesian coordinates and may therefore need not be positive. We therefore get,

You may observe that the moments and the products of inertia are defined with respect to a set of axes fixed with the body. One could have defined these in terms of axes fixed in space, but if we did so, these quantities would change as the rigid body rotates in space. If you are familiar with matrix multiplication you may rewrite Eqn. (6,7) above using the elementary rules of matrix multiplication

Calculation of moments of inertia of bodies is a task very similar to what we have done for finding the centres of mass. In the following section we will obtain the moments of inertia of a few simple rigid bodies.
6.2.2 Moments of Inertia of Simple Rigid Bodies

We will generally be concerned with bodies of uniform density p. In this case Eqn.(6.2) can be written as

where T is the distance of the volume element du from the axis. We will find it convenient to introduce the concept of a radius of gyration k. Note that the moment of inertia has the dimension of mass times distance squared. The radius of gyration k is defined tbrough

If we imagine the entire mass of the rotating body to be concentrated at a point, the angular momentum of the rotating body will be the same as that of this imagined mass point, if the point mass were rotating about the axis at a distance k.

Example 1 Find the moment of inertia of a uniform flat disk or a uniform solid cylinder of radius R and mass M about the axis of symmetry. Solution : A solid cylinder can be regarded as consisting of a very large number of flat disks stacked one over another. Thus the radius of gyration of a solid cylinder and a flat disk are the same. To find the moment of inertia of a flat disk about an axis which is perpendicular to its plane and passing through its centre C, consider the contribution to the moment of inertia by an annular ring at radius r and width dr (Fig. 6.3). The moment of inertia of this ring is r2dm, where dm, the mass element is given by

Moment of Inertla dE h e d Axis Rotation

The moment of inertia of the disk therefore is

Figure 6.3

Example 2 Find the moment of inertia of a uniform rectangular bar of length L, width b and mass M about an axis perpendicular to its plane and passing through its centre. Solution : Consider (Fig. 6.4) a mass element dm at (z, y). The contribution of this element to the moment of inertia is

where Lb is the total area of the bar. The total moment of inertia is foudd by integrating over z and y.
I

-2

x ..,

Figure 6.4

Example 3 Find the moment of inertia of a solid sphere of uniform density about one of its diameters. Solution : The sphere may be built up of a number of circular disks of varying radii. Consider (Fig. 6.5) one such disk at a distance r from the centre andthickness dr. The radius of this disk is d ( n .The moment of inertia of this disk is

Figure 6.5

27

Rotational Dynamics

The mass element dm is given by

)
The total moment of inertia is obtained by integrating over
T

from -R

SAQ 1 :

Find the moment inertia of a thin spherical shell of mass M: and radius

SAQ 2 :

Using the above result, determine the moment of inertia of a solid sphe

Example 4 Find the moment of inertia of a right circular cone of base radius R and height h.
Solution : The cone can be thought of as a collection of disks of variable radii (Rg. 6.6). The radius of such a disk at a height y from the base can be written as
h
Figure 6.6

The mass of the disk is given by

The momeilt of inertia of the cone is abtained by summing over the moments of inertia of the disks

6.2.3 Axis Transfer Theorems

There are two theorems which are very useful when we know the moment inertia about some axis and wish to calculate the same about some other axis.
(a) The parallel axis theorem The more important of the two theorems is the parallel axis theorem. This theorem relates the moment of inertia of a rigid body about an axis passing through its centre of mass with the moment of inertia about another axis which is parallel to the former. Let I, be the moment of inertia about an axis passing through the centre of mass and I be the moment of inertia through another axis which is parallel to it. Let d be the distance between the above two parallel axes. The theorem states that

Moment ollneru
FixedAxls RotaUon

A rigid body can be looked upon as consisting of a large number of slices normal to the set of axes mentioned above. Thus we need to prove the theorem only for a single slice of the body (Fig. 6.7) which is normal to a pair one of which passes through the centre of mas, and the :allel point D on the body. t hro

-Y

Figure 6.7 : A rigid body illustrating the locations of the parallel axes and a typical mass element

Let us consider the plane of the body to be the-x-y plane. If we choose D as the origin of the coordinate system, the moment of inertia of the body about the axis through D is ID = dm(z2 y2)

Let the coordinate of the centre of mass C be (x,, y,). If we shift the origin of the coordinate system to the point C while keeping the axes parallel, the coordinates of a mass element dm with respect to the new origin will be (x', y'), where

RoQUond Dynrnla

In terms of these new quantities, the moment of inertia ID may be written as

The first term is the moment of inertia about the parallel axis through the centre of m a s . The second term is M d 2 , where d is the distance between the two axes. By the definition of the centre of mass the last two terms are identically zero. This completes the proof of the parallel axis theorem. By successive application of the theorem one can find moment of inertia about -many different axes.

Example 6
Find the moment of inertia of a sphere about a tangent.

Solution

,Any tangent to a sphere is parallel to some axis through the centre of the /sphere. Thus we may directly apply the parallel axis theorem to get

Az*

Example 6
Calculate the moment of inertia of a solid cylinder about an axis which is norm4 to the axis of the cylinder and passes through the centre of mass.

Solution :
We may consider the cylinder as being made up of a large number of disks stacked one over the other. Consider one such disk of thickness dx at a distance of x from the origin (Fig. 6.8). The moment of inertia of the disk about the y-axis (which is along a diameter of the disk) is d m R 2 / 4 where the mass element dm = uR2&yp. Using the parallel axis theorem, the moment of inertia of this disk about y, axis is

Figure 6.8

The total moment of inertia is obtained by integrating over y frm

-L / 2 to L/2

SAQ 3 ' :
Using the result of the above example find the moment of inertia of a pencil like rigid rod of length L about an axis through its centre and perpendicular to its length. Use parallel axis theorem to find its moment of inertia about an axis which is perpendicular to it at one of the ends.

(b) The perpendicular axis theorem This theorem is somewhat limited in its applicability and is useful for planar objects only. It states that t& moment of inertia of the body about an axis perpendicular to its plane is given by the sum of the moments of inertia about two mutually perpendicular axis in the plane of the object which intersect the perpendicular axis. If the body is in x-y plane, the theorem requires

Pbrcd A x b Rotation

The proof of this theorem is a straight forward application of the Pythagoras theorem as can be seen from Fig. 6.9 which shows a laminar object of arbitrary shape. Taking the plane of the body to be the xy-plane, the moment of inertia about the z-axis is given by

The theore-<ticularly

useful for objects with high symmetry.

Example 7 Find the moment of inertia of* flat disk about any diameter. Solution : We know that the moment of inertia of the disk about an axis through its centre and perpendicular to it is M R 2 / 2 . Since all diameters are equivalent, the moments of inertia about x and y-axes in the plane of the disk are equal. 0 Thus the required moment of inertia is M R 2 / 4 .
I

SAQ 4 :
Find the moment of inertia of a square of side a about its diagond.

Figure 6.9 : The perpendicular axis theorem

6.2.4 Calculation of Products of Inertia

In calculating products of inertia one observes that for the case of uniform density, the products of inertia vanishes in two cases of symmetry.

Figure 6.10 : An object having z axis as an axis of symmetry. The products of inertia I,, and I,, vanishes

Rotatloall Dynunl~

Case 1 : I f the z-axis is awaxis of symmetry I,, and I,, vanish. This can to Fig. 6.10 wIlere it is shown that for each mass easily be seen by referri~lg element dm at (2, y, 2) there% a symmetrically placed mass element at (-2, -y, a) so that

I,, =

rodm = 0

Case 2 : If the plane containing the xy axes is a plane of symmetry, there is a pair of mass elements dm, one at r'a.nd the other at - z . This also makes the integral zero.
Example 8 Find the product of inertia I,, for a slender rod of lengt,h L and nass m which . 6.11. lies in the x-y plane! making an angle a with the x axis as show in Fig.

Figure 6.1 1

y) is dm = pdr where dr is a length The mass element at the position (z, element along the rod at a distance T from the origin. using'the polar coorfinates x = r cos a, y = T sin a, we have

I.,

JP X Y ~ ~

l T / :

r2 sin a cos apdr

sin2a r = PI
I

I;[

R/2

-R/2

sin 2a L3 p = 2 12

M L2
24

sin 2a

Note that I , , = 0 if or = 0 or r/2, a result which could be obtained from symmetry.

6.3 ROTATION OF A RIGID BODY ABOUT - A FIXED AXIS

In the previous sections you have seen the relationship between the angular momentum of a body and its moments of inertia. We will use these concepts to study the rotational motion of a rigid body about an axis which is fwed in space. Rotation of a rigid body about a fixed axis is very commonly used in technology, for instance, in turbines, pumps and other rotating machineries.

6.3.1 Equations of Motion

Consider a rigid body of arbitrary shape shown in Fig. 6.12 which is rotating about the z-axis which is fixed in space. The x and the y axes are body fixed and these therefore rotate with the body. The components of the angular momentum of the body about the origin are given by Eqns.(6.7). Since the angular velocity of the body has only the z component w, = w , we get

Lz L,

= -I*,w = -Iyzw Lz = I,#

so that the angular momentum vector may be written as

Moment d Inertla & Flxed Axis Rotation

, f

= -iIzzw

- jIyzw + klZzw

(6.15)
L

The torque acting on the body is obtained by differentiating the above with respect to time. While differentiating, we must remember that the unit vectors i and j rotate with the body and therefore are not constant. You may show, using the results obtained in Unit 5,
-8

LJ

dt

d, =

4
-ui
Figure 6.12

fjSubstituting these in Eqn.(6.15), we get

?=dt

di

a [-;I=,

- jIyz + i

~ ~ ~ ]

+iIYzw2- jIZ,w2
where a = h / d t is the angular acceleration. The components of the torque may therefore be written as

= Iyzw2 - I%,&
T, T,

= -IzZw2- IYza
= I,,a
(6.16)

The motion of the rigid body is completely described, if we supplement the equ;tion (6.16) with the three equations governing the motion of the centre of mass

Fz = maz F, = ma, Fz = 0
The rotation of the rigid body is described by the last of the equations (6.16). The remaining equations determine the forces of constraints which keep the z axis fixed in space while the body is rotating. -We have seen that for symmetric bodies I,, and I,, are zero. This gives T, = ry = 0, i.e. the torque only has t . component. This along with F, = 0 tells us about the nature of reactions necessary t& maintain planar motion. The system of external forces ( loads plus reactions ) has a planar resultant. In any case, the rotational motion of the body is governed by the simple equation T, = I,,a. Note that this relation is very similar to the relation between the force and acceleration in case of linear motion. The role of inertia (mass) is deady played by the moment of inertia.

Example 0

A uniform sphere of mass M and radius R is spinning on an axis through its

centre at a rate of 5 rev/s. It comes to stop in 20 seconds. How large is the frictional torque that brings the sphere to a stop.

Solution : The angular deceleration a = 5 x 2x120 = n/2 rad/sa. The torque required is
T

=Ia
2MR2 r =-5

= 0.2xMR2

SAQ 5 : The wheel shown in Fig. 6.13 rotates freely on its axle and pulls a belt as indicated. The moment of inertia of the wheel is 18 kg-m2. The radius of the wheel is 0.2 m. There is appreciable tension only in the upper end of the belt while the tension in the lower end is negligible. When the wheel is spinning at 2 rev/s, it is disconnected from its power source and coasts to rest in 15 s. What is the tension in the upper end of the belt ?

6.3.2 Rotational Kinetic Energy and Power

You have seen that for a rigid body rotating about a fixed axis, every mass element dm traces out a circle of radius r about the axis, where T is th'e distance of the mass element from the axis. The velocity of the mass element is therefore tangential to the circle and has a magnitude wr. The kinetic energy of the mass element is therefore given by

~ h sum b of the kinetic energy of all the mass elements constituting the body is therefore the kinetic energy of the rigid body and is given by

where I is the moment of inertia of the body about the axis. If you compare the above expression for the kinetic energy with the familiar expression mv2/2 for the kinetic energy of translation, you will observe the similarity between the moment of inertia I and the mass m. You should note that 1 o ~ / 2is not any new type of kinetic energy. This simply is the part of the kinetic energy of the system C rn;v; which may be specifically assigned to rotational motion. As in the case of angular momentum, it is possible to associate a part of the kinetic energy with the motion of particles about a parallel axis through the centre of mass ( which is body-fixed ) and a second part with the rotation of the centre of mass itself about the axis. Consider Fig. 6.14 in which a section of the rigid body rotating about the fixed axis AA is shown. Let CC be an axis passing through the centre of mass and parallel to the axis AA. The distance between the two axes is denoted by r,. An element dm which is at a distance T from AA is at a distance r' from the axis CC, the relationship between T and T I is given by elementary trigonometry to be

The kinetic energy may therefore be written as

Moment of Inertlajk Flred Arls Rotation

1 - -w2 2

1 J rr2dm+ -r:w2 M - rc J r' cos 0dm 2

The last term in the above equation is J x'dm where x ' is the x-coordinate of d m with respect to the centre of mass as the origin. By the definition of the centre of mass this is identically zero. Thus

If the kinetic energy is varying with time, we take the time derivative of Eqn.(6.17) to obtain dK = Iwa dt where a is the angular acceleration. Using the relationship between the torque and the angular acceleration this can be written as

If the change in the kinetic energy is due to a force F , the rate of change of kinetic energy is equal to the rate of doing work and we have

which implies that the rotational power P is given by the product of the of this torque and the angular velocity. You may observe the si~pilarity relationship with the expression P = - v' for the case of translational motion. Using w = d e l d t , we can write

which gives dW = rd8. From this it follows that if a constant torque is applied during an angular displacement 0 , the work done will be

Example 10 A wheel of radius T having a moment of inertia I about an axis through its centre and perpendicular to its plane-has an angular velocity w . At time t = 0 a tangential force F is applied to its rim decelerating it (Fig. 6.15 ). Find the angular distance moved by the wheel and the time taken before it is brought to rest. Solution : The change in the angular momentum of the body from Iw to zero is due to the torque F r acting on the body for a time t.Thus

Frt = Iw
which gives t = I w l F r . The angular distance moved is found from the work energy relationship 1 Fr0 = - I W ~ 2 , which gives 8 = b 2 / 2 F r
Figure 6.15

35

Rotational Dynamics

6AQ 6 : A wheel with moment of inertia I = 10 kg-m2 is spinning at 2 rev./s on its

'

axis. How large is the frictional torque if the wheel makes 40 revolutions before it comes to a stop ?

6.3.3 Impulse Momentum Principle

The work-energy theorem is useful in solving problems when kinematical quantities like the position and velocity appear in the problems. When we have information on quantities like momentum or angular momentum, it is far more practicable to talk in terms of these quantities. You. have seen that when external forces act on a system of particles, the linear momentum of the centre of mass changes. The impulse momentum principle states that the impulse of the external forces acting on the system is equal to the change in the momentum of the system during the time interval in which such forces act.

where Fl and F2refer to the initial and final momenta of the centre of mass. In a very similar way we may obtain a relationship between the angular impulse and the angular momentum by directly integrating the equation T = dzldt,

d2idt=

~2

-&

(6.18)

The left hand side of the above equation is the angular impulse in ~ a l o g y with the definition of linear impulse j .Equation (6.18) states that the change in the angular impulse is equal to the change in the angular momentum: ,Example 11 A solid cylinder is rotating about its own axis with an angular speed w,. The cylinder is suddenly caught along the edge at BB (Fig. 6.16). Find the angular velocity of the cylinder immediately afterwards and the impulse exerted by the disk on the axis BB. Solution : If the edge BB is brought to rest, the cylinder would rotate about this edge with an angular speed w . The velocity of the centre of mass becomes wR. Since the disk was previously rotating about an axis through the centre of mass, the velocity of the centre of mass was zero. By the impulse momentum principle, the change in the momentum of the centre.of mass is equal to the impulse J acting on the system during the time in which the edge was arrested. J = m(w R - 0) = mvwR The angular impulse is J R which must result in the change of angular momentum of the disk. mR2 - W) J R = -(w, 2 Combining these we get w = w0/3 and J = w , R / 3 .

Figure 6.16

When no external torque acts on the system d i l d t = 0, and the angular momentum is constant. This is the principleof conservation of momentum. A very important point regarding the applicability of Eqn. (6.18) is that the angular impulse is equal to the change in the angular momentum of any body - not just of rigid bodies. If we are interested in using a specific expression for the angular momentum, for instance , the expression L = Iw which is applicable for a rigid body, it is only necessary that the body behaves rigidly at the start and the end of the angular impulse. An example of this is that of a figure skater who increases her angular speed by folding in arms. The impulse - momentum principle can still be used even though during the process of folding in the arms the skater may not be considered as rigid.

Moment of Inertla & Fixed Axis Potatlon

Example 12 A figure skater rotating freely with an angular speed w , draws in her arms. In doing so her moment of inertia about the axis of rotation decreases by a factor of 2. Find the new angular speed and account for the change in the kinetic energy. Solution : Before the skater draws in her arms, we may treat her as a rigid body so that the initial angular momentum is Iw,. After she has drawn her arms in, she can once again be considered as a rigid body. If we neglect the small frictional torque at the skates and the torque due to air drag, the angular momentum is conserved. If w is her new angular speed, we have

so that w = 2w0, i.e. the angular speed has doubled. Note that the initial kinetic energy is I 4 1 2 while the final kinetic energy becomes IW;. The kinetic energy has increased. Since no work is done by the external forces and torques, this must be due to the internal work done by her muscles in pulling in the arms. The skater has lost internal energy in the process. ..

SAQ 7 :
A rotor of radius R1 with a moment of inertia Il rotating with a constant angular speed wl is brought into contact with a second rotor of radius R2 and moment of inertia I2which is initially at rest (Fig. 6.17). Find the common angular speeds of the rotors and determine the time required to attain this speed, if the frictional force between the rotors is F.

Figure 6.17

Example 13 Consider an Atwood's machine with a heavy pulley. The frictionles pulley (Fig 6.18) haa a mass m and a radius R. Calculate the accelerations of the masses ml and mz. Solution : The free body diagrams of the masses ml, m2 and the pulley P are shown in Fig. (6.18). Notice that unlike the case of mapless pulley, the tensions in the

RobUonal Dynlarla

string - on two sides of the pulley are now different. If ml of motion can be written as follows :

> rnp the equations

m l g - T I = mla T2 - m2g = m2a

1 ,

Figure 6.18 : Atwood's Machine and the free body diagrams of the masses

For the pulley, we will write down the torque equation. The torque r on the pulley is T I R- T2R. If I is the moment of inertia of the pulley about a horizontal axis (we will assume the pulley to be like a disk with I = ~ ' / 2 ) ,

where a is the angular acceleration of the pulley, which is a rigid body rotating about a fixed axis. Since the string does not slip we must have

Solving these we get

SAQ 8 :
In the above problem, calculate the tensions on either side. Which side has more tension and why?

SAQ 9 :
Comment on the following problem which was first mentioned by Lewis Canol. A long light cord passes over a pulley. At one end of the cord a bunch of bananas is tied, and at the other there is a monkey whose mass is equal to

that of the bananas. If the system starts at rest, with the bananas higher than the monkey, will be monkey be able to reach the banana by climbing up the cord?

Manent olInertl8 &

Fbrd Axb Rataha

6.4 OSCILLATIONS OF RIGID BODIES

You are already familiar with oscillating bodies such as a simple pendulum. In analysing the motion of a simple pendulum, we had assumed the pendulum bob to be a particle. When the pendulum bob is displaced from its equilibrium position through small angles, restoring forces will tend to bring it back to the equilibrium. If the amplitude is small enough, the restoring acceleration is proportional to the displacement from the mean position and the bob executes simple harmonic oscillations. In the following we will consider the oscillatory motion of extended bodies. The principle involved is identical to that in the case of a simple pendulum. In this case the extended body executes oscillations about a fixed axis.

6 . 4 . 1 Compound (Physical) Pendulum

A rigid body of mass m and moment of inertia I which can freely rotate in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis through the point of suspension A (Fig. 6.19) is known as a compound or a physical pendulum. A familiar example of such a pendulum is a grandfather's clock. In the following we will obtain the equation of motion of such a pendulum. Note that the reaction forces pass through the point of suspension. The only force on the rigid body which does not pass through the point A is the gravitational force mg. Since the reaction forces are not known at this stage, we take torque of forces about the point A so that the unknown forces do not contribute to the torque. The net torque is therefore due to the gravitational force and is
T

= - mga sin 8

Figure 6.19 : A compound Pendulum

%.
X

where a is the distance between A and the centre-of mass C, and 9 is the angular displacement from the vertical. The moment of inertia about the axis through A is I, = I, ma2, where I, is the moment of inertia about a parallel axis through C. Using Eqn. (6.16), the angular acceleration a is given by

The equation of motion therefore is

For s m d amplitudes of oscillation we may replace sin 8 by the radian measure of the angle B itseh. The equation that we obtain is that for a simple harmonic motion

which has a solution

39

Rotational Dynamics

sin

(fi t4)
mga'

where A, and 4 are constants to be obtained from initial conditions. The period of oscillation of the compound pendulum is given by

whnma we have used I, = I, + ma2 = m(k2 a2), where kc is the radius of gyration of the body about the horizontal axis through C. The period of oscillation therefore depends on the distance of the point of suspension from the centre of mass and has its minimum value if the body is supported at a distance kc from its centre of mass.

It is interesting to note that one has another set of parallel axes about which the compound pendulum has the same time period as has been calcillated above. If b is taken as the distance of such an axis from the centre of mass, in order that a compound pendulum has the same time period as that about an axis at a.distance a, we have from Eqn.(6.19)

which gives b = k:/a. An interesting property of this second set of axes is as follows. Suppose the pendulum is suspended from the point A. Consider a point B which is located at a distance b from the c e n l ~ e of mass C lying on the line joining AC a.s shown in Fig. 6.20. If an impulsive blow is struck on the body such that the impulse f l i e s in the plane of motion, the body exerts no impulsive reaction at A.

Figure 6.20 : The centre of percussion

If there is no impulsive reaction at A, the change in the angular momentum of the body about the point C is given by the product of the impulse with the distance b of the point of application of the impulse from the point C. This results i n a n angular velocity
bJ

Since the support at A is fixed, the velocity of the centre of mass is given by

vc = aw

..

However, from the relationship between the linear impulse and the centre of mass velocity J = mv, Combining these we get b = IJmn. Writing I, in terms of the radius of gyration we get ab = kz. The point B is known as the centm of percussion for the support point A. Clearly, the point A is the centre of percussion if the support point becomes B.

SAQ lO : A thin homogeneous circular disk of radius R and mass M is suspended as a

compound pendulum in a vertical plane from a point located at a distance a from the centre. Find the distance a which gives the maximum frequency of oscillation and determine this frequency.

Moment of Inertia & Flxed AXIS Rotatlon

1
\

SAQ 11: A uniform bar of mass m is suspended from a thin axle that passes through a hole near the top end A of the bar (Fig. 6.21). How far from A should a blow
be applied at right angles to the bar in order to start the bar rotating without breaking the axle.
Figure 6.21

6.4.2 Torsional Pendulum

A homogeneous disk of radius R is supported by a thin wire which is rigidly attached to the disk and the support (Fig. 6.22 ). If the disk is twisted from its equilibrium position through an angle 0, the wire will exert a restoring torque on the disk which is proportional to the angle of twist 0. If the disk is twisted initially through an angle 8, and then released, it will execute simple harmonic motion. This can be seen as follows. If 6 is the instantaneous angle of twist, the restoring force is -KO, where K is the torsional spring constant. We may use equation (6.16) to obtain the equation of motion as this is a case of fixed axis rotation. We get

Figure 6.22 : A torsional pendulum

where I is the moment of inetria of the disk about the wire. Eqn (6.20) is the equation of motion f i r a simple harmonic motion. Since at t = 0,8 = 00, the solution is given by 8 = 0, cos f i t The disk therefore performs oscillations with a time period ( 1 / 2 r ) m . Torsional oscillations have many practical applications in engineering problems.

6.5 SUMMARY
In this unit we discussed the physical principles which govern the rotational motion of rigid bodies about a fixed axis. The equations of motion were developed by treating the body as a collection of particles and applying the general principles of dynamics as formulated in the earlier units. The condition for a rigid body, that the distances between particles remain fixed, was used to simplify the general equations. While the translational motion of the centre of mass is given by a straight forward generalization of the Newton's second law, this equation does not tell us anything about the orientation or the angular motion of the body. In order to establish the orientation we have to solve an equation of motion involving the torque and the angular acceleration. In the case of a rigid body rotating about an axis fixed in space, the torque is proportional to the angular acceleration, the relationship between the two has the same form as that between the force and the linear acceleration. The rotational inertia however, depends both on the mass and its distribution about the axis of rotation. An alternative, but in practice more useful form of the equation of motion was derived which relates the angular impulse with the change in the angular momentum of a body. This and the equation connecting the corresponding linear quantities were used in solving a variety of dynamical problems on the rotation of rigid bodies. When no external torque acts on the system, the angular momentum of the rigid body remains conserved. The rotational kinetic energy of the rigid body was calculated and it was found that a work-energy theorem is valid in this case also. This along with the principle of conservation of angular momentum was used to solve several interesting dynamical problems.

6.6 ANSWERS TO SAQs

1. A spherical shell can be considered as consisting of rings as shown in Fig. 6.23 . The moment of inertia of such a ring of radius R sin 0 is dl-= ( R sin B)2drn. The mass of the ring is dm = M sin 8 d 0 / 2 . On integrating over the rings (i.e. over 0 from 0 to a ) we get I = 2 ~ ~ ~ 1 3 .
/

Figure 6.23

2. We consider the solid sphere to be made up of a large number of spherical shells of radius R and thickness d r . The moment of inertia of a shell element is ( 2 / 3 ) r 2 d m ,where d m , the mass of the shell is

Integrating over r from 0 to R , the result for a solid sphere follows. 3. Since the object is pencil like L > R . Thus the moment of inertia about an axis through its centre and perpendicular to it is M L 2 / 1 2 . Transferring to a parallel axis located at the end of the rod the moment d inertia is M L 2 / 1 2 ~ ( ~ 1 2 = ) ' ML2/3.

4. The moment of inertia of a rectangular bar about an axis through its centre of mass and perpendicular to its face has been shown to be ( M / 1 2 ) ( L 2+ b2). For a square object L = b = a so that the moment of 6 . the perpendicular axis theorem, the inertia becomes ~ a ~ /Using nioment of inertia about a diagonal is ~ a ~ / 1 2 .

5. The torque acting is T R = l a . The angular acceleration is 2(2r)/15 = 4/15n. Substituting the values the tension T works out to be 75.36 N. 6. The work done is re. The initial kinetic energy of the wheel is (1/2)Zw2= 80n2. Equating this to the work done T = 80n2/40(2?r) = 3.14 N-m.

7. If F is the frictional force between the two rotors, the torque of the force is used to reduce the angular speed of the first rotor from w l to a value w . Simultaneously, the.angular speed of the second rotor is increased from-zero to w . Thus F R i = Ilal and FR2 = Z2a2so that, we get, using kinematical equations w = w, at,

Solving these,

8. The tensions are easily calculated by solving the equations of the example 13 to be

The tension on the heavier side is more so that the net torque turns the pulley in a direction which will bring the heavier mass downwards.
9. Since equal masses are on the either side of the pulley, the gravitational torque acting on the system is zero. The angular momentum is therefore conserved. If the monkey starts climbing up with a speed v with respect to the fixed pulley, in order that the angular momentum remains zero, the banana also moves up with the same speed. Thus the monkey cannot reach the banana. This assumes the pulley to be massless. Can you think of what would happen if the mass of the pulley is considered ?
10. Time period of the compound pendulum is given by 2r,/(k2 a2)lga. For the disk kc = R / f i the minimum time period is obtained for

a = R/&

The frequency is ( 1 / 2 r ) { i z .

11. The radius of gyration of the rod about the centre of mass is k, = Distance of A from C is LIZ. In order that a blow at B causes no reaction at the axle (which is thin and hence may break otherwise), the distance CB is given by b = kz/a = L/6. The distance AB therefore is 2L/3.

~/e.